Showing posts with label Guest Blogger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guest Blogger. Show all posts

Monday, August 19, 2013

Piatkus Entice Needs You!

Today we have a guest on the Minxes. Anna Boatman of Piatkus is here to tell us all about Piatkus Entice and their current competition.....Thank you for being here today, Anna!

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Hello everyone! My name is Anna Boatman, and the lovely Minxes of Romance have allowed me to take over today, to tell you all about our upcoming Piatkus Entice competition. We are looking for the next digital romance superstar – could it be you?

First off, let me tell you a little bit about Piatkus Entice...
Piatkus Entice was launched on Valentine's Day 2012, and is our digital-first romance imprint. Romance is the fastest growing digital genre – the convenience and lower prices of ebooks are a perfect match for the romance reader; we tend to read loads of books a month and are always keen to discover new genres and new authors, as well as return again and again to series and characters we love. For me, the great thing about a digital-first line is that as an editor it gives you the freedom to try something a little different – the retail market is increasingly restrictive and conservative, but online you can put huge amounts of support behind a debut author writing something totally fresh.

On Entice we pick the very best of romance in all its genres, from Regency romps to ghost stories. We offer a mix of the e-editions of romance superstars such as Sarah MacLean and Eloisa James, to newer voices such as self-publishing success Tim O'Rourke. We're always looking for new authors, but usually accept only agented authors. However, for a limited time that's about to change, as we're offering the chance to win a two-book publication contract with Piatkus Entice...

Our Entice competition is on now! – we're looking for instantly gripping, page-turning romance, in any genre. However, Entice being an ebook imprint, we're also looking for writers who are great at connecting with their fans online and who really enjoy building up a digital profile. So, how are we going to find them? Go to http://www.piatkusentice.co.uk/feature/could-you-be-our-next-romance-writing-star/ to see the full terms and conditions, but the main stages are...

Round One: Enter two chapters and a short, enticing synopsis (something you think would convince readers to pick it out) by the 2nd of September, 2013.
Round Two: We will pick the three strongest entries by the 1st of October, 2013 and then we'll be posting them on our website, where readers will be able to vote for their favourite!
Round Three: Voting closes on the 14th of October, 2013 and we'll ask the two entrants with the highest number of votes to send us in their third chapter.

The winner will then be announced on November 9th, 2013, at the Romance Festival Gala dinner!

Every single submission will be carefully considered, and so although there can only be one winner, this is a fantastic opportunity to get your work seen by an experienced editorial team – if you love romance fiction and have always wanted to write, this is your chance...

If you have any questions, feel free to email piatkus.entice@littlebrown.co.uk, and in the meantime I wish you all the very best of luck – and the happiest of endings!

Monday, July 8, 2013

Sinfully Summer - guest post by Aimee Duffy


Why did I choose Marbella as the location for Sinfully Summer? Well, for me there’s nothing like a good beach holiday with the girls. Sizzling myself on the beach all day, downing some cocktails late in the afternoon, and then dancing the night away is my favourite kind of vacation.

Since I’m in the UK, it’s so much easier to travel to Spain (I hate long flights). I’ve visited most of the country, and I have to say that’s not just because it’s easier to get to. Portugal’s closer after all. Nope, me and my girlies visit for the local men. Spain literally has it all, clubs, bars, waterparks and lush eye candy. What more can a girl ask for?

So when I was brainstorming locations for Sinfully Summer, I couldn’t pass Spain up. Marbella is the playground for the rich and famous (including an Arabian princess). Top that off with a rare European micro-climate which means it’s scorchio for 300 days a year, a long list of beach bars and clubs to rival some of Europe’s most prestigious party spots and I have the perfect place for a scandalous story.

Plus, with all the tales of the Marbella-based debauchery, my notoriously wild heiress and her best friends would fit right in. Well, until stick-up-his-ass Enrique tries to tame her, that is. Yeah, good luck with that Ric…








So why not jump on a plane and go visit the party central of Spain? If you can’t make it, you can always pick up Sinfully Summer and live voraciously through my heroine.

I really didn’t get up to all the things she does, or partake in crazy dares that left me running around a hotel in my underwear. Neither did any of my friends. Plus we’d never sunbathe topless, pull a gay guy, or do anything else those three get up to. Honest.

Thanks so much for having me today!

Sinfully Summer Blurb

Sun, Sea and Scandal

Notorious heiress Alexa Green has certainly been enjoying her most recent girls-holiday in Marbella. Just as we thought, she’s been knocking back the cocktails and showing off her fabulous bikini body on the beach… but rumour has it she’s also been spotted sneaking out of Enrique Castillo’s penthouse in the early hours of this morning – in nothing but her underwear! Our question is, doesn’t this fiercely private billionaire know what he’s letting himself in for?

He’s got the millions… and she knows how to spend them! So lie back on your sun lounger and get comfortable, because this summer fling is going to be a sizzler!

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Google Play / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

Excerpt

Adrenaline roared through her veins. This was her only chance. Pushing away from the wall, she rounded the lift, desperately seeking an escape. She barely noticed the plush furnishings, soft-looking leather sofas and floor to ceiling window which showcased the most spectacular view she’d ever seen. Instead she focused on the walls surrounding the elevator.

‘Are you lost?’

The heavily accented voice froze her to the spot. She darted a glance toward the sound. Dark brows furrowed over the richest coloured eyes she’d seen. His gaze swept over the length of her body, then up, lingering on her rear for a beat too long. Her skin tingled under his scrutiny.

Turning her whole body to face him, she slapped a hand on her hip. ‘Had a good enough look?’

His lips quirked in a sexy, lopsided grin. The jitters were back and Alexa swore the temperature in the room shot up ten degrees. Her gaze dropped to his broad shoulders, covered in a thin white t-shirt, then down to a well filled chest. She could see a dark pattern beneath the t-shirt. She longed to find out what kind of tattoo he had. Usually, tats didn’t do it for her. But on that body…

‘I could ask you the same thing.’

She snapped her attention back to his face. He stepped toward her, his jaw set, his eyes dancing with humour and something darker…something that made her blood heat and her mouth water.

Alexa raised her arm, palm out. ‘Hold it there, Mr. Any closer and I’ll scream.’

He paused by the sofa. Propping his hip against the cream leather, he folded his arms across his chest, causing the muscles to bulge. The moisture drained from her mouth and flooded in her belly.

‘No one’s here to hear you.’ He cocked a brow. ‘You seem to be forgetting where you are and,’ his gaze dipped down to her breasts causing the nipples to peak against the lacy fabric ‘how underdressed.’

Alexa thought this moment would have topped the blush scale. She planted her other hand on her hip and glared at him, unwilling to show any weakness. ‘I’m just leaving.’

She turned and strode back to the lift, keeping her back straight and trying not to wiggle her hips too much. The predatory sheen in his eyes made her body more jittery than the idea of sprinting around the lower floor in her underwear. She reached out to hit the button, but a large hand circled her wrist before she made it.

Alexa squeaked and darted back a step. He was so close, and his chest was right in her face. She could see the dark outline of the tattoo beneath the thin cotton. The outline of a burning sun, she thought, or something that looked like a sun. Her hands itched to lift the material and see for herself.

‘I’m up here.’

She snapped her gaze back up to his smirking face and took another step back. His lips kicked up at the corners and his eyes darkened. She swallowed against the urge to step closer, to feel his hard body pressed against hers. But she realised she was in little more than her bra and knickers in a stranger’s home. Unease skittered down her spine.

Alexa squared her shoulders, trying to quash the fear turning her heated blood into cold sludge. ‘I’m leaving now.’

‘After you explain what you’re doing in my home in your undergarments.’

 Undergarments?’ Alexa pressed her lips together to keep a giggle at bay. ‘Seriously?’

About the Author

All my life I’ve been dreaming up stories. My mum said when I was little I used to make all the My Little Pony figurines talk to each other, and even fall in love. Later, it was Barbie and Ken. In my teens, I played matchmaker with my friends at school.

When I wasn’t creating imaginary scenarios, I had my nose stuck in books, reading across genres and there was one thing I loved more than the escapism—the fact a story can touch me so deeply, like I was experiencing everything along with my characters. I knew from early on this was something I wanted to do for others.

Fast forward a few years, and the dream almost got lost in real life, but I still couldn’t shake it completely. Now I write sizzling romance with the hope of making my readers’ hearts race like they are falling in love for the first time.

You can find me here:
Website & BlogTwitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Pinterest / Google +

Friday, November 18, 2011

The Minxes welcome ... Natalie Charles, winner of New Voices 2011

A big thank you to the lovely and talented Minxes of Romance for inviting me here to talk about my New Voices experience!

I entered New Voices to get past the heartbreak of receiving a form rejection letter in late July in response to a query I sent to Harlequin Intrigue. I am no stranger to rejection, but this one stung -- I loved that story. Nevertheless, I've learned that the only way to handle rejection is to keep moving, kind of like a romance writing shark.

My rebound story, The Seven Day Target, is about an ambitious prosecutor named Libby and her former fiance, Nick. I have always taken an interest in writing about the complexities of broken relationships, and the deeper the connection between two people, the greater the possibilities for exploration. And so, Nick and Libby are childhood sweethearts with a deep connection that somehow became muddled. They are reunited when Libby's life is threatened by a serial killer whom they thought died in prison years ago, and this crisis presents them with an opportunity to grow as individuals and to heal the rift between them.

I know that last year's New Voices winner, Leah Ashton, famously submitted her chapter late in the competition. That impresses me to no end because I am SUCH a planner. I had my chapter ready to go well in advance of the start of the competition, and I entered within the first few days. I wrote my second chapter in the weeks preceding the announcement of the top 20 (which was really the top 21), and I wrote my pivotal moment before the top 4 were announced. It's a big challenge for me to produce a manuscript quickly after being declared the winner. I am not only a romance writing shark, but also a bit of a romance writing turtle…let's say sea turtle, for consistency.

(And yes, that's right: my manuscript is in the process of being written. I never thought I'd advance to the top 20 + 1, let alone the top 4. To be the winner? Crazy talk!)

I will share that the week leading up the announcement was unforgettably awful. A freak storm in New England knocked out all power and Internet two days before I had to upload the pivotal moment. Cell towers were down. I had visions of driving eight hours to find a wi-fi connection in a coffee shop somewhere near the Canadian border. I was incredibly lucky that my husband managed to find enough of a signal on his cell phone to activate a wireless hotspot that allowed me to use the remaining minutes on my (of course barely charged!) laptop to upload my pivotal moment. Up it went, 30 hours early, without the extra revisions I wanted to make. To say that I was in a cold sweat all week is an understatement. Most of my family and friends couldn't even vote for my entry since almost no one had Internet.

Which leads me to my Call story. Because of this storm, we didn't have phone service at home for 10 days. We didn't have Internet, either, so once again we relied on my husband's phone. On November 4, five minutes after the scheduled time for the New Voices winner announcement, Mills and Boon sent an email telling me that they were trying to reach me and asking me to please call. I called immediately, my stomach in knots, and they said congratulations and told me I had won New Voices. Hearing those words was one of the most emotional experiences of my life. I will never forget watching my elbow shake as I held the phone to my ear. I screamed, I cried, I kept thanking them. I went to work minutes after I hung up and I tried to go about my day as usual, but it was surreal. I felt like my life was exactly the same and suddenly very, very different. I was going to be a Mills and Boon author! The many years I've spent working on my writing were well worth that incredible moment.

Now, I am very excited about the challenges ahead as I write and revise a novel (in case you're interested, I will be blogging about the process). I am also extremely hopeful that other New Voices entrants will be receiving their own Call, and I will be watching for those announcements. More than anything, I am grateful that my rebound turned into a kind of happily ever after. And if you've been kind enough to read to this point, I'm grateful for that, too.

xx Natalie

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Please visit Natalie's blog at www.nataliecharles.blogspot.com for an inside look at her New Voices journey, and to follow her progress. We Minxes certainly will be following Natalie's story with eager anticipation. And once again from all of us: Well done, Natalie!