My Personal Challenge – Fated (The Rewrite)

Getting back to writing is harder than I ever imagined. After several weeks of plotting and creating an initial outline, I tried to re-write the first chapter last Saturday. Well, I’m still working on it.

But I’m determined to get it done. I think one my biggest problems right now is trying to write the story I want to write and silencing that inner critic because she has major issues.

While it is important to think about plot holes, character consistency and grammar rules, my critic also likes to throw in random thoughts like – “Who’s actually gonna read this?” “Is anybody gonna like this?” “Doesn’t this suck?”

My answers lately have been – “No one”, “No one”, and “Yes”. So I have rewritten the first chapter each day for the last seven days. And I remain in the place where I started.

Ughh!!!!

My remedy for the time being is: Do it anyway. Maybe, this piece won’t ever be published but I will finish by the end of the year and to help me along – stay tuned for unedited chapters each week.

Here’s the synopsis for Fated (working title)

Marc Rossi is a small town detective working on the biggest case in the not only the town’s history but his career. A prominent business man is found with a single gunshot wound to his head in his office. To complicate matters – the business man is not only a member of the latest wave of post-Katrina transplants to settle into the town but a member of the growing number of immigrants into the South Louisiana region. Language barriers and general prejudice hamper the investigation as well as Marc’s growing attraction to Laurence Tomas, the victim’s former girlfriend.

Can he find a killer and love at the same time?

Hope you’ll join me on Monday for that first chapter!

Sidelined…But Still Going

This weekend, I was going to make my first author appearance at Beautiful Trouble Publishing’s Eat and Greet. I was so excited. Since I’m currently unemployed, I had to make cuts to my advertising budget but was able to wrangle books to sell along with bookmarks for giveaways. I had my rental car and was on my way to Target to pick up miniature body sprays to attach to the bookmarks.

And I got hit by a large truck…

Apparently after the accident I stepped out of my car and fainted in the parking lot of Wendy’s. When the EMTs arrived and asked me how I was doing. I responded – I’m writing a book about tights. Different kinds of tights.

Later that evening, I begged my husband to drive me to Austin since the ER docs said that I had a concussion and shouldn’t drive. He refused and yes I will hold this against him for the rest of his life. He seems okay with this.

Anyway, I missed my first publicized event. I’m sore and I’m afraid to drive. However, there is a the gleam from a silver lining sparkling through my clouds.

A short story that I penned two years ago has found at least two new fans. I checked my Amazon stats today and found this for A Night at the Wesley:

4.0 out of 5 stars Short and hot June 22, 2014

By dncc26

Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

I didn’t know where this story was taking me, but I liked it. Old crushes are the best. It’s short but good. Could be turned into a longer story.

5.0 out of 5 stars Night with who? June 21, 2014

By Kindle Customer

Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

First I would like to have a longer story. I liked this book. It needed to be longer. Romance is romance and this story reminds you that old flames can come back into your life. This one I’m going to say worked out. Again I WOULD LIKE TO SEE LONGER ENDINGS.

Sometimes I think I’m the only one who likes short stories, but I’m so appreciative of those who want a novel to give me a shot. Wow! And Wow! What a way to make a terrible weekend bearable.

An Experiment – The Category Change

Last night, I was checking my ranking for Scent of a Woman on Amazon (yes, I’m slightly obsessive). And this is what I found:

It’s a good start for the book and it is showing up in two top 100 categories. My thing though – it’s not erotica.

What I learned was that “Interracial” gets put into the Erotica category on Amazon by default. So what if someone picks up the book expecting an erotic work and they don’t get one? Perhaps they enjoy it anyway or maybe they’ll return it. But honestly, I don’t think this practice is giving the IR genre the best opportunity to thrive.

So I tried an experiment, I have a short story on Amazon that has been there for almost two years. It has received some good reviews but has never seen many sales.

A few times, I offered it for free and a few more readers picked it up but nothing like what has happened today! On my last 3 day free sale, I had 112 books downloaded for the entire sale.

Less than twenty-four hours since a A Night at the Wesley has begun its free promotion and 85 books have been downloaded. I put a new cover on it – one that clearly shows an African-American woman and a Caucasian male and I re-categorized it as Contemporary Romance with the tags: interracial romance and sensual short stories.

The results:

I’ll let you know how the short story fairs after it’s no longer free. I have two self-pubbed works coming out in July so if I can see more exposure using general romance instead of interracial romance, then I’m going with general romance with tags.

Happy Reading!

Wanted to add in a daily total for each day.

On Saturday when I checked, my numbers for A Night at the Wesley were:

• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,319 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
  • #20 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Multicultural & Interracial
  • #44 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Short Stories
  • #51 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary Fiction > Romance

My best ranking ever!!!

Congrats to the Winners…More to Come!

The winners of the Evernight Book Boyfriend Blog Hop and the Hot n Sprung Blog Hop have been notified. I hope you all enjoy!

There is one more event going on until midnight tonight. I’m giving away a $5.00 electronic Amazon Card and a pdf of In the Moment at Romance Novels in Color.

And for Mother’s Day, both Cheers and Deja Vu are free this weekend at All Romance so why not get both!

Cheers: As a successful Sales and Catering Manager for the posh Hayden Court Hotel located in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter, Darcey St. Claire is absolutely thrilled to be working on New Year’s Eve. The commission and bonus, she’ll receive from the two day Guidry Construction event will not only fund her spring trip to New York City, but buy a cute pair of shoes for the plane ride!

Her enthusiasm quickly turns to barely disguised irritation when Vincent Guidry arrives hours early for his scheduled check-in, demanding access to his suite. After he slashes the budget for the event, not even the crystal blue eyes of the former quarterback can quell the anger surging in her chest.

That is until he walks into the Chat Noir where she is trying to regroup after her irksome day.

In the private enclave known as the Cristal Room, Vincent willingly lights up Darcey’s New Year’s Eve and may have lost his heart in the process to the young woman who isn’t looking for anything serious.
Please be aware, this is a short story and contains language some readers may find offensive.

Deja Vu: One week has passed since Darcey St. Claire, a sales manager for a posh French Quarter hotel, broke the cardinal rule of sales – you don’t sleep with your client. Against her better judgement, she agrees to an even more egregious breach of her hotel contract.

A real date with the handsome former quarterback to take place over the course of a weekend. For both she and Vincent, it wasn’t supposed to be anymore than that.

But things changed…

Beginning a campaign to become the governor of Louisiana, Vincent Guidry’s plans are halted when his feelings for Darcey become more than sexual and the young woman cuts all ties with him. Her appearance in his office, seven weeks after their break-up, begins a backward journey to right the wrongs of their separate pasts.

Is a shared forever possible?

 

Evernight Book Boyfriend – Shane Fowler

The Book Boyfriend Blog Hop is back and better than ever!

The authors of Evernight have a brand new team of swoon-worthy book boyfriend candidates. A sexy assortment of cowboys, Doms, detectives, millionaires, royalty, vampires, soldiers, and shifters are just a click away.

Get ready to find your next book boyfriend…

I’m excited to introduce you to Shane Fowler of One Stormy Night and one of the many book boyfriends you’re going to meet over the next few days.

Shane is a little different than most. Not a cowboy, not a millionaire. He’s the boy you wished lived next door – handsome, funny, smart and very sweet. Well, not so sweet according to one ex-girlfriend. But that’s not the point. When you’re together he’ll flash that megawatt smile and have you floating.

That’s what he does for the heroine of One Stormy Night, Alexis Joplin, and they’re just friends…or so they say.

Let’s take a peek at what happens one evening while the two are watching the rain from the front porch of a hundred-year old inn:

From One Stormy Night

“Alexis, you are a beautiful woman.”

“Thank you,” she mouthed.

The gentle breath she blew across his cheek tingled. The subsequent pucker of her lips against his skin burned. Desire to have her flamed in his groin, and not even the furious splatter of rain down his back doused it.

“You’re smart and funny and caring. A woman any man would want to wake up next to,” he whispered. Shane stopped fighting the urge.

He kissed her.

Shane savored the lingering tartness of the wine as he kissed her lips. Bursts of simmering raspberries and cherries tingled over his mouth, adding to the fire growing deep within him.

For a few seconds after slipping his tongue inside her mouth, he thought he’d found relief from the gnawing ache.

Then she kissed him back, sweeping her tongue over and under his in slow, tantalizing circles. How many nights have I dreamed about kissing her like this?

“Damn.” He snapped his head back, excited by the tickle of the murmuring sounds coming from deep in her throat, and lifted Alexis into his lap.

The swing creaked from the sudden movement, but he wasn’t going to let go just yet.

“Oh.”

He covered her mouth with his and caressed her breast. The lush mound was as firm, yet yielding to the squeeze of his hand, as he’d always imagined.

But he needed more than the feel of fabric to satisfy the awful thump between his legs. He slid his fingers under the dress’s crisscrossed neckline until he reached her nipple. Her tender skin shrunk into a point, making it easier to pluck while his tongue danced over hers.

“Shane.” Alexis moaned out his name.

He kissed down her the smooth skin of her neck, now wet from the rain splattering over them.

“Yes,” she whispered into his ear.

I’m not letting her go now. He licked closer to the spot where his fingers played.

Clunk. Clunk.

“Oh, shit.” Alexis tore away from him, staggering to her feet as the swing plummeted.

What’s up for grabs?

• One lucky hopper will win a $100 Amazon Gift Certificate sponsored by Evernight Publishing.
• Plus, each author is giving away their own unique prize! So visit each blog hop stop for a host of fabulous prizes to win.
• The Vallory V blog will be giving away a $5.00 electronic Amazon Gift Card or $5.00 in eBucks from All Romance, winner’s choice. One lucky winner will be chosen from the comments so be sure to leave your email address!

 How to enter? Answer this question in the comments below…

With only a snippet, a photo, and my description of Shane, where do you think he’d take someone on a romantic date?

Be sure to leave the answer and your email address to be eligible to win a prize. Each comment gives you an entry for the grand prize (one per blog hop stop).

Keep hopping to the next author or blogger. After you’ve met each hero click here to vote for your favorite book boyfriend. You’ll earn an extra grand prize entry!

You’re one step closer to meeting your next Book Boyfriend…

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Click here view the other hoppers…

Typed ‘The End’ – Now What…Part 1

It’s been a while. But I’m back in the blogoshere and the writing world. However, it’s not easy to jump right back into late nights, no Candy Crush and marketing, marketing, marketing!

So I’m easing into it, instead of running full steam ahead.

The first thing, that I’ve done is to create a writing schedule that will take me to the end of the year. Along with that came a promise to myself that I was going to complete it. Here’s schedule and where I am:

1. Anthology Submission to Hot Ink Press for an upcoming project called Naughty Bedtime Stories – This has been submitted and now I’m waiting. If not accepted then I’ll rework and find a new home.
2. Holiday Short Story – I have a first draft completed at 11,000 words and will begin working on the second draft next week. Plan on submitting this one to Secret Cravings before the September deadline. If not accepted then I rework and self-publish this one.
3. Second Shifter Novella – I have an outline completed for a follow-up to A Scent of a Woman which will be released by Evernight Publishing in a few weeks. First draft should be completed next week. Please, please let them accept this one!
4. The Rose Gold Collection – A Loving Affair is in first draft form and Dulce Means Sweet is in outline form. Just got to get started. Choose cover art, contract an editor, hire a proofreader…

That’s the schedule. Check back with me next week for an update.

Happy Reading!

There’s a Sale Going On!

Each year, Smashwords hosts a site-wide sale on its e-books for Read an E-Book Week. And I’m so proud to once again have something to offer for this event. As an indie author, it is a wonderful feeling to say – I wrote this and I think it’s worth your time to read it, so it’s on sale. 

The hope behind that thought is that the readers think it’s as great as I do and tell their friends!

So readers, if you are enjoying a free copy of Cheers or In the Moment and you just loved it, feel free to give me a tweet @ValloryVance.

Also feel free to give me a tweet if you read it and hated it, I need that feedback as well. Even though, I’ll cry and whine for a few hours, I need the tough love as much as the praise!

Happy Reading and Fill Up those E-readers!

In the Moment: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/144947 Don’t forget that the follow up, The Beginning of Forever is available at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/356812

Cheers: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/258364 And the follow up, Deja Vu is available at a 50% discount at: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/298257

 

A Day Late and a Dollar Short – The February 2014 Update

The February Update of this writer’s journey is being posted on the first day in March. And so my life has been going lately.

I’ve been sucker punched and laid low by circumstances of late, but I’m learning to feint in a good way.

As of the writing of this post I’ve sent the finished novella, The Scent of a Witch, to my editor and await word before submitting to publishing companies.

Isn’t this overkill, if you aren’t self-publishing? Obviously, even the tiniest e-publisher provides both an editor and a proofreader at no cost to the author.

But we can all miss something or multiple somethings and garner a sales-stopping review like this three star comment by Long and Short Reviews of my short story One Stormy Night:

Repeated typos and grammar and spelling errors lead me to give this novella a lower rating than it would have otherwise received. While it was easy to figure out what author intended to say most of the time, the actual meanings of a few sentences remain a mystery to me.

Can I blame the editor or the publisher?

No. Ultimately, it was my name attached to this work and I have resolved to work harder.

I want to make it as a writer and no matter how good the story is and how welled developed the characters are, honestly I have to write at my grammatical best. If that means hiring an editor prior to submitting to a publishing company then so be it. The megalomaniac inside myself can rip her hands from the steering wheel of our career and enjoy an iced coffee.

Lovers of One Stormy Night, you’ll be able to read an error free edition of this short story or maybe you’ll join me as I grow with my next entry inside the world of romance.

***Unedited Excerpt: The Scent of A Witch***

“I couldn’t leave you in the visitor’s room, Adua.”

“Don’t call me that. My name is Ada.”

“Ada.” He lifted her chin up into his hands, stroked his fingers down her throat.

Her skin blazed with the touch and she scooted away from it. This was no time be thinking about how even his gaze warmed her insides and how she would love to trace her fingers over the ridges of his abdomen. Never had the desire for one person been this strong. Concentrate, idiot. “Why did you bring me here?”

“You fainted. Fatima elongated the state of unconsciousness. She is also Ngali.”

Also Ngali. A witch like me. Ada swallowed the impending snicker. If she starting laughing again she might never stop. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“Why did I bring you here? I wanted to make sure you were safe. There is the possibility that you may experience some…some discomfort as your power grows.”

“Like what?”

“Visions.” He turned away from her and stared out of the window. With his face in profile, his hair was as dark as she’d imagined last night and more beautiful in the shimmery light filtering in through the window. “They can be overwhelming at times.”

Visions? Like the one she’d experienced the first time she saw him.

Without a second thought, she moved her hand through his hair, lifting and twirling the silky strands with her fingers. “Was that all?” She leaned close to him, breathing in his intoxicating scent until she was almost panting. “Was that the only reason?”

“No,” he growled deep and low. “I want what you want.” Ewan placed his hands at her sides, his nearness sending a delightful tingle down her spine. He kissed her.

Unlike before, she could respond. Ada parted her lips for the slow entrance of his tongue. Ewan tickled the insides of her cheeks and swept across the roof of her mouth, languidly stoking the fire already melting her core.

Suddenly it was alright. This she could understand – the heated kiss and his moans of pleasure echoing in the moonlit room.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Today, I’ll be hanging out with my kids as hubby is away on a sales trip and won’t be home until Sunday. Of course I got the chocolate before he left. Now that’s not romantic in any fashion, but that’s my life.

Thank goodness, I have the fictional life of others to make me all warm and fuzzy on Valentine’s Day even though I get the all the pillows for the next few nights.

***The Couple***

If you haven’t met Darcey and Vincent, I think they may be having a spectacular Valentine’s Day…and night.

Darcey St. Claire met Vincent Guidry in a posh hotel in New Orleans on New Year’s Eve. Though he was fourteen years her senior and her VIP client, the naturally flirtatious Darcey couldn’t stay away from the handsome former quarterback.

She broke the cardinal rule of hotel sales – You don’t sleep with your client.

Vincent made that part easy with his gleaming blue eyes, rock hard body, and attitude which said he was entitled to have anything he wanted.

In the follow up to their steamy meeting, Vincent Guidry gave up on the thought of Darcey as a casual fling. The young woman had rooted herself into his thoughts and refused to budge.

He’d showered her with everything his wealth could provide and yet she pushed away from him at every turn. Though her copper eyes sparkled, he hadn’t missed the glint of sadness.

What he wouldn’t give to wipe it away.

Their story is done but I don’t think Vincent is done with the showering of gifts for this woman. What is Darcey getting for Valentine’s Day? Here’s a few hints to help with your answers.

• Vincent’s first gift to Darcey was a set of platinum earrings with pink diamond centers.
• Darcey is a first generation American. Her father is from Jamaica and her mother is from England.
• Vincent has never traveled outside of the US.
• Darcey is a huge fan of the Miami Dolphins.
• Darcey is a clothes whore. This is the woman who would rather shop than eat.

There you are readers, for your chance to win a $10.00 iTunes gift card to be sent via US mail, tell me what Vincent is getting Darcey for Valentine’s Day.

The winner will be chosen at random by Random.org among those who answer the question. The winner will be contacted by Vallory Vance via email so be sure to leave your email addy.

Winner will be announced on Monday, February 17th. Another holiday? Maybe he’ll do something really big!

~Val

The Things that Hurt

The Things that Hurt.