Nominations are open for Evernight Publishing’s first annual Reader’s Choice Award!

Show your favorite authors you love them and their work by nominating them here, and grab your chance to win a gift card!

Nominations kick off November 1st and voting opens November 17th. Winners will be announced the first week of December.

In celebration of Evernight Publishing’s three-year birthday, Romance on the Go authors Angelina Rain, Lea Bronsen and Lyn Brittan are interviewed on the review site Book Bliss today.

Check out the interview with Lea Bronsen:

Book Bliss: Every author has had a struggle, from plots not working, to publishers not being interested, what has been your greatest challenge on your journey to writing? Do you have any advice to share on how you surpassed the challenge?

Lea: My greatest handicap is writing in a foreign language, but I refuse to let it stop me from targeting the English-speaking book market. My best advice on surpassing this particular problem is to surround yourself with friends who take the time to edit your work and to consult writing groups before submitting to publishers. And—this goes for native English speakers, too—make sure you have a dictionary available at all times *smile*

Book Bliss: Of course I have to ask the timeless question, if you had to pick one author to read for the rest of your life, who would it be and why?

Lea: It would have to be Cody McFadyen, because reading his thrillers (especially the first one in the Smoky Berrett series, Shadow Man) was like an awakening. With his words, he found a way into my soul and shook me. Profoundly. His writing is top-notch, intense, and full of emotions, gore, frantic action, and suspense. It doesn’t necessarily leave me with a good feeling, but I’m the kind of person that is drawn to this genre and feeds on it.

Book Bliss: Just what does your spouse have to say when you get into writer mode during the bedroom scenes?

Lea: Ha! Good question. My husband knows I write erotic scenes but seldom reads my work, so I, ahem, make sure to compensate when I’m off writer mode…

Book Bliss: Who would you say is your author bestie? Who would you love to collaborate on a novel with?

Lea: While struggling with my debut novel last year, I met D.C. Stone, a terrific person and highly talented author who taught me the basics of the writing craft and guided me through every step of the publishing process. I’m very proud and honored to be currently collaborating on a romantic suspense novel with her!

Book Bliss: If you could live in the world you’ve created would you? Why or why not?

Lea: No, I write fictitious stories because they are fantasies that allow me to evade reality. I still make those worlds as realistic and plausible as possible in order to pull the readers into my characters’ heads and make them “live” their stories. That being said, I might want to experience some of the hotter scenes myself, too. *grins*

Book Bliss: Authors all have their own schedules and quirks when writing a novel. Some like a certain room in the house, others a certain time of the day. Do you find yourself writing better under certain circumstances?

Lea: The busy life I lead as a full-time worker and mother of three children does not allow me to schedule my writing time. I have adapted to that uncertainty by learning to focus on/off and taking notes at any available moment, on any writing device, any place.

Book Bliss: Are any of the characters in your novels based on people from your life? Care to share any that are?

Lea: All my characters have bits and pieces from real people—some are even inspired by an eye-catching look, pose, or appearance in a film/photo—but none are directly based on persons I know. Which is probably a good thing, as most of my characters are broken souls to whom I’m pretty sure no one wants to be connected 😉

Book Bliss: If you were to get stuck all alone with any one of your characters, which one and why?

Lea: Can I really pick one? *beaming* I would choose Micaela, the gorgeous, long-haired Italian bicyclist in my erotica WIP. Though I made him irresistible for my heroine, I obviously like him myself, and he’s still enough of a mysterious person for me to want to…uh…explore him a little more.

Book Bliss: What would you say the difference is between writing a novel and writing a novella? Is it harder for you to scale back and keep things concise enough for the smaller manuscript or do you sometimes find it easier?

Lea: It depends on how much detail you want to put into a story. How much backstory it needs, how long you want to dwell describing the setting and explaining emotional behaviors, how many plots you weave into the story arc, and what kind of developments your main characters require. I totally love the sense of freedom and profusion of time the novel length gives me to develop a story, but producing 80-100 K is exhausting and takes a lifetime! In comparison, hitting the submit button after just a few weeks of condensing a story into a shorter format grants a speedier process and, if you’re lucky, instant gratification.

Book Bliss: You’re forced to only read one book for the rest of your life- what is it?

Lea: I would definitely choose Ken Follett’s “The Pillars of the Earth”. This seemingly endless (1000-something pages) chronicle and its sequel are the kinds of books that reveal new layers each time you give them a read. They not only take place in a very captivating, agitated time in European history—the medieval age—but their story arcs span over several decades with a mind-blowing amount of well-developed characters, multiple intricately interwoven plots, and a wealth of detailed setting descriptions. How Mr. Follett managed to keep track of it all is beyond me!

Thanks so much for having me 🙂

Celebrate like a ROCK STAR because Evernight Publishing is THREE!

In three short years, Evernight has grown by leaps and bounds thanks to readers like you! Evernight is pulling out all the stops and throwing an extreme BIRTHDAY BASH BLOG HOP in your honor!

That’s right! It’s Evernight’s birthday but YOU get the presents…

Prizes include:

Samsung Galaxy Tab

Kindle Paperwhite

Kobo Touch

$100 Evernight and Amazon Gift Certificates

Mega Evernight Swag Pack

Plus, each author on the hop will offer his/her own special prize!

As an author, I’m thrilled to share my stories with you and Evernight helps make my books shine! Here’s one reason why I love Evernight Publishing: I’m previously indie-published and know all about the hard work to get a book out on the market. The day I joined Evernight with its dedicated staff and talented authors was a huge change in my life. I suddenly had a whole new family to help, support, and promote me! And boy do I love returning the affection 🙂

My first Evernight book, the erotic contemporary romance My Biggest Fan was released in August and I plan on writing many more:

BLURB:

Shawn Torien is a handsome, arrogant bassist with the groove rock band Bloodless. At thirty four, he’s seen everything, been everywhere, and all is handed to him on a silver plate—groupies included. His rock star attitude is questioned when the record company’s young webmistress Samantha joins the band to cover their life on the road.

Since she has crushed on Shawn for years, he takes great pleasure in teasing her and pushing her away… until he learns about the woman beneath the surface.

BUY LINKS:

Evernight Publishing | Amazon | All Romance eBooks | Bookstrand | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

EXCERPT: 

The backstage room is filling with people. Band members, roadies, management, and special guests such as family, media, and a few pre-selected fans. The place buzzes with chatting and chuckling, and I stop in the door to assess. Don’t see any eye-catching hotness yet.

Sweat runs from my head, along my back, and down my abs. My soaked shirt glues to my skin, and I stink of hour-long transpiration. I need a shower, but there’s so much else I want to do first: get a drink, a smoke, and some pussy before the tour bus leaves. None of these are allowed on board. I’m electrical, high. I need to move, and my whole body thirsts to get higher.

Next to a merchandise booth in a corner stands a table with plates of sandwiches and cut fruit, a selection of mineral water bottles, and alcoholic drinks.

“Shawn! Shawn!” Strangers rush me with expectant smiles, probably wanting me to sign CD covers or something.

But I’ve made up my mind. Ignoring them, I stride to the table, grab a can of cold beer and down it in one take. The icy beverage rushes through my throat and refreshes me. The sweaty hairs on my arms rise as if chilly air blew on them. I open another, gulp down the beer, and grab a third.

“Hey, Shawn,” a female says behind me.

I hate being interrupted, but I’ve heard that voice before. Beer in hand, I spin around.

Oh, Samantha from the record company. I don’t know if that pleases or annoys me. She’s cute, though, with long brown tendrils at shoulder-length, and hazel eyes glowing with warm intelligence.

The alcohol makes me a little tipsy; I can’t resist the want to tease her. I give her the can with a grin and proceed to take off my soaked shirt, as if it’s the most natural thing. Damp body heat and the sharp smell of sweat emanate as I lift my arms in the air, struggling to remove the wet fabric, groaning.

Once done, I drop it to the floor and cross my arms, making my well-trained muscles protrude, and scrutinize her reaction. Offering a little male sexiness has worked on most females before.

Flabbergasted is the best word to describe her face. I flash my teeth as her gaze runs over my torso. She can’t possibly be aware of her nostrils’ tiny movements, revealing her inhalation of my scent.

I let a moment pass, then ask, pointing at the can in her hands, “You gonna have that beer?”

“Oh.” She straightens with a deep breath, regains composure, looks at the brand logo on the can, and shakes her head. “No, I don’t drink alcohol at work.”

I like her voice. It’s soft, comforting, reminds me of my mother’s. But when she hands me my drink, the wolf in me wants to play. I cover her hand and tug while taking a step closer, pulling her toward me. She wears a discreet perfume, the scent of prairie flowers, I think. Her cheeks blush as she lifts her chin to meet my eyes, and her pupils grow feverish. She’s holding her breath. With my other hand, I grab her round, firm butt and press her stomach against mine.

All sounds around us vanish; the talking, the laughter. I focus on the girl in my arms. She’s not really my type, but knowing her infatuation, she’ll be an easy fuck. That’s all I need before getting on the bus. Tomorrow, it’ll be someone else.

I glance at the KISS patches on her chest. Gene Simmons once declared we’re all in this business for sex, and whoever says he does it for the music is lying. Besides, the girls beg to be screwed senseless by celebrities, so they can brag to their friends. Shawn in Bloodless slept with me! Squee!

Maybe she thinks I’m going to kiss her, but I’m not. Call me crazy, but there’s a little romantic in me saving that for a special girlfriend—if such a thing is in the cards for a guy like me. Instead, I move my hands to her denim jacket and start unbuttoning it from the top.

“You seem to need a little help with that,” I joke.

Damn, we’re so close, and her feminine heat makes my blood boil. I picture bringing her to a dark corner behind the stage curtain and having her hands on my cock. I suggestively push my hardness against her warm thighs.

She frowns and takes a step back.

No? What is it? My beer breath? I withdraw as well. Too fucking bad.

Eyes shimmering, she opens her mouth, but I turn and grab a new can. I mean, who the hell do you think you are to turn me down like that?

I gulp the whole drink, release a solid burp, and take what must be the fifth can before leaving.

_____________________

I hope you enjoyed this little read. Now, to the PRIZES!

To win my own blog prize – an ecopy of MY BIGGEST FAN – please leave an answer to the following question in the comment section:

Samantha made a terrible mistake. What do you suggest she should have done to keep her rock star hero interested?

Enter to win the GRAND PRIZES using Rafflecopter.

Hop to the NEXT STOP here.

It’s the perfect time to buy the Evernight titles on your TBR list, as well as new gems you find during the event, because Evernight’s entire backlist is on sale at evernightpublishing.com and allromanceebooks.com through October 7^th!

I’m discussing Evernight Publishing’s RotG concept and presenting my latest release My Biggest Fan on http://www.evernightonthego.blogspot.no/

______________________________________________________

Romance on the Go is a new concept for me. Having previously worked with the novel format, the task of putting a complete story into about a 10th of the usual length was one tough challenge. How would I, with just a few words, introduce each of the characters, give them enough backstory, allow them the time to develop along with the plot arc, and still be able to wrap it all up with a satisfying end? And how would I manage to give enough descriptions, atmosphere, and movement, not to mention weave in a few sub-plots to keep the read interesting?

There was no magic tool except the delete button, and boy did I scratch my head, closely monitoring the word count. Thankfully, the first person present tense allowed me to use short, concise sentences instantly relaying the main character’s thoughts, feelings, and actions. And having chosen a young male rebel’s point of view, I could skip the lengthy poetic imagery *smiles*

Critical voices complain about the shortness of the Romance on the Go titles. I agree, they are short—but that is the point. In less than a half hour, you can have your fix of romance, bedroom steam, poignant drama, happy endings, AND have the time to hate and love their sexy characters. The trick is just for us authors to compress our complete, well-developed stories without having them sound too rushed, and to balance all the usual ingredients well with a few unexpected goodies.

Check out the great review on author Anais Morgan‘s blog. Thank you, Anais!

Rock stars and the striking, captivating, and just plain irresistible darkness that surrounds each of them… check out the post on author DC Stone’s blog!

Check out the post on JessicaJayneAuthor . Thanks so much for the compliments about my story, Jessica 🙂

Check out the cool interview on DoninaLynn. Thanks so much, Donina! Shawn had a blast answering your questions.

Check out the post on AvrilAshton. Thanks for sharing my release, Avril!

Take a look at the guest post on IyanaJeanna. Thank you so much for sharing this release!

Check out the cool interview on author CR Moss’ blog. Thanks so much for having me!

Check out the cool post on SMBoyce, author of the fascinating Grimoire saga.

Check out the post on JenikaSnow. Thanks for having me on this special day, Jenika!

Check out my guest post on SamCrescent. Thank you for sharing the release of my new book, Sam!

Take a look at the post on TheTardisScribbles. Thanks for sharing my new release, Doris!

Check out the interview on CaitJarrod. Thank you so much for having me, Cait!

Take a look at her post on AuthorNikkiPrince. Thanks for sharing the release of my new book, Nikki!

Check out the cool interview on EroticTamsinBaker. Thanks for sharing the release of my new book, Tamsin!

Shawn Torien is a handsome, arrogant bassist with the groove rock band Bloodless. At thirty four, he’s seen everything, been everywhere, and all is handed to him on a silver plate, groupies included. His rock star attitude is questioned when the record company’s young webmistress Samantha joins the band to cover their life on the road. As she has crushed on Shawn for years, he takes great pleasure in teasing her and pushing her away… until he learns to know the woman beneath the surface.

Grab your copy on:

Evernight | Amazon USA | Amazon UK | All Romance eBooks | Bookstrand