Showing posts with label daily life of a romance author. Show all posts
Showing posts with label daily life of a romance author. Show all posts

Friday, 25 February 2022

Cover Refresh and Read An Ebook Week March 6 - 12!

 


Hello lovely people!

We had no idea how much we liked seeing people until we couldn't see people by order of the Health Department.

It is snowing heavily outside our window and it's hard to believe spring will ever return - or normal life - or peace on Earth - but it will. In the meantime, we have books to read. 

Much of this month was spent pondering the direction of romance cover art and consequently, we took a bold move in redesigning the covers for Constance Kent's Victorian Villains Saga. They have a broody gothic vibe that is fresh and right for a contemporary readership. Check them out on the Victorian Villains page and please let us know what you think! 

We were influenced by some change-makers in the genre, Julia Quinn's covers being one, to take the leap away from the style of forty years ago and into the present. Every series got a refresh and we're pretty happy with the result. 

The other exciting event on the horizon is Read An Ebook Week on Smashwords from March 6 to March 12, 2022.

This incredible sale of ebooks in every genre and sub-genre imaginable attracts thousands of readers each year from all over the globe. 

Evelyn Ellis has enrolled Forbidden, Passion, Obsession and Cherry Pop into the sale. Get your copies for free using the coupon Smashwords provides at the checkout. 

Constance Kent has enrolled new titles this time around. Come, Let Me Hold You and Come Let Me Love You is contemporary New Adult romance. Click on the American Gothic Contemporary Romance tab in the header to learn more about this new series of standalone fiction. 

Two of the three titles in Miss Kent's new medieval erotic romance, Mortain and Bedwyr Novella Trilogy are enrolled. Hidden in the Shadows and Whispers in the Fog are free with a coupon. But you'll have to buy the third novella, Revealed in the Mist to see how it all works out. Hah! We're evil.

Hey, it's a BOGO plus one!  Buy One, Get Two Free.  

Bookmark this page to return on March 6 and conveniently claim your freebies: Links to Smashword's pages are here:

Forbidden, Passion, Obsession - Erotica

Cherry Pop - Erotica

Come, Let Me Love You - New Adult contemporary romance

Come, Let Me Hold You - New Adult contemporary romance

Hidden in the Shadows - Medieval Erotic Romance Novella

Whispers in the Fog - Medieval Erotic Romance Novella

See you there and happy reading!

Wednesday, 15 January 2020

Retiring from Romance Adieu!

I'll begin by saying a heartfelt thank you to the amazingly vibrant romance reading community. Thank you for the years of feedback, messages, reviews (good and bad), steady sales, and the room to explore a world of dark and troubled lovers.

After a fun, hectic and adventurous five years, I'm retiring. Romance is a joy to write but to remain in the black, an author has to produce a lot of books in a short space of time.

I was mulling over my next series idea when I realized I wasn't interested in writing it. When I don't care about my subject, writing becomes a chore. Cranking out books for the sake of sales isn't for me. I thought the joy would come back, but so far it hasn't. My last romance (The Earl's Son) was published in December 2018.

Catherine Lloyd is my pen name. Unfortunately, it is the real name of a mystery author in the UK. I'm sure she was as dismayed by the mix-up as I was. Retiring is the right thing to do for that reason alone. 

It's bittersweet saying good-bye to this genre. It has given me so much in the past five years and that's because of the readers. You have renewed my confidence in my writing, provided me with a small income to keep writing and offered critical feedback. No wonder romance readers are the engine of the publishing world. 

I love you all. I thank you all. Good bye and God bless!

Catherine Lloyd

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, folks--that's the end of Writewood Creations. We will be closing up shop. Evelyn Ellis retired in 2017 and with Catherine Lloyd sailing off into the sunset, we are going to do the same.

It's been a blast. Thank you to Kindle Direct Publishing, Kobo, Smashwords, and Google Play for creating platforms for small publishers to reach readers. 

We had the time of our lives and we owe it all to you....

Writewood Creations

Monday, 2 January 2017

Hey! 2017 called and they want their book.

Happy New Year to our beloved readers! We are back! Recovering from the onslaught that is Christmas and back at the keyboard to bring in the final book in the Victorian Villains Saga ~ Wracker's Cove.

From Catherine Lloyd:

"I have a good excuse for the two week delay in launching Wracker's Cove. I had to stop work for a week in October and then again in November to watch my grandsons while their parents dealt with unforeseen scheduling issues. My mother-in-law did it for me when my kids were small and now I do it for my kids. Consequently, Wracker's Cove was pushed back to January 13 for release. I know it'll be worth the wait for followers of this saga. It's a nail-biter, bringing the four sons together to break the curse together or die trying."

"What is bred in the bone will come out in the flesh..."

Connor Black’s efforts to fight his father’s curse by taking work as a lighthouse keeper are derailed when a young woman washes up on shore, the victim of a shipwreck. Suffering from amnesia, Emily Axelrod is glad to take refuge with the reserved but beautiful Connor Black. Soon her rescuer becomes her all-in-all and his lust for her is equally all-consuming. Emily welcomes his passion until she discovers she bears an uncanny resemblance to a girl from Connor’s past. A girl named Alice who died under mysterious circumstances.


2017 book sales and release news


January 9-16: Windemere Hall goes on sale for 0.99 from $3.99. Depending on your time zone, the sale may appear on the 10th but the price will hold until the 16th. Or borrow it in Kindle Unlimited. Reviews are gladly accepted! (especially if you enjoyed the story ☺)

January 13-21: Launch of Wracker's Cove at 0.99 (reg. price is $3.99). Buy it for a song or borrow it in Kindle Unlimited until April. And please do leave a brief review if possible. We know it's a pain at times to analyze a book after we've just finished it. Amazon is good at prodding us to leave reviews because honest opinions (even negative ones) help customers make good choices and lessens disappointment. It's a grassroots word-of-mouth and quite democratic so many thanks for participating!

January-February Kindle Unlimited Titles: Readers will have noticed that some of the novella-length installments of Victorian Villains Saga are no longer available in Kindle Unlimited. The titles listed below are exiting Kindle Unlimited throughout January and February but will be available for sale at 0.99.

Betrothed, Betrayed, Beguiled ~ Windemere Hall Trilogy
Hidden in the Shadows, Whispers in the Fog, Revealed in the Mist ~ Mark of Caine Trilogy
Love Torn, Love Lost, Love Conquered ~ The Master of Cliff House Trilogy

The trilogies have been compiled into full length books. Windemere Hall, Mark of Caine are available to borrow in Kindle Unlimited until February 28thThe Master of Cliff House is available until February 18th. Wracker's Cove will be available to borrow in Kindle Unlimited until April 15th. 

Victorian Villains Saga will be available at Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play and Smashwords in March 2017.

Coming in 2017....


From Catherine Lloyd: 

After research and wrangling with seductive characters and plot lines demanding to be told, Catherine Lloyd has pitched us a Scottish historical romance that is different from any Scottish historical romance we've ever read. There are no bare-chested Highlanders for one thing.

The premise is two young people from warring clans who are given in marriage as part of a peace treaty. They seriously dislike each other and as she is only seventeen and he is not much older, they decide to pretend to have consummated the union to get their warring parents off their backs. 

When forces greater than themselves drive the teenagers to defend their home, they come to depend upon each other, transforming to wary allies in a world gone mad, but one in which they have carved out a measure of freedom and would rather die than give it up. 

The story is in the planning stages as a trilogy and don't expect to find hot sex scenes in the first book, Catherine warns. Given their age and genuine dislike they have for each other (as only teenagers can) their love story has a rocky beginning. The author has not revealed if they succeed in their quest to find happiness, peace and true love. Do they survive? She won't say.

Title is TBA. Watch this space or follow Catherine Lloyd on Amazon or Smashwords to be apprised of new releases.

From Evelyn Ellis:

Whew! What a year it has been for our friend, Evelyn. She is woefully behind with her promised Man of the House sequels, but she has submitted the first chapters of Man of the House Pays a Call and it is enticing. So much so that we have locked her in the office in front of the computer to get it finished. 

Here is a brief glimpse:

THE GRISLY death of the first girl was put down to a lovers’ quarrel but when the second body turned up with the same dreadful disembowelment, Chief Inspector Wax began to look for a serial killer.
   Molly Knight listened with only half-an ear to Sir Blackwell’s morning ritual of reading the newspaper. He was particularly fond of the broadsheets and Penny Dreadful for his tastes ran to the lurid and sensational. She absently addressed the issue of young Reginald’s table manners with a gentle rebuke that would be ignored by the eleven-year-old monster. The boy was permitted to rule the roost since his mother died; with only a feeble-minded auntie and a tippling nurse to discipline him. His father was too important and too busy to take an interest in his son. As Sir Hugo Blackwell liked to say, he had hired women to do that for him.
   Molly’s current position as governess to a mean little brute made her nostalgic for the schoolroom in the Jekyll house on Harrington Street. She wondered how Peter and Millicent were getting along. They too had lost their mother and endured an absent father.
   But Molly would not return to Dr. Jekyll’s employ. Not after what she had witnessed and what he had done to her when he was under the influence of Mr. Hyde. She knew he was not wholly responsible and her participation in the experiment took some of the blame off his shoulders.
   Molly struggled to further validate her reasons for abandoning him so soon after Felicity was killed and found she could not. There was one reason—a simple one. She had fallen in love with Dr. Jekyll but he would only make love to her when he was the vile Mr. Hyde.
   Hyde needed her, craved her, desired her above all else but it was Jekyll she wanted. Sadly, Dr. Jekyll only wanted Molly to use the power she had over Hyde to control the beast he had within.
   It was all very psychological and complicated. It gave Molly a headache. One thing was clear: Jekyll was experimenting with his potion again and Hyde had re-emerged.
   The deaths in Hyde Park were his calling card.
   “Who the devil is that?” grumbled Sir Hugo from behind his paper.
   Molly followed her employer’s stare. Outside the window, on the pavement across the street, a man in a long black cloak and wearing a top hat was pacing to and fro.

Set in 1879 London, England. The Man of the House Pays a Call is the second novella in a trilogy about the wholesome Dr. Jekyll and his depraved alter-ego, Mr. Hyde. Molly Knight has left the employment of Dr. Jekyll after the tragic death of his wife, Felicity. The nineteen-year-old governess has accepted a position with noted Egyptologist, Sir Hugo Blackwell. Her nightmares have just begun to subside when attacks are reported in Hyde Park. Molly suspects that Dr. Jekyll had been experimenting again and reawakened the notorious Mr. Hyde. Added to her problems is the anxiety caused by her new employer when a sarcophagus at the museum is found opened and its contents have gone missing.

The Man of the House series will be available to borrow in Kindle Unlimited in 2017 and on sale for 0.99 for a limited time. Check out The Man of the House (soon to be in Kindle Unlimited) or buy it for $2.99 if you really cannot wait. 

And that's all we have for now! Weight loss for 2016 was 10 pounds and holding. Yippee! Go hungry, ladies. It works. Feeling just a tiny bit deprived is a good thing. It doesn't last long and the pounds come off without exercise. (Office Resolution for 2017: take a daily walk and work on core strength.)

Wishing our readers a joyous 2017 and when trouble comes (as it inevitably will) remember this too shall pass. 

Writewood Creations










Friday, 23 September 2016

Will the real Catherine Lloyd please stand up...

Romance author, Catherine Lloyd shares the same name as mystery author, Catherine Lloyd (Kurland St. Mary Mystery Series) But they are NOT the same person.

By sheer fluke (and prior to the awesomeness that is Google for research) "Catherine Lloyd" chose her pen name to write romances by amalgamating the first names of her two favorite people, never realizing the name was already taken. But as the style, voice and subject matter of the two authors are completely different, it seemed unlikely there would be any confusion.

Until poor Windemere Hall was released. A reader was disappointed to find it was not at all the book she was expecting from Catherine Lloyd, mystery author. If we wanted a traditional British mystery and we got a brooding, dark anti-hero romance, we would be irked too.

(However, we quibble with the reviewer's comment that the heroine, Clara, is a dimwit. Given the status and power of women in the Victorian Age, her choices are not gloriously abundant. She makes the best one she can in her circumstance. How this terrible choice changes her and develops her strengths is the theme of the story. How the villain, Branson, matures into a man she admires is the heart of the story. But we digress...)

The reviews of the trilogy installments (Betrothed, Betrayed, Beguiled) indicate the story is not at fault, only confusion in authorship. Catherine Lloyd regrets the trouble her pen name has caused. For romance readers who crave a darker, suspenseful historical romance (and can comprehend that women were not emancipated from fathers or husbands in 1867) Windemere Hall  will (we hope!) satisfy that craving.

Own Windemere Hall for $2.99

Borrow it through Kindle Unlimited until October 30, 2016

Print Edition is available through CreateSpace Book Store, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other independent sellers.


Thursday, 25 August 2016

New Release!

This is why we should WAIT before making any sweeping changes to a publishing plan. After a minor panic attack about not being able to follow through with Victorian Villains Saga via the serial format (due to a shoulder injury) --- NEWS FLASH --- the shoulder healed and Catherine Lloyd wanted to keep going with the "Penny Dreadful" style of release:

"The tone of gothic romance is suited to the cliffhanger narrative. I like the novella format to compact a tight, breathless romance with suspense. The shoulder is feeling better and publishing a novella every 2 or 3 weeks suits my lifestyle at the moment with children coming and going. So, I am back at it!"

Kicking off the third trilogy in Catherine Lloyd's Victorian Villains Saga is LOVE TORN ~ The Master of Cliff House Trilogy ~ Available for purchase on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited.

“What is bred in the bone will come out in the flesh...”

Jenny Raine, the bookish 19-year-old widow of Sir Richard Raine, is shattered to learn that a distant cousin, Jackson Zephyr, has inherited Cliff House. Jenny was engaged as Sir Richard’s secretary before their marriage and will be homeless if she is evicted from the estate. But the handsome new master is unmoved by her plight. Zephyr is a career thief who has his eye on one prize: stolen gold from a long-ago heist that was hidden on the property. When his predecessor’s beautiful, strange widow thwarts his plans, Jackson applies pressure to break Jenny’s will and she is forced to reveal a shameful secret. The knowledge gives him power over the young woman until a sinister threat arises that pushes them into a passionate alliance.

Love Torn is the first novella in The Master of Cliff House Trilogy, launching the third installment of Catherine Lloyd’s Victorian Villains Saga. Four villainous fathers drowned at sea curse their four sons with greed, murder, lust and pride. Set in 1867 England, this steamy, suspenseful saga is written in the classic gothic romance tradition of Victoria Holt and Phyllis A. Whitney. The novellas will be released in installments like the “penny dreadful” of the Age. Each episode ends in a cliff-hanger. Love Torn contains scenes, language and themes written for a mature audience.

Monday, 20 June 2016

Mark of Caine Book Three Released Today!

"Revealed in the Mist"


The third and final installment in the Mark of Caine Trilogy

In the misty month of October, Tanner Caine crosses paths with his abandoned bride, Laura Mayhew. Laura's feelings for Caine run deeper than ever and when she discovers he is in love with her, she defies fate to be with him. Tanner refuses to put her life at risk a second time but a new threat surfaces forcing him to act. Caine must beat the curse laid on him by his father or Laura will hang.



From the Author:

"Bring on summer! I'm ready for a mojito. Tanner and Laura really put me through the fire. In the middle of writing their story, my left shoulder became painfully useless and typing was impossible. While I told myself it was okay--lives were not lost--it felt like two lives hung in the balance waiting for the author to get writing again. Just as I was getting back into the swing, a family emergency arose. Again, nothing critical, but Tanner and Laura had to sit it out.

At last, I was able to sit down and dedicate time to writing their story and it was GREAT. I'm thrilled the final installment of their story is released today in time for the lazy days of summer! 

The experience made me realize it is too risky releasing in installments. So, the final two books in the Victorian Villains Saga will be full-length novels. Thank you for following along with the serial format since February. It was exciting as a writer to see where the story was going to twist next and I hope it was as much fun for you as it was for me." ~ Catherine Lloyd

Next in the series: The Master of Cliff House

Jackson Zephyr is the new master of Cliff House. Handsome and charming, he is a master thief who has stumbled across the haul of his career if he can only evict of the current occupant of Cliff House. Jennifer Raine is a beautiful girl with a dark secret and a mysterious past. She stands in the way of all that Jackson desires to possess--until he desires to possess her and discovers he cannot.

Anticipated Release: August 2016 




Wednesday, 24 February 2016

Weight Loss and Romance

We here at Writewood Creations have been trying to lose ten pounds (each) for literally years and we've discovered a certain level of starvation is required to pull this off for inactive women in their fifties. We don't care what the diet gurus say--our research shows we lose weight when we are hungry. As in starving. So hungry that a lunch of vegetable soup tastes out of this world. (For instance, I'm really hungry now and I can't wait for my poached egg on whole grain toast. Can. Not. Wait.)

There's no other way. We don't like to exercise, especially in the winter. A collective shudder goes through the office when someone suggests a walk at noon. ("In this? Are you well?") So that's out. Hunger is the only way to whittle those pounds down. Our motto is: "If you are not hungry, you're doing it wrong."

But we've noticed an overall increase in our testiness since we started this thing. Publishing is a cranky business at the best of times. Lots of snark and general irritating nit-picky stuff to deal with. We used to console ourselves with vats of red wine and chocolate Easter bunnies. Cabbage soup doesn't have the same soothing effect as a good-old bag of Hershey's Kisses. And the worst thing is, this semi-starved state will have to be permanent. The new world order. We just can't eat like we did in our twenties.

Does reading romance novels help us stay the course? Here are our completely unscientific results from the past month. We discovered:

1) Reading warm-to-hot love stories cheered us up and helped us unwind at the end of the day.
2) Romance novels are calorie-free. You burn calories reading a book!
3) Reading an engrossing romance distracted us from being hungry and kept us out of the fridge.
4) Romantic love stories made us more amorous with our husbands. Everyone knows sex burns calories.
5) We believe reading romance stimulates the pleasure centers of the brain and reduced our cravings.

Total weight lost: 7 pounds.

Craving a doughnut? Pick up a romance instead! The craving will pass and you'll be an hour or two closer to bedtime and another day done without blowing your diet. We've got this!