Taste of Kiwi: Blog of Author Shelley Munro

Romance Divas’ free conference is excellent for all aspiring and published writers. Definitely check it out!

Not forking out the dough for the RWA Conference this year, with evening wear, suits, high heels and whatever “business casual” means?

Not to worry! Romance Divas is hosting the

Not Going to Conference Conference…

The Conference You Don’t Have to Get Out of Bed For!

From July 28-31, come hang out with some terrific, savvy authors — and you don’t even have to brush your teeth (although, seriously, good dental hygiene gets you extra points.)

We’ll be hosting panels on:

The Power of Three: A crit group tell-all (Paranormal)

Crystal Jordan

Patti O’Shea

Dayna Hart/Rowan Larke

The Lolitas of STEAMED! Present Writing the Steampunk Romance -more than leather corsets and brass goggles!

Marie-Claude Bourque

Theresa Meyers

Whips, Chains, Slings, Oh My: It Really Isn’t About the Toys (BDSM Erotica)

James Buchanan

Joey Hill

The Great Big YA Panel

Rhonda Stapleton

Shannon Delany

Kiersten White

Carrie Ryan

Linda Gerber

Saundra Mitchell

Lara Zielin

Brenna Yovanoff

Register for free at Romance Divas, then come join us on the forums for the discussions, as well as some terrific prizes:
Eden Bradley/Eve Berlin:
1) erotic e-books, THE SEEKING KISS and TEMPT ME TWICE.
2) a synopsis critique in any sub-genre of erotica/erotic romance.
Jax Cassidy:
1) erotic e-books, DEVIL’S HEART and BRUSH STROKES.
2) book cover design or banner ad
Kristen Painter:
copy of her e-book, ALL FIRED UP
Rhonda Stapleton:
1) STUPID CUPID YA Book trilogy
2) a proposal critique (1st 3 chapters and synopsis) for any genre of book, romance or not
K.B. Alan:
1) The choice of one of her e-books: PERFECT FORMATION, ALPHA TURNED or BOUND BY SUNLIGHT.
2) A $25 Barnes and Noble gift card.
Robin L. Rotham: Signed copies of BIG TEMPTATION, ALIEN OVERNIGHT, and ENEMY OVERNIGHT
AJ Chase: copies of e-book CAT AND MOUSE
Inez Kelley:
1) e-book package of both MYLA BY MOONLIGHT and SALOME AT SUNRISE
2) The complete Dirty Laundry Series (3 e-novellas) co-written by Ginny Glass aka Wordsugar and Inez Kelley
Kate Pearce:
1) a three chapter ~and~ synopsis critique-any erotic romance, paranormal romance or historical romance.
2) Winners choice, in either print or e-book format (if available), of a set of the Simply series (there are 5) ~or~ a set of the Cowboys (there are 3) ~or~ a copy of KISS OF THE ROSE-readers choice.
R.G. Alexander:
Winners choice of any two e-books from her Samhain or Ellora’s Cave back list
Nadia Lee:
Critique of 1st chapter & synopsis-paranormal or contemporary romance
Shelley Munro: Winners choice of any one her backlist books from Ellora’s Cave or Cerridwen Press
Ciar Cullen: Winner’s choice of any one e-book on her website.
Voirey Linger: A copy of her e-book RISKING ETERNITY
RF Long:
1) a submission package critique (letter, synopsis and 3 chapters)
2) e-books! (details TBA)
Crystal Jordan:
1) 1st chapter and synopsis critique
2) One copy of any e-book off her Samhain backlist (http://samhainpublis…/crystal-jordan)
3) One copy of IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (print or electronic, winner’s choice)
Jeannie Lin:
1) a first chapter critique, any genre
2) an official BUTTERFLY SWORDS souvenir charm
Elise Logan: Winner’s choice of any e-book from her backlist
Marguerite Labbe:
1) A critique of an m/m story
2) Signed copies of her m/m vampire trilogy MY HEART IS WITHIN YOU, HAUNTED BY YOUR SOUL and OUR SACRED BALANCE
Seeley DeBorn:
One jar of home made body or face scrub, customized to the winner’s preferences and skin type.
For example: Orange Spice Oatmeal, Coffee-Cocoa, Citrus Salt, Lavender Mint, Honey and Flax
Sela Carsen: a copy of her e-book CAROLINA WOLF
Hailey Edwards:
1) a copy of her sweet fantasy romance ebook, EVERLONG.
2) two five dollar MBaM gift cards
Charlotte McClain:
Copy of her two e-books, LOVE TO DECLARE and ROCK STAR’S RETREAT
Cynthia Justlin: (Golden Heart Finalist!) Proposal Critique (3 Chapters and synopsis)-any genre other than erotic
Lainey Bancroft:
1) signed copies of her contemporary romance, THE TROUBLE WITH TESSA and her chick lit romance COZUMEL KARMA
2) Proposal critique (3 chapters and a synopsis) any genre except Steampunk
Tina Burns-Publisher-Liquid Silver Books:
1) a critique of 1st 3 chapters & synopsis
2) 3 be-book prizes for 3 different winners! Winners choice of any one e-book download from LSB library.
Mima:
Winner’s choice of one e-book from her backlist-see her website for booklist.
Taneasha: handmade jewelry by our own Taneasha-details to come!
Barbara Sheridan:
1) Winners choice of one e-book from her backlist-see her website for booklist.
2) Critique of up to 20 pages of either M/M, or M/F romance or erotic romance in various subgenres (contemporary, historical, paranormal or suspense/mystery)
David Bridger:
A copy of his ebook BEAUTY AND THE BASTARD
Victoria Janssen:
3 print books TBA (whatever she finds at the RWA Conference)
Gemma Halliday:
Signed copy of SCANDAL SHEET
Jennifer Leeland/Jennifer McKenzie:
1) copy of her e-book MARKED FOR PLEASURE (Kindle version available upon request)
2) copy of her e-book MARKED FOR DESIRE (Releasing June 29th) (Kindle version available upon request)
3) copy of her e-books The Command Series (Trilogy)
4)copy of her BDSM e-book series (3 from TWRP and 1 from Samhain)
Emily Ryan-Davis:
1) Critique of novella-length (up to 30k) manuscript; any time period, m/f, menage, f/f (m/m not her area of expertise)
2) signed print copies of her anthology: MATING CALL, DRAGON DANCE and DRAGON BOUND
3) e-book copy of CHANGING THUMBELINA
Sabrina Darby:
1) Signed copy of her erotic historical novel, ON THESE SILKEN SHEETS
2) Critique of first thirty pages of any Regency (erotic or non erotic fine, but m/m outside my area of expertise)
Alina Morgan:
1) copy of her e-book The Twilight Deception
2) copy of her e-book The Shadow Unveiled
Debbie Mumford:
1) Critique of a synopsis
2) Winner’s choice of any e-book from her back list.
Kimberly Troutte:
1) copy of her e-book SOUL STEALER
2) copy of her e-book CATCH ME IN CASTILE
Sasha Devlin:
1 pair of hand made writing mitts or gloves-style and color TBD by the winner
Julia Knight
Winner’s choice of one copy of any of her books available in e-book format

My special guest today is debut author, David Bridger. I’m thrilled to introduce you to David and his first book, Beauty and the Bastard, which is available now from Liquid Silver Publishing. Today he’s talking about quiet experts, trees and romance.

Thank you for inviting me here today, Shelley. It’s an honour to be here with you.

I live with my wife and our daughters in a house on a quiet leafy avenue, halfway up one side of a wooded valley on the south Devon coast, in England’s West Country.

My Royal Navy career moved us around the world regularly, so we experienced life in a lot of places before deciding to settle here. The mild climate is just about perfect for us, although of course we moan about it if summer stays wet from spring to autumn, and it keeps our valley green and luscious.

It keeps the Plane trees that line our avenue growing vigorously, which is fine by me but not so popular with everyone else – including my wife and our next-door neighbour.

I love those trees. They were planted when the road was laid and the houses built, which happened to be the same year I was born, which makes it a damn good year in my book. But that’s only an incidental. The real reason I love them is that for several bedbound years, while I worked through pain to recover movement and mobility after an injury, those trees were all I saw of the world beyond my bedroom window.

In spring, I watched wood pigeons nesting in the crook of two thick branches only a few feet away from my pillow, and enjoyed their little families while they grew and flew as life budded and burst open all around them.

In summer, heavy foliage filled my vision and shaded the inside of my bedroom a lovely cool green, and middle-of-the-night rain storms turned into soothing percussion symphonies, and squirrels poked their cheeky faces out to chuckle at me while they chased one another round and round.

In autumn, spectacular golds and reds framed the ever-changing landscape that opened up to me as the valley became visible again, and the afternoon sound of my girls swishing home from school through mounds of fallen leaves rose to my ears.

In winter, I sketched the architecture of the trees and marvelled at their supple fortitude when gales thundered in from the ocean and battered them without mercy for weeks on end.

And round again into spring.

I built a relationship with the trees. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not a tree-hugger. Okay, so maybe I have hugged them once or twice. Don’t tell anyone, okay? They mean a lot to me.

But not everyone feels the same way. My wife and our neighbour get their knickers in a twist about the trees every two or three years, when their branches grow long enough to tap at our upstairs windows and rap on our roof tiles.

They’re protected, though, so no one except the local council is allowed to touch them. And the local council is always strapped for cash so the pollarding doesn’t happen as frequently as certain people would like it to.

Which is good news. I remember my distress the first time I watched a gang of men cutting the branches back hard and removing the top third or so of the trunk, two or three years after we moved in here. Can trees scream, or was it only the chain saws I heard? I didn’t know then, and I’m still not certain now.

Next time, five years later, I spoke to the man in charge of the council department. I was out of bed and in a wheelchair by then, re-emerging into the world and on my way to getting back on my feet. He was new in the job and I was impressed at his knowledge. He agreed with me that the previous pollarding had involved unnecessary savagery, and explained his methodology, which was all about encouraging healthy growth in the trees rather than simply hacking back an expensive nuisance.

When my wife and our neighbour telephoned yesterday to complain that the trees need cutting back again, I was happy to discover that he is still in his job. He told them politely but firmly that the trees are pollinating right now, so the pollarding will have to wait another four weeks or so. Good man!

You know, I really like meeting quiet experts.

I love meeting them in the world of romantic fiction.

This morning I walked in on a conversation between two of my publishing industry friends, who were talking about romance novels and sharing a condescending chuckle.

Now, these are good men. Pleasant, intelligent, well-adjusted men. I respect them and value their friendship. But right then? Well, you know.

The romance world is full of experts, people who know exactly what they want and people who know exactly how to deliver it, and none of them deserve the condescension of people on the outside who don’t actually know what they’re talking about.

Romance readers are absolutely experts. Anyone would have to go a long way to find another group of readers more knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their chosen genre. Romance readers definitely know what they like.

Romance publishers are experts. At every stage of the publishing process, experts work hard to offer readers an astonishing variety of wonderful treasures.

In the romance world, readers and authors are respected, well-treated and happy, and who can ask for more than that?

I suggested to my friends that all these experts – readers, authors, editors in their various roles, and cover artists – seem to be doing it just right. Because romance is booming while most other segments of the publishing industry are only farting.

I love being a romance author. I’m proud of our industry and I love the people who make it what it is.

That’s you. Thank you!

You can buy David’s debut book now from Liquid Silver Books.

Saul the Bastard is a fallen angel who works as a bounty hunter for powerful urban demon families. Rebecca Drake, a modern day demon princess, is being hunted by dangerous desert demons. When Rebecca’s family hires Saul to protect her, they are both unhappy with the arrangement, but before long sparks fly as they try to resist their strong mutual attraction. For the first time in living memory, Saul has someone to love; someone he is scared of losing; someone the desert demons have marked to be their next sacrifice.

Read an excerpt.

CONTEST: I thought I’d give away a download of David’s debut book to one person who comments on this post or asks David a question about his book or writing. I’ll choose the winner tomorrow.