Taste of Kiwi: Blog of Author Shelley Munro

I’ve had a bit of a rough week and took myself off to the doctor today. Since I’m not feeling too clever, I thought it was the perfect time to revisit some of my favorite posts from the past.

1. Classic Romance Plots – The secret of writing a great romance is to take a classic plot and twist it to make the story unique…

2. Penises in Paranormals – the curious case of interesting bits…

3. Gifts for writers – is there a special person in your life who writes?

4. Collaborative Writing Partnerships – the wonderful Josh Lanyon and Laura Baumbach share their experiences…

5. Marcia James shares her views and ideas about promo for writers…

6. Do you like paranormal romances featuring feline shapeshifters? I discuss some of my favorites…

I leave you with a puzzle of sorts. Male writers are from _______, Female writers are from _______.

What would you put in the blank spaces?

I really admire the people who review books–it’s a job I couldn’t do. I have to admit that before I wrote, I never read them. These days I read my own, of course, but I’ll usually flick through the other reviews that come through at the same time. A review doesn’t usually sway my purchases, but if I see lots of good reviews, sometimes I do get tempted to buy. I never search for reviews before I buy a book. Do you check out reviews before you purchase a book?

I’ve received reviews recently for House of the Cat and Make That Man Mine.

Megan at Veiled Secret Reviews says, “With an abundance of lovable characters playing against a backdrop of stars and alien worlds House of the Cat is a rollicking thrill ride that will keep you turning page after page…With so many secondary characters steeling your heart and the mystery of Ry’s origins to unravel I can only hope that Ms. Munro plans another visit to the exciting world of House of the Cat.” 4 Dragons. Read the full review here.

Hockeyvamp at Bitten by Books says, “I was totally enthralled with this short novella from start to finish. The erotic play between the two main characters was both flirtatious and arousing. The perceptions of themselves as less than desirable because of the flaws they saw within themselves could be both accepted and desired by the other. I only wish that this had been a full length novel as the sexy and fun banter between the main characters was very entertaining.” 4 1/2 Tombstones. Read the full review here.

In sale news, my story Wild Child has been chosen as one of the stories in All Romance ebooks’s 28 Days of Heart charity campaign to benefit the American Heart Association. The stories will be released in February 2010 and Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse series is doing the forward. Very exciting!

The Great Book Trailer contest commences at JK Coi’s blog today. JK has posted all the entries she’s received, including my trailer for Leticia’s Lovers. I’d love your vote.
There is a prize for the winning author and everyone who comments/votes will be entered in a contest to win a prize as well! One vote is allowed per person.

When we first married, my husband was a part owner of a thoroughbred race horse. The filly named Paul’s Gold won 13 races and placed in others before being sold as a broodmare. We still have photos hanging in our garage of her winning races.

Racing is an old sport. It’s full of both glamour and despair. Some call it a rich man’s sport. A good horse certainly isn’t cheap to either purchase or train. I remember going to the yearling sales as a child. It was an all day thing and my brother, sister and I went with our parents when they were looking for a horse to purchase. We were told to behave and not to fidget while the auctions took place. I took my parents’ stern warnings to heart and was always afraid to move in case I purchased a horse by mistake. They are beautiful animals, and I decided a while ago that I wanted to find a way of putting horses into a book.

HOUSE OF THE CAT is that book, except I don’t think a trainer from Earth would recognize the horses on the planet Ornum.

My hell-horses are black in color and look more like overgrown hyenas than their Earth counterparts. They’re savage beasts and eat meat as well as vegetation. They’re also very intelligent and are man-killers. Jockey Camryn O’Sullivan has her work cut out for her trying to train a hell-horse to win the Dowry Derby.

Buy your copy of House of the Cat from Ellora’s Cave today.

Have you ever attended the races and did you enjoy them?

NEWSFLASH

I’m blogging over at Access Romance today about ideas and where I find them for my books. Here’s the link.

What do tigers and amnesia have in common with Middlemarch?

Get your copy of CatNap, the latest instalment in my Middlemarch Mates series, today and find out.

Purchase at Jasmine Jade

Don’t forget to enter my contest to guess how many books I will read during my holiday. Go here for details.

Book eight in my Middlemarch Mates series goes on sale tomorrow.

Which tiger call do you like best?

Don’t forget to enter my contest to guess how many books I will read during my holiday. Go here for details.

My latest release LETICIA’S LOVERS is out tomorrow. It’s part of my Middlemarch Mates series about a feline shapeshifter community in the South Island of New Zealand. I love both reading and writing feline shapeshifters. There’s something about a cat that’s graceful, mysterious and beautiful at the same time. I like them because they’re independent, confident and have a touch of arrogance about them.

In celebration of feline shifters: Thirteen Feline Shifter stories.

1. Nalini Singh’s Psy series. Nalini’s both a friend and a wonderful writer. The first book in her series is called SLAVE TO SENSATION. It’s a great read and very different and original from other paranormal stories available. My favorite in the series is CARESSED BY ICE. (mostly leopard but not all)

2. MERCURY’S WAR by Lora Leigh, one of the Breeds series. I really enjoyed this one. (lion)

3. SABER-TOOTH by Jordan Summers (tiger)

4. PRIMED TO POUNCE and JAGUAR’S RULE by TJ Michaels (jaguar)

5. HUNTING THE HUNTRESS by Ember Case (lion)

6. STRAY by Rachel Vincent. This is the first book in a were-cat series. (leopard)

7. SLAVE by Cheryl Brooks. This is the first book in a futuristic series with feline-like heroes.

8. MAGIC BITES by Ilona Andrews. This isn’t exactly a shapeshifter book but one of the male characters is a lion.

9. WILD RAIN by Christine Feehan. (leopard)

10. TIGER EYE by Marjorie Liu (tiger)

11. FERAL ATTRACTION by Marie Hart and Paige McKellan (lion/cougar)

12. Middlemarch Mates: SCARLET WOMAN, PEEPING TOM, STRAY CAT STRUT, ASSASSIN, CAT AND MOUSE, CAT BURGLAR by Shelley Munro. These are the first six books in my feline shapeshifter series. (leopard – mainly black/lion)

13. LETICIA’S LOVERS by Shelley Munro – out today from Ellora’s Cave (leopard/lion)

Do you like feline shifters? If so what do you enjoy about them? Is there a different paranormal creature that floats your boat? And if you prefer contemporary romance, that’s fine. Tell me what you’re reading because contemporary romance is my second favorite thing to read.

After reading Leah Braemel’s post on making a book trailer and seeing her new trailer last week, I decided to try making one of my own. Armed with Leah’s instructions, plus the instructions I’d saved a while ago from Brenda Coulter, I started on my book trailer journey.

I enjoyed making my trailer, although Leah was right when she said it was a huge time suck. It took me all of Saturday night plus most of Sunday to get as far as I have. It’s fairly basic and I haven’t experimented much with fading pictures out etc. That will come with my next attempt. One thing I knew for sure was that I shouldn’t make my trailer too long. As a viewer of trailers, my attention wanders after one and a half minutes. I decided I needed to make my trailer as short as I could.

There are some wonderful book trailers available for viewing on Youtube and some real stinkers. I think mine fits somewhere in the middle. I’m happy with my first attempt, and I’m sure that next time will be easier because I’ve learned so much. Trial by doing!

Do you like to make book trailers? Do you have any handy hints to share on making trailers? Readers, do you enjoy watching trailers or do you run a mile when you see authors promoting them? Are there particular things you like or dislike about trailers?

I’m blogging over at Access Romance on Monday 19th January. The subject? My recent trip to Tongariro National Park. The post goes live at 6.00am. I hope you’ll pop over and say hello.

My special guest today is author Cheryl Brooks. Cheryl writes futuristic romances and I really enjoyed the first story in her Cat Star Chronicles series–Slave. Today, Cheryl is talking about the background and setting of her unique series.

When I wrote Slave, the first book in the Cat Star Chronicles series, I had Star Wars, Star Trek, and Farscape to inspire me, but for the second book, Warrior, that spark came from my love of animals, my own personal interest in the healing powers of herbs, and Practical Magic. One of my all-time favorite movies, Practical Magic was perfectly cast in every role, and the way the “aunts” dabbled in spells, herbal medicine, and people’s love lives made being an “old witch” something to aspire to—and certainly brought out the witch in me!
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