Story Behind the Story - Not Anymore by Em Woods

Not Anymore by Em Woods

Stats - Submitted to Total-E-Bound Publishing on March 22, 2010. Contracted on April 1, 2010. Released on September 27, 2010.

Little Known Fact - Logan and Dan were so easy to write. They practically poured onto the paper! But they started out in first person. Which turned out to be both a blessing and a curse. LOL. On one hand, oh man, it needed work! But on the other, the editor from another digital publisher thought it was worth enough to send a page & a half rejection letter , which basically said, “Go third person and this is a winner”. She was right.

Extremely Little Known Fact – Logan’s name started out as Matthew. As it turns out, the only request dear hubby has ever made is related to this. He read the opening scene and said, “Honey, I love you. But can we not name characters after our kids?” Um…. Yeah. I can accommodate that. LOL.

How did I get the idea for the book? - I frequent a Writer’s Digest blog called Promptly, and one of the prompts there sprouted this story. It’s truly a testament that you never know where a great idea or story will come from. This one came from five-hundred words or less.

If I could edit the book now, what would I change? – Hhmm… I have to say that I’d like to describe the waterfall scene in more detail. And to make it longer. Logan and Dan are so amazing that I would have liked to give them more airtime. But there’s a next in that series with their friend Jared… so we’ll see them again!

Miscellaneous Stuff – I received the offer for the book just after midnight on April 1st… I swear I sat and stared at the email for hours waiting on the words to change or a follow-up email saying, “April Fool’s!” *grin* But all that came was the contract. Whew!

And of course, I have to echo Andi Anderson’s words in that Ava is a wonderful person who encourages newbies like us to keep at it. Thanks, Ava, both for the encouragement and the opportunity to guest blog today.

Not Anymore - Now Available from Total E-Bound
Programmer Dan Perry needs a vacation. He talks his boss into giving him a week off to fly to Hawaii with his sister and her boyfriend. He knows he’ll be the third wheel but he has to get out of the office and away from his abusive ex.

As the second partner in the software firm where Dan works, Logan has wanted him from a distance for over a year. Now, Logan intends to make his move but things heat up when Dan is abducted. Can Logan save Dan and convince him that love is worth a shot?

Updates and Shiny, Pretty Things

Since football season is starting up, I thought today's cookie would be fitting. I don't watch much football, but I have been known to occassionally pay attention when a game's on TV. Hot, muscular men in tight pants? Kind of hard to resist sneaking a peak. When they do the hike thing...that's my fav part. ;)

Not much going on with me. I'm currently working on Convincing Leopold and it's going...slowly. Usually does when I first start a book. So nothing unusal there. I get most of my writing done over the weekend, so hopefully the WIP'n Progress meter will show some progress by Sunday night.

On Tuesday 9/28, Em Woods is stopping by to do a Story Behind the Story post. Em's a great friend, a fab writer, and likes to hang out in the shallow end of the pond (the good end where all the fun happens). So stop on by on Tuesday to get the scoop on her first book, Not Anymore.

In other news, if you're in the mood to throw your name in the hat to win an awesome book, Shawn Lane's holding a contest on her blog for her upcoming release, The Beach House. Contest is open until September 30th.

Oh, and I must not forget, I have new shiny, pretty things! The mailman delivered the new postcards for From Afar. Squee!! And yes, I've been pettting them and lovin' on them. If anyone wants a few to pet or fondle, just send me an email (either my blogger email or ava @ avamarch (dot) com ) with your snail mail address and I'll have them out in the mail for you.

Basking, Laziness, & a Balding Prince

I hope everyone had a great week and weekend. I spent last Monday tweaking the chapter outline for Convincing Leopold, after that, I didn't do much of anything productive. I basked in the wonderful glow of Beyond Reckless's contract offer and was wonderfully lazy. Watched the finale of Top Chef DC (go Kevin! - my fav pick won) and other misc TV, and read books. I also got a lovely review from Publishers Weekly for my upcoming Evangeline book, so I basked in that for a couple of days.

Yeah....lots of basking and laziness. It was a nice week *g*

In non-lazy news, huge congrats go out to Andi Anderson on the release of A Realistic Romance! The book's sitting at the top of my TBR pile - it's my reward for after I finish chapter one of Convincing Leopold. I've read some fab reviews for Andi's newest book, and I figure the book will be a good incentive to get my lazy butt in gear and get back to writing.

The kidlet had a friend over again today. It's always interesting to see what happens when they pull out the barbies, and what scenarios they put the poor dolls in. Today they seemed fond of the Princes. From the looks of it, the guys were babysitting.

The guys look happy, at least. Though I did notice that Prince Phillip has developed a bald spot on the top of his head. I wonder what the kids were doing to him that made his hair rub off?

The kidlet's friend did ask 'Why are you taking a picture of the dolls?'. Before I could even think of a response, the kidlet answered 'She always does that. She likes the boy barbies'. *sigh* I'm as transparent as glass. And to think I thought I was being sly...

Challenge = New Book

Earlier last week, I issued a little challenge to Shawn Lane. As it so happened, we both had ideas for short stories that had snagged our attentions. The challenge was laid down - we'll write them by Sunday 9/12. Shawn finished Manfred's Curse on Friday 9/10. Go Shawn!! I managed to get mine done by Sunday, the deadline. Go me!!

And now I have news to share. *g* That short story already has a home. Beyond Reckless will be available 11/28/10 from Amber Quill Press! It's my first book with AQP, and I'm geeked to be publishing with them.

Beyond Reckless is a short, definitely hot little m/m story with some D/s elements, and it was super fun to write. I even have the blurb written already.

It’s the eve of Mr. Rys Palmer’s 25th birthday. A significant birthday, for it’s when he’ll come into his majority and gain full control of the inheritance from his obscenely wealthy grandfather. But the promise of a fortune isn’t what gets Rys’s blood pumping.

Mr. Martin Trent’s well aware of his lover’s propensity for thrills. After four years together, he knows just how to indulge Rys without risking either of their reputations or their necks. But clearly Rys’s taste for more than a hint of danger has rubbed off on him. Beyond reckless to ask Rys to meet him at Lady Edgecomb’s ball to give Rys his gift. Yet Martin can’t resist the opportunity to give his lover a birthday he’ll never forget.

Pleasures of Somerville Park - Free Story

Pleasures of Somerville Park, a new free short story featuring Arsen and Henry from Object of His Desire, is now available on my website! Click HERE to check it out.

It takes place at Arsen's country estate, Somerville Park (hence the title), and occurs eight months after Object of His Desire. It's got smex (of course) and a bit of angst. You also get to meet Arsen's youngest brother who's trying to convince Arsen he's needed in London.

I even made a little cover for it. Yeah, that's what happens when I have the house to myself for an entire day. After I finished up writing the story, I played around in photoshop. At least I resisted the urge to shop for new guys and just used an image I already had. If they look familiar, it's because they're also in my website header (...and random other book covers - those 2 apparently have no issues making out in public).

In other news, congrats goes out to Shawn Lane on the release of Twice in a Lifetime, the second book in her Sutter's Bay series. Go Shawn!!

I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend (...well, those in the US). I spent Saturday and Sunday writing, and Monday hanging out with kidlet and her friend. At least this time they didn't leave Prince Phillip naked or dress him in a tutu -- I know, for I had to pry a pair of jeans onto the poor fellow since they were too tight for the kids to get on him. No shirt, but they let him wear pants while he hung out with the Barbies.