Giveaway - All In with the Duke - Print or ebook

I have some print books on my shelves that are in need of good homes. So I have decided to host a series of giveaways, one every couple of weeks or so for the rest of 2014. 

Let's start with All In with the Duke. Here are the giveaway details:

• 2 winners chosen at random
• Format: Print or ebook (epub format). Winner's choice. If you choose print and you win, I'll send you an email to request your snail mail address
• Giveaway open to U.S. and International entrants
• To enter: Leave a comment on this post (either here or with the post on Goodreads, as it will cross-post) with your email address or send me an email at ava @ avamarch (dot) com to enter. 
• Giveaway open until November 16th, 2014, midnight EST.

All In with the Duke (Gambling on Love #1)

Max Arrington, the Duke of Pelham, vows to never again let a handsome face blind him to a man's true intentions. But ten months of celibacy and lonely nights drive him to a decadent brothel, where a beautiful young man arouses his illicit passions as never before.

Tristan Walsh has grown tired of being used for men's pleasure. But his latest client is different: commanding yet generous, Max makes him feel cared for as well as wanted. Yet Tristan knows he'll never have the choice to leave the brothel and submit only to Max.

So when Max invites him to be his guest at his country estate, Tristan eagerly agrees to his terms—days to do as he pleases while Max tends to the dukedom, and nights spent together in wicked play. But when the "business arrangement" begins to deepen into something more, Tristan must face the fact that he has no true place in Max's life—or in Max's guarded heart…

81,000 words

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Standard giveaway rules apply. Must be at least 18 yrs of age to enter. 2 winners chosen at random by yours truly. One entry allowed per person. Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary to enter. Yours truly will post the name of the winners by November 17th, midnight EST, on this blog post. I'll also send the winners an email to let them know they've won. Winners have until November 24th to respond to the email with their format of choice. Blah, blah, blah, and whatever else I forgot to include here.
---------------

*****UPDATE****

I put the names of those who entered via the blog, GoodReads, and email into the randomizer, and the winners are:

-Janette

-Roger Grace

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to everyone who entered!

Paperback, Pre-Order, and Blitz News

All In with the Duke is now available in trade paperback! Max and Tristan look so handsome in print :) If you're interested in snapping up your own copy, it's available at Amazon US. 

This print edition is part of a test by Carina Press to see how well books from their line will do in print. If the books selected for the test sell well, then Carina might offer more books in print in the future.

In other news, Viscount's Wager (Gambling on Love #3) is now available on Amazon US and Amazon UK for pre-order. No blurb or cover yet, but I can tell you the book features Anthony, Viscount Rawling, and Gabriel Tilden who showed up (or were mentioned) in All In with the Duke and Sharp Love. And I have a release date for the book - December 1st, 2014. 

Amazon US - pre order

Amazon UK - pre order

GoodReads

June is Pride Month, and Carina Press is celebrating by hosting a Pride Week Blitz featuring Sharp Love, The Lost Year (by Libby Drew), Stranger on the Shore (by Josh Lanyon) and Maybe This Time (by A.M. Arthur). I've included links below to a few of the blogs participating in the Blitz (there are a lot of participating blogs and well, that would be a lot of copy/pasting, so I just picked a few). There's a tour-wide giveaway, too (2x ebook copies of all 4 books in the Blitz and a cool rainbow bracelet). And if you are interested in checking out Carina's full section of fabulous M/M books, check out their new 'Discover Male/Male Fiction' page.

Book and Coffee Addict

Book Reviews and More by Kathy

Amethyst Daydreams

Carly's Book Reviews

Literary Nook

The Blogger Girls

Prism Book Alliance

That's it for me. Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

New Book Release & News

Sharp Love is now available! This story is the 2nd book in the Gambling on Love series, and features Jack Morgan and William Drake. 

While 6'5" Jack was first introduced in All In with the Duke as Max’s very useful (and very large) carriage driver, I believe Sharp Love can be read as a standalone. You don’t need to have read All In with the Duke in order to enjoy Sharp Love, though since the timelines overlap a bit, you might enjoy it more if you have read book #1 first. 

For buy links to various resellers, or to read a sneak-peak at Chapter One, check out the book's page on my website. 

I’m out and about this week, chatting about various topics. If you are interested in stopping by, here’s where I’ll be:

‘A Series Kind of Gal’ with giveaway 

The Blogger Girls

‘The Appeal of M/M Historical Erotic Romance’ 

Jess Michaels’ blog

‘Genre Spotlight: Male/Male Romance’

Carina Press blog

Wednesday 6/11 - ‘In the Name of Research’

Carina Press blog

Friday, 6/13 – ‘Friends to Lovers’

Harlequin blog

And I’ll leave you with the blurb for the book:

William Drake has lived among thieves, bastards and beggars all his life, doing what's necessary to survive. As a young orphan, that included looking after his best friend, Jack Morgan. But as they grew older, Jack took the honest path, leaving Will behind to fend for himself the only ways he knows how.

When an unsavory errand for his employer brings Jack back to London's underbelly, he needs Will's help. It's there, among the alleys they ran through as children, that the love he's always felt for Will returns. As their nights together grow hotter, Will discovers something new about his old friend—Jack's need to serve extends into the bedchamber.

Will has never fully abandoned his dream of escaping London with Jack. But what could the Duke's driver want with a dishonest cheat like him, beyond a bit of rough sex? It takes the gamble of Will's life to find out if he can win Jack's heart…

77,000 words

“Ava March mines every nugget of emotion from this story, all while making the reader fall in love with both Jack and Will. …I have to say I feel this novel ranks among the best of her work” – The Novel Approach Reviews

“The sexual encounters were HOTTER than hot…” – My Fiction Nook

Paperback News

My big news to share is that All In with the Duke will be available in trade paperback on June 2, 2014! Carina Press is doing a test on a small number of books to see how well they do in trade paperback, and All In with the Duke was selected as one of the ‘test’ books. So if Max and Tristan (and the other books in the test) sell well in paper, then maybe Carina will decide to expand the program to more books. Which means maybe someday the other books in the Gambling on Love series and The Brook Street Collection will also be available in print.

It’s about three weeks until Sharp Love releases! For any bloggers/reviewers/those who like to post reviews – the book is now available on NetGalley.

I went to Chicago North’s Spring Fling conference a few weeks ago and had a fabulous time. J. Leigh Bailey, Stephani Hecht, Jackie Nacht and I presented a workshop on M/M romance (which was moderated by T.A Chase), I participated in my first book signing, and got to meet some lovely authors. It was my first writing conference as a published author (I obviously don’t get out much) and meeting people who have read my books and enjoyed them…there’s nothing quite like that feeling. It was kind of like having Sally Field moments. I tried to maintain my composure and not geek-out too much, but I’ll admit, meeting readers left me with a ridiculous smile on my face.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! I’m ducking back in the writing cave to continue working on Viscount’s Wager, the 3rd book in the Gambling on Love series. I’m loving how the book is coming together. Oh, the drama. Oh, the angst. Oh, the smex…and if all goes well with the angst today, then I should be writing some smex later tonight. :)

Update - What's Up with Ava

Now that All In with the Duke has been released, I'm about to head back into the writing cave. So I thought now would be a good time to give an update on what's on deck and what will be coming soon-ish.

- The Convincing series is changing homes. Convincing Arthur and Convincing Leopold are currently unavailable, but they will be re-released in early 2015 from Samhain Publishing. 

- There will also be a new book in the Convincing series - Convincing the Secretary. It will feature Edward Fenton, one of Arthur's secretaries (not the diligent worker, but the one who was infatuated with Arthur). You haven't met his hero yet, but the guy was mentioned in a round about way at the end of Convincing Leopold. The series will likely release in back-to-back-to-back months, so early-ish 2015 for the new book. 

- Beyond Reckless is currently unavailable. To be honest, I haven't yet decided what I want to do with the story. I adore Rys and Martin - they were fun characters to write. I've toyed with an idea of a prequel, a 'how they became a couple' story. Or maybe I'll just self-pub Beyond Reckless as a stand alone short story. I've got a lot of my plate for the next few months, so likely I won't decide what to do with the story for a while. One way or another though, it will eventually be available again. 

And I swear, the 'currently unavailable' thing is not a new pattern with me. It's just how the timing worked with these three books. And the fact I decided to move them is not at all a reflection of my experiences with the respective publishers. Both are wonderful publishers. 

- Sharp Love (book #2 in the Gambling on Love series) has been sent off to my lovely editor, and is scheduled to release June 2014. It's Jack Morgan's book (he was Max's carriage driver in All In with the Duke). And since I'm feeling the love for Jack and his card sharp hero, William Drake, here's a short quote from the unedited book:

“You washed my hair. Never done that before.” Jack more mumbled than spoke. “It was nice.”

“Looks like you found it more than nice, Jack.”

- Next up on the to-write list is Viscount's Wager (book #3 in the Gambling on Love series). It will be Anthony, Viscount Rawling's book (he was Max's best friend). If you've read All In with the Duke, you can probably guess his hero will be a gentleman by the name of Gabriel Tilden. 

- I spent the Thanksgiving holiday setting up a new office. I will no longer be the Author Under the Cupboards. Took one of the spare bedrooms and turned it into an office, complete with a desk and a dry erase board and everything. Here's the new writing cave, including the photo-bombing dogs:

The muses also made the move. They seem happy in their new home, though Kidlet is after me to free four of the marbies from their 'jails'. She used to call them man-barbies, but now they are just my 'marbies'. So far, I've been able to keep her from freeing them. They are safer there - heck, today I found Jake nekkid in the shower of the barbie townhouse. Being a man-barbie and living outside of a box is dangerous in my house. 

- Last but definitely not least, a huge thank you to everyone who has picked up All In with the Duke. I really hope you enjoyed Max and Tristan's book :)  

New Book Release and Blog Tour

All In with the Duke is now available! *cue lots of happy dancing with flailing limbs* This book is my first novel length story, and it's also the first in a new series titled Gambling on Love. 

For buy links to various resellers for the e-book and audio versions, or to read an excerpt, check out the book's page on my website. 

To celebrate the release of All In with the Duke, I'm going on a blog tour. There will be interviews with yours truly, exclusive excerpts, Top 10 reasons why it's great to be the duke, 5 fun facts about the book, and 10 fascinating facts (fun isn't the same as fascinating, so different lists). Check out the schedule below to find out where I'll be visiting. And if you feel so inclined, stop on by because the grand prize for the tours is a copy of the book and a $50 gift certificate to Amazon! All you need to do is use the Rafflecopter at one of the stops to enter the giveaway.  

Tour Schedule

November 11 

Joyfully Jay

November 12 

Romancing Rakes For The Love of Romance 

November 13 

Fiction Vixen 

November 14

The Novel Approach

November 15 

Eclectic Passions 

November 17 

Ramblings From This Chick 

November 18 

The Book Pushers

November 20

Book Jems

November 22 

Smexy Books

And I'll leave you with the blurb for the book:

London, 1822

Max Arrington, the Duke of Pelham, vows to never again let a handsome face blind him to a man's true intentions. But ten months of celibacy and lonely nights drive him to a decadent brothel, where a beautiful young man arouses his illicit passions as never before.

Tristan Walsh has grown tired of being used for men's pleasure. But his latest client is different: commanding yet generous, Max makes him feel cared for as well as wanted. Yet Tristan knows he'll never have the choice to leave the brothel and submit only to Max.

So when Max invites him to be his guest at his country estate, Tristan eagerly agrees to his terms—days to do as he pleases while Max tends to the dukedom, and nights spent together in wicked play. But when the "business arrangement" begins to deepen into something more, Tristan must face the fact that he has no true place in Max's life—or in Max's guarded heart…

81,000 words

Cover Lovin' - All In with the Duke

I'm having a 'must share' moment. I received the finalized cover art for All In with the Duke today. **loves**

Carina Press's marketing department did a fabulous job, and I couldn't be happier with the results. They even found a guy with ginger hair to represent Tristan. This one definitely made my day. So shiny and pretty *pets Max and Tristan*

And if you are interested in winning an ARC of the book, my Five Year Anniversary Giveaway is open until September 24th. Just leave a comment with your email address on the anniversary post or send me an email at ava @ avamarch (dot) com to enter. 

5 Yr Anniversary Giveaway - All In with the Duke ARC

Five years ago this month, my very first book was published. September 2008 = very happy month for me, with lots of twirling and happy-dancing. To celebrate, I'm holding a 5-Year Anniversary Giveaway. Up for grabs is a .pdf ARC (advanced reading copy) of All In with the Duke, the first book in the Gambling on Love series. The book doesn't release until November 11, so this is your chance to get your hands on this puppy before the leaves start turning on the trees. 

Leave a comment on this post with your email address or send me an email at ava @ avamarch (dot) com to enter. Giveaway open until September 24, 2013, midnight EST. 

Here's the blurb for the book:

London, 1822

Max Arrington, the Duke of Pelham, vows to never again let a handsome face blind him to a man's true intentions. But ten months of celibacy and lonely nights drive him to a decadent brothel, where a beautiful young man arouses his illicit passions as never before.

Tristan Walsh has grown tired of being used for men's pleasure. But his latest client is different: commanding yet generous, Max makes him feel cared for as well as wanted. Yet Tristan knows he'll never have the choice to leave the brothel and submit only to Max.

So when Max invites him to be his guest at his country estate, Tristan eagerly agrees to his terms—days to do as he pleases while Max tends to the dukedom, and nights spent together in wicked play. But when the "business arrangement" begins to deepen into something more, Tristan must face the fact that he has no true place in Max's life—or in Max's guarded heart…

81,000 words (i.e. it's a novel length book - my very first Ava novel *g*)

There's also an excerpt up on my website, if you want to check it out. It's from chapter 1, so no major spoilers. 

Standard giveaway rules apply. Must be at least 18 yrs of age to enter. Winner chosen at random by yours truly. Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary to enter. Blah, blah, blah, and whatever else I forgot to include here.  

Oh, and in case you're wondering which book has the distinction of being my first published book - Bound by Deception. It's one of the reasons why Oliver and Vincent hold a special place in my heart. ...and now I'll refrain from making a comment about how Oliver and Vincent were my first...

--------UPDATE---------
First, I have to say thank-you to everyone for your congratulations on my anniversary. Totally gave me the warm, fuzzy, smile-ies. I count myself very fortunate to have readers who enjoy reading my books. Who like to read them and want to read more of them. As an author, that's the best. The ultimate. Thank you!

And now onto the update:

Since there were so many people who entered via comment or email, I decided to pick 2 winners. And the randomizer chose:
-Annelise
-Diannakay

Congrats!!!! I've already sent off the ARC to the winners. Thanks again to everyone who commented or emailed! 

All In with the Duke - Blurb

I received the finalized blurb for All In with the Duke (release date: Nov 11th, 2013): 

London, 1822

Max Arrington, the Duke of Pelham, vows to never again let a handsome face blind him to a man's true intentions. But ten months of celibacy and lonely nights drive him to a decadent brothel, where a beautiful young man arouses his illicit passions as never before.

Tristan Walsh has grown tired of being used for men's pleasure. But his latest client is different: commanding yet generous, Max makes him feel cared for as well as wanted. Yet Tristan knows he'll never have the choice to leave the brothel and submit only to Max.

So when Max invites him to be his guest at his country estate, Tristan eagerly agrees to his terms—days to do as he pleases while Max tends to the dukedom, and nights spent together in wicked play. But when the "business arrangement" begins to deepen into something more, Tristan must face the fact that he has no true place in Max's life—or in Max's guarded heart…

81,000 words

And I got a peek of the draft version of the cover art a few days ago. I love it and can't wait to share it! As soon as I get the final version, I'll post it here and on my website. 

Other than that, I've been pretty boring of late. I'm working on Sharp Love, the second book in the Gambling on Love series. The book features Max's ever-useful carriage driver (a 6'5" giant of a guy...I'll admit to checking out pics of Joe M as part of my research - oh, the trials of research *g*) and his old friend from the east side of London, who happens to be a card sharp (hence the title). I'm in the middle of the book, there's some smexing and angsting going on, so fun stuff to write. 

I can't believe August is almost over. Where did the summer go? Oh well. But at least fall means All In with the Duke will release soon, and I'm super excited about that. :) 

Updates on WIPs, and Ramblings on Research and the Historical M-M Market

Since it's been almost a month since I last posted, I figured it was time to do a 'what's up with Ava' update. 

I finished All In With the Duke at the end of March and turned it into my editor. Seems like forever ago when I finished that book, but since I haven't squee-ed about it on the blog yet.... SQUEE!! *belated happy dance*  I am really pleased with how the book turned out & can't wait until November when it releases...which feels like forever away.

I've started work on book #2 of the Gambling on Love series - Sharp Love. The book features the duke's ever-useful carriage driver from book #1 and the guy's old friend, who is a card sharp. This means I've spent a lot of time recently researching Regency card games, cheating techniques, and card games he could use various cheating techniques with. Card sharps cheated mainly through manipulating the deck - think slight of hand stuff, stacking the deck while shuffling, dealing from the bottom or middle, etc - so that limits the type of games he'd choose to play. 

That's the thing about research - I spend hours and hours researching a given topic. I need all those hours  because my character needs to know the things I learn. But the character is in the 'moment' in the book, so only a fraction of what I learn ends up on the page. For example, William (the card sharp) doesn't think too much about how he cheats, he just does it. And really - how many readers truly want to read pages & pages on the intricacies of Brag & ways to cheat at it? Well, not me, at least - if I was reading a romance, I'd skim those pages to get to stuff between the 2 heroes. And if it's something I'd think I'd skim, I'm not going to put it in a book. I've also spent many a hour researching workhouses for this book. Not nice places, especially for the children who lived there. But that's backstory stuff, so again, not much will make it onto the page. 

From a time/output perspective, it almost seems like a waste to spend so much effort for only a few lines here and there in a book. But that's the life of a historical author - you need to do lots of research in order to set your book & characters in a time period. 

So that's my two cents on research. A post on Reviews by Jessewave last week got me thinking about historical m/m authors and how there aren't that many of them. The post was on how much m/m writers actually make - a kind of informational post with a survey. Authors in general don't talk much about money, it's one of those 'it's tacky to talk about' topics, but it is really helpful for newer authors to have some idea of what they can expect, and for established authors to have an idea of how they are doing in comparison to their peers. There was discussion in the comments about historical author earnings and how historical isn't the most popular subgenre in m/m. I don't disagree - it's no where near as popular as contemporaries, but it's that way in m/f romancelandia too. Contemps have a wider market than historicals because more people read them. 

The post reminded me anew there aren't many m/m authors who primarily write historical romances. There are authors who do the one-off occasional historical, but not nearly as many who write mainly historicals. Proportionally speaking, there's a higher proportion of authors who mainly write historicals in the m/f market than in the m/m market. One reason is likely because m/m is still on a healthy growth path, in terms of # of books and authors. Whereas the m/f historical market - in terms of # of authors - has been more in established mode for years and years. Another reason that ties into that one, and one I've heard from fellow m/m authors, is the research & the amount of it needed to write a book can be daunting. Anyone who's contemplated writing a historical knows there are readers who will let accuracy 'glitches' pass for the sake of the story and readers who are sticklers for accuracy. So if you're going to tackle a historical, even a short one, you better have your facts lined up in neat little rows else you open yourself up to disappointing some readers. It adds an extra layer of pressure and can keep authors from jumping into the historical pond. 

Anyway, my rambling point is that I think it will take more m/m authors writing historicals for the m/m historical market to really grow. Research may be daunting, but I hope more authors will give it a go and jump into the historical pond....cause it's fun here! You can learn interesting stuff, like how to cheat at cards. :) Circling back around to the post that got me rambling, earnings-wise, my books do decent, but I don't write full time & therefore don't rely on my royalty income to pay bills. I write because I love it and want to share my naughty, angsty stories with others. I'm one of the few who write only historicals, and one of even fewer who only write in one time period. I believe my focus has helped to grow my readership over the 5 years I've been publishing books. The different time periods for historicals almost act like sub-genres, and with any sub-genre, there are people who prefer one over another. By sticking with one time period, I think it's helped to increase my chances that if someone reads one of my books and likes it, they'll try another and hopefully like that one, too. As with any author, it takes time to build a readership. With historicals, I think it just takes a bit longer, and part of that is because there are less historicals out there. So for any authors contemplating jumping into the historical pond, my bit of advice would be to pick a time period you love, do your research, and focus on delivering the best books you can in that time period. And that's my little pitch to try to get more authors to write m/m historical romances. :)

Oh, and for any m/m authors out there, consider filling in the survey on Reviews by Jessewave. It's completely anonymous, and the results can provide info that's useful to all authors. 

Ok. Enough rambling on research and markets. In final news, I spent early May working on His Request, a free short story sequel to His Client. I've already commissioned the cover art from Lou Harper - love it, gorgeous - and am currently in edit & formatting mode. My goal is to get it up on various sites by the end of May. Once I get the story posted, I'll post on the blog to let everyone know it's available. 

It was 85 degrees & sunny in my neck of the woods - love you, hint of summer in spring. Hope it's been a glorious day for everyone!

Random News - Updated Shorts, Release Dates, and Yummy Covers

First up, The Brook Street Collection is currently available. For anyone who hasn't read Thief, Fortune Hunter and Rogues, and who might be interested in checking out the books, they are now available in one collection. 

I finally finished updating both Bound series free short stories (and you can thank Lou Harper of Harper by Design for the yummy covers). The stories are now available at Smashwords, Kobo, B&N, and Amazon (though they are currently $0.99 there). I also updated the versions on All Romance eBooks and GoodReads. Check out the stories' pages on my website for links to the various resellers - Deliberately Unbound & Deliberately Bound.

In WIP news, I am still working on All In With the Duke, though I am SO close to the end. Like, half-way into the last chapter, close. The book will definitely be novel length - I've already pushed past the 75,000 word mark (but we'll see what gets trimmed in edits). And, I got release dates/months/seasons for the books in the upcoming Gambling on Love series:

• All In With the Duke = November 2013
• Sharp Love = Spring 2014
• Viscount's Wager = Fall 2014

And last but not least, Fortune Hunter has been nominated in the Best GLBT - Historical Romance  category of The Romance Reviews' Best Book of 2012. *pats Julian and Oscar on the back* If you're interested in voting, you can hop on over to http://www.theromancereviews.com/bookvote.php to cast your ballot for books in all the categories, though you do need to log in or create an account to vote for books. Voting open until March 31.

Happy Belated First Day of Spring!! I remain hopeful the weather gods will actually bring spring to Michigan, but so far...no such luck.  

Pleasures, Updates, and Ballerina Ken

A couple of weeks ago, I started the process of updating my freebie short stories. The stories aren't changing, but I'm updating the look and making them available in more formats and from more places. I started with Pleasures of Somerville Park, the short story sequel to Object of His Desire.

Lou Harper of Harper by Design created a gorgeous new cover. *love it* The book is now available in multiple formats (epub, mobi, pdf, etc) from Smashwords as a free download. It should soon be available from Barnes and Noble as well. I updated the version on All Romance eBooks, and now epub, mobi and palm versions are available there in addition to pdf. Oh, and it's currently on Amazon, but it's $0.99 right now. 

Later this week, I am going to work on updating the Bound freebies (Deliberately Unbound and Deliberately Bound).

Chris over at Stumbling Over Chaos has a giveaway going for The Brook Street Collection (contains Thief, Fortune Hunter, and Rogues). Contest open until 7pm CST on Thursday, March 14.

In other news, Riptide has reduced the price on O Come All Ye Kinky, the holiday anthology that contains my short story 'Twas the Night. It's now $7.99 everywhere. 

In writing news, I'm nearing completion on All In With the Duke. Crossed the 65,000 word mark, and I have 2 chapters left (if all goes as planned). My deadline is 4/1, but I have a feeling I'll have it done a tad early.

And look who came home with me last weekend! Target was Ken-doll heaven - they had a new Ryan, a ballerina Ken, and a Jasper from Twilight. I went with the Ballerina Ken - he has awesome boots, is wearing tights, and has nice hair. How could he not come home with me?

Updates, and Ryan at the Tailor

I've been working on All In With the Duke, and it's coming along nicely. I'm gearing up for the major angst 'black moment' section, which is my favorite part of a book to write. I've already crossed the 55,000 word mark, so this one will definitely be my longest Ava book. I'd originally aimed for around 65,000-70,000 words, but given what's left to write, it will likely be closer to 75,000 words. So at least twice the length of one of my usual novellas. 

My upcoming series, Gambling on Love, got a lovely shout-out in RT Book Reviews Forewords post - "...what is most intriguing are the characters the author pairs together." That made me smile. 

What else is new? Thief, Fortune Hunter and Rogues are being bundled into a collection as part of a larger Harlequin initiative for erotic romance. The Brook Street Collection will be available on March 15th, for a price of $5.99. Definitely a deal. And I love the cover art. If you're interested, it's already up on Amazon.com, Amazon UK, Amazon.ca and Barnes&Noble for pre-order. 

In other news, Kidlet is learning how to sew, and Ryan is her latest guinea pig. She's making him a new shirt. Not sure if she intended it to be a belly-baring shirt, but it looks good on him. 

And I'll leave you with another snap-shot from around the house. Kidlet got a label maker for Christmas, which means most everything has gotten labeled. Kitteh did not like her label at all, but the niece's dog was a very good sport about it. 

Coming Soon - A New Series

I have book news!! I am going to have a new series, tentatively titled Gambling on Love, with Carina Press. The series will include All In With the Duke, Sharp Love, and Viscount's Wager. Regency M/M erotic books ('cause, you know, what else would I write?) with a bit of D/s, yet this time the books will be longer, my first novel-length Ava books. It will be a related series, like the Brook Street series, with different heroes in each book, though most of the guys make appearances in all the books. 

I rambled a bit about the first book in my Next Big Thing blog hop post. TBD on release dates, though I'm guessing fall-ish 2013 for the first book, and sometime in 2014 for the other 2 books. 

Here's the announcement from Publishers Marketplace - 

Ava March's ALL IN WITH THE DUKE, SHARP LOVE, and VISCOUNT'S WAGER, in the Gambling on Love series, in which a duke, a card sharp, and a viscount find love with an irresistibly beautiful prostitute, a principled old friend, and a gambling-addicted widower, to Angela James at Carina Press, by Kevan Lyon at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency (World).

Once I have release dates and blurbs, I'll post them on the blog and on my website. 

The Next Big Thing blog hop - All In With the Duke

I’ve been tagged by the talented Harper Fox to participate in the Next Big Thing blog hop (click HERE to check out her post). The idea is to answer 10 questions about your current WIP (work in process). There’s no giveaway or anything-it’s just a spot of fun to talk about what’s in process or coming soon. So here I go -  

1. What is the working title of your book?  
All In With the Duke

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

The first part of the book takes place in a brothel. I have a ‘thing’ for brothel settings—the exchange of money for something as intimate as sex is wrought with all sorts of conflicts—and I wanted to do things in that setting that I hadn’t done before. Pretty much, I’m taking the gloves off and just going for it. After this one though, I think I might be done with brothels for a while.  

3. What is the genre of the book?

Regency-set M/M erotic romance with D/s elements

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

For Tristan, it’s a model not an actor. I had a firm idea of what he would look like when I started the book. I wanted a character who blurs the line between masculine and feminine, androgynous, exquisitely beautiful. I thought such a character during the Regency, when there were more defined, stricter ideas of masculine and feminine, would be an interesting person to explore. Anyway, one day I found him over at Elisa Rolle’s LiveJournal. Stav Strashko - http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1786307.html - 3rd pic from the top totally captures the image I had in my head for him. Stav even has the right length of hair, except Tristan has ginger-blond hair (strawberry blond). 

Max is trickier. Sometimes I find a picture that captures a character, but for him he’s more in my head. Tall, powerful build, dark eyes, short dark hair that’s slicked back from his forehead. Strong, harshly masculine features. Not classically handsome. It’s his confidence, his strength of character, that draws the eye more than anything. 

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? 

I’m horrid at a one-sentence synopsis. Here’s what I have at the top of my outline/concept document – Both men think they know what they want, but they find it isn’t what they need. I think of it as a ‘be careful what you wish for’ book. 

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency/publisher?

TBD – ideally, it will be published by a publisher. This one will be a longer book and I wanted to get a good way into it before I sent it out to find a home. My agent just gave the partial a big thumbs up, so fingers crossed it finds a home. 

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I’ve been working on it for about 3 months, and I figure it will take me another 3 months or so to finish. 

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Oh, this one’s a hard question. I purposefully avoid reading anything historical (m/m or m/f) while I’m working on a book, and I try hard to write outside of the box. That’s not to say I think I’m like super original or anything. All romance tropes have been done, originality is all in how an author twists a theme. But I try not to compare because I don’t want another book to inadvertently leach into my writing as I’m working on a book. 

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

See answer to question #2. The inspiration came from scene ideas that popped into my head. Why those scene ideas popped into my head…you can thank my angst-loving heart. 

10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

The book has a theme song. Sometimes the emotion or theme in a song will spur an idea for a book or a scene for a book. Like Taylor Swift’s ‘You Belong With Me’ sparked the idea for His Client. I was watching Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders on CMT late one night while I was writing the early chapters of this book. I was never a cheerleader, I don’t watch football, but procrastination can take odd forms. Anyway, they were doing a routine to Rihanna’s ‘We Found Love’ and I was like, that’s it, that’s Max and Tristan’s theme song. While they don’t fall in love at the brothel, they meet there and a brothel is definitely a ‘hopeless place’. 

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And now, I'm tagging my wonderful critique partner Shawn Lane. You can check out her work at her website:

http://www.authorshawnlane.com/