Please Remember Me Blog Tour Dates

I can’t believe release day for Please Remember Me is here! YAY!!!!

It’s now available over at Dreamspinner Press and Amazon!

If that wasn’t awesome enough, I’m also here today to announce the Please Remember Me blog tour, which begins February 10th. I’m giving away a copy of an e-book from my backlist at every stop and at the end of the tour I’m giving away a $50 gift certificate to Amazon!

Please Remember Me Blog Tour Dates:

2/10/2015–MM Good Book Reviews

2/13/2015–Sinfully Addicted

2/17/2015–Smoocher’s Voice

2/18/2015–Lynley Wayne

2/23/2015–Fallen Angel Reviews

2/25/2015–Love Bytes

3/1/2015–TTC Books and More

3/4/2015–Christy Loves 2 Read

3/9/2015–Joyfully Jay

3/13/2015–Guys Like Romance Too

3/16/2015–It’s Raining Men

3/17/2015–Sizzling Hot Books

3/24/2015–Literary Nymphs

I hope to see you all there! <3

Guest Blogging Over at Love Bytes

As you may remember from my post on my writing goals, I planned to up the ante on my blog posts and really get out there more. Well guess what? I’ve done it. I’ve agreed to be a monthly guest blogger over at Love Bytes Reviews.

What am I talking about? World building.

Why? Because that’s what I’m doing right now.

So head on over to Love Bytes by clicking here and leave a comment. Let me know what you think. <3

Please Remember Me Playlist Preview

As most of you know, I’m prepping for the release of Please Remember Me, my latest book from Dreamspinner. Part of that work requires writing blog posts for my upcoming blog tour (more on that in a future post), and one of the posts I’m writing involves creating a soundtrack for the book.

So today, I thought it would be fun to share one of the tracks from the playlist I created.

For me, this song is the perfect accompaniment to the first time Santi and Hank meet because the sexual attraction between them is instantaneous and scorching.

So, now that I’ve shared this track, what other songs do you think might have made it onto the playlist?

P.S. Don’t forget about the pre-order giveaway that’s still going strong. If you’re interested in entering, click here for the details and how to enter.

 

Please Remember Me Pre-Order Prize Giveaway

My latest release from Dreamspinner Press, Please Remember Me, is on the Coming Soon page!

I can’t tell you how excited I am that Santi and Hank’s love story is less than a month away from being shared with the world. I have to tell you that these two men are very important to me. Why is that do you ask? Well, I’ll reveal more about that on my upcoming blog tour, which will start next month.

I’m such a tease, right?

What I won’t tease about though is the giveaway I have planned. You see, I’m so excited about this book that I’ve decided to do something I’ve never done before: host a pre-order  prize giveaway.

I’m going to offer an option of three prizes for three lucky winners, and here they are:

Prize Option #1

A signed Jacob’s Junkies T-shirt

Jacob's Junkies T-shirt

I will order a T-shirt from my Jacob’s Junkie’s Shop, have it delivered to my home where I will sign it, and then mail it off to the winner.

Prize Option #2

Please Remember Me mug and random swag

I have designed this special mug that is not available for purchase at my store. While I won’t be able to sign this gift, I will sign some paper swag (bookmarks and a few other sundries) that I will send with the mug.

Prize Option #3

A code for a free audiobook at Audible.

audible-logo

While my Provincetown Series is available in audiobook, the winner is free to use the code to download any book from Audible’s many options.

If you’re interested in winning one of these prizes, here’s how you enter:

The Rules

  • Pre-order Please Remember Me from the Dreamspinner Site
  • Copy the receipt from Dreamspinner that shows you have pre-ordered the book (minus any confidential information of course)
  • Click the Contact link at the top of my website
  • Enter your name and e-mail address in the appropriate fields and put the words “Pre-Order Prize Giveaway” in the subject line
  • Paste the copied receipt into the body of the contact form
  • Hit Submit and you are entered!
  • If you share this page on your Facebook or Twitter, I will enter your name into the drawing one additional time.

How Will the Winners Be Determined and Contacted?

I will use Random.Org to help me choose the lucky winners, and I will send an e-mail to the lucky winners who will each get to choose from prize options 1, 2, and 3.

How Long Will the Contest Run?

The contest ends February 5 at 11:59 p.m. because Please Remember Me will be available at midnight on February 6.

If you pre-ordered the book prior to the notification of this giveaway, you are of course eligible to enter. Just follow the rules above to get your entry in.

I’ll be announcing the winners here on my blog sometime after all winners have been notified.

Finally, I have to send a special thank you to Maryln. She gave me the idea to do a pre-order contest. I just love her! She is far too good to me.

Good luck and thank you for all your support and love.

I <3 you all too!

My Author Readings Are Now Available

I have added a new page to my website, where I have gathered the videos of my author readings over the past few years. A wonderful friend gave me this idea recently, and when I heard the advice, I quite literally did this

oops-doh

Why I had never thought of that before was beyond me? Well, now I have rectified that. You can click here to go to the Author Reading page or click on the Works link in the menu above and choose “Author Readings.”

Happy Viewing! :*

Happy New Year! My Writing Goals for 2015

It’s hard to believe 2015 is already here. At the beginning of 2014, I was starting on an entirely new personal life path, filled with equal amounts of anxiety and excitement. Even though I was unsure where the road would take me, I took those first tentative steps forward. And you know what? I’ve never been happier.

So after looking back at what I accomplished in 2014, my gaze is locked on the future and what I plan to achieve by this time next year.

Here are my writing goals for 2015.

Goal #1–Write at least 240,000 words

Now if you read my last post, you realize this is the same writing goal that I met last year. Some may think that I should increase my goal. Perhaps I should, but with my full time job and fatherly responsibilities, this word count is an achievable goal that does not over stress me.

That is important for any goal we set for ourselves. It must be reasonable. I could set a goal of a million words, but where exactly would that get me? There would be no way for me to achieve that milestone with my current life responsibilities, so I made a goal that is realistic in my world.

But how I will accomplish that will be a bit different this year. Here are my plans:

  • The majority of my year will be spent on my paranormal romance series, The Warlock Brothers of Havenbridge. This is a seven book series, the first of which has already been accepted to be published this year by Dreamspinner. This series will follow the adventures of three powerful warlocks–Mason, Thad, and Warren Blackmoor. The brothers will alternate being the main characters of each book in the series, which will chronicle their paths toward love and the supernatural threats that threaten to destroy them, their family, and the men they love.
  • I am also contemplating a contemporary romance in between books 3 and 4 and 6 and 7 of the series. I feel this will be a good way to keep my feet in the contemporary world while still moving forward with the series.

What do you think of that idea?

Goal #2–Increase Social Media Presence on Goodreads

Right now, Facebook is a well-oiled machine for me, so I need to venture into another social media site that has a profound influence on authors. Goodreads does just that. Many readers/authors have good and bad things to say about Goodreads, but whatever the opinion, Goodreads is a powerful force, so rather than fight it, I’m going to roll up my sleeves and jump right on in.

  • I am a member of the M/M Romance Group on Goodreads. If you’re familiar with it, you know it’s a big group. So big that it is rather intimidating trying to figure out where to start or how just to interact. I plan on more actively involving myself with this group. How exactly? I’m not too terribly sure at the moment, but I figure posting more regularly and making myself more of a presence over there is a good place to start.
  • I’ll also post more on my author thread Dreamspinner set up for all the authors. Perhaps this will be the one-two punch I’ll need to make a better dent over at Goodreads.

If anyone has suggestions on how to achieve this goal, I’m open to hearing them.

Goal #3–Further Expand Audiobook Offerings and Break Into the Foreign Market

As I mentioned in a previous post, this isn’t a goal I can achieve on my own. In order to offer more books in audiobook format or break into the foreign market, each book has to hit a certain number of sales.

So how do we meet this goal then?

  • If you enjoyed Being True or any other of my books and would be interested in the novel being turned into an audiobook, then recommend that book to your friends. More sales means a better chance of meeting this goal.

Goal #4–Increase Activity on My Blog

For most of 2014, I didn’t do much more than self-promotion on my blog, and this has to change. I know that, so here is what I plan on doing:

  • Write at least one post a week
  • Vary types of posts beyond self-promotion
  • Increase cross promotion opportunities with other authors

So there are my writing goals for this year. Looking back at them, they don’t seem daunting, but they will take commitment and discipline to be able to meet them. What do you think about the goals? Is there anything I missed that you think I should also consider making a goal? And what are your goals for 2015?

I’d love to hear what you have to say.

My Writing Year in Review (2014)

As 2014 comes to an end, I found myself thinking about the goals I set for myself for this year, and I’d like to share what I’ve learned with all of you since my readers have been instrumental in helping me achieve my goals.

Goal #1–Write 240,000 Words

This was a goal I managed to meet and exceed in 2014.

Here is the breakdown:

  • When Love Gets Hairy. The third book in the Provincetown series, this novel came in at 78,000 words
  • When Love Comes to TownAt 78,000 words, this novel was the fourth and final book of the Provincetown Series
  • Being True. My first coming of age novel came it at 81,000 words.
  • Please Remember Me. A contemporary gay romance that will release February 6, 2015. It was complete at 85,000 words.
  • Spell Bound. This represents the first book of my new paranormal series titled The Warlock Brothers of Havenbridge. It has been accepted for publication and will release later in 2015.
  • Blood Tied. Currently at 12,000 words, this novel is the second book of The Warlock Brothers of Havenbridge series. This novel is my current WIP.

All together, I have written 397,000 words in 2014. Wow!

I can’t tell you how happy I am to see that number, especially when there are times when I doubt that I’m making any progress. After looking back, I realize I have, and that just feels amazing!

Goal #2–Increase Social Media Presence

This was another goal that was difficult because I had so many different social media sites–Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Tumblr, and Google+. It had become extremely overwhelming. So here is what I did to meet this goal:

  • I focused on Facebook. Instead of trying to take on all the social media options and do them poorly, I concentrated my efforts on one to make a difference. I created Jacob’s Junkies, a secret Facebook group, that allows fans to more intimately interact with me than in the regular FB feed. I share excerpts, giveaways, tours, and upcoming releases to my Junkies prior to releasing it anywhere else. Right now, I’m at almost 200 members, and we are still going strong. If you want to be a member, just click on the link above and ask to join. We’d be glad to have you.

Goal #3–Expand Into the Audiobook and Foreign Market

This is a goal that I could not meet on my own. Dreamspinner, my publisher, selects books for these markets based on sales. So though I set this as a goal, it wasn’t up to me to be able to meet it. Only readers like you could determine if I met this goal, and you know what? I did!

Thank you to all you wonderful readers who made it possible to meet this goal!

Goal #4–Actively Maintain My Blog

This is a goal that I, unfortunately, did not meet. 🙁

In fact, I have hardly kept up with my blog for this entire year. I could cite may reasons as to why I have neglected my blog, but they would only be excuses. Instead, I will definitely  rectify this in 2015.

Overall, after looking at this year in review, I think 2014 has been a success, and I’m extremely pleased with what I have accomplished. Still, I don’t plan to rest on my laurels in 2015. I’m  planning my goals for next year right now, which I will share with you all in a future post.

I hope you will join me. 🙂

So what were your goals for 2014? Did you achieve all you wanted to? What was your greatest accomplishment this year? I’d love to hear from you.

J.P. Barnaby Cover Reveal–A Heart for Robbie!

I’m so excited to have J.P. Barnaby here today, revealing the cover of her latest–a truly personal and heartwarming story. I have known J.P. for almost three years now, and I count myself lucky to have her as a friend. As a friend, I am aware of the heartbreaking tale of her daughter and how that story inspired her latest release, A Heart for Robbie. This story is definitely a must-buy and after reading the blurb and taking a gander at the cover, I’m sure you will agree!

A Heart for Robbie

BLURB:

Waiting for someone else’s child to die so yours can live is the worst kind of Hell.

Celebrated Young Adult author Julian Holmes pits the heroic characters in his Black Heart series against all different kinds of monsters. But when a critical heart defect threatens his son’s life, he finds he has no champion. No amount of books, classes, or practice can prepare Julian for the fight to save his beautiful son’s life.

Suddenly there are hospitals, transplant lists, and the nightmare of insurance red tape to navigate. In the midst of his trouble, Julian meets Simon Phelps, the insurance coordinator for Robbie’s case. Simon lives so deep in the closet he might never find his way out, but he dreams of exactly what Julian has. Then one night, drunken need and desperation brings them together, and a new fight begins.

Link:http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5038

When Love Comes to Town Blog Tour: Stop #7–The Novel Approach

The When Love Comes to Town blog tour is coming to the end of the line. How is that possible? I’ve been having so much fun that I just don’t want this tour to end! But let’s not think about that right now. Let’s talk about today’s stop.

I’m over at The Novel Approach today. I just love all the reviewers over there. They are some great people, and that Lisa, she’s just yummy and bite-sized to boot! What am I doing today at TNA? Well, I sit down for an interview with my characters from When Love Comes to Town. If you’re interested in reading the shenanigans, then click here and Scotty will beam you up and over to TNA.

Don’t forget to leave a comment. One lucky winner at each of my stops will win a free copy of my latest. I hope to see you all there. <3