Love on a Killer Cruise ~ TEASER!!

A little teaser for you all from one of Sarah's dates. As it turns out not every date could be really bad.

*Unedited!
 

“So, Tanya told me that you didn’t want to know anything about me before the date. I’m curious, why is that?”

“I know Tanya too well, in less than ten minutes she will talk you up to the point I would expect to see you on the cover of some GQ magazine as well as published in a medical journal or something like that. She likes to talk things up sometimes, especially if there is a certain outcome that she wants.”

He gave me a smile that made me want to lean over the table and bite his lip softly. “GQ? Really? I think I would look better on the cover of a romance novel if you ask me.”

Romance novel huh? Makes me wonder what Tanya had told him about me. “Maybe. So tell me Eric when you are not spending your time inspiring to be on the cover of a romance novel, which I would love to know what kind of romance it would be by the way, what do you do?”

His laugh was deep and rich sounding. “Um. Let’s see, any of subgenres would be fine with me, but nothing with S&M in it. I was thinking of more of one with a girl with wind blown hair in my arms and my shirt hanging open, more that one with me in a pair of black leather shorts with a gag ball in my mouth.”

Funny, I like that. “Well then, no gag ball it is, but I think you should rethink the black leather shorts could be a good luck on you. A great look if you have nice tight, rounded… rear end to fill them with.”

He leaned on the table and looked at me as he took a drink. “If you are asking about my backside you could just reach over and touch it. Just so you know though, turn about is fair play; you grab mine and I will have no other option that to give yours a little squeeze.”

If I thought it was hot in this little coffee shop before it was even hotter now. I was felling something that I hadn’t in a long time. It was putting a smile on my face and making me tingle inside. Maybe I should have ordered and iced coffee and not the hot latte. I needed a cold shower or to bring this conversation back down a few notches.

“To answer the other question I work construction. Nothing fancy, but I like it. You?”

“I work for a publishing company. I get to sit and read all day. It’s fun to get a sneak peak at books that will come out as well as read some things that most people never see.”

“You like to read a lot then I take it. I do as well.”

We sat there talking for over an hour. It was easy and extremely flirtatious at times. We had a lot in common, from music to movies and television shows.

“So have a I passed the test?”

I looked at him confused for a second before I asked, “And what test is that?”

“The one to see if you liked me enough for a real date. I’m guessing that coffee was just to make sure that you were not wasting your time with me tonight. It was good move on your part and I will tell you that I was thinking that there is a Jazz bar that is not to far that you would enjoy. They have some great drinks. Wanna take a ride with me and have a drink and a dance or two.”

“Sounds good. Your car or mine?”

He stood up and took my hand into his. “Mine.”

We were at the Jazz club with a drink in hand twenty minutes later. The music was sexy and filling the air around us with an electrical charge. I finished my third martini before he was able to convince me to go out onto the dance floor with him. He held me close as we danced and his moves were perfect. After an hour of dancing, laughing, and a couple more drinks we could not keep our hands off each other. He gave a wink and bowed his head toward the door. I bit my lip for a second and then grabbed my purse and his hand leading the way out the front doors and into the night air.

We were just a few feet from the car when he pulled me in close and kissed me. I leaned into him felt that spark that comes with a first kiss. Every other kiss with a man might have a spark, especially when you are in love with them, but it is never like the first one. Sharp and warm, thick with something that could never be described with words. That first taste, so intoxicating it makes you forget everything around you and every fear you have ever had. It comes with a want and a need that takes over everything. It was long and genital, full of a kind of passion I had not felt in so long that it almost made a tear come to my eye.

He pulled away slowly but I wasn’t ready for that first kiss feeling to end so I moaned and bit his lip a little. Then the kiss was hot and heavy. One of his hands was in my hair and then his mouth was on my neck and he was nibbling and caressing me with his tongue. I was ready to rip his pants off right there in the parking lot. I only snapped out of it when I couple guys got out of a car close by and laughed telling us to. “Get a room.”

He started laughing and pulled away slightly. “I guess we should take this to a more private place.”

“Your place or mine?”

“Mine. You are going to be mine, very soon.”

Yes I was, I really hoped that he lived close by.

Once we were in the car he kissed me again as he buckled my seat belt around me. He slipped in a caress to my breast as he did it, making several small soft circles. Once we were out of the parking lot he started touching my leg, caressing it higher and higher each time. My skin was on fire and all I wanted more of his touch. Every inch higher he went was not high enough.




AND thats all you get for now! Bwa ha ha ha! 

Hope you enjoyed it! 

~A 

Always Learning...

 

When it comes to being a self-published Author there always seems to be more learning to do. I decided to self publish in January; by March I was sure I knew everything there was to know about it. Not the case at all. I had no clue about a lot of things; and here it is six months later and I am still learning new things every day. Some days my head hurts and I spend more time doing research than I do marketing my book or writing, and other days I do more marketing than writing.

I was sure I could do almost everything myself on a budget of zero dollars, and then money would come pouring in!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, NO! First off let me say this, I am a writer, not an editor or a perfect grammar girl or a grand master of the English language. I am also a typo queen so an editor was a must have, and I lucked out with that one. I have a story (or two, or four, or maybe more) in my head that I want to get out there into the world for people to read and enjoy.

I never thought about looking for an agent and/ or sending it in to any publishing companies, mostly because I felt that it was better to go the solo route. (And maybe slightly because I didn’t want to even think of a rejection letter.) I spent hours looking things up online about HOW TO do it yourself from begging to end… and then I got TF back from my editor and I did edits, formatted to a tee, and bam I was off and running. Put it up on Smashword, then Amazon, then Creatspace. Boom - I have a book!!

I wrote TF in 2008 in about 7 months, then I set it aside for three more months before I started going over it again, changing this and that, looking grammar things up online, and adding a scene or two. And then I did it again, and again. I thought I had gone through it with a fine-toothed comb before I even decided to put it up on Wattpad in early 2011. I had started reading a few fan-fic things (Twilight! <3 ) on there and I loved the idea of putting this book I had written and done nothing with out there. (BTW- If you want the best Twilight fan-fic continuation go to bellasdiary.com and read Bella’s diary!)

So I signed up for an account and went for it. Chapter by chapter I went over it again and again before I sent it to an old friend from high school that would edit for me. It took a long time to get the story up (because I became pregnant… and so did my editor!). By the time I was five chapters away from the end I was getting very discouraged, I was not getting the reads I wanted, or votes, or any kind of feed back at all. Then I stared digging because I wanted to know why. Most of the things that I had read on there were fan-fic as I said and I was discovering that this was really what the people there wanted to read. It was in no way where my audience was at all. And you don’t even what to know the few romances I tried to read… people typed it out in “text” talk!! Now I like I said I am no grammar girl but that bugs me to no end. (Big shocker – I hate texting!!!!)

With this “revelation” I started thinking. I told a friend to do it and then someone said -why don’t you do it? It clicked, why don’t I!! I decided to finish TF on wattpad, leave up the last chapter for about a week (just incase there was someone I didn’t know was reading it that would want to know the end). The one big change I mad from Wattpad to publishing was the ending. I took over three thousand words off the end and changed it into the prolog, that was from a way different POV. Than I read over it again (for time number… twenty or so) and printed it out to physically give to my dear editor friend for all her finally notes. Reading it over and over was a HUGE mistake. I knew the book word for word in my sleep. The problem with this was that I knew what it SHOULD say, not what it did say. If there was a missing word or a misspelled word my mind saw it there or read it correctly. Never again will I write a book and read it that many times. I’ll read it after I am done, then give it to my husband to look over, then my mother, then maybe read it one last time – big maybe there; and THEN I will send it for the edit.

When I created the cover, way back in wattpad days, I spent hours looking on-line for free images that I didn’t have to pay to get and that fit what I wanted for the first impression then I found a photo of a statue of Romeo and Juliet somewhere in… Brooklyn maybe, anyway I popped that baby into Photo bucket and played with it for hours and hours. It was fun; I never really played with editing photos before that. Now I do it way too much. Then I had this blueprint style looking cover with this crazy and romantic looking font on it for the title and my name. I was pleased as punch and now I look back on it and think that it is awful!!!

When I knew I was really going to do it (self- publish) I sat down a mapped out these elaborate ideas of what I wanted it to be now. It needed to look professional and eye catching, romantic and beautiful. Then I was back on the web looking for the pieces I needed to put it together. Nothing is all I found. Then that wonderful person who said to “just do it” with the publishing said, “Why don’t you find a photographer and then put out an add on craigslist for the type of models you want. The photographer gets their name in the book – publicity, and the models will get the prints for their portfolio. You get what you want exactly.” Well the minuet they said it I knew who the photographer would be, she is a close friend and has done photos of my family as well as being around at family functions/ weddings. To top it off I knew who I wanted my cover model to be, I had met her several times and she reminded me looks wise of what I thought Abby looked like in college, but I needed a guy. So I asked if she would do it and if she knew a guy. Two weeks later we had a photo shoot. Thirty minutes later I had over one hundred photos to choose from that were different angles and lighting. I was almost overwhelmed with them all.

After narrowing it down to three I loaded them into my dear friend photo bucket again and started playing with fonts. Not here is where I would like to add that I read a lot of romance, well not so much anymore – with three kids, a husband, a house, writing, and marketing there is little time, I knew what caught my eye in the store. I knew what style of fonts were used for them – girly, yet bold and not so frilly you really had to look to read it. By the next day I had it and I was in love with it. I showed it to a few friends and they thought it was sharp also, so it was a go.

Then I showed it to my writing group, and I must say they are a great group of established self-published authors that had done it and seen it all. If I have any question about that area they are the place to go. I’m not going to lie – they were not impressed. They hated the lighting of it and how blonde my girl was. They hated that I used a “real” photo for it. Over all they thought I should chuck it and that my title should be big and bold along with my name. If it was only a thumbnail you should still be able to read it. I was sticking to my guns with the photo, it was what I wanted and it said what I wanted it to – young love with an angelic glow about it, that made you think of being in love for the first time walking through a park on a big sunny day and having him stop to pull you close and do something as innocent and simple as kissing you on the forehead. I remember those days and I am sure you do too! Anyway, I could see what they were saying about the bigger and bolder title and name. It made complete sense to me; I have seen those Nora Roberts novels that need nothing more than her name and a title on a pretty color. I would love to look like a big “somebody”… but I’m not… yet…lol.

I knew that I really had no interest in covering my photo with huge letters… wouldn’t that take away the “feeling” of fist love? So I decided that I would pull in another element of the book that is close to my heart and add a border of purple roses. Big bold letter and I was done.

Fast forward to about a month and a half ago, all great reviews!! The reviews were coming in slower than I thought but I also know how busy these girls are. Self-published authors would die with out them!! (And you make some great friends meeting them!)

Currently on top of being Mommy to three (my number one job), wife, house taker carer ofer, trying to market/get TF out there, and do research to learn more things… I try to find time to write (and maybe even breath and do something with friends, or even read- more than a children’s book).

So here I find myself trying to multitask and working to make myself a better self-published author. A new cover, one that is more like I wanted from the beginning, is in the works. The process is going slower than I would like, mostly because there has been a blockage from getting the original photo at the right level of pixilation to the person who is going to put it together for me. Although I am trying to be patient … it’s hard. I have gotten out a much better digital edition of TF and as soon as the cover is complete I will get to make a new actual book. A better and more beautiful version.

And I will continue to learn more and more, making the next novel and any that come after it better than the last.

Love on a killer Cruise Giveaway Winners

I really enjoyed doing my first big giveaway, and I am really excited to announce the winners!
I have been having as much fun writing Love on a Killer Cruise as I had with Tempting Fate.
The string of bad dates have been very fun to come up with!

Well I guess I should get to telling you the winners and quite piddeling around. I want to say a BIG THANK YOU  to everyone that entered and those that shared it on FB.

I spent a lot of time thinking about the bad dates that were posted and which one would fit into Sarah's story the best, and I have to say that it was hard to choose just one.

The BIG WINNER of a signed 1st edition Paper back of Tempting Fate, a TF bookmark, and Necklace (Along with an eCopy of LoaKC when it is released) is Rea Higgin! It was a very, very bad date and I look forward to adding it into the book!

The rest of the entries were numbered and I used Random.org to pick

The TWO winners of the eCopy of Tempting Fate (as picked by Random.org) are:

1) Amanda Phillips

2) Beth Fullaway

The THREE winners of a Tempting Fate bookmark (as picked by Randon.org) are:

1) Georgia

2) Dawn Hagan

3) Christina Ireland

Congratulations to all the winners!! I will be contacting you very soon.

~~ A

(Unfortunately )-:  there was not 15 entries so you will all have to wait for the cover of Love on a Killer Cruise!)

Contest for ~~ Love on a Killer Cruise!

Hello everyone!!!
  First off I would like to say thank you to everyone who has purchased, reviewed and supported me with my first novel Tempting Fate. You have all helped to make my dream of being an Author come true and it has made me so very happy.
  I have big plans for my next novel, Love on a Killer Cruise, and I am hoping to have it out in late September or early October. As part of my big plans I want to include you! So I have come up with a contest.
 First I bet you would like to find out a little more about the next novel. So.....

Love on a Killer Cruise
Synopsis:
 

Happy Birthday to Sarah! Turning twenty-six and divorcing Brandon – her high school sweetheart – on the same day. With all of her plans for the future out the window, she tries her best to be content in a small apartment with her two cats.

Five months go by and her best friends, Tanya and Jenny, start setting her up on blind dates. After enough bad experiences Sarah refuses to let either of them pick a man for her again. When Jenny sees an ad from a local travel agency – a chance to win a ten-day trip on a single’s cruise – without thinking, or asking, she enters Sarah's name. Now Sarah is the winner of something she doesn’t want. With an enormous amount of pressure from her friends to go and nothing to lose, she packs her bags.

After dinner and a few too many drinks Sarah lets a handsome man named Gabriel into her bed; and soon she is falling for him. The next day two women are found dead on the ship, but both deaths are made to look accidental. Sarah is consumed by the new romance with Gabriel and not too worried – until she discovers a third woman, and it is definitely no accident.

      The bodies are piling up and the ship is not moving – broken-down in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Every time a woman is murdered Gabriel’s whereabouts are in question. Sarah finds herself hopelessly lost at sea with a killer. Could it be the man she has fallen madly in love with? Could she be the next to die?

Now, let me tell you about the contest. As you read in the synopsis Sarah is going to have a string of really bad first/ blind dates. I want you to tell me about your worst first, or blind date. I will pick one and it will be included in Love on a Killer Cruise. 

So here is what you have to do to enter:
   Like my Author page on Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/AuthorANBusch ) and just leave your name in the comments section below (here on the blog), along with your bad date story and your email address. 

What will you win you ask, well...
  One story will be chosen to be part of the book, that person will receive
      - A first edition paperback copy of Tempting Fate that is signed by not only myself but also the editor, both cover models and the photographer that took the photo (1 of only 5 that exist). You will also get a Tempting Fate bookmark and a beautiful necklace. When Love on a Killer Cruise is released you will receive a free eCopy of it also!

  --Two people will be chosen at random to win a eCopy of Tempting Fate.
  
  --Three more will be chosen at random to receive a Tempting Fate bookmark.

 All six winner will receive a nice Love on a Killer Cruise surprise at the release of the novel!!


I will announce the winners on the 15th of August!! 

Good luck to everyone that enters!

~~A
 

My first book review: Island Shifters: Book One by Valerie Zambito

Hello everyone!!

In the beginning of June I was luck enough to win a signed paperback copy of Island Shifters: Book One, An Oath of the Blood by Valerie Zambito. First off let me say this .... I rarely win ANYTHING!! Maybe once a year, maybe. lol
Excitement over winning something aside... I loved this book so much that I wanted to post a review of it!

So, with that being said......

Synopsis:
In the aftermath of the destruction of the exiled Kingdom of Pyrann, four young but powerful shifters ans a Draca Cat must travel back to the lands from which they were banished with news of an invasion. Born with magical prowess none has seen in over three hundred years, the surviving shifters become pivotal in a war against evil siblings Adrian and Avalon Ravener and their aberrant army.

In a race against time to save a people they hardly know-- but are sworn to protect-- the journey extracts a terrible price from Beck, Kiernan, Rogan, Arrion and Bajan as they battle demons, both real and personal, to save the Island of Massa.

Prophecy dictates that one will not survive the upcoming battle, but a centuries-old vow courses through their veins and resolve flows through their hearts. Whatever the chances, the shifters will fight.

The blood oath will have it no other way.


My Review:
5 STARS!
 

It has been a very long time since I have read a fantasy book such as this. For a long time I gave up reading this kind of books because they all were becoming the same to me. Island Shifters was anything but just another shifter story-- And it was AWESOME!! The relationship between the charters was wonderful. Each of them had a quality or a part of their personality that I could in some way relate to. Sometimes I know where a book is going and I have to say that this did not happen to me once, every time I thought I knew what was going to happen it didn’t and I was shocked. Island Shifters had a little bit of everything from action to romance and everything in between all rolled into a wonderful plot line. For last couple chapters I honestly had no clue how it was going to end, and that for me, was great!! When I got to the end all I could think about is that I have to have the next book!!! I really really enjoyed this book, and look forward to reading Island Shifter: Book Two, An Oath of the Mage and more from this amazing author in the future!!

About the Author:

 

Valerie Zambito is a graduate of Alfred State College and lives in

upstate New York with her husband and three children. A great love of world

buildings, charters creation and all things magic, have led to 

her first novel, Island Shifters, An Oath of the Blood. 

Valerie's website

http://www.valeriezambito.com

Find her on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Valerie-Zambito-Author-Page/207290402664749

Author Page on Good Reads:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5281726.Valerie_Zambito

Twitter:

@vzambito

Self-Published Authors ~ Author Karma!

 

There are SO MANY things I didn’t know about before I started down the road to self-publication. Research I did along the way was… good and bad. There are things I wish I knew right from the start and some things that if I had run across sooner it would have saved me a lot of aggravation. On top of all that, there were some things that I found the “DO THIS”… just because you should; with no – how to, for this reason, or even a why. Some of those things I did, because they came from an “established” author and I figured they new best. Right? Later I found out some of the things that were a “do this”… were not for me. They just did not fit, or I learned more after the fact.

Then there were the things that No one tells you…. You just have to kind of discover it on your own. Or its there and you – just don’t talk about it. It is like someone giving you the good and the bad… and letting you find your own ugly. Not fun! So I am going to try and do a few posts that are honest. Things that I think some people should know, and that are also things I never read about or heard about. Then all I can do is pray that the people that need to see some of them, before they walk down this ever growing road that is self-pubbing, will get to see them and learn more than I did, sooner than I did.

Today indie authors, such as myself, are booming. The number of self-published authors grows bigger and bigger every day. There are a million reasons why it is becoming the more popular way to go, but I am not going to get into those. All I know is why I did it; I wanted full control of my work.

Going the route of not having a publishing house, large or medium, is a LOT of work. I can honestly say this was the one thing that I never realized. I was so excited when the book came out. I had a page already on Facebook and I was posting to my personal page. Then I spent hours upon hours gathering data and making a spreadsheet of all the places I could find to do book reviews and all the info I needed for those sites/ blogs/ reviews. (I will get into that another time.)

The biggest thing I missed was ramping up my “Author Karma” before my book was released. My brain was wrapped around my own book and everything I needed to learn and do to publish it, not making friends and supporting other hard working authors. Supporting others in any craft is very important, especially indie authors. We spends hours being our own press, marketing team, and an over all cheerleader for ourselves. Having admins that help you with you Fb pages, your twitters, and other things are great- if you have them, but you still have to have both your own hands in it for a couple hours a day at the very least. Your fans want to hear from you, to get to know you.

Something that you need to make a big effort at doing is supporting other indie authors. If you have not learned from your own experience by now… we work our butts off. Not because we want to be famous writers, thought that would be great, we do it because we love it. Another post I want to so soon will be called “The Many Roles of Aimee- A day in the life of an Author.” Being a stay at home Mom, Author, press team…I am not going to keep going, I think you can see what I mean. It can be a lot to balance!

Okay so, I know, you are sitting there and saying, “This is great, I will do this… but you are not telling me any thing about HOW to do this.”  Well, here are a few ways:

If you have a face book page that you are using look around for other authors pages. “Like” them, say hi on their page. Let them know you stopped by because you are new and you like the… cover of the book lets say. Be personable, net-work it!!! Do some shout outs from time to time by tagging other authors or their books in your status. This will let your fans see authors you are a fan of as well as let others see your page.

Look for contests on FB, blogs, or author / small publishing house websites. Heck some time you can even find websites that are just dedicated to talking about a certain genera. You just have to look for them, (and it could not hurt to take the time to make yourself a little list or spreadsheet of them along the way for reference) Enter them, let your fans know about them and have a chance to win something.

If you see a great review of a book, share it with your fans if you are excited to read it and are putting it on your To-Read list.

Find other indie authors and buy/ read their books, let them know that you loved them, if you did and let your fans and friends also know that you loved their work as well. There are a LOT of great indie authors out there!

We need to support each other and the craft that we all love. Right now we rule the publishing games, but only because there are so many of us. One can only wonder if or when the really big publishing companies are going to find a way to take back over the world of books and make it harder for indie authors of all genera.

Take the time for a book you love to write a review of it, on Fb, or your blog if you have one, or even on Good Reads. (NOTE: If you do it on your blog and reviewing is not something you want to get into, then just let your fans know- “I don’t really do this to often, but this book is just so good I have to tell you why I loved it.”)

I will not lie to anyone I have bumped into authors who, in no way, want to help other authors, especially if you only have one book out. For some you need to have established a “status” so to say, to get their attention. No big, move on, no need to feel heart break… that will be their author karma in the end. I have also seen authors that have great author karma… in their genera, helpful if you are writing the same things as they are. But if not, again, no sweat off your back. Put that good author karma out there and it will come back to you. And then there are the some great authors out there that will love your work and in just a short time become one of the greatest friends you can have as well as a great person for your own personal “Team Me-Author.” You might even meet an experienced author that will take you under their wing and help you in so many ways that all you can do is one day pay it forward and help out a new up and coming yourself.

I write contemporary romance… and some day I might throw in a mystery romance, or something else, who knows. BUT that does not mean that if I found a YA fantasy book that struck me (And I have! – that is another post though I guess) that I would not tell them about it. Because- most people read more than one genera of books, I know I do; and also because – a good book, is a good book, period!

So, make friends in the author community, support the other indie authors, like you they do not have all the perks of a big house. Even if they do not write in the same genera that you do, it is good for your author karma. And really is there such a thing as too much good karma? No way!

Another reason to find some new author friend(s) is simple- we “author people”… are Crazy, but in a good way of course! We need other authors in our lives! No one will understand your crazy thoughts better then they will.  Even if, as I said before, it is not the same genera it will be easier to talk about ten different ways to kill a man in your novel to them; than it will be to talk to your neighbor who is out weeding his or her garden in the afternoon and only half paying attention to you. They may wonder if you are really plotting to kill someone named John and give an anonymous tip to the police. 

“No officer, I swear, I have no intention of REALLY killing a man named John by distracting him so that he falls into an empty elevator shaft and plummets to his death twelve stories below.”

Have a great day. 

~A

 

If you are a reader- Happy reading, whatever is in you hands. And if you are a writer- Happy writing!

On a side note: Writing is going on The 72^nd November, slow but it is going. I have been working on another novel as well here and there. When it calls out to me more than T72N, that one is yet to be named. And have written the outline for two other  Romance novels. Now I just have to get to writing all theses stories in my head!!  (-:

The Worries of a New(er) Author... Or Maybe it's Just Me.

The Worries of a New(er) Author... Or Maybe it's Just Me.
Awhile back I lost a huge chunk (2000+ words) of the next novel I am working on (The 72nd November) and it seems have sent me into a tail spin of worries.  I knew what I had written- and had my notes/ outline- but in some ways I feel that I didn't get the same thing/ feeling in the writing. Every time I looked over it I felt that something was missing- but what? I am only left to wonder if I will need to do it again, and I am sure I will, because the feelings of being upset over the loss came through in the writing and not the original feelings I had.
Writing Tempting Fate was so easy for me. The words were easy to find the first time and when I wanted to make changes or add things during the many edits I just "knew" what to change. With the exception of the ending, that just before I started the publishing process went though an overhaul with the help of a friend or two.
With the help of those in my writing group and a nice bulletin point manual I found getting it ready to be published was also fairly easy. (Though I have found mistakes and know there are a few things I will do different next time!)
Then the waiting and real work began. Waiting for it to show up on each eBook site respectively and working to get it out there to people.
Networking and researching who to contact about book reviews (and how to ask properly and not look like a fool!).  I spent hours compiling a data base for myself of book review bloggers and Fb pages, email address and names, what genera they like to read and if they were even excepting books for review.
So my worries...
1) I have several more book reviews coming up for TF and I am very much looking forward to them! But how can I get out there even more. How do I reach the audience that would want to read my work. I find that it is so hard to do. The popular thing right now is YA paranormal and /or vampires, and of course the every present "sagas/ series" where you get the reader with the first book and they are drooling for the next two or three books to come out. Not to even mention the heavy erotica of The Fifty Shades series, and no I have not read them... yet.  As much as I love a good romance novel I also find my self reading vampire series books or YA books about the paranormal... but my mind can't develop those kind of stories. So I am not "mainstream" right now, and maybe this vampire stuff is a passing fade- but who knows, it could be around for years and years to come.
 But the question still remains how do I get my adult romance novel- with a twist, from a new and unknown author- out there, to the right readers- now?
I know that having more than one book would help very much and I am working on that... but it leads to another worry.
2) What if it is not as good? I was beyond connected to the charters in Tempting Fate from the very beginning. I knew them inside and out. I could see them, and feel their thoughts and feelings, and hear their voices right from the start... what if I can't do that with my next novel? Will it not be as good as the first book? Worry, worry, worry!
The big- ever present in my mind - WHAT IF'S?
I know my next story very well, I can see the movie of it in my mind as clear as I could with the last...  and I think it is great. But I fear that TF as set a president for what the readers I do have will expect from me... can I meet or exceed those expectations with my next novel? Have I put myself in a genera and now I am stuck there? Can I write a- life story/ romance, or a mystery/romance and still have the same readers? Will my second book lose them when they would have loved the third one as much as they did TF, but never give it a chance because of the second that they maybe only "liked"?
UGH!! Worry, worry, worry!
I don't want to just write the same things in a different way, but I don't want to go way to far off the map either. Or write something that is just the "same old thing"- The like each other, they fight off the feelings, they give in to them, big sex scene, they realize that it is more than lust, say I love you and live happily ever after, and all the while a story has gone on around them.
So where is that little nitch in between everything that doesn't pigeon hole me? And how do I get to those readers more?
I know that all I can do is write what is in my heart and my head and hope that if I love the story and the charters like I did with TF that this will shine through in my writing and others will love the book as well.
BUT- these things are still in my mind... and I worry. Maybe they will go away as I get farther and farther into writing The 72nd November. Lets hope!

This past weekend I received my first book review from Jen at The Mystical World of Book Reviews (http://www.facebook.com/mysticalworldbookreviews?ref=ts) If you are on FB please go over and give her page a like so that you can read her future reviews.

For my first review I could not have been more pleased! 

Book Review:

Tempting Fate
By A.N. Busch

About the Book: Abigail Dalton had it all. Then one night her dreams took her back to her college days, only something was different about them. Every night the dreams continued to torture her, images of a man s he didn't remember. Questions to an old college friend went unanswered, leaving her asking more. In one day, her life would change. She would be tempted to alter what Fate had planned for her life.

Jen's Review: 5 Stars
I don't even know where to start about how much I enjoyed this book. This book tore at my emotions, from warm fuzzies to complete melt down of tears! The only thing I found wrong with the book, the story ended before I wanted it to.

Abigail never knew that dreams could be so surreal, until the ones she recently started having. They were so real, she started to feel guilty for having them, considering that the man in her dreams were not her husband. As the dreams continue, she begins to wonder if they really are just dreams. Has she actually experienced these events, is her dream man real? Abby finds herself facing fate head on, but what plans does fate have planned for her?

I highly recommend this book to anyone that has found love, lost love, and to those that believe love conquers all. I can only hope to see more work by this author soon!

 A big Thank you again to Jen and The Mystical World of Book Reviews.

There is going to be a big give away on the Tempting Fate Facebook page!

http://www.facebook.com/TFNovel

I am extremely well overdue for a post but sometimes the days just fly by. Some-days are just a whirl-wind of activity and when I do get a chance to just sit and breath... I fall asleep.

In mid April I finally got the opportunity to hold my book in my hands and I can not even begin to explain how it felt. I was excited when my book became available on more and more places on-line. (Though I am still waiting for it to be available for Nook.) Every new little milestone was exciting.

Then the Wednesday came that I knew my book would show up at my door. I looked at the window every five minutes for the "Brown" truck that was going to drop them off. When the man in Brown shorts finally showed up I was on the porch and waiting before he could even put his truck in park. My sons were excitedly jumping up and down yelling at the man to "hurry." Once I got the box in the house I just stared at it for a few minutes.

My hands were shaking when I opened the box and pulled one out. My dream had come true; my novel was finally in my hands. It was truly the most exciting thing ever, well, with the exception on the birth of my children of course.

From a young age there was a lot of different things I wanted to be, none of them was to be a writer. After the birth of my second son I was sure that I wanted to be a nail tech. After a quick jaunt in the industry I realized that loved the work, but not much else about it. One day after a random thought from my husband that I should just, "write a book," I thought about it and said why not. I am a stay-at-home Mommy, I have time. -Insert big laugh here- You don't realize how time consuming being a full time Mommy is until you try to throw in a work from home job into it.

I sat on the book for years, picking it up from time to time changing this or that about it, but still I had no interest in being a published author. I gave the advise to a friend who writes that she should "just do it," and still never thought about "just doing it myself." Until another friend said it to me. In a matter of days being a writer became my dream, it was what I wanted to do with my life.

The months leading up to the release of Tempting Fate were a whirl wind. Researching self-publishing, making 500 different versions of the cover, constantly learning new things (and I am still learning now). Not to mention all the little things that needed to be done, as well as managing the day to day life of being a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend.

My dream came true, it was one that I didn't have until later in life but I reached for the stars and did every things I could to make it come true. So I guess what I am saying is that if you have one of your own, no matter how old it is or new, do it! I promise that when you do you will be filled with more joy that randomly winning that lottery.

Hello!
 Things are going coming nicely. Tempting Fate is now up on Amazon and Createspace as well as Smashwords. I am still 'awaiting review' to get on Barns & Noble as well as the Apple eBook store. The paperback can be purchased through both Amazon and Createspace. I am currently trying to network and get Tempting Fate out to more readers. As part of that, soon I will be sending it out to get some reviews from book review bloggers. If you know of a good one, please let me know! Blogging is new to me and so I am still working the page to get it perfect. I have gotten a chance to start working on my next novel, The 72nd November. Thank you to my fans and readers!

<3 A

Happy Release Day! The time has come for Tempting Fate to meet the world... Here it is...
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145653

I will be posting when it is up on more sites and in paperback!

xo
A

Excerpt From Chapter 2 of Tempting Fate:

 

Abby pulled down her book and moved her computer keyboard to the top of the monitor. She was not reading for long when she decided the lamplight would not be enough to keep her awake and stood up to open the curtains. As she pulled them back she looked into the courtyard below. To her own surprise, she saw him right away sitting alone under a tree bare of leaves. As soon as her eyes saw him there, she knew it was the same man she got a glimpse of yesterday.

He was leaned back against the tree, reading a book. As much as she knew she needed to get back to her history book, she couldn’t stop watching him flip from page to page reading. From time to time he made a note in the book. He was left handed, and even from the fourth floor and half way across the courtyard, she could see his hands perfectly. Something about them gave her butterflies in her stomach. When he looked up and around at her building’s windows her heart dropped and she stepped back quickly. Did he feel like he was being watched? What if he saw her there? Would he think she was watching him?

When he stretched and changed his position, Abby wondered if he was going to leave. Unmoving she watched as he removed the hoodie from his head. His bright blond hair was revealed, and her breath caught in her throat. He rested his elbow on his crossed legs and his chin in his right hand.

It seemed like forever that Abby stayed in the window and watched him. Even afraid he would see her, she was not able to look away. Abby watched everything about him. It was like she could not pull herself away even if she tried. She wondered about the book he was reading, it didn’t look like a textbook but it was thick. What was it he was so into that at times he would not move at all but to turn the page?

When he shut the book and set it beside him, Abby frowned. He started to stretch and she found herself not wanting him to leave. It was like he heard her silent wish and pulled his hoodie back on and moved over to lay on his back and stare up at the sky. Trying to see the details of his face, Abby looked at him even closer. Her eyes only left him to look up at the clouds herself. When he stood up Abby felt her stomach drop.

Less than a week until Tempting Fate is launched! I am very excited, but I have a busy week ahead of me with a to-do list a mile long. I just hope I'm not bald by the second of April.
Looking forward to the release on the first of April and moving on, too work on my next book -The 72nd November. (-;

Tempting Fate 


Abigail Dalton had it all- a loving husband, a successful career at a well-respected architectural agency, and three wonderful children. Then one night her dreams took her back to her college days in Tennessee, only something was different about them. Every night the dreams continued to torture her with images of a man she had no recollection of ever knowing. Westly and his love for her was so intense. Abigail was left feeling guilty and confused. Questions to an old college friend about this mystery man went unanswered, leaving her wanting to ask more.
During the day she tried to push the dreams and Westly from her mind, but the lingering feeling of his hands on her skin was hard to ignore. She did her best to focus on work, her husband, her children, anything to erase the haunting images of Westly. However, soon a trip to New York City to make a presentation, would take her on a completely unexpected journey. What she would discover would not only stop the dreams but also answer all of her questions.
In one day, her life would change in more ways than one. She would be tempted to alter what Fate had planned for her life. If she could change things, would she want to give up all she had at home in Texas? Tempting Fate’s plans could cause her to lose everything.

Welcome to my blog!
 The Tempting Fate release date is planned for April 1st! Go check out http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tempting-Fate/202296253134363 to see how to WIN a free paper back copy of Tempting Fate!