Free Read: The Argentine Seduction

So excited that the short story sequel to The Chimera Affair is now available!

The Argentine Seduction by Keira Andrews

The Argentine Seduction finds Sebastian on his first mission — and Kyle fighting his overprotective urges. :D

When brilliant university student Sebastian went on the run with deadly spy Kyle to escape assassins, he never imagined he’d end up a spy himself—or that he and Kyle would fall for each other. Now Sebastian’s ready for his first daring mission: to seduce a Russian arms dealer and steal missile plans before they fall into the wrong hands.

In the simmering heat of Buenos Aires, protective Kyle arrives as mission backup—and fights his unexpected jealousy and powerful urge to keep Sebastian safe. When their plans go awry, Sebastian and Kyle must scramble to complete their mission and work together as equals. Romance and espionage aren’t easy bedfellows. Can two spies thwart the bad guys—and keep their love affair alive?

FREE this week!

From May 9 until May 15, The Argentine Seduction is FREE at Loose Id! Plus, The Chimera Affair is on sale for only $4.99! Don’t you love a deal? Happy reading!

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Here, Have Some Hot Guys Making Out

I’m posting over at Darker Temptations today! The subject: What’s fun about M/M romance? My answer is displayed in NSFW-pictorial format. :D

Here’s a teaser:

Lock me up and throw away the key, officers!

Lock me up and throw away the key, officers!

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I Choose Strength

I’ve struggled most of my life with my weight and keeping fit and healthy. I’m not a natural athlete and I can gain five pounds by just looking at a cheesecake. There have been peaks and valleys, but I’ve never given up. In the past year and a half I’ve lost 40 pounds and my goal is to lose 40 more. After holiday indulgences (hey, life is short and I’m not giving up my yearly shortbread and marzipan!), I’ve been back on track and feeling great.

Lately I’ve been thinking about this:

Being weak is a choice

When I’m struggling to hold a plank in CXWorx class, I repeat a mantra in my head: “I choose strength.” Let me tell you, l hate doing planks. Haaate. I never used to be able to do them on my toes and I’d skip them and do crunches instead because they were too hard.

Then one day while waiting to go into BodyPump class, I heard a woman talking about push-ups. A newcomer said that she couldn’t do them at all on her toes, and her friend assured her that she’ll be able to if she keeps trying. This woman standing nearby laughed and said it was a lie, because she still can’t do it.

During the squat track in class, this same woman (who I’d never seen before, so she wasn’t a regular) stopped halfway through the song and just stood there with her hands on her hips, wearing an expression of bemused annoyance. She didn’t seem to be injured. She just appeared put out that the song was so long and difficult. She continued standing there for minutes, hands on hips. Then when the song ended, she picked up her water bottle and towel, and left. (Also left all her equipment for someone else to put away!)

Being weak is a choice

Now, who knows what was going on with this woman in Pump class. It’s her body and her workout and to each their own. But I should thank her if I ever see her again, because she made me realize I was being a quitter when it came to planks. I started going to CX every week, and have been doing so for more than six months. I still hate planks, but I can do them — on my toes! — for more than a minute now. It’s painful and hard work, but I’m not quitting. Each week I get stronger.

Confession: I do not look this poised or perfect when doing planks.

Confession: I do not look this poised or perfect when doing planks.

I never used to be able to do push-ups on my toes either. I’ve got big boobs and it’s tough! I can now do 15-20 and I do them every morning (followed by a plank). Some days it’s harder than others, but I don’t stop. Because I choose strength.

What’s your exercise routine? Have you reached any milestones lately? What are your fitness goals?

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New Story!

I’m very excited to announce a new short story sequel to The Chimera Affair being released May 7. Kyle and Sebastian are back and facing new challenges now that Sebastian has finished his spy training. (I should come up with some course names. International Espionage 101?)

More info to follow. In the meantime, here’s the gorgeous cover by Fiona Jayde:

The Argentine Seduction by Keira Andrews

What do you think? :)

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“I read this book from cover to cover without stopping”

5 stars from Top2Bottom Reviews:

Beautifully told with heartwarming and likeable characters that really live and breathe off of the written page, Ascending Hearts is a story not to be missed! If you are a fan of fantasy/fairytale romances then this book is definitely one to be considered. I’m certainly hoping this amazing writing team will write more books in the series and I’m looking forward to reading more books written by them. Highly Recommended!

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“It grabbed me from the very first sentence and did not let go”

4.5 stars from Mrs. Condit Reads Books:

I love this series. It is very creative and loveable. The characters are well drawn and the plot is, well, it’s done as well as the classic fairy tales we grew up with. Utterly charming.

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Forget About the Price Tag?

To quote Jessie J, we just wanna make the world dance! Sadly, price tags are a fact of life and most of us can’t forget about them.

I’ve seen several interesting discussions on ebook pricing of late and wanted to get your opinions. Do you feel ebooks are overpriced? What’s the most you’ll pay for an ebook? Would you pay more for the same book in paper? How big of a factor is word count? Does the publisher matter?

dollar-sign

For me, I’m definitely willing to pay for quality, and the word count is important. I think an important factor is also cost of living. In Toronto, I pay $13 to go see a movie, or more. $7.99 for a long ebook that’s going to give me hours of enjoyment is a bargain!

I really don’t have interest in buying paper books anymore for the most part. I love being able to bring my Kobo with me in my purse everywhere, and while I do still have a collection of paper books I love, I enjoy that ebooks allow me to stock up on romances and thrillers without cluttering up my apartment.

On the flipside of books priced too high, have you become leery of books that are $0.99? Have your feelings on ebook pricing changed in the past year or so?

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“Sorry to Burst Your Bubble with My Dildo”

Straight people better get onboard for marriage equality! :D

Gay Men Will Marry Your Girlfriends

 

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Guest Post: WJ Davies on Fanfiction and Improving Your Craft

Last year I weighed in on publishing fanfic after EL James made a fortune with 50 Shades of Crap Grey, which was originally published online as an AU (alternate universe) Twilight fanfic. She did a find and replace on Edward and Bella’s names, shaved off a few serial numbers, and presto! Part of my negative reaction was due to an old-school fandom mentality, which is very Fight Club-esque in its separation of fandom from the general public. But the lines nowadays have become extremely blurred, with many showrunners and actors interacting directly with fandom.

A couple of months ago, author WJ Davies asked: “What if the author has given you express permission to write and self-publish the fanfic?” Huh. Great question! To my knowledge, this is a first. I find it fascinating how times and attitudes are changing, and invited WJ to share his thoughts and experiences. We’d love to hear your opinions as well!

Without further ado, please welcome WJ. :)

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When you mention the word fanfiction, many people seem to get polarized. Some believe that publishing fanfiction is outright theft, and that these spinoffs do nothing to enrich the original story. If anything, they say, these tributive stories actually degrade the original work, and water it down. Others embrace fanfiction as an excellent tool to help hone a writer’s craft and more than that, view it as one of the highest forms of praise you could give to the original author.

A few months ago on Hugh Howey’s forums, a fan asked him if he would be OK with people writing stories in his acclaimed “Wooliverse”. Hugh not only encouraged his readers to write Wool stories, but actually advised them to publish their works on Amazon in eBook format.

“The world of Wool is ripe for exploration.” Hugh says. “There’s room for readers to become writers and play in this world. I won’t be able to scratch the surface. I view fan fiction as the opportunity to teach readers how much joy there is in creating worlds instead of just living in them. When readers got in touch to ask about fan fiction, I not only gave my blessing, I insisted that they charge for the work. Even if it’s just a dollar. I know what it’s like to struggle as an artist.”

The night I read that forum post, an entire chapter popped into my mind taking place in Hugh’s Silo world. I pictured a man running over a hill and witnessing something which crumbles the beliefs he has held all his life, beliefs propagated by those in charge of his insular world. This scene ended up being the final chapter in what would become The Runner (A Silo Story). Yes, a Wool fanfiction. On a whim, I decided to send the story to Hugh Howey, who is known for reading and responding to his fan’s emails. Within a day, Hugh had written me back, not only praising the story, but recommending I publish it on Amazon and charge for my work.

My brother whipped up a fancy cover page for the book and I set up a KDP account on Amazon. 24 hours later, The Runner eBook was live.

The Runner by WJ DaviesI woke up in the morning and checked Hugh’s blog as is my habit, and was completely flabbergasted at what I saw on his front page. Hugh’s article details the shift from reader, to writer, to self-published author.

“New avenues of artistic expression have opened to readers in the past decade. In just a few years, I was fortunate to go from self-publishing to writing full-time. Fan fiction takes this one step further as it urges readers to transform themselves into self-published authors! What’s great about fan fiction is that one of the challenging aspects of writing — the World Building — is already done. Readers can dabble in a world they love, and perhaps they’ll move from there to create worlds of their own. There’s room for readers to become writers and play in this world,” he said. “I view fan fiction as the opportunity to teach readers how much joy there is in creating worlds instead of just living in them.”

Indeed, I wrote The Runner in an effort to keep up my writing habit as I edited my original SF novel, Binary Cycle. I used this short fanfic as an exercise to teach me about completing a story, editing it, doing cover art and formatting, and finally publishing through Amazon’s KDP Select program. This experience has proved to be invaluable, and as a writer, I now feel much more prepared to tackle the publishing of my first novel.

There is an added benefit to this that I wasn’t expecting. At the time of writing this post, The Runner has been downloaded more than 6,000 times (including two freebie promotional days). It has garnered 80 reviews on Amazon, many of them incredibly positive and humbling. Readers mention that they would be OK with me writing another Silo fanfic story, adding that they will look forward to my debut novel. I couldn’t be happier with all the feedback I’ve received, and it all goes a long way to helping me become a better writer, and having a better idea of what readers are expecting and what makes an enjoyable story. I’ve even received several Wool fanfic stories from other writers who have been equally inspired to write in Hugh’s world.

The important thing I’ve drawn from this experience, is that any amount of writing, regardless of the subject matter, will help improve your craft, and if you feel inspired to write, then write. It’s amazing what a little dedication and hard work can do, and with the state of indie self-publishing right now, you never know what journeys your words will take you on. I can only thank Hugh Howey for creating a world so easy to immerse oneself in and for acting as a bastion of hope to so many indie-writers. The success of authors like Hugh give the rest of us something to aspire to, and provide us with the drive and motivation to keep writing. So now I ask you… What’s in your silo?

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Rainbow Con 2014, Interview and Giveaway

So excited that I’m going to Rainbow Con in Tampa in April next year! This will be my first author convention, although I’m a veteran of Comic-Con and various other sci-fi/fan conventions. I never imagined I’d be speaking on a panel at a convention, and it’s a little nerve-racking! But exciting.

My dear partner in crime Leta Blake will also be attending, along with a host of other awesome authors and special guests.  I can’t wait to meet everyone. The line-up of panels, workshops, roundtables and games looks excellent. I look forward to a lot of fun, and also to learning a few things as well.

I also look forward to staying an extra day to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando. How can I resist when I’ll only be an hour away! :D

In summation:

AwesomeRennerGif

In other news, I did an interview with an erotic literary EZine. Check it out!

Plus! You can win a copy of Ascending Hearts today at TRR’s anniversary party! There are tons of great books up for grabs! You just need to register and/or log in to take part in the fun. Get clicking! :D

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