multicultural romance

Support for MC/IR Writers, Information for their Readers

With the recent announcement of the Romance Writers of America sanctioning a chapter that deals with Multicultural and Interracial Authors of romances, I decided to take figurative pen in hand and make some comments. MC= Multicultural and IR= Interracial. Note that all IR is multicultural, but not all MC is IR. J

Writers need support. We need support through those times where we’ve done a manuscript and thought it was the worst thing we’ve ever written. We need support with the promotion that we are doing with our books. We need support when mapping out our next great idea.

Our readers want to know what’s new, what’s happening, what’s going on. They want to be there when our book releases, so they can be ahead of the wave.

I am pleased that the Romance Writers of America have finally acknowledged that yes, there are writers and readers of multicultural and interracial romance, but I also think that they are late to the party.

Ever since I picked up Sandra Kitt’s Color of Love, I have enjoyed reading romances that featured a black heroine. Mind you, it’s also fun to read the other types of romances too, but it got a little annoying to read about the heroine’s “creamy white skin” and “golden flaxen strands”. I wanted a heroine who had to set her hair at night and maybe touch it up in the morning before work. I wanted a heroine whose hero appreciated her thick curly hair, her creamy brown, bronze, earth-colored, carob-colored skin. Thus, I began writing romances of my own and reading romances that featured multicultural characters.

I also see the need to support authors of this romance genre, who can too soon get lost in the shuffle. My Facebook groups: IR/MC Romance Readers and Writers, as well as Multicultural Romance Authors. These groups are specifically for authors and readers of romance (not women’s fiction) that feature multicultural characters. These groups are new and finding their way, but we’d love it if you’d stop by, join and add your voice to the conversation!

Dahlia

Coming Soon – The Wisest Maiden

Writing is easy compared to the editing process. It’s difficult to take words that you’ve already written, that you’ve already determined that they say what you want them to say, then tweak them to make them more evocative. But I tell you, the hardest part of the process of getting a book into e-print is the blurb. So, here is the “work of art” that made me pull my hair out in the space of fifteen minutes:

After she is forced into marriage with a powerful ruler who deflowers and kills his brides, Issalia is compelled to use her wits to avoid the executioner’s axe. But can she avoid having her heart captured by the deeply wounded king?

You have no idea (or perhaps you do) how difficult that was to write!

Without further ado, here is the cover reveal and longer blur for The Wisest Maiden:

The Wisest Virgin – Liquid Silver Books – August 13th

Blurb:

Betrayed by his first wife, King Toridesh gives his new brides no
chance to deceive him. After he marries a virgin of his choosing and
consummates the marriage, he has them killed.

As an only child, Issalia has been sheltered by her parents in an
attempt to shield her from their king’s murderous intent. When her
mother falls ill, Issalia refuses to allow their market-stall be
closed for the day, knowing that this one day of income stands between them
and poverty.

While in disguise, the King spies the lovely Issalia in the
marketplace and takes her as his next bride. Will Issalia
succumb to the fate of the virgin brides before her or will she be
able to break the King’s curse?

See the Pinterest board.

Tell Me, Touch Me, Feel Me – Kassanna

Kassanna, my fellow author-in-crime has a new release! Check out the hot, sexy cover and the blurb:

Luther Lexington didn’t question why his brother sent for him, but
knowing John, he was sure he had his reasons. What he didn’t expect
was to find a mocha beauty, in the guise of security personnel that
threw her fists first and asked questions later. From the moment she
laid him low, he wanted to get her lower, as in under him.

Tanya Babineaux did what she was supposed to do as a Club Lexx
security guard. Make trespassers leave by any means necessary. How was
she to know he was the owner’s little brother? Now he corners her
every chance he gets, and she doesn’t have time to play.

Tanya harbors a secret, and if Luther doesn’t stop chasing her…in the
end she could lose it all. That is, of course, if his brothers don’t
ruin everything first.

Excerpt:

Excerpt

After making sure all the lights were on, she took a good look at Luther. He’d removed his shoes and was stretching in the middle of the ring. With his chest bared she saw every ripple his muscles made. Cream filled her panties. Right now he’s the enemy, idiot. Stop letting him distract you. Tanya berated herself while trotting back to the ring. She climbed up and stared at him for a moment before crawling under the ropes.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Why, you scared?”

“Of you? Phhhfffttt.” She blew a raspberry at him.

“So how do you want to do this?”

“Pin me. Two out of three wins.”

“Remember you agreed to this so don’t get mad at me when I win.”

“Bring it on.” Tanya raised her and crooked her fingers.

Luther didn’t hesitate. Grabbing her around the waist he went straight for her body. Scrambling, Tanya gripped his forearms while pushing back against his chest to loosen his hold then she dropped, slipping from his grasp. Tanya rolled between his legs and came up behind him. Kicking at the back of his knee he went down. Turning over before she could jump on his back he came up quickly to face her.

“I’m pretty sure that is an illegal move.” He limped back and forth.

“You didn’t say we were playing by rules. I’ll have to remember that.” Tanya wiped a hand down her face, hiding her smile.

“No, rules aren’t necessary. Glad to know where we stand.” His eyes narrowed as he studied her.

They circled each other a few circuits around the ring. He tackled her legs, taking her down. They hit the mat with a thump. Pulling one leg from his grasp she twisted her body and tried to crawl from beneath him. Luther let go of her other leg and wrapped his hands around her waist to pull her back. He fell down on her body. She lay under his body, breathing hard and listening to his breath saw in and out of his lungs.

“You give?” His words came in short pants.

“Not even, you have to pin my shoulders.” Bucking, she got enough room between their bodies to slither free. He grabbed her ankle and flipped her, tugging her back toward him. Bringing her knees to her chest before he could fall on top of her, she heaved him up and off her. He didn’t move far, hustling to climb back on top of her. Tanya crab-walked to the side, eluded his grasp and rolled up onto her feet. Luther grabbed her shorts and pulled them down around her knees. Kicking her legs she shed her shorts and did a couple of hops to evade him. She looked down her body, and pursed her lips. Holding out her hand, she waited for him to throw her the clothing.

“No rules, remember?” Luther brought the crotch of her shorts to his nose. “Damn, you smell good.”

“Fuck you.”

“We did that already but I’d love to do it again.” He swung the material on his index finger.

She made a grab for it and missed. He swung her around and pushed her against the ropes. Covering her with his body, Luther lowered his head and pressed his lips against hers, hard. Her mouth opened under his assault. His tongue swept into her mouth, brushing pass her teeth, and tangled with hers. Her hands crept up his arms over his sweat-dampened skin and locked around his neck. He groaned into her mouth when her hands tousled his hair.

Luther lifted his head, looked her in the eye and flipped her around. Kissing the back of her neck and down her spine he pushed her over the top rope, bending her at the waist.

Slipping his fingers into the elastic of her panties, he tugged. The fabric gave way and his fingers dug into the soft cheek of her ass as he kept her from flipping over onto the floor below.

“I want you,” he whispered as he dropped minute kisses along her shoulder blades.

“You can have me if you pin me.” She slipped out of his grasp, naked except for her bra. She stared at the length of his cock straining against his jeans. Meeting his stare, she arched a brow.

“I’m motivated, what can I say.” He shrugged.

Tanya couldn’t suppress the laughter that bubbled up from her chest. “Come and get me, big boy.” She braced her feet in anticipation of his next move.

Luther charged for her, reminding her of a bull on the run. She held her ground, waiting to the last possible second. When he was within range, she gripped his bicep, and jumped off her toes. Wheeling around, she threw herself across his body, dropping him where he stood. The mat shook under their combined weight. Her breast pressed flat on his chest, she took two deep breaths before rising and shifting to crouch over him. With her arms straight and hands pushed against his shoulders, she leaned forward.

Buy Links:

Evernight Publishing

Amazon

Reflections

Time for me to take a deep breath. I’ve got two (count ’em) two stories out on submission that I’m waiting to hear yay or nay and I’ve gotten ideas for two more stories. A writer FB friend of mine, Kassanna lit a fire under my writer bootie when that very day I’d been at sixes and sevens about what to do next. So now, I’m happily working on a sort of a sequel to Kitty Wishes, which was my first little book released last October. Does time fly or what?

Speaking of Kitty Wishes, I’d like to send out a big thank you to those of you who read Kitty Wishes. It is really quite flattering to see that people appreciate the stories that I make up in my head. I hope that it was entertaining to you and that you look forward to my upcoming releases. Right now, I am about 25K into my zombie story, spawned by my watching of The Walking Dead and kinda not really feeling the storyline. For those of you who watch, when they got stuck on that farm for about sixteen years, I had had it. I will say the comic was much better.

So there you go. I leave you with two things: Thank you to my readers, whoever you may be. And, if you haven’t purchased Kitty Wishes and are into paranormal lite…well what are you waiting for?

Much love!

TSS

I had to let it happen…I had to change…

I was a beginning writer once. Heck, I still think I’m a beginning writer, sometimes. I also have a lot of contact, both on and off the interwebs, with other writers, beginning writers, hobby writers, and the like.

In my past life as a teacher, I tend to be the person to whom people came for advice. Now that I’m a (beginning ) writer who has been published, the questions abound. I don’t give advice anymore. I don’t, really, you know why? I think that if you’re asking the question, eighty percent of the time, you already have the answer and either are in denial or are looking for someone else to simply agree with your assessment of the situation.

And, if you’re wrong, you’ll be looking for a long time.

I was fortunate enough to run upon Holly Lisle’s books and courses and something she said in her book “Mugging the Muse”

To paraphrase, those who ask others about writing, are given an answer, then say “but….”? That means they don’t LIKE the answer you‘ve given and have already made up their minds.

These type of people, you can’t help, so don’t waste your time.

I’ll give a brief example from my own experience. I submitted my first book, Kitty Wishes, as a short story for an Evernight anthology call. I was told that though the anthology was full, if I expanded the story, then it could be released on its own.

If I were a lunkhead, I could have said “But….I wrote the story as a short story! It stands as I created it!!! I’ll shop it somewhere else! How dare you ask ME to chaaaaaaange!!!”

Did I say that? No. To me, that was an opportunity to expand on characterization and place. So I did, and it was published.

Same with beta readers. If you’ve picked a good beta reader, pay attention to what they say. Sure, being criticized hurts.

Who among us wants our work to be picked apart?

Those of us who want to be GOOD at what we do.

When the publishers say, “Give me the same thing…only different!” DO it. They know what they want and are asking for it in plain language. Don’t lament that “they only want this, they only want that” Yeah. They do “only want this, only want that” because in their experience, that sells.

Don’t change the publisher. Change your writing. OR, find a publisher that will accept your type of writing. Just don’t “butt” your head against a brick wall trying to bend the publisher to YOUR will. You will end up with a very sore head and an empty bank account.

Really.

Have I said too much? There’s nothing more I can think of to say to you/ But all you do is look at me to know that every word is true……

TSS
Write long to prosper!