PNR and SFR with special characters

If you like paranormal romance and the world of possibilities that it offers, read author Heather Massey's article at her great blog, The Galaxy Express, on SciFi romance and Paranormal romance with characters with that "something extra."

http://www.thegalaxyexpress.net/2014/05/sci-fi-romances-with-extranormal.html#more

We has arrived! 'Cuz TIME magazine said so!

Oh my! "Colored'' folk have arrived in romance novels! In interracial love matches! Someone alert the media! Oh my bad. Someone did. And the medium of choice was TIME magazine. So, I guess it's official. And it must be true. But you are about 20 years late and a dollar short, TIME. As usual the message was relayed to the masses by a rep of the default persuasion by using the graphic of her novel. Translation: An article heralding the inclusion of interracial love in romance books employed a book by a WHITE author to represent the genre. As usual the default messenger was used to relay a message revolving around a topic speaking about OTHER ethnicities! No, I am NOT saying this writer, or any other non-POC writer, should not write multicultural angles into their work. They should write what they want. I'm just saying that when authors who look like her do include these angles, do not trumpet the inclusion as "groundbreaking" and a "first." It's not groundbreaking. It's been around a long while. So when this "trend" catches the eye of major media, it telegraphs to me that this "new trend" in romance books is only sanctioned, legit and accepted when an example of it is written by the default author. Yeah, I said it. It's friggin' amazing. This "new trend" has been around since the NINETIES and was inaugurated by BLACK female writers because there were NO depictions of people of color as major characters in romance books. Be they in same race, or interracial, relationships. NONE. NADA. ZILCH. Publishers believed that love came in only one color and readers only wanted to read about that one color falling in love. Those BLACK women created the niche. Carved it out on their own. Fought tooth and nail to bring it to light. Yes, the article did mention the Black female biggies in the genre, even SPOKE with a few of the women for the article. But, alas, TIME Magazine did not find it germane to the article to post the COVERS to THEIR books. Major fail!

http://time.com/43710/interracial-romance-novels/

My guest post at the Multicultural Blog-A-Thon hosted by Yolanda Ashton

Today marks the debut of my guest post on the blog of Yolanda Ashton, owner of the blog, "The Darker the Romance...The Sweeter the Love." Yum. Gives me chills. In a good way. She is an author of paranormal romance with lots of twists and POC characters. Anyway, check out her blog and my contribution.

http://www.yolandaashton.wordpress.com.

Death to piracy. Now!

The page below from fellow author, Shiloh Walker's website says it all about book piracy. It sucks when one's hard work is taken for free and for granted. It's not flattering to an author when he/she discovers their book on a "sharing site" or a torrent site. IT"S STEALING. From the publisher. from the author and eventually YOU. You see when you download stuff that's not free, you lower the sales of that book. The publisher will probably alert the author that they are going to kill the series in question, if that's the case, or NOT taking on the next book period, because of low sales. So no more books for you to STEAL in a series or a standalone because that writer will not be offered a contract. They will have been CANCELLED. GET IT? GO READ FANFIC FOR FREE. STOP BEING CHEAP. If you cannot afford to buy books, there are tons of FREE reads available on the net. STOP STEALING. Whatever you call it or how ever you do it..

http://www.shilohwalker.com/website/readers-piracy/

Power to the Writer!

I am riding a promo streak this month and am very happy and serious. Please peruse author Heather Massey's brave blog entry about diversity in Sci-Fi and paranormal romance writing. It features and examines writers and/or characters who are PoC or not cisgendered or not able-bodied. You know, the real world. My stuff is spotlighted. SQUEEEEEEE! Check it out.

http://www.thegalaxyexpress.net/2014/05/we-need-diverse-books-in-science.html

Another promo link highlights my work too. In the APR/MAY issue of Book Trailer Showcase eMagazine on pg 137. Click on the interactive magazine to the left.