AVAILABLE NOW

Magnificent Men of Munich

Teddi Turns On

Aspen Mountain Press

Buy Link http://aspenmountainpress.com:80/new-releases/teddi-turns-on/prod_135.html

BLURB

No one’s going to take advantage of Teddi Howard again, including the Munich tour operator who screwed her over when he reneged on their contract. Her only option is to face the little weasel.

Nothing stands in the way of the prominent, German businessman David Stiefle, especially a woman. No way is he ever getting involved, even if she is the sensual Mrs. Howard.

EXCERPT:

David Stiefel’s eyes kept track of the copper-haired female while he rolled up the sleeves of his striped shirt. The woman was oblivious to the stir she created as she strolled through the crowded O’Hare Airport Business Class Lounge. He stroked an index finger over his lips and studied her sleek figure in form fitting slacks. The appealing rear view was too good to miss. The pleasure of not seeing a panty line forced him to shift in his chair to adjust for the sudden pull in his jeans.

She bent over, hung her jacket across the chair back, and glanced over her shoulder at him. Their gaze held as a smile tweaked the corner of his mouth. He crumpled the wrappings from his beef sandwich and knew he’d just been offered dessert. Now all he had to do was make his move.

As his good luck would have it, right there on the floor, just a few meters away was an airline ticket dropped by some unsuspecting person. He knew that delicious looking woman had done it as a ploy to meet him.

He stood and paced off the few steps, never taking his eyes from her. He stooped, scooped up the packet, and walked the few extra feet before he glanced at the name printed in bold marker across the front. When he held it toward her she fumbled with her purse and carry-on as if she didn’t know she’d lost such an important set of documents. Very cool.

Standing in front of her, he leaned down just enough to catch her scent. Shalimar. His favorite.

“Bitte, Frau, are you missing something?” He liked the way her eyes widened as if she were surprised. She was good.

“Thank you.” She reached out a slender hand. Thank God there wasn’t any of that garish nail art so many women seemed to prefer.

BUY LINK http://aspenmountainpress.com:80/new-releases/teddi-turns-on/prod_135.html

Sloane Taylor
Sweet as Honey…Hotter than Hell
Francine On Fire www.aspenmountainpress.com
www.sloanetaylor.com www.myspace.com/sloanetaylor

In the pursuit of unrequited love, people will do crazy things. Sarah Michaels decided to give her playboy crush exactly what he wanted – the best sex he could ever wish for. Jamie Sleator believed that all he wanted was a good, quick tumble, until he tangled with Sarah.

Lessons in Love by Melissa Glisan is a blistering hot read with elements of BDSM that some readers may find objectionable.  Most of you though, will be breaking into a sweat that will make the equator feel like a polar ice cap, especially when Sarah’s best friend, Sam, gives her lessons in how to turn Jamie into a puddle of jelly.  Plus, Jamie’s father is a hoity-toity snot who loves making Sarah’s life miserable because…well, that is just one of the gems  you will need to discover when you read Lessons in Love.

Please note, this story depicts sexual practices that are not for everyone.  If you are interested in pursuing such practices, this novel IS NOT a tutorial.  Please seek out the experienced advice of an expert.  This novel is meant purely for fictional enjoyment and not instruction.

No doubt about it, book trailers can be effective, engaging ways to attract new readers.

Sadly, though, most languish without more than 100 viewings.

Think about the youtube videos you enjoy. Someone TOLD you about the video, sent you a link and you watched it. If you liked it, you sent it along to more people in your email circle. This is viral (it spreads like a virus).

Several of us laughed when we watched the video of the office workers destroying their computers set to the music of Daniel Powter in Bad Day. (3.7 million hits)

Daniel Powter’s real video, Bad Day, is really good too (1.2 million hits).

Why?

It garnered our attention with ACTION and however brief, told a story.

Does your book trailer tell a story? Any story? Or is it just a gathering of pictures, blurbs, and music? Has your video been uploaded to YouTube? How many views has it had?

If it hasn’t had many, I suggest rethinking the video trailer. It should be similar to a trailer you’d see to engage the viewers interest for a movie like The Dark Knight, or Ironman, or another popular movie. Think ACTION. They don’t flash a lot of words up on the screen.

Take a look at this video done for the character of Felix Gomez, a contemporary vampire who lives in Denver. Felix is first introduced to readers in Mario Acevedo’s novel, The Nymphos of Rocky Flats. For those of you familiar with Denver, Rocky Flats was an area of town known for playing with some not very nice, highly reactive elements like plutonium. This video was done with Lego people and you’ll notice there isn’t a whole lot of printed verbiage until the very end when you find out about Mario’s three books. At this time, this particular video has had more than 2300 hits. While that isn’t high compared to some, Mario’s trailer has done extremely well among book trailers.

The best trailers are not a bunch of stills and covers put together but rather mini-films.

It is possible to take a still photograph and make it feel like it is in action. Remember Captain Kangaroo? Remember the stories that were read on the program? The camera would zoom in on an area of the picture book and pan to different parts of the picture to show movement. This is done on a current children’s book trailer called “How to Save Your Tail“. Even this very simple video has had more than 1,000 hits.

Note how the different parts of the cover are used to convey movement and unity. When the art changes to the black and white drawings, there is a continuity. There is also unity with the voice overs, something a lot of book trailers are missing.

Book trailers shouldn’t be much over 3 minutes. Most people don’t have a lot of patience for watching much longer. Commercial length is good (30-45 seconds) unless you can really create a fun and compelling video. I’ve watch the lego squad several times because it’s humorous and entertaining. Many people will watch a music video over and again for the same reason…the video engages them along with the music.

Given how ebooks writers are better tied in to the internet community at large, think of the viral spread you can get telling about a fun video via the loops, blogs, and your web site.

Always, always, always, include links. These can be embedded so that a person can just click on a phrase and be taken to the book or the trailer you want them to see.

There are authors here, far more experienced than I, at using the various computer programs that allow for making movies on your computer. Consider that many cell phones have a video recording device installed. You may find the right spot to “film” a few potential scenes of your story. A lot of people are hams and would have fun reenacting certain parts of your stories. Maybe you could have a filming day.

Don’t know any hams? Try the local community college. The have a visual arts department where wanna-be-filmakers are itching to practice. Many communities actually have schools that teach filmography. See if one of the students there would be interested in “practicing” using your story. They might use it as a class project and you get a book trailer out of the deal.

Most of all, be creative in how you approach your trailer, how you think about accomplishing the trailer, how you get the word out. Maybe you’ll end up having a video as popular as the opera singer on Britain Has Talent. Paul Potts has had his video viewed over 27 million times!

To celebrate our birthday, Aspen Mountain Press is sending one lucky winner* a picnic basket lunch (retail value of $100) to create the deli sandwich of your dreams from Zingerman’s Deli in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Choose from Sherman’s Sure Choice Reuben - Black Angus lean corned beef, rye; Binny’s Brooklyn Reuben - Pastrami, pumpernickel; Georgia Reuben - Roasted turkey, rye. Also included Zingerman’s homemade redskin potato salad, cole slaw and Russian dressing. Emmentaler Swiss cheese, garlicky pickles and magic brownies.

To be included in the drawing all you have to do is purchase a book at Aspen Mountain Press. The more books you buy between July 1st and July 31st, the more times you will automatically be entered!

According to Oprah, “Zingerman’s sandwiches are an ‘11 on a scale of 1 to 5.’”

Don’t miss out on a terrific opportunity to sample some of the best deli food the mid-west has to offer along with some awesome stories of adventure, mystery, and passion. Remember, each story purchased is an automatic entry into the drawing!

*See website for additional details.

COMING JUNE 20, 2008

Magnificent Men of Munich

Teddi Turns On

BLURB:

No one’s going to take advantage of Teddi Howard again, including the Munich tour operator who screwed her over when he reneged on their contract. Her only option is to face the little weasel. 

Nothing stands in the way of the prominent, German businessman David Stiefle, especially a woman. No way is he ever getting involved, even if she is the sensual Mrs. Howard. 

EXCERPT:

David Stiefel’s eyes kept track of the copper-haired female while he rolled up the sleeves of his striped shirt.  The woman was oblivious to the stir she created as she strolled through the crowded O’Hare Airport Business Class Lounge.  He stroked an index finger over his lips and studied her sleek figure in form fitting slacks.  The appealing rear view was too good to miss.  The pleasure of not seeing a panty line forced him to shift in his chair to adjust for the sudden pull in his jeans. 

She bent over, hung her jacket across the chair back, and glanced over her shoulder at him.  Their gaze held as a smile tweaked the corner of his mouth.  He crumpled the wrappings from his beef sandwich and knew he’d just been offered dessert.  Now all he had to do was make his move. 

As his good luck would have it, right there on the floor, just a few meters away was an airline ticket dropped by some unsuspecting person.  Ha, unsuspecting, his Aunt Hilda.  He knew that delicious looking woman had done it as a ploy to meet him.  

He stood and paced off the few steps, never taking his eyes from her.  He stooped, scooped up the packet, and walked the few extra feet before he glanced at the name printed in bold marker across the front. When he held it toward her she fumbled with her purse and carry-on as if she didn’t know she’d lost such an important set of documents.  Very cool.  

Standing in front of her, he leaned down just enough to catch her scent.  Shalimar.  His favorite. 

“Bitte, Frau, are you missing something?”  He liked the way her eyes widened as if she were surprised.  She was good. 

“Thank you.”  She reached out a slender hand.  Thank God there wasn’t any of that garish nail art so many women seemed to prefer.

To see the beautiful cover, please click HERE.

Be sure to check out my website for an interesting contest to celebrate the release of TEDDI TURNS ON.

Sloane Taylor
Sweet as Honey…Hotter than Hell
Francine On Fire www.aspenmountainpress.com
www.sloanetaylor.com   www.myspace.com/sloanetaylor

Comma Usage

Simple Rules for Using Commas

1.  Use to separate items in a series, even if the items are groups of words.  A series is three or more items.

    Example: Bullets flew over our heads, ricocheted off the walls, and broke windows.

Use a comma before “and” when you get to the last item in the series.  Doing so prevents possible confusion.

    Example: Soil types include clay, loam, coarse sand, and gravel.  (Without the final comma the phrase would read “coarse sand and gravel” and would make one wonder if the soil is coarse sand mixed with gravel, or if it were two separate items.)

2.  Separate two or more adjectives preceding a noun with a comma.

    Example: She repainted the large, pink room.

    In nouns where an adjective acts as a part of the name no comma is needed.

    Example: Big horn sheep, electric light.

    If you’re not sure, test by placing the word “and” between these sorts of nouns.  If it sounds awkward, don’t use a comma.

    Example: Big and horn sheep

3.  Use a comma before “and”, “but”, “or”, “nor”, “for”, and “get” when they join the parts of a compound sentence.  Remember a compound sentence is two or more simple sentences.  A simple sentence has a subject and a verb.

    Example: John ran track, and Mary cheered from the stands. (Subject: John; verb: ran; conjunction: and; Subject: Mary; verb: cheered.

    Compound verbs and compound subjects generally do not have commas separating them, unless they are items in a series (see number 1).

    In the above example we could alter the sentence slightly to have a compound subject: John and Mary cheered from the stands. 

    We could also alter it slightly to be a compound verb: John ran track and afterwards cheered from the stands.

4.  Commas set off phrases that interrupt sentence flow. 

    If the appositive (means the same thing or person), direct address (a specific name in dialogue), or a parenthetical expression (words and phrases such as “in my opinion”, “of course”, “by the way”) comes at the beginning of the sentence, use a comma afterward; if it comes at the end of the sentence, use a comma before; otherwise use a comma on both sides of the expression.

    Example: Willie, my brother, lives two states away. (appositive)

    Example: “John, duck!” (direct address)

    Example: “Based on the criminal’s past history, in my professional opinion, a sentence of five years probation would be appropriate.” (parenthetical expression)

5.  Other standard comma usage.

    a) separate items in dates

    b) separate items in addresses

    c) after salutations in a letter

    d) after the closing of a letter before the signature

    e) after a speaker is finshed speaking in dialogue add a comma just before the end quotation marks before the dialogue tag

DO NOT INSERT COMMAS when you take a breath.  This creates comma splicing which you should avoid.  If you follow the guidelines set above, you’ll have few, if any, comma errors.

Tonight I had a pleasant surprise.  I received a phone call from a customer who “lost” her e-Book in cyber space, her hard drive, some nebulous file path.  I totally empathized with her because I’ve done it too.  You know what I mean.  You go to save a document and instead of the folder you planned on it being in, it ends up in something like “My Documents” or some other auto default your computer has.  You know you just saved the darn thing, so why the heck can’t you find it?

Well, E. was very sweet.  She asked me to help her out as she exceeded her download attempts.  She had a problem and I was able to help…YEA!

So, we’re discussing where these darn files go, and I’m emailing her the file for Cold Warriors and I ask her, “How did you hear about Cold Warriors?”

“On Pat Cromwell’s site.”

Once we were sure her book was where it was supposed to be and we hung up, I went to Pat Cromwell’s.  What a delightful site.  But what impressed me more was her dedication to I/R e-Books.   Double kudos to Ms. Cromwell for the support of I/R stories and e-Books.

A happy customer, a happy publisher, all because of a web link.  You never know where someone might find you.

Author: J.M. Snyder Artist: Celia Kyle ISBN: 978-1-60168-110-2 Genre: Contemporary M/M Publisher: Aspen Mountain Press Publication Date: 06-06-2008 Sexual Content: M/M

Will Moore is a detective with the Richmond City police department. A case he was involved with went down badly and he was given a month’s sabbatical to pull himself together after the death of his informant, a young man named Teabag with whom Will had let himself become involved.

Back on the force now, Will finds himself drawn to another street punk, a hustler named Corey, who seeks police assistance to protect his “boys” from a violent attacker. Though they work well together, Will can’t seem to shake the feeling that he will eventually fail to protect Corey… the same way he failed to save Tea.

Click here to read an excerpt.

Hear ye, hear ye!

I am pleased to announce my super duper special contest for the release of The Gift of Redemption!

Are you ready for this? You can win–

1-downloads of both The Reckoning of Asphodel and The Gift of Redemption!

2-a $25 gift card from Best Buy–which I recommend you use to buy the DVD of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust. *grin* Only because Asphodel knocked it out of #1 at Fictionwise last summer…

3-an antique book–great classic piece of literature from my personal collection. I’ll give you choices, and you pick the book!

and FINALLY…

4-you can be the only person in the world to get the complete Asphodel historical backstory file–which is almost a book in itself!

Rules:

1. I am so stealing this one from Nathan Bransford: You may only enter once; Once only you may enter. No multiple entries please.

2. Email me at kaantira@hotmail.com . In the subject line, write ASPHODEL BLOG CONTEST. Leave me your name and email addy. IF YOU DON’T LEAVE YOUR ADDY I CANNOT CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN. *just thought I’d let you know that*

3. Be present at my release party on June 6, 2008 where I will announce the winner with all sorts of hoopla and fanfare! I’ll be hosting my release party at Love Romances & More Cafe  –an all-day event with other writers, other contests, other prizes and general all-around brou-ha-ha!

Sound like fun? I sure hope so! Be sure you stop by the Cafe’ and say hi!

Oh, and just in case you didn’t know:

EIGHT DAYS  until the release of The Gift of Redemption: Book 2 of The Asphodel Cycle!

Title: A Cruise to Remember Author: Michelle Hasker Artist: Jinger Heaston ISBN: 978-1-60168-106-5 Genre: Contemporary Romance Publisher: Aspen Mountain Press Publication Date: 5/23/2008 Sexual Content: Erotic

Irene’s last boyfriend broke up with her after she’d invested a lot of money into a vacaion cruise. Now she’s determined to convince her gay roommate, Gabe, that he should go on the trip so her money isn’t wasted. What starts out as harmless teasing changes into something she doesn’t expect.

Click here to read an excerpt.