I’ve been getting a lot of fan letters and new FB likes lately with UNDER THE COVERS about to be released in May, TWISTED in June, and FORGOTTEN SINS in July…and I LOVE it!  There are a few things I didn’t know before becoming an author that I wish I’d known…and here they are:

1)       Authors with NY Publishers have no say in the price point of the books. None-zippo-zilch.  I have no clue how much my book is priced at until I either see it in a store or check online retailers.  🙂

2)      Those of us with traditional publishers don’t create our own covers.  I see the cover after it’s pretty much ready to go.  Having said that…I’ve LOVED my covers!  The graphic arts departments at Kensington, Entangled, and Grand Central seriously rock.

3)      We have no say in whether a book gets printed or not.  Or whether it’s available in e-book or not.  These type of things are never guaranteed in a contract.  Of course we want them in both e-book and print.  Always.  So far, I’ve been fortunate.

4)      We know not to read reviews…yet we do.  And yeah, sometimes we take them personally…and wish year-long yeast infections on the reviewer.  Yeah, I’m talking to you—mean reviewer.  And…we can tell if it’s a personal issue and not something to do with the book…even if somebody tries to mask it.

5)      When someone gives us a poor rating on Amazon or GoodReads because the price of the book is too high…we think she’s a moron.  (See number one above.)

6)      Once we get several reviews…we realize that the EXACT same thing one reviewer just loved is the reason another reviewer didn’t like the book.  This is a great thing…because then we realize we can’t please all the people, and we should just go write the next book…and stop reading reviews.  🙂

7)      We’re taken aback and overwhelmed by the kindness of readers and how they’re willing to go out of their way to help promote our books.  (Yes, FB street team… I mean you.)  It’s very humbling, and I hope I express how much this means to me and how much I appreciate all of my readers.

8)      Reading fan mail is the best part of many days.  Thanks for sending fan mail!

9)      There’s no magical muse.  Honest.  We just have to sit down and write when we’d rather be doing laundry sometimes.  This actually is a job.

10)   We feel an incredibly strong loyalty to our readers and really, really, really don’t want to let you down.  Ever. 

CONGRATS to Melissa J for winning the drawing!  I’ve contacted you with information.  🙂

Click here to check out what the other authors are giving away during the Entangled In Love blog hop!

Welcome to the Entangled blog hop! My first Entangled book, AGAINST THE WALL, will be released this month. The book features a spunky golf course designer who butts heads with a stubborn lawyer who moonlights as a cowboy. Never challenge a cowboy in the courtroom! As soon as I can post the cover and buy links, I will.

For now, Happy Valentine’s week! I met my husband when I was six years old and he taught me to play Red Rover so he could hold my hand. He was a sweet kid—dark hair with huge brown eyes. We lost touch for a while, and in my twenties, I walked into a bar.

Yes, my love story starts with…I walked into a bar. Leaning against the bar was this six-foot-five tall Italian with a tattoo, leather jacket, and motorcycle helmet. My sister nudged me and said, “Hey. That’s Tony Zanetti.”

And I thought, “Meow.” Of course, my first words were, “What the hell happened to you?”

He’d gone from a sweet little kid to the guy your mama never wants to see you bring home. Of course, Tony is Tony…and my mama loves him. Always has, always will. Our first date was a motorcycle ride. Of course, he let me wear the helmet.

He may have had to sell the motorcycle to pay for our son’s hospital bill when Gabe was born, but fifteen years and two kids later, Tony is still sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. And he is SO going to roll his eyes when he reads this.

I hope your Valentine’s Day is full of romance and fun! Have a great time on the hop, and I hope you win a prize or two.

Oh – for my prize…leave a comment on the blog here, and I will send you the first PDF file of AGAINST THE WALL that I receive. We usually get PDF copies to send to reviewers, so I’ll send one to a randomly drawn name from commenting here. Thanks for stopping by!