HolleyDreck

When an author promises he has lots of friends and family who will come to an event and then no one shows up

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:43:40 -0600

lifeinpublishing:

Why the fuck does this happen as often as it does? It’s okay not to do an event. That’s why we do marketing!

This is why I don’t do events.

Behind the cover - A Demon in Waiting

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:21:22 -0600

I art-direct my book covers carefully, because I tend to write stories that aren’t served well by stock art featuring sweetly embracing couples.

I write humor and sarcasm into every one of my books. My contemporaries are sassy and my paranormal romances are outrageously snarky. I want people to know what they’re getting into before that first page of text has them clutching their chests. (The second paragraph of A Demon in Waiting contains the line “Last time I f*ck a sister-wife.” Don’t worry: it’s not the hero uttering it, but that’s the overall tone of the book—off-the-rails cheeky.)

Because I know I’m probably only going to get one chance to convey what my story is to the cover artist, I try to give very clear treatment ideas so they know what kind of imagery to steer clear of.

A Demon in Waiting scared me, to be honest, because the publisher could have sent me back a cover that was over-the-top cheesy to go with the humor elements. I was surprised in a very good way when they sent me this:

Let me tell you what I requested in my cover art form:

This book is light paranormal with a comedic overtone, so the cover shouldn’t be too dark. I think a sexy contemporary feel with a touch of otherworldliness would convey this plot well.

The hero is a hitchhiker. The heroine picks him up from the roadside. They travel all the way from Arizona to North Carolina together. So, it would be appropriate to have a picture of a couple in/leaning on a newer sedan…perhaps with a demon lurking nearby to convey the paranormal element.

The demon in this story (the titular Gulielmus—Hitch’s father) appears in a human form as a middle-aged long-haired, blond, blue-eyed man with a fondness for expensive suits. He’s the antagonist and not particularly friendly.

I think the cover artist took one look at all that and said, “Not gonna trip ME up, Holley Trent. Try harder.”

I love it when the artist can pluck out something simple and make it the perfect direction.

wtfbadromancecovers: Editor’s note: But I guess she’s okay with...

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:11:28 -0600

wtfbadromancecovers:

Editor’s note: But I guess she’s okay with him creepsniffing her spine.

“Creepsniffing.” Learn it. It’ll be on next week’s spelling test.

Swirl Awards-Loving Day Blog Hop

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 19:06:12 -0600

Swirl Awards-Loving Day Blog Hop:

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Happy Loving Day!

Today marks the 56th anniversary of the landmark civil rights case, Loving V. Virginia, which invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage in the United States. The Swirl Awards is celebrating the day with a Loving Day Blog Hop by assembling together almost three dozen of your favorite IR/MC authors and review sites! If you follow the hop, you’re in for an event which joins other celebrations around the country this week focused around promoting multicultural understanding and awareness.

(more after the jump!)

Melissa Blue

Koko Brown

Dee Carney

Sharon Cooper

Laura Cremant

Alexa Day

Delaney Diamond

Vivi Dumas

Shewanda Pugh

Seressia Glass

Lena Hart

M.J. Kane

Ambrielle Kirk

Olivia Linden

Dana LittleJohn

Tracey Livesay

Afton Locke

Rae Lori

TJ Michaels

M.O.K Author

Mya

Keisha Robertson

Romance Novels in Color

Shades of Romance Magazine

Laverne Thompson

Holley Trent

Vallory Vance

Eve Vaughn - See more at: http://www.swirlawards.com/#sthash.7eJImyZv.dpuf

So what can you expect on the Loving Day Blog Hop? You’ll learn about stories that will touch your heart, find out something new, get a glimpse of some great books and maybe win a book or two! So without further ado, time to get hopping!

- See more at: http://www.swirlawards.com/#sthash.7eJImyZv.dpuf

About Us

The Swirl Awards is the brain child of many, many conversations with several authors who write interracial and multicultural romance. Often overlooked and unrecognized for their contributions to romantic fiction, the Swirl Awards was created to promote romance without color barriers!
- See more at: http://www.swirlawards.com/#sthash.7eJImyZv.dpuf

Hey! I resemble one of those names.

Checking your bank account the morning of payday, doing some calculations and realizing you're still broke

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 19:03:46 -0600

lifeinpublishing:

Cross-indexed with: “When your royalties come.”

Brain: * forms coherent idea and understands complex concepts and want to share them with people*

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 20:23:06 -0600

Brain: * forms coherent idea and understands complex concepts and want to share them with people*
Mouth: uuhhh shit fuck diddly fiddly fuck balls dick damn ghfoekxjgkf fuck fuckity fuck fuck fuck

Lookin’ at Samhain. >_>

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 20:15:24 -0600

Lookin’ at Samhain. >_>

Black Latinos Don't Confuse Us

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 18:37:33 -0600

Black Latinos Don't Confuse Us:

Beautifully voiced.

digivolvin: this is the laziest thing i’ve seen in a long...

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 16:54:50 -0600

digivolvin:

this is the laziest thing i’ve seen in a long time

*sigh*

Come Play With Me...: Black grandparents ain't shit

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 17:21:22 -0600

Come Play With Me...: Black grandparents ain't shit :

howtobeterrell:

blacktemple:

cosbyykidd:

2damnfeisty:

howtobeterrell:

All that plastic covering on them damn couches. Had you sliding off and getting stuck and sweaty if you ever fell asleep on that bitch.

That damn fruit bowl that was full of nuts and pecans.

I’m so wrong for reblogging this, but…

cthsulhu: startreksucks: I AM CRYING. I IAM ACTUALLY...

Fri, 31 May 2013 22:05:01 -0600

cthsulhu:

startreksucks:

I AM CRYING. I IAM ACTUALLY CRYING

hELP I’ VE FALLEN

The lens flares did indeed annoy the everloving snot out of me.

Please Don't Help My Kids

Thu, 30 May 2013 18:29:38 -0600

Please Don't Help My Kids:

Please Don’t Help My Kids

I am not sitting here, 15 whole feet away from my kids, because I am too lazy to get up and help them climb the ladder. I brought them here so they could learn to climb it themselves.

Dear Other Parents At The Park:

Please do not lift my daughters to the top of the ladder, especially after you’ve just heard me tell them I wasn’t going to do it for them and encourage them to try it themselves.

I am not sitting here, 15 whole feet away from my kids, because I am too lazy to get up. I am sitting here because I didn’t bring them to the park so they could learn how to manipulate others into doing the hard work for them. I brought them here so they could learn to do it themselves.

They’re not here to be at the top of the ladder; they are here to learn to climb. If they can’t do it on their own, they will survive the disappointment. What’s more, they will have a goal and the incentive to work to achieve it.

In the meantime, they can use the stairs. I want them to tire of their own limitations and decide to push past them and put in the effort to make that happen without any help from me.

It is not my job — and it is certainly not yours — to prevent my children from feeling frustration, fear, or discomfort. If I do, I have robbed them of the opportunity to learn that those things are not the end of the world, and can be overcome or used to their advantage.

If they get stuck, it is not my job to save them immediately. If I do, I have robbed them of the opportunity to learn to calm themselves, assess their situation, and try to problem solve their own way out of it.

It is not my job to keep them from falling. If I do, I have robbed them of the opportunity to learn that falling is possible but worth the risk, and that they can, in fact, get up again.

I don’t want my daughters to learn that they can’t overcome obstacles without help. I don’t want them to learn that they can reach great heights without effort. I don’t want them to learn that they are entitled to the reward without having to push through whatever it is that’s holding them back and *earn* it.

Because — and this might come as a surprise to you — none of those things are true. And if I let them think for one moment that they are, I have failed them as a mother.

I want my girls to know the exhilaration of overcoming fear and doubt and achieving a hard-won success.

I want them to believe in their own abilities and be confident and determined in their actions.

I want them to accept their limitations until they can figure out a way past them on their own significant power.

I want them to feel capable of making their own decisions, developing their own skills, taking their own risks, and coping with their own feelings.

I want them to climb that ladder without any help, however well-intentioned, from you.

Because they can. I know it. And if I give them a little space, they will soon know it, too.

So I’ll thank you to stand back and let me do my job, here, which consists mostly of resisting the very same impulses you are indulging, and biting my tongue when I want to yell, “BE CAREFUL,” and choosing, deliberately, painfully, repeatedly, to stand back instead of rush forward.

Because, as they grow up, the ladders will only get taller, and scarier, and much more difficult to climb. And I don’t know about you, but I’d rather help them learn the skills they’ll need to navigate them now, while a misstep means a bumped head or scraped knee that can be healed with a kiss, while the most difficult of hills can be conquered by chanting, “I think I can, I think I can”, and while those 15 whole feet between us still feels, to them, like I’m much too far away.

Posted by Kate Bassford Baker, September 14, 2012 at 05:50 pm

This article is causing all sorts of “controversy”

I do a lot of people watching and I see too many parents hovering over their kids because they are afraid they are going to get hurt or I see too many parents walking 10 feet in front of babies just learning to walk and yelling back “keep up” when they are in a crowded mall. I think depending on age and physical development kids need a balance help from grown upsand the chance to try just like this woman is saying.

101 Things Kids Should Do

http://wdet.org/shows/craig-fahle-show/episode/metro-parent-kids-to-do-list/

http://www.metroparent.com/Metro-Parent/March-2013/Bucket-List-for-Kids-101-Things-to-Experience-in-Childhood/

Kids need to experience life in order to grow. As George Carlin once said in one of his routines. “If you want to help your children, leave them the fuck alone”

^yes.

sle4zy: Whores’ Glory (2011) Saw this on Netflix a couple of...

Wed, 29 May 2013 16:10:37 -0600

sle4zy:

Whores’ Glory (2011)

Saw this on Netflix a couple of months ago. I was agog at the range of resignation.

Reblog if you're a girl that likes any of the following:

Wed, 29 May 2013 16:07:56 -0600

gallifreyan-pizza:

X-Men

Avengers (that includes any of the individual characters movies)

Batman

Star Trek

Star Wars

And pretty much anything that’s action or targeted to guys

A guy friend of mine today said it was weird that my friend had all the X-Men movies because she was a girl. Needless to say we almost threw him out of the car. So I would like to prove to him that just because we have vagina’s that doesn’t impair us from enjoying an action film.

Women of tumblr please back me up.

Trekkie in the house.

Come Play With Me...: THE TERRY RECEIPTS HAVE BEEN PRINTED

Tue, 28 May 2013 20:04:54 -0600

Come Play With Me...: THE TERRY RECEIPTS HAVE BEEN PRINTED:

lesighh:

catchstds:

You had me at ~~hello~~ hi

MMMHMM *side eye* WE KNOW WHAT TF ‘HI’ MEANS

OK SO TV Guide did a lil interview during the TCA press tour - way before we even knew this ship set sail. “They’re so cute” we innocently thought

‘til Tony took to Twitter…(God…

I don’t even watch the show, and this is still funny.

I win.

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:14:18 -0600

I win.

The Smoothness That Most Christian Fiction Employs To Transition From Actual Story And Plot Progression To The Conversion Or Gospel Message Scene

Wed, 22 May 2013 18:53:07 -0600

lifeinreligiouspublishing:

I’ll probably go to hell for reblogging this.

misscoco: rosalarian: Periods, you no longer impress me. I am...

Wed, 22 May 2013 18:48:19 -0600

misscoco:

rosalarian:

Periods, you no longer impress me. I am bleeding from my nethers, WHATEVER. Try something new, uterus. You make chocolate pudding instead of blood, then we’ll talk.

This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen

75% true.

kyssthis16: brandigasms: iridessence: curvedandaskew: puhpuht...

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:43:30 -0600

kyssthis16:

brandigasms:

iridessence:

curvedandaskew:

puhpuhtooie:

azazels-child:

thegabbittycave:

themaraudingdetective:

grapefruitshampoo:

THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING AND BRILLIANT THING EVER

This is what happens when women write ad campaigns for other women *dies from the hotness*

this is still my favorite ad of all time

I DIDN’T EXPECT THE DOCTOR AT THE END THOUGH

this is very good yes

This is THE BEST EVER. EVER EVER EVER.

did anyone notice that the background music was on spongebob

ROTHAFORD!!!!!!

ACTUALLY CACKLING! But I mean….ya gotta do what you gotta do.

*wheeze*

rebekahloves: radicalrebellion: pussyharvest: slay-z: gonna start a Black and brown girl gang...

Tue, 21 May 2013 19:35:20 -0600

rebekahloves:

radicalrebellion:

pussyharvest:

slay-z:

gonna start a Black and brown girl gang that supports women and slaps muhfuckas who deserve that shit.

P.U.S.S.Y.

Positive Until Suckas Start Yappin’.

LET

ME

JOIN

Do I need to fill out an app? or can I just join off the strength of being a Black girl?

yes, is there an application or an initiation process? i would like to get in on this.

I volunteer to be the group hostess. BYOB, though.