News

The Contemporary Romance Café is Now Open

May 3, 2013 by ReeseRyan

For at least the past six months I knew I wanted to start a group blog. Initially I thought it would be a blog on writing, like the one I had for many years. But a series of email chats with my lovely, writer friend Julie Luek brought me some clarity on where I wanted to focus my time and attention. So I made the decision to stop updating my old writer blog, Mindful Banter, and instead focus on developing my author’s blog here. But I still wanted very much to be part of a group blog.

Central Perk Set from Friends television show.

During a discussion on the Carina Press authors loop, it occurred to me that while there are many blogs dedicated to historical romance, mystery writing, and erotic romance, there aren’t many group author blogs that focus on contemporary romance. So I floated the idea to my fellow Carina Press authors. The response was thrilling and there are currently 23 founding members of the new group blog we call the Contemporary Romance Café.

We created the Café as a cozy space online where you can dish with resident Carina Press authors and our guests about your favorite novels and characters and get a glimpse behind the scenes of the crazy lives of storytellers. Sample juicy excerpts from new releases. Discover authors and novels that will keep you up all night feverishly turning the pages.

At the Café we’re serving contemporary romance in every flavor. Resident authors write in styles ranging from sweet to caliente heat. So whether you like your romance sweet or savory, we’ve got just the contemporary romance for you.

The Café launched on May 1st and it’s already off to a great start. Check out my welcome message here. Then peruse posts by my fellow Carina Press authors: Jana Richards (sizzling romance), Jeffe Kennedy (red-hot romance) and Amie Denman (sweet romance).

In the coming weeks expect posts from an all-star lineup of guests including Fiona Lowe, New York Times bestselling author, Shannon Stacey. Rock star indie authors: Minx Malone, Kendall Ryan, Jami Alden, and J.A. Redmerski, and more.

We’re delighted to be the new home of all things contemporary romance. To kick off the celebration we’re giving away lots of goodies. During May we’re giving away one $25 Amazon gift card each week, and a grand prize $50 Amazon gift card plus the bundle of contemporary romance titles seen here.

So come on over. Mingle with our resident authors. Enter for a chance to win. Bring your own coffee, but we’ll supply the laughter, fun, and great stories. We’ve got a seat saved just for you.

Central Perk set photo taken at Warner Brothers Studio courtesy of Elentari86. Some rights reserved.

Starting to Feel Real

September 18, 2012 by ReeseRyan

I’ve been walking around suspended somewhere between joy and disbelief, as if waiting to be awakened from my dream. It’s a bad habit that simply refuses to die.

So whenever someone says, “You must be thrilled about getting published,” I nod and force a smile while holding my breath. But recently, I finally released that breath and grinned. It suddenly became very real. A member of one of my online writing groups forwarded me a copy of the acquisition announcement from Publishers Lunch:

[Reese Ryan’s] TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, in which a woman’s new job means she must return to her Cleveland hometown, where she finds herself torn between the philanthropist whose secret past she may not be able to overcome, and the ex-bad boy from her hometown, who’s newly single and may be her only chance at saving her career, to Angela James of Carina Press, in a two-book deal, for publication in 2013 (world). September 17, 2012.

Then I saw this awesome tweet by Angela James:

[blackbirdpie url=”https://mobile.twitter.com/angelajames/statuses/248151606242197504″]

(RaleighRoxStar is my old Twitter handle.)

Yep, things are starting to feel pretty real. Feels good.

Photo courtesy of Cyberslayer. Some rights reserved.

The One I Want

September 7, 2012 by ReeseRyan

The past month has been one filled with activity and excitement. One submission of my manuscript led to another, and another. I still had a few queries out to agents for my manuscript. However, I spent the past month focused on submissions to digital-first publishers.

I haven’t given up on finding an agent, and subsequently, a traditional publisher. And I know I have only submitted queries to a handful of agents thus far. But in light of the rapid changes in the publishing world and the encouraging success of many self-published authors (including a few in my local RWA chapter), I wanted to explore digital-first publishing. It’s a choice I’m glad I made.

Over the past month I submitted to five e-publishers: Entangled, Entranced, Carina Press, Crimson, and Red Sage. The results? Two rejections, one request to turn up the heat level and resubmit, and two offers. Not bad, methinks.

I thought long and hard about my two choices. I obsessively researched both options. I talked to amazingly generous authors about their digital publishing experience. All of which confirmed the choice my gut had already made. So I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve accepted a two-book deal from Carina Press–Harlequin’s digital-first imprint.

One of the most enticing prospects about working with Carina Press is the prospect of working with Executive Editor, Angela James, (who made “the call” herself). She’s passionate, knowledgeable, no nonsense, and high-energy. I took her amazing “Before You Hit Send” a year or so ago and it helped me improve my manuscript and become a better writer. I’m thrilled to have her team behind this project.

I’m nervous, but excited about my journey to publication. In fact, I don’t think I’ve really taken the time to breathe and savor this first step yet. Maybe I’ll do that next.