Sydney Cougars

It's nice when you start seeing your work come together in a way that makes it real. After all the writing, contract signing and edits, an author can start to wonder why did I decide to do this. Then the book cover arrives, and you let out a little scream of delight. Yay, now I know why I do this, because I love writing and creating stories that might entertain and interest others. For me it's not until I see a cover that I realise I'm actually doing something tangible. I'm not just spending endless hours sitting at my computer playing author. I'm actually being what I want to be.

So, today the cover arrived for The Cougar Club, the first novella in my Sydney Cougar Series. Unlike the initial cover art for Finding Angel (which made me cry, because it was just so inexplicably horrid. It did get revised, thank god.) I screamed with delight when The Cougar Club cover landed in my inbox. Zeke looks like I imagined him and so does Jasmine. The are soooo sexy. I just want to hug them both. Well maybe I could do a bit more than just hug Zeke :)

Life sometimes takes you on a bit of a curve. You can go off on a tangent that sometime works out, other times the tangent leads to disaster. The Sydney Cougar Series, more specifically The Cougar Club was a tangent for me. I was trying to get Finding Angel contracted with a publisher. It seemed like that would never happen. As I was looking at submission guidelines for different publishers, I found Secret Cravings Publishing (SCP). They had a call out for submissions for a new line of books. Their new Hot Flash imprint. Stories about older women and younger men. Cougar stories up to 20,000 words. I decided to give my self a break from the endless grind and worry, write a story, then submit it and see what happened. Jasmine and Zeke came to life, so did the club, and there crazy friends. I had the best time working on the novella, it just basically fell out of my head onto the page in about 4 days. I submitted it, expecting a huge wait to hear back. OMG, a week or so later I had a contract. My first publishing contract. I decided it was fate. It was meant to be. I could use this as a learning experience for when Finding Angel got a home. It didn't work out that way exactly, because Angel got published and came out before this, but, oh well. I've still learnt a lot from SCP, they're a terrific company to write for.

And SCP is continuing to be a first for me. My tangent is paying off, they recently offered me a multi book contract. Three more of the Sydney Cougar Series novellas. I didn't intend for The Cougar Club to be part of a series, but it has. The secondary characters from the book grabbed my attention. They needed their own story. I wanted to let people know what happened to some of Jasmine and Zeke's friends. I mean 20k words doesn't give a lot of detail, inquiring minds (like me) needed to know more of what was going on. When I submitted the second novella, Catching a Cougar, to SCP they asked how many more were in the series. I replied two more unnamed titles. I know who they will be about, but as for how the stories will unfold, that's still jottings on paper. So, SCP offered me a multi-book contract for the remaining three novellas. How cool are they, and how excited was I? I'm still smiling.

I haven't got a definite release date for The Cougar club yet, but it is in February, so only a few weeks to wait. If you'd like to have a sneak peak at what the books about, visit my website. The link is on the right hand side of the blog page. I hope when your read The Cougar Club that you find it's just the right amount of good storyline and wickedly sexy fun.

Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews: Review - Finding Angel by Jan Graham

Hi Everyone,

Well I have a Christmas present to share with you all. I got a lovely review for Finding Angel on Christmas Eve (Australian time). It really made my day to know someone else enjoyed the characters and the book as much as I enjoyed creating them. Thank you Lee for your kind words. You can read the review at:
Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews: Review - Finding Angel by Jan Graham

I'm also blogging at the site as part of the Holiday Celebrations. Angel shares the families True Love Roast recipe so why not take a look and try out the recipe over the holiday season.

Join the Cravings Club

As you know Secret Cravings Publishing (SCP) has contracted my Sydney Cougar Series, the first novella in the collection is due for release in February 2012. I've just finished the second round edits and the book is great thanks to my gifted editor, Kyle. There are some amazing authors being published through SCP and the company has just set up their readers club. The Cravings Club is the eClub for Lovers of reading and romance.

SCP is inviting readers to become a Charter Member of the Cravings eBook Club and receive Taming The Cougar* by Sandy Sullivan and Hunting Jaguar** by D. McEntire absolutely FREE!

As a club member, you receive four BRAND-NEW EBOOKS, specially selected by the Editorial Director, every month for a total price of only $9.99 for all four. This comes out to barely $2.50 per book, much less than the retail price and you’ll be able to enjoy your books even before they hit Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

As a club member, you will also receive:
· a monthly newsletter
· sneak previews of new books
· exclusive interviews with your favorite authors
· special offers not available to the general public

It's only $9.99 per month, once you join the program, you are charged automatically, through Paypal, every month. Your books get shipped within one day after the PayPal payment has cleared. You get to tell SCP what you like to read and a few other things at membership sign up. It's a great way to discover new authors and books that you may not find out about otherwise. You can cancel membership at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe button located on the Cravings Club tab at the bottom of the SCP website and you keep the FREE BOOKS as a gift.

It's easy steps to join to join. Just click on the link on the right hand side of my blog page and it will give you all the information you need.

About the free books:
*Taming the Cougar - a western, erotic romance:
Marla isn't looking for love or anything else from a man. Can Marla put aside her distrust of men for a younger man? Can Chris convince her he's not like other guys?

**Hunting Jaguar- paranormal erotic romance:
Rachel Hayes' Father set out to prove the existence of the Miloni temple and the Jaguar people. Tumi is a descendant of the Miloni race and is sworn to protect their secret with his
life. Will he be forced to uphold his vow at the cost of his heart and Rachel's life?

Come and Sit on my Lap Little Girl

Well it's that time of year. Yes the fat man will soon be squeezing his wobbly gut down a chimney near you soon. Well, if you haven't been too naughty that is.

I've always been a bit of a bah humbug kind of girl when it comes to Christmas. I still am to a certain extent, but I've discovered over time, that Christmas actually appeals to my perverse sense of humor. So, as a treat for myself, and hopefully you, I'm going to fester all over my blog for the next two weeks. To start off with though, I've decided I should give you a bit of an idea about where my bad Christmas attitude started. In case you haven't guessed, this is where I blame my family for everything...oh, and Santa of course.

As a child, I remember being terrified of sitting on Santa's knee. Yes I could sprout the argument of, it's the one time of year your parents actually encourage you to talk to a stranger who gives you lollies, but that's not what this post is about. Besides, I like it when men give me sweets and I've always found strangers interesting.

To give you an idea of my memories of Santa I've decided to show you a few pictures. Yes, me as a child with with the old fat pervert himself. I'm not the keeper of the photo archives in the Graham family, but I do have a few of the more terrifying memories captured on celluloid (I know I'm old.)

So here we go, my bah humbug attitude toward Christmas- the formative years.


1965: The chill out year

At three months old I obviously didn't give a shit

who's lap I sat on. Not that I'm looking at the old

jerk, but still, when you're three months old you're

still learning to focus.

 1966:  The terror begins

By the time I was 15mths old, I no longer had issues with focus. I could see that red and white monster and I wanted nothing to do with him. In order to stop me crying and actually get me anywhere near the old fool, some genius came up with the idea of sitting me on a bike. You'll all be happy to know I recovered from the conclusion I got when I toppled off the damn thing. However, I don't think my brother ever recovered from the death grip Santa had on his arm.

1967: I'm not here and neither is he.

Ah, 2yrs 3mths and the brain kicks in. Okay, so I'll sit on his lap and just try to ignore him. I can't smile, but I can bite my bottom lip to stop from screaming as old man Santa whispers encouraging nothings in my ear. If he'd just shut up I'd be able to get to my happy place. Now say the mantra you thought up...I'm not here, I'm not here, I'm not here.

                                              

1969: I'm going to get you for this my pretty!

By the time I reached four years of age, fear was starting to get old. I devised a new plan for the jolly fat man and the happy snap elf with the camera. Be nice, get the lolly and then make your parents pay. Yes, I'm still nervous and biting the bottom lip, but there's vengeance in those eyes. Just wait, I might not get you back right away but when I'm a teenager, I'll be your worse nightmare. My memory is long...you'll see.

 

1971: Are we done yet?

Yes, by the time I was seven years old, I'd truly had enough. Enough of the frilly dresses, enough of the bribes and threats, enough of sweaty old men, in red velvet suits, with white nylon beards. No more biting the lip, no more tears. Just that are-we-done look that persisted in pictures throughout my childhood and into my teen years.

I think, for a seven year old, I did bored pretty well. Of course I'm perfected it by the time I was a teenager. And for those of you wondering if 4 year old Jan got her plotted revenge. Of course she did. I was a horrible teenager. *evil grin and wicked laugh*

Win a copy of Finding Angel in ebook.

As part of the Finding Angel Blatant Self Promotion Tour, I am giving away a copy of Finding Angel in eBook format. The competition runs for the next two day.

Heres' what you need to do to win...

Step one: Visit Gale Stanley's blog http://galestanley.blogspot.com/ and have a read of my guest blog.

Step Two: Click the link to my website and send me a message, via the contact form on the site. Mention Gale's blog somewhere in the message.

Step Three: Sit back and wait to here if you've won.

The comp will close on Monday evening at 6pm. The winner will be contacted by me ASAP after closing of the competition.

Good Luck.

Update 8th Dec 2011:
Thank you to everyone who entered the comp. The winner has been chosen and E Balinski in now the proud owner of a copy of Finding Angel.