The lovely women of Twisted Kingdom have graciously allowed me to hijack their blog for a bit. As for who in the world I am, my name is Rene Lyons. I'm a paranormal romance romance author who writes for both Samhain and the soon-to-be-opened Tease Publishing. I have three books out so far, all in eBook format and two in print. They are the first three books in a series I've titled the Templar Vampire Series.
Now...enough of that and on to the post. ;)
When I was a little girl I hated to read. And I mean hated it. And then it happened. I was roughly fourteen or so and I had strep throat. This put me on bed rest for the better part of ten days. Bored to death of daytime television (remember, this is back before the wonderful days of cable), I annoyed my mother to the point that she tossed a book in my face and told me to read it or go to sleep. Either way, she was done with my whining. So, I read. And read. And read. The book was Shanna by Katherine E. Woodiwiss. Needless to say I was hooked. A new obsession with reading was born. I read it in two days - and for those who know the book, it's a big one. More than anything, the happy ending got me. As soon as I was well enough, I raced to the book store and loaded up on romance novels. Oh yeah. I was a changed girl. I began to read everything I got my hands on. Books. Magazines. Hell, I even read the ingredients on boxes of cereal. The more words I took in the happier I was. Then, along came a treasure called Saving Grace by Julie Garwood. That book began me down the path that led to where I am today. I happened to have been in a god-awful relationship at the time I read SG, so I felt the book mirrored my emotions. By the time I was finished with it, I knew writing was something I wanted to do. I had to put my emotions down on paper. I had to tell the stories playing out in my mind like wonderful little movies. I had to....well, I just had to do everything that came with writing.
So, here I am, almost twenty years after reading Saving Grace. I did it. I made my dream come true. Determination and belief in one's self are things I hope to pass onto my daughter. I want her to look at me and be inspired to never give up on whatever dreams she may have. I mean, come on, I'm just a chick born and raised in Brooklyn (no, I don't live there anymore) who likes to jot down some stories. If I can come this far (with a very long road left to travel down), I hope my daughter can see that she can do the impossible as well.
Okay, was that too preachy? lol
Thanks to the incredible women of Twisted Kingdom. I had a blast taking over your blog. ;)
Thanks for stopping by Rene!
Release Day Jitters I don’t think I’ve ever been as stressed out as I was when my first book came out. I hadn’t expected that. It took two years from the time the book sold until it was released, so I was counting down the days, so excited about seeing my lifelong dream about to be realized. Then someone emailed me and said “Hey, I saw your book reviewed on this website.” And there was a link. So I took a deep breath, told myself that it might not be a good review and, if it wasn’t, I’d accept that and learn from it. Constructive criticism, right? So I clicked the link. It went to a site called Mrs. Giggles. I’d never heard of it, so I expected a standard review—liked it, didn’t like it, liked these parts, these parts sucked. Instead I got something like “I
kept hoping Elena [the protagonist] would die.” I was devastated. It was like someone saying they hoped your first-born would die, and no matter how hard I tried to rationalize it as “just one person’s opinion,” it was my first review ever, so I was convinced that this was a sign of things to come and I’d failed as a writer. And so began the release of my first novel. I spent the whole month worried sick about how it would be received and how well it would sell and whether I’d be allowed the chance to publish a second. Not exactly the exhilarating launch I’d expected!
So now it’s book seven that’s coming out next week, and I’d love to say that I’m totally confident about how it will be received. I can say that I’m not as stressed out as I was the first few times. I know that my career doesn’t hinge on how well this particular book does. And I know that this book was as good as I could make it, and I’ve learned that’s all I can ask of myself, that I do the best I can with each book.
So, with less than a week to release date, what am I doing…besides trying not to worry about the book? Working on edits for book 8, which really helps because I’m very happy with it and focusing on “the next one” helps alleviate the stress over this one. I’m also frantically trying to get my website ready for May. I want to do some special contests…and haven’t had time to come up with anything! As for my “release month schedule,” I just got back from two days in Montreal, meeting booksellers and signing stock. Off to an advance signing this Sunday. Two interviews Tuesday and guest blogging. A writing workshop to give Wednesday (oh God, have I even written out my notes yet?) Signings all weekend. Off to Ottawa for meetings and signings, then Vancouver. Back for a conference that weekend. Got a break for Mother’s Day—I’m taking my mom, mom-in-law, siblings, etc to Mother’s Day brunch to celebrate selling a YA urban fantasy trilogy
Between obligations I plan to finish those edits, write a new batch of scenes for another book, and proofread pages for an anthology short story. Very busy, but you absolutely will not hear me complaining because I love it. Being busy means I’m doing just fine. My dream career is still chugging along nicely and I’m still as happy in it as I ever imagined I would be.
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Hey everyone!
So I'm really, really excited, because Ms. Kelley Armstrong has agreed to be a guest-blog at Twisted Kingdom!!! Isn't that great news? She will have a guest-blog post (TBA date) and an interview on May 1st!
So if you have any questions you'd like to ask to Kelley Armstrong, author of the Women of the Otherworld series, please email them at thetwistedk@gmail.com by the end of the week-end (Sunday April 22, midnight). I can't guarantee 100% that we'll ask them, but it's worth a try! :D
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I was so excited when I got the opportunity to be a guest-blogger here on Twisted Kingdom! This is such a cool site, and I know a lot of the regular visitors here from other blogs (hi Zeek!) that I frequent.
Or, rather, try to frequent, but have done a horrendous job of it in the last few months. (Sorry, Zeek. DC. Mailyn.)
Anyway, Kelly said that I could write about anything I wanted to (little did she know I’m going to make you all think….mwahahahahaaaa!), and since I’m going to be interviewed here on TK next Wednesday, I figured I’d turn the table and ask ya’ll some questions this week.
Next week, you can badger me with anything you want. (Well, actually, you can badger me this week too and I’ll answer questions as well. So knock yourself out.)
…And you’re going to want to, because this week the gals at TK are giving away a freshly autographed copy of The Rest Falls Away (the first in the Gardella Vampire Chronicles, if you didn’t already know) and next week….well, they’re giving away an Advance Review Copy of Rises the Night (which won’t be released until June). Publishers Weekly says, “A fast-paced carnival ride of a book!” about Rises.
(I’m very excited. I’m hoping to get to meet the cover model some day. *sigh*)
All you have to do is make a comment, or two, or three, to this post and you’re entered in the drawing. (Right, Kelly?)
So, since I have your full attention now…I’d like to pick your brain from an author’s perspective.
First, how do you feel about cross-genre books? What I mean are, books like mine, that really creep over the genre boundaries of horror, romance, paranormal, etc. Do you like the mix up, or would you rather read a romance when you want a romance, and a fantasy when you want 
a fantasy?
In general, what makes you buy a book by an author who’s new to you? Friend recommendation? Blog review? Amazon browsing? Bookstore browsing? Ads in a magazine? What?
And when you’re in a bookstore, and browsing, what makes you pick up a book? Where do you browse? Where do you never look? Do you only buy books you have on your list, or do you do impulse buying too?
Is there anything you’re tired of seeing, as far as premise of books? Do you ever go into a bookstore and feel like you can’t find something that you want to read? Why? What do you want? What’s missing?
How about interaction with authors? Do you feel that authors should be accessible to their readers—by blog, website, message board, private loop, etc.? Or do you just want to know when the next book is coming out, maybe an excerpt or two?
Have you ever seen a book trailer? (If you haven’t pop over to my website and you can see mine on the homepage.) What do you think of them as a promo tool?
What do you think about MySpace for an author as a promo tool? Personally, I haven’t found it that helpful, but I’m all ears. Any suggestions? How about Facebook? (Yeah, I’m there too….)
What kind of freebies do you like from authors? (Be honest now!) Bookmarks, cover flats, excerpts, podcasts, t-shirts, vampire-hunting stakes? ;-)
What do you think is the best way for a new author like moi to reach non-Internet readers?
Is there anyone who wants to join my SWAT team for the Gardella books and have extra chances to win ARCs, t-shirts, autographed copies, etc.?
Okay, that’s it. I’ll check back for questions, answers, and comments!
Thanks again to the TK ladies for having me here! I look forward to a fun discussion.
(This is Kelly, just wanted to say that if you want a copy of The Rest Falls Away, comment in this post. If you want a copy of Rises the Night, save mentioning it until next Wednesday when she comes back for her interview. We will draw for The Rest Falls Away next Wednesday, so that gives you a week, and Rises the Night, the Wednesday after that. But, while all you have to do is comment to be entered, you cannot just say "pick me", you have to at least attempt to join in the conversation. That sounds fair, right?)
It is My Pleasure to Announce....that the author of The Rest Falls Away and the upcoming Rises the Night, Colleen Gleason, is going to be guest posting on this blog, Twisted Kingdom, on Wednesday, April 11th. There are some more things connected to her appearance, but we will save that until the time is closer. So, be sure to tune in on Wednesday to see what she has to post about!
I am the only one on the Twisted Kingdom staff to have read the first book (so far), you can read my review by clicking here
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