The Christmas Eve Surprise

Friday, December 20, 2013
Being the want-to-stay-at-home-and-read-all-the-time introvert I am, I find it incredibly hard to make friends. So when I come across someone who clicks, I count it as a huge blessing. One huge blessing in my life is author Ivy Bateman. We met online in the blogging world and have supported each other in our writing endeavors ever since.

So when I heard she was having a book release today, you know I had to cheer her on. She writes the most inventive stories I’ve ever read.  I have no idea where this woman gets her ideas, but each tale she tells is completely original...and freaking steamy hot (since she happens to write erotic novellas)!

Christmas Eve Surprise is no different. For this one, I actually know where the idea came from and still...still!...the slant she took on O. Henry’s famous holiday story is ingenious.

This is my favorite Ivy Bateman story yet (though, okay, I tend to say that after each one she writes), and not just because she dedicated it to me (oh yeah, you heard that right!! This one’s for me, baby), but this short, tasty thing actually ends with a happily ever after.  I love to tease her because none of the couples in her stories have gone off into the sunset together at the end.  Until now! (you can thank me for that... okay, fine, you can thank Ivy for that!)

I’m so proud and completely excited to give the mike to Ivy and let her give you a glimpse into her head, showing us where some of her story inspirations comes from...or hmm, how her story inspirations get lost!


Inspiration Lost and Found

First off, thank-you, thank-you to the lovely Linda for having me on her blog today! I'm so happy to be sharing space in her niche in the cyber world on release day! Christmas Eve Surprise is out and about and ready to be purchased. It's a warm and funny Christmas story, perfect for reading by a cozy fire…or on the bus…or in the tub; where ever you prefer to read your digital stories!

So, the other day I was trying to think of a topic for this blog post. I've written quite a few over the last week or so due to my promo tour for this release. I always try hard to come up original topics for each post, but it's not always easy. Anyway, I was in the shower, thinking away when inspiration hit and before I got out of the shower, I had the post half written in my head!

However, when I sat down to write it, it was gone! I couldn't remember a single word let alone the topic! I was quite annoyed with myself for not having taken time to at least write the idea down so that I wouldn't forget! Now, I ask you, why does this happen? And not just with writing but with many things: books you want to buy, gifts for friends or family that you think will be perfect, that song that you have to buy right now because you can't believe you've lived this long without it AND then! You go to buy it or at least remember your fabulous idea and it's disappeared; just vanished from your head like it never existed. I'm not really looking for answers so much as giving a general wondering some word play.

Tired of trying to remember the fantastic blog topic that didn't want to scurry out from under the other pile of things I need to remember to do, I went and told my husband of my woe. He said that the loss of inspiration sounded like a good topic in itself. I agreed and said it was a good idea and he said that I was welcome and that he was awesome. I also agree. He is awesome and very helpful.

And as you can see, this blog post is basically about his suggestion, but to expand or side step just a little, my story Christmas Eve Surprise is actually an idea inspired by my husband that had to wait. Last year he suggested I write a Christmas story based on Gift of the Magi, a tale we both enjoy, but I just couldn't get into it. I had a kernel of an idea, but I wasn't in the head space to write something as nice as this story turned out to be. Instead I wrote Baby, You're Cold Inside (this week on Breathless Press it's only 99 Cents!) which was based on A Christmas Carol and although it's a fun story, it's a much darker and well, colder tale. I had very little trouble writing it so clearly it was a story that at that point in time I needed to write. This year however, has been a bit of rough one emotionally and personally and I was only too happy to turn my focus to something fun, light hearted, warm and happy.

From time to time inspiration is lost in the shuffle of life, but eventually it may let itself be rediscovered and be exactly what you need at the exact time you need it.

I wish all of you the very best of the season.

Ivy Bateman

Story Blurb:

It's Christmas time and Tim and Stella are on the hunt for the perfect Christmas gifts for each other. Since last Christmas, their hot love life has cooled substantially. Tim feels he's to blame and Stella thinks it's her fault, but this Christmas both of them have put a lot of thought into how to make the other happy and put the fire back in the bedroom. However, with such unorthodox gifts ready to be revealed, will their Christmas Eve present opening be a pleasant surprise or an unwelcome one?

Excerpt (beware: it's racy!):

As the weeks crept closer and closer to Christmas Eve, Tim had had begun to worry that he wouldn't find a man that would have sex with him in front of Stella. He had fixated so much on this fantasy-fulfilling evening being his Christmas present to her that he'd not taken the time to find her another gift. Both he and Stella took finding each other the perfect gift very seriously. It wouldn't do if she was to present him with a gift she'd put a lot of thought into, like the beautiful chain she'd gotten him for his fob watch last year, only to be presented in return with a cardigan she didn't like or a hat she'd never wear.

He pulled out a key, unlocked his desk drawer, got out his black book, and pored over all of his carefully written notes. Tim looked at the dozens of entries he'd written about most of the single and attractive men in his office. None of them had seemed to be someone who would be willing to have a night of hot man sex in front of his wife. He felt doomed to give Stella a gift she would remember forever, but only because it was one he hadn't put any thought into. With a heavy heart he closed his black book and returned it to the drawer.

As he was locking it, his boss Terry walked in with an extremely good-looking man. The stranger filled his office with a god-like presence.


Ivy's books are available from the Breathless Press Website:
 
 
Or drop Ivy a line at: ivybmisbehavin@gmail.com



Sold a Book!!

Monday, December 16, 2013
So after all my wonderful beta readers gave me a ton of feedback for my Granton University Book 2 story, I went through it again with all their varied opinions in mind and did a little revising.  After that, I sent it off to a publisher for their opinion and guess what?  They offered me a contract to publish it! 

I've filled out my half of the paperwork and am waiting for everything to be finalized.  Once I'm through that, I can hopefully pass along more details about it.  But needless to say I'm pretty excited about the whole deal!

Actually, it seems to be a good news week for me all around (except for this sore throat and runny nose I have that keeps getting better and then coming back. BLUCK!).

I'm already around 48,000 words into my next book.  Yay!

Addicted to Ansley is coming out in Large Print Hardback from Thorndike Press either this month or next. It even received a fancy new cover for the occasion.

And my story A Fallow Heart was mentioned on the blog Red Hot Reads last week as one of six top reads in 2013 for reviewer Shelly (Bless you, Shelly)!

But that's not all!  My kiddo has memorized all her lines for the Christmas Program she has to be in this Sunday evening. I tell you what; it just makes your heart swell with pride to watch your baby get up for the first time with a microphone and rattle off a couple sentences you've been drumming into her head for weeks.  She nailed it during her practice (in her adorable three-year-old speak), but we'll see how she does in front of a crowd during the actual program.

And that's all the updates I have in Linda Kage world this week!  This Friday, I'll be back to brag about one of my friends who has a Christmas story releasing this week. It's definitely a page-turner!

So...what's been up with you?


2013 Favorites

Friday, December 6, 2013
I haven’t gotten to read much in the past month or so and it’s beginning to wear on me. Reading withdrawals. Hard to think. Can’t...breathe...

So, with my book cravings in full force, I decided it’s a good time to list my 2013 favorites I’ve read this year. They might have been published earlier but this is when I finally got my lazy self to read them.

And I know, I should probably wait until the absolute end of the year, because it always happens without fail, I find this totally amazing novel I just adore on December 31st and it never makes my favorites list, but...I’ve got nothing else to talk about today. So, here’s what stories had me all ablaze in 2013 (Yes, it was a very Armentroutly , Hooverish, New Adult year for me!):

-Obsidian (Lux, #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
-Onyx (Lux, #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
-Origin (Lux, #4)  by Jennifer L. Armentrout
-Cursed by Jennifer L. Armentrout
-Hopeless (Hopeless, #1) by Colleen Hoover
-Losing Hope (Hopeless, #2) by Colleen Hoover
-Finding Cinderella (Hopeless, #2.5) by Colleen Hoover
-A Little Too Far (A Little Too Far, #1) by Lisa Desrochers
-Bully (Fall Away, #1)  by Penelope Douglas  
-Real (Real, #1)  by Katy Evans
-Redesigned (Off the Subject, #2) by Denise Grover Swank
-Second Chance Boyfriend (Drew + Fable, #2) by Monica Murphy
-Tangled (Tangled, #1) by Emma Chase

But there’s some big anticipated stories in my kindle right now that could possibly make this list. Titles like:

-Bitter Sweet Love (The Dark Elements, #0.5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
-Crash into You by Katie McGarry
-The Devil Wears Kilts by Suzanne Enoch
-Sentinel (Last Covenant Book) Jennifer L. Armentrout
-Crossing Paths by Melanie Stinnett
-Torn by Monica Murphy
-Blood and Champagne (Bloodlines, #2) by J.D. Thompson
-Sweet Home by Tillie Cole 


Okay, your turn!!  What were some of your favorite books in 2013 and what are you looking forward to next year?

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, November 26, 2013
I finally figured out how to make a book free on Amazon!  I'd been told a couple times to make it free somewhere else and they'll price match. So I tried it with one book, but it didn't take. Last Wednesday, I decided to try again with Kiss it Better. Five days later, Amazon finally offered it for free too!

So, Kiss it Better is free this week on Amazon, Kobo, Smashwords and AllRomanceEbooks! And now that I know that technique works at least fifty percent of the time, who know which one of my stories will have a freebie run next!

My local author meet-and-greet reception last Monday went well. Lots of family members stopped in to say hi and I actually sold one book to a complete stranger. I know, Go Linda!  Lydia stole the show, though. After she saw me give swag to someone and encourage them to sign up for my win-a-book drawing, she started pushing swag at everyone who passed our table. And no one could turn down a blond-haired, blue-eyed adorable three-year-old, so I had lots of people sign up in my drawing.  Thank you, dear daughter! I didn't have to do anything but smile after that! 

She also saw me sign that one book I sold, so...this weekend, she found my box of books I'd taken to the reception, and she pulled out one of my stories to sign it herself.  Since she's now in pre-school, she's just beginning to learn how to write her name. But I had yet to see her write out every letter in order, until she signed my book. That's why I'm all proud that she vandalized it, instead of upset. She did such a great job!  And it was flattering that she wanted to sign a book like her mama had.

The Y may look like a T, and the A a Q, but I still love it. This here is a treasured little keepsake. 



The coincidence really came when the book she signed was Hot Commodity, which was the first book I dedicated solely to her!

In other writing news, I started working on my story To Professor with Love and I even got it up to 40,000 words written. A certain character name Mason Low made an appearance in Chapter Four, by the way.  But then I received more feedback for my Granton University Book Two, and the professor once again took a back seat. I'm hoping to get the Granton book sent off to my publisher in December so I can get back to work on Noel and Aspen's story. But we'll see.

With that, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving this week. Eat until you're stuffed; I know I will! I have tons to be thankful for these days. I'm thankful that I have the cutest, sweetest little girl ever and an amazing husband who likes to clean so much that he burns out the belt on our vacuum cleaner. I'm thankful that some people actually like my books I write, and I'm thankful that I can find the time to do what I love most: make up stories!

Have a great week!

Life After by P.A. WARREN *Cover Reveal*

Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Today, I'm helping debut author P.A. Warren spread the word about her first book, coming in January!  CONGRATULATIONS!  And here's to many happy sales!
 

Life After
By P.A Warren
Genre: New Adult Romance
Release Date: January 2014
 



BLURB:

Hadley is Lost. Living is a struggle with her family gone, leaving her the lone survivor of a horrible car accident. As Hadley struggles to overcome the grief that comes with the loss of her family, she wonders if she wants to continue living. Life doesn’t feel worth living until she meets Avery. Avery…who makes her want to feel things she shouldn’t so soon after her tragic loss. Avery…who makes her want to live. With Avery’s love, will she be able to overcome the grief or will it consume her?

Hadley with the help of Avery will find that after the storm come the rainbows.





Author Bio:

P.A Warren currently lives in the fine state of North Carolina. She is an avid reader and blogger. P.A Warren first found a love of books while reading The Babysitter Little Sister series by Ann M. Martin and since then hasn’t looked back. Reading everything she could and would get her hands on. Befriending librarians was one of P.A Warren’s favorite things to do. She also has a huge love for Squirrels.

She now has a Kindle and has found gold in Indie Authors. It has been a lifelong dream of hers to write a book. So when she was finally able sit down and put words to paper she was thrilled, and has been writing non-stop since.

You can find her on FACEBOOK.

Author Appearance Tonight!

Monday, November 18, 2013
Tonight (Monday, November 18th), I'll be attending the Local Author Open House and Reception at the Pittsburg Public Library (308 N. Walnut, Pittsburg, KS) from 6pm to 7:30pm, signing books and giving away my stylus/ink pens if anyone in the area wants to drop in and say hey!!

In other news, I'm already getting feedback from my wonderful beta readers for my second Granton University book.  The people (like my family members) who don't say "I wouldn't change a thing," are very contradictory to each other.  One person will have their favorite character and another person will think that's the worst character in a book.  One person will love a scene, while another would like me to delete it. Usually, I'll get a few people who actually agree on a couple points, letting me know which certain areas I need to work on, but this time, it's all over the place. Every comment is totally different. Not only am I freshly reminded just how subjective reader opinion is, but I'm utterly conflicted on what really needs fixed.  Oh well. I'll figure something out!

And I'm so excited!! Last night, I got my first order for someone who wanted to buy one of my pre-made Kage cover. So, I've got two customers under my belt now because someone else has also ordered a custom-made cover from me.  And so it begins...(I've always wanted to say that!!)

Anyway, that's what's up with me today.  I hope I actually get to see some of you at the Pittsburg Public Library tonight! 

Beta Reader Time!!

Friday, November 8, 2013
This is going to be a guess-who day!!

So....guess who finished writing her latest book?  Me!! I did! The rough draft for Book Two in my Granton University series is complete. Whew!  That one seemed to take forever to get through. It's almost 95,000 words long, though, so maybe that had something to do with the timeframe! 

I'm calling it Loving Lies at the moment, but who know what the title will really end up being.  When I was calling the first book Cry, I had this one titled as Ache, but then Cry changed over to Fighting Fate, so I decided Ache probably wouldn't fit either, ergo...Loving Lies it became.

Anyway, now it's time to start picking on all my reader friends to see if anyone is interested in beta reading and telling me what I need to fix and change or, you know, telling me if there's anything likable about it!  So if anyone doesn't mind a few (hundred) typos and a really rough draft, let me know, and I'd love your take on the story.

And guess what else!  Guess who FINALLY got new shoes.  Me!! I did!  But, of course, Lydia decided she needed new shoes too since Mama was getting new shoes, so we got a couple pair of new shoes the other week.



Mine are the purple and black pair.  Hers are the pink and black pair...if you couldn't tell!

And guess who's falling in love with the TV series, ARROW?  Me!  I am!  But holy crap, it's just so...yeah. My sister and niece kept telling me I needed to see it on Netflix, so I finally watched the pilot episode, and wow.  It's like a modern day Robin Hood, and the main guy is so amazing. He's got the damaged, broken character going on perfectly. Looks like he could break into tears any second.  I just want to hug him, like, ninety percent of the time.  But then he gets into these fight scenes, and when the bad ass comes out in him, he's even sexier. **low, appreciative whistle** Lots of angst, and backstory, and drama. It's definitely my type of show!  Only problem: Miss Lydia hates it. Little too violent and dark for her taste, so ho-hum, we usually end up watching The Ultimate Spiderman together.

So that's just a little of what's been up with me!  What's been up with you?

Mason's Point of View

Saturday, October 26, 2013
I have been asked to write a sneak peek into the mind of Mason Lowe (from my story Price of a Kiss), so there is a short excerpt of the first moment he sees Reese at two different blogs today!  You can go to either  True Story or A Life Bound by Books to read it!!

In other news, I'm up into the eighty thousands on word count for Granton University's book two!  I wasn't sure if I'd have enough to say to make it up to 80,000, but I still have a few chapters left, so I might possibly get up into the nineties now! It's starting to get so close to the end I'm beginning to rush from the anticipation of being able to write those two beautiful words: the end! Hopefully I can go back and make it feel naturally paced after I'm  done, though!

And since we're talking about the Granton University books, Monday starts a book tour for book one: FIGHTING FATE.  My publisher has gotten AToMR Book Tours to set up a week long promo for it!  There should be reviews, guest posts, and all kinds of fun facts about Fighting Fate!  So, if you want to check out a few stops, THIS LINK will have daily updates about what's going on and where.


Everything else in my life is going okay. No one in the family is sick at the moment...er, okay, except for my sister who got a brown spider bite late last week and has been in the hospital since Wednesday. She had about 100 cc's of infection drained out of her during surgery on Friday and will be there until at least Monday. To heap onto the complications, she had diabetes, so that has to be closely monitored as well. She was in good spirits when we visited her, but still...many prayers going Cindy's way.

But, yeah, other than that, things are okay here! My kid keeps amusing me with things she says, and I keep making more pre-made covers for my Cover Design page. Seriously, it's a sickness.  But I knocked down the price to a nice even $25 per pre-made cover, so maybe I'll actually sell one some day!

And that's what's been going on in Linda Kage world. How are things with you?

Introducing KAGE COVERS

Monday, October 21, 2013
Thank you to everyone who had input on which cover for To Professor with Love you liked best!  As I suspected, most everyone seemed to prefer something different!  Oh, and I totally forgot to tell you what the story was going to be about!!   As a spin-off from Price of a Kiss, I'll introduce a bunch of new people  in this one who I hope will start a whole new series, as well as bring back Mason and Reese for cameo appearances, and eventually tell Eva and Sarah's stories! So, here's a little intro for Noel:

During the football season, I'm used to the crowd chanting my name and worshiping me as I throw a ball into the end zone for a touchdown. While back in my hometown, I'm still just Noel Gamble, trailer park trash, son of the town tramp, and older brother to three siblings who are counting on me to keep up my scholarship so I can take them away from the same crappy life I grew up in.

These two different sides of my life never mix until one woman gets a glimpse of the real me. And it feels nice to open up and relax around someone I can trust.

Problem is Aspen Kavanagh is my literature professor.

If I start anything with a teacher and we’re caught together, I might as well kiss my entire future goodbye, as well as my family’s and even Aspen’s. But sometimes, love is worth risking everything. Or is it?

But until then, I'm still--yes, STILL--working on Tess's story for the Granton University series. We're up in the 70,000's on word count, though, so it IS coming along.



In other writing news: last week, I received an email, telling me my story, The Color of Grace, became a finalist in the young adult category for The 2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS!! That's make Miss Linda Kage a finalist for this competition three out of the last four years. I've never won, but it still feels pretty cool to final!

AND NOW FOR MY BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!



I decided I love making book covers SOOOOO much I created a little business for it!! Ergo, Hello KAGE COVERS DESIGN!  I have a few pre-made covers already made (check 'em out!! I really love some of them; Others I might tweak a little more!!), and I'm willing to try customizing a cover for any willing author.

You can check out my pre-made covers on my covers page http://www.lindakage.com/covers.html or I'm starting a Facebook Page, which I'll start uploading covers to soon (and you can totally like my page, if you like)! So what do you think: I've completely lost my mind or people might actually like some of my covers and order them??

Okay, then!  I'm going to get back to work on my Granton story!  Have a great week.

Here's What's Been Up with Me This Week (yeah, not much!!)

Tuesday, October 15, 2013
I’ve made it to 65,000 words complete on my Granton University Book #2!!  Yay, me. I’m hoping to have a rough draft done by the end of October, but we’ll see. Fingers crossed.

And you said you wanted to see a couple covers I’ve done with my new photo editor, right?  (Or maybe I’m just thinking I heard that!! But, whatever.) I’ve been playing around trying to find something I like best for the next self-published story I’m working on.  And I think I decided on one I like best.  But I’ll show you my top six because I’m curious to see which one everyone else likes best too!


I’ve been cover-making crazy obsessed lately. But I just got my new copy of Duke of Midnight by Elizabeth Hoyt to read this morning, so maybe I’ll calm down for a while...and get some reading on instead.

Meanwhile, my kiddo has been sick with pneumonia. I know, poor thing. But she’s getting better and is back to preschool. She took her last dose of medicine today, and I am SOOOO relieved. I mean, SHE’S relieved. Yeah, she's relieved. But seriously, I’m so relieved, too. Trying to get medicine down that child is like an act of God or something. But we finally figured out a method that semi-works for her, and it only—yes, only—took her three swallows this morning (when it should just take one) to get it all down!  Woot.

And I need new shoes. BADLY.  I’m not a big shoe person.  I have three daily wear, a pair of flip flops for summer and around the house, and then of course a bunch of uncomfortable only-wear-on-special-occasions shoes.  So the sole blew out of two of my everyday shoes, I mean, completely BLEW OUT. You can see daylight through one of them and the heel on the other one flops around like an extra tongue. 

Thus I’ve been stuck wearing one pair until I get my lazy self to a store and buy new shoes.  But then it started raining this week, and raining, and raining some more.  Somehow I got water in my last good pair of daily shoes. So, now whenever I walk around it squeaks and sloshes. It’s annoying and annoying shoes just...annoy me.  NEED TO GET TO THE STORE SOON!

So, what’s been up with you?

Thanks to all the Voters!

Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Thank you to everyone who voted on my boy Logan for the Men of Omnific Smackdown!!  He actually made it to Round 2!!  I was so shocked, and happy.  So, yes definitely thank you!!  You're amazing. What's even better, I don't have to drag him through a Round 3 (since he lost in Round 2)!!  I've decided I'm not much into entering competitions like that. I always feel so pushy begging people for votes.

And more good news, I'm at 50,000 words on my book two for my Granton University series.  It's reached a sadder part of the plot, though, so hopefully I can keep plugging along.

I also have starts on a couple more stories that will turn Price of a Kiss into the first book in a series. I'm kind of excited about that!!! Okay, really excited. You'll never guess who stars in book two...probably because you haven't met them yet (man, aren't I evil?!)!

And for my birthday last week, my wonderful, amazing husband got me a photo editing program.  I've been trying my hand at creating books covers.  And I'm totally addicted.  Once I get my next self-published story finished, I may have you all help me pick out which cover I should use. Would that be something you'd like to do?

On the home front, my little Pre-schooler is not getting enough sleep. Her nap time, falls during the hours she's now in school. So every day when I pick her up, she's crabby and demanding.  Then she takes a huge, long nap late into the evening and wants to stay up later at night because she's all rested up by then. What's worse, I have to go into work earlier these days because I adjusted my times so I can get her to pre-school. And that makes her night time schedule even shorter since she has to leave the house when I do.  I hope we can get her sleep schedule worked out soon, because most days the kid drives me cray cray! And I can't handle being cray cary!! But she's still loving school, so that's a plus.

And that's all I have to report this week! What's been up with you?

Ultimate Book Boyfriend Smackdown

Monday, September 30, 2013

My review tour for Price of a Kiss ended just in time for the Men of Omnific Book Boyfriend Smackdown (Hosted by Love Between the Sheets) to begin!!

Yeah, I entered Logan Xander (from Fighting Fate) in a book boyfriend competition. My guess is that it's like a beauty pageant but for really hot guys and their totally enticing fictional personalities.

And if Logan were a real person, he'd probably strangle me for this.  He is sooo not the type to compete for best of anything. He's a very humble kind of guy. But oh, well! It starts today; he has no choice (he, he, he!)

Crystals' Many Reviews blog is hosting Logan's profile. So if you want to learn a little about Mr. Xander, you can head over there. The link's http://crystalsmanyreviews.blogspot.com/ if you were curious what his favorite sexy word is!

Anyway, for the next three days, voting is open for anyone (like, yes, YOU...hint hint) to vote that he's better book boyfriend material than some other fictional dude he's up against, which in this round would be Sebastian Nuhra from the story Ember by Carol Oates.

I haven't met Sebastian yet, but loyalty says I must proclaim my boy Logan is totally better than him! So...GO LOGAN!  (listen to that crowd roar)

Here's the Smackdown low down. 

PRIZES are:

-Each participating blog (go here to find who's participating) gets two ecopies of the book for the man they represented to give away at the end of each round.


VOTING Takes Place HERE: (I mean, only if you want to vote, though!)

http://www.readlovelust.com/omnific-smackdown (just scroll down until you see the Logan/Sebastian box!)



 


Price of a Kiss AToMR Tour

Monday, September 23, 2013


The review tour for Price of a Kiss starts today and last until Friday.  The prize to win in this tour is a $25 gift card to Amazon.com!!

I think you'll be able to enter the contest on any stop in the tour, which are listed below:

Monday,  September 23
Tuesday, September 24
Wednesday, September 25
Thursday, September 26
Friday, September 27
Saturday, September 28
I've been asked to make stories for Eva and Sarah from Price of a Kiss.  I already had plans for Eva (because honestly there's so much more to her than even I know about yet, and she totally needs an attitude adjustment if you ask me!), but Sarah was a new one. So I'll be working on both of those stories...after I get book two for the Granton University series out of the way.

I think I made a colossal mistake there, though. I had my hero get shot, so a lot of his beginning scenes take place in a hospital.  And sadly, I'm the most medically disinclined person I know, so I just know it's riddled with mistakes. Ugh. What was I thinking?!

I've also been asked about continuing stories for Carrie from The Stillburrow Crush. Plus people want a story for Montgomery from Delinquent Daddy, Cassie from Delinquent Daddy, and Emma Leigh from A Fallow Heart. On top of that, there's this totally unrelated-to-any-book-I've-already-written rock drummer character who's nagging me to write her story. I'm beginning to think I need more time to write!

So that's what's up with me this week!  What's new with you?

New Toothpaste

Tuesday, September 17, 2013
My swag Stylus Pens are here!!  Okay, yes, my picture taking skills need some improvement, and for some reason the picture is upside-down. Have no clue how to fix that. Anyway... They say www.LindaKage.com, Contemporary Romance Author on them, in case you were curious.


So, tonight, I have a feeling I'll be stuffing envelopes to send out tomorrow for all the contest prizes I'm giving away.

In other news, I have very little to report. I mean...very little! The kiddo and I watched some of the Miss America Pageant on Sunday. My three-year-old saw the swimsuit portion and asked "Why are they wearing boobs and panties?" **side note: she has always called bras boobs for some reason, doesn't matter how many times we correct her**

I told her those weren't underwear but swimming suits.  They were going to go swimming.  So, then she wondered if they had remembered to put on their sun screen.  Really.  The mind of this kid amuses me daily.

Other than that, I accidentally got new toothpaste when I went to the grocery store yesterday.  I hate taking my time and picking out the perfect brand. I'm even worse at price comparisons. So,  I saw a Crest Complete, knew we had used it before, and snagged it up. Turns out, I guess I usually get Crest Complete Scope, and this was Crest Complete Anti-Bac. Oh, well.  Toothpaste is toothpaste to me.

When my husband broke it open to use before bed last night, he was impressed, though. Go me, huh!! I liked how it was really gritty and felt like my mouth was full of pop rocks when I'd clench my teeth on it. Super fun!  And my teeth feel all clean right now, which was the true test, I guess.  I'd say it's a keeper.

So, yeah, I really don't have a lot going on this week aside from new toothpaste!

Hope all is well and exciting for you, though!  Have a great, teeth-cleansing week.

Swag Pens!

Tuesday, September 10, 2013
I've been a little overwhelmed lately! But in a good, amazing, wonderful way.

Lots of people have been contacting me about book stuff. I know, isn't that awesome? I'm used to one person writing to me every couple of weeks (or months). But lately, that number has been bumped up to a couple people writing each day. I'm trying to respond to everyone but I keep fearing some have slipped between the cracks. I hope not. 

Anyway, I have a bad feeling I may need to become better organized!

I finally broke down yesterday and wrote out a list of all the prizes I agreed to supply to people for blog contests and the like. When the number topped twenty, I decided this was one list I probably shouldn't let the hubby see.

But I'm kind of excited to send out the paperback books I'm giving away, because I ordered personalized Linda Kage pens to ship with them.  Actually, they're so much cooler than mere pens.  They are actually stylus pens.  You can click once and have a pen to write on paper.  Then you click again and it becomes a stylus so you can use it as a touch screen pen.  I figured since my books are ebook that touchscreen pens would be a great tool for ebook readers. It's a start to my swag collection anyway!

If anyone needs a Linda Kage swag pen, let me know.  I should be getting them in next week! They're not the fanciest design in the world, but dude, it's a "stylus" pen!  It might just be me, but I think that's just too neat!

This is the second week for my Tasty Review Tour and the remaining stops are below:

Sept 11th - Craves the Angst
Sept 12th - Storm Goddess Book Reviews

Next week, I have the week off, and then we start all over again with a review tour at AToMR!  I thought October would be fairly quiet after that.  But then I learned my awesome publisher set up a tour for Fighting Fate at the end of October!

In between all this promo stuff, I've been trying to write book 2 for my Granton University series. It's not going as fast as book one did. But it's still going, which is lots better than not going at all! I'm at 36,000 words now. That's probably over a third of the way done but not quite half.

And that's about all I have to report today! How's your Tuesday going?

PRICE OF A KISS - Blog Tours

Monday, September 2, 2013
Happy Memorial Day!!
 
The  Price of a Kiss party starts today!!!
 
 
 
TASTY BOOK TOURS is hosting a Excerpt Tour this week and a Review Tour both this and next week!
 
If you would like to read an exclusive excerpt of Price of a Kiss, here's where you need to go!

 
Monday - Sept 2nd


Tuesday - Sept 3rd


Wednesday - Sept 4th


Thursday - Sept 5th


Friday - Sept 6th

 
And to see what others think of the story, here are all the stops on the
Review Tour:
 
Sept 2nd

Sept 3rd
Sept 4th
Sept 5th
Sept 6th


Sept 10th

Sept 11th


Sept 12th

 
 
 

Indie Summer Blog Hop

Thursday, August 29, 2013


Where in the world!

For my stop on the Indie Tour Blog Hop today, hosted by Parajunkie Blog Tours, I’m supposed to focus on one town, so I decided to focus on one I know.

I’m from the middle of the country (my house is literally surrounded by milo fields, a cow pasture, and a dirt road), so since I’m centrally located between about four towns, I can claim a handful of places as my “hometown!”

But I’m going to talk about the biggest one: Pittsburg (no H at the end!). Located in the southeast corner of Kansas, it’s a college town that typically has around a 15,000 population count, depending on the time of year. During the school year, it can almost double. Ergo, it’s very quiet in the summer.

It’s the home of the split-face gorilla. Our university mascot is Gus, and he is the only college mascot in the country that’s a gorilla. My three-year-old is a huge fan of Gus and watches videos of him on YouTube constantly.

We’re big on our PSU football team. Our tailgate parties before games can rival that of a professional NFL team. And the week before the first game is called “Paint the Town Red,” where many merchants in the area decorate their stores in the red and gold school colors.




Pittsburg was built up by a mining community—ergo its name.

It’s surrounded by strip pits, and many of the richer crowd likes to buy ground along the pits to build their houses on, and make them look like beach-front property.

I’ve gone swimming plenty of times in one of these pits that was full of some kind of mineral used in batteries. Probably not the safest thing to do (and might explain what’s wrong with me!), and it does stain your swimming clothes awful colors, but it also means fish and other creepy crawlers can’t survive in there either, so it’s a snake-free time!

Many of the first people to settle in the area were Balkans, so every Memorial Day Weekend, Pittsburg has a Little Balkans Days Festival, with a parade and other events.

And the beer of choice here is Natural Light.  I have no idea why, but my husband has gone places far away and ordered a Natural Light with his meal, only for the waitress to say, “You’re from Pittsburg, aren’t you?”

So, that there is a brief introduction to one of my hometowns!

What's something unique about your hometown?


Other stops on today's hop are :
Cocktails and Books and
The Obsessive Reader

I made the Top 100 on Kindle's Bestseller List!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013
It seems to happen every time. When I have a big book milestone in my life, I also hit a big baby milestone in my life.

The same month I had my first baby, my first book, The Stillburrow Crush, was released.

And it's happened again.

The night before my kiddo started preschool, when I released her to the world, my fourteenth story, Price of a Kiss, hit the top 100 in Amazon's Kindle bestsellers list!



Miss Lydia was sooooo excited for preschool yesterday. She raced into the gate, following the other kids, before Mom and Dad could hug her goodbye! And when I went to pick her up, she begged to stay longer.  Plus she's ready to go back this afternoon.  So, I think that's a success. Fingers crossed that it lasts!

I was extremely nervous, worrying about a million and one things that could go wrong.  But it seemed fine, except for the fact that I stayed at work until the very last minute before picking her up and she was the last kid waiting for a parent to come get her. 

I felt awful, thinking that she' d probably watched all these loving mommys and daddys pick up their children while hers never showed.  Then I learned her daddy had popped in while he was working to see her when she got out of class, so he was there and gone again before I showed up.  Whew. Daddy saved the day again! 

Now I know that I have to change my work-time schedule just a couple more minutes to fit in all this dropping-off and picking-up stuff.  Thank goodness my boss was cool enough to let me come in early so I could leave early every day.

I asked her what all she did in school and she was like, "I can't think." It must have been overwhelming with so much to do. Maybe in a couple days, she'll be able to talk about it more.  But she did say, "I didn't cry," which made me feel better!


Now, onto milestone number two!

For about twenty-four hours, Price of a Kiss, was rated within the top 100 paid books in the Kindle store on Amazon's Best Sellers ranking. From around 8pm Sunday night to 8pm last night, life was awesome.

So, that's been what's up with me.

Today is my Mom's seventy-fifth birthday.  We're throwing her a surprise party (and I can tell you this because she doesn't have a computer and won't read my blog to know any better).  Lydia and I are supposed to be her distractions. We're calling her over to come visit for an hour or so while everyone else gets the party up and ready at her place.  I hope I don't mess my part up somehow!

Oh!  And I'm being interviewed on Parajunkies today about How to Resist Prince Charming.

Okay, I'll let you guys go now.  Have a great week!

***
Well, this is it. One week left until PRICE OF A KISS starts its blogging tours! So, this is my last countdown quote to share with you. Enjoy:


Price of a Kiss Trailer

Friday, August 23, 2013

 
I don't think I've shared the trailer I made for Price of a Kiss on my blog yet, so here it is!!
 
I've actually uploaded the book on vendor sites already, which a couple of people have already figured out. Okay, a lot of freaking people have figured it out!!  I'm shell-shocked by how much readers are liking it.
 
Amazing.
 
My kiddo starts pre-school on Monday. We took her to open house last night. As soon as we stepped into the room, she was gone, introducing herself to other little kids and playing with all the toys.  She didn't once look for us. So...I'm thinking she won't have any abandonment issues! Fingers crossed.
 
 
***
 


Today is the LAST Day for the
*Sizzlin' Summer Sale*

Each of the books below are only $0.99 this week. 


***
And that's all I have to talk about today!  Have a good weekend and enjoy a fun book!
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
I went to my second bow shooting competition yesterday, and got a score of 188 out of a possible 300 points. I have no idea how that rates me, but its the best I've done so far!  And I only lost one arrow in the pond. Was not going in after that thing! 

My big promos start this week.  So...right now, Kiss it Better is on sale for $0.99 and Price of a Kiss is having a giveaway for paperback copies over at Goodreads.

I think I can claim that I'm finally working on a new work-in-progress.  I'm 30,000 words into a story that will be a companion novel to Fighting Fate, so fingers crossed that I stick with it!

And that's all I have to report today.

***
Two weeks left until PRICE OF A KISS's official release date!! So, of course, here is yet another quote from Price's wonky heroine, Reese:
 
 

Why

Friday, August 16, 2013
I think the dreaded whys have started for my kiddo.

The neighbor's dog died, you see.  Well, actually, it wasn't our neighbor; it was Grandma's neighbor's dog. But since Lydia stays with my mother-in-law all day while I'm at the day job, she was pretty close to this dog.

Whenever we'd drive by their house, she'd be like "There's Sam house." or "Look!  Sam's outside." (Sam was the dog's name, though Lydia also calls Sam's owner Sam as well, though her name is really Deborah...or maybe Debra...have no clue how she spells it. Eek)

So, yesterday, I picked Lydia up after work and the first words out of her mouth were, "Sam died." I had to pause, wondering if we were talking about Sam, the dog, or Sam, the human. But, it was the dog, whew.

Grandma was liked, "Yeah. Sam's gone."

Then Lydia wanted to know where Sam had gone. We told her he was resting under the ground.

Well, where was the ground?

It's under the grass.

What's under the grass?

Dirt. Sam's going to turn into dirt and become part of the world again.

And then he's going to come back?

Well, no.  Sam's never coming back.

I bet Sam (the human) is sad.

Yeah. Debra's pretty sad right now.

But...if the prince came. He could kiss Sam and make her all better again. And then she could come back.

Yeesh. This kid tries to come up with a happy solution for everything.  And I fear she's had Snow White and Sleeping Beauty read to her one too many times, too.  But seriously, I'm sooo not ready for death talks yet.  She's only three!  Isn't she supposed to wait until she's five or six...or twelve...before asking these kinds of questions?

Her cousin who's near the same age still talks in two or three word sentences. He cries and stomps around, yelling, "Mine, mine, mine," whenever his toy is taken away from him.  Why can't Lydia still be in that stage (without the temper tantrums, of course) instead of contemplating death already?


Anyway, my proof copies for PRICE OF A KISS came in!!  And what do you know, I found an oopsie on the first page one of chapter one.  Grr.

I made Lydia do the usual pose-with-mommy's-new-book picture.  But she'd just woken up from a nap thirty seconds after the books arrived, and she was a complete crabby pants. She was cold, she wanted me to hold her, she wanted some chocolate milk, her blankie and her iPad. She did not want to take a picture with some stupid books that didn't even have illustrations or a big bad wolf in them.

So, we tried again the next night with much better results!

And that's what's been going in Linda Kage world. What's up with you guys?  And how do you handle death talks with little ones?



Upcoming Promos

Tuesday, August 13, 2013
I think my poison ivy is making a valiant effort to come back...and winning. After getting a shot plus a week's worth of pills to take, I do not want to go back for more. But I am getting tired of being itchy all the time.

Oh well. No time for that really.

This week seems to be my calm before the crazy promo storm. For a glimpse of what kind of things I'll be involved in for the next couple of months--starting next Monday--just glance over the list below.  Insane right?  Yeah, but hopefully it'll be fun!

What do you have planned to do in the near future?

***



AUGUST 18 - AUGUST 24

Ten books, ten dollars...for six days! To help heat this summer up, a couple Indie authors have banded together to offer one of their sizzlin' hot books for the discounted price of $0.99 this week. So mix your favorite dink, curl up with your Kindle in your favorite reading position, and get ready to soak up some sizzling hot stories! Here is what we have to offer you:

His Wicked Games by Ember Casey, Detect Me by Selma Wolfe, April Showers by Karli Perrin, Precious Things by Stephanie Parent, The Modeliser by Havana Adams , Torrential by Eva Morgan, Kiss it Better by Linda Kage, Exposure by Iris Blaire, V Club by Lexi Dubois, The Immortality Clause (The Immortelle #1) by Abigail Hawk.

***

 
AUGUST 19 - SEPTEMBER 9

Para Junkie Book Blog is having a tour to feature a bunch of Indie Authors. My featured book will be HOW TO RESIST PRINCE CHARMING! My spotlight day will be on August 29th at Cocktails and Books and The Obsessive Reader!

***



Goodreads Book Giveaway

Price of a Kiss by Linda Kage

Price of a Kiss

by Linda Kage

Giveaway ends September 09, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter to win
AUGUST 19 - SEPTEMBER 9

3 paperback copies of PRICE OF A KISS will be given away through a Goodreads drawing (US shipping addresses only). First day to enter will be August 19th.  Last day will be September 9th!

***

SEPTEMBER 1 - SEPTEMBER 30


Devon Ashley from The Crazy Dream Blog is throwing a September Madness giveaway. With over 20 authors participating and over 100 prizes to win. You have the chance to win a paperback and ebook copies of FIGHTING FATE by Linda Kage!

***
 


SEPTEMBER 2 - SETPBEMBER 6

Tasty Book Tours has set up an exclusive excerpt tour for PRICE OF A KISS! One new, never-seen-before excerpt each day of the tour, all in chronological order to make one cool, super-long excerpt!

***
 

SEPTEMBER 2 - SETPBEMBER 13

Tasty Review Tours has set up a review tour for PRICE OF A KISS! Prizes to be won on this tour are: $20 Amazon Gift Card, ebook and print copies of Price of a Kiss.

***

SEPTEMBER 23 - SEPTEMBER 28

AToMR Book Blog Tours has set up a book tour for Price of a Kiss. Prizes to win on this tour are: $25 Amazon Gift card.

***


Books Over Boys

OCTOBER 1 - OCTOBER 31

To celebrate their three-year blogoversary, The Books Over Boys blog will be giving away a massive amount of prizes. Among them will be 1 ebook (Int) and 1 paperback (US only) of Fighting Fate!


And that's all I plan to participate in until at least November!


With three weeks to go until PRICE OF A KISS release, I have only three quotes left to share from my wonky heroine, Reese. It's okay, you can admit it, you're going to miss these, aren't you??