Hey all! It’s been one heck of a crazy week here in the land of hockey tournaments, more hockey tournaments and oh yeah, mid winter break. I can say I survived the trip to Jordan and the trip to Buffalo. I managed to make it through two days at a hotel with 14 kids, their families including siblings and an unhealthy amount of pizza, wings and beer. (Bud Lite Lime rocks!) On a side note, my son’s hockey team kicked butt on both sides of the border!

So, these distractions have been swept away and now I’m faced with The Next Step on my road to publication. I’m sure most of you are aware that I’m the newbie around here. I signed with Laura Bradford last summer and she sold my book to Avon/Harpercollins. (I still get all squeeeeeeeeeeish when I think about it!) Since then I’ve gone through many firsts. Revisions, contracts, line edits and now, (horns blowing in the background please!) discussing my COVER!

I’m so pumped I just can’t even tell you. My editor told me to jot down ideas about what I’d like on the cover. I can honestly say I had a moment, because truthfully I’m not artistic at all when it comes to this stuff. I just want the cover gods to smile on me and give me something great. But, I decided the professional thing to do was a bit of research, and then give Esi my opinion.

What I found was a lot of covers that rocked and some that were mediocre at best. I think that covers are the most important tool you can have when it comes to attracting readers….especially if you’re a newbie like myself. I realized that most of the books I’ve purchased lately (from new authors), I bought because the cover drew me in and the blurb was well written. So, this is important stuff.

I want my cover to look great and thought this would be a great place to ask all of you out there in Bradford land, what is it about a cover that makes you grab that book from the shelf? What do you like and dislike? What’s your favorite cover?

Currently, I’m favouring one with my dude on the front, but I want to see his face. I’m not so enamored of books where you can’t see the guys face. But, would a couple be better?

What do you all think?

And this is totally unrelated, but any early predictions for American Idol? I have to say, I’m really digging Adam Lambert. He’s like a really yummy young version of Nikki Sixx without the smelly heroin addiciton thing going on. And the little chick with the red hair and raspy voice? Luv her too!

Or rather, it will be.  Next week.   Yesirree…..I’m officially on vacation and can’t wait.  I’m heading to sunny Mexico and taking the hubby and kids along for the ride.  Truthfully, this winter has been brutal and that’s saying something considering I’m a Canuk and so enjoy my winter sports.  But, the cold and snow have finally taken their toll and driven me to the land of endless margaritas.  It will be vacation for sure, but I aim to do a bit of research while I’m there.

You see, there is madness to my methods.  I fell in love with the entire region while doing research for my first paranormal, Dark Revenge.  My main character is a Jaguar Warrior and while they are part of the Aztec culture a good portion of my first book takes place in the jungles of Belize and involves an old Mayan ruin.  I’ve been to Belize and it is indeed a beautiul country.  But, when I was there, I never did make it into the jungle to tour some of the Mayan ruins close by.

I will be hitting one for sure while in the Mayan Riviera and I can’t wait.  To touch and feel and to just imagine the culture that built these incredible monuments is something that I  just can’t wait to experience.  I want to spend a fair bit of time in the jungle, to really get a sense of it, as the second book in my series, Dark Craving takes place mainly in the jungles.  Where it’s hot and humid and for my two main characters, very much a background to the life and death situation they find themselves in.  And how fitting, really since that’s how I envision the jungle to be.  Wild and untamed and filled with predators…some of which are yummy jaguars!

So, my vacation will be relaxing and I hope to get some work snuck in as well…in between the Coronas and margaritas , and I’ll be taking along some books to read…I have Kiss of Fate by Deborah Cooke, At Grave’s End by Jeaniene Frost and I have Stolen Fury by Elisabeth Naughton. 

So, who else has been lucky enough to travel and maybe do a little research?  And if so, where have you been?  Or, where would you like to go?

On my ipod.  Van Nuys with SIXX AM with the still very hot Nikki Sixx……a la Supernatural!

 Van Nuys, Sixx AM………Dean!

ps.  I don’t know how to upload the video but if you click on this link there is some Supernatural love there!  Have a great week all and I’ll see you when I return from vaca!

Morning y’all!

I always love Fridays, but this one especially. It has been a long week and, unfortunately, not for staying up late writing. The baby and 3 year old were both down (or up and running to the bathroom *eww*) with a bad viral bug for the bulk of it. Then life took over in other ways, reminding me how precious little time I really do have for author stuff, then the poor older girl tripped and rammed face forward into the wall. She has a nice swollen eye and a bruised cheek to show for it, but it appears otherwise is okay–thank God!

In the midst of the sickies and uckies, I did have a great chat time with the TalkingTwoLips bunch, and I did get my new website up for the most part. I am still adding the links, blog, and more excerpts, but a new contest is up, as well as some other stuff, so do check it out!

I also received in some great reviews for Escape To Ecstasy, including a Recommended Read from Two Lips Reviews, and then I was asked to write a free serial online read for eHarlequin in the Spice vein. I got the idea approved and will be getting to work on that soon. The eight chapter mini-story will be posted from early May to late June. It’s going to be a light paranormal, and should be a lot of fun. Will post a reminder when the date draws near, so you can check it out. Free is good!

I also am continuing to get in some good reading. I have missed reading like crazy, so just eating up all those lovely words. Reading Lisa Renee Jone’s latest White Knight story right now. If you haven’t checked them out yet, they are released through Harlequin’s Nocturne imprint and are awesome!

Breakfast is calling, as well as more coffee. After that I am looking forward to finally getting some more writing in and more web updates. How about you? Any good plans for the day/weekend?

~ jodi

www.JodiLynnCopeland.com
ESCAPE TO ECSTASY, Kensington Aphrodisia ~ Just released!
“Recommended Read! This is one powerful read…” -Tina@TTL
“5 stars! I was up half the night reading this story…” -Stefani@JERR

In two weeks my first ebook in two years will be released by Ellora’s Cave.  It’s called IN THE COMPANY OF WOLVES and it is a rewrite of my very first real book.  

I originally wrote this in 2003 and the main character Red was my first foray into kick-assedness.  Red really was my first tough as nails heroine that liked to fight and f*&^, equally.  She didn’t give a rat’s ass about anything else.   This book, published as an ebook in 2004, also gave me my first real fan.  *Hi Claudia*  *waving madly*  And I started to realize that maybe just maybe I could make a real go at this writing gig.  That maybe someone out there actually likes the same types of books and stories I like. 

So, when I got the rights back to this book, I knew I had to get it back out there.  I knew its time had come around again.  That I needed to go back to the beginning and look at why I wanted to be a writer in the first place.  And what my first love really was.  Kick-assedness.  There is no doubt about it. 

Here’s the blurb:

Red, a hard bodied, steel hearted bounty hunter, cares about only one thing—hunting and killing the man that murdered her grandmother in front of her when she was only twelve.  Every bounty brings her closer to finding the Wolf’s lair.  But when he saves her from an assassination attempt, she discovers she may not want him dead after all.

In the Wolf’s arms, she discovers a world of unparalleled craving.  He’s the first man that’s ever made her feel lusty and wanton, abandoning all thought and reason to be in his bed.  With his hard body and punishing kisses, he pushes her beyond her physical and emotional limits to a passion-filled partnership built on trust, desire, and love.  Three things she’s never allowed herself to experience in over seven years.  But with the Wolf, it’s all she’s ever desired.

This will be available on Friday, February 13th at Ellora’s Cave.  If you want to read an excerpt, go here.

A few days after my last post here I got my cover for Laid Bare - a contemporary, menage, erotic romance out from Berkley Heat on August 4

Coming August 4 from Berkley Heat

Unexpected Desire…

It’s been ten years since clean-cut, sexy-as-hell police officer Todd Keenan had a white-hot fling with Erin Brown, the provocative, wild rocker chick next door. Their power exchange in the bedroom got under his skin. But love wasn’t in the cards just yet…

Now, life has thrown the pair back together. But picking up where they left off is tough, in light of a painful event from Erin’s past. As Todd struggles to earn her trust, their relationship takes an unexpected and exciting turn when Todd’s best friend, Ben, ends up in their bed—and all three are quite satisfied in this relationship without a name. As the passion they share transforms Erin, will it be enough to help her face the evil she thought she had left behind?

It’s so pretty I squee every time I look at it! Nicely enough, I sold the sequel to Laid Bare just days after getting this cover! I still don’t have a title but I’m hoping to get an agreement on one soon because I’m the kind of dork who has a hard time writing without one. This book will be Brody’s story. Brody is Erin’s older brother, a man who took in his siblings to raise when he was just 19. They’re all successful people now, as is he. He’s spent all of his adult life parenting his siblings and now he’s not looking to be responsible for anythone or anything else! He sure isn’t expecting Elise Sorenson to enter his life.

This one will be out in January of 2010 and I’m currently writing it.

On that topic -

The heroine in the book I’m writing now is a ballet teacher but she used to be a principal dancer in the American Ballet Theatre (although I may have to change the company depending on licensing issues). She’s different from many of my heroines so far, not as outwardly emotional and expressive but in a lot of ways, she emotes through her body when she dances.

As I was thinking about her, about who she’d be in relation to who Brody is (and I wrote him in Laid Bare so I knew him much more as I began to write the proposal). I wanted her not to be his opposite, but with core things very much like his, but outwardly different. Her mode of expression also through art but what or how? And then I thought about ballet and dancing. I love ballet. Like, really, really, really love ballet.

When I was ten, a woman my mother worked with had a son who danced with the Royal Australian Ballet and he came to visit her in Los Angeles and with him, came tickets to a gala at the Terrace Theater in Long Beach for the American Ballet Theatre. This was huge and a moment in my life I’ll never forget (I still have the program tucked into a book Lois - our friend - gave me for my birthday a few days before that.) A gala is often a chance to see bits from the season so it has several acts, each with different styles and it’s wildly exciting for people who love ballet. And even better, it’s a great excuse to get dressed up. We had these amazing seats because of our friend’s son and that night I knew I’d love ballet forever. I wanted to be Cynthia Gregory when I watched her dance the Grand Pas Classique with Fernando Bujones (both of them such amazing, amazing dancers).

That night, I don’t think I can really put into words how it changed my life. I was this kid who watched ballet on PBS. We didn’t hob nob, we couldn’t afford lessons or anything. I’d never seen it live and even later in my life I hadn’t seen anything that could touch it until I was an adult. Something inside me was set free by the beauty I saw that night. By the way the dancers moved and carried themselves. It’s one of the most beautiful things imaginable to see ballet live.

This is the Grand Pas Classique with music by Auber - I looked for Bujones clips because I love how he looks when he dances but the only one I found was of poor quality. This one features Sylvie Guillem, who is one of the finest ballet dancers ever. It’s worth a watch because she doesn’t allow her dancing to be filmed these days.

This is very a very classic, very beautiful piece. Look at the balance required, the timing, the strength and poise. It’s one of my favorite pieces when done by a good company because it’s lovely to look at. It had embedding disabled but the link works. When you watch closer to the end and see her freaking balance during her turns, it’s amazing. She’s flawless, like a thing of magic and air.

That night we saw The River as the closing piece - this is Cynthia Gregory above performing part of the River (with music by Duke Ellington and choreography by Alvin Ailey)

Anyway, I’ve been watching a lot of youtube, thinking about Elise, about what she’d look like, how she’d carry herself and so I thought I’d just share a bit of that, and a bit of me, with you all.

Don’t forget to enter the Taking Care of Business ARC contest at my blog (or megan’s blog)! Have a great week everyone!

Hey, all!

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I am sitting here, my fingers freezing, but looking out the window at a world covered in snow and ice.  I want to go back to bed and maybe I will, since I was out late last night (for great reasons, but this old lady gets tired, ya’ll) and my kids are in school for another couple hours…

But here’s the thing.

I also need to write. Because if I don’t write it, I can’t sell it. If I don’t write it, the superfabandgroovy Laura Bradford can’t put it out there in the world for editors to buy. If I don’t write it, ain’t nobody gonna give me any money for it!

And no, I don’t write solely for the money. Heck. If I wanted to do anything just for the bucks I’d pick something other than novel writing. But I don’t do this as a hobby, it’s not something I toss off in between bon-bons and soap operas. Writing is my job, it’s my career, it’s something I love enough to sacrifice for!

So, if I want to make it in this business, I have to make it (the writing.) I have to actually produce. I can’t sit around on my ever-widening bum and moan and complain and eat thistles because nooooobody’s going to buyyyyy my storrrryyyyyy…I have to do the work. I have to make the effort. I have to get up early and go to bed late and not watch t.v. and not make quilts or play the Sims2 all day!

I mean, life’s about balance, and I will always find time for sleep and the Sims, but really, there’s nobody who’s going to do my work for me. My editors aren’t going to approve checks just ‘cuz they like me, and Laura B. as fab as she is, can’t sell books I haven’t written (well, technically she CAN but that’s because I’ve proven I *will* write them…and I had to do that buy actually finishing a whole bunch before I got to the point where I can sell on proposal and not on a full. It’s part of the way it goes.)

This falls on me. So as much as I’d like to crawl back under my blankets in the soft, warm, flannel cavern of my bed…I’m going to write today, darn it. I’m going to write and write and write some more! Because I want to MAKE IT in this business!

And I can’t make it…if I don’t make it.

As Ringo says, people: Peace and love, peace and love,

Megan

Ahh. Nothing like some good, old-fashioned procrastination. I wonder what writers did before they had the internet and were expected to blog, make book videos, do chats…

Hmmm. Did they all just…write?

What an amazing concept!

I have to admit, I love the fertoodliness of the internet and book vidoes and chatting and blogs. I love that connection with the “outside” world — and I put it in quotes because I’d probably never leave my house if I didn’t have to. I’ve become a hermit lately, preferring to snuggle under a blanket with my Alphasmart Neo on my lap rather than going to my used-to-be-favorite coffee shop to write…hey, it’s warm at home and if I take a little snooze, nobody’s the wiser.

But that won’t get the writing done, of course. So, how much of that internet stuff is necessary? See, I pass it off as promotion and tell myself it’s necessary, but the bottom line is…who knows? Having a presence online might help sell books. If you’re a doofus who doesn’t know how to behave in public, it actually might hurt your sales. But really, what it comes down to is writing a good book and having people enjoy it and talk about it, so you could let THEM talk about your book on the internet and you wouldn’t have to…

Hmmm.

But then what would I do with all me “free” time?

Here are two little suttin’ suttin’s I spent some time fertoodling with lately, instead of doing any writing/editing/polishing/critiquing or anything else.

Oh, and instead of mopping the floor, too.

M

Undercover is a TOP PICK in Romantic Times Book Reviews for December. Holy cupcakes.  I haven’t even seen the magazine yet! December isn’t online (although it might be by the time this posts) so I was blissfully ignorant. But Jaci Burton, Maya Banks and I have a group ad in this upcoming issue and Jaci sent an email to say she got her issue and how pretty the ad looked. It was a cool email but it was the, “Oh and congrats on the Top Pick for Undercover, Lauren” at the end that made me gasp and read it twice more before emailing her back and asking, “Really? I did? OMG!!”

She kindly sent me the text of the review shortly thereafter so thanks, Jaci, for totally making my day!

OMG!!!!!  I’ve never had a Top Pick before. Several 4 1/2 star reviews but never the top pick. I’m so freaking excited!!!!!

Here’s the review:

Dane has written a sizzling, delicious tale of love lost, found and expanded. The M/F/M triad is as endearing as it is molten hot. The friction between Sera and Ash as they resolve their past is intense, and with Brandt added to the mix, it’s nothing short of explosive. An adrenaline-filled, suspenseful subplot keeps the reader engaged.

Reviewed by Bella March.

Thanks so much to Bella March for the review.

Undercover comes out December 2 from Berkley Heat and it’s my verra first single title from a NY publisher. I’m not a newbie, I’ve got over two dozen published novels under my belt but this one is big for many reasons and I so want it to do well. Of course that means some days I’m euphoric and others I’m panicking that it’ll be the worst book ever, LOL.

Anyhoodle, amidst the mountain of ironing and laundry I did this weekend, the dinner out with my dude Friday night and the low point of some dire news from a friend, seeing this review was pretty darned fabulous.

Blurb: A sexy debut exploring an erotic future universe of passion, danger, and deceit…

On the battleground or in the bedroom, one woman and two men fight for dominance in a bold, new, and excitingly different direction in erotica…

As a lieutenant of the Federation military, Sera Ayers is accustomed to giving orders, not taking them. Now she must obey the one man she can’t stand—and can’t stop thinking about.

With the enemy Imperialists gaining ground, a covert team is assembled by Ash Walker. Ten years before, Sera had lovingly submitted to Ash’s dominance in the bedroom. But when he was forced into a political marriage, she refused to play mistress. His marriage now over, Ash wants Sera on his team—and back in his bed.

The third team member, Brandt Pela, has an elegance to match Ash’s savage sexuality. And when their undercover plan requires Sera to pose as Brandt’s lover, it ignites a passion among the three of them more dangerous than their mission.

Here are some quotes:

Sexy, pulse pounding adventure with a heart twist of emotion that’ll leave you weak in the knees. Dane delivers!
Jaci Burton - Author of Riding Wild and Surviving Demon Island

Lauren Dane deftly weaves action, intrigue, and emotion with spicy delicious eroticism. Undercover is a toe curling erotic romance sure to keep you reading late into the night. - Anya Bast, national bestselling author of Witch Fire

Exciting, Emotional, and Arousing! Undercover by Lauren Dane is a ride well worth taking.
Sasha White author of Bound, Trouble and Wicked

With its fast-paced action, steamy romance, two sizzling heroes and a heroine I adored, Undercover is a book I can’t wait to put on my keeper shelf. Dane does it again! – Megan Hart, author of Tempted

Scintillating! Lauren Dane delivers a roller coaster of emotion, intrigue and sensual delights in Undercover. I was hooked from the first sentence. – Vivi Anna, author of Hell Kat and Inferno

And lastly, after the jump, you can check out an excerpt!  18 and Over Please!
Read the rest of this entry >

The top of my head blew off Monday night. All because of a technical issue with my DVR…which I hate…but that’s a rant for another day. Bottom line, something I had looked forward to, a simple pleasure, had been ruined by something becoming unnecessarily complicated.

I fixed the problem on Tuesday (and for a complete description of how I did it, see my blog for my rant) but the sour taste remained for a while.

So I found another simple pleasure. Music. I turned on my iTunes and cranked up my new favorite song, We Are Okay, by Joshua Radin. It’s on his new album, Simple Times, and it seemed just right to listen to an album called Simple Times when I was in search of simple pleasure.

Nothing complicated, nothing dramatic, just something feel-good, feel-good. You know what I mean? So when Joshua sang “we are okay, we are all right” — well, I can go with that. I can be okay, I can get into being all right. I can let go of that frustration and blah feeling, and just get into the fact it’s a brand new day and for me, a brand new year and season of renewal.

I can face the new year with optimism, not antagonism. I can take a deep breath. I can dance. I can eat something good, I can smell a flower, I can write a story. A good story. I can look around and appreciate everything in my life and understand if the worst that ever happens to me is that I can’t get a stupid remote control to work my tv, then I’m a lucky woman.

I can be reminded, as Josh says in his song One of Those Days — “it’s just one of those days.” And they pass, those days. Bad times pass, and we are okay.

That can apply to a lot more than a broken remote control.

M

After spending this summer mostly focusing on the kids, day job, and catching up on sleep, I was relieved to find my writing mojo again. I’ve had a story idea gelling for quite some time. Not all the components were there, but enough that the characters were beginning to do that demanding to be heard thing characters are so good at. Over the last weeks, I finally was able to get their story down in outline format and get quite a bit of the first chapters out. The story is a single-title suspense with lots of twists and turns. This is the genre I started out writing and is also the one I still love to most read and write.

Unfortunately reality then had to dawn in the form of a deadline for another story. This one a contemporary erotic romance novella. To say there is a difference in my process in writing one to the next is vast is putting it mildly. Yes, I still need to invest some forethought into writing the novella, but since the story isn’t focused around a suspense angle and I know my editor mostly wants sizzling heat packed into those very limited pages, I feel like I’ve gone from cramming for a final exam to taking a pop quiz.

Of course, pop quizzes have never been easy for me. In truth, I do better with final exams. And I find the same is true in regards to writing the full-length story with lots of twists over the shorter one that is mostly based around the heat and emotion that centers on a short period in two character’s lifes. Where after cramming for months on the suspense, I was then able to jump right in and get out pages I loved in short order, I am now struggling to find an opening I love and that doesn’t feel cliche in some mode or manner with the novella. I keep hungering for the big story, the grand concept, the endless twists and turns. Not to mention a hundred or so pages to build a relationship before my leads hop into the sack.

On a good note, one twist did surface with the novella that I never saw coming and I do like how that is working with the story. On a not-so-good note, it still isn’t on par with the twists in the suspense, and I find myself wanting to return to the suspense instead of writing the novella. Well, that isn’t something that can happen, since the novella is under contract and due shortly, and the suspense merely a proposal to be shopped around. So for now I am soldering on, bumbling my way through this pop quiz and hoping the result doesn’t read nearly so bumbled in the end. And then, too, reminding myself that a shorter story with less twists and turns can be very nice indeed.

Having said that, I then think, geez, is it? What do you think? Do you enjoy a shorter read with a fast and relatively fun plot? Or is the longer, more gritty tale more your cup of tea? For me, it generally comes down to mood on any given day, though in the end, I would have to say the longer, grittier story almost always wins out.

~ jodi

www.JodiLynnCopeland.com