For Adult 18+ Readers
Today
is our stop on Liz Crowe's Honey Red tour and she has an awesome guest
post for you. Grab a craft beer (Pfft! NO! It's NOT too early?!), sit
back and enjoy...
A Funny Thing Happened on The Way To Getting Published
Liz Crowe
Liz Crowe
So I’ve been pondering this topic and want to look at it a little
differently if I may. Because the “journey to publication” is merely the
first step on a looooong learning road that I, for one, still must
commit to daily. It feels like the end of the line when you finally
get that “yes we will publish your words” call or email. You think,
“whew, now I can relax a little and enjoy the fruits of my hard labors,
and schedule my appearance on the Oprah show.”
Ha. No.
I would say that the Funny Thing that HAPPENS Along The Way to Being
Published is a better way to phrase this. And by that I mean every
single baby step of the process will teach you something about
yourself. You must learn to sublimate your inner defensive mechanisms
in the face of rejection, harsh critiques, and difficult editing
sessions. Then you have to develop your inner backbone so that you get
the cover art you think best represents your story, which is harder than
it looks. You have to train yourself to be patient, waiting for said
edits, cover art, and readers to find you. And you gotta grow a VERY
thick skin once you are “out there,” published, and at the mercy of
readers and reviewers who, in some cases, get perverse pleasure out of
making you feel like an amateur.
And then, when that’s done…guess what? There is another book to
write. Based on my now near 3-year jaunt down this rocky publishing road
I can say with absolute certainty that the BEST thing you can do to get
more readers is NOT constant tweeting, facebooking or blogging. It’s
writing the next book and continuing to learn as you go, making each one
even better than the last one.
Thanks for having me on your blog.
Thank YOU, Liz! And thanks to your amazing publicist Christine as well. You always enjoy working with you.
Enjoy the rest of the tour, everyone and be sure to check out Honey Red and all of Liz Crowe's Romance For Real Life...
Two men suffering from visible and invisible wounds
meet by chance circumstance.
Nick Traynor and Ian Donovan spend a lot of time and effort keeping it very hot, only physical, and purely superficial. But when their resolve starts to slip, a woman is tossed into their midst.
Hannah Williams wants nothing more than to do her job until something better comes along, but is forced to own up to her visceral reaction to Ian, her new boss, and later to Nick, his sometimes lover.
Lust has a funny way of turning into companionship, and eventually evolving into a deeper connection. Faced with the internal and external complications of their potential three-way relationship, they begin to heal and trust, to consider that it might work. Then life tosses them a hardball, forcing them back into their respective corners, where each must choose what is most important.
Three people determined not to commit, thrown together by fate and undeniable attraction--their nights heat up and emotions run high in spite of a claimed mutual desire to "keep it simple." In the process of honest self-discovery, can they learn that while love is never simple, it is definitely worth fighting for?
Nick Traynor and Ian Donovan spend a lot of time and effort keeping it very hot, only physical, and purely superficial. But when their resolve starts to slip, a woman is tossed into their midst.
Hannah Williams wants nothing more than to do her job until something better comes along, but is forced to own up to her visceral reaction to Ian, her new boss, and later to Nick, his sometimes lover.
Lust has a funny way of turning into companionship, and eventually evolving into a deeper connection. Faced with the internal and external complications of their potential three-way relationship, they begin to heal and trust, to consider that it might work. Then life tosses them a hardball, forcing them back into their respective corners, where each must choose what is most important.
Three people determined not to commit, thrown together by fate and undeniable attraction--their nights heat up and emotions run high in spite of a claimed mutual desire to "keep it simple." In the process of honest self-discovery, can they learn that while love is never simple, it is definitely worth fighting for?
He had called the production shots in the brewery from
the beginning. Gavin took whatever Ian and his staff of trained brewers made
and sold it, not vice versa. It had worked for them. They’d grown from nothing
to one of the bigger craft breweries in Michigan inside of six years. Thanks in
no small part to the deep pockets the five investors Gavin had recently
procured.
Ian respected the hell out of his brother, with his
suave manner, his charming patter, clean cut suits and the women who flittered
around him like moths to a flame. But damn if Ian didn't curse the man nearly
daily for hiring this fiery red-headed temptress who seemed to think that he
would be scheduling his brews around her sales. She shoved a computer tablet
under his nose. “Look at this.”
Her foot tapped out a familiar rhythm. The “Ian is a stubborn asshole
and I’m telling Gavin” one.
He took a step back, trying to get her scent out of
his nose. Luckily, she was in full on bitch-mode so he could be pissed, and not
horny. Besides, he had his own issues, trying to get Nick to answer his calls,
to reconnect. The man was an expert at avoidance so Ian was about to give up,
let the one-off be just that. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and took the
device. A graph flashed red, indicating that they were running low on their
flagship hoppy lager.
“Yeah, Hannah, I know. I updated the damn thing this
morning.” He turned away from her, addressed his next comment to the empty
fermenter that had fucked up his last batch of that very beer. He had a service
call in on it, but believed he’d already identified the problem. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry,” she yanked the computer out of his hand,
brushing his arm with hers in the process, making him shudder and need some
distance. “You’re sorry?”
“Yeah, you’re deaf?”
“No, you dickhead, I’m not. But ‘sorry’ isn’t gonna
cut it this week. I made a huge sale of the Hopped Up Lager and you know it. I
put it here,” she tapped the screen, which flipped over to her shiny new sales
reporting system that had become the bane of his brewing existence. “You saw
it. I know you did because I see you logged into the shared file and…”
“Listen,” he turned away from the stainless steel
vessel and glared at her. “I didn’t sabotage this damn thing on purpose. It
failed, okay? Broke, blew a gasket, something that I am attempting to diagnose,
or would be if I weren’t occupied being reamed out by you.” She blew out a breath, started to
speak, but he held up a hand. “Spare me. You’re gonna have to short the order.
It happens. Jesus.”
“Unacceptable.” She spit out, tucking the computer
under one bare arm. She was parading around the brewery in her sales suit, a
tight black skirt, sleeveless silk blouse and the patently obnoxious
way-too-high heels. Ian forced himself not to drag his eyeballs up and down her
frame as that first moment he saw her, with her legs up in the air on her ass
on the brewery floor kept replaying. He would not give the bitch the
satisfaction. “I need five pallets filled and ready in a week. Make it happen, brewer.” She spit out the last word,
emphasizing his role as opposed to hers he guessed, then started to turn on her
stiletto heel. Fury made the edges of his vision redden.
Without realizing he was doing it, he reached out,
grabbed her arm, spun her around and ground out, “It won’t happen and you know
it. Stop coming down here and acting like such a bossy…” he looked down and bit
back the word he wanted to use. Her skin was hot under his palm and his body
was reacting to her proximity, which only made him madder. She looked at his
hand, then up at him, her crazy blue green eyes snapping with something he thought
he recognized. He tightened his grip, dragged her closer. “Tomorrow morning
five-thirty a.m. Be here. Wear
jeans, a T-shirt and your hair pulled back. I’m sick and fucking tired of
trying to make you understand this process. You are gonna brew with me. To
appreciate what we do, so you can get exactly how pissed off you make everybody
with your ridiculous demands.”
Her eyes flickered down his chest. The distinct
sensation of painful erection made him clench his jaw. “I’m busy tomorrow
morning.” She whispered.
Ian moved directly into her space, and let their
bodies graze each other on purpose. “Yeah, I know. With me.” He leaned over
her, keeping his hand on her arm. Dear God he was horny. He hadn’t had sex
in nearly two months, refusing to remember that last time for a lot of reasons.
He wanted Nick so badly at that moment, issues and all, he could practically
taste the man. But of course, he was somehow within a split second of laying a
tongue-tangler on the annoying, frustrating, hot woman in front of him.
Tempting as it was, he stopped, let go of her, stepped away.
-->
Microbrewery owner,
best-selling author, beer blogger and journalist, mom of three teenagers, and
soccer fan, Liz lives in the great Midwest, in a major college town. Years of experience in sales and fund
raising, plus an eight-year stint as an ex-pat trailing spouse, plus making her
way in a world of men (i.e. the beer industry), has prepped her for life as
erotic romance author.
When she isn't sweating inventory and sales figures for the
brewery, she can be found writing, editing or sweating promotional efforts for
her latest publications.
Her groundbreaking romance subgenre, “Romance for Real Life,”
has gained thousands of fans and followers who are interested less in the “HEA”
and more in the “WHA” (“What Happens After?”)
Her beer blog a2beerwench.com is nationally recognized for
its insider yet outsider views on the craft beer industry. Her books are set in
the not-so-common worlds of breweries, on the soccer pitch and in high-powered
real estate offices. Don’t ask her
for anything “like” a Budweiser or risk painful injury.
(after
release the book will be available on Amazon, B&N and Kobo)
Grand prize is one random winner will be picked
from Blog Tour to win an ebook copy of Honey Red
from Blog Tour to win an ebook copy of Honey Red
and the Stewart Realty Boxed Set Volume 1
which includes Floor Time, Sweat Equity and Closing Costs
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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