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Barbara Vey is a very sweet lady who writes a blog for Publisher’s Weekly. It began as a blog about “women’s fiction,” but when she delved in and realized that depending on who you ask, the definition of women’s fiction is about as wide as the Grand Canyon, the blog really became about authors, the books she loves and the publishing industry.

She sent out an invitation yesterday to her one year blog anniversary party, which spread through the author community like wildfire. Over 75 of us so far have volunteered items to give away to commenters (aka party participants). So, when you get a chance, stop by, leave a comment and help us celebrate Barbara’s one year of blogging, and not only will you have a chance to win a copy of Ceremony of Seduction, but tons of other great stuff! Click here to visit the site.

I’ll be the one standing by the martini bar!

Cassie/Tina

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Hi everyone! As usual, I’ve double booked myself…lol. Not only is today my day to blog here with my favorite butterscotch martini drinking critique partners but I’m also set to guest blog on the Naughty & Spice blog in my Cassie Ryan persona. It’s a fun look at how much plot you like with your sex…or not.

Pop on over, leave me a comment on that blog and you could win a FREE signed copy of Ceremony of Seduction!!

Cassie/Tina

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This is a question I’m asked quite a bit by pretty much everyone except for other romance writers or people who already love the genre.

Our genre takes quite a bit of flack from those who don’t really understand modern romance novels, and, in fact, quite a few of them have never read a romance novel.  That part always amazes me, but then again people often criticize without full information in this day and age.

I remember when I was younger, borrowing my mother’s Harlequin romances and reading about heroines who waited for alpha males to save them and swooned at the slightest provocation.  I wanted to shake some sense into them and tell them to grow a backbone!  My twelve-year-old sensibilities just couldn’t stomach more of that, so I didn’t touch another romance novel for sixteen years.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for Harlequin.  Those were the kind of romances the core romance reader wanted at that time, and that’s what Harlequin provided, and they have grown and changed with the times and are still a strong company today.  However, from my “worldly” twelve-year-old perspective at the time, those books made me shudder!

That’s not to say that I wasn’t an avid reader during those years.  No, just the opposite.  I devoured Piers Anthony, Anne McCaffrey, Terry Brooks, Robert Jordan and anything else that caught my interest in the sci-fi/fantasy section of the bookstore.  But I made a wide berth around the romance section.

Now here’s a funny side note.  My parents and most of my friend’s parents thought we were reading books with wizards and dragons and spaceships in them, which was true.  But if they had only known the amount of steamy sex (and yes, even romance) in those books, they would’ve taken them away from me post haste!  In fact, my son KNOWS I know what he’s reading and what he’s not since I’ve read most of the books he is starting to pick up, and if I haven’t read it, I’m such a quick reader that I finish it before he gets very far.  (Poor kid!  LOL)

Anyway, back to my main point.  I spent those sixteen years of my life sneering at the romance genre without really realizing all the changes that had taken place.

But then, fate intervened.

I went on vacation with a friend and ran out of books.  (I mentioned I’m a quick reader, right?  I meant it…lol)  We weren’t close to a book store (sacrilege!), so I borrowed one of hers–BORN IN FIRE by Nora Roberts.

I can still remember diving into that book and becoming thoroughly hooked!  Not only did it have a rich plot, great setting (one of the richest descriptions of Ireland I’ve ever seen in a novel), characters that jumped off the page and made me believe that if I got off the plane in Ireland today that these people actually live and thrive there.  However, it also had some great love scenes and took me through an entire range of emotions before I got to the words “The End.”  I was hooked!

I finished it within the day and the next day drove an hour into the next town to find a book store.  You can imagine my surprise when I found the other two books in the trilogy (BORN IN ICE & BORN IN SHAME) in the romance section!!  A little more time spent perusing books in this section I hadn’t stepped foot in in sixteen years showed me that many of my favorite genres had now blended with romance.  There was sci-fi romance, fantasy romance, horror romance, paranormal romance, romance with suspense and even erotic romance, just to name a few.  This was my kind of romance!

Needless to say, as I sit here today, a multi-published romance author under two different pen names, I’m very glad to have stumbled onto that Nora Robert’s book when I did.  And, in fact, I did thank Nora when I finally met her at a Romance Writers of America conference in 2004, and she weathered my fan adoration with poise and a smile. :)  Thanks Nora!

So, what made me think of this blog?  I just finished a book that sucked me in, kept me interested, introduced me to characters who will stay with me for quite a while, and took me through a gamut of emotions from outrage to sadness to joy, and there were tears of happiness in my eyes as I read the last line of the book.   The book was THE PERFECT KISS by Anne Gracie, a historical romance, and I highly recommend you read it if you haven’t yet.

If like a lot of others, you haven’t given the romance genre a try lately, or at all, you may be missing out on some of the best books you’ve ever read.  Not to mention some great gargoyles, vampires, fairies, Klatch witches and angels. (self promotion, plug, plug, plug…lol)  But seriously, give it a try and you won’t be disappointed.

Cassie/Tina

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Every now and then I do a google search on each of my pen names and my book titles. It’s a great way to find out if you have any new reviews on your books you didn’t know about, what readers are saying on their blogs, which countries are carrying and selling your books and much more.

However, during my latest foray around the world wide web, I found a review on Amazon UK titled “Hated It,” which detailed a bunch of reasons why they, well…hated it.

Now I’ve been in this business long enough to know that some occasional bad reviews are just part of being a writer. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t wince with each bad word written about me or my work. And the fact that I’ve seen literally dozens of great reviews or great comments for every bad one doesn’t seem to make those few bad ones hurt any less. After all, a lot of myself went into each and every book, and no matter how much practice you get - it’s hard to realize that criticisms of your work aren’t really criticisms of you.

Don’t get me wrong, I won’t dwell on those few bad comments for very long, but they do strike a blow to my writing self-esteem for a few long seconds.

I know some writers who refuse to look at ANY reviews or comments about their books or their pen names. I’ve thought about adopting that same practice, but reading those great reviews and those great letters I get from readers really gives me a boost, and helps me speed forward through whatever writing I have to accomplish for that day. So, I guess I’m not willing to totally turn my back on all reviews, which means I just have to develop some tough skin and keep on hoping the good to bad ratio stays at much more good than bad.
How does everyone else handle the occasional bad review? Any nuggets of wisdom?

Cassie/Tina

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Hi everyone! I’m still in shock that it is already Friday again and October already zoomed by.

Anyway, November is shaping up to be a crazy/busy month for me. Not only am I trying to get Triangle of Seduction (the third in the Seduction series) done by the end of the year, but I have eight Pampered Chef shows scheduled so far in November. Great for my paycheck, but I have a feeling I’ll be exhausted at the end of November…LOL! (BTW, I will be having a Black Friday Pampered Chef sale if you are interested.)

But that also means that my brain is firmly entrenched in those two topics. So, instead of a deep, introspective post, you get my ramblings.

My agent called me a few weeks ago to tell me that sales for Ceremony of Seduction are doing very well, so you can bet I’m doing a happy dance! But there are still plenty of the books on shelves for you to go and pick up! If you would like to read an excerpt and see my book video - you can check out my website - www.cassieryan.com or my MySpace page - www.myspace.com/cassieryan44.

Just remember, this is a hot and steamy book and it will definitely heat up your weekend. I can’t tell you how many emails I’ve gotten from people who said they and their significant other read the book together and shared many…uh…”hot” hours of “closeness.”

On that note - I’m off to write and get going on my every growing To Do list.

Have a great weekend!!

Cassie/Tina

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