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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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Since my deadline is causing me major stress right now, you have two choices - you can go back to my post last Friday and re-read that and be uber impressed that I actually blogged on something informational while I’m having my stress meltdown (Rationalization - always a favorite Or, you can just let me remind you that my contest for a signed copy of Ceremony of Seduction is over next week. I will have my kiddo draw the winner at random early next week from among all those who are subscribed to my monthly Tina/Cassie email newsletter.

If you’d like to subscribe, head on over to my MySpace page and look down the right hand side (Under the glittery thong and the slideshow of my cover and pic) and you can subscribe right there
Anyway, think productive story thoughts for me, will ya? I’m off to Starbucks with my iPOD and laptop and will be there until my butt falls asleep in the chair. (Talk about leaving you all with an ice pick visual picture! LOL)

Cassie/Tina

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Lately I’ve heard of a bunch of people jumping on the bandwagon of writing to Soundtracks. 
 

I had never heard of this before last year when my friend Cheyenne McCray mentioned that she does it. 
 

I had always written and just tuned everything else out.  (Hey, I grew up in a household full of people who yelled and now I have a kid, I’m good at tuning out excess noise)  I can even write and ignore TV unless it’s a movie I really like J  But I knew I couldn’t write to music with words, because then I tend to type the words, which doesn’t really help my WIP and would most likely get me into trouble for copyright violation.
 

But when Cheyenne suggested it, she told me that some of those soundtracks are such great mood music that it really enhanced her writing.  So, I figured, what the hell, right?  I have nothing to lose if it doesn’t work.  I had a few soundtracks sitting around the house, Star Wars and The Mummy, so I loaded them up on my iPOD and took them with me for my midday Starbucks writing time.
 

I was amazed at the difference that writing to soundtracks made in my writing.  Cheyenne was completely right.  The “mood” of the soundtracks really fired my creativity and my productivity, so now my iPOD is a staple whenever I write away from the house and sometimes when I’m here.  (Sorry, honey – it was really hard for me to write while you were playing guitar and singing and the TV was going in the background…)     Anyway, having the headphones in and being surrounded by this huge, mood music really helped me suck myself deep inside the story and I think my writing was much better because of it.
 

I’ve expanded my soundtracks to include Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 2 & 3, Mummy 2 and Van Helsing.  I just stick them on shuffle and let them play.  It’s not really the individual songs – although if I’m in a tender love scene and something bloodthirsty or battle sounding comes on – I can just forward past it.  And for the most part – I don’t even really “hear” the music, but the mood definitely steeps inside my unconscious. 
 

I’d love to add to my collection.  Things like The Bourne Identity, The Rock, Harry Potter (any of them), and Robin Hood.  If anyone else has some good ones to share – let me know and I’ll add them to my Wish List for my family J
 

Happy Writing!
Tina/Cassie

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**A quick public service announcement before I move on with my post.  Don’t forget that there is a contest running to win a free signed copy of Ceremony of Seduction.  I’ll be drawing a winner at random from all those who are signed up for my monthly e-newsletter.  If you’re interested in subscribing, you can head out to my MySpace page - http://www.myspace.com/cassieryan44 or send me an email.**

Someone asked me last night what the typical day is like for a full time author.  Now, that’s a pretty common question, and I receive quite a few others, but it made me think.  This is a strange and wonderful business we are in, and I’ve actually learned a lot that has surprised me.

So, what have I learned from being a writer?

 - People think the day of a writer is glamorous and involves bon bons, mojitos and a sexy assistant who cleans your pool and dresses in a sexy thong.

 - People are often disappointed to realize that authors don’t make “movie star” amounts of money.

 - People think that you being a writer entitles them to ask all sorts of personal and inappropriate questions they would never ask someone in another profession.  (How much do you make, How many people have you slept with, does writing all those sex scenes mean you’re a nymphomaniac, won’t your children be ashamed of you for writing that?)

 - Everyone is fascinated by what you do.  Some have fantasized about being a writer themselves, and others think it’s one of those deliciously wicked things they can look down upon and say they met a real life writer (sort of like a real live gangster, prostitute etc)…LOL

 - People think that if they give you a story idea (like you don’t already have 10 thousand of them on your own) that you can write the story and then split the money.  They really don’t realize that writing the book is the hard part, not coming up with the idea.

 - Every inch of space within a bookstore is real estate - bought and paid for by the publishers.  If your book is face out, or on an end cap, or on a front table etc - paid for by the publishers.

 - People don’t realize that every weird thing they do or tell you about is fair game for going in one of your books or blogs.

 - That with the big pubs, it takes over a year to get your book published and sitting on a shelf.  And readers have no idea it works this way and thinks the writer just writes slow.

 - Many people view writing as a misguided profession that we will grow out of once we grow up or accept responsibility.

 - Every artist and several models on Myspace mistakenly think that by contacting the author, they can get their work on our cover.  (For those of you who don’t know - most of the time, the author gets little to no input into the cover)

 - That word of mouth is the best promotion.

 - That my husband is proud to tell his friends his wife writes both erotic paranormal romance and paranormal romance, but he refuses to read my books…lol.

 - People think that any sex act or situation in my book is from personal experience.  (I had one reader ask me where she could buy an altar like the one in Ceremony of Seduction.  Uh….Altars R Us?  LOL!)

 - That writing is my calling and I truly love it.

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I’m really excited!  Ceremony of Seduction is #6 on the Barnes & Noble Bestseller’s List for Erotic Romance!  Woo Hoo! 

Quick - check it out before it moves!  http://btobsearch.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?SRT=S&z=y&btob=Y&SZE=10&WRD=erotic+romance&Go%21.x=19&Go%21.y=10

I can’t seem to get the picture in here so you’re going to have to click quick and hope it doesn’t move unless it’s up!
 Cassie/Tina

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