Nice, yeah?
Art done by Fiona Jayde. Story’s coming out in April. 🙂
Archive for the ‘Publishers: Loose Id’ Category
"Want Me" has a cover!
Tuesday, March 19th, 2013Art done by Fiona Jayde. Story’s coming out in April. 🙂
Help a Fab Editor
Friday, April 27th, 2012My editor at Loose Id, Raven McKnight, is ill and is currently trying to get her health insurance to do right by her. She’s a total fighter, but fighting requires being able to sit up and breathe at the same time, and she can’t even get *those* meds. So Katey Hawthorne got a bunch of us together in order to raise some money that will help her do just that.
How can you help? Go to http://www.indiegogo.com/for-raven. There’s different ways to donate, and each donation level gives you a chance to win a different prize. They’re awesome prizes, for a very good cause.
Raven edited “One Good Hand,” “One Good Year,” and “One Shot.” She’s sharp, savvy, and not afraid to rip a manuscript apart in order to make it better. She also keeps me from losing my damned mind at the height of edits and in those tense days just after a book release. She’s a great editor and a credit to writing.
Let’s help her out.
One Good Year is here!
Monday, March 12th, 2012Heh. My title rhymes. XD
And my book is out! Book two of the One Good series, One Good Year, is Ace and Spade’s second story, and is available now at http://www.loose-id.com/One-Good-Year.aspx.
Blurb:
Ten months ago, Spade was won in yet another high-stakes poker game. But Ace Donovan was different from his previous masters–kind, generous, possessed of a playfulness that only Spade could see. His new master was also broken, slowly crumbling under the pressures of undeserved guilt and pain. As Senai–a genetically engineered servant–Spade had the ability to sweep the anguish from his soul, to fulfill his every desire, and to set Ace’s spirit free.
He had not known doing these things would grant him the human’s love, or create an answering emotion within him.
There is no greater pleasure than Ace in his arms, and Spade will hold on for as long as he is wanted. Even when the orders given to him hurt, even when they make him lonely, even when it becomes clear that his master no longer needs a servant. He’s Senai. What he has now should be enough. Yet it’s not. He wants more.
One good hand brought them together. Could one good year entwine their souls?
I hope you enjoy my very first sequel!
One Very, Very Good Year
Thursday, March 8th, 2012Got my cover today. It’s Spade in a suit. And although that sentence alone is enough to fuel the imagination to wonderful places, here’s the cover in all its glory. Feel free to lick the screen. XD
Anne Cain did the art, and as always it is fantastic.
A Bit of Fluff
Thursday, February 16th, 2012A couple of months ago, my editor at Torquere suggested I write a bit of bonus material for Just Perfect. Something from Cody’s point of view that showed what he might see in Draven. At first I had reservations, but when I started, I felt…good. So good that the piece came out 300 words over word count.
It reminded me how much I really do love the sweet and fluffy stories. I’ve been in a dark place lately and I think my stories have been reflecting that (in really fun and twisty ways), but this tiny little excerpt made me smile. The combination of my editor’s suggestion and the card my friend sent me a while back is probably what got me going on One Good Year. It’s funny how events sometimes come together in odd and perfect ways.
Not that I have any plans to abandon my twisty stories. 😉
We had to cut the word count down to 500 before posting it on the Torquere social group, but I got permission to post the original version on my site. You can read it here.
I hope you like it.
Dude, here’s my sequel.
Thursday, February 9th, 2012If you’ve been following my stuff a while, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve got a bit of a…hang up when it comes to sequels. In that I don’t have any. The recent release of Just Perfect is a prequel to a dark little story I wrote a while back called Just Wait, but Just Wait’s been out of print since 2007, so does Just Perfect even count as a prequel? I labeled it #1 in the Drayner series so I’m guessing not.
But now, finally, I have a bonafide Book Two. It seems right that it’s part of the One Good series, since that’s what I was working on when I angsted about sequels in Dude, where’s your sequel? Of course, it’s also kind of ironic (or maybe just sad—I don’t have a good grasp of irony) that back then I was working on One Good Verse.
Turns out, Book Two in the One Good series will not be One Good Verse.
It’s called One Good Year and it’s an Ace & Spade story. XD
The novella’s tentatively scheduled to release March 13th, 2012 from Loose Id. You can read a little more about it here.
I’m excited. Are you exited?
Note: While hidden, the new One Good series pages have been available to view for newsletter members since this past Sunday. One of the perks of being on that list is getting to peek at stuff a few days (if I’m on top of my game) before it goes live. They’ll be getting another sneak peek this Sunday, so if you’d like to join the list, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rowan_mcbride/. It’s newsletter-only and very low traffic, plus you can decide if you want to have all posts delivered to your inbox, or just the ones that include chapter/installment/story announcements by choosing the “special notice” option. Special notices do not include sneak peeks unless I’ve just posted a new installment to one of my serials.
Wow, that was a very long post script.
But I’m still excited. Are you still excited? 😀
Goals: I haz them.
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012I didn’t write a New Year’s resolution post because I didn’t feel like I’d achieved much in 2010/2011. I sorta figured I was hella lucky to have a novella out in 2012 and shouldn’t push that luck. Plus I go through this thing periodically where I feel like I suck.
Then an old friend sent me a card. Inside, she had cut and pasted (as in actually cut and pasted, with paper and scissors and—I assume—paste) a dozen little quotes and images that reminded her of me. It made me laugh. It totally made me feel like I didn’t suck.
So I got back to writing, and my short little bonus fic turned into another novella. Sold novella to publisher. Rocked out to The Offspring in my living room. Realized it was only January and that this could get interesting.
Below are a list of my goals for 2012. I’m going to do my best to achieve them. I’m not going to beat myself up over it if I don’t. I’m also going to be flexible and open to change.
I think it’s going to be a good year.
- Updates to the website
- I didn’t put up any additions to Best of Rowan’s Ramblings for 2011, and there were some pretty good ones. (Check: 2-16-11)
- I’m thinking of doing a bit of a redesign to the overall look and navigation to the site. For a while there I never had more than three published books out at a time, but I’m up to seven now so I think it’s fair to say that the trend is good and over. My book list is starting to look a little unruly.
- I’d also like to make the place more mobile friendly. As is, it doesn’t look too bad on phones because the original design took into account smaller laptop/monitor screens, but a mobile option could make things cleaner and easier to navigate on a phone.
- Updates to Stories
- This is the year I finish The Jascian’s Toy. I can feel it.
- Write One Good Verse, which will bring the One Good series to three. I do like that number. Plus I’ve been working on it forever and I’m really digging the world right now.
- Maybe Touching Fire: Asher’s Magic. Asher Croft is so very hot and his story should be a lot of fun.
- If things go well with Drayner series, #1: Just Perfect, maybe I’ll get the green light on #2: Just Wait, the rough of which is already done.
- Get Want Me into e-book format. XD
- Conventions
- DragonCon, if any. I ditch it for something else this year there’s a certain group of friends who will probably murder me in my sleep.
- Blogging
- I’m going to try and get into a regular schedule. Maybe {gasp} write a few posts ahead of time, so I can have them set to upload automatically. Most likely Thursdays. Of course, all bets are off if I’m on a roll with the story section above.
- Post parts 2 and 3 of my 2011 YaoiCon wrap-up before YaoiCon 2012. *headdesk*
I think that’s the plan. There’s some tweaks I want to make to my own attitude, which brings us to one of the quotes my friend sent me:
“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”
–Marilyn Monroe
There was a time when I wrote fearlessly, when—no matter how crazy the idea—I would take what came to me and run with it. Didn’t matter whether it was thirty-five foot giant alien teenagers kidnapping humans to be their toys, or hell-bent roommates sucking the life out of the objects of their desire. They were the stories inside me, and I had every confidence I could tell them.
That’s the big goal. The one I’m going to work hardest on. I want to write madly, brilliantly, ridiculously. I want to be the person in that carefully crafted card.
And I want to have a blast doing it.
"One Shot" is on Sale!
Monday, October 5th, 2009😀 😀 😀
One Shot is available now from Loose Id!
Buy it now at: http://www.loose-id.com/prod-One_Shot-1023.aspx
Nick Carlyle understands the intricacies of his job better than anyone. He lives to crunch those numbers and his skills are valued throughout the company. If his personal life might be lacking, he doesn’t notice, especially whenever he steals a harmless glance or two at Riley Jameson’s tight body. But he’s the boss, and that means look but don’t touch.
When a universal flu shot is developed, it’s hailed as a miracle, and rightly so. But the seemingly harmless side effects begin to change the world, warping the statistics that Nick’s always used to guide him through life. Everything he thought he knew is suddenly upside down.
No one changes as much as Riley. Suddenly the young man is bigger, stronger. He’s also aggressive in ways Nick isn’t prepared for, and for the first time analyzing the numbers does nothing to help the situation.
Now, his numbers only add up when it comes to Riley.
Available now from Loose Id.
Jennifer Crusie is a great writer. Crap.
Thursday, June 11th, 2009One of the drawbacks of being a writer is that you’re never again able to read for the pure fun of it. No matter the book, a part of you will analyze sentence structure, character growth, plot development. Chances are pretty good that you’ll get sidetracked once or twice with how you would have turned that phrase or twisted that plot. Inevitably, you compare your writing skills to theirs and try to figure out how you measure up.
How much time you spend doing the above varies with the book. Some books you never really take off the writer’s hat.
But some books? Pure magic. You don’t notice the writing because you’re transported, and suddenly you’re honestly caring about the characters, laughing with them, getting angry on their behalves. Then suddenly you realize what’s happened and you flip back a couple of pages and attempt to figure out how they did that.
This usually results in massive writer’s envy, and yeah, I feel it. A lot.
The most recent book to turn me green (in a good way, as I happen to look fair to decent in green) is Jennifer Crusie’s Bet Me. Even though I don’t read a lot of M/F romance, I picked this one up after catching a recommendation for it at Jen’s Den.
My first reaction was that this was the most hilarious thing I’d read in ages.
My second was a liking for Minerva, one of the main characters, because she was an actuary and tended to break a lot of things down into stats. I had just finished the rough draft for One Shot, and my character Nick is a numbers guy, so I felt like he suddenly had a sister. Sort of. Okay not really.
Then came a few moments of uneasiness. What if Crusie’s numbers gal was more interesting than my numbers guy?
Note: While I fully realize that there is no comparing the two stories—different characters, different plots, different tones, different styles, different genres AND subgenres—this in no way alleviates the uneasiness. Such is the nature of writer’s envy.
And finally, because Bet Me IS such a great book, I slid right back into enjoyment. It had been a while since I read a story that made me laugh out loud. Even when you’re green, you gotta appreciate that.
So am I still a little insecure when I compare myself to Crusie? You bet. But that’s a good thing. If I thought I was the best, how the hell would I ever get better? The trick is to not let those insecurities freeze me up. I learn from other writers, but I don’t discount what’s enjoyable about MY writing. Also, I’ve learned to celebrate the good news when it comes my way.
For instance, One Shot being accepted by Loose Id.
Yep, that really happened. How cool am I? 😉