Why Times Square? A Q&A with Rach

So someone asked me this weekend why Times Square? She was really curious as to why I set An Affair Across Times Square in NYC, specifically in Times Square. I didn't have to think much about that, since I really had a great concept of where the whole idea for the book came from. 

I was at a conference in NY and staying at a hotel in Times Square and I came back to the room one afternoon to change between sessions and I looked across the street and could see into the office building there! And an idea was born. In the opening scene of the book, Layla Morgan goes back to her hotel room, gets partially undressed and... let's of some steam, shall we say? In full view of the building across the square.  Then she does it again... while he watches! It's a hot opening scene and it was the germ for the whole rest of the book. 

It couldn't have been set anywhere else in the world. I wish I had a shot from inside the room into the building across the street for your viewing pleasure, but I do not. Instead, here's a shot of Times Square that I took about five years back during a trip to NYC. I've always loved Times Square and all the craziness that ensues there. So it was a blast to set a book eighteen stories above the craziness... separate from it, but also so much a part of it. 

An Affair Across Times Square is available here: http://books2read.com/u/38rZgO  

Thanks for stopping by. And don't forget to enter our Three-Way Giveaway Contest - follow us, be entered to win three free books! 

~Rach

Six Sentence Sunday with Rach

And now for Six Sentence Sunday! Here's an excerpt from a hot little scene from An Affair Across Times Square... 

She felt the heat of his body through her thin dress, the cool air slipping between her bare thighs, chilling her slick folds. On the right of her body, she felt Tyler’s hand slide under the hem of the dress. She forced herself not to react, not to let everyone in the small space know how close she was to coming. His fingers stilled a moment, and she heard a soft groan behind her as he caressed her bare hip.

That’s right, baby. No panties. 

You can buy the book here: http://books2read.com/u/38rZgO   

Fifty Shades: A New Perspective

Hi everyone, 

I know that the Fifty Shades trilogy by E.L. James has been talked about ad nauseum, but I wanted to offer up something new that I don't think has been discussed before. 

I don't want to talk today about the specifics of the books, or whether they were "good" or "bad" or "well written" or how much money James is making, or the characters in the books or even the plot lines. I want to discuss something I've noticed about the industry since these books have hit the shelves in the states. I had never heard of these books until a few weeks after coming back to the US in May of this year and suddenly, it was all anyone was talking about. The books were in K-Mart and Walmart as well as all major booksellers, nation-wide. 

And here's what I've noticed in the past two months. The ramifications for the industry of erotic romance (my industry) is changing before my eyes. No longer is erotic romance shelved off on its own in the book stores. It's not hidden behind other books, it's not secluded in one corner, it doesn't make up the "naughty" section of an otherwise "upstanding" and "respectable" book store. 

In Barnes & Noble, there are three front-facing racks of "New Romance" one full rack is the standard paperback size ranging from Historicals to Paranormals and everything in between. The second rack is Harlequin and all of this month's titles. Again, ranging from Paranormals, Erotic Romances, and Suspense. Between these two racks is a third I haven't really seen before. The top row of this rack is new romances in hard cover. There are only 7 of these. Below that are trade-paperback sized books. If you've seen a copy of any of the Fifty Shades books, this is the size that they were published in. Of these 24 covers, eight are erotic romance. Many of these books are also modeled after the cover of the Fifty Shades Books - dark covers with the pop of one element to attract the reader's attention. 

This means that out of 24 new romances on this set of shelves, 1/3 are erotic romance. This is unprecedented. I don't think I've ever seen it before. 

Is EL James the best writer since Jane Austen? Probably not. But that's okay. I've seen a lot of negativity surrounding this book the past few months, and people will always criticize, that's normal. But for those of you readers and writers in the industry of erom, or romance in general, I just wanted to share what I have seen that I think is a direct result of the Fifty Shades trilogy. So for that, I thank EL James and her publisher for helping to make this genre more widely-read and for helping to bring erotic romance to the forefront of the industry. 

Fundraising Anthology

Hello everyone!

I have a very important post to share with you all today. A group of writers has banded together to publish an anthology to raise money for a fellow writer to help her with the financial costs of fighting breast cancer. Donna Munro was diagnosed earlier this year with breast cancer. Donna is an alumnae of Seton Hill University's Writing Popular Fiction program and a friend of mine. We've put together an anthology of so many different pieces, I can't even tell you about them all. 

Hazard Yet Forward is a compilation from seventy plus authors who've submitted pieces in all different genres. Many are current students or alums from Seton Hill. It was compiled by Matt and Natalie Duvall and Deanna Lepsch. The cover art (which is gorgeous and below) was done by a friend of the program, Coelynn McIninch! 

The anthology goes LIVE tonight at midnight on Amazon. I'll post the link later tonight here and on Facebook. The anthology is 9.99 which is about 40 cents per piece that is included in this incredible book. Every cent goes to Donna to help in her fight against breast cancer!!! There are some incredible stories in this book, including one by yours truly called "Midnight" under another pen name Jo Crosier. 

Blog Tour!

Good Morning, 

Welcome back to Divas of Desire.  

As you know, my first book is coming out in just under a month. To celebrate this, I'm doing a little bit of a blog tour. At each stop, there will be some more information about me and about the book. I'll put up some excerpts and some more insight about the book. I will also be having some friends stop by here to do a bit of guest blogging as well over the next few weeks. 

But first, a little more about the tour dates and what to expect at each stop: 

July 26, 2012 -  I will be at Sally Bosco's blog at www.sallybosco.com. Some bio info, the blurb for An Affair Across Times Square and a bit about craft, specifically how I used National Novel Writing Month to write the book. 

August 17, 2012 - I'll be at Mary DeSantis's blog at www.outofthelockbox.blogspot.com. Mary interviewed me about the book and you'll also find a sexy snippet from chapter 2 of An Affair Across Times Square. 

August 21, 2012 - Release Date - I'll be blogging at Rachel Leigh's blog at www.rachelleigh.co.uk. That's another interview with the blurb and a tease from chapter 1.

I'm very honored and excited to be doing a blog tour and I hope you'll stop by and share some love with me on these days. I have a few more invitations at some other blogs, but no firm dates yet, so I'll post those as they come in. I'll also be putting updates on my Facebook page. So stop by there if you'd like some more info. 

I've also made a couple promotional videos with a reading of the blurb and the first scene. I'll be posting those soon on Facebook, here, and/or my website. 

I've decided to put up some pictures with many of my blog posts, just because I think they're pretty. Some will have to do with my books and others will just be pictures I'd like to share.  

This one has to do with An Affair Across Times Square. 

Can you guess where this is?

~Rach 

Romance According to Rachell: The countdown

I hope you all didn't miss me too much last week. My rugrats were keeping me very busy. 

I have an official release date for the release of An Affair Across Times Square. So I'm here to celebrate with you! The release date is exactly five weeks from tomorrow. August, 21, 2012. Let the countdown begin! 


There's also a bit on that site about the process and idea for An Affair Across Times Square. So I thought I'd share a little more with you all about the book. Here's the little teaser that goes along with it...

Layla Morgan is tired of getting into trouble, and getting hurt. And she fears her wild nature is going to strike yet again. But maybe this time, she’s finally met the guy that can stand close enough to touch her inner flames, and not get burned. The man across Times Square seems enthralled by her wildness instead of scared in the face of it. He can’t seem to look away as she shows him just how much fun she can have… with herself.

After one glance of silky skin and talented fingers, Tyler Lachlan doesn’t stand a chance of resisting the delicious distraction of the mystery woman from the Marietta Hotel. He’s sure there’s more to her than her sultry voice and mahogany thighs, but he doesn’t know if he’s willing to risk his career to find out.

Could what began as a voyeuristic affair across Times Square develop into something more? 

And what better way to celebrate than by giving presents???? I'll be doing some giveaways here and on some other blogs over the next five weeks. I'm still scheduling my guest blogging spots, but check back here next Monday for the schedule and even maybe the first of my give-aways. 

~Rach 

Romance According to Rachell: First signing

I just got back from Seton Hill University where I had my very first signing this past week. It was put on by the Writing Popular Fiction alum and it was a fantastic event. Lots of people stopped by to get some signed swag. Here are my pretty little post-cards that I signed that night. 

I had a blast! Lots of friends and fans stopped by for the cards and I held a short reading of chapter one later that night. It was a blast. I should have a short audio clip to post in the near future. Check back next week for that one. 

In other news, two new book ideas in the mix that I should start working on eventually. I'll be sure to share all the naughty details with you all soon. 

And I got to spend some great time with my editor from Loose Id, and a bunch of other friends last week at Seton Hill. :-)