Friday Snippet, Valentine’s Day Edition

February 14, 2014 Monica La Portaa snippet from a wip once a week, eternal love, friday snippet, immortal centurion, paranormal romance, small excerpt from a paranormal romance, valentine's day, vamplingLeave a comment

Happy Valentine’s Day, everybody.

I am halfway through writing my first paranormal romance novel and in the best spirit I’ve been in a long time. Changing my method, I have outlined the whole story, down to writing what went in every chapter. My productivity has increased tenfold and I have had days where I reached 5k words without having a brain stroke. Soon, I’ll be starting working on the cover and the blurb.

In other news, Marie’s Journey has gathered two 5 stars reviews from two readers who are loyal to The Ginecean Chronicles.

Linda of the Night’s free promo is still on, and several people told me they enjoyed the short read.

Now, for this romantic day, I’ve chosen a small excerpt from The Last Centurion:

“Did I do something wrong, little thing?” He brushed her eyes with his lips, his hands caressing her body in long soothing caresses.

She lowered her head to his chest, too overwhelmed to find the words to answer him.

“Diana?” He raised her chin with a finger, then left a chaste peck on her closed lips. “Are you okay?”

She nodded and he lowered his head to kiss her again. When he gently pushed at her lips to coax them open, a rush of pleasure made her lightheaded, and she anchored herself to him, grabbing his arms circling her.

He misunderstood her gesture and leaned his upper body away from her. “May I kiss you?”

Diana saw the intensity in his stare, and heard the pleading tone in his voice. She knew he thought he would perish if she denied him that kiss and so she had to tell him her secret. “It was my first kiss.”

It took a moment for him to react to her statement, but his eyes became liquid.

She had to lower hers. “I’ve never been kissed before.”

Without letting go of her, Marcus fell on his knees and pressed his face against her belly, his strong back shaking, his arms tightening around her waist. She passed her fingers through his hair and let her tears flow, then kneeled before him and laid her forehead against his. “Kiss me as you’ve never kissed a woman before.”

The Main Fact Behind a Free Promo

February 14, 2014 Monica La Portaa sweet love story you can read in one setting, book reviews, disabilities, free short for valentine's day, freebies, inner beauty, kdp free promo, kindle freebie, linda of the night, stories for everybody, sweet love storyLeave a comment

The publishing industry has evolved at such pace since I joined this arena that whatever marketing strategy worked two years ago, it doesn’t work anymore. I wasn’t able to find the exact number of published books per day in the USA, but I wouldn’t be surprised if exceeded the million mark. As an indie author, it is difficult to emerge among a sea of literature that varies from sublime to rotten garbage. I fought the idea of the freebie for a long time, missing the first wave of the tide that two years ago took unknown authors—with a good sized backlist—to stardom.

The publishing industry is evolving, and as an author who wants to succeed so am I. So, I am offering some of my books for free now and then, and I am writing in different genres to branch out and connect with a larger number of readers. Because, at the end of the day, what it really matters is to have my painstakingly written words read. And when you run a free promo and wake the next morning to a lovely review like the one below, it’s all worth it.

Beautiful, short, perfection*

“A love story in a classic style, a good introduction to an author who is new to me.
Nothing more need be said. Read it.” P.

*Review left on amazon.co.uk for Linda of the Night, a day after the title went free.

Linda of the Night: Free Promo

February 13, 2014 Monica La Portabeauty is in the eye of the beholder, disabilities in love stories, free promotions, free short, free short love story, freebie, indie life, kdp free promo days, kindle freebie, linda of the night, sweet ya short story4 Comments

My sweet, YA short love story, Linda of the Night, will be free for three days, starting today. Advertising a short isn’t easy. Although people love stories that can be read in one setting, very few sites are prone to feature them. So far, I have heard back only from Great Books Great Deals and eBookSoda. This morning, I woke to the pleasant surprise of Linda entering the 100 free list in the Teen & Young Adults Romance category, which it means that other sites must have accepted and promoted my short as well. Cheers.

The Priest: New Year, New Promotion

February 7, 2014 Monica La Porta99 cents promotion, action, amazon bestseller lists, dystopian, eBookSoda, ENT, love story, science fiction dystopian bestsellers list, the ginecean chronicles, the priest3 Comments

Yesterday, The Priest was promoted by both eBookSoda and ENT. I dropped its price from $4.99 to $0.99 for the promotion, and waited for the results. Today, I woke and immediately checked the ranks, and found that The Priest had reached the 100 chart in the paid Dystopian Science Fiction Bestsellers list category. Not too bad.

Two Years Ago Today…

February 4, 2014 Monica La Portaabout indie publishing, dystopian, happines for an indie author, hardback covers, indie author anniversary, indie author experience, indie writing, paranormal, romance, six title in two years, two years of indie publishing7 Comments

I became an author. One of the most exciting days of my life. In twenty-four months, thanks to the full support of my family, I have written several hundred thousand words, published six full novels, two children’s books, one short, and I collaborated to four different anthologies. To make a long story short, I am happy. And this is what happiness looks like to me:

Friday Snippet #?

January 31, 2014 Monica La Portaa snippet from a novel, friday snippet, immortal, italy, paranormal romance, roman centurion, rome, urban fantasy, wipLeave a comment

I can’t remember when it was last time I posted a snippet, so I’ll leave the question mark instead of the number. I’ll come back later to add it. I’ll also come back to add an image as well.

Marie’s Journey’s promo ended with a solid 450 copies downloaded all around the world, and for a book with no reviews it is a great result. It stayed for three days at number 2 of its category, Teen Romance Dystopian, and that gave it a certain visibility. Now, I can only wait for the readers to pick it up, and hopefully like it and leave a review on Amazon.

I am writing again! After brief, but intense, consideration, I decided to change the way I work, and mapped a whole story, chapter by chapter. So far, I have been able to put down a solid 2k words per day. For a slow writer like me, it’s a serious achievement. Also, I am incorporating my research on the Romans in the story, which is an added bonus. Happy Chinese New Year, y’all.

The Lost Centurion:

Marcus whistled, two fingers in his mouth as his father had taught him, and the two men—no more than boys—raised their faces toward him. “Get it over with and leave.” He didn’t move from where he was sitting, his hand caressing the growth on his jaw back and forth until it rested under his chin.

Two heads peeped out of the passengers’ windows of both cars at the same time, Marcus heard young, feminine voices calling the boys’ names, and a minute later the two cars had left the scene. He had barely raised his voice to carry his words to the two hotheads. It worked every time. His voice was a gift. He had been told countless times how with a voice like his he was destined to become a centurion. “You have a commanding voice, but you never command me,” Aurelia had used to say to him, purred more than said, that brilliant light of hers shining only for him when she was in his arms. Fighting the sadness that usually accompanied those memories, Marcus decided a night out would be what he needed.

Marie’s Journey Promo Update #2

January 28, 2014 Monica La Portadystopian, forbidden love, free ebook, free kindle novel, free ya novel, freebie, ginecean chronicles, matriarchal society, romance, sexism, slavery, sweet lovestory, young love4 Comments

The pic says it all, I think.

Marie’s Journey Promo Update

January 27, 2014 Monica La Portaforbidden love, free ebook, free ya dystopian novel, freebie, marie's journey, matriachal society, the ginecean chronicles, top five free ya romance4 Comments

I know I am biased, but doesn’t Marie look nice up there? There being the top 100 Free in the Teen & Young Adult Science Fiction & Dystopian Romance eBooks section of the ‘Zon. I am pleased to report that so far Marie has been downloaded in the following countries: USA, UK, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada, and Brazil.

Marie’s Journey: Free Promo

January 27, 2014 Monica La Portafree dystopian, free kindle book, free kindle novel, free ya, freebies, marie's journey, matriarchal society, sexism, slavery, social issues, the ginecean chronicles, ya dystopian love story free2 Comments

Starting today, Marie’s Journey will be free until Wednesday, January 29th. Marie’s Journey is my latest release and in need of reviews, so I decided to use the free-days option KDP offers. At the moment, my first YA novel is sitting at:

If anything exciting happens, I’ll share with the blogosphere.

Broken Bargain Pre-Release Tour: J. L. Mbewe

January 21, 2014 Monica La Portabroken bargain pre-release tour, clare davidson, giveaway, indie authors, interviews, j l mbewe, marie's journey, secrets kept, ya books5 Comments

The Broken Bargain Tour has officially started, and I am happy to announce that one lucky reader, Michelle Li, has won a copy of Marie’s Journey!

J. L. Mbewe, Secrets Kept’s author, is my guest today, and her book could be yours by entering a Rafflecopter giveaway

In her words:

Writing as J. L. Mbewe, Jennette is an author, artist, mother, wife, but not always in that order. Born and raised in Minnesota, she now braves the heat of Texas, but pines for the Northern Lights and the lakes of home every autumn. She loves trying to capture the abstract and make it concrete.

She is currently living her second childhood with a wonderful husband and two precious children who don’t seem to mind her eclectic collections of rocks, shells, and books, among other things.

While living life balanced between reality and dreams, she is creating worlds inhabited by all sorts of fantasy creatures and characters, all questing about and discovering true love amid lots of peril.

For more information about her journey as a writer mama and all things creative please visit her blog.

Secrets Kept

“With a curse, she will build an army.
With the dagger, she will undo the last sacrifice.
But first the sorceress must find the secret keeper.
Torn from her homeland and thrust into a betrothal against her wishes, Ayianna learns her family has a deadly secret that now has her on the run. She joins forces with Kael, an embittered half-elf, and Saeed, an elderly High Guardian, to seek answers to her father’s death, the destruction of Dagmar, and the plains people’s bizarre behavior.
Ayianna discovers there is more at stake here than just her mother’s disappearance and her familial duty to her betrothed. The sorceress has cursed the plains people, and it is a race against time to release them before the sorceress resurrects an ancient evil.”

My 8 Questions for Jennette:

1. What was your favorite book when you were a teenager?

I devoured books when I was a teen, but a few that stood out were: The Sword of Shannara trilogy by Terry Brooks, Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, and Christy by Catherine Marshall

2. What was your favorite movie?

It’s hard to remember when I watched what back then, but some of my favorite movies were ones that carried over from my childhood such as Labyrinth, Willow, and The Neverending Story. I also LOVED The Three Musketeers.

3. Did you have an actor-crush?

Not really.

4. Did you already know you wanted to be an author?

When I was eight, I knew I wanted to be an author, but it didn’t take long for that dream to be swept under a rug and forgotten. I still did a lot of writing as a teen such as journaling, poems, a few attempts on novels.

5. What is your favorite genre to read?

Fantasy. Especially young adult.

6. Do you write in that genre?

Yes.

7. What do you like the most about writing YA?

I love the coming of age aspect and the characters’ figuring out their identity and dreams, and discovering true love along the way.

8. What are you working on?

I’m currently working on the second book in the Hidden Dagger Trilogy as well as a few short stories that will be released throughout the year, leading up to the second book’s release. No date set on that one yet.

Thanks for having me!

Thank you, Jennette! By the way, Secrets Kept’s cover looks amazing.

Finally, don’t forget, to win a signed copy of J. L. Mbewe’s Secrets Kept enter a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monica La Porta

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Author: Monica La Porta