Saturday, February 2, 2008

Flash Fiction Sunday, February 3rd!

Come join me for Flash Fiction Sunday at Liquid Silver's SEx Blog on Sunday, February 3!

Flash fiction is 100 word drabbles. Come one, come all and have some fun! No rules this time. We'll be having a posting free for all! Or just stop by and post a comment!

I'll be giving away a choice of a free ebook from my backlist to one lucky poster! The winner will be chosen on Monday morning so everyone has a chance to play!

http://www.liquidsilverbooks.com/blog/

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Time flies!

It's been nearly two weeks since I posted last! And January is flying by at the speed of sound! A few great things happening!

First, my latest book, Forever, received 5 Hearts from The Romance Studio. Julia said:

"Forever is an interesting story that had me hooked from the first page. It’s not an easy story to read, particularly if you’ve read the first of the series because then you’d know that Cavan was horribly abused and not really capable of making his own decisions, although with Biton’s help he seems to be able to do for himself in some small ways now. With Cavan’s past, Biton loves him enough to give up his BDSM lifestyle if that’s what it takes. Throughout the book you sometimes wonder if Cavan can make the choice to stay with Biton on his own, but by the end of it you see that he’s grown enough mentally to make his own decision which is one of the reasons this book is so good. The relationship between the two men is complicated and rich, and I felt like I was really getting inside both of them and could see the insecurities they had. I would strongly suggest reading the first in the series Thirty Days, because it would help people understand why both men react the way they do, and why the story goes the direction it does. Forever is fantastic story of two people who live a different kind of life, and at the same time are struggling to overcome a brutal past. It’s definitely going on the keeper shelf!"

Next, my book, Hidden Force, received a Recommended Read at Joyfully Reviewed! The reviewer, Ley, said:

"I really enjoyed this story. Hidden Force grabbed me from the first page and I didn't put it down until I finished. Shayla Kersten did a great job, the suspense kept me glued to the pages. The battle Tony had going on inside himself as he struggled to come to terms with his sexuality and his feelings for Ryan made me feel for him. Ryan's confidence with who he was and his patience and understanding of Tony's struggles just made me love him. This was an intriguing story with mystery, suspense and sweet hot lovemaking, I highly Joyfully Recommend Hidden Force."


Then, I found out that Gaps In Your Soul won a Reviewer's Choice Award from CataRomance! The original review from Heather was 5 Stars and said:

Gaps In Your Soul by Shayla Kersten is marvelous! Miss Kersten has taken issues we face today and crafted a wonderful love story out of it. I fell in love with Jared and Dalton and could feel their emotions as they struggled with everything they were feeling. Gaps In You Soul is a page turner that ended too quickly!!!

There's some kind of voting over on the CataRomance site for book of the year. I'm not politiking but anyone feels like voting, I won't discourage you! I'm happy with the Reviewer's Choice Award!

So this month has been great on the review front! Much Snoopy dancing going on here!

Then, my Ellora's Cave editor emails me with an offer for my NaNoWriMo novel, Past Lies. The unedited blurb:

Two opposite men, two different lives, two sets of past lies

With his twenty year high school reunion looming, Paul Loughton dreads seeing the one person who could tempt him to stray from his path. Small town mayor, lawyer and budding politician, Paul won’t, can’t admit he’s gay, even to himself. Twenty years of longing and hiding is now threatened by an inevitable encounter. Pressure from his family and a stalking ex-fiancĂ©e compound his suddenly complicated life.

Randy Martin left his small town roots behind before the ink on his diploma was dry. The cliquish world of his childhood didn’t have room for the weird kid from the wrong side of the tracks. Rumors of his sexual preferences made life that much more difficult. Now, twenty years later, he should be anxious to rub his wealth and success in the faces of his former classmates. Except with one of them, the urge to rub something else hasn’t diminished over the years.

What a great way to start the new year!

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Flash Fic Sunday!

My buddy, Kayelle Allen, is hosting Flash Fic Sunday at Liquid Silver's SEx Blog! Stop by and read, post or just play! I'm off to write some flashes! http://www.liquidsilverbooks.com/blog/?p=1069#comment-10343

Monday, December 31, 2007

Happy New Year!

I don't make New Years resolutions. Too much pressure and I usually crack within a month. Oh, there are a lot of things I could list--stop smoking, lose weight, exercise, get more sleep...even keep a cleaner house! LOL (I hate housework and it shows.) I could add write more, be more displined with my writing, submit more proposals to NY print pubs...lots of things about my writing career I'd like to do.

I understand the desire to make resolutions...new beginnings, fresh resolve...but why set myself up for a fall. So the only resolution I make is to live life to the fullest, love my family and friends with all my heart and try to be a better person tomorrow than I was today.

I hope you all have a wonderful, safe New Year and may all your dreams come true!

Hugs,
Shayla

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Chat Day, Sunday, December 30th!

Tomorrow, I'll be playing on the Ellora's Cave's reader loop with Delilah Devlin. Stop by and read some hot excerpts, play a few games and maybe win some prizes! You can join the insanity at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ellorascavechat. Hope to see you there!

Sunday, December 23, 2007

A *headdesk* Moment

The past week has been very busy. Lots of stuff going on at the dratted day job, craziness with the family and the upcoming holiday... Just busy in general plus I've not been feeling up to par. I think I'm fighting off the "crud going around". I haven't had more than a few minutes to work on my new story. The ideas are there but the time to sit in front of the computer and actually write hasn't been. So tonight, I was thrilled to be able to spend some time actually writing!

Until Rusty, my orange striped cat, decided the power cord to the laptop was something fun to play with. At first, I thought he'd just pulled it free of the connector. Nah, wasn't that easy. The little pain in the posterior actually bit into the cord! A tiny pin hole but enough for the laptop to go to battery power. There was much cursing and yelling in the Kersten household.

I have a Dell computer so I know I can order a new one. Of course, with it being nearly 11 PM on a Sunday night, I couldn't expect a new cord to ship tonight. Even if it shipped tomorrow, with next day air, it wouldn't arrive until Wednesday because of the Christmas holiday on Tuesday. So I searched Walmart.com and BestBuy.com to see if either showed a compatible power cord. Nope, couldn't be that easy. So I order the cord from Dell with next day air, almost $90, and after I place the order it shows an expected ship date of 12/26. More screaming in the Kersten household.

My next thought is to use duct tape on the cord. Maybe if I seal the puncture, the cord will work, at least until I get the new one. No duct tape, only Scotch tape. So I try it. No such luck. Not a good seal.

Okay... I pull out the old laptop and check the power cord. Not the same. Okay. I start up the old laptop. I figure I can email my WIP to myself and work on the old lappy. While it's booting up, my gaze fell on the clear fingernail polish sitting on my night stand. Hmmmm.....

So the new lappy is charging with a jury rigged patch on the cord. The old lappy is charging in case the new one stops. And I'm going to run my backup on the new lappy just in case fingernail polish isn't compatible with electrical cords.This is a true *headdesk* moment.

If I don't make it back online tomorrow, Merry Christmas to all! I hope you have a wonderful and safe holiday!

Hugs,
Shayla

Sunday, December 16, 2007

With tomorrow comes Forever!

My latest book, Forever, releases tomorrow, December 17th, at Liquid Silver Books! This story continues the relationship of Cavan and Biton from Thirty Days.

Forever took long enough to write. I went through several false starts but it finally jelled and everything fell into place. The date is the anniversary of Thirty Days' release. I can't wait! I hope others are as excited to see the rest of the story.

Hugs!

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Past Lies is done...

Well, I think it's finished. The NaNoWriMo novel, Past Lies, has been through two passes of edits plus a little tweaking in places and I think it's done. It's off to one of my crit partners anyway. I'll see if she thinks it's done.

My other crit partner is AWOL. She went home to the Mothership for regeneration. *cackle* Megan Kerans is a Disney World freak. The girl has to get her Mickey fix on a regular basis.

Next, I'm going to work on the blurb and the synopsis for Past Lies. I hope I can get it submitted to my Ellora's Cave editor by the end of the month.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Blogging at Silver Expressions December 5th!


Stop by tomorrow, December 5th, and check out the story behind the story Forever!

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Flash Fiction Sunday at Liquid Silver!

I'm posting flash fiction--100 word drabbles--at Liquid Silver's Sex Blog! Stop by and post your own flash or a comment for a chance to win an ebook download of any of my backlist!

http://liquidsilver books.com/ blog/

Hope to see you there!

Hugs,
Shayla