In December 2016, the lovely Magical Musings crew decided it was time to
close down their blogging shop. I had three wonderful years with them. This is another of those posts.
Just how do I market this thing...?--originally posted September 14, 2016.
On to the topic of today's post. I think I've mentioned before that I write steamy, wickedly funny urban fantasy/paranormal romance with plenty of action. It's an olio that's hard to pin down. Like with the movie The Princess Bride, that means it's hard to market.
Too much action for a simple romance. Too much romance for an action book. Too much humor for a gritty paranormal. Too much grit for a hilarious romcom. Too much sex for a romcom too.
So when it came to ordering a trailer for paranormal romance Mind Mates, well, I was expecting a mishmash.
Instead, I got this breathtaking video.
The humor is utterly missing from the trailer. But wow, I'd buy the book just from the beauty of it. I did wonder if I should ask for changes to the trailer, to add the humor, but my husband said, "Let readers discover that as a bonus."
What do you think? Was he right?
Mind Mates: When a powerful wizard prince comes out of hiding to save his sister, he is forced to team with a pretty shifter—one with ugly, dangerous powers of her own. As vengeful enemies close in, a forbidden attraction flaming between them, the two race to find a mysterious key.
The tour starts today. Over $50 in giveaway prizes. Get in on your chance to win today!
Thanks to Barclay Publicity and Steph for putting together the great tour. Special thanks to all my lovely tour hosts! And big thanks to everyone who joins in on the fun.
Exciting news coming down the pike, can't wait to share.
Box sets coming...
Mind Mates TRAILER OF AWESOMENESS.
Here's the goody on Mind Mates:
Pretty little shifter, wizard prince—their taboo love could burn the barriers between worlds.
Shifter Emma Singer has more problems than she can shake her pretty little wolf tail at. Her heirloom journal is missing, her pack alpha wants her for his harem, and her family plans to sell her to him. Even her wicked little crush on her hot boss is doomed—why would six-and-a-half feet of handsome royal wizard want a boring, good-girl iota shifter like her? Not to mention her only power is going berserker—that's a real relation-shipwreck!
Gabriel Light is a wizard prince who turned his back on his exceptional powers after he was accused of causing his parents' death. Now he pours his intellect into his tech business, and hides his naughty, forbidden lust for his pretty shifter clerk. But when his sister is imprisoned, and Emma is kidnapped, it's time for this alpha geek-wizard to decloak with all laser cannons blazing. Only one problem—how can he be sure Emma won’t get caught in the crossfire?
Then Gabriel and Emma stumble on hidden magic, a key to power beyond imagining—if they can stay alive long enough to use it. But if Emma unleashes her berserker wolf on their enemies, can Gabriel draw her back from the brink before she destroys everyone in her path?
Warning: Contains a hot wizard prince panting to bring out a good-girl shifter's naughty side. Accidental voyeurism, deliberate orgasms, a jealous rival wizard, and fun with prophecy.
Don't miss this sexy, thrilling, paranormal romance--get your copy of Mind Mates today!
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HG1F7G2/
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1124016228?ean=2940153092669
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/645333
All Romance Ebooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-mindmates-2068656-140.html
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/mind-mates/id1127456235
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Mary_Hughes_Mind_Mates?id=KAFqDAAAQBAJ
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/mind-mates
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01HG1F7G2/
Excerpt follows TRAILER OF AWESOMENESS
Here's an excerpt, one which shows a bit of Gabriel's somewhat skewed
sense of humor (and my sense of absurd language, lol). Was hubby right?
Is the fun a bonus?
Enjoy this excerpt from Mind Mates (Pull of the Moon book 2)
Gabriel
has just rescued his employee, wolf shifter Emma Singer, from a nasty
fall. She's on her feet but still wrapped in his arms when Emma's alpha
Bruiser stalks in.
Bzz-bzzt. A buzz like an angry hornet stung wizard
prince Gabriel Light’s ears the moment the predator slunk into the store.
Cap’n Crunch me. Gabriel had magically alarmed the
door for just such an event, but why now, when he’d finally gotten a
semi-innocent excuse to wrap his arms around this warm bundle of soft,
sweet-smelling heaven?
Emma. It felt like he’d been dying to hold her forever. Now,
with her in his arms, was the first time in months he could breathe.
But that buzzing alarm told him the approaching beast was
male, a wolf shifter, and, from that level of sting, Emma’s alpha. The beast
was not going to appreciate seeing her in another man’s arms.
She started trembling, no doubt in response to the alpha’s
rampant fight-club stench, a musk even Gabriel could smell. He tried to ease
her tension with a joke.
“Hey, Emma. How many tickles does it take to make an octopus
laugh?”
She skewered him with a disbelieving stare, icing his flesh.
He’d blundered, she didn’t understand he was trying to comfort her, nobody
gets my skewed sense of humor… Then she gulped and said, “Eight? Like, um,
eight legs?”
Immediately his world brightened. “Nope. Ten tickles. Get
it? Tentacles?”
She managed a tiny laugh, tinkling bells to his ears, and
her body relaxed slightly under his arms. “That was such a dad joke.”
He loved that she, of all the people he knew, actually
laughed at his jokes. He smiled into her eyes like a besotted fool.
Of course, that was when the he-wolf prowled into view.
Gabriel wondered how far he could get with the wolf by
protesting his intentions were honorable. Probably not far. The creature was
only barely in human form.
The wolfman was medium height but had a face like a dented
shovel and a body like a trash compactor, his muscles-on-muscles popping in a
stringy T-shirt that barely qualified past no-shirt-no-shoes-no-service.
Worse, with the hair sprouting everywhere, nose elongating
like a snout, and lengthening canines, this alpha was dangerously pissed.
Hard to reason with a pissed-off wolf. They tended to bite
first then ask questions…never.
Yet instead of releasing Emma, Gabriel’s hand dropped from
her clenched jaw to open protectively on her back.
He’s a wolf where it counts—in his heart and in her bed. Salvation Pack, Book 7
Exiled from her wolf pack for rejecting her parents’ choice for a mate, Rina Matheson has been on her own for over a year. Now she’s running for her life from a man who knows what she is and is obsessed with hunting her down.
Sage Gallagher—organic farmer, half-breed werewolf, and member of the Salvation Pack—finds more than a lost hiker while camping in the Great Smoky Mountains. So much more. Instant attraction slams through him with knee-buckling power the minute he sees Rina. His first instinct is to get her home where he and his pack can protect her.
Rina doesn’t trust easily. Especially not half-breeds, who she was raised to consider abominations. But Sage’s quiet strength calls to her lonely soul, and amazingly enough, her wolf responds. As he slowly works his way past her guard, she is soon in danger of losing her heart—even as danger draws closer to taking her life.
Status update--I'm putting working through edits on Hot Chips and Sand, trying to keep up with the tasks for the three box sets I'm going to be in, and the finishing touches on Mind Mates' release goodies.Which reminds me--
Be on the MIND MATES LAUNCH TEAM!
I need a few more go-getters to help me launchMind Mateswith a bang!
In return for early access toMind Matesand a few other goodies, you'd need to share a link on Facebook whenMind Matesgoes live and leave an honest review to help other readers get a good impression of the book.
Interested? Email me at mary@maryhughesbooks.com subject Mind Mates Launch Team. Thanks for considering!
Mind Mates almost ready, Cin Wikkid in audio book, Cin Wikkid trailer...what to talk about first? Oh, I know--how about A Huge Multi-Author Tour and Raffle!!
Come join in on the fun with lots of Authors and prizes! In honor of Kia Carrington Russell's New Release, we are celebrating with the fans and bringing them a chance at a huge giveaway of lots of prizes by the hottest authors! I can't wait to show you this Amazing tour! Yes most of these authors are combining their talents and touring together to bring you their best! This tour has Romance and Erotica with many sub-genre's. Come see everyone's latest and greatest books, including their sales! For now enter for your chance to win big!!!
Kia Carrington Russell is a 16 Times award winning author are combing a tour with lots of the hottest authors today in order to bring you their latest and offer up huge prizes in a raffle. Let celebrate!! Hurry and enter now!!
There are several pages of prizes in the Rafflecopter so make sure you check them out!!
Hosted byNook Books and More Blog
Assisted by sister blog Kindle Books and More Blog
Proposal package complete for Biting Love Book 10. This will also be the first of the last trilogy (or quartet) of Biting Love books, with the subtitle The Ancient Ones.
Be sure to get your copy of ARe BESTSELLER Biting Serendipity: April Fools For Love 2015 before the price goes up May 9! Amazon | Amazon UK | Nook | ARe
The April Fools For Love take over the All Romance Ebooks cafe for the first week of May. Fun with short stories--plus giveaways! Schedule below.
Edits for Mind Mates
Cover reveal for Mind Mates (blog readers--special reveal for you below!)
Finish applying edits for Hot Chips and Sand
Continue first draft of Biting Love Book 10 (The Ancient Ones, book 1)
Our orchestra is performing the Brahms German Requiem with a huge choir. Really looking forward to this!
April Fools For Love on Short Stories (Note: Links will become good on the day listed.)
So (big problem for an author) I'm never sure how soon to reveal a cover. I've got a new one for August's release Mind Mates, and frankly, it's stunning. And I'm aching to show it off*...but. But what if I show it off now and in August y'all see it again and don't buy it, thinking you got it in February?
What about you? When do you reveal a cover?
I have a Mind Mates blurb too, but I'm sitting on it. Grrr! GOTTA REVEAL SOMETHING...how about an initial blurb from March's release, Cin Wikkid: April Fools For Love?
Cin Wikkid--a fairy tale romance with a twist.
THE WRONGED DAUGHTER Cinderella hungers to escape from under Widow Wikkid's grinding thumb. But to snare a plum job at Prince Industries, Cin desperately needs her degree, and she can't wrap her mind around tax accounting. Then scarred but sexy Rafe Montoya ignites her imagination with his brilliant tutoring—and, as they work together in his cozy apartment, he sets her body on fire. So why is he pushing her to attend Gideon Prince's marriage-mart ball?
THE HANDSOME PRINCE Rafe is really Gideon Prince, head of Prince Industries. He must name his bride by his April first birthday or suffer the loss of his family fortune. Rumors say he's still single because women love his money and looks, not him. Is he lonely or just another duplicitous tycoon?
THE GLASS SLIPPER TEST Hopefuls flock to Prince's birthday ball, but only one will emerge triumphant. Only the woman who's kind, wise, and generous will win his heart. Is it Cin, or will her stepmother, as she always does, snatch the prize for her own daughters? And on the night of the ball, when Cin discovers Rafe’s true identity, can she even accept his final test?
Warning: Rags-to-riches fairytale meets the texting generation. Stepsisters who are a blush-brush shy of a full makeup set, and a ball gown built like a tank. Contains material intended for mature audiences. Reader discretion advised.
News this month:
Mind Mates blurb and cover finalized
Mind Mates goes into edits
Cin Wikkid back from the editor
Cin Wikkid cover coming soon
April Fools For Love 2016 party set
Cin Wikkid blog tour being put together
* Okay, I couldn't just NOT show off the Mind Mates cover. If you really want to see it (and promise to remember it's new in August) it's part of the cover slideshow on my bio page and here on the blog.
This month's big news is that edits for Passion Bites should be about done and the book put to bed. Now it's just waiting for Santa to come and waking up on Release Day...which may now be just after St. Nick's day on December 8. More info to come.
The other big news is I have the green light for Mind Mates, book 2 in the Pull of the Moon trilogy. Wizard Prince Gabriel Light meets his match (as I write her, she's leaping off the pages as more than his match, lol) in iota wolf shifter Emma Singer. I'm through chapter 8. Look for this book in August of 2016.
Okay, one more other big news. Hot Chips and Sand, a contemporary romantic comedy, is finally getting its edits this month. I'm planning to release it in September or October.
On the music front, I've started putting together my part for Bach's Brandenburg Concerto 5, featuring soli violin, harpsichord and flute (that's me!). I was first introduced to playing in an orchestra through the Music Minus One version of this concerto (along with #4), so it has special meaning for me. Our spring 2016 concert is the Brahms German Requiem, with the simply gorgeous "How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place". We've got a pretty heavy hitting schedule this year so I'm especially glad to have some great books in the works to balance things out :)
Preplanning for Mind Mates (Pull of the Moon Book 2)
Symphony concert featuring British composers Holst, Elgar, Walton
Hot Chips and Sand is finally scheduled for edits in August!
How about you? What's up for March?
Delayed from February 10...
So as I mentioned last month, Lust With A Laugh had just started in January of 2014. It was so squeaky new we hadn't even worked out a schedule. No posts in February. I was still in my writer's cave finishing up Assassins Bites and all the other wildness that would be the second half of 2014. Here's my links:
