Nadia Lee :: Romance Writer

May was a super busy month. I have no idea what I was thinking, joining MayNoWriMo while doing the uber-challenging (but also uber-rewarding) mentorship with Kate Pearce.

But the good thing is I got a lot of writing done. Finally I'm finished with my sooper-sekrit project set in futuristic Paris and Shintokyo (New Tokyo) to the point where I'm satisfied with all the major plot / character arcs. I also edited a short erotic novella and sent it off to Agent, wrote the first draft of a paranormal romance novella plus a synopsis for the sequel.

On the non-writing front -- I'm sure you've noticed that my site looks different. Frauke from CrocoDesigns worked her magic again. It's amazing that she knew exactly what I wanted even though my emails were somewhat vague. If you ever need a web designer, definitely check her out. She's just fantastic.

Also say hello to Miss Moneypenny (Dragon Naturally Speaking 10). I've been having problems with wrist and hand pain, and I figured I should learn to dictate. If nothing else, I can "speak" dialogue out loud, so I don't have too much downtime due to pain. I honestly don't mind having pages and pages of dialogue to go back and fill out later with descriptions and tags, etc. And now that I have a new helper, I need to train her so she can transcribe correctly.

(BTW -- Amazon has an incredible deal on Dragon 10 right now. So if you're interested in trying it, you may want to check out Amazon's price.)

Finally, I uploaded A Happily Ever After of Her Own on Amazon Kindle. Several people asked me about its availability in the Kindle format, and I decided to just go ahead and do it. It's still available on my site for free to my newsletter subscribers, but if you want the convenience of reading it on your Kindle, you can get it. (Unfortunately Amazon doesn't allow individual authors to give away stuff via Kindle, so I had to price it at ninety-nine cents, the lowest allowable.)

Later this month I plan to give away a copy of Kate Pearce's Kiss of the Rose, the first book in her Tudor Vampire Chronicles. Vampires in Henry VIII's court -- what more can paranormal and/or historical fans can ask for?

Stayed tuned for your chance to win!

(FYI - The giveaway is open to anybody anywhere in the world. I don't have any author copies or ARCs; BookDepository will ship a copy to the winner when Kiss of the Rose is released.)

As you know I'm totally excited about the Winter Olympic Games, and I love connecting with other people via Twitter. Not too long ago, I met A Buckeye Girl Reads (a.k.a. Colette / @buckeyegirl31) while discussing figure skating, esp. Sasha Cohen's "comeback", with Heather (@BookObsessedGrl). This is an Olympic year, so of course we got talking.

So color me surprised when Colette Twittered me on Monday and told me how much she loved A Happily Ever After of Her Own. I hadn't even realized she'd subscribed to my newsletter to access the novella. So of course, when she asked me if she could review it, I said, "Sure!"

Without further ado, here is the main part of her fabulous review of A Happily Ever After of Her Own:

I was glad I waited until all 9 chapters were out to read the whole thing, because I couldn't get enough of Melinda's story. It's a delightful story & it's for those of us who have always wondered what happened after the words "happily ever after" were written in the fairy tales we read. The problem I normally have with novellas that are this short is that I have a really hard time getting into the storyline & characters because they are just over too fast. Not so with this one. I loved Melinda's spirit, and the Beast is so swoon-worthy. I might be a little bit biased because I've gotten to know Nadia over the last month or so through twitter, but I think I would have loved the story even if I didn't know her. While this book doesn't have a Christmas theme, the storyline of doing what's right, and thinking of others first, definitely fits in with what Christmas is all about. The chapters are fairly short, and it's a perfect read for during the week.

The first two chapters from Nadia Lee's A Happily Ever After of Her Own are available here and here. The rest of the novella is for newsletter subscribers only. You can sign up here. It's free to join. I just can't say how much I loved this novella -- but I'm not biased or anything.

Sigh Meter: High
Swoon Meter: High
Sweetness Meter: High
Cheesy Line Meter: A few here and there (A romance wouldn't be a romance without them!)

Thank you, Colette! :wub:

P.S. Colette reviews lots of books. You should totally check out her blog when you aren't sure about what to read next, etc.

Melinda Lightfoot, a preschool teacher with an unusual ability to flit in and out of fairy tales, never thought she would get into trouble...

...until the Fairy Tale Police arrest her while she is in Beauty and the Beast. They offer her a deal: Find Beauty, who left the story when Melinda trespassed into it, or be charged with the ultimate crime -- Fairy Tale Killer. If that's not bad enough the Beast tags along in search of his true love, and Melinda starts falling for the fairy tale prince. She must choose between doing the right thing and having her own happily ever after.

Warning: This title contains the following: Fairy Godmother, the Wicked Witch, dysfunctional fairy tale families, ax-wielding executioners and a happily ever after (or two).

For those of you who missed the earlier chapters, please read them first here:

1. In Which Our Heroine Is Charged
2. In Which Our Heroine Gets an Unwelcome Companion
3. In Which Our Sleep-Deprived Heroine Breaks Into Tudor Land
4. In Which Our Hero and Heroine Face an Executioner
5. In Which Our Hero and Heroine Are Caught Red-Handed
6. In Which the Evil Witch Issues an Ultimatum
7. In Which Our Hero Makes an Impossible Choice
8. In Which the Beast Is Doubly Cursed

Please note that this installment is available to my newsletter subscribers only. If you'd like to know what happens to Melinda and the Beast, please sign up! It's absolutely free and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Thanks and enjoy!

VIII. In Which Our Heroine Makes the Ultimate Sacrifice

Melinda Lightfoot, a preschool teacher with an unusual ability to flit in and out of fairy tales, never thought she would get into trouble...

...until the Fairy Tale Police arrest her while she is in Beauty and the Beast. They offer her a deal: Find Beauty, who left the story when Melinda trespassed into it, or be charged with the ultimate crime -- Fairy Tale Killer. If that's not bad enough the Beast tags along in search of his true love, and Melinda starts falling for the fairy tale prince. She must choose between doing the right thing and having her own happily ever after.

Warning: This title contains the following: Fairy Godmother, the Wicked Witch, dysfunctional fairy tale families, ax-wielding executioners and a happily ever after (or two).

For those of you who missed the earlier chapters, please read them first here:

1. In Which Our Heroine Is Charged
2. In Which Our Heroine Gets an Unwelcome Companion
3. In Which Our Sleep-Deprived Heroine Breaks Into Tudor Land
4. In Which Our Hero and Heroine Face an Executioner
5. In Which Our Hero and Heroine Are Caught Red-Handed
6. In Which the Evil Witch Issues an Ultimatum
7. In Which Our Hero Makes an Impossible Choice

Please note that this installment is available to my newsletter subscribers only. If you'd like to know what happens to Melinda and the Beast, please sign up! It's absolutely free and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Thanks and enjoy!

VIII. In Which the Beast Is Doubly Cursed

I just wanted to remind you of two events:

1. It's still not too late to sign up for my newsletter and read the free paranormal romance novella serial A Happily Ever After of Her Own. You can sign up here or you can use the form below. There are only two chapters left to go!

2. Fellow Samhain writers and I are hosting a Kindle contest, with our editor coordinating the effort. (FYI - I write contemporary romance under another name, Angelle Trieste.)

Prize? A Kindle (duh *wink*) preloaded with books from participating authors.

The contest is open to anyone anywhere in the world. So even if you're not in the States, come on and join us!

Here's the official statement on the contest website:

I wanted to make it convenient for people and make it easier for people to participate, soooo.... we will not be doing the contest on Saturdays and Sundays, and we will not being doing the contest on Thanksgiving (US), or Black Friday (the day after US Thanksgiving). Monday through Fridays only. I think not doing it on the weekends is a given this time of year...we all have a lot of holiday things going on, like parties and shopping. Woo hoo!

Now, remember, in order to participate, you'll have to post a relevant comment (No, 'Hi! That's great.', etc.), and you'll have to answer the scavenger hunt question. Do not post your answer in the comments! There will be a link to a form to answer the scavenger hunt question and to give me your name and address. After all, I'll need to know where to ship the preloaded Kindle, right? Posting you answer in the comments will cause the comment to be deleted and the commenter to be disqualified. Not just from that day, but from the entire contest. So, yeah, you don't want to do that.

So here's the schedule for the rest of the contest:

November 23 :: Kelly Jamieson
November 24 :: Angelle Trieste (me!)
November 25 :: Dawn Brown
November 30 :: J.K. Coi
December 1 :: Cheryel Hutton
December 2 :: Rita Oberlies
December 3 :: Kate Johnson
December 4 :: Leah Braemel
December 7 :: Deidre Knight
December 8 :: Cooper Davis
December 9 :: Kimberly Nee
December 10 :: Joely Sue Burkhart
December 11 :: T.A. Chase
December 14 :: Samantha Sommersby

You only need to answer one scavenger question to enter, but the more you answer, the more chances you get. So don't be shy! Participate for your chance to win a Kindle! The website is editortera.wordpress.com.

Good luck!