Hi everyone, my main website, vanessanorth.com, is currently down. trying to figure out if I’ve been hacked or if it’s something with my host. Will post updates here when everything is up and running again.
Dear friends,
Due to an insanely fabulous first 18 months as a published author, I outgrew my old website/blog combination. This led me to recently launch a brand new website at http://vanessanorth.com. The new website allows me to host my blog with all the wonderful wordpress functionality right there as part of the site. While I’m sad to say goodbye to the purple damask background (I get attached to things, and it’s purple!), I am thrilled with the new site/blog and hope you’ll visit it often.
If you follow this blog by email, please subscribe to the new site feed instead. If you follow through facebook, goodreads, or twitter, you won’t notice any changes to the way posts show up there. Thank you so much for reading my blog, my books, my ramblings on twitter and facebook and goodreads. Without your support, your friendship, your readership, I wouldn’t have needed to make these huge changes. Y’all are AWESOME, and I’m thankful for you every single day.
xoxo,
V
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Hello friends!
Today Dawna Raver is celebrating the release of her book “Severed Colours,” and she is sponsoring a giveaway (Rafflecopter link at the end of the post)!
Congratulations on your new release, Dawna!
-V
New release by Dawna Raver. Severed Colours, Book 2, A Colour Wielders Novel.
The epic continues…
Quinn Sinclair trusted Arik Morgaine until he betrayed her. Scared and alone, she finds herself delivered into the hands of the evil Morgana le Fay. When Quinn discovers Morgana’s plans are beyond demented and seriously depraved—making life with the Changeling seem like a day at the beach—she wonders if death is a better option?
Arik Morgaine vowed he’d save Quinn no matter the price. When his well thought out plans go terribly awry, a desperate and heartbroken Arik is forced to beg the cruel Triarchia for help. Unwilling to go on without his Älskling, he answers a question that irrevocably alters their lives.
Can Arik and Quinn find a way back to each other, or will the price of saving her rip them apart forever?
New Adult. Recommended for 18 and above. Mature themes, sexual situations, and profanity.
Purchase at Amazon now!
In celebration of Severed Colours’ release, Colour Wielders will be on sale from November 18-20 for $.99. Purchase it at Amazon now.
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Hi everyone, just a quickie update.
I have heard back from Amazon, and I’m going to let their words speak for themselves.
From Amazon:
I checked our records and can confirm that your title “The Dark Collector” is currently listed in our website for the price set in your KDP bookshelf, i.e. $1.99. Check out the below link to verify the same:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GLX4JF2
Please be informed that If you’re (or any of your customers) browsing in the Kindle Store from a location outside of the United States, you may see a price higher than what you listed on the KDP website.
All items available in the Amazon.com Kindle Store are listed in U.S. dollars (USD). The availability and pricing of titles in global Kindle Stores may vary by home country or region, including taxes and other operating costs. We understand and share your concern about prices, and we will continue our efforts to reduce costs and offer the best possible prices to customers in every region.
While I doubt the taxes in any given region equal 1.5 X the list price of the book, it does seem that Amazon is building their international operating costs into the list prices–and I have no way to prevent them from doing so. Nor do I profit in any way from this: my royalty rate remains 35% of the $1.99 list price, not whatever Amazon is charging in your particular location.
So what are your options as a reader if you don’t want to pay more than double the list price and you live outside the US?
If you live in a region with a dedicated Amazon store, it should be available at the local currency conversion of $1.99 through that store.
The book is also for sale (at the $1.99 price) at Kobo, All Romance eBooks, and Barnes and Noble. (It is also supposed to be on iBooks, so keep an eye out for it there too). I hadn’t planned on using Smashwords, but this has given me a push in that direction. It will probably take me a few days to reformat according to Smashwords exacting formatting guidelines, but I’ll let you all know when it’s done.
Also, this book is lendable–take advantage of that! If you have a friend who has a copy, ask to borrow it! Also, use services like booklending.com, who match borrowers up with lenders.
One of the main reasons I chose to self-publish this piece rather than go through a publisher was that I didn’t want it priced at $2.99 or higher. It’s a short fiction piece, and should be priced accordingly. I don’t agree with Amazon’s policy of charging more than double my list price to my readers overseas. I am sorry that this is happening, and I wish I could do more.
Thank you, as always, for reading!
xoxo,
V
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Hello everyone,
It’s been brought to my attention that shoppers outside the US are seeing the list price of The Dark Collector at $4.99 instead of the $1.99 it’s supposed to be. I’ve sent a message in to Amazon to get it fixed, unfortunately, there is nothing I can do in the publishing dashboard to fix it because everything in the publishing dashboard shows $1.99 or the local currency equivalent.
So, if you’re outside the US and you’re seeing the wrong price, hold tight, I am hopeful Amazon will fix it soon!
Thank you!
Vanessa
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
It’s release day for my M/M erotica novelette, The Dark Collector! True, Amazon got it up a little early (insert premature release joke here), and Barnes and Noble hasn’t gotten it up yet (insert erectile dysfunction joke here), and Kobo and All Romance eBooks were good little soldiers who put it up for pre-order until release date arrived, but TODAY IS THE DAY!
You can find the Dark Collector at:
Barnes and Noble (will linky this one when it’s live)
A little kink over breakfast? Don’t mind if you do. Enjoy, my friends, and thanks for reading!
xoxo,
V
Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Hello everyone! I’m really excited to announce the release of Hostile Beauty, my sixth release from Musa Publishing, and my first stand-alone M/M romance.
Hostile Beauty is available at all the usual suspects:
and of course, direct from Musa Publishing
Thank you all for reading!
xoxo, V
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
So, my editor for Hostile Beauty and I have a pretty good relationship. As in, she doesn’t get exasperated when I want to re-write VAST PAGES of words, or when I text her asking about something ridonkulous, or when I forget she’s in a different time zone and email her at weird hours. We’ve worked on multiple projects together, and basically, she just gets me. And she forgives me. And she is just in general awesome. ❤ ❤ ❤
Which is why when she says things like “cut this chapter” or “I hate this word” I listen. I listen and I usually follow her advice.
I also ask for her advice. I asked her to pick the official excerpt for Hostile Beauty, the one which will go on the buy page. When I texted her about it, she texted back instantly. And I squealed and cackled and HOWLED with delight.
Because this was my favorite scene to write–more than the sex scenes or the first kiss even.
Enjoy!
xoxo,
V
Hostile Beauty will be released October 18, 2013 by Musa Publishing
Andrew grinned as he pressed “send.” Okay, so maybe it was a little bit mean to send a suggestive text when he knew Levi was having dinner with David. But he really did want Levi to come over after dinner. He’d been thinking about him all day, wondering what guys like Levi did when they weren’t at work. That, and he kind of liked the idea of Levi getting hot and bothered over dinner. His phone buzzed.
Okay.
He snorted back a laugh. Not so hot and bothered. Okay? He had to up his game.
He made his way to the bathroom and peeled off his shirt. He knew his body looked good—he worked out when he was tired, bored, frustrated, stressed. In other words? Pretty much all the time. It showed. He leaned back and tightened his abs as he got ready to snap the picture in the mirror. He turned his face to the side so most of his scars were hidden. On impulse, just as he took the photo, he reached with his other hand and pinched his own nipple. Then, he hit send and laughed.
He was lighter than air, giddy, high. When was the last time he’d flirted with someone? College? Maybe? Before the accident for sure. There had been a few disastrous visits to gay clubs over the last eight years, all of which ended up with him slinking out the door, alone, only a few minutes after paying the cover. Flirtation didn’t come naturally to Andrew.
Nothing that couldn’t be bought online with a credit card came naturally to Andrew.
His phone buzzed and he laughed again when he looked at the screen. One word.
Fuck.
He’d been hoping to get a workout in this afternoon, so he wore his running shorts. They were shorter and tighter than anything he’d be caught dead wearing in public.
Perfect. I’m half hard anyway, this will be easy. He held up the phone for another picture, stepping back so his shorts fit in the picture too. He thrust out his hips, knowing the resulting bulge in the front of his shorts was a little obscene. Still, he used his hand to outline it a bit. No such thing as too big.
The photo was lewd. It was completely unlike Andrew. But the thought of Levi opening it made him horny and happy, so he sent it.
He waited a few minutes wondering what he should do next—a photo of his ass, the top of his crack just sticking out the top of his shorts? He’d love to get a picture like that from Levi. Hell, he’d jerk off to something like that for weeks.
Levi didn’t text him back. Maybe it was a little much. Andrew growled his disappointment and headed for the treadmill.
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
I’m having a little staycation while my dudes visit Grandma in Wisconsin, so I’m getting organized and getting a little writing done. So far this year I’ve finished 6 projects, and if I work hard and don’t get distracted by new and shiny, I can finish number seven by the end of the year. I’m holding off on already-outlined sequels to two of the projects to see where/how the first books end up published, but my writing funnel is pretty full, and that always makes me happy.
I haven’t written science fiction in a while. I dabbled with the idea of writing a companion piece to Fight or Flight which told Josiah and Max’s story, and that might still happen some day, but I am honestly not sure revisiting Solomon Territory is on the agenda anytime soon. Maybe for a short freebie. Because I do love me some Max and Josiah.
However, I have been itching to write sci-fi for awhile, and recently got started on Proximity (working title), a new SFR set on a mining planet where rebellion is about to break out. I thought I’d share a little bit of it today. 🙂
Disclaimer: This scene is from an unedited work in progress. It may change or be deleted from the final draft. It’s shared here in a spirit of fun. enjoy!
Efan stared at the man asleep on the floor of the cave. Of all the fucking convicts to be skimwrecked with in the jungle. Feo Marten. Oh, he’d changed in ten years, but Efan would never forget Feo at seventeen. When Feo was seventeen and Efan thirteen, Efan had thought Feo was beautiful, and he’d hated it. He didn’t think someone like Feo should be beautiful. Beauty should have been reserved for those on the lists.
Now, Efan knew better; the lists were lies. Feo was still beautiful, in a hardened, work-rough way. He wasn’t thin and pretty like he’d been as a teenager. His body had been shaped by hard work and meals heavier on manufactured protein than carbohydrates. His wet clothes clung to every bulging muscle, and the front of his shirt gaped open, revealing the circular brand of the Perino camp.
Regret and shame washed over Efan. I’m responsible for that. I’m responsible for every shitty thing that’s happened to him in the last ten years.
Feo’s sentence had only been for five years. Had he done something else to earn a longer sentence? Guilt was a tight little ball in Efan’s gut. Whatever Feo had done, it was for survival. And it was Efan’s fault.
With his gun trained on the entrance to the cave, Efan watched Feo sleep until moonlight cycled into the pink-grey wash of dawn and Feo’s eyes flicked open.
Shock and angry recognition rippled across Feo’s features, then he lunged, grabbing Efan’s throat and shoving him against the wall of the cave. Instinct made Efan grab for the hand on his throat, and Feo took quick advantage.
“Feo!” Efan twisted in his grip and grunted as Feo’s fist hit his gut. He brought his knee up into Feo’s thigh. Feo might be bigger and stronger and have gotten the jump on him, but Efan wasn’t a complete waste of fists. He let go of the hand around his throat and jabbed his hand under Feo’s arm, forcing him to let go to protect his flank.
And then they were rolling. Fists and feet flew as they wrestled for advantage on the hard rock floor. Fuck guilt. Efan wasn’t about to let Feo beat the shit out of him just because he felt guilty. He had wrestled in school, he’d taken defense classes, and he’d served a two-year stint in the Governor’s Army. He could take Feo.
Fighting Feo was like fighting a wild animal. He fought rough and dirty, but he didn’t have any training, and eventually, Efan got him on his back, pinned down, chest heaving. Feo snarled up at him, hostile even in defeat.
“Feo. You need me. You can’t get to my people alone.” Efan tried reason.
“Little fuck, you killed him!” Feo growled.
“I know.” Efan grunted under the effort of holding Feo down. “I was a horrible person. And I fully expect you to kill me for it someday. But right now, I need to get you somewhere safe. You don’t know this world anymore, and that brand is a death sentence outside the work camp.”
Feo looked away, swallowing. He nodded. “Let me up.”
Efan moved off him slowly, reaching out a hand to help Feo up. “I’m sorry, Feo.”
“Fuck you.”
He should have seen it coming, right? The kick that flew the second Feo was on his feet? He should have, but remorse-blind, he let down his guard and turned his back, and that’s when Feo struck, his foot landing square on Efan’s ass and sending him sprawling face first across the cave floor, the metallic tang of his own blood filling his mouth.
And no, Feo didn’t help him up.
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Vanessa North
-
Join 1,547 other subscribers
RSS feed
Love and kisses, V 