Madame Elizabeth's Musings and Craziness

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Here's to Endings and New Beginnings

So, I'm working on the final book of my Agents for the Crown Series. This has been a long time coming, actually.
I started writing the series back before there really was an internet to speak of, so all of my research was done in libraries and bookstores. It all began in 1995 with the beginnings of the first book, now titled Courting Danger, but in the beginning it was titled For the Love of Ellen... and it was bad. Oh so bad! LOL
It went through so many edits and rewrites. Nine complete rewrites actually. I sent that book out to multiple agents, received feedback from some. Sent it to more, and started all over again with the edits. It was definitely before ebooks came into being.
Finally, after going through critiques and more edits, I submitted it to Amazon for their breakthrough novel contest. I made it into the top 100. I didn't win, but I came close and they sent me a link for a little site called Create Space. I decided to go through with it, to commit myself for better or worse to self-publish. I just wanted my book out there.
Then I met a fantastic group of people, Rue Volley, Sarah Davis Brandon, Linna Drehmel, Catherine Stovall, Sinead MacDouglas, Ada McEwan, Joseph Davis and Travis MacDonald... They encouraged me and cheered me on.
And then I wrote another book. The first in my YA Paranormal series, Soul Mates: Scent, and I self-published that too. I met a reader online who fell in love with Soul Mates: Scent, and she gave it to Sarah Davis Brandon to read over...
Turns out Sarah Davis Brandon was starting her own publishing company, but I hadn't talked to her in a few months and was not aware of it. Did I mention I'd been writing? In the mean time I'd released book 2 of the Agents for the Crown series, Artifice. And things were looking up. Sarah signed me for the Soul Mates series and I was so excited. I ended up writing the next Soul Mates as I prepped book 3 for Agents for the Crown, Charade, for release.
The first three books I'd ever written were doing really well for me, but I was not getting the exposure I wanted and I sent an informal proposal to Sarah about them...
Really I said, Hey Sarah, would you be interested in taking on my Regency Series? And Sarah said YES.
From then on my work has been exclusive to Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing. Sarah has expanded the company, buying out a Scottish imprint, Vamptasy, creating a few more imprints, Hot Ink and Steamworks, and now, her newest imprint: Lace Hearts Ink... a place for the romances like mine, and I get to be involved in it. Sarah has blessed me in so many ways. Picking up all of my work, hiring me on as editor, and giving me a virtual home.
And now four years later, I'm finally getting to write my final book in the Agents for the Crown series, formerly titled Tangled, it is now titled Unraveled. I'm so happy that I have a home for it, and that I finally get to see the ending as I imagined it, but it's hard to say goodbye to a cast of characters that I have spent 20 years with in my head.
I know it's all going to be over in less than a month, and I am going to miss them. So the writing has been slow, but good. The research is easier than it was when I first started the series, now that I can look anything up with the help of google. And I have the feedback from a few friends, Mariana Thorn, and Stephanie W., as well as my editor and friend, Catherine Stovall, as I write.
So here is to endings and new beginnings, because with the ending of this series, I have plans to write a series for a new cast of characters set in the Twenties. I'm excited about it. I hope you are too.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Some Exciting Things Going ON!

So I was recently nominated by The Kindle Hub for Best Editor of 2014 and for Best Regency Romance of 2014 with my latest novel, Ice Angel! If you haven't voted yet, I would LOVE your vote!

http://hyperurl.co/IceAngel

https://www.facebook.com/events/331950386990372/331955746989836/?notif_t=event_mall_reply

My fabulous publishing house Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing is also up for Best Publisher of 2014 as well, so be sure to give them a vote too!

If you haven't visited it and liked it yet, I've updated my Webpage and I'd love to see you there!

http://elizabethannelance.wix.com/elizabethannelance

And last, but certainly not least, I'm in the market to find some beta readers... What is a beta reader, you ask? It's a person who will read and give an honest review on your book for a copy of the book. Let me stress that I am looking for HONEST reviews. Even if you hate it. I want to know why, and what I might do to improve. Of course I love getting those great reviews too! They make my day!

Right now I am looking for reviews on Ice Angel, but I have 14 books out now and all of them need new reviews to stay relevant, so in the new year I will be looking for people to read and review all or some of them.

Of course if you are interested in reading some of my other novels, you can message me about them too. As I mentioned, I am always in need of new reviews!

Message me here: https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethA.Lance

Friday, December 12, 2014

2014 has been a big year!

So much has happened this year! I left my position at the school to take on a full time editing job with Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing, which has been a fantastic move for me. I've released three novellas and I was part of two anthologies as well. I've edited a ton of books! So let's talk about some of these things!
First up, the editing job... I love it! I get to read some fantastic new books by some amazing authors! Here are just a few of my favorites!

The Skylar Wolfe Mysteries are full of Snark and fun, I adore them!

http://www.amazon.com/Hide-Seek-Skylar-Wolfe-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00PBD3D0A/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1418400409&sr=1-1&keywords=Hide+and+Seek+Skylar

The Midnight Roads series by Skye Knizley is totally awesome! If you love Supernatural, this is a must read!

http://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Blood-Midnight-Roads-Book-ebook/dp/B00MXS6X8K/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1418400555&sr=1-1&keywords=Fresh+Blood+Midnight+Roads

The Red Sun Rises Series, I cannot say enough about this series! YA, coming of age goodness! Fresh and exciting take on the Vampire world. It is full of romance, love and life.

http://www.amazon.com/Red-Sun-Rises-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00EZZBUI2/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1418400856&sr=1-1&keywords=Red+Sun+rises

If you are going to read anything by Sarah Jayne Carr, start with Flavor of Regret, it's a brilliantly written short about life as a Grim Reaper, but once you are hooked on her, don't miss her fantastic Jack Rabbit 7 novels! They truly delight!

http://www.amazon.com/Flavor-Regret-Grim-Reaper-Book-ebook/dp/B00O4GUH6I/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1418400898&sr=1-1&keywords=Flavor+of+regret

Catherine Stovall is one of my most favorite authors, and I just can't get enough of her writing! So if you are going to pick up any of hers, start with this one. It's her newest, a series of short stories and poems that are sure to get you hooked on her!

http://www.amazon.com/As-Mad-Hatter-Short-Collection-ebook/dp/B00OX5LGOM/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1418401225&sr=1-2&keywords=as+mad+as+a+hatter

Linna Drehmel is sure to fascinate you with The Bee Keeper, one of many of my favorites by her! It's a beautiful short story that you are sure to love!

http://www.amazon.com/Bee-Keeper-Linna-Drehmel-ebook/dp/B00GBLCNMK/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1418401397&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Bee+Keeper

Gabriella Lapore's The Witches of the Glass Castle is a recent favorite of mine! It's a brilliantly written YA novel that will keep you enthralled from the beginning to the end! And be sure to pick up the sequel which is out this month!

http://www.amazon.com/Witches-Glass-Castle-Gabriella-Lepore-ebook/dp/B00LGBDDUQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1418401572&sr=1-1&keywords=the+witches+of+glass+castle

If you LOVE Harry Potter, you are going to go wild for The Hunter Awakens by J.R. Roper! It is an absolutely brilliant YA Adventure Novel that you will want to read again and again!

http://www.amazon.com/Hunter-Awakens-Morus-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B00LLPLP5W/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1418401754&sr=1-1&keywords=the+hunter+awakens

Those are just a few of the novels that I have read and loved and possibly edited over the last year. You won't go wrong with any of them!

Now on to the books I've published over the last year...

Last December I released The Secret, a Regency Novella for Christmas about an heiress on the run who finds love...

http://smarturl.it/TheSecretRegency

The Rise of the Goddess Anthology was a lot of fun to write for, and it almost falls in line with my Goddess of Love series, almost. My story is called Goddess Touched and deals with the Roman Gods instead of the Greek like my GOL series. There are a bunch of wonderful authors who contributed to this one and you are sure to find a story you will love!

http://www.amazon.com/Goddess-proceeds-anthology-benefit-Elliott-ebook/dp/B00J4PE78I/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1418402239&sr=1-1&keywords=Rise+of+the+Goddess

The next anthology I was a part of is called A Taste of CHBB... I didn't actually have to write anything for it, as it's a collection of excerpts from different CHBB novels. My Soul Mates Scent is included in it.

http://www.amazon.com/Taste-CHBB-Anthology-Extraordinary-Authors-ebook/dp/B00MRFPIN0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1418402730&sr=1-1&keywords=taste+of+chbb

In August I released Undercover in Love... Book 2 of the Goddess of Love series. It was so much fun to write! The story is about an actress who goes into hiding and decides to give up her on screen life for a life in New Orleans... one of my favorite cities!

http://smarturl.it/undercoverinlove

And last but certainly not least, on December 6th of 2014, I released my latest Regency novella, Ice Angel. A romance told mostly through letters written between the heroine and hero during Napoleon's 100 days before the battle of Waterloo.

http://hyperurl.co/IceAngel

I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I will do my best to bring you more book-y goodness in the future! Love you all!

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Sugar Coated Book Tour!!!!

Author bio:

Shannen Crane Camp was born and raised in Southern California, where she developed a love of reading, writing, and anything having to do with film. After high school, she moved to Utah to attend Brigham Young University, where she received a degree in Media Arts and found herself a husband in fellow California native Josh Camp. The two now live in either California or Utah... they still can't decide.
Shannen loves to hear from readers, so feel free to contact her at Shannencbooks@hotmail.com or visit her website for more information: http://shannencbooks.blogspot.com

Sugar Coated blurb:

An unhealthy addiction to sugar cubes, a deep-seated fear of water, and universal luxury—these are the simple things that make up 18-year-old Brynn's Utopian existence. Why, then, is her perfect life also plagued with unanswered questions?

Like every other resident of the planet Halcyon, Brynn's home provides everything she needs, money is unheard of, and life is perfect. But unlike the rest of Seaside's residents, Brynn has questions. Why can't people leave the city? Why does the ocean fill everyone with terror? Who are the Workers? Not only is Brynn curious where others are compliant, but she suffers from chronic nightmares of an angelic woman torturing her for information she doesn’t possess. But these are more than just figments of her imagination; they're memories of things that never happened.

When Brynn meets Jonah, a brilliant, library-dwelling boy who shares her questions and her curiosity, they formulate a plan to find answers. Somewhere, the perfect veneer of Halcyon's instant gratification hides a city that only Brynn knows about—a city she and Jonah are determined to find. But will finding the city give them answers, or simply uncover the horrific truth behind the perfection?

Sugar Coated Excerpt:

Blinding white lights flashed into life, revealing a room less cavernous and imposing than she had expected. Instead, the room with the white walls, ceilings, and floor was quite small; small enough for her to run from one end to the other without ever breaking a sweat. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust and once they did, she still couldn’t be sure of what she was seeing. There seemed to be a complete lack of color in this small room, as if it had been drained right before her arrival and was shining more brightly because of its recent purge.

Brynn blinked her eyes a few more times, trying to clear the spots that sprang into existence when the less-than-subtle lights had ignited. Now that she had a proper hold on her surroundings, she could see the impossibility of the room. There were no windows. There were no doors. There was no way in or out. So how had she gotten there?

“We apologize for any inconvenience your death may cause you at this time,” said a smooth, soothing female voice over what Brynn could only describe as a loudspeaker. If the woman’s voice hadn’t been so calm and collected, it may have taken her less time to understand exactly what she was saying before the sickly sweet smell of sugar hit her nose; like cookies right out of the oven.

This wasn’t just a room. It was a death chamber.

“We appreciate your cooperation and would like to take this opportunity to remind you that the best thing to do in this situation is enjoy this smell, generated for your pleasure,” the voice told her, never losing that deep, rich timbre.

Brynn thought that if she hadn’t been in an obviously dire situation, she would have loved nothing more than to listen to the beautiful voice and smell the sweet sugar all day long. But as it turned out, there wasn’t much time left in her day right at that moment.

Listening to the woman’s instructions against her better judgment, Brynn took one deep breath, enjoying the smell of the unnaturally rich sugar before her cheek made contact with the hard white floor with a sickening thud.

Purchase links:

So far I only have a Goodreads page because the book isn’t on sale yet. But here’s that in the meantime!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18054196-sugar-coated

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