Sloan Parker Blog

The fabulous Ethan Day has interviewed me about my Rainbow Award-winning book Breathe and the moment in my own life that led me to the story.

I adore Ethan and his writing, so to hear he enjoyed Breathe was quite a thrill. Thanks for the thoughtful questions and such kind remarks about this book, Ethan!

Read the interview at Ethan’s blog

I’m thrilled to share that Breathe was selected as a Joyfully Reviewed Best Romance in 2011.

Huge thanks to the reviewer Nannette for taking the time to read and review the book last year and to Joyfully Reviewed for posting their reviewers’ top picks. I was incredibly honored to see it on the Best of 2011 page alongside so many amazing authors. Also very cool to see the number of m/m books on their list.

I’d like to also thank everyone who has picked up a copy of Breathe and gave it a try. It is now my bestselling book. I am touched and grateful for each and every email and comment I get from readers about this story.

Thank you all!!

It’s been a bit since I’ve posted an update on my writing progress, so I thought I’d share where I’m at with my stories.

If I didn’t mention it before I’m back to revising Walter & Kevin’s book, an erotic romantic suspense set in the same world as More. My goal is to have this book finished and submitted before the end of 2011. That may be pushing it since I usually spend more time revising than I do writing the first draft (and I have some research left to do), but I think it’s good to have a goal that pushes you to work hard. That said, I won’t submit it until I can feel really good about the story. I’ll keep you posted on the progress.

So far I’ve worked through some issues that were in the beginning of the first draft and came up with changes that I’m really happy with. I sliced and diced a few scenes, and it really made the story stronger so far. I also added one scene that knocked my socks off, even as I was writing it. I’m still amazed when that happens.

I’ve also drafted a new scene for my serial story More Than Just a Good Book. I’m hoping to add one or two more scenes and then publish part 3 in late October. I’ll share a link for part 3 when it’s available on my website or you can sign up for my newsletter to get the announcement.

Since my writing plans changed a bit during 2011, I thought I’d post the answer to a question I often get asked.

FAQ: Are you still going to write more with Luke, Richard, and Matthew?

Definitely. I still plan to complete 2 more books with Luke, Richard, and Matthew. I had originally planned to write one stand-alone release in between each MORE book. After Breathe, I took the time to outline all 3 of the remaining More books (which included Walter’s) and sent the story synopses to my publisher. They were interested in seeing Walter’s book next (at that time More was still a new release and we weren’t sure how well it would do with readers). Before I had a chance to finish Walter’s story, there was a submission call from my publisher for Christmas stories. I had already started notes for Take Me Home, so I worked up a proposal. That proposal was approved, and I took a break from Walter’s book to finish writing Take Me Home, which is now scheduled for a December 13, 2011 release. And I have to say, I’m so glad I did that because I love how Take Me Home turned out.

Now I’m back working on Walter & Kevin’s story, which has a working title but I’ll wait to share when I’m closer to finishing the book since it may change.

I’m not sure if I will be writing another stand-alone contemporary or Richard’s book next. I’m leaning toward Richard’s book, but in either case I will be finishing both Richard and Matthew’s stories. The boys have more to learn, about each other and themselves.

The above answer also explains the year gap between books. Since finishing Breathe, I have outlined 4 novels, written one manuscript, and completed a first draft for another, both novel-length. This means I should move more quickly through the next couple of projects in 2012.

Q: I don’t see your ebook when I search Amazon.com. Is it available for the Kindle?

A: I’ve had this question come up a few times so I thought I’d explain.

If you’re searching for my ebooks on Amazon.com and key in “Sloan Parker” in the search bar on the homepage, you’ll get one of my novels but not the other. To find MORE you have to search within a department such as “Books” or “Kindle Books” or a category within those departments. However, BREATHE is available by searching anywhere.

Why is this? I contacted Amazon and learned it’s because MORE is labeled as “adult” content while BREATHE is not. Not sure how that happens, but the limitation in where you can search for it didn’t occur until several weeks after my publisher released the book at Amazon. My guess is the excerpt for MORE is highly explicit so either Amazon or reader comments/complaints bumped it to an “adult” rating. If anyone knows more specifics for how this label gets applied to a book, I’d be interested in learning more.

Now don’t get me wrong, MORE is adult content, so I have no issues with the labeling (although I wish the labeling was more consistent across all explicit content on Amazon.com and that all explicit materials were treated equally). I just wanted to explain how the search works for those who may have the same question as others have asked me.

So, if you’re looking for MORE for your Kindle on Amazon.com, it’s there. Just buried a bit. You can always go to my author page to view my books available on Amazon.com. Or you can search for my name directly via your Kindle since that searches the Kindle story only.

I’m guessing this limitation in searching for adult-labeled books may be the same for other erotic romances so don’t give up after one search. If there’s a book you really want from Amazon.com, drill into the “Kindle” or “Books” category and try the search again. I’m not sure how that works for print books, but I’m guessing it’s the same and you’ll need to browse to the “Books” category before performing a search.

This FAQ has also been added to my website’s FAQ page.

I’ve had my head down finishing up TAKE ME HOME and only have a minute to post today (and it’s almost time to hit the sheets for some serious sleep), so I thought I’d quickly share a few links.

• For those of you who were asking, BREATHE is now available at Barnes & Noble.
• I blogged last week on one of my group blogs about motivation: Giving Lackluster Motivation a Kick in the Pants. Your reader comments about my writing and stories really do help!
• I now have a Facebook Author Fan page. You can “Like” the page to follow my writing news on Facebook. Or you can friend me via my regular profile. Or do both. I’m probably on FB more than any other social site (when I have time to be online at all, that is).

Okay, I’m off to bed.

Can’t wait for everyone to get a look at TMH. Is it December yet?

I’m thrilled to share that MORE was selected as a finalist in the First Book category of the More Than Magic RWA (Romance Writers of America) contest.

As I posted before, MORE and BREATHE were finalists in the Passionate Plume Contest and BREATHE won third place in the New England Reader’s Choice awards. (Final results for the More Than Magic and the Passionate Plume contests will be announced in July.)

I cannot tell you how blown away and thrilled I am with those results in this year’s RWA contests for my highly erotic m/m/m and angst-filled high-drama m/m love stories. Well done Luke, Richard, Matthew, Lincoln, and Jay!

A special thank-you to the New England, Passionate Ink, and Romance Writers Ink chapters, their contest coordinators for putting together the awards, and the judges. I was very impressed by the organization and professional communication from all. Also a huge kudos to these chapters for hosting contests that recognize digital-only books in electronic formats.

Was listening to music this morning and heard Breathe by Anna Nalick (which of course always reminds me of my Breathe). As a writer, I can relate to this part…

“2am and I’m still awake writing this song. If I get it all down on paper, it’s no longer inside me threatening the life it belongs to. And I feel like I’m naked in front of this crowd, cause these words are my diary screaming out loud. And I know that you’ll use them however you want to.”

- Breathe (2 AM) by Anna Nalick

Finding yourself moved by your own writing can be a surreal experience, but I believe all writers should write with incredible passion for the story they are telling and pour as much of that as they can into every scene. If you can’t create a love story and characters that move you, then it’s less likely to have meaning for anyone else.

I was driving home from the grocery store the other day when an old song from the 80s that I hadn’t heard in a long time came on. Well, twenty seconds into it, and I had tears streaming down my face. All I could think about was Jay and Linc from Breathe.

I was reminded once again how much I love this story. Which was a nice feeling. After a book is released you tend to get some distance from it. You’re busy working on something else, and you take a step back from the previous story. You are no longer holding it as close to you as when you were writing it, and that may be a good thing. It’s out in the world and people are having their own experiences with it, their own reactions, which is both exciting and disconcerting at times.

This song reminded me how much I love this story, how much I wanted to take these two men and give them the possibility of a new life, a happy ending together despite all the odds against them. It also reminded me that forgiveness and love can be such positive influences in our lives.

So I sat there listening and crying, thinking about Jay and Lincoln. They felt like these real people who had been through something, and I had merely the pleasure of helping them find their way. Yeah, call me a nut. I love this job!

So here’s a live performance for the song that had me crying while sitting in my driveway the other day: “Against All Odds.”

Recently I decided to enter my 2010 book releases in a few RWA (Romance Writers of America) contests, not only because I am proud of my work (who knows if my explicit love stories will have a shot, but it was fun to enter), but also to support the individual chapters of RWA since the contests are often a way for chapters to earn money.

But I wanted to give my support (and money) to those chapters who recognize ebooks, and not ebooks that are printed and bound as print books (some require you to submit bound books even when entering an ebook). When I’m done entering the contests on my list, I’ll post the names of the chapters to thank them for accepting ebook submissions, but for now, I have news…

Included in the ones I’ve entered so far were two cover art contests.

Well, one of the contests has posted its results, and I’m happy to say, the Loose Id cover for BREATHE (cover artist: Valerie Tibbs) is a finalist in the Dunes & Dreams Picture Perfect Cover Contest. CONGRATULATIONS Valerie!!!

This contest looks at both the cover and the blurb together. Not only do I love this cover and the story (obviously), but I wrote the blurb, with a few tweaks by Loose Id, so I’m really happy with this contest final for many reasons.

Thank you again to Valerie and Loose Id for such a beautiful cover.
Sloan

BREATHE recently received three wonderful reviews. I try not to get too focused on reviews for fear both the good and bad will mess with my head, but I have to say, I was thrilled to see such lovely comments. (oh, and don’t get me wrong. I love to SEE reviews for my work. Just not sure authors like me should read his/her own if they are going to interrupt the writing. Reviews are for the readers.)

A Best Book by Tuberose at Whipped Cream Reviews
“This is one of the best books I’ve read since I started reading m/m books. Sloan Parker does it again with her sophomore release. Her characters, Lincoln and Jay, are so well written that you fall in love with them and are cheering them on towards their happily ever after despite the odds against them.”

A Recommended Read from Doug at Dark Divas Reviews
“…to place two characters who have such a major event tying them together and holding them apart at the same time…it was captivating. And without giving anything away, I’ll simply state that this talented author has delivered. She has managed to create both as sympathetic, sexual, and lovable. Their relationship becomes something you not only want but need to see succeed.”

A Top Pick from DH Starr at The Romance Reviews
“The characters, their issues, and the action was organic, flowing beautifully from one scene to the next. The fact Ms. Parker has managed this with a large cast of characters and fast-paced movement is nothing short of masterful writing.”

The Sloan-is-celebrating GIVEAWAY

In celebration of this good news, I’d like to give a little something back to the universe…so I’m giving away free ebooks today. Here’s how it works…

• Comment on my blog post to enter the giveaway stating which of my ebooks (MORE or BREATHE) you’d like to win.
• FIVE of the commenters will be randomly selected to win their choice.
• The ebooks are available in winner’s choice of these formats: PDF, EPUB, PRC, LIT, or HTML.
• Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM EST on Saturday, January 22, 2011.
• Please don’t put any links in your comment. Sometimes those get caught in the spam filter.
• Do include your email address in the Email form field.

I’ll contact (via email) the winning five on Sunday.

Good luck!
Sloan

Update – To all who’ve entered the giveaway:

First off, thank you to those of you who already purchased one or both of my ebooks. As I have more releases, I hope you have a chance to win a future contest.

Looks like there are 18 entries in the giveaway. Since this was a quick weekend contest and you were all good enough to stop by and share which book you are interested in (and since I’m still in such a great mood), I’m going to say “forget the five” and am sending everyone who entered one free book. Look for an email from me verifying which book you want and asking you for a preferred format. Congratulations to all. If you don’t get an email from me by Monday morning, feel free to contact me in case I missed you or the email got lost.

I hope you enjoy the story!
Sloan