Fantasy & Fangs: Paranormal Romance Author Susan Hanniford Crowley

Vampires are such hot property right now that this is my third vampire romance writer. Guest number fifteen is Paranormal Romance Author Susan Hanniford Crowley.


Tell us about yourself, Susan.

I am a writer and editor. Being an Associate Editor for Space and Time Magazine is a passion of mine. I have also been a writing teacher for over twenty years. Currently I teach workshops from time to time at conventions. I am a Science Fiction and Fantasy author and an active member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). I'm also a new paranormal romance author. I am a member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA) and recently became RWA Pro. I've written a variety of work including reviews on books and movies, political speeches, poetry, short stories, news articles, radio and television commercials, grants, brochures, and fiction and nonfiction manuscripts. I've also edited for writers in a variety of fields including academia.

Susan’s first full-length novel has just been released by Tease Publishing LLC on November 15, 2009. It’s a vampire romance, The Stormy Love Life Of Laura Cordelais.

The Stormy Love Life Of Laura Cordelais is the story of David meeting and trying to win the love of a tormented woman, Laura Cordelais. Laura possesses an extraordinary gift among supernaturals, a power that others envy and will do anything to possess. If you love vampires, you'll love Laura and David's passionate love affair and their struggle to stay together against amazing odds. Being descended from an ancient race blessed by Zeus doesn’t help Telkhine Laura Cordelais when she's desperate and standing between life and death. Her destiny looks bleak. Every choice leads to death, and there is no winning door. Or is there? Begging God for love, Vampire David Hilliard finds his request answered in the form of the tormented and dying Laura. In saving her, he falls in love and dooms them both to a dark underworld of voodoo and sorcery from which nothing can escape. For David to save her, he must kill her, and by loving her, he could lose her forever. When plunged into a dark underworld of voodoo and sorcery, will they escape? Together?

Ooh, definitely a spine-tingling romance in store for Vampirephiles! Let’s find out more about Susan.


1. Your most recent books are romance with the paranormal (i.e. vampire angle), yet you say you began with sci-fi. Is your attraction for the eternally undead just a natural progression from sci-fi to romance?
When I was growing up, in my view the writers who were always on the cutting edge were the science fiction and fantasy authors. That's what I wanted to be and I accomplished that by earning the professional sales needed for active (full professional) membership in SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Inc. Even though I love and wrote fantasy and some science fiction, I always loved vampire tales. When a convention asked me to speak on a panel on vampires, I began what would be 25 years of research and many panels to follow speaking about the undead. I only began writing about vampires about three years ago.

2. You began writing at age 8. What did you write and what was published at age 16?
When I was 8, I wrote about squirrels. When I was 12, I wrote a spy novel widely praised by my classmates. When I was sixteen several of my poems were published in a local paper. At the same time, I wrote a play about the Drive-In, booed by my classmates as being too real and revealing about what went on there. I also sent also sent a teenage romance novel around to all the big publishers and was rejected by form letters. I never said in my cover letter that I was 16.

3. Paranormal is very hot right now—what sets your books apart from the veritable tidal wave of vampire related themes dominating the market? I have had the pleasure of interviewing a couple of vampirephiles already on my blog and it would be nice to compare comments.
I write about the Arnhem Society, a secret society of vampires in New York City. The mission of the society is to provide a refuge for vampires and promote a civilized lifestyle, preferring bagged, bottle, or donor blood. The Arnhem Knights, their enforcement arm, defends humans from death by vampire and assists supernaturals in trouble.

I write about the vampires and their interactions with the other supernaturals in the city, especially the rare ones like Telkhines and Harmonies. Telkhines are an ancient race that used to inhabit the isle of Rhodes. They were famed for their craftsmanship with metal and the ability to control the weather. Laura Cordelais for The Stormy Love Life of Laura Cordelais is one of their descendants. A Harmony is a human being with a very unique supernatural quality. I can't tell what it is. You'll just have to read A Vampire for Christmas. After you do, you'll be looking around and the people you know and wondering.

My books are filled with all sorts of supernaturals dwelling in the human world. Your florist could be a werewolf. The college student that just walked by could be half leprechaun/half elf. And even though my books are Manhattan-based, the adventures often include other locales. You don't know what supernatural is standing beside you on the subway.

I believe that's what makes me different. LOL

4. Tell us about your heroines.
My heroines range from the insecure like Laura Cordelais who at the beginning of her story doesn't know she's one of the most powerful supernaturals on Earth to shape shifter Lorraine who keeps forgetting to morph on her clothes much to her brother's chagrin and a certain man's delight. Lorraine is a divorced shifter in my upcoming, not yet released novella Vampire in the Basement. My heroines usually need to learn more about their abilities. Some of distrustful of men like Georgia in A Vampire for Christmas. Trevor is so tongue-tied that she thinks he's a stalker, which makes it very difficult for him to protect her from demons. Regina is just trying to get to the internship her advisor at the college set up for her and disaster strikes in When Love Survives.

5. Tell us about your heroes.
I always start with tall dark-haired David Hilliard with his dark fathomless eyes. He asked God to end his loneliness and ends up diving into the East River to save a despondent Laura Cordelais in The Stormy Love Life of Laura Cordelais. But Laura has some intense baggage which dooms their love, plunging them into an underworld fighting dark forces. David is passionate, loyal, inventive, incredibly handsome, and devoted to every inch of Laura's body and more.

Gregor is a stand-up guy, a financial advisor who looks out the coffee shop and sees the woman of his dreams. What does he do? He grabs her and pulls her in, of course. One look at this big, dark-haired, Maine sky blue eyed, bear of man would melt any woman's heart. Meet Gregor in When Love Survives.

My heroes are good-looking. Most are financially well off. Some of them are Arnhem Knights, but they have issues that range from convincing a woman whose heart has been broken by some bum that love can be real to even talking to the woman of their desire. The test of course is if they're secure enough to give love.

6. Have any classic vampire or paranormal writers influenced or inspired you (Bram Stoker/Mary Shelley/Anne Rice?)
Mary Shelley is the mother of science fiction. Her Frankenstein is brilliant. Bram Stoker's Dracula is written in the most personal style of letters. Both inspired me early on but so did fantasy's Marion Zimmer Bradley and science fiction's Ursula LeGuin and Ray Bradbury.

7. Have you a favorite vampire movie in mind when you browse the video store shelves?
The standards to beat are "Queen of the Damned" and "Lost Boys."

8. Will you ever change genres or try writing something else as a challenge—for example, a romance between two mortals?
You never know. Everything I write comes from my dreams. Right now I have several years of vampire book summaries written in my notebook, as well as books for some other supernaturals. I want to do steampunk too.

9. Gag question: How do vampires keep their love life interesting if they live for ever...
Gag answer (not really): I explore that a bit in the soon to be released Vampire in the Basement. I don't think I should give all their secrets away. You know just because a vampire lives forever doesn't make them boring. The ones that have survived this long are incredibly inventive sexually and often more sensitive emotionally. I think one thing that keeps them going is finding their life mate. This is a very hard task and a vampire might live for hundreds or thousands of years before finding that one person who makes their barely beating heart sing.

10. Do you have any upcoming events or book signings?
I will be participating in the Authors After Dark Romance Unlimited Convention in Secaucus, New Jersey, September 16-19. There's still time to register. There will be tons of fun events, panels, workshops, parties, a charity auction, and giveaways. Here's the link.
For those that are attending Authors After Dark Romance Unlimited Convention, come up to me and say “I saw you on Fiona Ingram's blog” and I will give you a small gift, while my supply lasts.

Fascinating stuff! Fangs for the interview. Susan. Vampire lovers can purchase any of the above books at this link.
 
Thanks for having me on your blog. It's been exciting. For more information, visit my website, my romance blog, or visit Tease Publishing.

21 Ways to Market Your Writing Services

Today’s blog post is how to market your writing services. Many an author cannot live by book sales alone, that’s why marketing one’s writing skills can bring in the extra bacon, especially if book sales are down or you’re (still) waiting to get discovered and famous. People need words: they need stories, articles, speeches, press releases, Web content, and a dozen or other forms of communication that someone (you!) with writing skills can easily provide. But how do you let people know you’re skilled and available?

I have a very interesting guest today with loads of advice to offer: Carol Tice. Carol has written freelance for more than 15 years, as a business journalist, copywriter, blogger and Web-content author. Her blog Make a Living Writing focuses on the business of freelance writing. Carol’s accolades include a "Best in Business" award from the Society of Business Writers and Editors, and multiple first-place awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. Besides writing, copywriting and blogging, Carol also enjoys teaching, coaching and mentoring in two separate fields. She teaches businesses and nonprofits how to get their stories into the media, and she mentors other writers and teaches them how to make a living as a freelance writer. Carol also gives free advice on the business of writing at her Make a Living Writing blog. Read on and learn more!


21 Ways to Market Your Writing Services

In my mentoring work, I often find myself introducing my mentees to a basic fact of life for freelance writers: If you want to earn more, you’re going to need to market your business aggressively. Answering Craigslist or Kijiji ads is unlikely to get you $1 a word or $100 an hour gigs. To find really good-paying work, you will have to prospect.

This often produces a reaction along the lines of, “I’m shy! I’m no good at networking.”

But there isn’t just one marketing strategy in the universe, there are many. So today I’d like to kick off a two-part post highlighting some of the multitude of ways to market yourself as a freelance writer. Today, it’s 11 different 3-D-world marketing approaches. Somewhere in here, there’s a strategy that would be a fit for who you are and the kind of writing work you want to find.

1. In-person networking. I know you don’t want to hear it. But in-person networking is not only very effective, it can actually be fun. Just think — you get out of your writing cave, have a drink and a nibble, and meet new people who could help you make more money. Unless you are catastrophically shy, I want you to try it.

Bring business cards. Walk around and introduce yourself to as many people as possible. Overcome any shyness you have about plugging yourself by spending most of your time asking others why they came, what they do, and if appropriate what they’re looking for in a writer. If that description doesn’t fit you, try to recommend them someone. Networking is about learning others’ needs and helping each other succeed, not shoving yourself down other people’s throats. You don’t have to be pushy–be helpful. Personally, I have been to two in-person networking events and got great connections that led to wonderful paying clients both times.

Experiment with places to network–I’ve had good success with MediaBistro events here in Seattle, but your city may be different. I’m told the Linked:Seattle in-person events rock, too. Find your networking sweet spot and visit it as often as you can.

2. Direct mail. I’ve never tried this, but many of the top copywriters in this field develop a prospect list, and then audition by sending direct mail–makes sense, huh? One of them is Pete Savage-he sent one DM letter and got $64,000 of new business, and he sells a kit that describes how he did it. I don’t usually plug products, but if you’re interested in copywriting work, this may be worth a look. I can vouch for Pete–he’s the real deal. I can give you one tip I’ve gleaned from Pete’s newsletters–I gather he advocates including a bumpy novelty item in the envelope. Makes it irresistible to recipient…apparently they feel compelled to open it to learn what’s making the bump.

3. Cold calling. That’s right–just pick up the phone, call a company you’d like to do copywriting for, and ask for the communications or marketing manager. Or call the editor of a publication you’d like to write for. Ask them if they use freelance writers. Be ready to pitch your ideas for stories to editors, or your copywriting services to companies. Many will say no, but persistence can really pay off here. Everyone who tries it reports they get new accounts, and that every 10 or 20 calls, they get a “yes.” Give yourself an edge and check out their existing Web site or other materials before you can call, so you can point out specific weaknesses in their current marketing and describe how the materials you’d create would bring address their needs and bring in new customers.

4. White papers. Create a white paper about the value of your copywriting service, demonstrating the benefits to companies that use you. Much like the direct mail strategy, this one’s especially great if you want to write white papers for companies. If you haven’t written white papers, you should learn about them because they’re the hottest sales tool in copywriting right now, and they pay very well. Michael Stelzner’s your expert here, and he has a free training on this topic you can read online.

5. Free or paid seminars. They can be in-person, over the Web, over the phone, you name it. But holding a class in a topic such as “How copywriting can help your business” can put you in touch with many good prospects in one fell swoop. Some like charging a little for the class as you screen out looky-loos and get more qualified, highly interested leads who are more likely to become clients.

6. Free downloads. Create a helpful article with advice or tips on how to communicate your business’s value or some other related topic, which ultimately leads to a conclusion that hiring a professional writer will help your business. Put it on your Web site as a free download in exchange for which you capture their email address. Presto, you’re building a great marketing list and exposing your name to prospective clients while presenting yourself as an expert. (OK, this tip involves a computer…but it’s not social media, so here it is in the 3-D list.)

7. T-shirts and car decals. That’s right, think of yourself like any bike shop or car wash would, and promote the fact that you’re a freelance writer everywhere you go!

8. Contests and polls. Hold a contest for the worst business Web site and give the winner free home-page content, or write their bio page, or whatever you want to offer. Or take a poll on the most important thing to say on a business Web site, and give the winner a free consultation. Entrants will, of course, have to submit their contact information, giving you an instant list of companies that need copywriters. This one doesn’t just get you prospects and a great before-and-after sample, you could tell the local papers and get written up, too.

9. Charity donations. Doesn’t your kids’ school have an annual auction? Donate an article for a business, or a free brochure. Great way to let the whole town know you’re a writer.

10. Put out a press release. Have you expanded into a new field? Hired a virtual assistant? Moved your office? Many local papers have business columns that publish these news tidbits, along with your photo in some cases. If not your local paper, try your Chamber newsletter (you belong, right?).

11. Partner or reciprocal deals. Do you know a business whose products or services you use, who could use Web content? Make them a barter deal–you do their site over in exchange for free stuff, including a free plug on their home page that you wrote the content.

Yes, I know I only listed 11 tips here. Follow this link for the final 10 marketing tips in 21 Ways to Market Your Writing Services: The Social Media Edition.

The good part about this advice is that when people get to know about you and your writing skills, they also get to know about your books. You can connect with Carol on her Make a Living Writing blog, or her website for more fantastic tips. Don't forget to subscribe to her great and informative blog ... I just did!

A Passion for Writing: Author Tasha Wright

Say hello to my VBT guest number 14, Tasha Wright. Her passion for writing began at an early age and drives her ever onward to create and publish more books. Tell us about yourself and your work, Tasha.

I was born in a small Texas town, so I had to find creative ways to occupy my time. At a young age I discovered my passion for writing. I have always embodied what my mother preached, anything in life is possible! In holding on to her words I’ve had the chance to publish my work, Carelessness of the Heart and When a Tattered Past Catches You, with many more to come. I write to allow people to drift into another world, if only for a moment.

Tasha’s latest book sounds interesting. Here’s more on it!

Tough willed, strong as nails Willa will do whatever it takes to provide for her family even if that meant putting her life in danger or on hold. Living the street life meant not allowing anything or anyone to get close enough to hurt or destroy her. But, after the death of her mother she is forced to return home and confront a past she tried to erase from her memory. As Willa confronts a tragic past she also has to confront something else, her long lost love, Damon. Living the street life and becoming the head woman in charge was something Willa did with ease but there was always something or someone missing in her life. Will Willa let down her guard and allow Damon back into her life again or will she continue to live the street life?


Q&A with Tasha Wright.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
That is a funny story. When I was 16, I turned into a drama queen. My mother grew tired of me having meltdowns and fabricating things. So, she bought me a computer and made me sit down and write. From that day on, anytime I would come out of my room and start an argument with my brothers, she would simply tell me to turn around and go write something. Lol, I’ve never stopped writing. As I touched on earlier, my mother really allowed me to be creative and she would read the things I wrote. Writing was the one thing I set for my life goal and I am doing it. I live on cloud nine each passing day.

How long does it take you to write a book?
If I dedicate the time needed to write, I can write a book and determine where I am going with it in about six months. Now, to get it exactly where I want it to be I would complete it totally in eight to nine months. But, I also write at least two or three books at one time.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing?
Well, I am not a New York Best Seller YET. I still work full time and I am also a full time College student.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I would say my humor. When I write, somewhere in my work I want my sense of humor to shine through. I would like to believe I’m quite the character.

Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
When I write, I do not brainstorm and chose one certain thing I would like to write about. When I write, I take the first sentence and let it flow. By the end of the chapter I will see where I want to take it or scrap it. Remember, if you write bored and it bores you. Either fix it or get rid of the entire thing.

When did you write your first book and how old were you?
I wasn’t intending to write my first book. It was just a short story I had written because I was a bored housewife. My sister-in-law read what I was writing and she became excited and told me she had to read more. So, I gave her more and it keep going until I noticed I was about to complete an entire book.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?
When I am not writing, I love to just relax and sit at home. Now, that I have accomplished my goal of publishing I have so much on my plate. So, when I am home and I do not have any commitments that would be my relaxation time.

What does your family think of your writing?
My family is very supportive and they are my biggest promotion. I love that my family is excited for me. They make me feel like I am already that bestseller I strive to be. When I call home, there is always that excitement and love. There is nothing that could beat it!

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?
The most surprising things would be my imagination. My books are very different and they all hit a different aspect of life. I feel that is what will keep my readers intrigued on what I will write next.

Do you have any suggestions to help other authors become better writers? If so, what are they?
Learn the basic structures and grammar. I thought I had it down until I signed with Passionate Writers. They were hard on me but I also learned a great deal. They understand a character will have their own way of speaking but when it comes to my writing and my narration, I have to be on point or I will have to fix it. But, they only work with quality work and that will help both the writer and the publishing company in the end. Your readers deserve quality work.

Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
I do hear from people who have read my work and the majority always say they enjoy not knowing what is going to happen next. Every time they thought they had me figured out, I took a different route.

Do you like to create books for adults?
I do have adult scenes but I have not written a book that is designed specifically for adults only. Maybe one day I will create a hot steamy romance but that is a very particular craft and has to be written well to evoke passion and feelings in your readers.

What do you think makes a good story?
Life makes a great story. Many things that occur in relationships and daily life can be pushed to the limit to create something so huge and will always keep readers intrigued. Your readers will say, “I know someone who’s going through this right now. This is such a coincidence.”


Thanks for sharing so much information with us, Tasha. Readers can visit Tasha's author site and purchase her latest book from Amazon.

The Real Secret to Twitter

When I began marketing my book, I knew nothing. I always say I knew nothing and I don’t think anyone believes me, but truly I had no idea where to begin telling people about myself or my book. I happened upon one of Penny C. Sansevieri’s newsletters by accident and have been following her articles, Tweets, podcasts, and newsletters ever since. Penny is a book marketing expert. She has such an excellent grasp of the publishing industry that her advice and information are a boon to any author, either of fiction or non-fiction. Today I’d like to share her advice on using Twitter effectively. Actually, when I first created my Twitter account I had no idea what I would Tweet about. Talk about being terrified … I was Twerrified. If you’ve ever felt that way, or still feel that way, stop panicking. Advice to follow as Penny shares the real secret to Twitter!

If you've ever been impressed by the number of followers someone has on Twitter, I have a newsflash for you: it doesn't matter. The thing is, you can buy followers (no, I'm not kidding) sort of like buying mailing lists. How effective is buying followers? Well, let me ask you: How effective was the last mailing list you bought? Whatever your answer is I can guarantee you that buying Twitter followers will be far less effective. Why? Because social media does not favor automation, it favors engagement, interaction, and yes, being social.

You might be interested in knowing someone's Twitter-reach or you might be trying to determine if your campaign is effective. Here are some key things to look at when measuring anyone's Twitter-success:

1) How active is the person on Twitter?

2) How relevant to their market are their updates? For example did a mystery author just tell you she's washing her cat?

3) How much do they broadcast vs. communicate?

4) How often are they retweeted?

5) How many Twitter lists are they on?

One of the best ways to determine if your Twitter campaign is effective—or someone else's—is by gauging how often they are retweeted. Retweeting is an important factor in Twitter, possibly the most significant means to determine an effective Twitter person from an ineffective one. In fact, Twitter popularity lists aren't based on the amount of followers but rather on the amount of activity in a campaign. When I recently pulled up a list of the top 10 Twitter-ers in Southern California, I found that many in the top 10 didn't even break 10,000 followers.

How can you determine how active an account is? There are a few services that you might want to look into. The first is Retweet Rank. This service shows you (by user) how much someone has been retweeted as well as their most popular retweeted posts.

Twitter Analyzer is another great tool for determining how far tweets have traveled. You can isolate a user or a particular Twitter-stream. Very useful site!

How can you increase your tweet-ability? Here are a few tips to help you grow your Twitter campaign:

1) Know what your followers want: the first piece sounds simple but could take you the most amount of time. Candidly, it took me three months to finally get a handle on what my followers wanted and what seemed to rank high on the retweeting scale. If you don't know what your followers want, try following popular people in your market and see what they are posting about. Use this as a guideline to help you dig deeper into what your market wants.

2) Share useful advice: now that you've determined what your followers want to see on Twitter, make sure the information you are sharing is helpful. I know this sounds like an oxymoron. If you've determined what your followers want of course what you tweet on will be helpful, right? Wrong. Ask yourself what they need, not what you think they want. There is a big difference.

3) Don't overtweet: OK, full confession, I've been guilty of this from time to time but now I've found a good balance of between 4 and 5 posts a day. This may be a metric that works for you, but you'll need to determine that on your own. How do you know? If people start unfollowing you the reason may because you are overtweeting.

4) Balance broadcasting with communicating: this is a biggie for many of us. It's important to use any social media tool like a telephone. You would never call someone and just blast them with information, right? You'll give them something, wait for a response and then respond to their question and so a discussion ensues. Use social media as you would a telephone: communicate, don't broadcast.

5) Comment on current events that relate to your industry: becoming the go-to person for everything related to your industry is what most of us aspire to. Keeping apprised of what's going on in your industry is important and then, sharing the highlights or most significant items with your followers will go a long way toward growing your popularity.

6) Recommend helpful resources: much like current events, you want to offer helpful resources to your followers. This might not be appropriate to every market, but for the majority of us this works very well. Again, the more you can become a resource the more you will grow your popularity on Twitter or, for that matter, any social media site.

Many people hop on to Twitter thinking it's a numbers game when it really isn't. You can have a Twitter-tribe of millions and not gain the same kind of social media success that you would with only 1,000 followers. The wisdom of the crowd knows that it's not always the size of the audience that matters but how engaged they are in you and your message. Find the balance that works for. You'll be glad you did.

Reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. Visit Penny's Author Marketing Expert site for loads more articles and tips on book marketing.