Uploading our titles to NOOK

We’ve been working to get our titles available in the NOOK  Bookstore at Barnes & Noble. The following titles should now be available:

Pilgrim for Love – Anna Austen Leigh

Sappho’s Sisters – Berengaria Brown

Land of a Thousand Dances – Evelyn Applegate

Scouts – Nobilis Reed

Tight Women in Hard Places – Alicia Night Orchid

Spank! – Edited by D. L. King

The Cougar Book – Edited by Jolie du Pré

More titles will follow as soon as we can get them up. Watch this space!

The EPIC Awards are Coming!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / PERMISSION TO FORWARD GRANTED

Twelfth Annual EPIC EBook Competition (July 15-Aug. 15, 2010)
EPIC’s ebook competition, the oldest continuing competition honoring ebooks and the e-publishing industry, is a premier event for authors and publishing houses. It opens for submission entries on July 15, 2010, accepting entries through midnight (CST) August 15, 2010. Entries must be e-published between June 1, 2009 and May 31, 2010. The Competition Guide will be on EPIC’s website (www.epicauthors.com) on June 1.

Judges consist of active EPIC Members and guest judges, all of whom are either published authors or publishing professionals. Entries are judge in two rounds, with finalists announced during the first week of November 2010.

EPIC’s 2011 Art Competition (Nov.1 – Nov. 15, 2010)
Also in its twelfth year is a competition that honors the finest selection of cover art for electronically published books. Details will be available on the EPIC website (www.epicauthors.com) the first part of October 2010 with entries accepted from November 1, 2010 through November 15, 2010.

Covers go through two rounds of judging by EPIC’s membership, with finalists (in category) awarded the Ariana before moving on to the final round. The ultimate winner, the artist whose work receives the most membership votes, is celebrated with EPIC’s highest honor for art – the Quasar.

EPICon Conference (March 10 – March 13, 2011 in Williamsburg, Virginia)
All awards, other than those for the New Voices Young Writers competition, will be presented during EPIC’s 2011 EPICon conference’s gala award ceremony March 13, 2011 in Williamsburg, Virginia. The New Voices Young Writers awards ship to winners, and their indicated schools/libraries, within six months of EPIC’s conference.

# # #

EPIC – Electronically Published Internet Connection is a non-profit, professional organization for published and contracted ebook and print authors that was established to provide a strong voice for electronic publishing—the major publishing marketplace of the future.

Logical-Lust finals twice in EPIC’s Ebook competition!

Two e-books produced by Logical-Lust Publications have finaled in EPIC’s 11th annual ebook competition!

“Time Currents” by Brenna Lyons finaled in the Fantasy Erotic Romance category.

And newcomer Amber Hipple’s “Bittersweet: tales of tainted erotica” finaled in the Anthology Erotic Romance/Erotica category

The Electronically Published Internet Connection (EPIC) is holding its annual convention and awards ceremony, the EPICon, in New Orleans from March 4-7, 2010.

http://www.epic-conference.com/index.html

The EPIC Awards is the most established ebook competition recognizing excellence in the industry so we are very proud of both finalists!

And if you plan to be in New Orleans in early March 2010, we’d love to try and meet you!

Zetta Brown
Editor-in-Chief

You can still enter the EPIC 2010 ebook competition!

EPIC - home of the premier ebook awards competition

We’re pushing the EPIC contest hard in the last few days of the entry period. Because we brought the contest forward to a new time in the calendar, this year is a foreshortened year and entries aren’t quite as high as previously. Entries are healthy, but to keep momentum going we’d like as many late entries as possible!

I’m looking for a favour from you all and asking if you can forward this to all your groups, loops, and anyone you think might find it interesting! Also consider entering yourself!

Please copy and forward to all!

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EPIC’s premier eBook competition needs YOU!

How you may ask? Let me tell you how…there are a few ways you can help this wonderful ebook contest out.

First, this contest is in need of entries. Last year you knew the contest as the EPPIEs but with the ever changing field of ebook publishing, EPIC has decided to revamp the contest and rename it more in line with what it has come to be to the industry as a whole. This is the best ebook competition out there and there are those within the finalist ranks who have gone on to become NYC authors. EPIC has been seen as an innovator in the ebook industry for more than ten years and wants to continue to do so for each and every ebook author!

With over 30 categories to choose from there is a category specific to your genre in the ebook field. This includes categories in children, poetry, fiction, romance, erotic romance and many, many more.  Entries are still being accepted until August 15, 2009 for ebooks published between October 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009. Full details, plus entry forms here: http://bit.ly/M9NUc

Finalists will be announced November 2009 with the awards presented to the receiptents at EPIC’s 2010 conference in New Orleans, March 4-7, 2010.

Second, EPIC needs judges and if you feel you can qualify as a judge, please sign up immediately for participation! Only industry professionals need apply. Contact Anne Douglas at epic.competition.coordinator@gmail.com for more information. You will read some of the best books in the field…and love doing it!

And finally, don’t forget to sign up for EPIC’s 2010 Conference in New Orleans. We have a host of great people this year with agents, editors and authors alike. The conference is still small enough that you will get the special attention you need as a writer but large enough that you’ll be rubbing elbows with industry professionals in the eBook field. Just some of our schedules guest include Debra Dixon, Deidre Knight and Holly Jacobs as well as industry professional such as Daniel Reitz of Mundania Press with more signing up every day!

The information for EPIC can be found at http://www.epicauthors.com/, so don’t hesitate to stop by today!

Thanks!

Jim Brown
&
Carol MacLeod

Interview with Randall Lang, a Magnificent Man!

Hello, I’m Randall Lang and I’d like to thank Jim and Zetta of Logical Lust for inviting me here

Randall Lang, author or romance and erotica

today. For those who are unfamiliar with me, I am a writer of erotic and romantic stories and have been plying my trade for many years. My works include a story contributed to the recent smash success anthology SWING! edited by Jolie DuPre. Please visit me at my website at www.randalllang.com or my blog at www.randalllang.blogspot.com.

Name an author (or authors) whose work you have read or the first time that you enjoyed.

I’m sure that it comes as no surprise to anyone that, as a straight man, I don’t actually read a lot of romance. The numerous books by Morgan Ashbury delicately straddle the line between romance and erotica. Morgan’s work continues to appeal to me because of the unique angles and plot twists that she brings to a story. As much as I hate to admit it, Morgan’s romance stories are usually more ‘hard edged’ and less ‘mushy’ than mine. Now for erotica, we are neck and neck.

How/when did you decide to become a writer?

I had enjoyed writing in high school, although the ‘forced’ aspect of theme production took most of the joy out of it. With the required reading in both high school and college, I formed the mistaken opinion that a writer had to have a PhD in literature and be fluent in several languages in order to produce a readable book. My technical education soon took me away from writing and the idea of writing stories was quickly left behind.

Years later I developed a desire to read books about local history and, in particular, the history of the underground coal mines that were the keystone of the economy where I lived. One of these was Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam, the book that later became the hit movie October Sky. The man had a way of telling his stories in simple language that flowed along as I read, creating clear mental images of the people and places about which he was writing. I found that so impressive that I read several more of his books and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Well, if he could do it, maybe I could also.

My work at the time was underground, and required me to walk for mile after mile during the twelve hour shifts. With only the sound of my own footsteps in the dark and nearly silent environment, my mind came alive with thoughts, ideas, and stories that would otherwise have been lost to the din of surrounding noise. Hour after hour the thoughts would appear, take shape, and develop into romantic and erotic stories. During my break periods, I began to hand write the stories into a spiral bound tablet that I carried with me. Soon I had numerous stories, and it seemed that, as soon as one was written, another would pop into my head. Once I started compiling them on a computer, books began to take shape. With a pile of stories completed, I began to wonder, “Are they good enough to publish?”

Describe your experience getting published for the first time. Would you have done anything differently?

As I sat with my collection of stories, I had NO idea even how to look for a publisher. A few Google inquiries taught me that what I had written qualified as “erotica”. When I began looking for publishers, I quickly hit what I call the “pink ceiling”. The first publishers I found were interested in works by “Women only” or “GLBT only”. I compiled a long list of publishers and, one by one, read their submission guidelines. My dirty little short stories simply did not seem to fit any of them. Looking back, I sorely wish that Logical Lust had been around. Eventually I stumbled upon a publisher who appeared to deal predominately in whips and chains BDSM books, but also carried some straight erotica. With my ‘what can I lose’ attitude in place, I formatted my stories to that publisher’s requirements, wrote up a transmittal letter with all requested information, and attached my stories. To my surprise, I received a personal reply from the publisher in about a week. Among other recommendations was a suggestion to change my pen name from the “Randy Rider” I had submitted into “Randall Lang”. I am eternally grateful for that. In my naïveté, I had assumed that the author of erotic works was required to have a ‘porn star-esque’ campy name. After a few more communications, I received a contract form that I quickly signed and sent back. With no edits and no further communication, my books shortly appeared on the publisher’s website bearing a couple of completely forgettable and meaningless covers, and entitled, “Sweet Nothings” and “Sweet Nothings 2”. It was an amazing feeling to see my work published and available for sale. In the years that followed, I developed another book of erotic stories and a five volume series, all of which were plopped onto the website without edits, previews, cover design consultation, and in some cases, without signed contract forms. It was not until I began to explore the book loops that I began to get a picture of how the system actually works.

Would I have done anything differently? Probably not. The exhilaration of seeing each new book come up for sale, even with a crappy cover and inaccurate blurb has to be better than submitting endless queries and receiving numerous rejections.

What is one of the nicest things a critic or fan has said about your work?

Considering that most of my work is erotica, I actually get little feedback from readers. My only gauge until recently has been those beautiful blue lines at Fictionwise. As long as the lines are blue or green and not brown, I’m happy. I did receive some nice words from Editor Jolie DuPre after she read my story for the SWING! anthology. Kind words from her are high praise indeed. My newest release, Magnificent Man, was very well received by the editors, but, at this time, I am still awaiting critical reviews. My fingers are crossed.

Does your family/significant other know and support your writing? What do they think?

Before Magnificent Man hit the streets, I had kept my writing a secret from my grown children. Having a Dad who writes ‘dirty books’ is probably not something that they would brag about to their friends. I’ll send each of them a signed copy of Magnificent Man, and if they care to research Randall Lang, they will learn what they will learn. Otherwise, the undertaker can fill them in after he fills me in.

Does your writing turn you on?

Oh HELL yea! If it doesn’t ‘starch me up’, it certainly will not be interesting to the reader. The mind is the most sensitive erogenous zone, and that is the one I wish to stroke.

Name a few references every writer (or writer in your genre(s)) should have.

Let me scream this from my well-worn soapbox! D-I-C-T-I-O-N-A-R-Y!  For GOD’S sake, learn to spell and learn to use a dictionary! Misspelled words are giant gaping potholes in the story that distract the reader from the journey that you have written. DO NOT depend upon ‘spell-check’! Get a dictionary and USE IT! The spelling on the book loops I visit is appalling, and that is from published authors.

A grammar guide is essential. Again, DO NOT rely upon the grammar-check of MS Word. It was developed by Chinese people who went to Argentina for a one-week training course in English. It does not even know the difference between ‘your’ and ‘you’re’ or ‘its’ and ‘it’s’. If you wish to call yourself a writer, you must learn how to punctuate and when to capitalize. One of the absolute best reference sources I have found is http://www.getitwriteonline.com/ . In the archives, they have actual answers for those sticky grammatical questions.

Finally, every writer should have a good thesaurus. When the editor screams about a writer overusing words, the thesaurus will help to correct that problem. I was always taught that, “You don’t have to remember this stuff now, but you must know where to find it later when you need it.” AMEN to that. A writer without reference guides is a blind man driving a bus. Your writing represents you and you DO NOT want it to say ‘moron’.

How do you overcome writer’s block? Any suggestions?

YES, and this was confirmed by a recent discussion in a book loop. When the writing becomes stalled, jump ahead to a scene that you know will be part of the story later on and write that scene. Then simply continue on from there until the muse delivers the connecting prose. I have written as many as three scenes ahead of time and connected them up as the ideas came to me.

Where did the idea for Magnificent Man come from?

Magnificent Man is Don Quixote on a motorcycle. Not literally, but figuratively. I am by nature anachronistic. I believe in the old values of honesty, chivalry, nobility, and faith and I wanted a hero who could share those values, without question, in the face of tormentors who wished to tear him down. But how could I create such a man in today’s world and where could I put him so that he would be accepted and admired? Once I had a hero and a location, the story fell together like the last pieces of a puzzle.

How and where do you do your research?

Most of Magnificent Man takes place in the desert county of the American Southwest. I spent two weeks in Arizona researching the desert, the history, the towns, the people, even the roads of that area. The rest I did using internet research. Magnificent Man takes the main characters on a journey through Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, and if you use a road map, you can follow them route-by-route, town-by- town, and reservation-by-reservation.  I created an imaginary town where my hero was born, La Mancha, California; everyone should get THAT one, an imaginary town near the Mexican Border, and an imaginary county where an ugly incident occurs. Other than that, places, buildings, etc. are real. I started to use the names of real people but changed my mind.

SWING!

This is the point where I shut up and the reader says, “Finally!” Once again, I want to thank Jim and Zetta Brown of Logical Lust Publications for the courtesy that they have extended to me, and I wish them much success on the launch of the print edition of SWING! available now. Please feel free to visit me at my website, www.randalllang.com, or to direct question to me at randymann64@yahoo.com. I remain,

your most humble and obedient servant,

Randall Lang

EPIC’s 2010 Ebook Competition opens today!

EPIC

Today marks the opening of the entry period for the prestigious e-publishing awards contest, EPIC’s 2010 Ebook Competition. EPIC’s competition this year covers 37 genres and sub-genres of fiction. It’s open to ebooks published between October 12, 2008 and May 31, 2009, and the entry period is from July 15th – Aug 15th.

Follow the link to the competition page and download all the information you need http://bit.ly/M9NUc

EPIC is the “Electronically Published Internet Connection” and is the foremost organisation for published/contracted authors and industry figures in the e-publishing industry. It’s the voice of e-publishing. If you figure in the e-publishing industry in any way, you must consider joining EPIC.

Jim Brown

http://www.logical-lust.com

http://www.ll-publications.com

EPIC’s 2010 EBook Competition – WANNA BE A JUDGE?

EPIC, the Electronically Published Internet Connection

PERMISSION TO DISTRIBUTE GRANTED

This needs posting anywhere authors and publishers and editors and other industry professionals can be found.

Calling for judges!! EPIC’s Annual EBook Competition is looking for judges.

The competition starts accepting entries July 15th!

Judge’s Application:
http://spreadsheets .google.com/ viewform? hl=en&formkey=clBXa1JpTkR qZDdhVmNMODZ6Zjd rVkE6MA

If you can’t click on the above or can’t copy/paste, here’s a shorter link:

http://bit.ly/9AFGw

To learn more about EPIC – The Electronically Published Internet Connection, please visit:

http://www.epicauthors.com

You don’t have to be a member of EPIC to judge, but new members are always welcome!

ARe’s 28 Days of Heart Campaign – Authors Wanted!

ARe's 28 Days of Heart Campaign

Announcing ARe’s 28 Days of Heart Campaign – Authors Wanted!

Submissions Call for Charity Project

Please feel free to repost to loops, blogs, websites, etc. Help us make this project a huge success!

Open Submissions Call!

All Romance™ Needs You for the 28 Days of Heart Campaign to Benefit the American Heart Association

During the month of love, when everyone’s attention is focused on matters of the heart, we at All Romance (www.allromance.com) want to help fight the number one killer of women, heart disease, and we need your help and your submissions.

Beginning February 1, 2010, we will release one new short story per day for the entire month. All proceeds from the sale of these shorts, which will be offered exclusively on AllRomance.com as individual eBooks and also bundled into 4 eBook anthologies, will be donated to the American Heart Association (www.americanheart.org).

The 28 stories will be chosen from submissions received between July 1 and October 31, 2009. Any author who has an eBook available on ARe, or whose publisher lists eBooks with us, is eligible to submit. Submissions must be 10,000 to 20,000 words.

The preferred heat rating is 4 or 5 flames, though stories rated a hard 3 flames will also be considered. An explanation of the flame rating system can be found on our site. We are looking for a wide variety of themes and sub-genres, as long as the story is a romance.

The stories selected will be reviewed by an editor and provided with cover art, but please make sure submissions are as polished as you can make them before submitting. Previously published stories will be considered only if all rights have reverted back to the author and the story is no longer available for download elsewhere. Backlist and contact info for the authors whose work is chosen will be listed in the back of their story.

Submission details can be found at the link on the All Romance Home Page that reads “Publishers/Authors”

Questions should be emailed to cat.johnson@allromanceebooks.com. Final selection of participants will be made and announced in November 2009.

http://www.allromanceebooks.com/publishers.html

PLEASE PASS ON THIS CALL – JOIN TOGETHER TO MAKE THIS A SUCCESS!

Jim Brown

Logical-Lust Blog

Cherries Jubilee – Before Eva Met Jared

A new short story release from Logical-Lust:

Before she was a sex goddess, Eva Cavell was a virgin.

In “Cherries Jubilee” a young, and innocent, Eva Cavell comes to terms with the challenges of reaching womanhood and independence. When her first job results in demotion and humiliation, Eva finds comfort in the arms of handsome blond, Casey Weller . . . comfort and revenge.

“Cherries Jubilee” is the short story prequel to Eva’s adventures in Messalina: Devourer of Men.

A $2 electronic quick read - or receive it FREE with a print or ebook purchase of

MESSALINA: DEVOURER OF MEN from Logical-Lust.com

Sex is the dessert of life…don’t forget your “Cherries.”

Week long event with SWING! authors!

Hey everyone, we’re having a week long event with the authors of SWING! at the vibrant and active JeanieandJayha group on yahoo. This is THE liveliest (and loveliest) group on the web!

Why not pop along and join us there? As well as invigorating chat with the J&J ladies and the authors of SWING! there will be prizes to win daily http://bit.ly/lsdkR

See you there!

Jim Brown

Logical-Lust