This is the question I get asked the most, and my favorite to answer. Because the truth is, ideas are everywhere–and in the grand scheme of things, relatively unimportant.

What?? What did you say? Ideas are everything, aren’t they?

Nope. I’ll tell you what IS important if you go here, the Entangled Publishing blog for Indulgence authors (Indulgence is the imprint that Rules of Negotiation and The Boss’s Fake Fiancee were written for) —->>> http://www.indulgencebooks.com/2012/11/09/where-do-you-get-your-ideas/

I’ll be blogging on the Indulgence every month or so from here on. But don’t worry, I’ll ping you here when I am!

xoxo,
Inara

Just a quick note to let any of you in the Portland area know that I’ll be doing a live reading from my books in the Big Red Wordstock chair at 12:30, on the corner of Park and Yamhill, downtown Portland. I will do a reading from my latest adult romance, which will be released in October from Entangled Publishing, and from my young adult Delcroix Academy series. I will bring SWAG and BOOKS to giveaway. Come see me!

One of the best things about being an author is meeting readers. As I mentioned in my last blog post, I don’t just write for me. I write for you, the reader, and consider it my responsibility to create a story that leaves just enough room for you to feel connected but not limited. I want characters that are real, but flexible. Stories that have heart and meaning, but are not so explicit that you can’t make the meaning evolve to the space that you are in.

All that gobblygook aside, I want to meet reader expectations. That’s a big part of being a romance novelist: knowing what readers want and fulfilling their desires in a way that touches both writer and reader. And how do I know what readers want? First and foremost, I am reader myself. I’ve been reading romance since I was a little girl (probably well before I should have been). Short category, epic historical, contemporary, Regency, erotica. You name it, I’ve read it and loved it. But next to that, I need to talk to and hear from readers.

I get feedback and contact with readers a number of ways. Some of you write me, and I adore you and (barring some technological fail) try to write back promptly. Some of you post reviews on Amazon and B&N (bless your heart!), or review your books on your blogs. Reviews are essential to those of us playing the publishing game, and I appreciate those reviews more than I can say. But the very BEST, most WONDERFUL way I have to contact with readers is to meet them.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE meeting readers. I love answering questions, talking books, talking writing, squealing, hugging, and even debating about the future of publishing (because I’m a lawyer, yanno, so I sometimes have a hard time keeping my mouth shut).

Which brings me to WORDSTOCK. Wordstock is a huge literary festival in Portland, featuring all sorts of fantastic authors. If you live anywhere in the Pacific Northwest, and enjoy hearing talking books, this is a “do not miss” sort of event. This year, I’m appearing a number of times, both to talk YA and adult romance. My schedule is:

October 13
3:30 YA Stage, I’ll be talking about my young adult fiction.
5:00 Work for Art Stage, I’ll be talking about my adult romance.

October 14
3:00 National Endowment for the Arts Stage, I’ll be part of a panel on Electronic Voyeurism
5:00 YA Stage, I’ll be moderating a panel on trends in YA paranormal books.

Tons more details on Wordstock are on the festival website. You can find me here.

I would love to see some friendly faces in the crowd, and wow, it would be fantastic if some of you introduced yourselves, or came to me for an autograph. I will have swag to give away, including a SNEAK PEEK–CAN’T FIND IT ON THE INTERNET ANYWHERE I GUARANTEE–look at the cover for my October release, THE BOSS’S FAKE FIANCEE. A few people will walk away with free books. Doesn’t that sound fun?

Over the next few days, I’ll be blogging again about my panel topics. I’m particularly interested in hearing from you about the electronic voyeurism topic (what do you like to see when you peek into a bedroom via your Kindle, Nook, or iPad?) and in getting ideas for the YA paranormal panel. Stay tuned for more to come!

xoxo,
Inara

Writing for publication is both an intensely personal and shockingly public act. Writers who put their work into the public realm know people will read it and respond to it. This is, of course, why we put it out there. If writers truly didn’t care about readers, we would put our stories under our pillows and forget about them.

But that isn’t what publishing is about. Publishing is an act of connection. It is an intimate, emotional tie between writer and reader. I create the characters but they don’t truly live until you read them. Your experience of them is its own act of creation. You connect emotionally, bringing your own experiences, hopes, dreams, and fears to the table, and the characters that emerge are changed BY YOU. You are the only one who knows what you have experienced, and how the characters took shape in your mind.

If I have done my job as a writer, I have created a hardy, but ultimately incomplete framework–an emotional canvas that is 90% filled in. I can’t fill in 100%; partly because I work in language not cloning, and partly because I don’t want to. I want you to create the last 10%. I want my characters to spring to life, new and fresh, each time they are experienced by a reader.

For that 90%, my goal is to draw a sustainable, reliable picture that is internally consistent, honest, believable, and real. If I don’t give readers enough, they can’t finish the picture. Actions become unpredictable and therefore unsatisfying. Emotional journeys become opaque. The connection cannot be made. On the other hand, if I give readers too much, the work is boring. Your emotional connection stems from the piece of my characters that you inhabit. If I fill them up all the way, there’s no room for you. But I have to give you the springboard so you can jump, effortlessly, into their skin.

When I get a review of one of my books, my first thought is, OF COURSE, “did they like it?” I want to be liked. I really do. I’ll admit that. But then I wonder, “Did they get it? Did I do my job as a writer? Did the characters work?”

It is this second level that, ultimately, sustains me as a writer. Because I’ll never be liked by everyone. The emotional journey of each character is different, and the emotional journey of my readers–which, as I mentioned before, is informed by their own life experiences–will vary. Liking me is ice cream sundae stuff. I love it, but it isn’t enough to fuel the body forever.

This brings me to the review I received today, from an incredibly thoughtful, insightful woman at The Romance Reviews. Here’s a snippet of the review. You can read the rest here.

“I love Inara Scott’s writing, and her well-crafted, passionate characters. And it’s because this story is so well written that I had a hard time with Tori. Her insecurities run deep, and her mother’s wealth of painful lessons have left her believing that she will neither find nor deserve love. Maybe it was because I felt so deeply for her and genuinely liked her so much that her insecurities really bothered me. I was hurt by how much she herself was hurting—and while this is unequivocally the sign of a well-written story, I don’t think I was quite prepared to feel this way about her as a heroine.”

In explaining her rating (three out of five starts) the reviewer goes on to say,

“Coming up with a rating for this story was a little challenging. The tension and chemistry between Tori and Brit really is explosive and passion and tender, and I really wanted to follow their story to the end. However, I wasn’t prepared for just how emotional the story was going to be, or how I personally would respond to Tori’s psychology.”

And that’s where my heart, as a writer, leaps. This is a well-written, honest review that considers both the author’s contribution AND the contribution of the reader. Both combine to make the experience of reading. And while for this reader, the journey was perhaps not the one she was prepared to go down at that moment, I still feel like I scored a 10.

Happy Saturday, friends! 

Thanks so much for helping spread the word about romance. It was such fun to see my PSA repeated on the internetz; maybe now those doubters will start listening!  

(Okay, probably not, but we can hope, right?)

So, somewhere in the midst of my contest I added enough Twitter followers to hit 2200, which is such a fabulous, round number that I decided to give away prizes to TWO WINNERS!

1) MELODY MAY! Please contact me to claim your prize!

3) STACIE BARTH! Please contact me to claim your prize! 

Have a great weekend everyone!

No, I don’t have any statistics. I’m not going to link to any studies or articles in the psychiatric literature. I’m just going to say: DUH. How happy are all those people reading literary fiction about people dying, being trapped in closets, suffering abuse, and getting addicted to drugs? NOT VERY HAPPY.

How happy are romance readers?

Yeah…that’s what I thought.

One of the things I love about the national Romance Writers of America conference is that it brings together thousands of like-minded people. Smart people. Great writers. Enthusiastic readers. We don’t all like the same kind of romance–there’s people who like inspirational romance, people who read contemporary, and those who wonder what all the fuss is about 50 Shades because they’ve been reading and writing erotica for years. But we all agree that reading and writing happily ever after is good for the soul.

Unsupported assertion: reading and thinking about happily ever after makes you happy. Reading and thinking about how two people work through conflicts and–despite life not being perfect–carve out a life that is meaningful and joyful makes you smarter.

Reading about people finding physical fulfillment raises your pulse. And we KNOW that’s healthy.

So in honor of the RWA National Convention in Anaheim, which I will be at for a couple of days next week (Friday July 27-Sunday July 29), I am sponsoring this important Public Service Announcement/giveaway. To be entered, you must:

1) Tweet “Reading romance makes you smarter and happier” (add @inarascott so I know you did it) OR
2) Update Facebook status to: “Reading romance makes you smarter and happier” OR
3) Go tell someone (that wouldn’t know this about you) that you read and love romance. Comment here and tell me you did it.

Do any of the three and then fill out the form below. If you don’t fill out the form I won’t know how to contact you about your prize!

THE PRIZES

1) 1:1 Pitch coaching at RWA–I’ll only be around Friday evening (July 27), but I will buy you a drink, hear your agent/editor pitch, and give you feedback.
2) Autographed copy of one of my YA books (The Talents or The Marked) sent to your home or delivered to you in person at RWA.
3) Electronic copy of Radiant Desire or Rules of Negotiation. I will email to you and also send a signed postcard with autograph.

Contest runs for 2 days–winner announced Friday July 20.

Keep reading!!

xoxo,
Inara

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Hi friends,

Some happy news to share this Mother’s Day–I just received my contract for a follow up to my February adult contemporary romance, RULES OF NEGOTIATION! This book is tentatively titled (are you ready for this?):

THE BILLIONAIRE’S FAKE FIANCEE!

No, seriously, that’s what it’s called. I’m not even joking.

Here’s the blurb:

She’s his worst nightmare…

Reclusive billionaire Garth Solen learned a long time ago that weakness and emotion only lead to pain. The last thing the “human computer” wants is a relationship, especially with a woman like Melissa Bencher, who thinks with her heart and not her head. When Melissa’s impulsive act lands the two of them on the cover of a tabloid, Garth is furious. To protect his ailing grandmother, he’s forced to play the adoring fiancee. But what happens when the lies become the truth?

…or a dream come true.

Melissa Bencher never meant for things to go this far. She only wanted to make her cheating ex-boyfriend jealous–and what better way than to suggest she was dating her gorgeous boss? Now she’s trying on rings and spending private weekends with a dangerously sexy fake fiance. The game is clear: for two weeks, they’re an adoring couple, and then they part ways. No emotions. No entanglements. Unfortunately, when it comes to matters of the heart, Melissa’s never been good at following the rules…

I’m thrilled to share Melissa and Garth’s story with you. If you read RULES, you will remember that Garth is a genius entrepreneur and scientist who guards his privacy like the crown jewels. Getting a job with Garth helped pull Melissa out of a dark depression; falling for him was the last thing she wanted to do. But in matters of the heart, there are no guarantees, right?

(Okay, there is one guarantee: there will be an HEA at the end of this book. Sorry if that ruins the surprise for anyone. )

BFF (as I’ve been calling it when I chat with my editor, the amazing Libby Murphy) is very tentatively slated for release in November 2012. It’s part of the Entangled Publishing Indulgence line. I am having a blast writing for the talented people at Entangled and am thrilled to be able to work with them all on this new project.

For all my YA readers, don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten about you. You’re next.

xoxo,
Inara

A lot of romance writers supply their blog readers with “man candy”: that is, pictures of beautiful, scantily-clad men. Despite the fact that I write about gorgeous men, I don’t really enjoy gawking over male models. Just not my thing. BUT–lest you think you’re missing something by visiting my blog, here’s MY version of Man Candy:

These two sexy guys are Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich. They host a radio show called RadioLab. I don’t remember when I started listening, but at this point, I’ve downloaded every podcast and listened to them all (some more than once). It’s kind of like This American Life, only funnier, and with science.

So these guys are my current crushes. They’re smart and funny, and for me, that’s the best kind of Man Candy.

(Okay, my geeking out is done for the day! Back to your regularly scheduled program!)

Sitting in my hotel room, leaving in a couple of hours for Austin for school visits with fellow Disney authors Megan Crewe and Robin Mellom. Had an incredible time at TeenBookCon, and must give a big shout-out to all of those who worked so hard to organize and make it happen, especially co-chairs Lisa Stultz and Aria (who’s last name I don’t know!). Thanks Lisa for the adorable picture, too!

I was on a panel with the irrepressible Maggie Stiefvater, the adorable Jessica Spotswood, and Orson Scott Card (hereafter known as OSC). Not sure what single word could describe Orson. Instead, I’ll say that, after writing, teaching, and working in publishing for decades, he has an incredible amount of advice, wisdom, and opinion to share. I thought he gave a brilliant keynote, and while our panel occasionally devolved into lunacy (seriously–ask the people who got a little sex ed at TeenBookCon!), I also learned a lot from the wonderful questions posed by the audience, and my fellow authors’ answers.

Among my fav memories from TeenBookCon 2012:

1) Best moment of the event, which brought tears to my eyes: OSC firmly instructing the audience to never, ever, let anyone make them feel ashamed of what they enjoy reading. As a romance reader, and strong supporter of the most-maligned and disparaged genre in literature, this meant a lot. I love OSC for saying this, and hope everyone who heard that speech takes it into their hearts and believes it.

2) Moment in which I knew I was truly odd: when I admitted I write in silence. Maggie and OSC clearly think I’m nuts: they must have music to write. Maggie builds a playlist for each of her books and listening to it transports her into the world of her novel. I love how different writers are!

3) Coolest author moment: meeting Ruta Sepetys, who wrote the book Between Shades of Grey. This is a book I am terrified to read because it is dark and sad, and chronicles the journey of a girl taken from Lithuania to a Soviet labor camp in 1941. This is a fate my mother, who lived in Latvia until she was 6, could easily have suffered, if she and my grandparents had not managed to escape to the United States in 1948. I am sure many of my other Latvian and Lithuanian relatives (my father is Lithuanian) were not so lucky. Ruta is an absolutely delightful person, and now that I have heard her story, I am determined to read her book.

4) Most outright FUN time: hanging with blogger friends Lindsi, Lena, Sarah, Ginger, Kelsey and others at dinner at Chuy’s in Houston after the conference. These girls are awesome fun and I’m so glad I got to get out of the hotel and see a little of Houston! Cheers ladies!

5) As always, I met so many wonderful people, too numerous to name, who I know from Twitter and blogging (waving to Yara Santos, I’ve been w

Hey friends,

Remember that post I put up a while back, about saying thanks (with prizes)? Well, it’s time to announce the winners:

EVERYONE!

Okay, you knew that, right? I’ll be sending something (as in, bookmarks, postcards, stickers, adorable faerie tattos) to everyone who filled out the form and sent me their address. But I did promise some other, bigger prizes, so here they are:

1) ONE COPY OF THE TALENTS

SARAH MILLER!

2) ONE ARC OF THE MARKED

JENNALY NOLAN!

3) ONE E-COPY OF RULES

ADRIANNE RODGERS!

4) ONE E-COPY of RADIANT DESIRE

SHERYL CORDEIRO!

and ONE GRAND PRIZE:

5) A PACK WTIH BOTH THE TALENTS AND THE MARKED!

JAIME HYPES!!

Thanks so much to everyone who has supported me, my books, and my writing. I wish I could give each of you a big ol’ hug, but that may be inappropriate, and/or get me arrested. Besides, all that traveling would be really hard on the pocketbook.

xoxo,
Inara

Hey everyone, I hope you enjoyed the YA Scavenger Hunt!

The fun is over, but the prizes have only just begun. Check the YA Scavenger Hunt blog to find out if you won one of the grand prizes. But for those of you who entered my contest, here are the three winners for a prize pack with both THE TALENTS and THE MARKED!

ELENA SANCHEZ

SUKI L

MARISHA ABBOTT

I will send out prizes to the winners. Thanks so much for playing!

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Yesterday, as did hundreds of other authors, I sat by my phone, desperately hoping for a call. I didn’t get one. (Okay, my husband called to ask what color paint I wanted in for the dining room, but that didn’t really count. ) Slowly, I watched the finalists for RWA’s RITA award appear on my computer screen, and didn’t see my name.

That was a little sad. This was the first time I’d entered, and I’d thought RADIANT DESIRE had a shot. It didn’t sell thousands of copies, but it got really lovely reviews, and I had the feeling that if the judges read the book, maybe they’d score it high enough for it to final.

But at the end of the day, as I scrolled through the list of names, I had a little relevation. None of the names were from small presses. They were all Big Six publishers and imprints–Grand Central, Avon, Ballantine, etc. Being the analytic type, I mused on that a little, and why that might be.

Here’s what I came up with:

It could be a basic law of percentages.

I don’t know how many authors from small presses entered, compared to the Big Six, but I suspect we were a minority. Entering the RITA is expensive: $50 for the entry fee, and then you have to buy and ship five copies of the book. That can run you in the nature of $100, particularly when you have a small print run, so your book isn’t set to mass-market prices. Many of the Big Six publishers foot the bill for that. Small presses–and small press authors–can’t afford it.

But even if small presses are percentage-wise, a smaller portion of the entries, I would think percentages would put at least one or two small press books on there. So that doesn’t ring true for me.

It could simply be coincidence that there’s no small presses on the list. However, I think this happens every year. So I doubt that as well.

It could be quality. That’s the next most obvious answer. Those small press books just aren’t as good as the Big Six. The small presses get the leftovers that weren’t good enough for NY.

I tend to doubt that, as well. Without being too defensive, I’ll tell you about RADIANT DESIRE. I wrote this book for NY. My agent adored it and was eager to sell it. We submitted widely, and had a lot of the same response from editors: this is a lovely book, but it doesn’t fit the paranormal sub-genre. Paranormal readers want dark, alpha male stories, not stories about humans and faeries. We don’t think we can break it out of the midlist.

Determined not to leave my book under the bed, I went to Entangled Publishing, a small, boutique publisher with an eye for quality and a willingness to take stories that didn’t fit squarely into the mainstream. I had a fabulous developmental editor, Libby Murphy, who made the book shine. Entangled’s incredible cover guru, Heather Howland, created a gorgeous, ethereal, beautiful cover that has been universally adored.

So, modesty aside, I don’t think it’s quality. I’ve never believed that there happen to be exactly as many “top tier” books as there are slots for publication by the Big Six. I believe there are fantastic, wonderfully written books that don’t fit into an editor’s list, or may not have the potential for a huge, NY market. They may never find a home in NY. They may find it with a small press.

Yet after dismissing percentages, coincidence, and quality, what’s left? What about prejudice? Do the RITA judges mark down small press books simply because they’re from a small press?

Let’s assume right from the start that RITA judges are smart, well-read, well-meaning people, many of whom are themselves published by the New Publishing (e-books, small press, etc.). I certainl

Those of you who have been with me for a little while may remember the huge, incredible YA Scavenger Hunt. In this hunt, you jump around from blog to blog of YA authors, finding exclusive content, deleted scenes, and other delicious treats. At each blog, you collect a clue. The clues will be plugged into a puzzle at the end. Those who complete the puzzle are eligible for grand prize (lots and lots of books). We did it in the summer of 2011 and again winter 2011, and now it’s BACK and BIGGER THAN EVER!

This season there are 60 authors. Yikes! Can you believe the awesomeness of THAT? Go here to scroll through all the gorgeous covers of the participating authors.

Now, because the hunt has gotten so huge, and yes, I know, a little confusing, there have been a few changes.

FIRST, for all YA Scavenger Hunt (or YASH, to those in the know!) related questions, go here:
http://www.yascavengerhunt.blogspot.com/. It’s a whole entire BLOG (set up by the fabulous Beth Revis) dedicated to YASH.

Next, instead of having all 60 authors as part of the same hunt, there will be three teams (red, yellow, and blue) this year, and three separate hunts. I am part of the YELLOW TEAM! You can find out which authors are part of which team here.

Finally, here’s the schedule: March 29th, noon: The hunt opens. April 1st, noon: The hunt ends! All times are Pacific Standard Time.

So you’ve got 72 hours to enter. Remember, there are three contests open simultaneously, each with a prize of TWENTY signed books. You can enter one, two, or three of the contests, with a total of SIXTY signed books being given away!

Sounds fabulous, right? Well, stay tuned for more info and for a hint as to what my secret, exclusive content will be!

xoxo,
Inara

Dear friends,

I have a lot to be thankful for right now.

First, I was completely overwhelmed and touched by your support and help through the crazy DABWAHA madness. No, I didn’t win, but thanks to you, I got almost 20% of the vote. I consider that a huge victory, considering that I was matched against the book that is probably going to take the whole contest. Thank you for your Tweets, FB comments, and emails. Thank you for reading and enjoying Radiant Desire (and for supporting me even when it wasn’t your sort of book!).

Next, I have to say thanks to all of you who have bought, read, loved, and reviewed Rules of Negotiation. Yesterday, it hit a high of 25th of all the romance series books on Amazon. It was a big deal for me to see this number, and an even bigger deal every time I hear from a reader that they enjoyed it.

And finally, I have to say thanks to all the people who are hosting me, blogging with me, reviewing me, and supporting me in the release of The Talents and The Marked. Hard to believe I’m putting out 3 books in 3 months, but I am, and if it’s exhausting for me, I’m sure it’s even more exhausting for you to listen to me talking about it!

So, I’m saying THANK YOU. But sometimes THANK YOU isn’t enough. I want to give THINGS too.

To that end…Leave a comment here, and if you want a prize, fill out the form at the end of the blog. (Scroll all the way to the bottom!) Please specify what kind of books and swag you would want to win. If you don’t specify, I’ll send you young adult stuff.

EVERYONE WHO FILLS OUT THE FORM WILL GET SOMETHING IN THE MAIL!

I have up for grabs:

1) ONE COPY OF THE TALENTS

2) ONE ARC OF THE MARKED

3) ONE E-COPY OF RULES

4) ONE E-COPY of RADIANT DESIRE

5) MANY BOOKMARKS, TATTOOS, POSTCARDS, and assorted swag.

and ONE GRAND PRIZE:

6) A PACK WTIH BOTH THE TALENTS AND THE MARKED!

Sound good? Well, you’ve earned it!

thanks friends.

xoxo,
Inara

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I’m just going to say it right now: I’m the Jamaican Bobsled Team of Round One of DABWAHA. Radiant Desire is pitted against Dragon Bound, the book that has the third most picks for champion out of all the books in the contest.

It’s a big book, my friends. Goliath, some might say.

But Radiant Desire is no David. It’s better. It’s…a naughty faerie.

Kaia is the heroine of Radiant Desire, and she’s a Light Faerie, and one of four Handmaids to Zafira, Queen of the Fey. I like to call her my naughty faerie because her duty, as a Handmaid, is to seduce and humiliate men, to punish them for their arrogance and greed. And she’s very very good at it. But Kaia has the supreme challenge laid out for her in Radiant Desire: to get a man to fall in love with her, without using her faerie magic. And does she succeed? Well, it’s a romance novel, folks. What do you think?

But being a naughty faerie isn’t just about seduction. So I’d like to say a little about being a naughty faerie–and why I think YOU should become one.

1) You are Beautiful—No Matter What Shape You Are
Women come in all shapes and sizes. Kaia the faerie is the image of men’s fantasies, collected over hundreds of years. But when she becomes a real, flawed human, she becomes even sexier.

Here’s how Garrett, the man she seduced as a faerie, describes her transformation from faerie to human:

The woman he met just two weeks ago had been supremely self-assured, wearing an air of confidence in everything she did and every move she made. This woman was vulnerable. This woman did not know how she would be received.
This woman, amazingly enough, did not know how beautiful she was. Yet somehow, now that she’d lost that air of otherworldly perfection and confidence and her flaws had been revealed, she had become even more attractive.
It was devastating.
And infuriating.

You might have guessed that Garrett isn’t particularly interested in falling in love. LOL. Especially not with the woman who seduced him and deserted him a few weeks before.

2) You Admit To Being Vulnerable
Humans love. It is our greatest strength, and our greatest weakness. As a romance writer, I couldn’t believe more strongly in the power of love and the way it transforms lives. Kaia learns about love in Radiant Desire. YOU, as an honorary naughty faerie, already know that to love, you must risk your heart. You must become vulnerable. And here lies the greatest power of all.

Wings or no wings, she was as vulnerable as any human. And her heart could just as easily be broken.

3) You Know the Power of “I Love You” and “I’m sorry”
This is Kaia’s greatest lesson, which she learns by working in a flower shop, and by falling in love. As an honorary naughty faerie, you carry this around in your heart. Humans have the power to do really bad things. We fight wars, kill people, destroy the environment, and hurt others. But we do amazing things, too. We love, and we forgive. This is our power. This is your power.

“When people come to the flower shop, you know what they want to say to each other? Two things: I’m sorry, and I love you. That’s it. They say it different ways and with different words, but it comes down to the same thing each time. So I think that’s what it means to be human. I think it means taking chances and risking getting hurt. I think it means loving and forgiving.”

And that’s what it means to be a naughty faerie—are you ready to join the team?

If you hang around Facebook or Twitter, you probably heard me giggling in glee on Sunday, when I discovered Radiant Desire was listed as a DABWAHA finalist. Of course, the first thing you probably wondered was—what the heck is DABWAHA? And on a related note, why is Inara so absurdly excited about it?

Before I tell you about DABWAHA, let me preface by telling you a little about 2011. It wasn’t my favorite year. The sequel to my Delcroix Academy book, The Watchers, was re-titled, re-branded, and pushed out for publication in 2012. After having quit my job in 2010, I decided (for financial and mental health reasons) that I needed to go back to work. But I didn’t want to go back to what I’d been doing before, and really didn’t want to practice law full time. So I found myself starting over, applying for jobs I knew nothing about, and, frankly, not getting them.

That really wasn’t fun.

My single title adult romance, Radiant Desire, was released in October 2011 by Entangled Publishing, and while it got lovely reviews, it didn’t exactly hit the NYT bestseller list.

But here’s the thing: I’m a stubborn cuss. I wasn’t going back to corporate law, and I was going to keep publishing, damn it. I do school visits and talk to students all the time about not giving up. I was living that mantra, just like I lived it when I started in publishing (chalking up over 100 rejections before I found an agent).

And then 2012 came along, and things started to turn around. I found a good, part-time job (actually, several of them) that allowed me to make some money, keep writing, and finally try out my dream job of teaching at a law school. I released another book with Entangled, Rules of Negotiation, and right now, it’s #6 on Amazon’s “Hot New Releases” bestseller list for romance series. A nice review for The Marked (formerly, The Watchers) came in from Kirkus, a notoriously snarky reviewer, from someone who is apparently a fan of both Dancia and Jack.

Which brings us to…DABWAHA. DABWAHA stands for Dear Author Bitchery Writing Award for Hella Authors. I think that means “a contest for really good writers, sponsored by the gals at Dear Author and Smart Bitches, Trashy Books.”

The contest is set up like March Madness, that basketball thing I haven’t the least bit of interest in following, despite the fact that I went to Duke and really ought to care. 64 books are chosen as finalists, eight in each of eight sub-genres. Books are pitted against each other and readers vote for their favorites. Just like with college basketball, before the games start, readers pick brackets and try to figure out who will move on to the next rounds. There are big prizes involved for winning authors and winning bracket-pickers. Ipads, tons of books, that sort of thing.

But the best part about DABWAHA is the trash talking. Authors troll for votes, beg and plead with their fans, and trash talk other authors (all in good fun, of course—nothing mean!). I watched one of my favorite authors, Julie James, engage in an all-out crazy vote blitz last year, and this year I desperately wanted into the fight. With luck on my side, and 2012 being the year of the phoenix, I figured, what the heck?! I’m going for it.

So, I sent out some emails. Okay, a lot of emails. To family, friends, and whoever I thought might nominate Radiant Desire. And here’s the crazy thing—IT WORKED! Radiant Desire ended up as the “Reader Nominee” in the Paranormal/Urban Fantasy category of DABWAH

Hey Friends — guess what? It’s finally here! The Magical Mighty Blog Tour for The Marked!

I won’t be around my own blog much for the next couple of months because I’ll be ALL OVER the blogosphere on everyone else’s blogs! Come check it out–there will be interviews, fun extras, lots of prizes, and maybe even a conversation with Grandma!

3/6/2012 Murphy’s Library
3/7/2012 Verb Vixen
3/9/2012 Chick Loves Lit
3/16/2012 The Book Life
3/18/2012 Up! Brasil
3/22/2012 Chapter by Chapter
3/29/2012 Two Chicks On Books
4/2/2012 Michelle & Leslie’s Book Picks
4/4/2012 The Hardcover Obsession
4/6/2012 The Princess of Storyland
4/9/2012 A Reader’s Adventure
4/12/2012 The Book Cellar
4/13/2012 Steamed
4/16/2012 Fangs, Felines, Fins & Fun Fiction
4/20/2012 IceyBooks
4/24/2012 Buried in Books
4/27/2012 Good Choice Reading

I am often asked about my playlist for a particular book, or for my writing in general. I wish I had a cool list of songs to share with my readers, who would then think I was doubly cool for both being a writer AND listening too cool tunes.

But alas, I am not cool, nor am I intelligent enough to write at the same time I listen to music. If I listen to something with words, I get completely distract by the lyrics and forget to write. To get around this problem, I will sometimes listen to songs in another language, so I can have music but not be distracted. One of my all time favorite albums is by Thomas Dutronc, a French musician whose father was also a French folk singer.

So, it’s a good bet that any of my books will, at some time, have seen me listening to this song: Thomas Dutronc – J’aime plus Paris:

On February 14th, I became part of what I’ve decided to call “New Publishing.” I decided this movement needed a new name because it encompasses e-books, self publishing, independent and small presses, and the democratization of books and publishing. To me, New Publishing is a revolution that takes the old model (small number of publishers control the vast majority of books released) and turns it on its head (small number of publishers control the vast minority of books released). My milestone in New Publishing was the release of my e-book RULES OF NEGOTIATION.

RULES is part of New Publishing for a few reasons. First, it’s an e-book–and only an e-book. You will not find RULES in a bookstore. You don’t need an e-reader to read it (you can get apps for your desktop, or download as a pdf) but you do need a screen.

Second, it was published by a small, boutique publisher, Entangled Publishing, not one of the so-called “Big Six” legacy publishers. (Though Entangled is growing so fast, maybe we need to start saying, Big Six + Entangled? )

Third, it’s cheap ($2.99!). RULES is a contemporary romance. Its market is a huge number of voracious readers who read a LOT. A book OR MORE a day. (Get your head around that, critics–these people read hundreds of books a year! They are READERS, in every sense of the word!) They want quality, well-written books, but they don’t want to pay $7.99 or (heaven forbid) $9.99, especially for an e-book.

So yes, I’m part of New Publishing. Now what about the blessing and the curse thing?

First, the blessing: in New Publishing, there’s a huge number of books hitting the “shelves” everyday, and they’re all a little different. Some will hit traditional tropes and fit squarely into popular genres. Some won’t. Some will cross genres and feature non-traditional heroes and heroines (like the fantastic Busted in Bollywood, by Nicola Marsh, which takes place partly in Mumbai, and features an Indo-American heroine). With a limitless platform to take on new writers and new books, everything can be made available to readers. Everyone can publish, and everyone can share their stories. That’s what I call the “democratization of publishing.” The door is more open now than ever before.

But that, of course, leads to the curse. The vast majority of New Publishing books will find very few readers. A few will break out. Most will not. As the number of books in the marketplace increases, I see consumers becoming overwhelmed. In the face of limitless choices and limited time to read, readers often pick the “guaranteed” winners–books recommended by Oprah, critics, or their favorite bloggers. And that eccentuates the disparity between the bestsellers, and everyone else.

Overwhelmed consumers means the books that succeed will be virally amplified. These “big” books will account for an increasing percentage of books sold. I see this resulting in fewer and fewer authors being able to make a living at writing. I hear this from writer friends of mine who are taking second jobs, and from agents who are finding it harder and harder to sell their clients’ books, even clients who might have had a nice career a decade ago.

More will publish, few will make significant dollars, and a very very very few will make millions. This suggests the end result will be fewer authors supporting themselves with their writing. I worry–though the jury is still out on this for me–that it will also, ultimately, result in the narrowing of what is actually read to a smaller and smaller

Hi friends! I hope you are all having a lovely Tuesday/Monday-in-disguise. I have something fun to share with you today. This is the poster for a conference I’ll be speaking at in April. It’s all about writing to publish, and writing genre fiction, and is organized by the very smart people at Portland State University, so I think it will be very informative and fun.

Let me know if you’re coming and be sure to introduce yourself at the conference. I’ll update my blog when I know which panels I’ll be on.

Add this to the list of things I never thought I’d do: create a widget. Does that sound glamorous and exciting? If so, I worry about you…

Anyway, I’m super excited to launch The Marked into the world and I hope you are excited to read it. Here’s what I’ll be doing for the next 42 (or so) days: watching my little countdown timer. You can too. Just grab the widget and add it to your blog or website!

Get the Countdown Creator Pro widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox! Not seeing a widget? (More info)

(Admittedly, I’m completely clueless about what I’m doing here…let me know if you have trouble and I’ll see if I can fix it!)

I would love to see my countdown widgets all over the blogosphere (wouldn’t everyone?). If you add the widget to your website, email me at [email protected] and I’ll send you a swag pack with bookmarks and bookplates…first two people to email me will also get a signed ARC of The Marked!

Oh wait, I’m not here today! I’m blogging about the power of a cover at: http://www.guiltypleasuresbookreviews.com/2012/02/guest-blog-cover-love-by-inara-scott.html. Stop by and say hello, and enter for a chance to win Rules of Negotiation!

So I was browsing around the web last night and came across a review of The Marked (book 2 of my YA series) that was really bad. I hadn’t seen it before, and I don’t know how long it’s been there, but seriously, it’s nasty.

Normally, I don’t pay attention to bad reviews, but this one was from a major review publication, so I couldn’t ignore it completely. But I had a funny series of reactions as I sat and contemplated its awfulness. First, I giggled in disbelief. Really, I thought? After four well-reviewed books someone out there has decided to turn their distaste on this, one of the best things I’ve written? Hmmm. Then I got confused. How did this happen? The book really doesn’t suck. Seriously, I think it’s better than the first Delcroix book, which got good reviews from major rags, including Kirkus, one of the toughest of them all.

Then I got annoyed. And stuck up my chin. This guy totally missed the point! He doesn’t get Delcroix at all! Delcroix Academy (aka The Talents) isn’t a series about good guys and bad guys, or steamy teen romance. This is a book about people with flaws. People you can’t trust but really want to. A heroine growing and trying to make her way in a very confusing world. Guts in the face of conflicting ideals.

And then I shrugged. This is the essence of writing stories. Some people get them, appreciate them, and love them. Some people don’t. That’s okay.

If we wrote to please everyone, we’d please no one at all.

Dear Friends,

Long ago, in a galaxy far away, when I had book news I would simply jot off an email to my friends, family, and everyone I thought might be interested. Now that I’ve been at this for a little while, it’s grown to be somewhat unmanageable to do this from my personal email account. So, I thought it would be easier (and prettier!) to take the next step and build a REAL NEWSLETTER.

This may be scary for you. I understand completely. It’s scary for me, too! But courage isn’t not being afraid, it’s being afraid and doing things anyway (see–you’ll get pearls of wisdom like this ALL THE TIME if you subscribe to the newsletter!).

I won’t newsletter you very often. I mean, really, have I abused your email yet? I didn’t think so. For example, you probably didn’t even KNOW that I just released a brand new book on Valentine’s Day called Rules of Negotiation (lawyers in love, of course). Or that my first Delcroix book is being released in paperback on March 6th. OR that the second book in the series will be out on April 3! Can you believe all this news? It just. Keeps. Coming.

So here’s the plea: sign up for the newsletter and once or twice a year I’ll let you know when I’ve got a new book coming out, or something fabulous happens, like I win a Pulitzer Prize. Okay, really, it’s just going to be the new books.

Thanks a bunch.

xoxo,
Inara

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