Love and Loss

With the approach of October, known to many as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I wanted to get a head start and tell you about the Shades of Pink Anthology put together by Kallysten (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/510084.Kallysten). She pulled together 32 other writers to create the Shades of Pink Anthology that is being offered as a gift for anyone making a donation through the link set up on StayClassy.org

http://www.stayclassy.org/fundraise?fcid=261380

This project is special to me, as I lost a beloved friend to cancer. As a child, she beat Hodgkin's, suffered through life-altering side effects of chemo and multiple surgeries, and later in life developed breast cancer. My friend, Teresa Schulte McCartney, succumbed to surgery complications and died in September 2007. Although we had grown apart since we were kids, not seeing each other often as we got older and focused on our families, she had a profound impact on me as I was growing up. Many of my best childhood memories were spent at her side. There's a huge Teresa shaped hole in my life, and some days I will see or do something that makes me stop and wish she were here sharing her smile and hugs.

To all of you that knows someone struggling with this horrible disease, or someone that lost the fight, or someone that beat the bitch with a 2x4 and is in remission. My thoughts are with you.

-- T

This is the attached info she has sent out for bloggers! Please share on your blogs and social media pages. The anthology is a gift from all 33 authors to show appreciation for your support. Please go to the StayClassy.org site (above) and help us reach our goal.

Shades of Pink Charity Anthology

As you may know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For this occasion, 33 authors have allied for 1 cause: fundraising for research. Their gift to everyone who makes a donation? A romance anthology (ebook) titled Shades of Pink, totaling over 200.000 words / about 500 pages as a PDF.

The suggested donation is $5. Funds are raised via Stayclassy.org and all proceeds go directly to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Readers can also donate to the charity organization of their choice (with a focus on breast cancer) and email their receipt to receive their copy of the anthology in either PDF, ePub or mobi (kindle).

Who: Kate Baum, Brei Betzold, Jean Booth, Catherine Bowman, Perci T. Brooks, Rose Caraway, Bethan Cooper, Sarah Daltry, Vivien Dean, JJ Ellis, Rachel Firasek, Sabrina Garie, Amber Green, T. Hammond, Lisa M. Harley, Susan Harris, K. R. Haynes, Ellie Heller, Laura Hunsaker, Jennifer James, Torie James, Kallysten, K.A. Linde, C. Deanne Rowe, DJ Shaw, Madeline Sheehan, Eden Summers, Gill Taber, J Annas Walker, Matthew Welch, Kristin L. Wilson, Zoe York, Angela Yseult

When: October through November 15th.

What: 33 short stories, including…

·      30 M/F, 1.5 M/M, 1.5 M/F/M

·      4 paranormal, 2 sci-fi, 19 contemporary, 3 historical, 1 BDSM, 9 fantasy, 3 YA (some stories have more than one genre)

·      4 spicy (ménage or kink), 15 sexy (explicit sex scenes), 14 sweet (no sex)

·      A handful of vampires, about four dozen humans including fighters, cursed humans, reincarnated souls, footballers, time travelers, bosses, secretaries, writers, rock stars, teens, witches, soldiers, wives, husbands and fiancés, 1 succubus, 1 genie, 1 extra-terrestrial princess, a few gods and goddesses, a pack of werewolves.

·      Pink, pink and more pink, including cherry blossoms, jewelry,  flamingoes, silk, a leather collar, assorted flowers, hair, a car, lip gloss, champagne, a hair ribbon, a hippo, various clothing items, lemonade and a toy.

Where: Kallysten’s blog

Here you’ll find teasers for all the stories, interviews of the authors posted during all of October, and of course the link where you can donate and help this worthy cause.

Marketing Madness

Catchy title, eh? *Snort* This BLOG entry, unsurprisingly enough, is all about me. In prior GoodReads posts (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6981922.T_Hammond), I've touched on the whole Red Rover versus Blind Seduction thing... but let me catch everyone up to speed on the latest news.

NOTE: This an updated and edited blog entry from GR Apr 7, 2013.

When I wrote Red Rover, it was meant to be a Paranormal Romance / Adult Contemporary novel. It was tough to classify because we have a level-headed woman blinded in an accident who get's a German shepherd she finds she is able to mentally communicate with- paranormal, right? Sigh... it should be so easy.

The book doesn't have the feel of a paranormal book because the book is completely taken over by the dog, Red, and his snarky, witty dialog, sans filter. So, humorous, right? Sigh... Nope.

I had to make myself crazy and I added two hot guys that decide to compete with each other for her affections (think hijacked dates, and sabotaged good-night kisses). So, romantic comedy, right? Heavier sigh.

Then comes the inevitable intimacy... couple this (no pun intended.... mmm, well, on second thought, maybe the pun IS intended) with the humor or the book, and readers were getting opinionated. What? Cute dog and fun laugh-out-loud dialog, now the writer is adding sex? Yep, I know, funny smart people with talking dogs don't have hot sex, right? *Snort* They do in my world (and remember- this is all about me).

But wait! I could have stopped there, but no- I obviously wasn't done messing with everyone's head (or my own, apparently) so I added that the dog has awesome tracking ability that brings him to the attention of the Police department which decides it can take advantage of the unique talents "Team Red" can bring to some of their trickier investigations.

See what I mean about trouble finding a good genre fit? Well, amazingly enough, people are reading the book. But, due to the explicit content, readers asked for a Young Adult version because their kids expressed an interest in reading about the talking dog. Sigh... the book genre angst wasn't complex enough on it's own, now the readers are getting me back by asking for a re-write?

Always one to bow to peer pressure (If you knew me, you would not only be laughing hysterically over this idea, but you'd be insisting there is validity to the Stepford Wives book) I was able to modify the story enough to get close to what I believe to be the equivalency of a PG-13 movie and still retain the elements I most enjoyed about my book: the character relationships. In the Special Edition, I was able to turn my 30-40 year old's into 20-26 year old's (the magic of the computer, and an awesome writer imagination (yep, I just snorted again)). The underlying adult theme of the book was removed to add different backgrounds and a slightly modified plot to make it more acceptable to the 16+ crowd.

While both series contain the same character names and a lot of shared dialogue, the Red series is stripped of graphic sex and language, the characters are younger, and story line is modified to what I believe is the equivalency of a PG movie (subjective, of course, other opinions may vary).

The “Blind” version is written first. Afterward, protagonist ages are reduced to their twenties, and changes made to tone down adult themes and language, making the “Red” version a new story, with obvious mirrored elements of the original (such as the dialog). Some people enjoy following both storylines.

Team Red ‘Blind’ Adult version:

Blind Seduction, Book 1

Color Blind, Book 2

Blind Faith, Book 3 (coming Winter 2013)

Blind Rage, Book 4 (coming Spring 2014)

Team Red ‘Red’ New Adult version:

Red Rover, Book1

Red Zone, Book 2

Seeing Red, Book 3 (coming Winter 2013)

Want a fun, spicy, romantic read? Do you like a touch of the paranormal (Teresa has mental communication with her dog; my options were paranormal or schizophrenia, right?). Laughing out loud is guaranteed (I apologize in advance for all the people that stare at you while you read the book). 
 
AMAZON LINKS:
Blind Seduction (Book 1): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C8UB0JK
Color Blind (Book 2): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E652OTK
Red Rover (Book 1, of New Adult version): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BQEUEFA
Red Zone (Book 2, of New Adult version): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EOZFSM2

B&N LINKS:
Blind Seduction US: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blind-seduction-t-hammond/1116520185?ean=2940148585398
Color Blind US: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/color-blind-t-hammond/1116518426?ean=2940148549895