New Novella to release in September!

Hello all!

I’m a bit late with my blog, but I’m copping out and insisting I had a good reason. In fact, it’s a great reason! My grandson turned two and I spent the afternoon with family celebrating. My son and his family put in a pool this spring and what a wonderful way to spend a 92 degree Sunday afternoon.

This week I want to shout out to erotic readers that I have a new book releasing September 13^th with Ellora’s Cave! This book originally was written and selected to be included in a six book anthology by the company. Things changed and instead of a short story, I decided to do some rewriting and release MATING RITUAL as a novella. Both my editor and myself were very pleased with the results! Plus this is my first cover to include Ellora’s Cave’s sexy Rodney! That in itself makes me want to jump for joy!

MATING RITUAL is being released under EC’s Xanadu line, a futuristic fantasy that was a total trip to write! I like this genre and hope to make this first book part of New World Series.

So hope you have a chance to check out this new hot romance and let me know what you think!

Happy end of the summer. I’m soooooo looking forward to jeans and a sweatshirt and cooler weather.

Take care!

Ruby

The aging writer

My blog is late being posted simply because I forgot due to attending my husband's Grandmother's birthday yesterday. She turned 97.  Will I reach the ripe age of 97? I doubt it. But people are living longer these days.
Here's a picture of the Birthday Girl.

My biggest concern is will I still have creative ideas so I can continue to write? I recently reached the phenomenal age of 50. Do I feel old? Nope. Not at all. I just turned in my 5th Cursed MacKinnons story to my editor and hope to hear back from her soon. I'm already working on the 6th, while rewriting another novel I pulled from a different publisher, and I've started a story with a couple of 50+ characters as my hero and heroine. They say write what you know. LOL. I know nothing and still I write. :)

I know there is a vast community of older writers out there, who are extremely talented and continue to provide great stories. Desiree Holt is one of these women. They've been doing stories about her calling her the "Grandma" of porn. LOL. I also know a couple of my fellow Sizzling Scribe sisters are older than me and they write Hot, Hot, Hot and well written stories. These ladies are my inspiration to continue. There's still hope that one day maybe I'll write that 'Great American Novel' and hit the best sellers list. 

Will I do it before I'm 97? Maybe.

Tara Nina

Challenges

I have to admit, I much prefer things to be easy. I am never going to challenge myself to run a marathon, climb a mountain, or do a triathlon. I find it very hard to push myself out of a rut. I like comfort, it's so. . .comforting.

Except with my writing. With each book I write, I want to become a better author. I want to push myself to create new stories that aren't repeats of the same old book. (This is harder than it sounds, honest.) I hope that each book I write is an improvement. (If the feeling of embarrassment I get when someone tells me they've read some of my first books is any indication, I think I have improved at my craft.)

But sometimes, pushing myself is just really hard. (See above where I do like things to be easy.) This summer I pushed myself to finish writing a shape shifter novel for the Sweet Spot Series, and I'm almost done. It has been a challenge, especially when my characters aren't doing what I want them to do. (Honestly, how long does it take two healthy adults to get into bed? Seriously!) I also started a new book with a character who is way outside of anything I've ever written before.

The hero in my newest work in progress is a former Navy SEAL who lost part of his left leg in Afghanistan and is returning home to help his family. I have spent hours researching SEALs, prosthetic legs, IEDs, medical treatment facilities for wounded soldiers, training for SEALs, physical therapy, and the emotional damage done by losing a limb. (Oh, as part of this research, I've spent a ton of time on the Wounded Warriors Project website, check it out if you have time www.woundedwarriorsproject.org) This hero is perhaps the most challenging character I've ever tried writing. I have no frame of reference for him and I'm struggling to do justice to something I care deeply about, supporting our troops. I'm having to push myself, and myself is not happy about it.

This past Friday, I had a few hours where I could have been writing, working on either book, but I came up with excuse after excuse as to why I couldn't sit my lazy butt down and do it. I cleaned the house, made dinner, answered email, and basically avoided working on my book. (Bad Ari!) That is going to change. I need to put in the time and effort and face this challenge.

With that in mind, this week I am on vacation, but I'm going to find at least an hour a day to work on my book. I may write an hour's worth of crapola, but I'm going to keep plugging away at it, even if it kills me. I probably won't write the next New York Times Bestseller, but if I do justice to our wounded soldiers, I'll consider the challenge met.

So if you email/tweet/facebook me and I don't get back to you, it's because I'm writing. . .no matter how hard it is.