Let’s welcome my fellow Pennwriter, Kathy Otten, to West of Mars!

Kathy has a new book out that she’d like to tell us about, so let’s get to it. Kathy, what song makes you think of The Solace of Denim?

Music has a power to heal and guide us when we are at our most troubled. The father of the murdered boy in this story is a former band member and follows his rock idols when he is his most despondent at the loss of his son. The denim jacket his son wore–the one that comes to young Joey, our hero–is bedecked with patches from the great bands of that era.

The song that makes me think of this story is Bob Seger’s TURN THE PAGE, a song about the ups and downs of life on the road. (In fact, it’s also the title of the musician’s biography, written by Edward Sarkis Balian.) Lines like “You pretend it doesn’t bother you/but you just want to explode” define the journey Joey is going through to a T. He is coming from one of the worst experiences a child can have–nearly murdered by his own father–to being accused of the murder of the only friend he has in his lonely foster child existence. But he finds help in the most unlikely place he can imagine.

Now, longtime readers and fans of West of Mars will recognize that I am a total Rock Fiction junkie. Which means that no matter how heavy this sounds, I’m there. (Also? “Turn the Page” was the song for Trevor’s Song, my first novel.)

What’s the book description, though? In case this wasn’t enough to hook you?

The victim of a horrific crime, fifteen-year-old Joey Kowalski has bounced around in the foster care system for six years. When his only friend Luke is murdered, suspicion falls on Joey.

As evidence mounts against him, Luke’s denim jacket appears in Joey’s closet. When he puts on the jacket, he gets visions of Luke’s murder and hears Luke’s voice in his head. Can Joey convince Luke’s father, Detective Marek, to look past his grief and help him find the real killer?

Whoa… mystery clothing! I’m there. Are you?

Pick up your copy of The Solace of Denim:
Amazon
eBook at Apple
eBook at Kobo
eBook at Smashwords — on sale for 99 cents in July!

And connect with Kathy!
Website
Facebook
Goodreads
Amazon Author Page
Book trailer
Bookbub

Remember that the best way to show thanks to an author is to buy copies of their books for your friends! Next to that is telling people about a great book, and then we have the old “leave an online review” option. All are great, and when you can do all three, authors benefit. We want authors to benefit — if they don’t, they won’t keep publishing their writing for us to read! (Yes, it really IS that simple.)

And, as always, be sure to send your friends and your colleagues over for their turn in the spotlight. I’m glad to host them!

You guys know I love Rock Fiction.

But lately… I have found myself disillusioned. Disgusted. Annoyed. Frustrated.

Because the authors aren’t bothering to do their research. There’s a HUGE difference between a band manager and a tour manager. Massive headlining tours don’t come together in days or weeks. And for crying out loud, know the difference between poetry and the structure of song lyrics. My favorite was the band who slept in their dressing rooms in the arena — umm… WHAT?

There really isn’t any excuse for this lack of research. And sorry, but, “I copied what someone else did,” or “I asked someone on Facebook” isn’t doing research. You need to talk to people who’ve worked in the industry, people with hands-on experience, people who’ve been there and seen it. Make sure what you want to have happen is plausible. If your star is the darling of the moment, can he REALLY take off to the beach and have a bonfire? Won’t there be security issues? No one notices and posts it to social media? He’s not too tired from all the touring, which is hard, exhausting work? If his alcohol problem is really truly that bad, can he spend that time without a bottle or can at hand?

Notice how my issues of authenticity begin to sway away from only the details of the music world.

That’s because, having found a string of errors, the author has broken the contract between us. I can’t trust what the author is presenting.

And therein lies a bigger problem, doesn’t it?

If you, as the author, can’t be authentic and therefore credible in your writing, why should I, as the reader, spend time with your book?

Think about it. A few small details is one thing. But the bigger issues… that’s undermining yourself. Your career. And, unfortunately, it hurts the entire genre or category, too.

If you love something, don’t hurt it. Build it up. Take the time. Do the research yourself. Check the facts. Build your authenticity. Get firsthand knowledge, even if firsthand knowledge means watching YouTube videos that established bands post of their tour busses or finding articles that describe busses that strain believability before you network your way to the people who can confirm and/or deny what you’re seeing.

Put the time in. Because if you don’t, why should I, as a reader, put the time into your book?

Increasingly, that’s the question I’ve been asking myself.

I LOVE this line!!!

Pick up your copy of Michelle Hazen’s Rock Fiction novel, A Cruel Kind of Beautiful.
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Kobo
iTunes

And of course, once you’ve read it, leave a review! Reviews help books find new readers… but they do more than that. Much, much more. If you need help, drop me a line.

And connect with Michelle! (She’s a lot of fun to chat with on Twitter.)
Website:
Twitter
Facebook
Newsletter sign up
Goodreads

Let’s welcome Michelle Hazen to West of Mars!

Those of you who hung out at The Rock of Pages will recognize Michelle from some great reviews and book coveting spots she wrote for me and Jett over there. But if you don’t know her?

Well, sit down, grab your coffee, and let’s go. Because Michelle is super. AND today is the release day for her new book! How can you beat that?

Michelle, what song makes you think of your book, A Cruel Kind of Beautiful?

“Seeing is Believing” by Blind Pilot.

It’s a song all about the strange ways life brings you exactly what you need. In the book, Jera has a really rough time, but in the end, all those obstacles work together and end up bringing her just where she needs to be. I love how life does that, and it makes perfect, divinely-inspired looking sense in hindsight, but as you’re living it it feels messy and horrible and annoying. I wanted to write a book that did exactly that.

There’s a line in the song: “This life is going to make you believe…” Yes. For Jera, it really did.

Be sure to check this song out; it’s a different one for us avid followers of the Featured New Book Spotlight, and it’s pretty cool! Shades of the Fifties, of Rockabilly, of country music… I’m digging it.

Ready for the book’s description? I sure am.

If you can’t get to the Big O, can you get to the happily ever after?

Jera McKnight loves music, swoons for hot guys, but sucks at sex. Jacob Tate is her perfect storm: a pun-loving nude model with a heart as big as his record collection.

When a newspaper-delivery accident lands him in her living room, he’s almost tempting enough to make her forget she’s never been able to please a man—in bed or out of it. Sure, he laughs at her obscure jokes, and he’ll even accept a PG-rating if it means he gets time with her, but he’s also hiding something. And it has everything to do with the off-limits room in his apartment.

Jera pours all her confusion and longing into her drum kit, which pays off when her band lands the record deal of their dreams. Except just like Jacob, it might be too good to come without a catch.

She doesn’t know if her music is good enough to attract a better contract, or if she’s enough to tempt a man like Jacob to give up his secrets—even if they could fix her problems between the sheets. But if this rocker girl is too afraid to bet on herself, she might just end up playing to an empty house.

Fans of Alice Clayton’s Wallbanger or Kylie Scott will love this addictive new series because of its quick sense of humor and adorable found family.

Do you NEED this? I know all my Rock Fiction fans and friends do! (I sure do, and thanks to Michelle for approving me for a copy over at NetGalley.)
It’s Amazon only, though — so if that’s an issue, I HIGHLY encourage you to get in touch with Michelle and see what sort of magic she can make happen for you. Because you need it!

Connect with Michelle. She’s very cool, very involved in the literary community, and very diverse in her jobs, too. I’ll let you figure out what that means, because it’s too cool to spoil!

Twitter
Facebook
Newsletter sign up
Goodreads

I’m extra excited to bring today’s Spotlight book to you. It’s written by my friend Anne-Marie Klein, and it’s part of her Behind Blue Eyes series. This one’s called Love Reign O’er Me, and you may recognize that lyric. I hope you do, anyway!

Let’s get to it. Anne-Marie, what song makes you think of your book?

A question tailor-made for me and for my book series, at least, and one that is answered by looking at the front cover. The music of The Who captured me as a teenager in the late 70s, so much so that I began to imagine a narrative of who the bad man, sad man Pete Townshend had so famously written about might be: many pages later, the Behind Blue Eyes series of rock novels was born. My four books follow a troubled young rock musician from his arrival in Toronto from London in 1978 to 1994, and readers will see how the lyrics echo his difficult path to success amidst family drama and great love stories in rock and rock and fashion settings on both sides of the pond.

This might be the first time EVER that an entire band’s work inspired a novel. I linked to the Song “Behind Blue Eyes” but I know Anne-Marie well enough to know that the entire band is this lady’s muse. And honestly, I admire her fandom.

Ready for the entire description? Here goes:

Son of a wealthy, successful, and famous British designer, Ian was born into the world of the rich and shameless. He blames himself, and his father, for his mother’s death, and has run far away to start a new life. Beautifully blond, musically talented, but emotionally troubled, he hides his pain behind pale blue eyes and drinks to numb the guilt that has followed him across the ocean. When he meets Sarah, the fiery-haired singer with all the connections to make his dreams come true, will the burdens of his past destroy their love and everything they’ve ever wanted?

Behind Blue Eyes is a new four-part series following a young musician’s turbulent life as he makes his rock and roll dreams come true in a city far from where he grew up. Equal parts family saga, love story, and rock and roll circus, this first novel will take you back to the late 70s in Toronto for a dramatic roller-coaster ride through the world of music. Inspired by the Pete Townshend song made famous by The Who, the series is at once a nostalgic love letter to the author’s hometown and to the music she listened to while growing up there.

Ready for your own copy? I sure am.

Here’s some links:

Amazon
iTunes
B&N

And connect with Anne-Marie. You’ll be glad you did because she is awesome.
Website
Facebook author page
Twitter: @badmansadman

SOMETHING DIFFERENT (The Three Graces Book Two) by Nia Farrell. Starving artist Anna James has sworn off men. Rock gods Jackson and Jacob Thomason just promised her the best sex of her life. Does Anna dare submit to the part-Comanche twins who perform as No Mercy?

Buy links to SOMETHING DIFFERENT (a BSDM MFM ménage rock star erotic romance):

Amazon ➔ https://mybook.to/SomethingDifferent

Barnes and Noble ➔ https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/something-different-nia-farrell/1122718107?ean=2940150808072

Allromance ➔ https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-somethingdifferent-1897500-147.html

BookStrand ➔ https://www.bookstrand.com/something-different-0

Smashwords ➔ https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/581142

Dark Hollows Press ➔ https://www.darkhollowspress.com/#!something-different/c13v4

SOMETHING DIFFERENT (The Three Graces Book Two) by Nia Farrell. Starving artist Anna James has sworn off men. Rock gods Jackson and Jacob Thomason just promised her the best sex of her life. Does Anna dare submit to the part-Comanche twins who perform as No Mercy?

Buy links to SOMETHING DIFFERENT (a BSDM MFM ménage rock star erotic romance):

Amazon ➔ https://mybook.to/SomethingDifferent

Barnes and Noble ➔ https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/something-different-nia-farrell/1122718107?ean=2940150808072

Allromance ➔ https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-somethingdifferent-1897500-147.html

BookStrand ➔ https://www.bookstrand.com/something-different-0

Smashwords ➔ https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/581142

Dark Hollows Press ➔ https://www.darkhollowspress.com/#!something-different/c13v4

Goodreads

Buy links:
Amazon Kindle
B&N Nook
Kobo
iBooks
Google Play

Got a graphic, or a favorite line from your own book, or a book you love? Send ’em along! Details here.

Goodreads

Buy links:
Amazon Kindle
B&N Nook
Kobo
iBooks
Google Play

Got a graphic, or a favorite line from your own book, or a book you love? Send ’em along! Details here.

It’s that time of year again! It’s Read an e-Book Week, and since my books are old (and could use some new reviews to freshen them up), they’re all free this week.

Go grab one. Or two. Or all of them. Who cares; they are FREE. (and only for one week)

And remember: nothing says thanks for the freebie like a few words of review. It doesn’t have to be a lot of words. Even “I loved this!” helps a lot. But if you’re feeling brave, go and tell us why.

Happy reading this week! Me, I’ve got a print book on loan from the library. How’s THAT for crummy timing?

(and those of you keeping track, I’m writing this up on Friday and the eye is still status quo. No new tear in the retina. And yes, the stupid gas bubble is still there. I’m starting to think it’s a permanent addition.)

SOMETHING DIFFERENT (The Three Graces Book Two) by Nia Farrell. Starving artist Anna James has sworn off men. Rock gods Jackson and Jacob Thomason just promised her the best sex of her life. Does Anna dare submit to the part-Comanche twins who perform as No Mercy?

Buy links to SOMETHING DIFFERENT (a BSDM MFM ménage rock star erotic romance):

Amazon ➔ https://mybook.to/SomethingDifferent

Barnes and Noble ➔ https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/something-different-nia-farrell/1122718107?ean=2940150808072

Allromance ➔ https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-somethingdifferent-1897500-147.html

BookStrand ➔ https://www.bookstrand.com/something-different-0

Smashwords ➔ https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/581142

Dark Hollows Press ➔ https://www.darkhollowspress.com/#!something-different/c13v4

Yeah, so it’s tacky to feature myself. But it’s been quiet around here again; what’s with these spurts?

So… what song makes me think of my short story? Like many before me, it’s a hard choice. Ozzy’s Crazy Train is an option ’cause if there’s anything going on with Ice Cubes in Hell, it’s a crazy train. This band is dysfunction city — and sadly familiar to many of us inside the biz.

Maybe I’d settle on Nothing More’s breakout song, This is the Time (Ballast) — as a warning to my fictional friends that what gets revealed this night needs to be moved past.

Or there’s my son’s favorite song (Not): Katy Perry’s Roar, since Broken describes the events that happen when T finds her voice — although she’s never been the sort to bury it in the first place. T’s a pretty in-your-face sort of woman. I like her for what it’s worth.

The Amity Affliction’s Pittsburgh? A definite contender, as this band, these people are lost and drowning.

Funnily enough — or not — I have three of these songs in my Spotify playlist that keeps me company at work. I bet you can’t figure out which is the one not on the list…  And yes, I’m sticking to these four. It’s MY site, MY interview question. I get to break the rules.

Here’s the long description for Broken:

For T and the rest of Ice Cubes in Hell, it’s a routine night backstage after their set, opening for the notorious Vanessa Kontempt. The party’s in full swing when T walks in, but she’s not in the mood. Not tonight. Things spiral downward when she finds some groupies raiding her stage clothes. One breaks the heel off her favorite boot, and as T confronts the band’s tour manager about the destruction, secrets are revealed. Secrets which might tear the band apart … or bring them closer.

The story won’t be released until the 15th — that’s just next week! — but you can preorder it now.

Smashwords  (Uhh, no affiliate link this time. Go figure.)

Amazon

The good news is that the editing is keeping me busy. The bad news is that means my writing is taking a hit. And given that a lot of my clients come to me because I am an author and I have my fingers in publishing, I suppose I gotta put up.

This one, I’m glad to put up. It’s my new short story, called Broken. 

My very longtime (I started to say old, but I don’t want either of us to be old) Metallica friend, Carol, did the cover. Go visit her. Tell her I sent you.  You deserve a cover by someone like Carol.

It’s a short story, as the cover makes pretty darn clear, and it’ll be for sale for 99c once it’s up and able to be preordered or out-and-out for sale. (Yes, I’m writing this in advance.)

Ready for the description? Too bad. Here it is.

For T and the rest of Ice Cubes in Hell, it’s a routine night backstage after their set, opening for the notorious Vanessa Kontempt. The party’s in full swing when T walks in, but she’s not in the mood. Not tonight. When she finds groupies raiding her stage clothes and one breaks the heel off one of her favorite boots, things spiral downward. As T confronts the band’s tour manager about the destruction, secrets are revealed. Secrets that might tear the band apart … or bring them closer.

I’m crazy proud of this story. Took me a long time to get right, and I had to run it past my editor, too, for help pulling it all together.

Buy links will be arriving as soon as I’ve got ’em. Pick up your copy and help me keep my fingers in the publishing pie.

I’m killing  a few minutes this morning, looking over the headlines at Brave Words and Blabbermouth (and, of course, my guilty pleasure, Metal Sucks) when one headline caught my eye: Five Finger Death Punch and Volbeat are teaming up for a tour. In autumn. Dates have been released for September and October.

What does this have to do with writing?

Well, other than giving everyone a few bands to explore before stepping into Featured New Book Spotlight, it makes an important point: It is early May as I’m writing this. The shows that were announced are for four months in the future.

Frequently, in Rock Fiction, I see authors who will have a band schedule a show with a few days’ notice. It’s convenient for the story so boom, there it is.

Every time I see it, I cringe. And I wonder if the author knows his or her stuff. If I’m reviewing the book, I’ll mention it, too.

Because while that four months’ notice the public is being given seems long, let me tell you, these dates were in the works weeks if not months before that, too. Scheduling routes, venue availability, media accessibility, press releases, and other factors go into the equation and the dance that scheduling a tour entails. And don’t forget that the band’s fans need time to save up for tickets; it’s not $15 to see a band in an arena anymore, you know!

The concert-going public may not get word of a show until last minute. But believe me, the wheels were in  motion long before that announcement was made.

If you’re writing Rock Fiction, keep that in mind.

It’s Thursday, right? So where’s the Rock Fiction Coveting??? Susan runs a Rock Fiction Coveting every Thursday, unless Jett has time to post.

What’s going on?

Well, with West of Mars, the author services company, growing by leaps and bounds, things were getting crowded over there. It was time to give Rock Fiction its own spot in the world.

And <a href=”http://therockofpages.com”>The Rock of Pages</a> was born.

There’s not much up there yet. Yet. But have no fear, all the book reviews, the book coveting posts that are scheduled that you haven’t seen yet, the Rocktober fun… it’s all moving over to The Rock of Pages.

It’ll eventually have its own custom design, created by the same awesome team who’s giving West of Mars a new look. (This is a plug. You want Jareth and Rachel on your team. You do.) It’ll also be ad-supported, and will have the space to give every author of Rock Fiction, if they so choose, their own page devoted to their own Rock Fiction.

But for now, it’s pretty basic.

Count on my friend Deena at e-Book Builders to bring me word that I’m falling further behind than ever when it comes to author Jill Edmondson’s rocking series, the Sasha Jackson Mysteries.

And that she got to format it? The only thing that would make me less jealous would be if I got to edit it. (If that happened, though, Jett couldn’t borrow my copy like she usually does.)

I still need to get started on this series, and I’d better get to that sooner rather than later because this is now the fourth.

Ahh, for more time to read…

And remember… even if your book has been published, if it needs a proofread by an eagle-eyed expert, I’m here. Not that I’m pointing fingers at Jill or anything. Nope. Not me.

So as I was looking for better links to Gracen Miller’s Rockin’ the Heart for last week’s post, I came across a book that’s been on my radar for awhile now, but I’ve never blogged about. So… while I’m coveting Rock Fiction every Thursday, here’s another one to publicly drool over.

It’s Michelle Valentine, who has written an entire Rock Fiction series. The first is called Rock the Heart, and it has a twist that’s both familiar and fresh.

How can that be?

Easy. The familiar is that the character comes together because of a business arrangement between the bands. Here, the rock god has hired the marketing company the heroine works for. What’s fresh is that it’s a marketing company, and they send an intern out to seal the deal.

Now, this brings up immediate questions. Does this marketing company have music industry experience? If so, why doesn’t Lane know this? And why send an intern to do an executive’s job? Personally, I’d be offended, whether or not I already knew the person involved.

These two have a lot to overcome, our intern and our rock god. Notice how they aren’t even on equal footing? They’ve got this past history and, of course, Noel is into the groupie scene.

How author Valentine can pull it off… that’s the question, as it always is. Any book can have holes poked into it when you’re only going on the description. What matters, as always, is if the characters can transcend the cliche, if the music biz details are accurate, and how well the book captures the reader’s imagination and comes alive in our minds.

The pursuit of the books that do that make the occasional clunker worthwhile. I’ve seen more than one book rise above familiar tropes and be standouts. Here’s hoping this series does exactly that.

I’ll let Jett have this one all to herself because I simply can’t come clean about my guilty pleasure love for rock star-penned books. Wynonna Judd’s Restless Heart? Loved it. Pamela Anderson’s Star? Pure trash of the absolute best beach read variety.

So I’ve got another one to add to the list: Nicole Richie’s recent release The Truth About Diamonds.

This is Ms. Richie’s first foray into fiction. It was released in 2006 and has actually been on my radar all that time. Why I’ve never drooled over it in a public forum is beyond me. I know it’s on various wishlists I’ve constructed over the years.

And it spawned a sequel! Priceless, it’s called.

Who cares what they are about (although the reviews — the professional reviews — are surprisingly positive)? It’s Nicole Richie, who ought to know firsthand what she writes about. And man, I want a fly-on-the-wall view of that life!

So there’s two for the price of one there. For you. And Jett. Because I have no guilty pleasures that I own up to.

Nope, not me.

Regulars around here know that Mary at BookHounds and I are both Rock Fiction lovers. We’re also friends, which isn’t much of a surprise when you think about it. We’ve got books and music to bond over, after all.

So when this Share the Love hop came about, with the idea being that the participating bloggers would give away copies of undercelebrated books, Mary decided there was only one thing to do: Feature me and Trevor.

She’s offering a print copy of Trevor’s Song and three digital copies of it, as well — but I’ll sweeten the deal. If you’ve got Trevor’s Song and want one of the other books in the Trevolution series, ask Mary if you can swap it out. You may even want to get one of the retired copies of Demo Tapes 1 or 2 — the new covers are in the works!

Go on over and enter! Last I checked, your chances were pretty good, but that was ten minutes after the post went live. Who knows how it’s doing now?

Enter before February 14.

And those of you who remember the old Win a Book blog I used to run, yes, I DO miss writing these posts!

I could have sworn I’d blogged about this one. No?

Well, here ya go. Elyssa Patrick’s Stay With Me.

It’s a New Adult book, which is something we don’t see a lot of Rock Fiction making a home in (yet; the two genres are better than chocolate and peanut butter: two great tastes that taste great together!). The main character, Hailey, is some sort of star. She’s holding a guitar on the cover, but there’s nothing in the book description that points to rock and roll (have we been misled by a cover artist who didn’t get to read the book, or does the description not mention Rock Fiction on purpose?). Maybe it’s her love interest, Caleb.

I don’t know. But I do know one thing: I gotta find out!

You with me?