Manic Monday No. 4: Where in the world is Arlene?

by with One Comment Musings

I spent the weekend in my room in Flagstaff, sorting and packing — and still I barely made a dent. Packing up 15-plus years of accumulated crap is hard, y’all.

Okay, that’s not entirely true. I spent Saturday night and Sunday morning with trash bags and cardboard boxes. I also enjoyed a Saturday-morning gabfest/brainstorming session with my Northern Arizona RWA chapter mates. I’m telling you, knowing what awaited at home wasn’t conducive to getting my butt out of the Denny’s booth we were occupying.

I confess to being a bit of a hoarder, so paring down my stuff won’t be easy.

For example, I didn’t want to part with these …

Old business cards

… My first author business cards, which I designed after finaling in the Golden Heart in 2011.

They don’t take up much room. They also don’t match my redesigned website or brand, so there’s no reason to keep them … but it was so hard to just toss them in the recycling bin. I did hang onto about five of them—purely for archival purposes, of course.

Where else have I been?

Writer Groupie Podcast | Kim SmithI still haven’t seen my Writer Groupie interview in my iTunes podcast feed. Will keep you posted as soon as I get it.

JUST RIGHT was featured in the April Turquoise Morning Press newsletter, along with new releases by Bella Masters and May Williams. May’s “Playing the Piper” is another of the “and they lived Happily Ever After” tales.

That’s it. It’s been a pretty quiet week.

Soon, I’ll be ordering books for the Payson Book Festival. And—fingers crossed—moving into a new place.

 

Manic Monday No. 3: A painless podcast and taxes done

by with No Comment Musings

How’s this for a manic Monday: I finally finished my taxes. Yes … #TaxesDone.

I’ve been putting it off for months, dreading the result. Fortunately, the experience wasn’t as painful as I’d feared it would be. That was a relief.

Writer Groupie Podcast | Kim SmithAnother thing to chalk up in the “not as painful as I feared” category? Taping the Writer Groupie podcast with Kim Smith. Leading into Friday afternoon’s appointment, I was both excited and fearful. Since it was my first podcast — I wasn’t sure what to expect.

I shouldn’t have worried. It was…So…Much…Fun. Sitting down to chat with Kim was like running into a long-lost friend.

There’s always the chance I’ll end up sounding like a chipmunk on helium when I listen to the podcast. I’m not alone in hating the sound of my own voice, I know. I used to DJ at my college radio station, WUEV, and with a  microphone in front of my face, my voice drops into a different register … one that had guys calling up to ask me out and/or say they listened to me in the shower. (“Do you know what that voice can do to a man in a shower?” Someone actually asked me that once.)

But Friday, I was just sitting in front of my computer — no microphone in sight. Oh well. At least I wasn’t coming down with a cold when I talked with Kim. No, that came on Saturday afternoon, evening … and now I have a head full of congestion. Ugh.

Here’s a link to the Writer Groupie Podcast on iTunes. My episode isn’t up there yet, but it should be later this week. I’ll keep you posted.

In other news:

— I added a “subscribe to my newsletter” pop-up box to my website’s home page. It’ll show up the first time you visit — but when you close it, it’ll stay gone for 30 days. Of course, I’d love for you to sign up for my newsletter. (Pretty sure once you do that, the pop-up will go away forever.)

The newsletter is still a work in progress. Right now, it only comes out when I have a new release … but I’d like to start putting it out regularly — maybe once a quarter or once every two months.

Manic Monday No. 2: I’m going to be on the Writer Groupie podcast (& other sightings)

by with No Comment Musings

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a relaxing and rejuvenating Easter weekend. I picked up the milk to make myself one of those Cabury Creme Egg Egg Creams, but have yet to pull the trigger. Maybe tonight after work …

Okay, in truth, even though I’m sure it’ll taste ah-mazing, I’m the tiniest bit scared. I’ve tried escargot, frog legs and alligator, but scrambling a Cadbury Creme Egg makes me quake in my hot-pink Reebok Skyscapes. Go figure.

With JUST RIGHT coming out tomorrow, it’s going to be a busy week for me. (Not that I’ve been counting down or anything …)

Just Right | Arlene Hittle #romance #tmpress-2

If getting your name out there is half the battle, I should be winning this war. I feel as if I’ve been screaming my name from the top of the Empire State Building and scattering my book titles to the wind.

Among the places I’ve been popping up:

• Abigail Sharpe’s newest newsletter. Abs and I go way back. She’s the one who called me to tell me BEAUTY AND THE BALLPLAYER finaled in the FCRW Beacon. The phone rang as I left the post office with receipt in hand for mailing BEAUTY to RWA HQ for the Golden Heart. (Yes, in 2010-11 you still had to mail hard copies.)

I love the idea of including friends’ releases in my newsletter, so I might just steal it. You’ve been warned.

• I’ve been invited to be a guest on author Kim Smith‘s Writer Groupie podcast. My first podcast — and I’ll be doing it via Skype, so it’ll be on YouTube, too.

Gulp. On video, I can’t hide the extra pounds I’ve picked up since taking my author photo …

Seriously, though. I’m both nervous and excited. Now that the antenna fell off my car and I can’t get it to stay on, I’ve only recently started listening to podcasts. Some radio stations still come in, but they fuzz in and out, so I’ve been listening to podcasts on the drive to work, or on longer drives out of town.

I find them informative, inspirational and entertaining. If I can manage to be one of those three, I’ll consider my podcast debut a #win.

We’re set to record the interview Friday night, around 5 p.m. my time. I’ll link to it when it’s ready.

• BREAKING ALL THE RULES is now listed on Night Owl Reviews.
Night Owl Reviews

It hasn’t been selected for a review yet (that I know of), so if you know anyone who reviews for Night Owl and likes romcom with a geeky bent, feel free to talk it up.

• BREAKING ALL THE RULES got its first review on Amazon — four stars!

Amazon review of Breaking All the Rules | Arlene Hittle

Thanks, sjh in SLC!

• The 2015 Goodreads Author Cyber Convention starts Friday.

Author Cyber Convention - Banner Image

Click the banner to visit the fairgrounds. My “booth” is here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2223533-let-the-games-begin-arlene-hittle-s-contemporary-romantic-comedy.

I’ve promised to give away a $5 Amazon gift card to a new newsletter subscriber … so get on it. (You can subscribe using the form to the right of this blog post.)

• I joined Camp NaNoWriMo. Been adding new words to an old, old story that I’m revamping as a Harlequin Blaze. I submitted the first chapter last month during the #BlazeBlitz on Twitter, and now have everything crossed in hopes that they like it and want to see more. I could handle being a Blaze Babe.

Happy Easter

by with No Comment Musings

May your day be filled with reflection, rejoicing, fun and as many Cadbury Creme Eggs as you’d like!

If you’re as big a fan of Cadbury Creme Eggs as I am, you might want to try CCE Egg Cream featured on Buzzfeed. (Thanks to Avery Flynn for pointing this dream of a drink out out in a Facebook post.)

Erm … you can’t tell I’ve been spending too much time on Facebook, and not enough writing, right?

Don’t forget Lizzie Shane’s giving away a copy of DIVA IN THE DUGOUT. Today’s the last day to enter; she’s picking a winner Monday morning. Click here to enter.

Introducing Manic Monday & other blog changes ahead

by with No Comment Musings

If the title “Manic Monday” doesn’t have you tapping your toes and humming a certain Bangles hit, you must not be my age. I remember lying on the floor in my room, listening to that song repeatedly as I tried to write down all the lyrics. Of course, in sixth grade, I didn’t understand half of what I was hearing.

The song is especially apt since things have been crazy lately in the land of romance. Last Thursday was the big day: RWA announced RITA and Golden Heart finalists.

I didn’t earn a nomination — you can’t be nominated if you don’t enter — but I was thrilled for the chance to cheer my friends’  successes. Not just one but FOUR gals from my Golden Heart class of 2011, the Starcatchers, received RITA nominations, and at least one finaled in the GH. Two friends from another writers’ group I belong to, the LaLaLas, got Golden Heart nods.

Special congratulations to Starcatchers Anna Richland (His Road Home, Carina Press), Kimberly Kincaid (Pushing the Line, self-published), Tracy Brogan (The Best Medicine, Amazon Montlake) and Caitie Quinn (Worth the Fall, self-published); and to Starcatcher Arlene McFarlane (Murder, Curlers and Cream, romantic suspense) and LaLaLas Caroline Bradley (Indulge My Fantasy, a finalist in the GH’s new erotic romance category) and Kristal Hollis (Howlin Hearts, paranormal GH finalist).

I recognize lots of other names on the lists, and consider some of them my friends, such as Ruby Slippered Sister Amy Liz Talley, who finaled with her Harlequin Superromance The Sweetest September.

Good luck in New York, ladies. Wish I had the time off and the cash to join you!

In an attempt to beef up my blog, I’m planning to make Manic Monday a regular feature. I envision it including updates of what’s happening in my writing life — upcoming appearances, new projects, etc.

I’m also launching a Writer Wednesday feature, in which I’ll introduce other writers. I figure it’ll be easier to blog more regularly if I don’t always talk about me, myself and I. First up is fellow Turquoise Morning Press author Jennifer Anderson on April 15.

April 15? The dreaded tax day … and I have yet to do my taxes. I see a future of long hours cuddled up with TurboTax. Ugh.

Another regular feature on the blog will be the Friday Five — a quick list post of 5 things I’m loving this week … or find interesting, or … gee, I don’t know. Whatever the list is, there’ll be five things on it. I also plan to keep doing the “My Sexy Saturday” blog hop a couple of times a month.

What’s happening in my writing life right now?

— Turquoise Morning Press released Breaking All the Rules March 19. It’s the story of a by-the-book health care administrator forced by a new state law to hire a Klingon interpreter. The only applicant for the job is a devil-may-care guy with the appetite of a 14-year-old boy and a disturbing habit of flouting every rule imaginable. Get all the details on my Novels page.

— Just Right, part of TMP’s “and they lived happily ever after” set, comes out April 7. In this fairytale remaining of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” Goldilocks is Hollywood starlet Callista Gold, who flees to an Arizona mountain town to escape when hackers leak nude photos of her to the tabloids. The three bears are construction workers named Behr, whom Callie hires to renovate the cottage she’s bought, sight unseen.

It’s available for preorder now — the first of my books to be on preorder, so that’s exciting. Links to each bookseller are on my Novels page.

Preorder Just Right | Arlene Hittle

— On April 10-12, I’m taking part in the Goodreads Author Cyber Convention.

Author Cyber Convention - Banner Image

Click the banner to visit the fairgrounds. My “booth” is here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2223533-let-the-games-begin-arlene-hittle-s-contemporary-romantic-comedy.

I’ve promised to give away a $5 Amazon gift card to a new newsletter subscriber … so get on it. My newsletter comes out even less often than I update my blog, so you don’t have to worry about it cluttering up your inbox too often.

— In July, I’ll be signing books at the first-ever Payson Book Festival. The event is set for Saturday, July 25, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Gila Community College, located at 201 N. Mud Springs Road, Payson, Arizona. I’m sharing a table with my friend Susan Haught, who writes beautiful, lyrical stories. Her tagline: “Love is Ageless and has the power to change lives — one step, one touch, one kiss at a time.”

The festival wants print books, so I’m limited to selling Diva in the Dugout, Blind Date Bride and Home for the Holidays.

That’s it for this week.

Who’s your captain?

by with No Comment MusingsVan & Allyson

Just Contemporary RomanceI’m over at Just Contemporary Romance today, talking about my favorite Star Trek Captain.

Since I’ve been writing baseball-playing heroes, it’s been fun to geek out a little with Donovan Marshall, the Klingon-speaking hero of BREAKING ALL THE RULES. In my searches, I discovered this fun T-shirt from Star Trek Shop. It features the Top 10 Reasons Why Kirk is better than Picard:

Kirk or Picard? In case you can’t read it:

10. One word: Hair!

9. Kirk would personally throw Wesley off the bridge

8. Kirk would never sing to children in a crisis

7. Kirk wasn’t shy about taking his shirt off

6. Kirk can beat a Klingon bare-handed

5. Three words: Flying leg kick

4. Kirk doesn’t let the doctor tell him what to do

3. If Kirk finds a strange, spinning probe, he blows it up

2. Kirk never drinks tea, ever (Not sure that’s a selling point …)

1. Kirk can beat a Vulcan at chess

Join me over at Just Contemporary Romance to discuss YOUR favorite Star Trek captain. Mine may not be who you think!

 

A lot to be thankful for

by with One Comment Musings

Yesterday on Facebook, Katie MacAlister asked her friends/followers what they were thankful for. But she didn’t want the standard answers—family, friends, health. She wanted us to share the quirky and offbeat things we’re glad to have in our lives.

Some of the answers were hilarious:

Screen Shot 2014-11-26 at 3.38.06 PM

It got me thinking a couple of things:

  1. How would I answer that question?
  2. That would make a great blog post!

So here I am, blogging my answers. (They weren’t kidding when they said you can find ideas anywhere…) In no particular order, I’m thankful for:

My Target Red Card. Sure, they got hacked, but who hasn’t these days? I just dig the 5% discount on all the cat food, cat litter and Chobani yogurt I pick up at Target on a regular basis. Every cent saved is another cent I can add to the balance of my Starbucks card.

FocusReindeer

A car that runs—and lets me dress him up for Christmas. No kidding. Focus (or the Silver Streak, as I affectionately call him) is getting up there in years, but he’s a great little car. He starts up even on cold days and never objects to the cheery red nose and antlers I love to make him wear during the holidays.

My Keurig machine. I got it ages ago, but was too scared/lazy to figure out how to work it. The Boyfriend got a new apartment and convinced me to let him set it up there. He quickly figured out the setup and just as quickly decided the K cups were too expensive. He sent the lovely machine back up the mountain with me—so now I can have fancy coffee drinks at home. This will save me money at Starbucks, right?

Gourmet pizza. Picazzo’s has the best pizza. They make a mean Caesar salad, too. (The dressing…OMG, the garlicky goodness of the dressing… It’s seriously the best salad I’ve ever had.)

A job. (Okay, I cheated. This is a serious one.) The work is only part-time and temporary, but even that is better than nothing. I thought I’d enjoy not having a day job—more time to promote my books, and write and edit new ones. That was only half right. Even though I did spend a lot of time writing/editing/pushing sales, I spent just as much feeling hopeless, worthless and frustrated. Seriously—I’ve had a regular, full-time job since graduating college in 1994. So when my old boss called me and asked me to come back for a temporary, part-time gig, I jumped at the chance. I started Monday, and it felt great to be back.

SkylineFlagstaff. So what if the weather’s cold and residents are frustratingly resistant to welcoming any kind of chain stores or new housing developments? It’s still a gorgeous town, and people care about one another. I do wish it had a Trader Joe’s, though.

It goes without saying that I’m also thankful for family, friends and…well, my health leaves something to be desired. I need to get back on the “eat well and exercise” bandwagon.

Anybody see which direction it headed?

 

 

What a difference a year can make: Celebrating Diva’s one-year anniversary

by with No Comment Dave & MelindaMusings

Diva in the Dugout by Arlene HittleIt’s hard to believe my debut novel, DIVA IN THE DUGOUT, came out a year ago today. Yet it did.

My book baby has been out there for 12 months. 365 days.

Wow. It’s been a crazy year.

In its 365 days “in the wild,” it’s gotten some attention. Among the notice: six reviews on Amazon (nothing below a 3-star) and 24 ratings on Goodreads (3.79 average). A 3.79 average might not seem that impressive, but then I remind myself that some of my favorite authors’ books have similar scores.

No matter how beloved they are, no author can please everyone. DIVA garnered my first one-star review. I know, I know. I’m not supposed to read the reviews. Confession: I did it anyway. It was thoughtful and I can respect the opinions it expressed.

Back to DIVA’s wild year. It hovered on various Amazon bestseller lists for months. I learned to love that “Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction  > Sports” designation. “Kindle ebooks > Romance > Sports” is also pretty sweet.

Taken at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13 ... DIVA's sales rank was the highest I've seen.
Taken at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13 … DIVA’s sales rank was the highest I’ve seen.

DIVA also garnered attention from my publisher. When Turquoise Morning Press celebrated its 2013 Best of TMP this summer, I was recognized three times.

Best of Turquoise Morning Press 2013 Best of Turquoise Morning Press 2013 Best of Turquoise Morning Press 2013It received a nod in the 2013 TMP Readers’ Choice awards, too. Ultimately, it didn’t win—but like all the movie stars say, it was an honor just to be nominated. A nomination meant that enough readers enjoyed DIVA so much that they thought it deserved to be included on the list.

And when I decided to enter the RITA competition, it became a print book. It’s definitely selling better in its ebook form, but it was a thrill to hold my book baby in my hands.

(No, it didn’t receive a RITA nomination. Too bad. You only get one shot at “best first book.”)

Diva in the Dugout | Arlene Hittle | Turquoise Morning Press
In print!

My debut isn’t perfect. I know that. For example, I didn’t resolve Dave’s issues with his father. I realized it on one of my read-throughs and figured my editor would call me on it. When she didn’t, I let it slide. That turned out to be a mistake. More than one reader has pointed out the omission.

Another confession: I set the story in Texas because I wanted to sell to Harlequin American and so many of their stories are set there. I picked a part of Texas I’d driven through on my move from Indiana to Arizona, but still…I should stick with writing a place I know. That’s why most of my stories are set in either Arizona (like BEAUTY AND THE BALLPLAYER, SLIDING INTO HOME and the upcoming BREAKING ALL THE RULES) or the Midwest (HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS and BLIND DATE BRIDE). I lived the first 28 years of my life in northern Indiana and have been in northern Arizona for the last 15.

Still, DIVA is an entertaining read. I fell in love with Dave and Mel, and their daughter Tara. I hope you will, too.

Get DIVA IN THE DUGOUT: Turquoise Morning Press, Smashwords, All Romance Ebooks, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and iTunes.

 

My first authorly moment

by with 2 Comments Musings

Heroes Are My Weakness | Susan Elizabeth PhillipsThe awesome Susan Elizabeth Phillips was at Changing Hands Bookstore in Phoenix Friday night to speak and sign copies of her newest book, Heroes Are My Weakness. It’s awesome, by the way. I started reading while I waited for the event to start, and put aside other things (such as my own writing) to finish it over the weekend.

I just spent a good fifteen minutes perusing SEP’s book list to try to remember which of her books hooked me on her writing—except I can’t for the life of me figure it out. It seems her books have always been there, cheering me up and making me laugh. It might have been Nobody’s Baby But Mine, but I can’t be sure.

Ahem. I’m getting off track here. Let’s get back to the talk—and the authorly moment that happened to me in the middle of it.

As SEP promised on her Facebook page, she arrived wearing a lovely hat.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips | PhoenixYes, that’s a crab. Heroes Are My Weakness is set in Maine, which is more lobster country, but the crab was the only hat her publicist could find. (The publicist clearly didn’t check with Red Lobster. They plop a foam lobster on your head and sing “Happy Birthday” to you there—at least they did in Fort Wayne, Ind., when I turned 18. So embarrassing!)

Near the start of the presentation, she asked if anyone in the audience was a member of the local RWA chapter. My hand went halfway up. I explained I’m not a member of either of the Phoenix chapters, but I am the president of Northern Arizona RWA.

Then she asked if anyone in the audience was a published author. My hand went up again and she said, “I figured that was coming. Tell us what’s your name and what do you write?” (or something like that. I wasn’t taking notes.)

“I have a series called All Is Fair in Love & Baseball, published through Turquoise Morning Press,” I replied.

She asked me how many books there were and the titles. When I gave her the list, someone sitting behind me in the audience shouted, “I’ve read those. My mother-in-law got me hooked!”

How cool is that? Someone in the audience at SEP’s signing has read MY books.

Looking back, I should have struck up a conversation with her afterward—but as thrilling as it was to know I had a reader in the audience, it was also a little overwhelming. That’s never happened to me before. I didn’t know what to do.

Turns out, I didn’t do anything. I waited my turn for SEP’s autograph, got my picture taken with her and then left.

Me with Susan Elizabeth Phillips | Phoenix

Next time I’ll be better prepared, right?