Join me in Last Stand, Texas

by Joanne Rock

I just had a cover reveal for my May book, THE PERFECT CATCH, book one in my upcoming Texas Playmakers series from Tule Publishing. That in itself is fun. The cover is gorgeous and the series is close to my heart with a sports hero I love and a heroine I rooted for. But it gets better.

Because THE PERFECT CATCH is part of an exciting new lineup from Tule authors. Ten authors are bringing ten original series set in a town we created together. Last Stand, Texas is a place we dreamed up on a trip to Hill Country last spring. Eve Gaddy kicks off the fun April 11th with her book, HEART OF THE TEXAS DOCTOR. After that, readers can pick up a new book set in Last Stand every week for months to come! It's going to be a blast.

So, what's to love about Last Stand? Think bluebonnets and bluebells, hot Texas summers and rodeo nights in a small town. Think fresh peaches and a festival at the Fourth of July where the Peach Queen and her court get to be a part of the parade. Farm stands and a fledgling winery side by side with an old monument to the heroes of Last Stand. You can read all about the way the local forces held Last Stand in Justine Davis's wonderful history over at the Tule Book Club group. Each Monday is devoted to Last Stand, so readers can get excited for what's coming.

But about THE PERFECT CATCH, my first Last Stand story. This is the romance of Cal Ramsey, the oldest of three baseball-playing brothers, who starts off his book getting DFA'd - Designated for Assignment-- by his major league team. Two weeks later, he clears waivers and finds himself with no team and no job, which sends him back home Last Stand. He's stinging from a rough go, and the last thing he expects is a sexy woman caretaker sleeping in his mom's house. Josie Vance isn't particularly thrilled to find a strange man standing in the glow of the open refrigerator door in the middle of the night either! But they pulled me into their story in no time, and now I can't wait to write all of the Ramsey men. My second book comes out in August, tentatively titled GAME ON.

If you love small town romances, or baseball player heroes, I hope you'll give this one a try! You can preorder THE PERFECT CATCH at books2read.com/perfectcatch

***So what do you love about small town life-- either one you've read about, one you live in, or one you've visited? Share with me this week and I'll send one random poster a digital copy of SECOND CHANCE COWBOY, another small town story that I love! 

All Fun and Games

by Joanne Rock

**I wrote this blog post six years ago, and the words are never truer! I hope you don't mind me

sharing an archived piece with you today. I hop back to the present at the end to update you on my life and thoughts today. But first... rewind to Joanne of 2012:

I found myself at a 6^th grade basketball tournament last weekend.  It’s a place I’ve found myself a lot this time of year.  In our house, football season melts into basketball with only a two week hiatus, and hoop turns into baseball with even less down time.  With three boys playing sports, the cycle is familiar and sometimes exhausting.  Most of the time though, it’s fun.

Two of my sons from about the time I penned this piece.

As I cheered loud and long for my son—and for all his teammates who aren’t my sons—I thought about why we as a culture are so passionate about youth sports.  Sure, we all know the horror stories of the parents who yell all game and the coaches who take it all so seriously that practice turns into boot camp.  But that’s not the case in my town.  Youth sports are fun here, and every parent I know gets as hopped up about cheering on their kids’ successes as I do.  The losses… well, we might not cheer, but the lessons there are as valuable as the wins.  No doubt, we all tend to remember the times we failed more than the times we won. 

There are a million and one analogies between sports and life.  My husband wrote about a lot of them during his career as a sports editor, so they are often in the back of my mind as I put my time in at games.  But a new parallel occurred to me last weekend as I cheered on the boys and watched them grin when they made their shots.  Watching the kids play is fun because of the enthusiasm they bring to the game.  They’re not at the advanced level that puts so much social pressure on performance.  They’re at an age where they are allowed to simply enjoy the game.  And don’t we love that kind of innocent pleasure when the stakes aren’t so high and failure isn’t the end of the world?  At this level, you usually get your pizza party whether you win or lose.

I think that kind of fresh perspective and enthusiasm is what makes it exciting to be around new writers.  I get letters sometimes from writers new to the business who are looking for a little direction and those folks are usually pleased when I gab away about the writing life and the business.  I understand that they are getting something out of my conversation.  But I don’t think they necessarily realize what I’m getting out of theirs.  It’s that fervor and eagerness for writing that I remember with fondness.  Not that I mean to suggest I’m a cynical old crone at this point in the game.  Far from it!  I’ve got a Pollyanna streak a mile wide.  Still, my years in this business and my 30-odd manuscripts written (not all of them published) have definitely left me wiser and warier.  That’s a good thing.  And yet—I really miss those days where I’d stop at the end of a paragraph to admire what I’d written, kind of like those 6^th graders smiling openly at a foul shot that swished cleanly through the net. 

There’s a joy associated with any new endeavor, a joy that quiets a bit as you become more of an expert and have been fortunate enough to turn a hobby into a profession.  The well-loved pursuit soon comes with deadlines and expectations of editors, agents and readers.  And the more successful you become, the higher the stakes of failure.  That success is a blessing, to be sure.  But there is always a bit of nostalgia involved in talking to a writer who still regularly takes time to savor the play of her words on paper or who is bursting with story ideas and can follow only her own direction about which idea to pursue next.  So don’t be surprised if you’re an aspiring writer and I quiz you about what you’re working on and how you manage your schedule and what you’ve got in mind for career goals.  I promise I’m not trying to steal ideas and I’m not just making small talk for the heck of it.  I’m just enjoying your journey along with you, and in doing so, I’m also remembering and enjoying my own.

**Present Day: I loved this piece because I just celebrated my youngest son's final season of high school basketball. I cried when it ended, probably more than I'll cry on his graduation day since sports have been such a defining element of my family and my life for the last twenty years. I will miss the tournaments, the young athletes and the fierceness of competing. But at the same time, I'm heartened to remember that this joy doesn't go away. Those memories will fill my books for many years to come.

And so funny to think that when I wrote this I had thirty some books. I just celebrated the release of my 80th novel for Harlequin. Have you read my February 2018 release, For the Sake of His Heir?

For today, I'll leave you with this thought / question- Have you ever acted as a mentor to someone in your business or personal life, or have you been on the receiving end of mentoring?  Did that experience bring similar emotional rewards to the ones I mention? Share with me this week and I'll give one random poster an advance copy of my April Harlequin Desire, Expecting a Scandal! 

An introvert's nightmare...

  
I just attended my very first reader event: Angels & Sirens in Washington, PA. That might not sound like a big deal but when you're an introvert, the prospect of putting yourself "out there" in the middle of hundreds of strangers can be a little daunting. 

It's not that I can't "turn on"--in addition to being in the fire department, I also worked retail, so I can generally flip my internal switch and make it work. That doesn't make it any less daunting…or less exhausting. But I committed and yes, a small part of me was actually excited about it.

Of course, I stressed the two weeks prior, wondering what to bring. Swag? Check. Chocolate? Check. Author banner and table runner? Check. Books?

Okay, yeah, that should be a no-brainer. Of course books. I mean, that's the whole purpose of going to a book signing, right? But how many? Should I bring copies of each title (that's 16 titles in case you're wondering)? If so, how many of each? Just focus on the new release? On the last two releases? Five copies? Ten copies? Eek!

The better plan: just throw a bunch of books in several boxes and load up the truck and be done with it. Okay, maybe not the best plan around, but I made it work. Mostly.

So I loaded up my truck and headed west, arriving entirely too early on Friday. Unloaded the truck (and I swear those boxes of books and swag multiplied during the 4-hour drive!) then…then what?  

Well, I surprised myself by not hiding in my room. I actually went to the lobby, grabbed a coffee, and got in some writing. Sounds brave, huh? Not really: a handful of my hockey romance buddies were also attending, so I was hanging out, waiting for them.

We had already made plans to grab dinner Friday night then go to the Pens game. Part of me thinks that was harder than playing extrovert! Why? Because I'm a Caps fan and felt like I was going deep into enemy territory! I still had fun, because I got to hang with my fellow authors and even a few readers who joined us, which made it worthwhile! 

(L-R): Representing my Caps deep in enemy territory; me and Cat, my uber-awesome PA, before the game; yes, I brought way too much stuff!

Then it was Saturday, the day of the event. I lugged all my stuff over to the signing room (making a mental note to never bring so much crap with me again!) and, with the help of my uber-awesome PA, Cat Parisi, got everything set up so it looked nice and pretty.

Then I sat there, wondering what I had gotten myself into. Would anyone buy my books? Would anyone stop by to say hi? Would people just blow by my table, carefully avoiding all eye contact? 

Thankfully, no. And after the first hour, I was finally able to bury my inclination to crawl under the table, curl up into a little ball, and hide. And I had a blast! It was so much fun meeting fans (who knew I actually had real fans!!) and talking with everyone. Was I exhausted afterward? Absolutely. But it was a good exhaustion, the kind where you're tired but it's the kind of tired you get from being busy and having a successful day. So yeah, I'd count my first reader event as a success. And yes, in case you're wondering, I came back with quite a bit less stuff! 

Would I have been as comfortable if not for my hockey romance buds? Hard to say. Maybe, maybe not. But having them there certainly helped--we're a team, helping each other out, just being there to support one another.

Kinda like the hockey teams I write about! And speaking of hockey teams…

I recently launched a new hockey series, The York Bombers. Book 1, PLAYING THE GAME, came out last month and is receiving some great 5-star reviews (hooray me!). The next title in the series, PLAYING TO WIN, releases next week. The hero in PTW was so much fun to write. Jason loves to win, on and off the ice, but he doesn't always notice what's right there in front of him--until it's almost too late. When he meets Megan, he realizes that winning isn't always easy…and fighting to win makes the prize that much sweeter!

Playing The Game is on sale now for 99 cents, so you can pick up your copy here. And, of course, you can preorder Playing To Win by clicking here. 

So how about you? Are you an introvert or extrovert? Any tips or tricks to surviving those social situations? I'm all ears and eager to learn…because yeah, I have a few more author events to attend this year (you can check out my scheduled events here). Maybe I'll see some of you there! Don't be afraid to stop by and say hi--I'll have lots of chocolate and goodies to pave the way, and I'll be eternally grateful for the company!

Until next month!

LBK

         

Sexy Athlete Alert: Football and Romance

 by Joanne Rock

After writing baseball players, hockey players and even a Formula One race car driver, I guess I’ve developed a passion for sports heroes in my romances.

So I was really thrilled to sell a series to Harlequin Desire where the heroes are football players or guys otherwise attached to the sport—an owner, a coach, a couple of competing QBs. Meet the Bayou Billionaires this winter when my good friend Catherine Mann and I kick off our first joint series for Harlequin Desire.

For me, the sports arena recreates the medieval battlefield that I love so much. Athletes are a new breed of warrior, their battles a different kind of fierce. But I admire the heart and soul that go into the competition.

The desire to win fuels alpha males from all walks of life—from the boardroom to the playing field to the battlefield. In the Bayou Billionaires series, Cathy and I get to explore that hunger to win from a variety of perspectives. Her first hero, the owner of our fictional NFL team, is a former athlete who channels his knowledge of the game into strategy that helps him acquire the right weaponry to win. It’s up to Gervais Reynaud to combine the best personnel to get the job done in Catherine Mann’s His Pregnant Princess Bride.

Set in the Big Easy, the Bayou Billionaires books are all available for pre-order… perfect timing for that Amazon gift card you got for Christmas, right? I hope you’ll consider checking them out and seeing what kind of series Cathy and I created. In the meantime, here are a few of my favorite athlete heroes—real and fictional!

Bobby Tom Denton- if you haven’t read Heaven, Texas by Susan Elizabeth Phillips…. go grab it right now.

Cal Bonner- I’ll never forget that Lucky Charms scene in Nobody’s Baby But Mine—also by the phenomenal Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Wade O’Riley – Jill Shalvis can’t write a bad hero and her baseball guys are no different… check out Slow Heat in her Pacific Heat series.

Tyson Reed- I didn’t know how much I’d love MMA until I read Jennifer Snow’s new Beyond the Cage series, and in particular, Tyson’s book- Fighting the Fall. This is a new author to watch!

Harley Handleman- Lori Foster made me a fan with her Buckhorn Brothers and I haven’t stopped reading her since. Check out her SBC Fighters series, especially Hard to Handle.

Luc Martineau – See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson shows a hockey player in all his sexy glory.

Other favorites- Dierdre Martin, Elle Kennedy, Jaci Burton, Tracy Solheim and Kat Latham…. All must-reads for me!

What about you? What books are you looking for with your Christmas gift card? Share with me on the blog today and I’ll give one random poster a BONUS Amazon gift card for $5 so you can snag yourself an extra book!