LaConnie Taylor-Jones

Happy Monday Everyone!

A Love For All Times Virtual Book Tour is back on the information highway this week and I’m spending the day with my friend and sorority sister Ann Christopher. Stop by AnnChristopher.com! and join the discussion on betrayal – one of the themes from my latest novel, When a Man Loves a Woman. At the end of the day, we’ll give two copies away to lucky commenters.

Ann Christopher practiced law for six years before retiring and becoming a stay-at-home mom after her second child was born. Ann’s romance writing career launched July 2006 with the release of Trouble and then Risk in February 2007. Ann also writes for Harlequin/Kimani and her first book with them, Just About Sex, was released in March 2007 and her second book, Sweeter Than Revenge, was release January 2008.

Visit Ann Christopher online today!

Until next time – stay well and be blessed.

Hi Everyone:

The weekend is almost here and my 5th tour stop this week is at ReviewYourBook.com where reviewer, Stephanie Rollins says, “Taylor-Jones coffee-fueled nights created a great story. Read and recommend to your friends. I look forward to more of her books.”

Check out ReviewYourBook.com 4 star review of When a Man Loves a Woman online today!

Click to Visit ReviewYourBook.com today – http://reviewyourbook.com/review.cfm?reviewid=688 More about ReviewYourBook.com . . .ReviewYourBook.com provide book reviews and editing services with ease and speed to authors and publishers by keeping their system simple. Visit them online today for more information!

All aboard Virtual Book Travelers!

I’m stopping off today at Written Voices, a very popular literary blog for authors, avid readers, and visitors at AAKultureZone.com! It’s day 3 of my virtual book tour and I think it’s about time you find out why I call myself an ”old school” romance writer. Listen to the passage from my latest novel, When a Man Loves a Woman. Aaah, you’ll get a real appreciation for what “old school” romance is all about!

WRITTEN VOICES

After you read this post on Reading While Black , I’ll let you decide.

Here’s what I do know about the romance genre:

• Revenue from romance fiction is 1.37 billion dollars and outsells every market category by twenty-six (26%) with the exception of religion/inspirational books
• Romance fiction has the same characteristics as any other fiction novel with one distinction: it centers on the love between two people and provides an optimistic ending. Moreover, the read is fresh, smart, and diverse

Until next time – stay well and be blessed!

Here we go, again!!

Folks, the drama involving reviews has reared it’s ugly head.

Today, I found this post on Dear Author. Allegations have surfaced that favorable reviews from Affair de Couer are predicated on advertisement purchased by the publisher and in some instances, the author. And it ain’t a Black thing, either. Romantic Times got slammed, too.

Whether the allegations involving ADC and RT are true or not, is not my beef with the entire review process. When will everybody finally understand the true purpose of reviews and the role of reviewers? You don’t buy good reviews, you earn them!! How? By writing the best doggone story possible. And you don’t get mad with a reviewer and pout if you receive a less than favorable review from them. Reviews are ONE, let me repeat, ONE person’s opinion.

A couple of months ago, I referenced some other issues relative to reviews in my monthly post on Blogging In Black. Granted, I’ve only been in the literary arena for a short time, but I swear I learn something new everyday.

Someone help me out, pleasse. Am I out the box on this one??

Until next time – stay well and be blessed!!

Hi Everyone:

Happy TGIF!!

Thought you might find this post: The Bottom Line on On-line Promo and the comments it received interesting.

The article brings up several interesting points relative to the revolution of the on-line romance community as well as some of the struggles we authors face in our attempt to reach our target audience via on-line promotion. I’m an advocate of on-line promotion, but with anything else, there are pluses and minuses to consider with any promotion campaign.

However, the most valuable point made in this post was this:

“And then you forget about the Internet, and you sit down and write the best damn book you can, because absolutely nothing sells like an actually good book that everyone starts talking about. Word of mouth still works best, even in the 21st century.”

As an author, the one and only thing I have complete autonomy over is my story.

Have a great weekend!!

Until next time – stay well and be blessed.

Hi Everyone:

Wanted to to share a post that appears over at Blogging In Black today. After going through my first deadline experience, I need a vacation – LOL!!

Enjoy!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was a deadline virgin.

One day I knew my new writer’s barrier would be broken. “I know what’s going to happen,” I told myself a zillion times. At least I thought I understood the mechanics of it, anyway. Those who’d gone through the process before me had warned there would be pain. They told me it would be hot, sweaty, and exhausting. They put me on notice that I wouldn’t like it.

Well, they were right and wrong.

My time came. The story positioned itself over me, cradling my mind with sentence after sentence, until scenes transformed into chapters. There was still a long way to go before the consummation was complete. Inhaling sharply, I didn’t see how things would fit. Nor did I know if mating with this story was even possible. It was too late to stop now. I had no other choice but to accept this slow penetration. With a ferocity that would brook no delay, I hid from the outside world. My mind opened and my eyes settled on a tale that had consumed me for months. This story, my story, had completely engulfed me.

Perhaps I’d expected the months of writing without a deadline to ease the way, but in no way was I prepared for the invasion. Painfully, my body stretched to admit the finite number of days before this manuscript was due. The pressure was enormous from functioning on days where I’d gotten only four-hours of sleep, if that. The story premise flexed and characters exerted pressure I didn’t think possible. They pushed deep inside my creative space, inch, by tantalizing inch until they’d buried themselves to the hilt. My body resisted, but somehow, someway, a story broke past my ultra-sensitive writer’s flesh.

Yes, there was pain, but there was also so much more. The deadline process was scorching, raw, and primitive. But it swept me into the most powerful excitement I’ve ever experienced as a writer! Despite, the pain, I finally knew why I love the art of writing, understood how much my characters need me to give them life. Night after night we met until we landed on a one-way street called completion. My characters spoke and I listened. They gave and I took. And just when I thought I couldn’t bear the restraining power of my story any longer, it happened. Author and story surged and moved in perfect rhythm, dancing to a soul-stirring, heart-filling climax.

Am I ready for round two? Uh…give me a sec, and let me catch my breath.

Writing is a craft and placed in the hands of a writer who’s mastered their craft, an ordinary story transforms into an extraordinary work of art.

Until next time, stay well and be blessed

Hi All:

Well, today it is. It’s the final day of my virtual tour. The last nineteen days have been a blast.

I’ll be hanging out today over at Multicultural Romance Writers. Stop by and see what they are saying about my latest release, When A Man Loves A Woman.

I trust you enjoyed the tour as much as I have.

Until next time, stay well and be blessed!!

Hi All:

Be sure to stop by RAWSISTAZ Reviewers, an established part of the literary community and one of, if not the first, on-line and national organizations specializing in reviewing and promoting African-American literature.

Check out what they are saying about When A Man Loves A Woman.

Until next time, stay well and be blessed.