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ARCHANGELS, FINCHES AND MARQUESSES

Reading is essential to keeping my writing voice fresh and energized, so no matter how crazy editing, marketing or domestic life gets, I keep an eclectic reading stack going. I wrote a GoodReads blog about this, plus shared some of the books that made a marked impression upon me these past couple months, in case you want to add to your own TBR list.

AUDIO BOOK STATUS ON VAMPIRE QUEEN SERIES

We're getting closer! Thanks to JWHMembersOnly fan group feedback on the initial audition, I requested a second audition from one female narrator, and a new audition from a male. If they both come back as good as it seems they will, it's going to be a TOUGH choice.

A little insight into the audiobook process. When I was collecting reader thoughts, several of you mentioned liking it when the main characters are read by different narrators. While that is a delightful idea, it's twice the narrator cost and a much higher production cost. Way beyond my budget, I'm afraid, usually shouldered by a major publisher or a much more famous author with deeper pockets than mine, lol. But hopefully we'll be able to choose the right voice, where having a single narrator will be sufficient for a satisfying listening experience!

Fingers crossed, by our next newsletter I'll be able to report we've selected a narrator and production of Vampire Queen's Servant in audio has begun! Supposedly that process takes about 2-3 months from start of production to distribution to the audio vendors, like Audible. My intent is that the audio sales from each book will fund producing the next book in the series, and so on and so forth, until we can FINALLY get the whole series out!

NEXT GUEST AUTHOR DAY - ELIZABETH SA FLEUR

We had a little snag with our guest author day in May, when Kylie Scott had to cancel due to a nasty head cold. The up side is we can look forward to her rescheduling with us for a future time. As noted last month, Kylie writes delightful hot romances featuring sexy bartenders, movie stars and more, who meet up with contemporary heroines who are just the right match for them. She left some lovely posts with us on the JWHMembersOnly group on May 29 if you'd like to check those out - just search on her name. I'll keep everyone posted on her new FB Live date with us!

So who's up for the month of JUNE? Our dear author friend and group favorite, Elizabeth SaFleur. Elizabeth's Elite Doms (MaleDom), Shakedown (Erotic Romance) and Justice series (FemDomme) are wonderful glitzy and glam stories with very personal, sexy and appealing heroes and heroines. Elizabeth herself is a warm and vibrant personality, plus a successful businesswoman and recreational dancer/performer who has taught pole dancing and been in burlesque shows. I've had the pleasure of spending time with her at conferences, so I know firsthand how delightful and entertaining she is.

Here's her more "official" bio - Elizabeth writes award-winning romance that dares to “go there” from 28 wildlife-filled acres, which she shares with her husband and one very spoiled Westie. When not immersed in books, she can be found dancing or drinking good Virginia wine—not necessarily in that order. [Note from Joey - I recommend subscribing to her newsletter specifically because of her monthly "character conversations" - they never fail to make me laugh! Her FB group, Elizabeth's Playroom is also a great community.]

So come join us at the JWHMembersOnly Facebook group on June 26, 8pm ET for Elizabeth's FB Live!

WHAT'S NEXT?

Now that Vampire Guardian is officially DONE, I'm doing a couple weeks of heavy marketing for the book and then I'll start writing Neil and Abby's story, the next book in the Mistresses of the Board Room series. When I wrote The Barbecue free vignette early this year, it was tough not to let the few scenes with the two of them take over. Their chemistry is strong, as the quote below shows, and I love feeling that vibe well before the book's first page is even written. And we now have a title for their story!

CONTACTING/FOLLOWING ME

Thank you so much for your support of my work!

VAMPIRE INSTINCT IS FREE UNTIL JUNE 15!

"Just finished Vampire Instinct by Joey W. Hill. It was so good I'm left staring into space with a book hangover. Thank you for the riveting experience. I thought after Beloved Vampire I wouldn't love one of your books more than it; I was wrong." -- Reader Twitter Review

Vampire Instinct, a standalone in the Vampire Queen series, will be FREE until June 15! While this is partly to celebrate and promote the June 15 release of Vampire Guardian, it has a practical purpose as well. Since Adan, the hero of Vampire Guardian, is Mal and Elisa's son (and they are the hero/heroine of Vampire Instinct), it seemed like the best book to prepare readers who haven't read the rest of the series yet, but who might want to dive into the newest release without having to read all the previous books. And after reading Vampire Instinct, they may decide they want to read some of the other books while waiting for June 15 (grin).

You all do a wonderful job of spreading the love of my books. Many of my Vampire Queen series readers came to me after a fellow reader turned them toward it, so I wanted to give you added ammunition to bring them to the fold. Who can resist a free book, right? Vampire Instinct is Book 7, but since it takes place in the 1950s, which is prior to the contemporary time period for most the previous books, it helps with the ability to read it as a standalone. Here are all the links -

Amazon US

Amazon Worldwide

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PREORDER LINKS FOR VAMPIRE GUARDIAN

Don't forget, we have preorder links for Vampire Guardian, so you can reserve your ebook copy now. Look under the graphic below for the preorder links. If you haven't already, you can click here for the Chapter One peek, offered in easy BookFunnel download link for your preferred device. ARE YOU A BLOGGER OR REVIEWER? You can sign up here for all the promo stuff - blog tour, ARC review, etc. And thank you so much if you do!!

Since a lot of the story happens at Club Atlantis, this is considered a Club Atlantis book, which has become a sub-series within the Vampire Queen series world. However, Adan and Catriona don't stay there the whole time. They manage to find their way to the island big cat sanctuary where Adan grew up, spend time in the Fae world, and there's eventually a trip to the Underworld! (grumbles the author, who has to handle the set up on all those locations, lol...)

As noted above, this book ended up having a wide scope of characters, locations and action scenes. Don't worry, though - Catriona and Adan figured out how to fit in some steamy D/s scenes. Adan is a vampire, after all - for his race, there's ALWAYS time for a Master or Mistress to play with their beloved servant, lol.

AUDIO BOOK STATUS ON VAMPIRE QUEEN SERIES

Currently, I have requested auditions from three narrators for Book 1, Vampire Queen's Servant. Once I find the right narrator, I'll ask if she can commit to doing Book 2, Mark of the Vampire Queen, as well. I posted the first audition I received on the JWHMembersOnly Facebook page to get their feedback on her. So far the response has been pretty positive, so we'll see if I'll be able to announce an official name for our narrator next month! Once a narrator is chosen, it's supposedly about 2-3 months to get each book ready and released on the audio distribution sites (including Audible).

I'm STILL riding on clouds with kittens about finally getting the chance to bring you this series in audio format. You'll recall, the only VQS book to date that has made it to audio format is Nightfall, the story I co-authored with Desiree Holt. Fortunately, Findaway Voices offers self-published authors an affordable way to bring audiobooks to readers. With the Voices Share program, I pay 50% of the up front production cost and offer a bigger royalty share to the narrator (which seems very fair to me, since the appeal of his/her audio reading will do a lot to increase reader enjoyment of the book in that medium).

My intent is that the sales of the first two books will fund producing the next book in the series, and so on and so forth, until we can get the whole series out.

NEXT GUEST AUTHOR DAY - KYLIE SCOTT

The lovely Sasha White spent such a great evening with us all in April, discussing her current books, what she has planned for the future, and the challenges writers face when balancing serious family issues. With her talents as bartender/waitress/world traveler/avid reader, she brings such an amazing background to her books. Be sure and take a look at her website and the new May release in her Hunter Protection series, Drake's Hunt. You can see her full FB Live with us at JWHMembersOnly group here.

So who's next on the guest list? Take a deep breath and try not to fan girl screech - KYLIE SCOTT! She writes the popular Dive Bar and Stage Dive series, sexy rock-star and bartender heroes whose lives are upended by the women who steal their hearts. Her latest book, Fake, has a celebrity hero and a waitress heroine, and the tag line caught my attention right away: "He walks the red carpet. She’s more familiar with vacuuming one."

Kylie's books are feel-good crack, according to her readers. I found this Happy Ever After USA Today quote that seems to summarize it well: "an absorbing storyline infused with Kylie Scott’s distinctive wit, singular charm and sublime emotional intensity.” That was talking about her book It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time, a title I automatically loved. Though seriously, after going through her book list, I honestly defy anyone to not one-click her books based on their blurbs alone, lol.

Here's her more "official" bio - Kylie is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author. She was voted Australian Romance Writer of the year, 2013, 2014, 2018, and 2019, by the Australian Romance Writer’s Association and her books have been translated into fourteen different languages. She is a long time fan of romance, rock music, and B-grade horror films. Based in Queensland, Australia with her two children and husband, she reads, writes and never dithers around on the internet. [I love hosting a Guest Author who uses the word "dithers," btw.]

So come join us at the JWHMembersOnly Facebook group on May 29, 8pm ET for Kylie's FB Live!

WHAT'S NEXT?

I'm still doing research, brainstorming and outlining on Neil and Abby's story, the next book in the Mistresses of the Board Room series. Since I'm already pretty well versed in Navy SEAL research (Neil is an active SEAL), most of the research for this book is on paranoid schizophrenia. In Book 1, At Her Command, it was revealed that Abby lives under the shadow of this very challenging difficult mental illness, since both her grandmother and mother suffered from it.

I'm also learning how exhausting trying to live with this illness is, thanks to medications, body chemistry and a lot of the other "unknowns." So how does a person overcome it, embrace a relationship with someone, get the most out of their life? Particularly a Dom/sub relationship. It's the kind of HEA writing challenge I like. Fortunately, with Neil being a SEAL, he's up for it as well. He doesn't apply the word "quit" to anything, let alone the woman who has captured his attention from the first moment he met her.

Fair warning - though this series is called Mistresses of the Board Room, because all five of the women featured in it are Dommes, it looks like we're going to have a switch dynamic happening here, somewhat like what happened for Marguerite in Ice Queen. Abby is still very much a Mistress, but it may be that Neil's Dom traits will provide her something essential she needs, as an additional room in her BDSM explorations.

I never force my characters into a box - ever since Holding the Cards, when I tried to "make" Josh a Dom, and it turned out the story flowed far more beautifully with him as a beta sub, I've learned to listen to what the characters tell me - and the story itself. No matter what, though, this one is going to be a heartrending ride. My hope is I'll have this book ready for you all sometime in Fall 2021.

CONTACTING/FOLLOWING ME

Thank you so much for your support of my work!

PREORDER LINKS AND A CHAPTER ONE TEASER

Hooray! I've finished the first draft of Vampire Guardian, which means I have PREORDER LINKS for you, as well as a CHAPTER ONE sneak peek. Look under the graphic below for the preorder links, and click here for the Chapter One peek, offered in easy BookFunnel download link for your preferred device. You can also find all that at any time on the book page on my website. We're looking at a June 15 release date, and yes, this will be considered a Club Atlantis book, which has become a sub-series within the Vampire Queen series world.

While I don't have a Bookstagram account (I can barely keep up with the social media I have now, lol) I've been playing with ideas inspired by it. I did the below picture earlier this month to visually demonstrate just how many characters from my other books are playing a part in Adan and Catriona's story.

For some reason, whenever the Fae get involved, the cast expands. Bound by the Vampire Queen and Night's Templar were the same way. For an author, that's a headache and a half, because I don't want to lose the connection with Adan and Catriona in the crowd, but I also don't want those side character appearances to be empty cameos. But the front end effort is worth the final result, if I do it right. I have plenty of Excedrin Migraine standing by to help get me through, lol. Plus the chocolate and Cherry Coke Zero shown!

BIG AUDIOBOOK NEWS

So for years, I've been asked this question by my readers: "When will the Vampire Queen series be available on audio?" The only VQS book to date that has made it to that format is Nightfall, the story I co-authored with Desiree Holt. Well, Quinn and Selene's story is about to have company. I'm extremely happy to report that we are auditioning narrators now to bring the first two books, Vampire Queen's Servant and Mark of the Vampire Queen, to our audiobook audience!

Once the narrators are chosen, if all goes as it should, it's about 2-3 months to get each book ready and released on the audio distribution sites (including Audible). I'll keep you all posted on the schedule.

This development was made possible by Findaway Voices, a relatively new player on the audiobook market. They offer self-published authors like myself a more affordable way to bring our books to readers in audio format. With the Voices Share program, I pay 50% of the up front production cost and offer a bigger royalty share to the narrator (which seems very fair to me, since the appeal of his/her audio reading will do a lot to increase reader enjoyment of the book in that medium).

My intent is that the sales of the first two books will fund producing the next book in the series, and so on and so forth, until we can get the whole series out. Therefore, when it's time for these first two to release, I'll be doing a big promo push to let people know they're available. Anything you all feel like doing to help spread the word at that point will be very helpful, to ensure we can continue to produce more audiobooks for the series.

I'm so excited to be making positive steps toward offering my vampires in audio. FINALLY!

NEXT GUEST AUTHOR DAY - SASHA WHITE

In March, we enjoyed having Joely Sue Burkhart as our Guest Author. During her FB Live on March 27, she entertained us with stories about her research and inspiration for her reverse harem series Their Vampire Queen. She also discussed her eclectic series list - MaleDom, FemDom, menage, polyamory, contemporary, paranormal and more. We were so glad to get to know her better.

So who's next on the guest list? The fabulous SASHA WHITE! I've been friends with Sasha many years, and was delighted when the group chose her as one of the authors they'd like to be part of the guest series. With fellow author TJ Michaels, she and I started the first "Erotic Trivia" game that became so popular at our shared conferences. We have spent more than one book signing within a rock's throw of one another's tables (actually, that would be chocolate throwing - we're not above pelting one another with candy during the slow times).

Here's her more "official" bio - After almost 20 years as a bartender/waitress/world traveler/avid reader, Sasha White decided to give writing a try. Her first novel, Bound, was released in 2006 by Berkley Heat, and she hasn’t looked back since. Sasha writes modern erotic fiction with an edge of kink, usually contemporary, with the occasional foray into paranormal and science fiction. Having published over thirty stories with publishers such as Kensington Aphrodisia, Berkley Heat, Avon, Black Lace, and Samhain Publishing, she's recognized as one the top authors of the genre. Born in Calgary and raised all over Western Canada, she is a Rocky Mountain girl at heart.

So come join us at the JWHMembersOnly Facebook group on April 24, 8pm EDT for Sasha's FB Live! I know we'll all have a blast. And in the meantime, check out her website for more about her available series. She has a new book in her Hunter Protection series coming up in May, Drake's Hunt. Here's my favorite cover in the series - I thought you all would enjoy looking at it! This is the same model I used for one of my Submissive Angel promo graphics (grin). Oh, and if you'd like a FREE Hunter Protection short story from Sasha, "Mountain Retreat," just subscribe to her VIP mailing list here. It's a good intro to her writing.

See you all on April 24th!

WHAT'S NEXT?

I've started doing my research for Neil and Abby's story, the next book in the Mistresses of the Board Room series. In Book 1, At Her Command, it was revealed that Abby lives under the shadow of a very difficult mental illness that both her grandmother and mother suffered. It has kept her from making any permanent bonds with a lover. However, since Neil pretty much decided he was over the moon for her from their first meeting, this Navy SEAL isn't letting anything stop him from proving she can count on him to love her through any challenge they have to face. And from what I'm reading about this mental illness, that challenge will be considerable.

Don't worry, though. As you all have hopefully found in my books with physically challenged heroes or heroines (Des in Worth the Wait, Rory in In His Arms, Dale in Unrestrained and Dana in Honor Bound), I believe it is possible to balance serious issues with the hope and joy we crave and need in our romances - and in life itself.

CONTACTING/FOLLOWING ME

Thank you so much for your support of my work!

What do you think of the cover of Vampire Guardian? There's a scene between Adan and Catriona where they're in this position, her gazing up at him and touching his chin just like that. I initially played with concepts that incorporated her wings, since she IS Fae. However, what they call the visual "branding" of the series - those character close ups, and the sepia-like tones with the reds - call for keeping it simple. I get that logic, because I like this final result. Hope you do as well! Maybe I'll ask my talented husband to turn some of those more complicated ideas into teasers as we get closer to release day (wink).

Oh, and if you're looking at this on your computer, wondering why the cover is posted above as well as in your sidebar, it's because on a smaller screen the sidebar is sometimes moved to the end. I didn't want to point to it in the sidebar and have readers looking at this on their phone or tablet and saying, "What's she talking about? I don't see a cover!" Lol.

So, if you'd like to know how the story is going, I hit 100k on the first draft this week! That might sound good, but I have mixed feelings about it, because I've been tweaking my creative process. I'm a very ordered and disciplined person, so up to now, my book-writing progression was very measurement-oriented. Meaning, I'd write 5000 words/day, five days a week, and have 150k in six weeks. Then I had a set number of days/weeks to handle the first, second, third and final edit rounds.

However, my fifth decade of life has brought some focus/physical issues requiring a different approach. Writers (and artisans of all kinds) have to strike a balance between channeling the creativity that puts HEART into their work, and achieving a level of productivity that pays the bills.

So, to keep things going in the right direction, I was advised by a fellow creator to try and work each day until "the juice" runs out. Doesn't matter if that's six hours or one hour, or anywhere in between. On the days when the juice runs out faster, that's more time to give to the marketing/business end of things (which is a never-ending to-do list). This person advised that if it works the way it should, I will somehow make just as much progress on the book and meet the deadline - and be as happy (or more so) with the results.

I won't know until this book is done if this worked, but I can say that I'm noticing some very good things about this process. I'm happier with what I'm writing as the first draft, which logically means I'll make up the time on the back (editing) end I lost on the front (creating/first draft) end, and still achieve that June 15 release date. And by not forcing it, I'm drawn deeper into who Adan and Catriona are, and where the story needs to go--always a good thing.

One caveat for my newsletter subscribers who are also authors: This probably isn't a good process for someone who already has writing discipline issues or difficulty meeting deadlines. But for an obsessive workaholic, the biggest challenge to this process is convincing myself I'm not a slacker because my creative process is becoming less rigidly measurement-oriented.

Remember, you can read the blurb for Vampire Guardian on the book page on my website. Preorder links should be up by the next newsletter, fingers crossed!

NEXT GUEST AUTHOR DAY - JOELY SUE BURKHART

So we've now had two fabulous Guest Authors do a FB Live at the JWHMembersOnly Facebook group on the last Saturday night of the month. If you'll recall me mentioning this last month, I had asked our group members for suggestions on who they wanted to visit the group, and they provided me 80 names! In February, our guest was Samantha A. Cole. This retired police officer and paramedic regaled us with entertaining anecdotes about her pre-author life, as well as the inspirations for her popular Trident Security series, Doms of the Covenant, Master Key, the Malone Brothers series, and the list goes on. If you weren't there for the FB Live, you can watch it here anytime on the FB Group.

If you're catching up with our monthly guest author series, you can also watch our first one with Desiree Holt by clicking here.

So who's next? In March, our Guest Author of the Day is going to be Joely Sue Burkhart! With the tagline "Finding Love in the Shadows," Joely has a very eclectic series list - she writes MaleDom, FemDom, menage, polyamory, contemporary, paranormal, etc. Like me, she has a vampire queen. However, her heroine is part of a reverse harem series called Their Vampire Queen. For my FemDomme lovers, she also has a Billionaires in Bondage trilogy - yes, books where the billionaire man is the submissive (grin). But these are just two of her multiple series. You can check them out by category here.

Her bio states that Joely "has always loved heroes who hide behind a mask, the darker and more dangerous the better. Whether cool, sophisticated billionaire, brutal bloodthirsty assassin, or simply a man tortured by his own needs, they all wear masks to protect themselves. Once they finally give you a peek into the passionate, twisted secrets they're hiding, they always fall hard and fast. Dare to look beneath the mask and find love in the shadows."

Come join us Saturday, March 27, 8-9pm ET to spend some time with Joely, and be sure to check in with the group earlier in the day to see if she posts any additional information about herself, or her current and upcoming works.

WHAT BOOK OF JOEY'S SHOULD I READ FIRST?

Thanks to the guest author series, I've had a good number of new folks joining my social media pages. Because of that, I realized it might make sense to point people back to a post that was intended to help new readers decide which of my books to read first. Originally, I did it as a discussion post on GoodReads, but this month I streamlined it for the FB and MeWe groups. While MeWe doesn't yet have the option of a link for a specific post (or I'm not technically savvy enough to have found it yet), I'll put the FB and GR links here:

Facebook Post

GoodReads Post

If you're one of my existing readers, you may not need these, but I thought they'd be helpful if you were introducing someone new to my work. And thank you for that, btw. A happy reader, in the mood to share her/his happiness, is the best kind of marketing an author can get!

DID YOU KNOW I'M ON MEWE TOO?

There's been a lot of shakeup in the social media world of late. Authors tend to put their eggs in many baskets, because we want readers to be able to interact with us on their preferred platforms. So if you missed the mention of it in earlier newsletters, I'm also on MeWe (essentially an alternative to Facebook). Whatever content I'm putting on FB is also going on MeWe, so come join me there if you prefer that platform.

Something to Remember: No matter the inevitable fluidity of the social media world, there is one place readers can ALWAYS find me. [Unless there's a global EMP that knocks out all electronics, or a zombie apocalypse, in which case we'll have a lot of things to figure out a bit more important than finding our favorite authors online, lol.] That place is my website, storywitch.com. It's noted at the bottom of the newsletter, under the Contacting/Following Me section I include in every issue. When you go to my website, not only is there an email contact link, in the top right corner there are little icons that offer the variety of platforms where you can also find me, like GoodReads, YouTube, etc.

SASS 2021 CANCELLED - PUSHED TO 2022

Well, unfortunately, it's looking like no SASS21 this year. With Virginia still limiting capacities and without a guarantee that would change by July, the coordinators have requested a 2022 date change from the hotel. At the time of this newsletter they hadn't officially announced the cancellation/new date, but hopefully we'll find out soon. So maybe we'll get to see one another in person at a con in 2022. In the meantime, if you're down my way in beautiful coastal SC, know you're always welcome to reach out to meet me for a coffee!

THE BARBECUE: A NEW FREE NOVELLA

Don't forget, in January I released a new FREE vignette revisit with my Knights and Mistresses of the Board Room characters. "The Barbecue" is available on the Cantrips page on my website, with a convenient BookFunnel link to download it in your preferred format.

A reminder of what this vignette is about: If you've read At Her Command, the first book in my Mistresses of the Board Room series, you know at the end there's a reference to a barbecue at Dale and Athena's home (hero/heroine of Unrestrained). The vignette IS that barbecue. In this short, you'll get a couple nice foreshadowing scenes between Neil and Abby. Theirs is the next book to be written in the MBR series, Fall 2021. You'll also be on the front row for an emotional re-connect between Rachel of Afterlife and Lawrence, since he was her late son's childhood friend.

LAST FULL MONTH OF SALE

Another final reminder: Submissive Angel, my expanded M/m Christmas story, will return to a $2.99 price around mid-March. Get your $0.99 cent copy now, which includes the original 2012 story PLUS 180 pages of "the rest of the story." Here are all the buy links:

Nook (code BNPJOEY66 for sale price - also at top of blurb at Nook)

CONTACTING/FOLLOWING ME

Thank you so much for your support of my work!

Happy Valentine's Day month! My second favorite holiday. I should have known I was going to be a romance author when my love of this holiday flourished, not because my own teen love life was that spectacular (a hideous understatement, lol), but because I loved how people express romantic love for one another. And one of the ways I celebrate that is by reading a love story, as this graphic I did for last year's V-Day shows.

THE BARBECUE: A NEW FREE NOVELLA

As promised, I have released a new FREE vignette revisit with my Knights and Mistresses of the Board Room characters. "The Barbecue" is now available on the Cantrips page on my website, with a convenient BookFunnel link to download it in your preferred format. You can see the pretty cover in the sidebar, courtesy of my husband's very appreciated graphic design talents.

GUEST AUTHOR DAY - DESIREE HOLT / SAMANTHA COLE

So in January, we launched our monthly Guest of the Day Author series at the JWHMembersOnly Facebook group. I had asked our 1100+ members for suggestions on who they wanted to visit the group, and they provided me 80 names! So who was our first guest? The fabulous Desiree Holt, author of 271 romantic suspense and erotic romance books to date (yes, that is not a misprint). She kicked off the series January 30, offering several entertaining posts throughout the day, followed by a one-hour FB Live with us that evening.

During that hour, she treated us to SO many lively anecdotes about how her heroes came to be. Were you aware that Marc, her hero from Joy Ride, was inspired by real life rocker Jackie Joyride, when she saw him play The Viper Room in Chicago? Desiree was there with her publisher, and when Desiree said she wanted to turn him into one of her book heroes, her publisher invited him back to the hotel so Desiree could talk to him!

Her Navy SEALs have been heavily inspired by Jack Carr, a retired Navy SEAL who has not only been an invaluable research source, but writes his own fiction books now as well. And her Rawhide club series, which just had a new release, is inspired by a BDSM venue in the San Antonio area. One of the Doms offered a workshop at the first Wild Wicked Weekend conference and was an ongoing vital information source to Desiree to enrich her BDSM romances.

Want to hear all these stories and more? You can see the one-hour FB Live she did with us here, and if you search on "Desiree" on the group site, you should also pull up all the posts she did on January 30.

So who's next? In February, our Guest Author of the Day is going to be the amazing Samantha Cole! Samantha is a retired police officer and paramedic who writes BDSM romance under the tagline "suspenseful seduction," which includes the popular Trident Security series, plus Doms of the Covenant, Master Key, the Malone Brothers series, and the list goes on.

Come join us Saturday, February 27, 8-9pm ET to spend some time with Samantha, and be sure to check in with the group earlier in the day to see if she posts any additional information about herself, or her current and upcoming works.

GOODREADS - BLOGGERS AND READERS

The BDSM GoodReads group is doing a month-long "Kinkaversary!" If you're a READER, over 150 books are being awarded and fun stuff is happening, like a "Getting to Know an Author" scavenger hunt, a Flash Fiction contest and other BDSM-related games. I can't wait to see the comments/posts!

If you're a BLOGGER, be sure and check out the Blog Tour item on the event page for the giveaways and content specifically for YOU. For instance, in my tour content offering, I've prepared an EXCLUSIVE teaser scene from my upcoming book Vampire Guardian! If you sign up for it, send me a heads up on the date you're going to post it. The first three bloggers who let me know, I'll alert my readers so they can come check it AND your site out!

Want to see the amazing list of authors participating (and with whom I'm fortunate enough to be rubbing elbows)?

A.E. Lister, Amelia Danver, Annabel Joseph, Blakely Bennett, Cecilia Tan, C.P. Mandara, Candace Blevins, Golden Angel, H. Dean, Jeffe Kennedy, Karen Nappa, Lee Savino, Rachel Loewen, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Skye Warren and Siena Noble

Here's the direct link to all the Kinkaversary specific stuff again. Hope you drop in to enjoy the month-long party!

WANT TO KNOW THE TITLE OF MY NEXT BOOK?

As you may remember, the current work-in-process is the next Vampire Queen series book. I had a tentative title, The Vampire and the Fae, and that just didn't feel right. Then I shared the draft blurb/summary on the various social media platforms:

*****

Fae and vampires never fall in love. Except when they do...

Adan arrives at Club Atlantis to help with a job. The BDSM club is to become part of the portal network for magic users. A born vampire with the blood of a Cherokee shaman and a Irish Seer, Adan is apprenticed to a Light Guardian, helping him hone his skills to become a full sorcerer. Perhaps even a Guardian himself one day.

But there’s more at Club Atlantis than a job. It’s a haven for a Fae female. Despite the history of long animosity between vampires and Fae, wary strides have been made toward co-existence. But there’s a big difference between co-existing and what Adan finds himself wanting from Catriona.

Catriona is a Fae with a unique problem. Not at home in her own world, not physiologically suited to be in the human world without extraordinary protections in place, she can’t put down roots anywhere. Since she’s a tree nymph, it’s a serious problem. One that calls for a solution that will appall her world, even her loving and powerful protector, the Fae Lord Keldwyn.

The history of their two species is filled with tragic stories of what happens to a vampire and a Fae who want to bind to one another. But love has a way of refusing to be ignored. No matter the consequences...

*****

After mentioning that I was just "okay" with my proposed title, a reader suggested one that incorporated the word "Guardian" in it. And yes, though it seems pretty much like a "Duh-huh" moment now, Vampire Guardian suddenly made a lot of sense. Not only because of Adan's magical aspirations, but for what he will become to Catriona. So we have a title and a blurb!

Just as a reminder, Catriona is the Fae Lord Keldwyn's ward. We first met her in Bound by the Vampire Queen, a dryad that Jacob and Lyssa freed from her tree form. We saw her again in Night's Templar. Adan is the son of Mal and Elisa of Vampire Instinct. I have all fingers and toes crossed for a late spring/early summer release. I'll keep you posted. If I stay on schedule, preorder links should happen in April.

Here's a fun graphic for the book. When Adan and Catriona first meet, he has no great love for the Fae (that's putting it mildly). But Catriona has an answer for that, as you can see.

LAST FULL MONTH OF SALE

Don't forget, Submissive Angel, my expanded M/m Christmas story, will return to a $2.99 price around mid-March. Get your $0.99 cent copy now, which includes the original 2012 story PLUS 180 pages of "the rest of the story." Here are all the buy links:

Nook (code BNPJOEY66 for sale price - also at top of blurb at Nook)

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE - SASS 2021

Have you registered and made your hotel reservations for the next SASS conference? I hope so. I can't wait to see you all! Click on the link here or in the sidebar to find out more.

CONTACTING/FOLLOWING ME

Remember, you can find me online through my website email contact link (little envelope under Follow Me on the right side of home page) or email me directly at storywitch@storywitch.com. You can leave a question for me under my Author Profile on GoodReads. I'm on Twitter and Facebook (Author Page), and regularly stop in at the JWHMembersOnly fan group. I'm also on MeWe, if you prefer that platform to Facebook. If you'd like to see the pics that inspire my books, visit me on Pinterest, or check out my handful of videos on YouTube.

Thank you so much for your support of my work!

So here we are on the other side of all the Christmas doings. I hope you enjoyed the holidays, and had some good times with family. This weekend I'll finish packing away all the decorations, which is a day long affair, but this week I settled back into a normal writing schedule, working on the free "revisit" vignette for you all, to help us all escape the January doldrums. I discuss "The Barbecue" under the "What I'm Working On Now" section later on in this newsletter.

However, before we get to that, thank you so much for the wonderful feedback on Submissive Angel, my expanded M/m Christmas story! Comments like these were posted by reviewers and readers:

"Hill's skill … is an amalgam of time spent growing in both writing craft, and, literally, careful expression, life experience, a palpable dedication to researching the hell out of every subject she writes about, and most importantly that fundamental part of her creativity, a deep understanding and acceptance of human nature with all its facets. Her writing is not ever simply arousing but always deeply touching and uplifting." --Gab W

"Robert and Ange - Submissive Angel, Marcus and Thomas - Rough Canvas, Des and Julie - Worth the Wait, Rory and Daralyn - In His Arms... Couples that forever live in my head and heart.....though they ripped my heart out before putting it back together. THANK YOU JOEY for continuing to bring us such amazing characters, real characters, amazing stories from the heart..." --Pat E

"I may feel wrecked and reformed when I'm done with your books, but always full...like my soul has expanded just a bit more. Thank you for the bits of your soul you share every time you give us another of your gifts. Merry Christmas!" - Christi H

Remember that the original 2012 story, plus 170 new pages of content to tell the rest of Robert and Ange's tale, is on sale for 99 cents until March!

Here are all the buy links:

Nook (code BNPJOEY66 for sale price - also at top of blurb at Nook)

AND THE WINNER IS...

As you may remember, because Robert and Ange's story was coming out so close to the holidays, instead of release day parties and blog tours, I offered a big giveaway instead - up to FIFTY-TWO offers of swag packs, signed books AND the giant blanket pictured below. I won't list out all the winners of the books and swag packs, but I want to let you know who won the annual charity giveaway, the giant blanket, and whose quote on social media (all of which were fabulous) won the extra print book prize.

ANNUAL CHARITY WINNER: Since this year more are in need than ever, I upped my annual charity giveaway from $50 to $100. One of the things I really like about this contest is discovering the places that benefit from my readers' kindness and generosity. Those who sent me an email nominated some wonderful charities - food banks, animal shelters, service dogs for veterans, children of fallen soldiers, helping kids with trauma, AIDS orphan care, a local community support organization and LGBTQ crisis resources.

I'm always glad I choose this winner by random number generator, because it would be impossible for me to select one of these organizations over the others. And the winner is Rhonda G! Her charity is one that Des and Julie of Worth the Wait would approve of heartily, the Southern Colorado Theatre Company dba Steel City Theatre Company, which has been struggling due to the current state of things. They've had no indoor performances since March, and outdoor performances became limited once winter hit. We hope our donation will help in some small way to keep them going until things improve.

QUOTE WINNER - I appreciate the many amazing comments you all made on your social media about my work, but Lizbeth Ann especially touched me with this one, winning the extra signed print book. "Joey W. Hill is one of my favorite authors. Her characters are well rounded, real, flawed fictional people. (I added 'fictional' because, ya know, lol - for the record, Mac is MINE!!!! Violet said I could have him, in my imagination at least, LOL.) If you want a great story with some steam and spice, you can't go wrong." Thank you, Lizbeth Ann. Violet says she'll neither confirm nor deny that information (grin).

SO WHO WON THE BLANKET? You ALL deserve this blanket, but I'm happy to report Janet D is the randomly chosen winner from the contest entries. As a side note, Janet D is the member of a mothers' group that offers "best tips for survival as a first mom." She recently posted there, telling folks how my books have helped her survive the madness of twins, and recommended that anyone curious about the BDSM genre, or even interested in an amazing storyline, "to give Joey a whirl." Thank you, Janet!

All of the prize winners are currently being notified/awarded and will have their prize shipped to them shortly. Thank you SO much for helping me spread the word about my work on social media, not only through this contest, but throughout the year. Your recommendations make more impact on your fellow readers than a hundred well-placed ads. I know this for a fact, because as a reader myself, I will almost ALWAYS one-click a book when reader(s) who share my preferences declare, "You MUST buy this book!"

WHY THIS YEAR DIDN'T SUCK

Throughout 2020, I heard "I can't wait until this year is over" or "This year has been so awful." I had a somewhat different perspective on it. I laid it all out in my latest GoodReads blog, which you can find here. And no worries, my reasons aren't light and fluffy kumbaya stuff (grin).

GUEST AUTHOR OF THE MONTH

We're currently figuring out the types of things we want to do at the Facebook JWHMembersOnly page this year, and one of the things in the works is "Guest Author of the Month." We'll kick things off in January with Desiree Holt, who is already planning fun things for the group during her visit. These visits will happen on a weekend evening, for about 60-90 minutes, so we can get as much "live" participation as possible, though you'll also be able to drop in later and see the video and/or comments for the event, never fear. We're still hammering out Desiree's date/time, but I'll post her info on FB when we have it. I also hope to have more of the guest schedule for you by the next newsletter!

WHAT I'M WORKING ON NOW

"The Barbecue," a free revisit vignette with the Mistresses and Knights of the Board Room, is on schedule for release to you in January. Tomorrow I'll finish the first edit round and, barring any unexpected schedule disruptions, I hope to have it all polished and ready for publication by next Friday (Jan 15). Which means I'll turn it over to my husband for cover design, formatting and uploading onto BookFunnel, after which he'll list it on the Cantrips page. Keep your eye on the social media platforms, because I'll use those to let you know when it's live! If you're not on any social media, never fear. Just start checking that Cantrips page after the middle of the month, and I'll also of course have the links in the next monthly newsletter.

Just as a reminder of what this vignette is about, if you've read At Her Command, the first book in my Mistresses of the Board Room series, you know at the end there's a reference to a barbecue at Dale and Athena's home (hero/heroine of Unrestrained). The vignette IS that barbecue. In this short, you'll get a couple nice foreshadowing scenes between Neil and Abby. Theirs is the next book to be written in the MBR series, Fall 2021. You'll also be on the front row for an emotional re-connect between Rachel of Afterlife and Lawrence, since he was her late son's childhood friend.

But what will be our first full length book of the year? I've already started outlining and writing passages for the Spring 2021 addition to the Vampire Queen series. Our heroine will be Catriona, the Fae Lord Keldwyn's ward. We first met her in Bound by the Vampire Queen, a dryad that Jacob and Lyssa freed from her tree form. We saw her again in Night's Templar. Her hero is going to be Adan, the son of Mal and Elisa of Vampire Instinct.

The book starts in Club Atlantis, where Catriona is currently living, under the Fae and Council-sanctioned protection of Daegan and Anwyn. Adan has come to Club Atlantis for a specific purpose - a magical one. Both of his parents had bits of magic, and those bits have manifested in him in a unique way. When he crosses paths with Catriona, a different kind of magic happens. Since nothing about a Fae and vampire pairing is easy, look for sparks to fly!

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE - SASS 2021

Have you registered and made your hotel reservations for the next SASS conference? I hope so. I can't wait to see you all! Click on the link here or in the sidebar to find out more.

CONTACTING/FOLLOWING ME

Remember, you can find me online through my website email contact link (little envelope under Follow Me on the right side of home page) or email me directly at storywitch@storywitch.com. You can also leave a question for me under my Author Profile on GoodReads. I'm on Twitter and Facebook (Author Page), and regularly stop in at the JWHMembersOnly fan group. I'm also on MeWe and Parler, so if you prefer either of those platforms to Facebook or Twitter, you can still come by and see me! If you'd like to see the pics that inspire my books, visit me on Pinterest.

DIDN'T GET A RESPONSE? Responding to my readers, and doing so in a very timely manner (within 24-48 hours), is extremely important to me. So if you have sent a communication to me in any medium - direct email, social media, etc - and have not received a response, a technical glitch has occurred. Either your communication did not get through to me, or my response did not reach you. If you suspect that's the case, use one of the alternative methods to send me a "Hey, Joey, I sent you a note through email (or social media platform, etc). Did you get it?" message, and we'll make sure we sort it out. I will never intentionally ignore my readers!

Thank you so much for your support of my work!

How's all the Christmas decorating, baking and shopping going? I hope everyone finds the time to truly enjoy the holiday season and count the blessings in their lives. Blessings like their loved ones (yes, even those most annoying family members, lol), sappy Christmas movies, and the plethora of beautiful neighborhood Christmas lights. Our subdivision is outdoing itself this year, which means I need to get up on the ladder tomorrow and catch up.

So, ready for Submissive Angel, my expanded M/m Christmas story? The original 2012 story plus 170 new pages of content is on sale for 99ct until March! Now you can find out what happened after the famous manger scene (or read it for the first time, if you haven't read the original novella, lol). As you can tell from this graphic, Robert shows Ange his sexy, stricter Master side in the Part Two very hot finale.

And guess what? Though the ebook official release date is December 15, you can BUY the print book NOW, because we just finished reviewing the proof and released it for sale. We always offer that format earlier to give our print readers a chance to get it shipped to them in time. Especially right now, with it being the holiday season. I can't even wrap my mind around ALL the packages that are going to be delivered this year.

No audio at this time, but here are all the buy links (other vendors will also have the print version later).

Nook (code BNPJOEY66 - also at top of blurb at Nook)

Since it's so close to the holidays, and this is "technically" a re-release, I won't be doing a big release party like I usually do for the full length new books, but there will still be fun teaser posts and info on the social media pages, leading up to release day. And check further down in the newsletter for several giveaways I have planned this month.

AUDIOBOOK GIVEAWAY WINNERS!

Last month, I was offering audiobook download codes for Controlled Response and Honor Bound, Books 2 and 3 of the Knights of the Board Room series. Thank you to everyone interested in the giveaway. My winners were TinaMarie R, Eileen K, Sharon A, and Erin R. Congratulations! You all have been notified via email.

Remember, NINETEEN of my books are available on audio - you can find that list here - it includes the full Knights of the Board Room series, all but the latest two of the Nature of Desire series, some of my non-series titles and one of my Vampire Queen series (Nightfall, co-authored by the fabulous Desiree Holt).

HISTORY AND FICTION, REALITY AND ROMANCE

Maybe because I was releasing a book about a gay male couple this month, I followed a reader's suggestion to The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite and enjoyed my first full length FF romance. While it's not my preferred romance dynamic, a highly recommended good story trumps that, and this one was excellent, with very compelling characters. Since it's a historical romance, it also started me thinking about the current drive for diversity in romance fiction and how this works when it comes to traditional historical romance settings. A comment from author Olivia Waite herself helped me discuss this in my latest GoodReads blog post here.

If you'd like to read my review of the book, there's a link to it in the post, or you can find it here on Amazon. If, like me, you don't usually read FF, but want to give one a try to expand your horizons, this is a good choice. I'm also not a science person (what an understatement, lol), but Lucy (one of the main characters), in her attempts to write science/math in a way that would appeal to a layperson, did the same for this reader.

CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAYS

It's the season of giving and I want to GIVE a bunch of stuff to you, my wonderful readers. Here are FIFTY-TWO giveaways I'm offering this month - yes, I said FIFTY-TWO. All of them will be awarded/shipped early January and YES, ALL are open to international entries.

FIRST, THE ANNUAL CHARITY GIVEAWAY: One of the nicest things about my adult Christmas traditions is that instead of doing a lot of gifts among family, we give to charity instead. I have so many blessings in my life, I love having our holiday focus be on helping those with less of them. So each year, I run a contest where I choose a winner and give $50 to the charity of their choice. However, since this year has seen a lot of need in our world, I'm upping that to $100. To enter that, all you have to do is send me an email at storywitch@storywitch.com, telling me what charity you want to receive the gift. I'll choose the winner prior to December 31.

NEXT, A NATURAL LAW BLANKET: Back by popular demand, and even BIGGER. A 60x80 plush fleece blanket of the Natural Law cover pictured below. And yes, I'm standing on a ladder! (Please ignore my dirty floor.)

To be eligible for the drawing, I just need a little street team help. And this is where the other FIFTY gifts come in!

SWAG PACKS AND PRINT BOOKS - Save/copy the "Official Go-To Author" promo picture a few paragraphs below and share it on your social media (any platform you choose) with a personal, honest comment about my books. Just shoot your mailing address to storywitch@storywitch.com and let me know you did it (because FB tags sometimes work and sometimes don't, right?). That's it - you'll be entered in the blanket drawing!

However, the first TWENTY-FIVE people who do that will also get one of my swag packs (pen, post-it note and two signed bookmarks). So when you email me, include your mailing address (only for prize purposes) and which bookmarks you'd like of my five available series styles. This link takes you to the website gallery for better pictures of the designs. Click on the images there for full pics. I'll send you an extra one to share with a friend!

As an additional perk, I'll choose one person whose social media note particularly touched me to win a signed print book of their choosing.

Want a bonus prize? If you belong to a READER GROUP (other than the FB JWHMembersOnly group) where it's appropriate to do so, copy your favorite JWH book cover (not the graphic below - too promo-y for a group) and post it with a personal, in-your-own-words recommendation as a good escape-the-stress read over the holidays. When you email me a heads up about your post, tell me which signed PRINT book of mine you'd like and include your mailing address. That prize will be awarded to the first TEN people who do this. The next FIFTEEN people after that will get a second swag pack, which I will either send to you, or to a friend of your choosing.

Sound good? If my poor math skills are right, that should bring us to FIFTY-TWO prizes. Thanks in advance for your help, and email me if you have any questions! Here's the graphic I mentioned for the blanket drawing entry.

WHAT I'M WORKING ON NOW

I've started on the free vignette "revisit" I promised you all. Want to read the first few paragraphs? Just as a reminder, if you've read At Her Command, the first book in my Mistresses of the Board Room series, you know at the end there's a reference to a barbecue at Dale and Athena's home (hero/heroine of Unrestrained). The vignette takes place at the barbecue. In this opening (rough draft), Rosalinda and Lawrence are headed there:

“Communal showers. Pillow fights, wearing nothing but strategically loose jeans. Which doesn’t mean baggy, by the way. More like riding temptingly low on the hips, so anyone watching can tell you’re not wearing underwear. Oh, and the pillow fights turn into wrestling matches, with lots of flexing muscles and homoerotic dominance displays.”

Finished with her description—though she had plenty more details to share if her audience cared to hear them—Rosalinda glanced over at Lawrence. He was sitting in the passenger seat of her Mustang, staring at her in green-eyed fascination.

“That’s what you think guys are really doing when they get together at a buddy’s house to watch sports and drink beer?”

“Same as you men think women are having lesbian encounters whenever they spend the night with friends.” She sent him a wicked smile. “We can all fantasize.”

“Guess I didn’t realize women put that much thought into it.”

“Now that’s a lie,” she rejoined. “You know just how extensive my sexual imagination is.”

“Not a lie. Your imagination is one of a kind, just like you, Mistress.”

“Ass kisser,” she snorted. When his gaze slid downward in open invitation, she punched his solid shoulder.

“I knew I should have driven,” he said. “Ten and two, Mistress. Else we’ll end up in a field.”

In the rest of the vignette, we'll get some hints about Neil and Abby's relationship (the next book to be written in the MBR series), and an emotional closure for Rachel of Afterlife, as she is reunited with her son's childhood friend (Lawrence). The vignette should be ready for download in January to ward off those post-holiday doldrums. As usual, it will be provided via BookFunnel link for easy download in all the popular formats.

In early 2021, I'll start on the next full length book, which will be a new addition to my Vampire Queen series. Our heroine will be Catriona, the Fae Lord Keldwyn's ward. We first met her in Bound by the Vampire Queen, a dryad that Jacob and Lyssa freed from her tree form. We saw her again in Night's Templar. Her hero is going to be Adan, the son of Mal and Elisa of Vampire Instinct. The book starts in Club Atlantis, where Catriona is currently living, under the Fae and Council-sanctioned protection of Daegan and Anwyn. Adan has come to Club Atlantis for a specific purpose, but when he crosses paths with Catriona, he decides to linger. Shocker, right? Lol...

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE - SASS 2021

Have you registered and made your hotel reservations for the next SASS conference? I hope so, because after so long apart, I can't wait to see you all! Click on the link here or in the sidebar to find out more.

CONTACTING/FOLLOWING ME

Remember, you can find me online through my website email contact link (little envelope under Follow Me on the right side of home page) or email me directly at storywitch@storywitch.com. You can also leave a question for me under my Author Profile on GoodReads. I'm on Twitter and Facebook (Author Page), and regularly stop in at the JWHMembersOnly fan group. I'm also on MeWe and Parler, so if you prefer either of those platforms to Facebook or Twitter, you can still come by and see me! If you'd like to see the pics that inspire my books, visit me on Pinterest.

DIDN'T GET A RESPONSE? Responding to my readers, and doing so in a very timely manner (within 24-48 hours), is extremely important to me. So if you have sent a communication to me in any medium - direct email, social media, etc - and have not received a response, a technical glitch has occurred. Either your communication did not get through to me, or my response did not reach you. If you suspect that's the case, use one of the alternative methods to send me a "Hey, Joey, I sent you a note through email (or social media platform, etc). Did you get it?" message, and we'll make sure we sort it out. I will never intentionally ignore my readers!

Thank you so much for your support of my work!

Snowflakes don’t make any sound. Like a first kiss. That must be why they feel the same against your skin.
--Submissive Angel, Part One

Back in December 2012, I wrote a little M/m BDSM Christmas romance for an anthology called O Come All Ye Kinky. Submissive Angel was also eventually offered as a digital standalone. At 19,000 words, it was short for my usual offerings. Which means many of my readers felt there was more story to be told. Particularly about Ange, the young dancer who came to work for Robert in his vintage toy store, and who brought that stern Master's heart back to life again. We didn't find out how he ended up in the alley next to Robert's store, bleeding and homeless. We also didn't get to hang around and see how these two spent the next several days before Christmas, getting to know one another "officially" as Master and sub.

Now we can do all of those things! The publisher returned the original story back to me in September. Just in time for Christmas, I'm re-releasing it December 15. It will be two novellas under one cover, the snazzy one you see here:

Part One will be the original story, unchanged except for some tweaking/polishing (you know I can't suppress the A in my Type A-ness). Part Two will be the REST OF THE STORY, closer to the normal length for my infrequent novellas. What does that mean? It means we've gone from a 19k story to a 75k one, around 200 pages in my working file. And in fairness to those who bought the original 19k story, I'm also releasing the two-parter with a 99 cent price until March 2021! (My novellas are usually $2.99.)

"You believe in the spirit of things. You understand what things to care for, and you care for them well, Master..."
--Ange, SUBMISSIVE ANGEL, PART TWO

I'd initially intended to offer the sales price for a full year, but I was overruled by my far more sensible husband and concerned readers, lol. Thank goodness for all of them. Honestly, if I could, I'd just give you my books - that's how much it thrills me that you read them! Anyway, I'm glad to at least offer you that price through the complete holiday season and a little bit beyond. Here are the e-book preorder links. The print version will be offered closer to the December 15 release date. I'll keep you all posted, and will update the buy links on the website page as soon as that version goes live. No audio at this time.

Amazon

Amazon Worldwide

Nook (code BNPJOEY66 - also at top of blurb at Nook)

Why did I want to write a paraplegic hero?

AUDIOBOOK GIVEAWAY!

Would you like to win an Audible audiobook download code for Controlled Response or Honor Bound, Books 2 and 3 of the Knights of the Board Room series? I have THREE Controlled Response codes and ONE Honor Bound code. To be eligible for the drawing to win one of these, just shoot me an email at storywitch@storywitch.com and tell me which book you want. I'll choose the winners before the next newsletter!

WANT TO GIFT A SIGNED JWH BOOK FOR CHRISTMAS?

Maybe you have a friend who enjoys my work and would like to have a signed copy of their favorite title. Or another friend prefers print format and you've been wanting them to try one of my stories. Or maybe YOU would like to give yourself one of my signed print books for Christmas. These are ALL entirely acceptable reasons to order a JWH signed book for the holidays. Just follow the directions below and we'll get things happening.

If you want me to mail the book directly to your gift recipient, but keep it a surprise until Christmas, I will wrap it, use your return address on the parcel, and include a note inside that says "So-n-so says don't open until Christmas!" Or whatever you want the note to say. Just let me know you want me to do that, or any other special instructions you have. Get your orders in NOW! While you can order a signed book from me anytime, DECEMBER 1 is the CUT OFF DATE for Christmas gift orders.

IN HIS ARMS

The good feedback for Daralyn and Rory's story keeps coming. Thank you so much to all of you who have posted reviews or contacted me with feedback. Neither of those things are something I'd ever pressure my readers to do, because I believe leisure reading should come with no obligations. That said, it really helps me on so many levels, creatively and professionally. Plus it flat out just makes me feel happy and fuzzy, lol. So thanks for reviews like these!

"As always, Joey never disappoints. I've read her books forever, and not one has ever let me down. Rory and Daralyn are everyday people who are able to overcome some large stumbling personal road blocks that might permanently stop some people, but trust Joey to bring them through it. I never feel her writing is repetitive or predictable. She gets to my heart, my soul, every time."

"Joey's books are always a good reading adventure. But this one???? It was like no book I've read before. I laughed, I cried, I cringed, and I had to stop and go back to re-read sections again and again, just to make sure I didn't miss anything."

If you haven't had a chance to read the story yet and want to do so, here are the links. Treat yourself to an early Christmas present!

Chapter Preview (FREE)

No audio version at this time; if that changes, you all will be the first to know!

WHAT I'M WORKING ON NOW

While working on the final edits for Submissive Angel, I've been refamiliarizing myself with At Her Command. That's so I can write the FREE VIGNETTE I've promised you in previous newsletters!

If you've read the first book in my Mistresses of the Board Room series (a spinoff from my Knights of the Board Room series), you know at the end of At Her Command there's a reference to a barbecue at Dale and Athena's home (hero/heroine of Unrestrained). I was going to include it in At Her Command, but I had so many ideas for that barbecue, and AHC was already a big book. Therefore, I decided to leave it out and do it later as a free vignette for my readers. I plan to have that ready in January, a way to stave off the post-holiday doldrums.

What will happen in the vignette? We should get some nice hints about Neil and Abby's relationship (the next book to be written in the MBR series), and an emotional closure for Rachel of Afterlife, as she is reunited with her son's childhood friend (Lawrence). And that's only a few tidbits of what I know. The muse always throws in more stuff once I start writing (grin).

In early 2021, I'll start on the next full length book, which will be a new addition to my Vampire Queen series. Our heroine will be Catriona, the Fae Lord Keldwyn's ward. We first met her in Bound by the Vampire Queen, a dryad that Jacob and Lyssa freed from her tree form. We saw her again in Night's Templar. Her hero is going to be Adan, the son of Mal and Elisa of Vampire Instinct. Adan has never been mentioned in any of the books. For a long time, I wasn't sure what gender Mal and Elisa's baby was going to be, then a key suggestion by a reader sparked the idea that they would have twins. Adan's sister is Ruth, who will likely end up with Merc of Medusa's Heart. You'll get to meet her in Adan and Catriona's book, too.

I already have the opening of the story written. It starts in Club Atlantis, where Catriona is currently living, under the Fae and Council-sanctioned protection of Daegan and Anwyn. Adan has come to Club Atlantis for a specific purpose, but when he crosses paths with Catriona, he decides he might want to linger, even after his intended business is concluded. And yes, based on the setting, we will get to see some familiar faces from the previous books--some expected, some surprises!

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE - SASS 2021

At this moment, I don't have plans for other 2021 conferences, but if that changes, I'll let you all know.

CONTACTING/FOLLOWING ME

Remember, you can find me online through my website email contact link (little envelope under Follow Me on the right side of home page) or email me directly at storywitch@storywitch.com. You can also leave a question for me under my Author Profile on GoodReads. I'm on Twitter and Facebook (Author Page), and regularly stop in at the JWHMembersOnly fan group. I'm also on MeWe and Parler, so if you prefer either of those platforms to Facebook or Twitter, you can still come by and see me! If you'd like to see the pics that inspire my books, visit me on Pinterest.

DIDN'T GET A RESPONSE? Responding to my readers, and doing so in a very timely manner (within 24-48 hours), is extremely important to me. So if you have sent a communication to me in any medium - direct email, social media, etc - and have not received a response, a technical glitch has occurred. Either your communication did not get through to me, or my response did not reach you. If you suspect that's the case, use one of the alternative methods to send me a "Hey, Joey, I sent you a note through email (or social media platform, etc). Did you get it?" message, and we'll make sure we sort it out. I will never intentionally ignore my readers!

Thank you so much for your support of my work!

"Joey always brings you the beauty of the human heart, and I love her for it. She writes hope. "
--Amazon Review

So how have you been liking Rory and Daralyn's story? I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to you all, because it hit the #1 for New Releases in our genre on Amazon. That was a first, and a very exciting thing. Even more special to me was the early feedback many of you sent, both readers and professional reviewers, which included quotes like I listed above, and here:

"This romance is a gentle breeze, swaying the kink hammock for readers to lay back and enjoy the ride." --La Crimson Femme blogspot

"Loved JWH's ability express the needs of the soul while capturing the rapture of our erotic appetite...she gets it perfect EVERY time." -- Amazon Review

If you haven't grabbed your copy, here are all the links. It's also available in print at Amazon (other print vendors should also be offering it soon, if they're not already). I hope you all enjoy Daralyn and Rory as much as these readers have!

Chapter Preview (FREE)

No audio version in the works right now; if that changes, you all will be the first to know!

BEHIND THE SCENES CREATION STORIES

If you weren't able to join us on September 30 for all the release day activities on the JWH Members Only FB page, but would like to see what was discussed, you can visit anytime and look at those back posts. I've listed the direct links to a few in particular that might interest you, if you want to learn more about the "behind the scenes" of writing Rory and Daralyn's story. Remember you need to "Join" the JWHMembersOnly group to get to them. That's easy enough, though, and you can un-Join right after if you wish.

How my background with Carolina small towns helped create Rory and Daralyn's world.

The music that contributed to In His Arms - and my characters' theme songs!

My research process to accurately portray a paraplegic Dom hero.

FB Live talk with me - That same night, I did a FB Live with everyone on my Author page (no Joining required). It's available for viewing HERE. I didn't ramble - mostly. Public speaking will never be my forte, but I hope you enjoy watching me stammer through it, lol.

WHAT I'M WORKING ON NOW

I am currently busy prepping Submissive Angel for a Christmastime release. This M/m story, featuring Robert and Ange, was originally released by Riptide Publishing, and returned to me in September. Because there were some loose ends and unanswered questions about Ange's past, I decide to go ahead and expand the story, so those who bought the original will get that, plus "the sequel," so to speak. What I've written so far has already doubled the original 20k size, and I expect by the time I'm done, we'll have a nice, much longer novella, probably around 50-60k. Despite the expanded length, I do plan to keep the price at $0.99 for at least the first year of re-release (rather than my usual $2.99 lengthy novella price) as a nod to those who were kind enough to buy the original version/anthology. Barring any domestic catastrophes, I hope to give you all an official December release date soon, and a glimpse at the beautiful new cover.

ARE YOU WRITING A FREE VIGNETTE AROUND CHRISTMASTIME AS USUAL? Yes! When time allows (and I wish I could figure out how to clone myself so that would always be true) I like to give you all a free story once a year, on or close to the Christmas holiday. If you've read At Her Command, the first book in my Mistresses of the Board Room series (a spinoff from my Knights of the Board Room series), you know at the end of the book there's a reference to a barbecue at Dale and Athena's home (hero/heroine of Unrestrained). I intended to include it in At Her Command, but there ended up being so much story content for that barbecue, I decided to leave it out and do it later as a free vignette for my readers. My intent is to have that ready to offer in January, a way to stave off the post-holiday doldrums.

After finishing these two pieces, I'll start on the next full length, which will be a new addition to my Vampire Queen series. "Finally!" my paranormal readers yell, since 2020 has been all about the contemporaries. But remember, in 2019, our contemporary readers had to put up with three paranormals in a row (two of which were VQS books), so fair is fair, lol.

The newest VQS book will feature Catriona, the Fae Lord Keldwyn's ward. We first met her in Bound by the Vampire Queen, a dryad that Jacob and Lyssa freed from her tree form. We saw her again in Night's Templar. Her hero is going to be Adan, the son of Mal and Elisa of Vampire Instinct. Adan has never been mentioned in any of the books. For a long time, I wasn't sure what gender Mal and Elisa's baby was going to be, then a key suggestion by a reader sparked the idea that they would have twins. Adan's sister is Ruth, who will likely end up with Merc of Medusa's Heart.

I already have the opening of Adan and Catriona's story written. It starts in Club Atlantis, where Catriona is currently living, under the Fae and Council-sanctioned protection of Daegan and Anwyn. Adan has come to Club Atlantis for a specific purpose, but when he crosses paths with Catriona, he decides he might want to linger, even after his intended business is concluded. And yes, based on the setting, we will get to see some familiar faces from the previous books--some expected, some surprises!

IT'S ALMOST HALLOWEEN...

Since I'm Wiccan, Halloween is a very special and sacred holiday to me, a time when the Veil is thin between our world and the next reality for our loved ones, a time of endings as well as beginnings. One thing I love about my faith is the openness to embracing and enjoying other holiday traditions, like the good fun of telling scary stories on that night. I was thinking about books that would make good Halloween reads, and the first one that jumped into my head was Salem's Lot by Stephen King. When I read that book in my teens, it scared the bejesus out of me. I didn't go to sleep without looking under my bed for six weeks. What utter good that would do, I have no idea - logically, looking under your bed seems like it gives whatever is under there an easier shot at grabbing you, but that's why they say fear is the mind-killer. Thank goodness for Fright Night and sexy Chris Sarandon, followed by Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series. Otherwise, I might not have realized vampires could be seriously hot, lol.

I hope you have a good mix of traditions--and some good stories--to enjoy and celebrate your Halloween night. Though conventional wisdom says I should offer a protective blessing like, "don't let the scary things bite," we are erotic romance readers. Sometimes we WANT to be bitten by scary things, lol. Happy Samhain!

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE - SASS MOVED TO 2021

While the 2020 SASS conference was cancelled, it is on schedule for 2021, in the same great location and hotel. You can register and make your hotel reservations now! Mark your calendars for July 8-11, 2021. I can't wait to see you all! At this moment, I don't have plans for other 2021 conferences, but if that changes, I'll let you all know.

CONTACTING/FOLLOWING ME

Remember, you can find me online through my website email contact link (little envelope under Follow Me on the right side of home page) or email me directly at storywitch@storywitch.com. You can also leave a question for me under my Author Profile on GoodReads. I'm on Facebook under Joey W. Hill, and you can visit the JWHMembersOnly FB fan forum group here. I'm @JoeyWHill on Twitter, and my Pinterest boards related to the books are here.

I'd also love it if you followed me on Bookbub, Amazon or both, since that helps my books get increased visibility and recommendations on the site. And in return, you get heads up about releases and sales!

HAVING PROBLEMS GETTING MY NEWSLETTER PAST YOUR SPAM FILTER? - You can also like my FB page or follow me on Twitter. Whenever I issue a newsletter, I will post the updated link to it on those platforms, to make sure it reaches the widest number of people possible. Or you can put https://storywitch.com/newsletter/?latest as one of your Favorite links. You can click on it anytime to see if a new newsletter has been released. I try to get a new issue out during the first 7 days of every month.

DIDN'T GET A RESPONSE? Responding to my readers, and doing so in a very timely manner (within 24-48 hours), is extremely important to me. So if you have sent a communication to me in any medium - direct email, FB, GoodReads or Twitter - and have not received a response, a technical glitch has occurred. Either your communication did not get through to me, or my response did not reach you. If you suspect that's the case, use one of the alternative communication methods to send me a "Hey, Joey, I sent you a note through email (or FB, or a tweet, etc). Did you get it?" message, and we'll make sure we sort it out. I will never intentionally ignore my readers!

Thank you so much for your support of my work!

IT'S RELEASE MONTH! READY FOR IN HIS ARMS?

Rory and Daralyn's story is headed our way for its September 30 release date, and you can PRE-ORDER the ebook now! The print version will release a few days before the official release date. Here are the vendor pre-order links.

Chapter Preview (FREE)

No audio version in the works right now; if that changes, you all will be the first to know!

So where am I on Rory and Daralyn's story? I've finished three full edit rounds, and me and my invaluable proof team are in the final run-through, doing our best to catch those elusive and diabolical typos that hide in plain sight after you've read the same story multiple times over a two month period, lol. I'm double checking my research points regarding Rory's paraplegia and Daralyn's psychological challenges, and making adjustments based on my content reader team's feedback. The end result I hope will be a book you all will love.

I get invested in all my characters, but this time I've noted an even more urgent desire than usual to "get it right." These two characters and their struggles particularly matter to me. The idea of writing an erotic romance with a paraplegic Dom hero has been in my head a long time, but I always knew it would be Rory. I'm glad I'm doing his story at a time when I have a lot of Internet resources (like how-to daily life videos, done by paraplegics) that weren't around when he and Daralyn were first introduced in the Nature of Desire series.

And when was that? 2007 - thirteen years ago, in Rough Canvas (Rory is Thomas's brother). Good thing time moves differently in books, so Rory and Daralyn can still be close to the same age they were when they first appeared in the series, lol. Even so, they've waited a really long time to get their story, perhaps too long. In the romance world, Daralyn's backstory is somewhat "dated." Heroines with a central conflict of childhood sexual abuse were done A LOT in the first decade of the millennium, I think due in part to this conflict being brought more prominently into the public eye during that time. It was picked up in so many romances because it was the ultimate "rescue" romance trope, the hero providing the trust, safety and love the heroine had never had the ability or opportunity to experience.

However, because it has been in the public eye so much, I thankfully found I didn't have to dwell so much on the disturbing details of what happened to her. We all know what child sexual abuse is. Instead, the story could focus on her present and future, her personal struggle to overcome the psychological roadblocks to the love Rory was offering. And it gave me room to find unexpected connections between her challenges and Rory's that made the story's breakthrough moments even more meaningful.

As the story evolved this way, I realized once again the muse had given me the right timing to tell the story as it was meant to be told. At least in my opinion. You'll have to tell me if I interpreted her correctly, lol.

Since I release the newsletter around the first of the month, and this book releases September 30, be sure and keep an eye on the Twitter and FB pages for all the release day fun. I'll have a full day of posts and giveaways at the JWH Members Only FB page, and that night, a handful of other wonderful authors will help me celebrate the book's release at the Social Butterfly Party Room. Throughout the month of September, I'll also be offering tidbits about the book on both the JWH Members Only group and my Author page.

Hope you're looking forward to reading Rory and Daralyn's book! Like all the Nature of Desire series stories (with the exception of Mirror of My Soul, which was part two of Ice Queen), it can standalone, though you will meet characters from the other books, like Marcus and Thomas, Tyler and Marguerite, and Des and Julie. Oh, and there's a brief cameo from Geoff, Chris and Samantha of Naughty Wishes!

FREE BOOK IN SERIES

Don't forget, Worth the Wait is FREE for download until release day, September 30! It's a very appropriate book to offer as a freebie, not only because it can standalone, but also because Des and Julie make a key appearance in In His Arms.

I've been delighted to see the reactions to the book from new readers, people for whom Des and Julie are their first introduction to my stories. Like this comment:

"I've just finished Worth the Wait - I hadn't read any of your books before. OMG, the emotional connection between Des and Julie was incredible, the writing amazing, to make me feel so emotional (yes, I confess I shed a tear or two!). My heart pounded, wondering if Des and Julie would find happiness. I've read a lot of books over lockdown and since; this has probably been my favourite. I am planning on reading more from the series..."

Even if you're not ready to read it right now, go ahead and download the book while it's free. This story of an erotic theater manager falling in love with a quiet, sexy roofer who also happens to be one of the BDSM community's top rope artists is one of my personal current favorites in the series. Links are below the graphic.

Amazon US (ASIN B01D9BHDA6 for all countries)

Nook (Use Coupon Code BNPJOEYFREE)