Welcome Kate Lowell today

The Newbie's Journey: Updated

So, today is Bite Me Tender's official one month anniversary. Or birthday, I'm not really sure which. Whichever, we're going to have a party at my house. BYOB, though, because I drank everything except the rum. So, if Jack Sparrow is around...(Sorry. Captain. Captain Jack Sparrow.)...there's  a whole pile of rum here that isn't going to get drunk, unless I happen to find a good Pina Colada mix.

Why all the liquour? One of my buddies dropped it off. He was cleaning out/dismantling his liquour cabinet and thought I might need it. Because, you know, book release, and artistic sensibility.

I didn't. (That's not to say there's any of the Bailey's left, 'cause that's been gone a while. :D)

But this was a fantastic experience and I'm really looking forward to repeating it.

What was so fantastic about it?

1. Everyone was so nice! I'd email these huge blogs and say "Hi, I'm a nobody. Can I still come on your blog?" And they all said, "Of course! How wonderful to find a new author!" And, being a noob, I made so many mistakes, but they fixed them all up for me, so I looked like I had more than spiderwebs and hairballs in my brain.

2. People bought the book. And liked it! Amazon has been slow, but Loose Id sales and All Romance Ebooks sales have been brisk. Not Andrea Speed or L.A. Witt or Kim Dare brisk, but it's been kind of 'wow'.

3. Reviews have been good. That's not to say the book was perfect--it totally wasn't--but no one's been mean and, it being my first book, I was prepared for much worse. I don't look at them (sprouts chicken feathers)--reviews are really more for readers (that's my story and I'm sticking to it)--but I do have a couple of volunteers from the critique group who check out any that they find to let me know if the reviewer spotted any technical errors that I need to learn from. Because--never turn down a chance to learn something.

So, what am I looking forward to?

1. Working with my editor again, because--Holy Hannah!--she's fun. Snark bombs everywhere--in emails, in comment bubbles, on Twitter. But smartness, too. She calls me on stuff I would never have considered. (You have her to thank for the drunken werewolf scene, so you know where to send the bribes.)

2. The challenge of sending in a contemporary story, which really isn't my genre, and making it really good. And making sure the manuscript is clean, even in the shortened time frame I have right now.

3. Honestly? Doing the blog tour again. That was fun. I wish I'd had time to do more this month, but a serious medical issue in the family has me doing a lot of caregiving, and I've had to back out of two projects and an open call over the past two months. Publicity wasn't anywhere near my radar this month.

And, what's coming up in the next few months?

I have a novelette coming out in Storm Moon Press's Forgotten Menagerie anthology on October 15th. It's called Nuts About You, and follows the romantic misadventures of an adorably dumb were-squirrel named Nathan, as he spies on his love-interest Vince.  I know, sounds a bit strange after werewolves and witches, but you can trust me--it's  a fun bit of fluff and if you don't laugh out loud while reading it, I'll send Genna Donaghy over to tickle you.

I'm working on a sweet  contemporary piece, for Loose Id's Christmas call, with two darling computer geeks, who I hope will both get their heart's desire by the end. I'm also still working on Glory, the sarcastic genderfluid angel, with hopes of a late winter release for xem.

After that, I think it's pretty much up for grabs. I'd like to finish Bite Me, Furface! and have it come out April/May. I have promised the steampunk to Loose Id. Oh, and the rockstar fantasy, can't forget John and Phane (Phane would become very gallic on my rear if I did. I'd never get any peace!).

I need  to be cloned. So many plot bunnies, so little time.

Bite Me Tender by Kate Lowell

Levi is a werewolf. His boyfriend, and the love of his life, is a witch. After living together for three years, they decided to commit to each other and change Glyn into a werewolf. Levi hoped the pack would accept Glyn more readily as a wolf. Glyn hoped it would eliminate his erratic magic and erase the OCD it caused. One year later, they’re still trying...

Levi can’t understand why his bite won’t change Glyn and he’s running out of time to figure it out. His pack is being threatened by a larger one, he’s facing dissension in the ranks of his own ruling council and Glyn’s grandmother is poking her witchy nose into their relationship.

Under threat of a violent takeover, the council pushes another potential wolf at Levi, infuriating Glyn and adding weight to Levi’s own doubts. Council machinations divide the two lovers, leaving both men questioning their lives, their love, and what they’re willing to endure for each other.

Full moon is a time of power and change. It could be a disaster, or it could be the key to happily ever after. If they’re strong enough to wrestle their future from its bloody claws.

Buy link: Loose Id:   http://www.loose-id.com/bite-me-tender.html

                All Romance Ebooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-bitemetender-1268404-340.html

                Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Bite-Me-Tender-ebook/dp/B00EIIYQ6Y

Excerpt:

He(Levi) tried not to think about Tuesday night as he dressed, tried not to look at the tracery of scars on Glyn’s back and arms. He knew there were others hidden beneath the sunny yellow sheets—some silver, some pink, some still a painful-looking red, taunting him with his failure. Like he wasn’t wolf enough to turn Glyn. Or like Glyn was too much witch for him to turn. It made him wonder uneasily if all his previous successes had been nothing more than luck and if he was just torturing Glyn for no good reason.

But Glyn swore it was possible and that being made into a werewolf would make his power work properly, or at least fix it so he didn’t have what he called his “fucked-up episodes.” And there wasn’t much Glyn could ask of him that he wouldn’t do, though this was coming close to his limits. A year’s worth of failures. And it was Glyn who paid the price for it, though he’d never once said a word in recrimination.

Blog: thebluntinstrument.wordpress.com

Twitter: @Kate_Lowell