May 1, 2016
Dreams to Sell, the eighth book in the Men of Marionville collection, made the All Romance eBook Best Seller list! Into the top half, no less! I'm doing a happy dance!
Why is this a big deal to me? Dreams to Sell is out in the second edition, that's why. It was first published in 2014 at the now defunct Amber Quill Press. The only thing that changed on that book was the cover. I didn't even write a new cover blurb.
Covers are a big deal. They introduce the book to the reader. Everyone is aware of this. Publishers even go so far as to write clauses into the publisher/author contract about cover art. Every contract I've ever signed, with ten different publishers, contains copious and detailed language about cover art. And they all put it in writing that the publisher has the last word and final say on the cover. The author's opinion is, at best, noted.
Hmmm.
I'm consumed by what's going on in the publishing world. Authors across the broad spectrum of genres, myself included, are going independent at an ever increasing rate. Based on my somewhat limited experience, I think I know one of the reasons - book covers.
Dreams to Sell. The original cover just about reached the visible level. It was not eye-catching at all. Go to any online book seller and you'll find white backgrounds. Does a white cover stand out? I don't think so. The original cover was very white and there was nothing I could say about it without risking every subsequent cover from the publisher's cover artist also being very white.
I made the current cover all by myself. Is it the cover to end all covers? Oh, hell no. It's adequate. It has the necessary elements - the lovers, the house, the sunbeams to represent riding off into the sunset together. And I tossed in a little series banner at the bottom just because I wanted to. But to me, the most important thing is, it's visible. It doesn't fade into the background of a white product page.
If, as my cover making skills improve, I decide to redo a cover, I won't have to put in a request with a publisher. I'll simply do it. I like that.
KC Kendricks
www.kckendricks.com
www.twitter.com/kckendricks
Dreams to Sell - book eight in the Men of Marionville series.
Dreams to Sell is available at Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and other online book sellers.
May 8, 2011
Chad Collier’s had enough of providing stud service to rich men. It’s true he’s had more fun than any one man deserves, but now it’s time to make a plan for the rest of his life. At the urging of a mentor, he takes a leap of faith and breaks with his old ways. Yet a job interview lands him smack in the path of Darcy Paulson, the sort of rich man Chad vowed to avoid.
Darcy Paulson came of age as the prodigal son in a wealthy manufacturing dynasty. Every man he’s ever met has been after his money until Chad Collier shows up on his doorstep. Darcy finds Chad prickly, standoffish, and utterly irresistible. Smitten by Chad’s dark good looks and determination to stand on his own two feet, Darcy is happy to give him an opportunity. It doesn’t take long for them to figure out that some private, no-strings fun is what they both need.
An unexpected event brings them face-to-face with the truth. The magic that happens between the moon and the deep blue sea is something a man can’t own, and it can be fully experienced only in the arms of a lover...
INTRO:
…His low, husky voice rippled over me in the small space. I stood still, unmoving, caught between fight and flight, as his warm palm stroked my side. I looked up into his glittering eyes and fell into his intent. Hot blood pooled in my groin. My cock surged full in a handful of pounding heartbeats. Darcy’s dark pink tongue flicked over his lips, leaving them moist. He meant to kiss me and, against all better judgment, I wanted him to do it. I gripped his hips and pulled him closer.
Darcy’s lips touched mine, soft and clinging, whispering promises. The sweet contact jolted though me with its unexpected tenderness. His tongue teased my lower lip, and all too soon he pulled away and left me wanting more. Darcy’s thumb traced the path across my mouth his tongue had taken. He licked his lips, as though he could still taste me. All the while I stood rooted to the floor, aching for him to kiss me again, and cursing my own cowardice. I knew if I kissed him, he wouldn’t push me away, but I…
“I won’t hurt you, Chad. I swear.”
“Don’t promise me anything, Darcy. You don’t know where my head is these days.”
His hands skimmed my sides. “Fair enough. Just don’t lie to me and tell me you don’t want to be kissed again.”
I let my hands fall from his hips. “What I want and what’s best for me right now are several galaxies apart.”
Darcy studied me for the longest thirty seconds of my life, then nodded. “Okay. I’m backing off.” The corner of his mouth twitched in a quirky smile. “I don’t want to, but I will.”
The tiny spark of hope longing for him to push me past my reluctance died, and only when it faded did I realize what I’d done…
EXCERPT:
If the blowjob was hot, was it still stupid? I knew the answer was ‘yes’, but I kissed him anyway. I didn’t linger at his lips – I needed to catch my breath.
"So. Darcy. You always carry a rubber in your pocket?”
He snorted and rolled me onto my back. “I’m gay. What do you think? Don’t you?”
“I usually do, but this wasn’t in the plan, you know.” I grabbed his hands to stop him from pulling my pants completely off. “Let me up.”
“Oh no. I want you, Chad. I’ve got another rubber, and this was in my plan.”
His intent jolted through me. He meant to fuck me right here on the floor. I held him at arm’s length. “Now, wait a minute. This isn’t going to work for me.”
Darcy froze. His expression darkened as he moved toward anger. “You think it’s acceptable to leave me hanging, all hot and bothered, so long as you get off?”
“Don’t get pissy with me, Darcy. I’ve never let a guy up my ass, and this…”
“Never!”
“For God’s sake, don’t look so shocked. I’ll laugh, and you’ll be all hurt.” I twisted out of his grasp and tried to yank my jeans up. Strong hands closed around my hips to pull me back into the curve of his body. Soft lips nibbled on the back of my neck as his fingers teased my ass.
“I agree. The kitchen floor isn’t the place for auspicious beginnings. My bed is.”
I’d gone all shivery from what he was doing to my butt. The light strokes of his fingertips brought to memory the moans of pleasure I’d drawn from other men. Could he do that to me?
“Let me go, Darcy. I not ready for this.”
I felt the anger snap through him. It was there in the way the length of his lean body stiffened, the sharp intake of his breath. Abruptly, he shoved away from me and rolled to his knees.
“My mistake, Chad. You won’t get the chance to use me again.”
His words cut painfully into the part of me that struggled to break free of the mistakes of the past. I tripped my way to my feet, tossed the used rubber in the trashcan, and zipped up.
“I’m not using you. You started this. Yeah, I was wrong not to stop you, but you bushwhacked me – twice now!”
Darcy got to his feet with more grace than I’d mustered, and glared at me. Even pissed off, he had pretty blue eyes.
“Why the fuck didn’t you stop me? Oh, yeah. Must have been that woody you popped up for me, huh?”
“Pardon me all to hell for being human! I never said I don’t find you attractive.”
Darcy’s eyebrows slid toward his hairline. I refused to blink under his scrutiny.
“Andrew says you’re broke.”
Maybe I was broke in more ways than one, but Darcy referred to my lack of funds.
“What if I am? Do you think I’d come all this way looking for work if I had money?”
“Why didn’t the ex, what was his name? Sidney? Why didn’t he set you up?”
“Because I wouldn’t take his money. I didn’t want it. So now what are you going to do, Mr. Paulson? Offer to pay to fuck me?”
Darcy looked me up and down, then shrugged. “I’m going to eat my dinner, unless it’s charred to ash.”
I stood, my mouth hanging open, as he got the bottle of wine out of the freezer and a corkscrew out of the drawer.
I hadn’t even gotten my hands on his dick.
BETWEEN THE MOON AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA
Available now at Amazon and other online booksellers
KC Kendricks
Visit my website at: http://www.kckendricks.com
Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kckendricksRead my personal blog: http://www.kckendricks.blogspot.com
March 25, 2011
It's been a long week. I get to do some neat things at my day job, but by Friday I'm always ready for a break. This afternoon, when I finally made it home, a nice surprise waited for me in my inbox - the cover for Between the Moon and the Deep Blue Sea, which will be out in May. Instead of writing for a bit, I played on my computer and made a wallpaper.
Now playtime is over and it's time to do something more constructive, like WRITE!
**updated May 30, 2016**
Between the Moon and the Deep Blue Sea has a new cover! And I made it myself, too. I think it came out quite well.
KC
