Five things I’ve learned in the last week

It’s been one week since Marine for Hire was released, and I’ve had seven days of unexpectedly high sales, toe-curlingly wonderful reviews, and important learning experiences. Not all of the lessons are related to writing, but they all make blood rush to tingly places in my body.

• After six years of practicing yoga, I attempted a headstand without propping myself against a wall and discovered I’m able to do it. I’m not able to do it without flashing the entire class as my shirt flips over my face.
• Despite knowing Amazon and Barnes & Noble update their sales stats only once an hour, I cannot stop myself from hitting “refresh” every three minutes to see if my ranking has changed. Incidentally, thank you to all of you who’ve kept this book selling steadily for the first week. I’ve never had a book rank this high in overall sales—in the low 40s among all paid books on Barnes & Noble and in the 130s on Amazon—and numbers continue to be strong after a week. It might have something to do with the 99-cent promo price, which is still going right now.

  

  Proof my doctor has a good sense of humor.

• Two weeks is a long time for a romantic comedy author to abstain from amorous congress. When my ladybits doctor suggested a minor medical procedure, I failed to read the fine print requiring two weeks of post-surgery celibacy. I had little success with wheedling calls to my doctor’s office inquiring how hard and fast the rule was (the humorless receptionist’s response: “Very, VERY hard. And very fast.”) The fact that this two week period coincided with my editor’s command to pack my next book with as much sex as possible made this the longest 20,160 minutes of my life.
• Reader reviews actually matter. A lot. Confession time: Before last week, I rarely hopped on Amazon or Barnes & Noble or Goodreads to review a book I’d purchased. I certainly read reviews, but I always figured adding my two-cents didn’t make much difference. In the last week, I’ve learned how crucial those reviews are to the algorithms that determine whether a book pops up on someone’s Amazon screen as a suggested read, or fades into oblivion like a vibrator with a cracked battery case. If you’ve read Marine for Hire by now, I’ll love you forever if go here to Amazon or here to Barnes & Noble to leave a short review.
• In the midst of snowpocalypse, seeing someone post about how many inches they got last night never stops being funny.

What lessons have you learned this week? Please share! 

And if you haven’t nabbed a copy of Marine for Hire during the 99-cent sale, do it now while I’m still cheap and easy. 

Oh, and I almost forgot—if you’re free tonight (that’s February 10) between 7-10 p.m. EST, stop by the Boys of Brazen Military Bash on Facebook. We’ll be giving away tons of prizes, plus authors Tessa Dare, Katee Robert, Diane Alberts and I will post hilarious videos of ourselves and our menfolk reading each other’s sex scenes. My gentleman friend may or may not appear shirtless in our video.

Join us Monday on Facebook for tons of great prizes, dirty talk, and hilarious videos.

I have a new book out today and holyfreakingcrap you guys, it's only 99-cents!

If you'd told me five years ago I'd write a military-themed romantic comedy that included a pair of infant twins, my childless-by-choice, non-militarily inclined brain would have short-circuited and I would have laughed 'til I fell on the floor.

Go here to nab it for just 99-cents!

If you'd told me that same book would generate the most positive pre-release buzz of any book I'd written to date, I would have piddled myself while I was down there on the floor. Then I would have tried to cover it up by pretending I rolled in spilled wine and you wouldn't have believed me because hello, of course I'd never be careless enough to spill wine, and then we would have forgotten what we were talking about entirely.

Which is the fact that HOLY CRAP, YOU GUYS, I HAVE A NEW BOOK OUT TODAY!

I know, I know...I haven't told you much about this one because my publisher asked me to avoid doing any promo until release day, which, in case I haven't made it clear OHMYGOD, TODAY IS RELEASE DAY!

The book is called Marine for Hire, and here's what it's about:

She thought she’d sworn off military men for good…

Sam Kercher is every inch a wickedly hot Marine. Tall. Sexy. Lethal. When his best friends call in a favor, Sam is forced to face an entirely new line of duty—playing nanny for their newly divorced sister and her squirming seven-month-old twin boys. If Sam can dissemble an M16 in his sleep, diaper duty should be a cakewalk…right?

Unfortunately, Operation Nanny isn’t quite that simple. Sheridan has sworn off overbearing military men, so Sam must protect her from her dirtbag ex without revealing just how much he has in common with her brothers. Or that he’s been ordered not to touch her. Ever. Problem is, Sheri’s one hell of a gorgeous woman, capable of making this hard-bodied Marine even harder. And Sam wants her bad.

Protect the girl. Care for the babies. Hide his identity. And keep his hands off. But even the most disciplined Marine has weaknesses...and Sheridan is one Sam might not be able to resist.

Wanna know the best part?

Well, the best part for me is that the book has been racking up all kinds of crazy-awesome reviews, particularly from readers who've never heard of me before because they weren't out there browsing for romantic comedy. But see, my publisher kinda tricked them with this one by not marketing it as comedy at all, but rather as a steamy military-themed romance (which it totally is) so readers are all, "hey, I like books with Marines and a few good rounds of bury-the-one-eyed-worm," and then they get into it and they're all, "woah, wait – this book can also make me snort wine out my nose?"

Which is totally my thing, right?

But back to what I was saying about the best part for you. See, my publisher made a strategic decision last week to offer Marine for Hire at an obscenely low price of just 99-cents for a very limited time starting on release day (did I mention that's TODAY?!!)

To nab the book for less than a buck, go here.

And  if you've managed to get your hands on one of the advance reading copies my publisher circulated these last few weeks, please, pretty please with red wine and salted caramel on top, stop by Amazon or Barnes & Noble or Goodreads and leave me a review.

In the meantime, how about we all roll around on the ground together in celebration? I'll bring the wine.