Now, you know I’m no stranger to podcasts. I’ve been on some amazing ones, like the Kobo Writing Life podcast, The Good Story Podcast, How do You Write?, and The Misfit’s Guide to Writing Indie Romance. Most of the ones I’ve been on in the past have been author advice podcasts, but in November, Aime Austin invited me to be on A Time to Thrill. And we talked about evvvvvvvrrrrything…
Read MoreSquee! I went to Twitter to post something this morning only to find that Book Riot listed my novel, Snapdragon, as one of its best books you've never heard of! I will admit, I wish that a LOT more people had heard of this book. Thanks to this article, and to Carole, the reader who thought to give it a nod, a few more people have. Yea for good newsy things!! Snapdragon is right here, BTW. Because, shameless self-promotion: http://bit.ly/kb-snapdragon
Read MoreIn an unexpected, good-news twist, I found out today (after having a very bad week) that Snapdragon was named a finalist in the Book Buyer's Best Contest run by the Orange County chapter of RWA (OCCRWA)! I had, frankly, given up on this award, as I'd heard titterings that finalists were receiving calls (a call that never came for me), and the notification date had long-passed. This is a tough business, people. The books that we sweat, bleed and develop drinking problems over may never do well commercially, may never receive a single accolade, etc. Snapdragon is a different work of romance, both in its structure and complexity. The fact that it isn't formulaic made it even less of a sure thing on the awards circuit.
Read MoreIt's hard to even know how to begin this article. My experience at RWA this year is a lot different from my first year in Orlando in 2017. Not knowing anything about anything that first year, I blindly followed the advice of my book bestie, L.G. O'Connor. I signed up too late to have secured appointments with agents and editors, and, either way, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to go traditional. But I was sick of sitting at home in my bathrobe, writing and swilling coffee. It seemed a good opportunity to get out of the house. So I went. I attended workshops. I had, literally, no place to be. I met other authors. I visited the overwhelming swag room. And I watched nominees walk across the stage to accept RITA Awards.
Read MoreI'll admit it--it's been a tough year for me in terms of discovering truths about the industry--and, by that, I mean coming to some realizations about how far we still have to go with respect to promoting diversity in romance. I certainly knew that we were underrepresented--that it seemed more difficult for diverse authors to get traditional publishing contracts and, if we get them, to have good experience with our publishers around marketing and promotion. I did not know until recently about a litany of other issues--from earning retail space, to being dropped from publishing, to problems with book displays and shelving, to serious issues with the RITA Awards.
Read MoreWhoa! Have you seen some of the names on the finalists list for this year's NRCAs? I'm on the same page--twice--with Jill Shalvis. Being in such talented company makes it even sweeter that "Snapdragon" has made it to the finals in this year's National Readers' Choice Awards for Best First Book and Erotic Romance! I'll be looking forward to RWA Nationals in Denver in July, where they'll be announcing the winners and where I hope to meet (in person) some of the lovely ladies of OKRWA. Beyond staying with me through some technical problems as I was entering the contest, these girls were all just as sweet as apple pie.
Read MoreIn the dumbest of all first world problems, I was starting to get worried. I've received more amazing accolades for Snapdragon than I ever could have hoped. But Snapdragon wasn't the only book I released this past year--it was one of three, and one of two that I've put my hat in for contests. Up until now, The Art of Worship (which I actually think is a better book) hasn't gotten any love. I am thrilled to announce that at least a few people had the courage to upvote my novella The Art o Worship. It's got a plot that I've never seen anywhere in the romance world before…
Read MoreYou know what they say about fifteen minutes and fame. So when I was named a finalist in the New England Chapter RWA's Reader's Choice Awards and invited to the conference to revel in the honor, I figured I'd better absorb whatever warmth I could from my day in the sun. At the time, the other book I'd been entering into awards had won exactly zilch. I figured, maybe this was it! There were other compelling reasons to attend the conference. Beverly Jenkins was giving a masterclass on small town romance, and let's be honest--she could've been giving a masterclass on underwater basket weaving. I still would have wanted to go, because Beverly f*ing Jenkins!
Read MoreI wouldn't have even entered the IPPY Awards if it hadn't been for my friend, Liz. She is my beta reader, turned get-off-your-ass-and-come-to-RWA-nationals, turned mentor-of-all-things-author-world, turned friend. When I met Liz about a year and a half ago, she gave Snapdragon a look before I published it. At the time, she herself had just won a Bronze IPPY in the Romance category for her wonderful second chances novel, Caught Up in Raine, and had some very nice-looking pictures of her floating around from the awards gala. It was Liz who inspired me to even take the step of entering awards.…
Read MoreBelieve it or not, this story starts with me waking up to an e-mail messsage in Bolivia. For those of you who have never been to La Paz, the elevation is around 12,000 feet and my altitude sickness medicine made it so that I was getting only about four hours per night of sleep. So, for one, I was cranky. Add to that the fact that I hadn't seen my family for going on a week. Unable to sleep at the early hour of 5AM (2AM, my local time) I was figuring this wouldn't be my best day. Until it was. My friend-who-happens-to-be-a-writing-coach, Beth Barany, had forwarded me an e-mail…
Read MoreMore great news about "Snapdragon"! This week, it was named a Finalist in the 2017 Foreword Indies Awards in the Erotica (Adult Fiction) category. This feels particularly special, since the very first book I published, in 2012, a non-fiction book under my real name also won the Foreword Indies prize in its category. As most folks know, Kilby Blades is a pen name, since I write the steamy stuff :) Indie publishing isn't easy. There are a ton of wonderful indie books out there (most of the indie romance I read, for me, surpasses the bestsellers). I can't tell you how gratified I am to receive the validation that a book that started as drabble a few years before I made a serious tackle to write it received such recognition…
Read MoreWhen Kilby Blades looks at her peer group, she sees dating disasters, relationship problems, and divorce. This made her want to tell the truth about what love and romance really looks like for high-achieving people and Snapdragon was born. A romance novel unlike any other, where two people are in a relationship that could be defined on its own terms rather that following the formulaic path: "first comes love, then comes marriage..." As our Author of the Day, Blades tells us all about the book and how she made it into the top 5 in romance and top 35 across genres.
Read MoreBookLife and Publishers Weekly announced the titles advancing to the quarterfinals of the 2017 BookLife Prize. My debut novel, "Snapdragon" is one of the seventy-nine chosen works. The mission of the BookLife Prize is to discover, cultivate, support, and celebrate great works of unpublished or self-published writing by independent authors. The Prize also aims to provide feedback to authors about their work, provide a Critic’s Report which may assist finalists in the marketing of their fiction, and provide financial support via a cash prize to the grand-prize winner.
Read MoreBookLife and Publishers Weekly announced the titles advancing to the quarterfinals of the 2017 BookLife Prize. My debut novel, "Snapdragon" is one of the seventy-nine chosen works. The mission of the BookLife Prize is to discover, cultivate, support, and celebrate great works of unpublished or self-published writing by independent authors. The Prize also aims to provide feedback to authors about their work, provide a Critic’s Report which may assist finalists in the marketing of their fiction, and provide financial support via a cash prize to the grand-prize winner.
Read MoreSince Snapdragon's release, I've been getting questions and comments about certain plot points, character traits, etc. At the top of this list are questions about the scene in which we find out that Michael has been with guys.
Believe me--my wise and beautiful beta M.K. Gilher called me right out on this and my Snapdragon beta, L.G. O'Connor had some opinions on it, too. Now I'll say to you what I said to them in my decision to keep this scene.
Read MoreSo it's time for me to start releasing some details about Snapdragon's, male lead, Michael, or so I'm told by very pushy but very dear friends. In the coming weeks, I'll start posting some conversation excerpts between Darby and Michael. In the meantime, here's Michael's physical description, in excerpt form from the book:
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