Sexy Saturday: Matt Passmore

One of my favorite shows is The Glades. In fact, I have been noticing that a few of my favorite shows are titled like that. The Glades, The Closer, and The Killing come to mind.
But I digress. Matt here was the inspiration for Kade in Infatuation, and yes, our Matt is an Aussie:)

An AAD Exclusive!

I was thinking about something to do special for AAD, beyond what I am already doing. So, I figured, why not have A Little Harmless Military Romance Anthology! Now the final cover did not have the AAD 2012 moniker because I wasn't sure if I would still make it exclusive. But, I will have it there and it will only be sold there.
It includes all three stories out now: Infatuation, Possession, Surrender and is a massive book.
I am going to have a limited about of copies, but if there is a lot of interest, I will order more for it.

Military Week: Melissa Schroeder

Welcome to Mel's Salute to Military Romance! I will be honest with you. For years, I didn't write much military romance. I will be the first to tell you that being a military spouse is just not romantic a lot of times. There are the moves, the TDYs, the OFFICIAL FUNCTIONS (which I usually completely hate) and then there is the feeling that no one in the world understands what you are going through. Then, Malachai Dupree, brother to Chris and Jocelyn, popped up in my head when Jocelyn was talking in A Little Harmless Addiction. It was a kernel of a thought: a spinoff of Harmless but with military men and women.
I will be completely honest with you. I wasn't sure I could do it. When I first said something to my then editor I had with the Harmless publisher, there was little to no interest. Usually when I talk of the military it is to complain about something. One assignment in 20 years in a place with seasons would be the top of my list. But as a military brat myself, I knew there was something else to the military. See, I love romantic suspenses with a military bent. I couldn't write them though. I was born in an Army hospital and have spent most of life immersed in military. I wanted it to be a little more reality based, and sometimes that doesn't thrill readers, lol.
I was a big lover of M*A*S*H growing up and one thing that taught me was there isn't anything pretty about military. But it also taught me something else, something I knew without actually acknowledging it. Military folk are just like everyone else, but their problems all have an added layer to them. Along with the regular squabbles that pop up, you have to move every few years, deal with a spouse who often times HAS to put the job in front of the family (there is that little thing called an oath they take when the enter the military) and a bone deep loneliness that others outside of the military just will never understand. Your life is ruled by the military whether you want it to or not.

So when I sat down to write my first A Little Harmless Military Romance, I felt a lot of pressure. I wanted to make sure that my readers understood what these people and their loved ones go through all the time. I didn't want to glorify it, because a lot of times, it isn't very glory filled. Still I wanted everyone to see the softer side of life, the part that keeps the military man and woman whole while they have to deal with the horrors in the field. There is something about that saying "keep the home fires burning" now more than ever.






Be sure to check out the first two A Little Harmless Military Romance Books:
INFATUATON: A Little Harmless Military Romance
AMAZON   Barnes and Noble   ARe   KOBO 


POSSESSION: A Little Harmless Military Romance
AMAZON    Barnes and Noble  ARe  

SURRENDER
Coming Late June

So, I have a big old prize for you! How about a SWAG PACK of Harmless Military goodies, along with two signed copies, one of Infatuation and one of Possession??? And this is open to international readers also. Just let me know your answer to this question:

What is your favorite kind of military hero? Do you like the kind of guy in the midst of international intrigue, the cocky fighter pilot, or maybe you go for one of the PJ's who go for the rescue? Let me know and your name goes in the hat!

Last Sale Day, Updates, and what not

I have been working hard on Surrender and on Kiera's next book. Both will be finished by the end of the month, and turned in for edits NLT June 2, woo hoo. Surrender will be out in late June. After that, I get to spend time with vamps in BY BLOOD: DESIRE and THEN, A Little Harmless Fantasy.  I am really excited by all these projects but I am really intrigued by the dynamics
But, one thing I am super excited about is a new series I am working on. I am just getting down to details on it, but for the first time ever, I am writing a GIRLY GIRL. I have had some feminine heroines before but this one, OY. She wears three inch heels to work at her bakery lol. I hope to have a cover soon to reveal. The shoot is this weekend!

Possession is up for .99 through midnight tonight, then it will go up to 2.99. Price wise, because I only earn 35-40% on anything under 2.99, financially, it isn't feasible for me to have a 30K book for .99. If I had tripled or even doubled sales because of the lower price, I would have kept it, but since they are good, but not any higher than my Harmless books, I will have to put it back up to 2.99.

I am happy to report that Possession did make the top 100 at B and N! Very excited about that. Make sure to pick it and Infatuation up before their prices go up at the end of the day.

Infatuation
AMAZON   B & N   ARe

Possession

AMAZON   B& N    ARe


Make sure to join me TODAY at 7 pm EST on TWITTER by following #joyfullyharmless on Twitter and follow @joyfullyreviewd and @melschroeder to get in on the action!!! It lasts an hour, so get on in to ask all about Harmless and my other upcoming projects.

All Kinds of Harmless News

A LITTLE HARMLESS FASCINATION
AMAZON  ARe  B and N SMASHWORDS
YAY, A Little Harmless Fascination is not only selling well, it is also getting a lot of great reviews. On top of that, it has broken the top 100 on Barnes and Noble. I haven't done that with one of my self-pub books, so I am uber excited about that. Here are what some reviewers are saying about it:

The great Hawaii setting, the wonderful cast of current and past characters whose lives all seem to overlap, the snappy dialog, and the hotter than hot sex scenes mixed with some BDSM elements makes this a must read offering from Melissa Schroeder. -Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews


I loved everything about it-Rho Knows Romance




A Little Harmless Fascination is just as hot and sexy as the other books in the series! -Ladybug Storytime


“A Little Harmless Fascination” is one of my favorite of the Harmless series. It has some incredibly hot moments as well as some wonderfully tender ones. It is a great romantic read. Jennifer, Romantic Novel News


Other news...


A LITTLE HARMLESS SUBMISSION
EBOOK-
AMAZON
PRINT
AMAZON  B and N  Book Depository  BAM

I am nearing the end of my KDP and I can say that I probably won't do it again for another Harmless books. I had to pull it off all the other sites and give it to Kindle exclusively. I think I gained some new readers out of it, but not worth it to leave all my non kindle readers out of the loop. 
I cannot put it up for free for a limited period of time at B and N. I can finagle my way into getting a shorty up there for free, but that will stay there for free forever and I cannot do that will a full book. So, to show my appreciation for my readers, I am going to put ALH Submission on sale for .99 the weekend after it goes off of KDP. That will be May 18,19, and 20 and then it will go back up to the new price of 2.99! That will be with every retailer. 
If you are a kindle reader and have not used your free borrow book, you have just a few more days to get it for free. 
For those of you who are into print, it is everywhere now. The links are up above for those of you who shop different places. 




INFATUATION
AMAZON

Now you can buy the first A Little Harmless Military Romance in print! It also include an entire chapter of By Blood: Desire at the end! 
Right now, it is only available at Amazon. To distribute it out further, I would have to raise the price to 7.25. That is kind of high for a short novel. But, it also means that I can't have it in book depository. if there are a lot of people interested, let me know. If I get enough emails, then I will consider it. 






POSSESSION

I am going to be finishing this completely up tomorrow, come hell or  high water. Then, I will be editing it this week. I hope to have it out by mid to late May. Again, this will go on sale at .99. If I can still make a profit, I will be keeping all my books under 40K this price. 






That's it for now. I am exhausted from our move, but I hope to have the house completely in order by next week. Or the one after that. Maybe. I hope everyone has a great Sunday!

Print cover for Infatuation!

Isn't it pretty???? I love it and once again Kendra did a fantastic job. This is a shorty and will be probably only sold on Amazon in print. Mainly because putting it in distribution means I have to charge over 6 bucks and for a book that is only 126 pages that seems silly. If you all want it in distribution, and be up on the book depository for you folks in non US countries, let me know. I will do it if there is enough people asking for it. So let me know. I am going to be ordering the proofs in the next day or two, and then it will go up for sale next week after I see the proofs and make sure everything works.

A special Infatuation price for EVERYONE!

So, I wanted to do some promos and see what happened. The free book thing for ALH Submission and Callum was a great success. I am very irritated though because I cannot offer free books to Nook, KOBO, etc readers. So, to do something across the board, I have decided to lower the price of Infatuation for TWO WEEKS everywhere. It will be available at every outlet at the low price of .99!  So starting today, until the 15th of April, I will keep the price at the lower price everywhere.

I am actually thinking about doing this with new releases. But, in order to do that, I need your help. I need to prove to myself that I can make a profit by offering new releases at this price. So, if you could spread the word, let everyone you know about it, that would be FANTASTIC!

So, how can you let everyone know? If you have a Facebook page, post the link to this page. If you are on Twitter, let people know with a link here. Word of mouth is very important. If this goes over well, I might very well consider it for new releases as I said before. I am already contemplating it for my June release of By Blood: Desire, so please, spread the word. And if you didn't pick this up now is the perfect time to do it!

INFATUATION

ARe    AMAZON  AMAZON UK  AMAZON DE  AMAZON FR  AMAZON IT  AMAZON ES
B & N     DIESAL Ebooks  SMASHWORDS

To prove her love and save her man, she has to go above and beyond the call of duty.

Infatuation: A Little Military Harmless Romance

Francis McKade is a man in lust. He’s had a crush on his best friend’s little sister for years but he has never acted on it. Besides that fact that she’s Malachi’s sister, he’s a Seal and he learned his lesson with his ex-fiancé. Women do not like being left alone for long months at a time. Still, at a wedding in Hawaii anything can happen—and does. Unfortunately, after the best night of his life, he and Mal are called away to one of their most dangerous missions.

Shannon is blown over by Kade. She’s always had a crush on him and after their night together, it starts to feel a little like love. But, after the mission, Kade never calls or writes and she starts to wonder if it was all a dream. Until one night, her brother Mal drags him into her bar and grill and Shannon gets the shock of her life.

Kade isn’t the man Shannon knew in Hawaii, or even the last few years. Losing a friend and being injured changes a man, especially one who had never felt so vulnerable. He still can’t shake the terror that keeps him up at night. Worse, he is realizing that the career he loves just might be over.

Shannon is still mad, but she can’t help but hurt for the man she loves. He is darker, a bit more dangerous, but beneath that, he is the Kade she's known for so many years. When he pushes her to her limits in the bedroom, Shannon refuses to back down. One way or another, this military man is going to learn there is no walking away from love—not while she still has breath in her body.

Warning: This book contains two infatuated lovers, a hard-headed military man, a determined woman, some old friends, and a little taste of New Orleans. As always, ice water is suggested while reading. It might be the first military Harmless book, but the only thing that has changed is how hot our hero looks in his uniform—not to mention out of it.
This is an original novella that is approx 32,000 words.

My First Nomination for a Selfpub

Yesterday I found out that Infatuation was up for Best Erotic Contemp of the year at TRR. If you feel so inclined, please go vote for it, or your favorite book that is there. I am super excited because this is the first nomination for one of my selfpub books for a yearly award. It is a big thing to me that something I produced by myself has been given this attention and the first of the military spinoff. Thanks The Romance Reviews and their staff and thanks to the readers for being so supportive!
Go vote for your favorite books HERE!

Callum in Print and Infatuation news

AMAZON CREATESPACE
Callum is now in print! It was such an easy process that I will probably do it like this more like this. I am not able to put the Harmless books in print because Addiction will not be out until May. It will take a few weeks to hit the other outlets.

Another thing is that Callum is in KDP select. That means it isn't available anywhere else. As I did last month, I am testing out the program, but with a different genre and a newer book. I also want to see how this works in a genre I am not known for.  I know that people with other devices will not be able to read it on them. I apologize for that, but I want to see what this brings me in sales. As a new self-publisher, I need to see what different kinds of promos will get me in the way of sales. Publishers rarely share this info with their authors, at least not with me.

I am not going to do this with all my books. Not unless Paypal makes me do it. But, I do have some other plans for upcoming books, including bundles. I have to get a few more books out before I can start doing that.

In Infatuation news, I have decided to put this in print. Now, it is a novella so I will be adding something to it to make it long enough, but that means Possession will be longer. So a win/win! I am going to be working on it over the next couple of weeks.

Surrender: A Little Harmless Military Romance

So, Ms Kendra has been busy. The Addicts got a peek at this earlier this week. This is Mal's cover. Now, if Possession is just as successful as Infatuation, I will start expanding these from novellas to full books. I will start with Mal's book. I love the look of the cover since it goes so well with the other two. Kendra Egert does it again!

Winners: Re-draw x2

I need to pop on here real quick and let you know about the re-draw.

Thank you to Celtie who won the Hellcation giveaway and graciously told me to give the ecopy of INFATUATION to someone else. She already has it. So the new winner of the ecopy of INFATUATION is....

MARYBELLE

On another post there were three winners listed. Sadly, one winner did not contact me so I am re-drawing there too. This is for the swag bag.

TINAMARIE

Marybelle please contact me at contact@melissaschroeder.net and let me know if you have INFATUATION. If not I'll will send it your way.

TinaMarie please send your mailing information to contact@melissaschroeder.net and I will get your box off to you.

Both of you have until Wednesday 10am MST before I give up completely on these prizes.

Thank you..... B

While Mel's on Hellcation.... I mean in Disney

I'm going to do a giveaway. This is a late Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving Giveaway. Seems November is the month of Thankfulness. You want to know what I'm giving away? Well you'll have to wait until after my rambling is done.

As you know we just had Veteran's Day not too long ago. For Mel and for me its a special day. We're military brats and military spouses. We understand the dedication and non-stop workloads. The never ending tasks of the job, the picking up of slack from others. The small things that go on everyday that make the big military machine run as smoothly as possible. Every day we appreciate what goes on in military life.

Veteran's Day is a day the rest of the Nation remembers the military past and present. The day when everyone else thanks them for their service.

This past Veteran's Day a very special book came out celebrating Navy Seals and all their greatness: SEAL OF MY DREAMS. I believe the project stemmed from SEAL Team 6 taking down their target, Osama Bin Laden. A picture of a SEAL team member floated around the web. Authors who love a good hot body muse got together and decided to write a book and give to research.

The money from this project is going to Veteran's Research Corporation. Veteran's Research Corporation sponsors medical research that improves the lives of military veterans, their families and society at large; and fosters a new generation of researchers to address tomorrow's medical and health care challenges.

The following Monday Melissa's first military romance came out: INFATUATION: A Little Harmless Military Romance.

Melissa introduces us to her first Navy Seal Francis McKade, aka Kade, and Shannon Dupree. Kade has lusted after Shannon but keeps a hands-off policy since she is his best friend's sister. Shannon is ready to get the man she wants.

To quote Shell Bryce, Infatuation is "piece of sinful erotic deliciousness". Now you can't pass up something described like that can you?

In honor of both of these military themed books I'm going to giveaway is a print copy of SEAL OF MY DREAMS and eBook copy of INFATUATION.

What do you need to do to win all of this hard-bodied reading material? Answer one of two questions.

Do you have a military member you're thankful for and why?  OR
With Thanksgiving this week what have you found you are thankful for?

You must answer one of the questions. Feel free to answer both if you wish. I'll leave this open through Friday, November 25th. I will close down the comments Saturday. I'll pick one (1) winner for both books via Random.org. You'll have 72 hours to contact me at contact@melissaschroeder.net with your email AND mailing address.

Now go forth and answer. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Character Interview: Kade and a giveaway

Hi, everyone! I wanted to let y'all get to know our first military hero, Francis McKade. I met up with him in Virginia Beach close to where he is stationed at a place called The Side Street Catina and Taco Shack. After ordering a couple of  Side Street Ritas, we got down to business.
It's on the waterfront and it is a bit deserted. November isn't a big tourist time in Virginia Beach but I like it.

MEL: Thanks for taking the time out of your training schedule. I know you don't get much time off.

KADE: We just got back from a mission so I've got some free time.

MEL: Oh, with time off, I thought you would be in New Orleans.

The smile he gives me is slow and deadly.

KADE: She's on her way here. I'm taking a week off. Shannon and I are going to take some time alone, no work, no family.

MEL: Must be hard having a long distance relationship.

He nodded as the waitress set out Ritas in front of us.

KADE: Being a military wife you know how that is.

MEL: Yes, but you're job is a little different than my husband's. You can be called away with little notice.

KADE: It is one of the worst things about this job, but I love it.

MEL: What made you want to be a Seal? Did you go into the Navy with the thought that you would be a Seal?

Kade nods and takes a sip of his drink.

KADE: My folks weren't happy with me. They wanted me to go to college, but I didn't want that. I entered the Navy when I was seventeen.

MEL: Wow. Seventeen.

KADE: Yeah, I graduated a year early, so I could go. Folks wanted me to at least try college, but I knew what I wanted. Their both scientists and highly educated, so I kind of understand.

MEL: And even with the rigorous training you wanted to become a Seal?

KADE: Yep.

MEL: Nothing like a talkative military man.

His lips curved again but he said nothing.

MEL: So, Shannon, what is it about her that draws you to her?

If he was deadly before, he was devastating now.

KADE: I deal with some real sh...uh, excuse me.

I laugh.
MEL: I'm a military wife and former brat, you won't shock me.

KADE: Well, life for us, for what we have to do, it is pretty bad. We see some horrific things in our line of work. Shannon takes such joy in every day things.  Being with her reminds me that not everything is as bad as the things I see when I am on a mission. They say it is best to have a center, someone who will give you a dose of normal when you're back. And, you need a compass, someone who can help you make it back to reality. Shannon does that for me. And, well, she doesn't put up with my crap. Oh, and of course, because she's built like a 1950's movie star. She is sexy and knows it, and that makes her irresistible to me.

His phone vibrates on the table and he smiles.

KADE: Excuse me. He clicks the phone on. Hey, babe. Oh, okay. I'm just finishing up with Mel. He laughs. No, she isn't staying so you'll just have to put up with my cooking. Okay, love ya, bye.
He clicks the phone off. Shannon's going to be at my house soon, so I gotta get going.

MEL: No problem. Thanks for taking the time to meet with me.

He leaves a few minutes later and I sit to watch the few people lingering around the waterfront knowing that at least one Seal is going to have a very happy homecoming tonight.

~~~~~~~

Want a chance at a bag of Harmless swag? Ask Kade a question or comment by WED(Nov 16th) NOON (central us time) and your name goes into the pot. I will be drawing three names and this includes the coveted Francis McKade dog tags!

Next Week And a Special Fundraiser!

I have decided right at the last moment, that I am going to do a fundraiser on Friday. Veteran's Day is special to me and I wanted to do something for it. So, I will have a blog post about a very special organization, Fisher House, which is sort of a Ronald McDonald House for military and their families. For every comment, I will give 25 cents to the charity up to 250 dollars. I will just ask that you comment here on the blog.  
Just a note: The fundraising will start tomorrow! I confused some people--which I know is nothing new. lol But I will be starting this tomorrow morning at midnight.


Also,  I have a lot going on next week all over the internets and I hope you join me. Here is my schedule:

November 14th 
Interview with Kade, our first Harmless military hero, and a giveaway of the book and some swag. Right here on Random Thoughts!


November 14th Smexy Books
I'll be chatting with the Smexy readers about Infatuation, the first ever Harmless Military Romance.

November 15th Denver Lady Jane's 
I'll be skyping in to chat with the group. If you are in the area, be sure to check it out. Brandy will be there will goodies for the attendees.


And now for some sexy military men:

Infatuation, writing, things to come

Chloe Vale, my editor, and I are putting the finishing touches on Infatuation and I wanted to let you know that it will probably be delayed just a few days. The ickiness I had last week put me behind and I am just about caught up.

I also wanted to explain what these books are. Every one of them will be a long novella or short novel, whichever you like to call it. I had planned it this way for a couple of reasons. I was tied to my publisher to begin with and was looking at having to turn books in for consideration a year to eighteen months ahead of time. Since I was allowed to do the spinoff series as per my contract by myself, I thought these would be nice little side trips, not really in Hawaii, but Harmless all the way. Also, it is going to allow me to drop the price a dollar a book for readers.

Now I know that some of you are never going to be satisfied with a shorter book. Sorry about that, but this is the way I have them plotted right now. It also allows me to do a couple of things when they go to print this summer. I can put the first two books together in print OR I can write a free short story that will be included at the end. Still trying to decide what to do there:P But know I am not trying to short change you there. I wanted to do something in the vein of Harmless but not the same. Of course it has that military spin on it, but like the shorts, these are different from the main stories. I can almost promise you that the main Harmless Series will be 60K or above, so they will stay the same. I want readers to know what they are getting and this gives me a chance at playing with some Seals to see if I want to develop a larger military series in the future. Oh, and I give you some Harmless:)

Other things in the makings, A Little Harmless Gift should be out in early December, mainly depending on how long it takes me to get it formatted and I will be offering it up at .99. It is the cheapest I can go.  The coming months are going to be filled with new releases. Callum, the first of books detailing the Lennon Clan will be out in January. After that, I will have Falling in Love Again, a shorty connected to my Once Upon an Accident Series and will feature Victoria, Sebastian and Anna's mother. You get to find out just what was going on with her during The Spy Who Loved Her. Then, you get another Harmless book late in Feb, A Little Harmless Fascination. 

That's a lot of books in the next few months, so I will be keeping my nose to the grindstone working hard. I have had a few questions and yes, the longer books will be in print. My problem with Harmless is that A Little Harmless Addiction isn't going to be out in print until May, so I have to wait until then. After that, I will start rolling those out a few months after the digital comes out. One thing I will say is that the price will be as low as I can make it to break even and I will be doing it through Create Space on Amazon and putting them in distribution channels. 

Oh, and I wanted to give you my pricing scheme for digital books. I don't think I have posted it here, but I thought it would be good. These prices are for single titles and will not include digital bundles I do later:

Under 10K- .99

10-20K -1.99

20-50K-2.99

50-80K-3.99

anything over that will be 4.99

Now this might change depending on what retailers do. They have a habit of changing things without notice. Or, if my overhead costs rise, then I will have to raise the price of my books. Right now though, this works and I think readers are happy with it,  yes?

Now, I have more work to get done so I am off to work.

Inspiring Music for Kade and Shannon

I am in the cave, seriously, with just bread and water. If I had a bathroom in there, I would never come out I am sure. I not only have Infatuation to work on, but also Rand's Craving last edits. So, I am buried but I wanted to share some of my feelings on Infatuation. I knew this would be a hard book to write. Our hero is dealing with PTSD. We have never personally had to deal with it in the family, but we have had friends fighting it, still fighting it. It is painful and I want to make sure I don't patronize the situation.
Anyway, I wanted to share one of the songs that I see as sort of a theme song for Kade and Shannon. Keith Urban is a favorite with the Harmless characters. Raining on Sunday spurred A Little Harmless Pleasure, so I have a long history of listening to his music when I write.
Shannon and Kade have known each other for a while and both have had crushes on the other for so long. This song fit in a lot of ways. They both go through a lot of changes, and I think as they come out of it together, they will be stronger individuals as well as a couple. fit.