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Going Indie by Cailin Briste @CailinBriste #RLFblog #amwriting #SciFiRomance
Going Indie by Cailin BristeAs a traditionally published author, I’ve done most of the marketing for my sci-fi suspense romance novels. My publisher advised that I spend my time writing more books. That’s good advice. But I wasn’t ready to leave it at that. Going indie means having freedom.
Initially I focused on getting my name out there and building my author platform. (Social media, newsletters, and such.) Book sales would follow like B follows A. At least I hoped so. Hearing how well other authors had done in Kindle Unlimited, I decided I needed to take the plunge and gain new readers through that service. It Takes a Cat Burglar was written with that in mind.
The learning curve for Indie publishing was both easier and worse than I expected. The marketing wasn’t difficult because I’d done many similar things with my Sons of Tallav series published by Loose Id. There was just more of it. Hiring a professional editor was a no brainer, duplicating the process at my publisher. The real booger was formatting. Eventually I managed to create a beautiful Amazon eBook edition and release It Takes a Cat Burglar on May 7th.
Within days I realized the cover wasn’t right. I redid it but not in time for the first round of advertising. Cover matters. In June when the book went on sale I had a fabulous new cover. Still no huge rush to buy the book followed. Hmmm. A decision had to be made. Continue doing what didn’t seem to be working or change things up.
Thus, I’ve pulled It Takes a Cat Burglar from Kindle Select, so it will no longer appear in the Kindle Unlimited catalog. It also allows me to drop the price from $2.99 to $0.99. The book is also now available through Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Kobo, and Google Play. My run in Kindle Unlimited wasn’t successful. I’m still a new author. If the program continues it may be more worthwhile for my books sometime in the future.
Meanwhile, I’ve taken my publisher’s advice and continue to write more books. I’m working on Rand: Son of Tallav the third in the Sons of Tallav series. Educated by the Master will release in October in the Cosmic Love Cabaret anthology. It’s a prequel to the fourth Sons of Tallav novel which will feature Master Trey. I’ve also started on Cade’s story in the A Thief in Love Suspense Romance series.
With It Takes a Cat Burglar priced at 99 cents I hope many more readers will discover the sexy thieves Darcelle Lebeau and Sebastian St. Croix.
Today’s featured book is It Takes a Cat Burglar: A Thief in Love Suspense Romance, a sci-fi suspense romance by Cailin Briste.
When Darcelle Lebeau throws off the invisible chains that keep her bound to her family, she discovers a new vocation. Tempted to enter the illegal playground of a man she nicknames Matou, she becomes a cat burglar in training. Deeply ensnared with each task he entices her to fulfill, she fails to discover his identity and true intentions.
Sebastian St. Croix, a wealthy businessman, has a dark side. He’s a thief, a cat burglar who steals art and historical objects. For one year, he trains Darcelle to become his assistant, remaining incognito, observing her from afar. His admiration grows along with his desire for her with every phase-one challenge she completes. Phase two will test the limits of his control. Hands-on personal training? Yes. Sex? No. With his sister’s happiness at stake, nothing, not even the tempting Darcelle Lebeau, can interfere with accomplishing the biggest break-in of his career.
Genre Sci-fi Romance, Romantic Suspense
Book heat level (based on movie ratings): R
When Darcelle Lebeau throws off the invisible chains that keep her bound to her family, she discovers a new vocation. Tempted to enter the illegal playground of a man she nicknames Matou, she becomes a cat burglar in training. Deeply ensnared with each task he entices her to fulfill, she fails to discover his identity and true intentions.
Sebastian St. Croix, a wealthy businessman, has a dark side. He’s a thief, a cat burglar who steals art and historical objects. For one year, he trains Darcelle to become his assistant, remaining incognito, observing her from afar. His admiration grows along with his desire for her with every phase-one challenge she completes. Phase two will test the limits of his control. Hands-on personal training? Yes. Sex? No. With his sister’s happiness at stake, nothing, not even the tempting Darcelle Lebeau, can interfere with accomplishing the biggest break-in of his career.
Publisher Hot Sauce Publishing
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Takes-Cat-Burglar-Thief-Romance-ebook/dp/B0727MJK45/Cailin Briste Social Media
Cailin has been writing fiction for six years and non-fiction for two decades. Her non-fiction work has been published in magazines and in a non-fiction anthology. She’s a member of Romance Writers of America, the RWA Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal Chapter, and the RWA Passionate Ink Chapter.
Cailin likes to flip convention on its head, creating a universe in which each planet is a study in different what ifs. What would happen to alpha men on a matriarchal planet? How would society handle it if girls born on their new planet developed empathic senses?
Website http://cailinbriste.com/
Blog http://cailinbriste.com/category/all-posts/
Street Team http://cailinbriste.com/cailins-street-team/
Twitter http://twitter.com/CailinBriste
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cailinbriste/
Google+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/102592935378667862505
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/cailinbriste/
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7413817.Cailin_Briste
Bookbub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cailin-briste
Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Cailin-Briste/e/B00GSX9QVW -
It Takes a Cat Burglar by Cailin Briste @CailinBriste #RLFblog #SciFi #Romance
Today’s featured book is It Takes a Cat Burglar: A Thief in Love Suspense Romance, a sci-fi suspense romance by Cailin Briste.Sebastian St. Croix is a wealthy businessman with a specialized hobby. He steals things. As in entering without permission and purloining expensive artifacts and art objects. This could be his flaw, a penchant for taking what doesn’t belong to him, but it isn’t. He’s a thief in a white hat. The items he takes have all been previously stolen from public museums and are in private collections. He returns these priceless works of art once he appropriates them.
Like most romance heroes, Sebastian is handsome. When Darcelle sees him for the first time after a year of interacting through notes this is what she thinks. “He was gorgeous. Only a master sculptor could have formed a face of such perfect symmetry. The masculinity of his high cheekbones, angled jaw, and straight brows was softened by his exquisite lips. From beneath black locks slanting over his forehead, pale green eyes stared at her.”
On the surface it doesn’t look as though Sebastian has any flaws.
Rich? Check.
Good looking? Check.
Uses his skills for good? Check.
But a romance book isn’t as fun to read if the hero doesn’t have at least one flaw he must struggle with or overcome to find his happily ever after. The aspect of Sebastian’s personality that makes him an exceptional cat burglar also makes his love life one of physical release with no long-term connections. He must be in control. And then Darcelle Lebeau enters his life. She exposes that flaw, so that even Sebastian recognizes he must change or lose her.
It Takes a Cat Burglar is a novella, so the length limits creating a hero with multi-layered flaws. The best full-length romances are a spider web of the hero and heroine’s flaws, intractable situations, and devious villains. I personally love a hero who struggles to relinquish control. When he lets go, the result is so satisfying.
Which flaws are your favorites? Are there some flaws that would make a hero unacceptable? What about dark heroes? The darker the hero, the more flaws he has, but getting a bad boy to fall in love is a huge favorite among romance readers. So, what part of the bad boy persona is flawed and what shouldn’t change? Let me know what you think.
It Takes a Cat Burglar: A Thief in Love
When Darcelle Lebeau throws off the invisible chains that keep her bound to her family, she discovers a new vocation. Tempted to enter the illegal playground of a man she nicknames Matou, she becomes a cat burglar in training. Deeply ensnared with each task he entices her to fulfill, she fails to discover his identity and true intentions.
Sebastian St. Croix, a wealthy businessman, has a dark side. He’s a thief, a cat burglar who steals art and historical objects. For one year, he trains Darcelle to become his assistant, remaining incognito, observing her from afar. His admiration grows along with his desire for her with every phase-one challenge she completes. Phase two will test the limits of his control. Hands-on personal training? Yes. Sex? No. With his sister’s happiness at stake, nothing, not even the tempting Darcelle Lebeau, can interfere with accomplishing the biggest break-in of his career.
Genre Sci-fi suspense romance
Book heat level (based on movie ratings): R
Publisher Hot Sauce Publishing
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0727MJK45/Cailin Briste Social Media
Cailin has been writing fiction for six years and non-fiction for two decades. Her non-fiction work has been published in magazines and in a non-fiction anthology. She’s a member of Romance Writers of America, the RWA Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal Chapter, and the RWA Passionate Ink Chapter.
Cailin loves science fiction and romance, so combing the two came naturally. She is currently writing the third book in her Sons of Tallav sci-fi erotic romance series. Shane: Marshal of Tallav and Maon: Marshal of Tallav were released in 2016 by Loose Id. She’s also working on a novella for an SFR Shooting Stars anthology tentatively title Educated by the Master.
Website http://cailinbriste.com/
Blog http://cailinbriste.com/category/all-posts/
Twitter http://twitter.com/CailinBriste
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cailinbriste/
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/cailinbriste/
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7413817.Cailin_Briste
Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Cailin-Briste/e/B00GSX9QVW
Newsletter http://cailinbriste.com/cailins-newsletter-sign-up/ -
It Takes a Cat Burglar by Cailin Briste @CailinBriste #RLFblog #SciFi #Romance
Welcome Cailin Briste author of It Takes a Cat Burglar, a new sci-fi romance.
Why did you write this book?
It Takes a Cat Burglar began with a prompt in a Goodreads group writing event. The characters wouldn’t keep to the prompts story line, so I put it aside and wrote another story for the group. I had thought of including it in a boxed set, but when that fell through I decided to self-publish the novella. Now I intend to write additional A Thief in Love Romances and make a series.
What is your favorite genre to read?
If you go by the number of books on my kindle, historical romance wins by a landslide, Regency romance in particular. I love the fantasy aspect of many of these novels.
Who is your favorite character from fiction (not including your own)?
My favorite character comes from the Foreigner series by C. J. Cherryh. Bren Cameron is the only human allowed to interact with the Atevi. Humans landed on the Atevi planet after a disaster separated them from human space. He’s supposed to be writing a dictionary that will allow the two species to talk effectively to one another. A difficult task because the Atevi are wired completely differently from humans. In the first book someone tries to kill him, and the entire series (20 books) is set in motion. I love his struggle to communicate, to find the words that have meaning to humans and Atevi, to keep the delicately balanced peace between the two species.
What are you working on at the moment?
My works in progress include a novella for the next SFR Shooting Stars anthology, the Cosmic Love Cabaret. It’s the love story of Master Trey from the first Sons of Tallav book Shane: Marshal of Tallav. He was a Dom at the Opio Institute, a sex school, but now works at the Whip Hand, a BDSM club. He’s been delegated the task of explaining dominance and submission to the newly hired creative director of the Whip Hand’s cabaret.
I’m also about a third of the way into Rand: Son of Tallav, the third book in the Sons of Tallav series. It’s the story of Randolph, the owner of the Whip Hand, and best friends of Shane and Maon, characters from the first two books. He’s a sadist, so this book is taking a lot of thought.
What books will we see from you in coming months?
The Cosmic Love Cabaret boxed set will be available for pre-order in September and released in October.
Please tell us about your latest book.
Genre
Sci-fi Romance, Romantic Suspense
Book heat level (based on movie ratings): R
When Darcelle Lebeau throws off the invisible chains that keep her bound to her family, she discovers a new vocation. Tempted to enter the illegal playground of a man she nicknames Matou, she becomes a cat burglar in training. Deeply ensnared with each task he entices her to fulfill, she fails to discover his identity and true intentions.
Sebastian St. Croix, a wealthy businessman, has a dark side. He’s a thief, a cat burglar who steals art and historical objects. For one year, he trains Darcelle to become his assistant, remaining incognito, observing her from afar. His admiration grows along with his desire for her with every phase-one challenge she completes. Phase two will test the limits of his control. Hands-on personal training? Yes. Sex? No. With his sister’s happiness at stake, nothing, not even the tempting Darcelle Lebeau, can interfere with accomplishing the biggest break-in of his career.
Publisher Hot Sauce Publishing
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Takes-Cat-Burglar-Thief-Romance-ebook/dp/B0727MJK45/Cailin Briste Social Media
Cailin has been writing fiction for six years and non-fiction for two decades. Her non-fiction work has been published in magazines and in a non-fiction anthology. She’s a member of Romance Writers of America, the RWA Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal Chapter, and the RWA Passionate Ink Chapter.
Cailin likes to flip convention on its head, creating a universe in which each planet is a study in different what ifs. What would happen to alpha men on a matriarchal planet? How would society handle it if girls born on their new planet developed empathic senses?
Website http://cailinbriste.com/
Blog http://cailinbriste.com/category/all-posts/
Street Team http://cailinbriste.com/cailins-street-team/
Twitter http://twitter.com/CailinBriste
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cailinbriste/
Google+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/102592935378667862505
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/cailinbriste/
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7413817.Cailin_Briste
Bookbub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cailin-briste
Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Cailin-Briste/e/B00GSX9QVW
Newsletter http://cailinbriste.com/cailins-newsletter-sign-up/You May Also Like
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