Past Promises by N. J. Walters

PAST PROMISES is now available from Samhain Publishing! You can check out this book, or any other of my books, at my author's page at Samhain Publishing.

This is part of the Jamesville series, but can be read as a stand alone book.

BLURB: PAST PROMISES

Sometimes the only way to leave the past behind is to ignore the voice of reason—and leap.

Jamesville, Book 7

For Linda Fletcher, the sign in front of her new business says it all. Past Promises Antiques is her declaration of independence from her powerful and manipulative family—and a vow to herself that her future will be different.

She never considered herself the no-strings-affair type, but the chemistry between her and her newly hired handyman is too intense to ignore. Moving to Jamesville was a bold step, so what’s the harm in taking one more—into his arms?

Levi Mann’s shadowed past keeps his bags packed light and his feet on the move. But one look at Linda, and he finds himself willing to hang around—just long enough to figure out what it is that triggers their explosive passion.

Glitch or not, it's troubling

Tina/Cassie posted below about the whole Amazon debacle. It's a mess.

It has definitely ignited the online world.

Every September/October, I try to do a lot of postings on Banned Books Week. It's a cause I believe in strongly.

One of the things that has been pointed out on numerous blogs is the incongruity of the appliance of the adult policy (which may or may not be Amazon's policy, they now say, "glitch" in response to why the books have been desearch engined and deranked).

Violent books such as the Dexter series and others weren't affected. Now, I enjoy the Dexter series both in book and on TV. But there's a lot of murder and mayhem happening in these books. Is sex really that much more objectionable than violence? The books that were affected, are they really more offensive than a serial killer torturing his victims?

Not to me.

And therein lies the problem of censorship. Everyone has things they find offensive. Where do we draw the line? My line is here. Your line is over there. Her line is way over there. Whose line do we take?

I sincerely hope that this Amazon thing is a glitch and they get it fixed posthaste. But I also hope that people will continue to talk about censorhip and book banning and realize that it does still happen. And it's no more objectionable when done by Amazon than it is when done at a public library or a school library.

Mechele Armstrong aka Lany of Melany Logen
http://www.mechelearmstrong.com
http://www.melanylogen.com

Amazon Censorship? Or purely bad business decision?

If you follow any writing community blogs including twitter, facebook or anywhere else you run into authors, you've probably heard about the new Amazon kerfuffle.

If you haven't, sit back and let me fill you in.

A few days ago book rankings started disappearing from books here and there on Amazon. A few would return, and then more would disappear. Searches by author name and/or book title wouldn't always return results, and things were generally very wonky. A few people began questioning Amazon and after some very vague answers from some poor customer service reps who had no idea what was happening, finally someone who had an Amazon.com advantage account received a reply:

(The following is reposted from Mark Probst's Live Journal Blog - http://markprobst.livejournal.com/15293.html)

In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude "adult" material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.

Hence, if you have further questions, kindly write back to us.

Best regards,

Ashlyn D

Member Services

Amazon.com Advantage

So, basically Amazon has decided to protect all of us from ourselves? We can no longer be trusted to decide what we search on and what we look at? Huh? Not to mention that if I search for a particular author - they may not show up in my search results if Amazon deems them "adult" and therefore inappropriate for me to see even though I'm a consenting adult well over the age of consent?? Again, I say, Huh??

Amazingly, the list of what books are affected certainly aren't consistent across the board, in fact, someone pointed out that Penthouse and Playboy still had a rank when they looked earlier today. And I've read some Jackie Collins books that equal some of the erotic romances that have been stripped of rank, but Jackie still retains hers. Selective rank and search removal? Or just poor implementation of a poorly thought out policy?

Not to mention that from a business perspective, if readers can't search and find the books they are looking for, they will go elsewhere to buy. Not that Amazon has ever done huge sales numbers for individual authors (contrary to popular belief, most authors don't make most of their sales through Amazon), but you would think as a reseller that they would want people to be able to easily find their products and purchase them.

AND, if all of these "offensive" adult books are appearing on the best sellers lists so they can offend all of us (supposedly) then who is buying them to get them to appear there?? Hmmm, maybe the buying customers who will now take their business elsewhere? (Guess Amazon didn't think of that...oops!)

I know several authors, myself included are going to remove all links from our websites that go to Amazon.com until they reverse this really useless policy. If they don't want to help customers find our books, then we'll be glad to "help" them with the effectiveness of their own policy.

If any of you would like to let Amazon.com know how you feel about their new policy, this is their email addy: connect-help@amazon.com
Other ways to get in touch with them: http://clicheideas.com/amazon.htm

Or write to their CEO:
Jeffrey Bezos. The address is 1200 12th Avenue South, Seattle, Washington 98144-2734, United States Phone: 206-266-1000 Fax: 206-622-2405

Well, I'm off to remove some links and then sit down to write a very detailed letter of my own to Amazon.

It will be interesting to see how this one plays out...

Tina/Cassie

New Covers!

I've gotten two fantastic new covers in the past week:

The first is for KYLE'S BARGAIN, a forthcoming release from Ellora's Cave.

Blurb: In a desperate attempt to save the small strip shopping center that houses her own bookstore and a few other small retailers, Meg Travis tries to blackmail developer Kyle Harrison into going with her to talk to the people his project is about to displace. He offers her a bargain. He’ll give her two hours of his time if she’ll agree to spend a night with him in his bed, and he won’t press charges if she’ll accept the punishment he proposes. He refuses to tell her what that penalty would be. Both honor their promises, but neither is prepared for the attraction that blazes between them in the process, turning duty into joy and punishment into pleasure.

Read the first chapter here: http://www.katherinekingston.com/Kyle.html.

The second is for WALPURGIS NIGHT, which was originally released as part of the EQUINOX 1 anthology and will be re-released by Ellora's Cave as a stand-alone novella.

Blurb: In 10th-century England, Norse invaders have begun to settle down and intermingle with the Anglo-Saxon residents. On Walpurgis Night it's expected that all adults will do their part to ensure the fertility of the land by indulging in sexual activity. Healer Fianna has been warned she must choose a partner for the night, but she doesn't like any of the candidates available in her town. When forced to make a decision, she selects Henrik, a visiting Norseman who’s come to watch the festivities.

They have a sizzling night together, but then he departs. Later, when Henrik's brother is wounded, he forces her to come and treat him. Fianna's not sure she can save the gravely injured man, but agrees to try. The situation forces her into close proximity with Henrik, and neither can resist the sexual attraction and growing love between them. But Henrik has long planned to leave the area as soon as his brother is healed and able to take over Henrik's responsibilities.

Read an excerpt here: http://www.katherinekingston.com/walpurgis.html

New Release Wednesday

My latest romantic suspense book is out with Resplendence. As with most of mine, it features an older hero (50s) and heroine (50) and a great cover. Okay, not all of mine feature great covers, but this one is. It's got all of the elements: the stalker, the frozen lake, the pine trees ....

Yea! It's here!

Here's a blurb to whet the appetite:

Have you ever made a mistake in love? Did that mistake almost kill you?

M.C. ('Mac') Shefflington thought she finally escaped Tom Donaldson and her terrible past. She started to relax at her new home in Minnesota when the hang-up calls and tailgating started again, the same things that Tom used to do. Mac knows he's come back into her life.

Retired Sheriff Harry Mortonson is willing to help her because that might alleviate the guilt he feels about his own past and a woman he didn’t help, years ago. But when he meets Mac, he gets far more than he bargained for, including falling in love with her and protecting her from the crazy man who's stalking her.

In the end, it's up to Mac to lure Tom into a trap on one of Minnesota's frozen lakes where she, Harry, and Tom have one final confrontation. If she can succeed, she’ll save Harry and they’ll have a chance for a new life together. But if she fails, Tom wins and Mac will have to live her past—again.

--------------------

I think you'll like Harry (a retired sheriff with a dog named Law and a cat named Order) and Mac (the woman who won't buy snow boots because she's afraid it'll jinx her hiding out in Minnesota). And like all my books, one of the animals helps save the day, this time a gerbil.

Yep. A gerbil. You have to read the book to find out how!

April Newsletter Now Available!

If you’re not already receiving Awakening Desires—the Newsletter of Romance Author N.J. Walters—then you’re missing out on all the latest news, author interviews, excerpts and tons more! You’re also missing out on a chance to win every month!

The April 2009 issue is now available!

Check out the this month’s author interview with the talented J. C. Wilder.

As well, each month, some lucky newsletter subscriber wins a prize. All you have to do to be eligible to win next month is to go to Awakening Desires Newsletter to join and read back issues.