I'm over at my good friend Tina Donahue's blog talking about the evolution of romance and how it is constantly changing. Stop by, leave a comment and be entered in to win a copy of one of my back list.

http://www.tinadonahue.com/valentine-next-door-and-a-contest/

Also, the first chapter of Foolish Desire, book 4 of the Naughty Holiday List books has been featured on DRB 1st chapter. Stop on by and read the whole first chapter of my April Fools themed release.

http://drb1stchp.com/2014/07/foolish-desire-by-willa-edwards/

I'm so excited. Siren had decided to release the second half of my Naughty Holiday List series in paperback.

Foolish Desire and Dirty Work will be published together in paperback. This compilation will be available at both Amazon and Barnes and Noble very soon.

Though I know the future of publishing is ebooks, there's still something awesome about having a book in my hands. And there are people out there that still only read print books. Its nice to be able to offer my work to everyone.

I'll post the links to this print compilation once they are available.

I officially threw in the Nanowrimo towel a few days ago. It was a long shot from the very start of the month, but the final nail in the coffin was the cold I picked up at our family Thanksgiving. Further proof that little brothers can drive you crazy no matter how old you are.

Through I’m disappointed that I won’t be able to complete the challenge, when I look back on what I have accomplished I’m pretty excited.

 I managed to complete the hardest edits of my writing career, Wandering off the Path, the first in my new bound by fairytale series. I released Foolish Desire, the fourth book in my naughty holiday list series, and promoted it to a successful first month (even landing on the best sellers list for a little while). 

Writing wise I wrote over 20k on Dirty Work, the next and final installment in the naughty holiday list series, and another 3k on Regan and the three bears (working title), a future installment in my bound by fairytales series.

All in all it’s not a bad month’s worth of work. And I do have Nanowrimo to thank for it. If it weren’t for Nano I certainly wouldn’t have written as much as I did. Between the edits, promotion for Foolish Desire, and some evil day job issues, I probably wouldn’t have written much. Due to pushing myself towards that Nanowrimo goal, I’m now about two thirds of the way through
Dirty work, and I’m that much closer to having another release heading towards the door. 

So even though I didn’t make my Nanowrimo goal, I’m still going to consider it a successful month. I’m hoping to put in a few more thousand words before the end of the month, the best I can with this nasty bug. Thankful for another year of Nanowrimo.

I've been interviewed by Jan Bowles, another fantastic Siren Author, over at her blog. Stop on by to see which character I would most want to trade places with and who I'd most like to have dinner with, and a few more fur baby tails.

http://janbowles.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/guest-blogger-willa-edwards-erotic.html?zx=3c5eb236e2f29947

Today is release day for Foolish Desire. I'm so excited about this book. I really fell in love with these characters, but I know I say that every time. I learned a lot about writing and character from this book.

I hope you all love it too.

Blurb: Amy has never felt special. She’s shy, awkward and clumsy to boot. No one ever noticed her, especially not hunky guys like Will, except for maybe when she was tripping over her own feet. Until an April Fool’s prank goes too far, and
for the first time Amy is the center of Will’s interest, and she's rather liking the arrangement. But does he want all of her, or just the woman who likes getting naughty to an audience.

Will has always been a joke. And he never minded, playing the jester to a tee, until he met Amy. She’s far too sweet, too innocent, too serious, for a guy like him. But when his April Fool’s prank shows him a whole new side of Amy, he can’t pretend look away any longer. But can a fool like Will keep a girl like Amy? Or will he end up being the butt of his own joke?

As with all my release days I'm offering up a contest. Leave a comment below, about anything, and you'll be entered in to win a copy of Foolish Desire. Contest will end at 12am eastern time on Saturday November 3rd.

I've been working like crazy for the last couple of weeks on a few projects I hope you'll be excited about. Its going to be a crazy end of October, Nano might feel like a vacation after all this, but I'm really excited to share these works with you all.

First of all, Foolish Desire finished up its final round of edits. It should be available for preorder sometime next week, and officially released on November 1st. I've updated all the pages, so if you'd like a sneak peak  excerpt (not even up on Siren's page yet) stroll on over there and take a
look.

Also, I've been working on a fun little free read for you guys, entitled Birthday List. I had this idea for a while, since I first wrote Naughty List, and I finally got around to writing it. The story is of Eric's turn to get some naughty fun. In this short tale, Eric gives Callie a list of his birthday wishes, that she's happy to gift, though he has a much bigger surprise in store for her. The story revolves solely Callie and Eric, but I hope it will get everyone excited about all the books in the series, and gives a glimpse as to what will be the main focus of Giselle's story (**hint hint**). I'm currently waiting for some cover art and edits to publish it, but hope to have those up and going soon.

Here's an excerpt to whet your appetite, literally-- 

*excerpt subject to editing*

"Babe, you didn't have to do anything special for my birthday--" 

The words died on his lips as he turned the corner. His breath froze in his
lungs. Callie lay across the table, completely naked, besides the array of foods she’d spread across her body. 

Her hands were bound together with red licorice. Though he doubted the candy could keep her contained, with one good bite she’d be free, but the
sight still made him moan and his gut clenched. His little red hellion loved to
be tied up, bound and withering beneath him. That he was the only one to rope her so, only made him crazier. Clenched between her tied hands, she held a dark bottle of beer. 

Onion rings encircled her breasts, her nipples a slightly darker shade than usual. The waft of barbeque sauce filled the room, though he couldn’t tell where the scent was coming from. Pretzels marched down her body, starting between her breasts, across her stomach, to the junction of her legs. He groaned as his eyes travelled down her nakedness. Resting between her legs, right across her pussy, lay a decorated birthday cake, complete with candles. Though, they were unlit. 

"Happy Birthday, honey." She whispered in a deep breathy voice that
would give Marilyn Monroe a run for her money. 

And lastly, I'm diving into my first ever self published work this month. Its a short story, entitled What Happens in the Booth. Its a fun little sexy tale which I'm really having fun with. I hope to have it out soon, and I'll keep you guys in the loop with my progress, but I plan to move fast. The story is somewhat seasonal (that's the only hint I'll give you) and I want to make sure to get it up in time.

So as you can see I've been very busy, hopefully bringing you a lot of great stories for your enjoyment. I'll be keeping you all updated as these project unfold.

I just received my cover for Foolish Desire (Releasing November 1st with Siren Publishing) and I have to say I love it. I can't stop staring at it and showing it off. A big thank you to Harris Channing for this amazing cover.

I’ve got a little bit of writing news this week. First of all, it looks like Foolish Desire will be released on November 8th, mark your calendar now.

All this week I’ve been working diligently on revising my MMF ménage. I even came up with a new title that I like, thanks to a few other great writers that were willing to chat up ideas with me. It’s now titled Reunion Makes Three. I’ve been thrilled this week, because the revisions have been going well—way better then they usually do. I planned to submit it by the end of the month, but since my revisions have gone so well I think I’ll get it out this weekend at the latest.  I’m a little nervous about this one, since its written very directed for this submission request, but I’m hoping they’ll love it and make it a part of their family.

This week I’ve also been dealing with a hard decision at the day job. It’s interesting that, oppose to three years ago, now my writing factors into my decisions. When a new opportunity arose at work, it was on my list of reason why to not take the job. The limit of time to my writing. Three years ago I would have jumped at the job, I would have thrown myself into it with gusto, but now I’m not so enthusiastic. Don’t get me wrong, there have been a lot more changes in three years than just the start of my writing career, including how I’m being treated at my day job and how I feel about the company in general, but those are different elements. 

I’ve dreamed of being a writer my entire life, and I’m not willing to jeopardize the success I’ve had so far and the momentum I’ve started for just any old job.

It reminded me of a blog post my Joely Sue Burkhart wrote one time, about protecting your work. She says one of the jobs of writers is to protect their work, whatever that means for them. For some people it means not reading reviews (I’ve heard a lot of people say this, that they can’t read their own reviews because they’ll upset them for weeks), for Joely it was not reading certain blogs. Well, it appears for me, protecting my work means not taking job opportunities that will take all my time from writing. 

It’s one of the things that truly bothers me about how companies are structured now. We’ve cut so many jobs at my company that everyone is
working 50 to 60 hour weeks. There’s no other option. 

I don’t know how long I’ll be able to maintain this stance against over bearing jobs, and pay my bills. But for the time being I’ve decided to protect my work and pass on this opportunity. Because the opportunity to write, and live out my lifelong ambition, is far more important to me than some job.

There’s been a lot going on in my writing life over the last few weeks. Since a writer can’t stay still for any time (ask my mother, it drives her crazy, she says I’m always going a mile a minute but guess who I got it from :D), while attending the romance convention I’ve also been submitting and revising a few works. And of course, as is always in life, all the news converged together in one glorious week. So here are a few announcements of things to come for the next few months.

For starters, I submitted Foolish Desire to Siren Publishing. After The Romance Convention I was so motivated to work with them again, I came home and revised Foolish one more time and sent it off to them a day after the conference. I heard today that they have accepted the work. Foolish Desire will be out sometime in November, so look for it then. 

I also received a contract for a short story I wrote inspired by one of my favorite places in the world, London. The short story is called Jack the Bodice Ripper. The story takes place in London and does include some ripped clothing. It is set to appear in an anthology called, Sex in London (fitting right). I’ll keep you all posted as soon as I know when that will be releasing.

And in exciting news, the little story that could, Wandering Off the Path received a contract last. After many revisions and rejections, Wandering has finally found a home with a great publisher, Total-E-Bound Publishing. It is scheduled to release early February 2013, and be available for preorder in January. I’m so thrilled to finally have a place for this story in the world. This work has truly been a labor of love. It was only through sheer determination that Wolf and Abigail managed to keep moving forward in the world.

Wandering is the first story in a new series I’ll be starting called Bound by Fairytales, which are historical versions of our favorite fairytales with a little bondage thrown in. I hope to start working on a few more stories for this series soon. We’ll see, with all the other stories in my head, it might be a little while before I can get around to them. I already have ideas brewing for remaking Goldie Locks and the three bears (yup, I’m going exactly where you’re thinking) and Beauty and the Beast. But I have a few more kernels for some other fairytales I’m hoping will sprout into something great.
 
As you can see, the next few months will be a little crazy with edits but I couldn’t be happier about it. I’m thrilled that these great stories have found so fantastic homes, and I’m excited to keep working.

Now back to writing, I’ve got a few more revisions and submissions to make before my inbox fills up with edits ;)

I've been knee deep in revisions for Foolish Desire for the last few, working very hard to get you all the next installment of the Naughty Holiday Lists as quickly as I can. Unfortunately I'm still not meeting my own deadlines, so for right now, I'm in detention. No more reading, no more fun, until it’s done.
 
It’s interesting to see how I've changed and grown as a writer in the last few years. It’s always amazing for me to see how each work improves. Since being published it’s been a huge increase in proficiency, since my amazing publishers have been great about being honest and forthright and helping me see my mistakes the way I never could on my own. Each work I can feel myself growing.
 
With this revision, it’s been disconcerting how much I've changed. The revisions have gone rather smoothly, considering how horrible edits used to be for me. I used to cringe and slam my head against a wall when it was time to do revisions (and I might be right back there with the next release, cross fingers I won't be). This revision there were no huge sections to rewrite, no horribly crafted passages that made you question why you'd ever started to type to begin with (yeah, I've had some dozes in the past). In fact there were times I was revising, I actually forgot I was revising, I was enjoying Will and Amy's story so much.

Now there are a few reasons why this one is going so much better than others in the past. Part of it is due to the fact I've been in this world so long. Foolish Desire will be the fourth Naughty Holiday List installment, and as a result I know the stories and characters very well. I've been setting up these story lines in all the other books (if you go back and read some of the others you'll see hints of what's to come, but its subtle enough not to give too much away). Since I've known where I was going for almost two years, I'm much better at staying on track than I used to be. 

I've also started using character charts, which have really helped me get the character right the first time. No more writing half the book before I decide who they are and what their conflict is, and as a result no more going back to rewrite sections with a different back story or character trait. Amy is the same she's always been, shy, awkward and just a touch repressed. Just enough to make it so much fun for Will to push her boundaries.
 
But I really think the majority is due to growing as an author. Now I can see the pitfalls before I fall in them. I can anticipate the problems before I even hit them, and I can even wade my way through them faster (since I've done it before) I still have issues and problems come up while writing and revising, and I think I'll continue to. When I stop having anything more to learn, I'll probably stop writing, or we'll evolve past it. But I'm definitely improving, which I hope means I'm writing faster and it will be even sooner you'll get to read another one of my books.

Until then, here's the last snippet I revised on Foolish Desire, Will and Amy are enjoying a late meal after play rehearsal, but Will's got a little more up his sleeve than garlic bread. 

Will leaned towards Amy, taking advantage of her excited state to shift his arm a fraction closer on the table. Her heat radiated his side, offering him a glimpse of how amazing her body would feel pressed up against his. Her soft flowery smell encircled him, his mouth watered to taste her.

“I bet they can’t wait to see their teacher at work. Those sets you made are
breathtaking.” He leaned closer, slipping his hand under the table to graze her knee. Not lingering, but certainly remaining long enough to draw her attention, if the way her soft mouth fell open and her eyes gazed up at him in question were any indication. “And those costumes,” he whispered low, close to her ear, even though no else sat near enough to hear him. “They’re worth the price of the ticket alone. They certainly get my heart pumping.”