Why write clean Romantic Suspense?

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A few years ago I went to a Romance Writer's Conference. During a pre-pitch session, we had to distill our 90k word novels into a few catchy phrases that would attract the attention of an editor or agent. Most of us were newbies, doing this for the first time (pitching face to face with industry professionals--no pressure!) and there were mentors who had been around the block. As we went around the table, we explained our genre so they could get a feel of what our pitch should sound like. I said something like this, I write clean romantic suspense. A woman across from me sneered at my suggestion and was asked me who would buy my book. I gave my opinion that women wanted sex-free books that were well-written and fun to read. It was probably the first time in my adult life that another adult mocked me for my beliefs. I was a little shocked, but stood my ground. And I still stand by it. There is a market for clean reads. It's a growing market. Lots of people may want to read some that's a little more explicit, but there is a huge market for good clean reads.

What am I working on this May?
I received an R&R from an editor for Swiss Mishap--a clean contemporary romance about a girl who heads to Switzerland for her internship. I am working on changing first person present to third person past tense. (yeah, it's tedious stuff. Sometimes what we do as writers isn't very glamorous). I hope to have that edited and back to the editor before summer so I can focus on Andy Baker 2. The Z-pack (see below) can help me work out some kinks in the first draft.

What's going on in May?

Sale for Baker's Dozen $2.99 May 11- May 25th. If you or your friends have been procrastinating buying the book, now is a great time to buy. (Tell your friends) Amazon link here.

I will also do another Amazon paperback giveaway in conjunction with the sale so stay tuned for those details as well. (Updated with link here!)

As always, you can stay more up to date in my monthly newsletters. I am going to be sending those out at the 3rd of every month. You can sign up on my website. The newsletter includes excerpts from my current work in progress as well as fun information. Follow me on Twitter or Instagram. If you want to be part of my inner circle of people who go the extra mile to help me promote my career, I have a private Facebook group called the Z-Pack (because, you know antibiotics anyone?) you can join. Just let me know and I can send you an invite.

Lastly, I am planning on overhauling my site and merging my blog and website so that I'm not splitting my traffic. Yay!

Thank you so much for everything!

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