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Showing posts with label Navy SEALs romance books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Navy SEALs romance books. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Oh No!! The Fact Police are at it again!


When I wrote my first SEAL book, back in 2011, I was afraid of getting things wrong. My relative, who was an active duty SEAL at the time, actually stopped calling me back, I had so many questions. But I wanted to be as accurate as possible.

I've since learned to trust my research, and if I can't find reference to things, then they are obscure enough not to make a difference. Getting the characters right, IMHO, is what it's all about, and makes for a compelling story. The details can sometimes take a reader out of a book if they are grossly wrong, like SEALs flying their own Helo on missions with the Team, or having a Navy SEAL own a whorehouse for secondary income. Yes, I've actually read those SEAL books.


It's an interesting discussion. My SEAL relative sat me down and we went frame by frame though Act of Valor, which was the documentary they were shooting as a recruiting tool for SEALs, and later decided it was too good for that and turned it into a full length feature film. "Yes, we do that on a mission," or "Well, they did that, but we do it this way." Truth is, every squad has their way of doing certain things a certain way. And depending on the expert, their combat experience and when he was on active duty, the answers to our questions for accuracy could be vastly different.

I corrected an expert this weekend, who had many more years in the SEAL community than I. But his experience was from nearly 30 years ago. Things have changed.


When the SEALs were first created in 1962, there was a need for medics in the field because they were losing too many men before they could get evacuated to a hospital. The SEALs training didn't include medical or paramedic training like it does today. So, medics were brought up through the Navy to play support to active duty SEALs, and these men didn't go through the BUD/S training like the other SEALs. But they got to retire as SEALs.

Today, medics are chosen out of the SEAL class, not chosen to accompany them in a support role. They can do one or two other disciplines as well in case their squad expert is incapacitated. Everyone is cross-trained today.

I spoke with an author who was being edited by a New York house, and the editor was actually giving wrong information, requesting her manuscript be changed.

We all have to remember that our romance novels are a work of fiction. Just about everything I write about never happened although parts of it might have happened in a different context. Some of my characters are based on real people I know, but never on a real SEAL or other character. I once had someone question my use of the term medic, instead of corpsman, which used to be the standard label for a Navy Medic. But in time, these terms have morphed in the SEAL community, and they more commonly use the term Medic or Corpsman interchangeably.


In otherwords, you have to pick your battles carefully. As an author, do as much research as prudent but don't copy. And remember, it's your story, afterall. I do a lot of "what-if's" with my sources, and learn tons from non-fiction readings, especially biographies.

But at the end of the day, it is still your story. My story. Our story. Just do the best you can and don't worry about the Fact Police. Most readers will never know the difference. They're looking for a story, after all. If they wanted reality, they could read a dictionary.


Thursday, March 19, 2015

The Truth In Fiction


Today terrorists attacked the Bardo Museum in Tunisia. I read this in the USA Today article:

Some of the Italians at the museum were believed to have been passengers from the Costa Fascinosa, a cruise liner that had docked in Tunis. Ship owner Costa Crociere confirmed that some of its 3,161 passengers were visiting Tunis and that a Bardo tour was on the itinerary, but said it couldn't confirm how many were in the museum.

Many of you know my husband and I have cruised on the Costa Cruise lines several times. I believe it is 7 now. I wrote approximately 60% of my release Cruisin For A SEAL  on the Costa Fascinosa in December 2013. I blogged about the journey and posted pictures. In my story, a group of terrorists decide to board and take over an Italian cruise ship off the north coast of Africa. Although I didn't name Costa as the line, that was the ship I based this book on.

We have also taken this ship on this particular Mediterranean cruise and stopped at Tunisia, and I have walked these halls where people died yesterday. It is customary for cruise lines to take buses based on language. Costa caters to mainly European travelers. I don't think they planned to target a particular nationality of tourist-I think it was the crime of opportunity. This particular bus held Italian tourists, and they were unlucky to be the ones who had pulled up to enter the museum. It could have been American or Brit, Germans or French tourists. Such a sad waste of innocent life.

In addition to the senseless loss of life, antiquities were ruined, something that has increasingly been happening. Relics and symbols of civilizations long past are memorialized in wonderful museums like the Bardo. In this case, these priceless floor tile mosaics were from the ancient city of Carthage, and were said to have been walked upon by Christ himself. St. Peter wrote letters to the Carthaginians, as recorded in the Bible, and is said to have walked these same tiles during his lifetime.

Terrorism isn't something we think about in a romance novel, yet these things that are happening do remind us the real world is dangerous. As in any good story, weaving a believable thread into our plots is important. Yes, I do write romance, but sometimes these stories are closer to the truth than we would like to admit.

It is important to understand that there are those who fight to defend us from these acts of terror, which is the basis for my Navy SEAL Brotherhood Series, but they cannot be everywhere around us all the time. We have to understand that innocents will be victims of this new insane war. As far-fetched as it might seem, it is impossible to keep this from happening, and that perhaps it's coming to our own shores. Traveling in Europe is not what it used to be. Families living off bases in foreign posts are being relocated back to base for their own protection. Our military and their families are asked to stay off the internet, off Facebook and other forms of social media.

In SEAL My Home, which comes out 3/31/15, I also deal with a home-grown terrorist cell that target the families of military men and women.

The world is becoming a very unsafe place. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who sacrifice so we can have the lifestyles we currently have. But let's be vigilant. Let's keep our eyes and ears open.

That's not fiction. It's fact.

Sharon Hamilton
Life is one fool thing after another.
Love is two fool things after each other.





Thursday, February 19, 2015

Naughty 50 Shades Dinner Date

Our theme this month has been romantic dinners. Thought I'd do an original shorty short for you. Happy month of love.

Language Alert: Adult Language

NAUGHTY 50 SHADES DINNER DATE:

It sucked that she broke up with him on Valentine’s Day. The restaurant was all set. The special dessert was ordered. He had picked out the special champagne he wanted to serve, and then Karin called and dropped the bomb she was running off with another Navy guy—not a SEAL—for all the fuckin’ douchebag of reasons, but a guy who worked in personnel. How’s that for a life of fuckin’ hot times?

Well, he would be around more, she said. And he was a good kisser. Navy SEAL Keith Rusk had always thought kissing was a prelude to all the tasting and licking he could get. It was foreplay. Important, but foreplay nonetheless.


No, little miss hot pants would have to satisfy herself looking at her hero behind a desk of manila folders, instead of naked in the water, covered in tats, hard as a cannon and willing to swim five miles just to fuck her. If she couldn’t handle that kind of intensity, literally, FUCK. HER.

The dinner had been prepaid on his San Diego Venture card, so he had to use it or lose it. He could certainly drink for two. Maybe he’d just take the second dinner home. It would certainly be better than the microwave dinners he was used to.

So, dressed in a crisp white shirt and blue jeans, he left his red tie with the little hearts stuffed in his pocket, and slipped on his new dark blue jacket. It was still Valentine’s Day, and he was determined to find one. But first he had to eat.

The little Bistro had a fireplace in one corner, and he had reserved that particular table. The waiter showed him to it quickly frowned when he informed him that his date was detained. He asked for the champagne and told him to order barbeque Drake’s Bay oysters on the half shell with hot sauce and lots of lemon.


Keith leaned back and took a sip, surveying the crowd and that’s when he saw her. She wore a red dress that was cut low enough he could see how firm but well built she was. Her tiny pointed elbows rested on the starched white tablecloth as she sipped a glass of bubbly between dainty fingers with red nail polish that matched her dress. And she was also scanning the room. The chair across from her was vacant.

The instant they made eye contact he was zapped with an electric current that nearly took his breath away. She fawned shy, which he loved, and then slowly looked back up to him with her lips asking the question he could very easily answer. He raised his glass and toasted to her. She sipped right along with him, and then smiled. The wetness of her bubbly made her pouty lips shine in the candlelight.


His waiter arrived with the oysters and blocked the view. Irritated, he grabbed the man’s lapel and forced him to bend down. “Ask the lady in red over there if she’d like to join me.”

The waiter glanced in her direction and nodded. Thirty seconds later, her impossibly curvy and soft form glided over to his direction, her fingers barely holding on to the slender glass flute. Tiny red sling-back heels, dress coming just below the knee but with a slit up one side perfect for an errant hand. The waiter seated her and she leaned in, presented her glass, and let his touch hers in a soft clink.

It was probably his imagination, but the champagne tasted sweeter and contained more bubbles.

“Oysters?” he asked. He could have asked for her name, but he wanted to eat his oysters.

“Love to.” She didn’t wait for him to present them, but reached over the tea light candle and helped herself to one, her red heart dangling bracelet nearly toppling his glass. Looking at him in the eyes, she smiled, opened those gorgeous lips ad let the oyster slide onto her tongue. She licked her lips while she devoured the little barbequed creature in all its glory.

Keith had the biggest hard-on of his life. He was thinking clothing malfunctions, feeding her oysters in bed, wanting to lap lemon juice between her breasts and perhaps some salsa other places.

His cell phone went off and when he pulled it out of his pocket, his red tie fell on the tabletop. One of his SEAL Team 3 guys had chosen the wrong time to connect, so he turned it off without answering. But she’d picked up the tie and was winding it around her wrists.

“Tie me up.”

It was a simple statement, but was so unexpected, he hesitated. He took a look around and found the couple next to them was whispering and he was fairly sure he was the object of their discussion.

What the hell.

The little hearts were massaged and stuffed together in a silk pucker as he tied a bow after her wrists were bound in a double figure eight. She left her elbows on the table as she said, “Now you’ll have to feed me.”

Well all right.

“Maybe you should come and sit next to me?” he said.

She shook her head slowly. “No.”

She didn’t give him a choice. Adjusting his pants, he pulled her binding closer towards him, which forced her to lean over the table, nearly causing her breasts to become dislodged from their red satin stays. She scooted closer under the table and their knees touched, then interlocked. She held his right knee between hers and rubbed the inside of her lower leg against his calf, and then down, inching forward and squeezing him again.

He didn’t care who was looking as he took one of her fingers in his mouth and sucked on the red nail polish.

The waiter came to clear their table for dinner, but there were two oysters left. “One for me and one for you,” Keith said to her, dismissing the waiter.

“Perfect. First, I watch you, and then you watch me, okay?” she said.

“Of course.” He ate another delicious oyster, and then picked up the oyster shell, presenting it with lots of salsa to her lips. She took it, slurping as she did so. A trickle of oyster juice trailed down her chin on the left. He used his thumb to remove the liquid, and presented it to her while she sucked.

“I still think you should move over next to me for the main course,” he whispered.

“Let’s see how well you do,” she answered.


He helped her drink the champagne, then ordered another bottle. They ate their salad carefully, watching each other. She held the candied pear and cheese parts between her teeth before her pink tongue could carry them away.

When the prime rib arrived, he piled horseradish on top and presented her the forkful. Licking her lips, she covered the fork, and he watched as her eyes watered, and she gasped at the heat. He wanted to take her, bend her over the table and fuck her until Tuesday, and she knew it.

For dessert, the chocolate mouse made a dark brown paste on her lips as he smoothed it over her with the back of the spoon.

“Let’s get some of this to go,” she whispered.

The couple next to them was totally distracted with their actions. He found having someone watch, even if the whole restaurant watched, would heighten the pleasure.

“I want to lick that off you,” he said as she started to wipe her lips with her tongue.

She checked her surroundings. With half the chocolate still on her face, she got up, walked around the table after giving a warm smile to their audience next table over, spread her legs and straddled him, placing her bound hands over his head, resting her elbows on his shoulder.

“Be my guest,” she said.

He kissed her, licked and sucked her lower lip, biting it, then brought his hands to her ass and pushed her hard onto his growing lap. She undulated back and forth so he could feel her pubic bone rub the entire length of him.

Her brown eyes still watered, her chestnut hair falling all over her shoulders. “Who are you?” he asked.

“I’m your valentine.”

“Can I take you home?”

“Well that depends.”

“On what?”


“Do you have more of these?” She held up her hands and wrists bound with the red heart tie.

Happy Month of Love! May the passion and power of love take you away this month, and every month. 


Life is one fool thing after another.

Love is two fool things after each other.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

BOX SETS ARE GREAT FOR BUSINESS

There has been a trend steadily growing in the industry, which began with the Indie Girls who hit the market by storm some two years ago, to come out with box sets, where a group of authors put together an anthology, pool their resources. I mean, someone would have to be on another planet not to notice how popular this has become. But, is it profitable? Next week will mark the 5th boxed set I've done this year alone. Hot Alpha SEALS comes out next Tuesday.

The answer to this question is: it depends. In this day and age where adding more value for minimal cost is important, anthologies can be a way for a reader, especially a new reader in a particular genre (for instance, Military Romance), to try out a few author's voices, before deciding they want to return to this genre. Conveniently located in the back of each selection, are links to the author's other books. A reader doesn't have to like them all. But for a discounted price of say .99, all the reader has to like is two or three and it's worth it. However, most of the anthologies I've been in get 4 and 5 star ratings for the whole thing, not just one or two books. Having good reviews and links to the other authors' books does increase sales. And let's just all agree, you have to start with good authors and good books.


There is a chance that the anthology, like the SEALs Of Summer anthology did earlier this year, could hit a Times or USA list, which should lead to more sales of each of the author's books. Having that label means that you have sold a lot of books, like more than 25-28k copies, which is a huge number to hit. Very few authors hit these lists, especially the New York Times top sellers list with just a single book. Anthologies again pool resources to help make this happen for an author. And as in the example previously given, this is also very good for a reader to discover new authors.

Cross-pollination happens. We found this to be the case with the SEALed With A Kiss Anthology released during Valentine's Day week this year. A good reader for one author becomes a good reader for another. Let's face it, we can't write a book every month, but I do like the idea that my readers are being entertained, through the website, by other great authors. It is important to find other authors who play fair, who have similar values as far as work ethic. Remember, we're all about the playing fair. Just as in our SEAL Teams: Together Everyone Accomplishes More.

It also gave me courage to launch my own superbundle. It was great to hit lists in a collaboration with other authors, but I wanted to do it with my own works, and did so with The Ultimate SEAL Collection, putting the first 4 books and the 2 prequels in my SEAL Brotherhood Series together and sellling them for five days at a discounted price. At the current pricing, it still is a better deal to buy this package than to buy the individual books. But when it was discounted, and afterwards, has sold over 50,000 copies.

In between releases, I did Boxed Set #1 and Boxed Set #2 in my SEAL Brotherhood series, so I had something new to bring to the market. It helped me become discoverable and stay discoverable. Since these contributed to more sales, it's enabled me to stay in the Amazon top 100 for Romantic Suspense for nearly 18 months in a row.

Another added benefit is that I took these novellas, and turned them later into full length novels. The storyline had already been read and accepted, and now I asked readers to go on an additional journey with me for the full length book. Every book in an anthology I've done has become a full length novel later. The stories are usually altered slightly as well, so the full length book can be slightly different than the novella that inspired it.

I'm about to release these novellas in a package later this fall, which will be called my SEAL Shorts, for a branding I've seen other authors do. This will help readers find the full length books they want to invest in, as well as additional bonus material I'm working on: additional character sketches, discussions and ideas about the series.

My journey has been that yes, you have to write good books, but how you market and brand yourself is so important. What kind of support you ask from your Street Team, your fellow authors and the market in general, determines your ultimate success, not the writing alone.

NYT and USA/Today and Amazon Top 100 Bestselling Author Sharon Hamilton’s SEAL Brotherhood series have earned her Amazon author rankings of #1 in Romantic Suspense, Military Romance and Contemporary Romance. Her characters follow a sometimes rocky road to redemption through passion and true love. Her Golden Vampires of Tuscany earned her a #1 Amazon author ranking in Gothic Romance.


A lifelong organic vegetable and flower gardener, Sharon and her husband live in the Wine Country of Northern California, where most of her stories take place.

Sharon Hamilton
Life is one fool thing after another.
Love is two fool things after each other.

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