Mansions and Penthouses - the Modern Castles, by Suzanne Rock

Hey everyone! This month's theme is castles, and I have to confess that, as a contemporary writer, my books don't really have castles in them. What they DO have are mansions, which can be thought of as modern-day castles, and penthouses for those living in the city.

Many mansions and penthouses have complex archetecture and layouts, much like the castles of old. Some are on sweeping landscapes, and others are in complex highrises. In my eserial, At His Service, Leo Perconti lives in a penthouse suite of a large hotel called the "Palazzo" which looks very much like a palazzo, or palace, in Italy. Personally, I have never spent time in a palace or castle, although there is a local resturant where I live that is a replica of a castle. It's awesome seeing all of the old armor and tapestries on the walls, and the bar area is what I imagine a typical ale house would look like during medevil times. We've enjoyed eating there on a number of occasions. 

I wonder, have any of you visited castles before? What is it about castles that you find most appealing?

And here is a little information about At His Service, for anyone who is interested. :)

FOUR-PART RED-HOT MINI-SERIES

BY NYT AND USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR SUZANNE ROCK

COMING FEBRUARY 2015, FULL BOOK COMING JUNE 2015

~ A modern-day erotic Downton Abbey…AT HIS SERVICE ~

Praise for Suzanne Rock

"Deliciously seductive. At His Service will leave you breathless in the best way possible."  —Lisa Renee Jones, NYT bestselling author of the Inside Out series

“A forbidden affair, a masterful hero…oh, baby, get ready for some real heat!”  —Opal Carew, NYT bestselling author

In February 2015, Suzanne Rock heats up erotic contemporary romance with the four-part e-serial AT HIS SERVICE (St. Martin’s Paperbacks, February 2015). Part One of this exclusive and red hot mini-series will be released February 3, 2015, with three more installments to follow on February 10, 17 and 24. The full volume will be released in June 2015, from St. Martin’s Paperbacks.

Billed as a “modern-day erotic Downton Abbey,” AT HIS SERVICE features Leo Perconti and Karin Norell. Leo Perconti's life is spinning out of control. As head of his family’s hotel conglomerate, it’s his job to save his family from bankruptcy. At the center of his turmoil is Karin Norell, a quiet, alluring housekeeping manager who compliments his dominating personality and lets him feel in control once more.

As Karin explores her passion her feelings for Leo deepen. Unfortunately, Karin and Leo come from different worlds, and when the two worlds collide, the cost can be devastating. As the service staff at The Palazzo rise up against the Perconti family, both Leo and Karin are faced with losing what each of them holds most dear. Together they must learn that true power comes from vulnerability and trust that can only happen when you let your insecurities go.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Suzanne Rock resides in central Massachusetts with her college sweetheart and two daughters. She published her first book in June 2009 and has since written over thirty erotic stories with St. Martin’s Press, Simon and Schuster, Electric Ink Press, and others. In addition to writing, she teaches courses on craft and the publishing industry through Romance Writers of America and Savvy Authors. For a listing of her books and workshops, please visit her website (http://www.SuzanneRock.com).

Suzanne is represented by Deidre Knight of The Knight Agency (http://www.deidreknight.com) and writes mainstream romances under the pen name Ava Conway (http://www.AvaConway.com).

Let It Snow

It has been quite a week.

Blizzard Juno hit the northeastern US in full force this week and, unfortunately, my city got caught in the middle of it. We hit a record-breaking snowfall of 34.5 inches (0.91 meters for you metric folk). That's a lot of snow. To give you an idea, here is a picture I took of our front sidewalk.

Nice, eh? It kind of reminds me of the movie Star Wars when the X-wings were flying down the tunnel in the Death Star. No laser beams or technical equipment here, although I could have used the Force to move some of that snow, lol.

Thirty-four and a half inches. Almost three feet of the fluffy, white stuff. There was so much snow that people had no idea where to put it. There are snow drifts on my street that are higher than my five-foot-three frame, which can make it difficult to see around corners, lol.

Winter isn't over yet, however. Oh, no, they are forecasting more snow Friday and into Saturday -- another half a foot -- with the possibly of more Monday night.

Needless to say, I think I'm going to be burried for a while, lol. 

When it's snowing outside, I love to curl up with a good book by the fire, don't you? Since we have another storm coming, I'll need to expand my TBR (to be read) pile. Tell me, what are some of your favorite winter-themed romances?

~~~

Looking for a good winter read yourself? Then check out my new erotic eserial, coming out from St. Martin's Press on February 3rd! (You can preorder now!)

AT HIS SERVICE

~ A modern-day erotic Downton Abbey… ~

By Suzanne Rock

Four-part erotic romance e-serial

Available February 2015

An exclusive and red hot mini-series from New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Rock.

Leo Perconti's life is spinning out of control. As head of his family’s hotel conglomerate, it’s his job to save his family from bankruptcy. At the center of his turmoil is Karin Norell, a quiet, alluring housekeeping manager who compliments his dominating personality and lets him feel in control once more.

As Karin explores her passion her feelings for Leo deepen. Unfortunately, Karin and Leo come from different worlds, and when the two worlds collide, the cost can be devastating. As the service staff at The Palazzo rise up against the Perconti family, both Leo and Karin are faced with losing what each of them holds most dear. Together they must learn that true power comes from vulnerability and trust that can only happen when you let your insecurities go.

Read the first chapter exclusively at Heroes and Heartbreakers! 

Release Information: 

St. Martin’s Paperbacks, an imprint of Macmillan

ASIN: B00NKB9TZ8

Now available for order and pre-order. Each installment = $1.99. Full book = $7.99

Release date Part One: February 3, 2015 / E-serial

Release date Part Two: February 10, 2015 / E-serial

Release date Part Three: February 17, 2015 / E-serial

Release date Part Four: February 24, 2015 / E-serial

Release date Volume: June 2015 / Print

Buy Links:

AT HIS SERVICE: PART ONE

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

iBooks

Google Play

Macmillan (St. Martin'sPaperbacks)

For more information and buy links to the other parts in the series, visit my page at St. Martin's Press.

To Be Continued...

Lately I've seen a more and more eserials available to readers. For those of you who don't know, eserials are when full novels are broken up into three to six bite-sized chunks and sold separately. Each segment can be between twenty and one hundred pages. Sonetimes these segments are then put together in a set (translate: entire book) and other times they aren't.

Personally, I have a love-hate relationship with eserials. On the one hand, I think that they are a great way for a reader to try out a new author's writing at a lower price. Quite often the first installment of these eserials are free, which enables readers to try a book at no cost to them. I love this concept, and as a reader, have taken advantage of buying only a portion of a book. Sometimes the writing doesn't entice me enough to buy future installments, sometimes it does. Most of the time, if the first installment grabs me, I go on to buy the entire book.

I also love eserials because they are less daunting. When reading, it's easier for me to dread fifty pages in one sitting than three hundred. My reading time is limited to waiting for the kids in the school parking lot, or sitting in a doctor's waiting room. It isn't often that I get a large chunk of time to devote to a book.

On the other hand, if the writing entices me, then I want to read more NOW. Often these eserials are published days/weeks/months apart, and as a reader it can be frustrating to have to wait for the next installment. Also, if a reader ends up buying all of the installments separately, sometmes they can end up spending more money than if they just bought the entire book. People with limited book-buying budgets need to be careful so that they don't end up spending more money than they intended.

In early 2015, I will have my own experiemnt with eserials. St. Martin's Press will be publishing my book, AT HIS SERVICE, in four installments, then later as a full novel. The story itself is an erotic melodrama, which I think is great for this format. As a writer, it was easier for me to write the large, four-hundred page novel in shorter installments. I had a greater sense of accomplishment each time I finished a new section of the story. I think that the lower priced installments are also a great way to entice new readers who don't know my writing and might otherwise bypass the book. The installments themselves will come out close together and will be inexpensive enough so when bought separately, they will be about the same price as buying the book in its entirety. I'm interested to see how it will go over, and if people will enjoy reading the story in installments.

How about you? Do you read eserials? Would you ever consider reading an eserial? Tell me about it in the comments section. I'd love to hear from you!

Note: I'm part of an amazing project called Invitation to Eden. The series consists of twenty seven authors writing stories set in the same world. My installment comes out in May, but you can read more about this series and get the FREE PREQUELhere.