I'm discussing the thorny problem called distribution, esp. DRM and geo restrictions, on Pearl's World of Romance today. Please come check it out!

I'm discussing the advantages and disadvantages of having a publisher versus doing it all on your own on Love Romance Passion today. Please come check it out!

I'm discussing the emotional impact walking away (from an offer) can have on writers on Kait Nolan's blog today. Please come check it out!

I'm discussing the importance of reading contracts carefully and why I ended up declining a publisher's offer to publish Carnal Secrets on Zoe Winters' blog today. Please come check it out!

I'm not sure how many of you saw Dear Author's post from yesterday regarding B&N PubIt stripping samples from erotic romances (the post also featured two of my books: erotic romance Destiny Entwined and contemporary romance Carnal Secrets). It appears as though PubIt started not allowing anybody to download samples of eroticas or erotic romances of indie authors, which resulted in a big loss of sales and so on for many indie authors.

Destiny Entwined was never allowed for sampling since it went on sale on February 14, and I just assumed that it was due to its length; it's a short story. Mind you, Amazon Kindle has always allowed people to sample stories regardless of length or genre. But I honestly had no reason to suspect that how I categorized Destiny Entwined had anything to do with Nook users' inability to read samples until I read DA's post.

Between the time DA's post went live and a few hours ago, PubIt allowed people to sample Destiny Entwined for the first time ever. I haven't changed anything on PubIt. The story still has the exact same description and genre category as before. So I have no idea what happened on PubIt's end. Maybe a little public pressure…?

Anyway, if you're a Nook owner, I hope you download the sample and hopefully enjoy it enough to buy a copy. :) If erotic shorts aren't your cup of tea, I also have a paranormal romance novella, A Happily Ever After of Her Own, and the aforementioned Carnal Secrets on sale as well.

And should any work of mine not have a sample on a particular bookseller's website, you can always come here. I have links to excerpts of all my stories on the Bookshelf page.

All Romance eBooks
Amazon US :: Amazon UK
B&N Nook :: Smashwords
Sony eBook Store

First, I want to thank all of you who made the soft launch of Carnal Secrets such a success. I hadn't expected it to do as well as it did in February, given that I only announced the release on my personal social media sites. So thank you, thank you, thank you!

Second, thank you so much for making the launch of Magic and Mayhem Writers so fun and rewarding! You guys are awesome.

It's getting warmer in Japan, though figuring out what to wear every day can be a bit tricky. Sometimes it's warm, and sometimes it's very cold. But soon cherry blossoms will bloom, and it's going to be gorgeous!

Hero Material and I learned that our first baby is going to be a boy. We're thrilled. Yes, we're still debating the name. Maybe we should give the Boy multiple names to appease both of us. But then he might get upset when he has to learn how to spell all of them. Dilemma, dilemma!

This month, I'm doing five guest-blog posts relating to Carnal Secrets with some lovely and uber-talented ladies I was fortunate enough to meet via Twitter. (Social media rocks!) Each topic touches upon a step of my self-publication journey with Carnal Secrets.

• March 8: Read the Fine Print, hosted by Zoe Winters — The Importance of reading contracts carefully and why I ended up declining a publisher's offer to publish Carnal Secrets.
• March 9: Walking Away Can Be Hard, hosted by Kait Nolan — The emotional impact walking away can have on writers.
• March 10: Small Press v. Self-Publication, hosted by Love Romance Passion — The advantages and disadvantages of having a publisher versus doing it all on your own.
• March 14: Distribution, DRM and Geo Restrictions, hosted by Pearl's World of Romance — The thorny problem called distribution and how to reach as many readers as possible, no matter where they live!
• March 15: Creating a Cover Art with Non-White Characters, hosted by Monkey Bear Reviews — The nervousness I felt at creating a cover with non-white characters, given the controversies over white-washed covers, etc.

I hope you stop by. :)

Finally — I'm making some changes to Facebook. I had a personal profile there, and due to some situations (involving minors in my extended family, etc.), I've decided to create a page instead to communicate with my readers and writing friends. It has photos, events, discussion boards, and many more.

So, please “like” my profile by going to the new page.

Also I've created a Facebook profile page for each of my books, again with events, discussion boards, etc. They're really for you to use in any way you see fit, and I'll stop by to answer any questions if any and post news updates, etc. You can “like” them by going to the following pages:

• Carnal Secrets
• Destiny Entwined
• A Happily Ever After of Her Own

Hope you have a wonderful March. Talk to you soon!