Carolina warns not to be fooled by the photo. "Even if you walk most of the race, you want to be sure to break into a run for the camera." Although most of her running days have morphed into walking days, she's completed over a hundred distance races - six of them marathons. Her short story about a murder on the streets she's actually competed on, in the Los Angeles Marathon, appears in a Sisters in Crime/Los Angeles anthology.
After a varied career as a registered nurse while winning awards and making sales writing freelance, she decided to retire to finish her first novel. Now she writes about searing passions and the sweetly explosive ecstasies of love.
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IN FROM THE COLD by Carolina Valdez
East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet... Jon and Wendell were fourteen when they first experimented with each other and discovered they were gay. Lovers and in love, they drifted apart after graduation when Jon left to follow his dream to rock 'n' roll stardom. A heartbroken Wendell recovered by earning an animal husbandry degree at a California university. He returned to the small Oregon town where they'd grown up to raise sheep with his father.
Ten years later, Wendell's contentment is shattered when Jon and his band arrive to play for their high school reunion. Love surprises both men by immediately flaring into liquid heat. Jon begs Wendell to give up his life in Oregon and live with him in New York City. Wendell refuses, however, asking Jon to move in with him instead. But Jon refuses to abandon his career and returns to Manhattan.
Will Wendell and Jon remain star-crossed lovers, or will they find a way to bridge the distance and discover the true meaning of "home"?
Note: IN FROM THE COLD is included in the five-story erotic gay WHERE THE HEART IS AmberPax
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WIN - Leave Carolina a question about her new book today at her Cyber Launch Party and your name goes in the hat for a free ebook of her gay paranormal NIGHT TRAIN TO NAPLES! Be sure to include your email address so we can contact you if you are today's winner - Good Luck!
Good morning! I'm here sooner than I thought. Both hubbie and I came down with colds yesterday, so church isn't on the docket. It's beautiful in the Los Angeles basin--sunny and clear--but I'll enjoy just hunkering down with you Cyber Launch Party-goers today.
ReplyDeleteThanks, DeNita, for thinking to list my previous release blog on NIGHT TRAIN TO NAPLES, today's e-novella giveaway.
Stay well!
Carolina
http://www.carolinavaldez.com
Good morning Carolina!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your cold, but a bit jealous about the sunny and clear thing - we got a bunch of snow last night and woke to about three inches of the white stuff.
Congrats on the the new release - I love that cover and the excerpt - sound like a really beautiful love story.
Is it difficult to move from paranormal to contemporary or does it actually help to take time off from one genre?
Jon isn't your first "rock-star" hero, is he?
Hope IN FROM THE COLD is a big hit for you!
I love the conflict and wonder who is going to give up what to make this work if they decide to move forward. In From The Cold has me interested already.
ReplyDeletelenikaye@yahoo.com
Btw, Carolina, don't thank me to listing your post about NIGHT TRAIN TO NAPLES to the right under out POPULAR POSTS sections... it made it there by being one of the ten top most viewed posts on this blog - and since we have a party here nearly every day - that is pretty damn impressive!!
ReplyDeleteHi Carolina and happy release day! I too love that cover, beautiful color and a very yummy picture ;)
ReplyDeleteYour new book sounds very good and I'm going to go read the excerpt for it now. I'll also check out your website. Do you have a facebook page? I'll friend you there too. I love hearing from authors and learning about what is new with them.
That's why I love Author Island so much, thanks for all the fun!
Thanks for the congratulations, DeNita. The release of something new is always exciting.
ReplyDeleteThat's wonderful about Night Train To Naples. I wasn't aware of it.
It was very difficult to suddenly switch from paranormal to contemporary. Actually, I didn't want to leave the adventures of Alex and Dante, but I'd made a commitment months earlier to this current story.
I don't know why Google is listing me as Dee Ann. That's weird. Maybe I can clear that up.
ReplyDeleteWhen I begin NIGHT TRAIN TO VENICE, I'll have to switch back to paranormal again. Meanwhile, I've finished another contemporary M/M novella that will be released May 1. It, too, is set in Venice during carnivale. It's called UNMASKED.
Yes, Shir Mansouri was a rock star in my 2008 M/F novella SILK STEALTH: SHADOW WARRIOR. Different kind of guy entirely.
Carolina
IN FROM THE COLD hit the Top Ten Best Seller list on Amber Quill, and as of yesterday was in the top ten for AQP on All Romance e-Books. However, that changes daily and I don't keep up with it.
ReplyDeleteHooray, I managed to change these comments to my name.
I suppose I should add that the third book in the NIGHT TRAIN series will not be set during carnivale in Venice. Been there, done that, and there are too many facets to Venice to repeat.
Maybe you've been noticing the "Masquerade" covers on Amber Quill. The creative director sent out a list of photos of fabulous Mardi Gras (carnivale) costumes. Those of us who wanted to write a story selected one. Go to my Web site, click on the Amber Allure page and you'll see the one I selected for my story UNMASKED. Release date: 5/l.
Carolina
http://www.carolinavaldez.com
To answer Katie's question: No, I'm not on facebook. Don't have the time, frankly, to keep it up. You can follow me on Twitter, however. http://www.twitter.com/carolina_valdez
ReplyDeleteFor Leni, let me comment that I never know exactly how a story will end. A Happy-For-Now ending is as acceptable as a Happy-Ever-After ending in a romance. Since I don't outline or write a synopsis, I don't know which it will be and how my characters will get there until near the end of the story.
Carolina
Oh my goodness Carolina I can't believe you've competed in so many races! I'm a wimp, I could never do that!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the release of In From the Cold!
StacieDM
user1123 AT comcast DOT net
Hi StacieDM:
ReplyDeleteI did all those races over a twenty year period, and I was part of a 1,000 member running/walking fitness club that had a training schedule for marathons. We began by running or walking one mile three times a week. Then we gradually increased the mileage over seven months until we could finish a marathon - which are always 26.2 miles.
I usually did two runs of twenty miles in training before each marathon I competed in. I never ran all the way - it was jog a little, walk a little until I'd finished. Or dropped dead from trying (just kidding). I usually ran about 2/3rds of the 26.2 miles.
You might surprise yourself, Stacie. You don't need to stay a wimp.
Carolina
Hi Carolina,
ReplyDeleteI love that name, it couldn't have nothing to do with that I live in North Carolina. lol
I find it amazing that you did all those races. I also find it fascinating that you write the genre that you do.
I see that your married. So how did you get into writing gay erotica. Especially m/m? Thats quite a choice.
Congratulations on the new release. I always like to come over and post to support my authors. Have a great week and I wish you much success in all your writing.
Teresa K.
tcwgrlup41(at) yahoo dot com.
Congrats on your book and on your races. I wish I could do that but I never seem to last long once I try. the book looks great and I wonder who compromises.
ReplyDeletedebby236 at att dot net
Hi Teresa K and Debby236!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the support, Teresa. I didn't think I could write erotica, but I entered a short story contest Amber Quill held in 2003, and my story was one of those selected. I've been writing for them ever since. I switched to M/M when the bottom fell out of sales for M/F stories at Amber Quill. Seeing that trend, Amber Quill began to try M/M stories, and sales spiked. How long the trend will last isn't predictable.
Being in a running club with lots of support helped me stick with the training, Debby. Plus, my dad took up jogging in his early seventies and ran his first 10K race (6.2 miles) on his 80th birthday. His entire family converged at the finish line and we crossed it with him, taking each others' hands and holding them up high. Big announcement over the loudspeaker, too. He'd been in all the newspapers and local TV.
I thought running was fun. I don't recommend it to anyone who doesn't feel that way about it. Walking's a great fitness activity.
Carolina
I too think the cover is quite eyecatching.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that you started writing gay romance because of the market, I've heard that a lot and think that if you are a career writer, you do have to write to the market. And think that is a huge compliment to your ability as a writer to become so good at it.
I enjoy your work and will be checking out the new book. Glad to hear you have a new Night Train book coming out. Will three be all for that series?
Congratulations on your new release. I've seen this book on a couple other sites and I've thought is sounded like a great read.
ReplyDeletesstrode@scrtc.com
Hi CJ:
ReplyDeleteSo far, three is what I've planned for the NIGHT TRAIN series. However, in the beginning I only had one in mind, so who knows if the Venice story will really be the last.
CONGRATULATIONS, on the win, DEBBY!
I'll contact you today via email.
Carolina