Category Archives: Writing

Audio Books Narrated by Arial Burnz

  By Arial Burnz | May 21, 2013 - 5:27 pm | , ,
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I’m so excited to announce that I have done the narration for two of Victoria Vane’s Devil DeVere Series! They’re Georgian erotic romance and they are just delightful! You can buy them either at Audible.com or Amazon.com. Below are the links and blurbs. And if you’re interested in having me narrate YOUR books, visit my ACX profile to hear audio samples.

A Wild Night's Bride - Book 1 of The Devil DeVere Audio Book

A Wild Night’s Bride

Buy Links: Amazon | Audible | iTunes

With the devil in charge, there will surely be hell to pay…

What happens when a struggling actress and a grieving widower come together in a night of unbridled debauchery orchestrated by a bored and machinating rake?

She’s a lonely lady down on her luck…Phoebe Scott, alias Kitty Willis, is a struggling Covent Garden actress with a bruised heart and a closely guarded secret.

He’s steadfast and eminently respectable…Sir Edward Chambers, Ned to his intimates, is guilt-ridden over his beloved wife’s death and has avowed to live out a rustic and mundane life…of celibacy.

Devil-in-disguise Viscount Ludovic DeVere is determined to return his best friend, Ned, to the land of the living. His meddling machinations result in a night of mind-blowing passion after which “Dull Dog Ned” awakes to find himself in the King of England’s bed!

The Virgin Huntress - Book 2 of The Devil DeVere Audio Book

The Virgin Huntress

Buy Links: Amazon | Audible

Desperate times call for devilish measures.

When the object of one’s passion has eyes for another…it’s time to take matters in hand!

Lady Vesta Chambers is accustomed to getting what she wants…and what she wants is Captain Hewett DeVere…. Coddled and pampered since her mother’s death, Lady Vesta Chambers is beside herself when her father goes to London to prepare for her come-out and returns with a young bride of his own. With her world turned upside down, Vesta accompanies her godmother, Diana, to town where she is smitten the moment she lays eyes on a certain captain of the 17th Light Dragoons. But when the object of her passion has eyes for another….

Captain Hewett DeVere, younger brother and heir to Viscount Ludovic “The Devil” DeVere, has returned from the American war scarred, disillusioned, and looking forward to settling down to a quiet and respectable life. But when the handsome and straight-laced captain turns his eyes toward the widowed Diana, Vesta is prepared to take devilish measures to prove to Hew that she is no longer a little girl, but a woman with the passion of…a huntress.

Note: This is the second book in an ongoing award-winning series.

Where Are Arial’s Audio Books???

Nandana's Mark - Audio Book coming soonYes, I know! I’ve had many friends and fans asking me when I’m going to narrate my own books. I promise, I’ll be working on them very soon. Right now I have one other audio book I need to record for Heidi Garrett titled Nandana’s Mark. It’s a lovely YA fantasy and I can’t wait to record it! However, I’m still getting over bronchitis and fear it may have developed into walking pneumonia. Don’t worry, I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow morning to get checked out. I hope to have my normal voice back again in a few days. *crosses fingers*

Once my voice is back to normal, I’ll be recording her book and my own. In the meantime, I’m plugging away at writing Book 3 – Midnight Hunt! I have a tentative release date of July 19th, 2013 for both print and eBook. Be sure to join my mailing list so you can be notified when it’s released.

That’s my two pence…

Arial ;)

“Vampire” through History

  By Arial Burnz | May 16, 2013 - 6:07 pm | , ,
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London – 1582

London_night_448x300A fog crept in from the Thames, gliding through the streets like a phantom, shrouding the darkened alleyways between the tanneries, breweries and slaughterhouses…a perfect place to hide. Tucked into the shadows, a cloaked figure stood, listening. Staggering footsteps clicked against the cobblestones and feminine laughter fluttered against the high walls of the surrounding industry buildings.

The dark figure stepped from the shadows, seized her by the shoulders and whirled her into the doorway. Her eyes as wide as saucers, she gasped as he opened his mouth, revealing his fangs. “Wha-what are you?” she shrieked.

“I’m a…” He paused. “Well, I’m a…” He scratched his head.

Go ahead…I know you want to finish the sentence. He’s a vampire, right? Actually, as you read above, it’s 1582 and the word vampire didn’t exist. That’s right! Vampire from French or Vampir from German didn’t make it into the written language until 1734; or 1732, in an account of Hungarian vampires, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary. Dictionary.com says 1725-35 for the German Vampir, so it depends on your sources.

Vampire-like creatures have existed for centuries in a multitude of cultures, but they more resembled demons and spirits or walking, bloated corpses. Not the hot, sexy, intelligent and alluring creatures of the night that fascinate modern culture today. And they definitely didn’t sparkle. Imagine my dismay when I started writing my Bonded By Blood Vampire Chronicles—which starts in 1486, and the back story even earlier—and learned I couldn’t use the word vampire! Well…I had to come up with something!

The number one question I get about my vampires is, “Why did you call them Vamsyrians?” Obviously, the above was my motivation. I chose to create a word that could easily morph into vampire through the years…and that’s exactly what some of my readers have done by mispronouncing it by adding a “P” where none exists—vamp-seer-ee-an. It’s already on its way to morphing!

That’s my two pence…

Arial ;)

Guest Spot on Bathsheba Dailey’s Blog

  By Arial Burnz | May 12, 2013 - 10:48 pm | , , ,
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I am very honored to be featured on Bathsheba Dailey’s Blog! And she’s as cute as a button, too! Please be sure to stop by and leave a comment or say hello. We did a fun, short little interview. She’s been very helpful in spreading the word about my Mother’s Day book promotion and chatting with people about my books.

A little about Bathsheba:

Bathsheba Dailey

I’ve just met Bathsheba, and in the short amount of time I’ve come to know her, she’s shown herself to be a courageous woman, being a single mom and raising three girls, and gifted with a loving heart. She’s a talented writer, too. She has a new book coming out soon, which I cannot wait to get my hands on, titled Five Year Old Death. Please click on the link or the cover to read the description and learn more about her story.
As always, please show your support of indie authors by LIKING and SHARING where you can and as much as you can. Readers will only know about us if we help each other spread the word.

Thank you!!

That’s my two pence…

Arial ;)

Mother’s Day Giveaway!

  By Arial Burnz | May 11, 2013 - 1:40 pm | , ,
4 Comments

FREE Book for Mother’s Day

If Mom likes historical romance with a paranormal twist – or you think she’d like to give it a try – she just might love my Bonded By Blood Vampire Chronicles. Maybe YOU’RE a mom and would like to sample hot men in kilts with fangs!

The ebook version of Midnight Captive - Book 2 – is FREE all Mother’s Day weekend. What’s that you say? Neither she or you has read Midnight Conquest - Book 1? Perfect! The ebook version of Book 1 is only 99 cents.

Here’s how to can get both ebooks:

Share to Win!

We indie authors are nothing without our readers! If you help me spread the word, you could win a signed, trade paperback copy of both Midnight Conquest AND Midnight Captive. You will be entered into the drawing for each of the following. The more you do, the more chances you have to win.

  • If you’re not already on my mailing list, fill out the form in the sidebar – 1 entry.
  • LIKE my Facebook Page - 1 entry. Everyone who LIKES my Facebook Page this weekend will be entered into the drawing.
  • Share my Facebook page with friends and family – 1 entry for each share (please make sure the SHARE privacy settings are set for PUBLIC or I won’t see who shared)
  • Follow me on Twitter: @arialburnz - 1 entry
  • Retweet any of my tweets for my Mother’s Day Promo. Look for the hashtag #BBBMom - 1 entry for each RT.

I’m giving away TWO SETS of my novels. The two winners will be drawn on Monday, May 13th. Depending on how you participated, I will contact you through e-mail, Facebook or Twitter to obtain your shipping address and for your personalized inscription in the books.

Thank you for helping me spread the word and supporting indie authors!!

Help Stop E-Book Pirating

  By Arial Burnz | May 5, 2013 - 11:19 am | ,
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E-Book Pirating is a Problem

I just found a pirated version of one of my writer friends’ novels. Just as her friend, I felt violated and protective of her hard work. I know what she went through to publish that novel and it’s disheartening to see others trying to make money off of someone else’s sweat and tears. And contrary to popular belief, unless an author is selling tens of thousands of copies of their books, authors do not make a lot of money. For my friend, this is her sole source of income right now along with unemployment and she’s a single mom. Every penny counts for her.

Pirating is an ongoing struggle for any person in the creative industries – people selling illegal copies of artwork, fiction, music, etc. for their own profit and at the expense of the creative individual. Though it’s impossible to stop all such activities, our combined efforts – as readers, authors and publishers – can work together to stop what we do find.

FBI Piracy WarningPirating is Illegal

According to the FBI, pirating software, music, movies and books (among other things) is a punishable offense of “up to 5 years in federal prison and fine of $250,000.” Ouch!

But if you’re an author and you find your books being pirated, what can you do? Report it!

Report Pirating

ic3_logo

Why not go directly to the people who have the resources to stop pirating? The Internet Crime Complaint Center (iC3) is that resource! Who’s that? As quoted from their About Us page: “The IC3 was established as a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) to serve as a means to receive Internet related criminal complaints and to further research, develop, and refer the criminal complaints to federal, state, local, or international law enforcement and/or regulatory agencies for any investigation they deem to be appropriate.”

Whew! Quite the mouthful…but they’re a powerful ally. If you see artistic work being pirated somewhere, please be sure to inform the author immediately and you can provide the above link for their reference so they can report the pirating directly. You can also post on Facebook, Twitter and other social media what website and individual is in violation of that piracy, warning friends and family.

Thank you for protecting the hard work we authors put into our stories.

That’s my two pence…

Arial ;)

 

Bonded By Blood Series Now Available in Print!

  By Arial Burnz | April 1, 2013 - 1:28 pm |
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Woo hoo! For those of my readers who love to have a book in their hand, with the scent of print and paper accompanying their reading experience, my books Midnight Conquest (Bk 1) and Midnight Captive (Bk 2) are now available in print!

Buy them directly through my CreateSpace store by clicking on the covers. Book 1 is already listed on Amazon. Book 2 should be showing up in a few days.

BBB01_Redesign_3DBBB0_3D

That’s my two pence…

Arial ;)

Guest Spot: Laura Kaye’s Book Cover Reveal

  By Arial Burnz | March 25, 2013 - 8:15 pm |
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Book Release: “Hard as it Gets” by Laura Kaye

Ooooo! I feel so special! The fabulous–and such a SWEET PEA–Laura Kaye has a book release cover reveal I’m excited to share. HOT cover and so excited for her!!! Ready? *drum roll…..cymbal crash*

HardAsItGets final

Did I say HOT or what!?!

Blurb:

Tall, dark, and lethal…

Trouble just walked into Nicholas Rixey’s tattoo parlor. Becca Merritt is warm, sexy, wholesome-pure catnip to a very jaded Nick. He’s left his military life behind to become co-owner of Hard Ink Tattoo, but Becca is his ex-commander’s daughter. Loyalty won’t let him turn her away. Lust has plenty to do with it too.

With her brother presumed kidnapped, Becca needs Nick. She just wasn’t expecting to want him so much. As their investigation turns into all-out war with an organized crime ring, only Nick can protect her. And only Becca can heal the scars no one else sees.

Desire is the easy part. Love is as hard as it gets. Good thing Nick is always up for a challenge…
—————————-

Here’s the best part…you get to pre-order Laura Kaye’s latest book release!!! Check it out:

Amazon Kindle Pre-Order:
http://www.amazon.com/Hard-As-Gets-Ink-ebook/dp/B00BATNM50/ref=la_B004XMNF6W_1_4_title_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1363991714&sr=1-4

Amazon Paperback Pre-Order:
http://www.amazon.com/Hard-As-It-Gets-Ink/dp/0062267884/ref=tmm_mmp_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1363991714&sr=1-4

Nook Pre-Order Coming Soon:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hard-as-it-gets-laura-kaye/1114298655

Add to Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17331433-hard-as-it-gets

Laura KayeAbout Laura Kaye:

Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of nearly a dozen books in contemporary and paranormal romance. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Newsletter SignUp

What I’ve Learned About Twitter

  By Arial Burnz | March 22, 2013 - 3:06 pm | , ,
4 Comments

Twitter Expert? Hardly!

I’m going to state right up front…I am no Twitter expert. I will say, however, having just recently come to finally understand the concept of how Twitter works AND how other people use Twitter, I’m able to grasp the concept of how it can help me communicate with readers. With that said, if anyone else has anything they can add or correct me on, please leave comments. We can all be better at using this amazing social networking venue if we all pitch in.

Since I’m a fiction author, I’ll be sharing this information from the perspective of novels and that portion of the publishing industry, so this article is probably more geared toward the fiction author who wants to learn how to use Twitter to get the word out about their novels, but the concepts covered here can be applied to almost anything, so read on.


This article is long, but covers the following topics (click topic to go straight to it…use up arrow in bottom-right corner of screen to go back to top…BUT click the MORE button below if you’re not in the actual article.):

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Fun and Games and HOT Scottish Men!

  By Arial Burnz | March 13, 2013 - 3:41 pm |
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TRRanniv2013Greetings visitors! Thanks so much for stopping by. Lots of people zooming in and out from The Romance Reviews 2nd Anniversary Party. I hope you’re all participating in all the fun and games. The more you play, the more you win. And there are a lot of WONDERFUL authors giving away their amazing books! Good luck to all of you!

See that poster to the left here? NOTE: $100 Gift Card! *drools* Click on that poster for those of you who aren’t aware of this fun event. They have a little memory game of book covers. GAWD! So addictive!!!! I can’t stop clicking on the damned things, trying to get a better score! Grrrr!

Anyway, in a random order, there is a question to be answered for Midnight Captive. Be sure to visit the book’s page to read an excerpt of the Prologue and Chapter One where you’ll find the answer. (Hint: Cailin ain’t no lady!)

FBLinkBackAlso, I have some visitors from Fang-tastic Books! Roxanne is featuring an interview I had with James Knightly, my hero from Midnight Captive, and the rogue Broderick “Rick” MacDougal who decided to crash the session. OMG…two HOT Scottish men, one of them a shameless vampire. It just doesn’t get hotter than that!

For those of you visiting from TRR, be sure to pop on over to read the interview…and ask James, Rick or myself questions. The more you participate, the more chances you have to win. Rick is itching to interact with you ladies! I’m still trying to coax James into coming to the keyboard. He calls it “an annoying array of clicking things.” LOL

Again, welcome and thanks so much for stopping by. Oh! And be sure to visit the EXTRAS I’ve posted for the Bonded By Blood series. Fun facts and information about the books, characters and lore.

That’s my two pence…

Arial ;)

Tips on Getting Published

  By Arial Burnz | March 8, 2013 - 10:00 am | , , ,
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Improving your grammar skills will help you get publishedCAN One Increase Their Chances of Getting Published?

Absolutely!! I’m putting on my editor’s hat today to share some tips on how to increase your chances of getting published. One of the first is to study your craft…and I can tell you there are MANY writers who don’t do this. This alone can help you stand out above the rest and get you published.

I’m appalled at the crap that comes flooding through submissions. And I STILL–OMG STILL–get authors asking, “Do we have to send in a polished manuscript, even to an agent?” Seriously????? Why would you want to send anything less? If these authors think getting their manuscript cleaned up for submissions is time-consuming, then they are definitely not ready for the editing process. And then, after so many rejections, they become self-published. It breaks the heart!! Writing should be taken seriously as a career, which means LEARNING YOUR CRAFT! Never stop studying and always strive to improve.

Here’s an excellent resource for some FREE grammar assistance: Writer’s Digest – Grammatically Correct by Anne Stillman. This link is to a free download excerpt of the book and worth the view. Lots of great advice in this snippet.

Another way to improve your writing and your chances of getting published is (more…)