Birth Rites the Bookish Way with Guest Blogger: Natalie Damschroder

Meet author Natalie Damschroder
today at the Book Boost!

Here's what she had to say about
how books are like babies...

I know, everyone says that, but they don't usually mean it in the way I do. For example...


I can only create one thing at a time.

I got pregnant the first time when I was writing my first book. My writing petered out about halfway through the pregnancy, and I told myself that I was just being lazy. I kicked myself for wasting all that kid-free time. And then I pounded out the rest of the book within a couple of months after she was born. Fluke, right?

Four years later, disciplined, with several completed books under my belt, I...petered out halfway through the pregnancy. This time, I knew it wasn't my fault. I was trying! It just wouldn't come. I knew I was about to go into labor the night I wrote 8 pages. Told my husband to call his sister and be alert. She didn't believe me, and never answered the phone when we called at 1:00 a.m.

Obviously, all my creativity was sucked from my brain to my uterus. Luckily, we only wanted two kids, so my books have been safe since.

Of course, "creation" takes on different meanings once you have a publisher.

You can always be surprised by multiples.

This has been a great year for me. I sold a second romantic adventure, Behind the Scenes, to Carina Press, and then a paranormal romance series, starting with Under the Moon, to Entangled Publishing. My publishers are like obstetricians. When everything settled, I ended up with back-to-back release dates, just like being told my expected due date had changed, and oh, hey, you're having twins!

So Behind the Scenes will be out October 31st, and Under the Moon on November 1st.


They may both be your babies, but they have their own paths.

I originally wrote Behind the Scenes targeting Silhouette Bombshell (RIP). It needed a complete rewrite after Bombshell failed, because it didn't have the hero's point of view and was way too short for a single title novel. This was the kid who needed constant attention and intervention, meetings with authorities (agents and critiquers), and lots of work to make it live up to its potential.

Under the Moon, however, was a golden child. At first. The original writing flowed like crazy. It received lots of positive input throughout its submission journey, with only too much balance between romance and urban fantasy holding it back. Ultimately, it kept the publisher at Entangled up until 3:00 a.m. reading it, resulting in an offer for the Goddesses Rising series. We had to work hard after that, wrestling the characters onto the romantic side of the fence, but we got it there.

You get to watch them go out into the world.

After all the work—the creation, the nurturing, the angst and frustration and joy and love—you dress 'em up pretty and send them out to seek their own success.

A Note from the Book Boost: If books are like babies I should be retiring by now. I have 17 novels and novellas out there in the world and some were definitely much more difficult labor than others. Thanks for sharing your story with us, Natalie. I wish you the best of luck with both your creations. Please tell us more about your upcoming releases.


Blurb:

Kennedy Smyth's firm provides security for companies and charities in seriously dangerous countries. She doesn't usually take on "frivolous" jobs, but when an old friend asks her to protect his son's movie shoot, she finds it hard to refuse. Also hard to resist is the film's charismatic star, Rogan St. James. The handsome actor piques her interest, while the strange actions of the terrorist threatening the set raise her suspicions.

Even though he's a successful actor, Rogan wants more—a real woman to love, the type he doesn't think exists…until he meets Kennedy. She intrigues him with her confidence and passion for her work, and frustrates him with her refusal to let him get close.

But Kennedy finds herself in a vulnerable position when she discovers that the terrorist isn't actually out to derail the film. She's the real target—and if he finds out how much Rogan means to her, he could be next…


Excerpt:

Rogan watched the group striding toward them and weathered a surge of adrenaline. The guy and two women wore nearly identical expressions of determination, and though he’d watched them come in and knew they were with the new security team, they didn’t inspire warm fuzzies. More like fight or flight. The bodyguard who’d been assigned to him for weeks stiffened and stepped forward, putting himself in front of Rogan. He checked his instinctive move to the side to see better. Being protected wasn’t coming easy to him, but he was learning.

The tall brunette in jeans and a leather jacket seemed to be in charge. She held out a hand to
Rogan’s bodyguard.

“Kennedy Smyth, SmythShield. This is my team.” She gestured to the group that had fanned out around her. “Anything we need to know?” she asked the bodyguard, who shook his head.

“It’s all in the briefing report.”

“Okay, then. We’ll take it from here. Thanks.”

She patted the man on his upper arm, closing in on Rogan and dismissing her predecessor. Whether it was the patronization, the touching or the dismissal, Rogan wasn’t sure, but the man’s face darkened an instant before he grabbed Kennedy’s arm, swinging her around. Her guy—about half the size of the one he was replacing—crushed Rogan back against the wall, shielding him. Somehow, in that second, his old bodyguard wound up on the floor, Kennedy’s foot on his neck and his arm twisted between her hands. The other female SmythShield operative shielded

Bailey, while Bailey’s former bodyguard laughed.

“Nice work,” the guy on the ground said, grudgingly. Kennedy let go and helped him up, and the guy on Rogan eased off so he could at least breathe.

“Just testing,” his former guard said in a clearly insincere apology.

“SmythShield doesn’t need to be tested.”


**The cover and excerpt of Under the Moon aren't quite ready yet, but here's the blurb.**

Their power gives them strength…and makes them targets.

Quinn Caldwell is the epitome of a modern goddess. Her power source is the moon, her abilities restricted only by physical resources and lunar phase. She runs a consulting business and her father’s bar, serves on the board of the ancient Society for Goddess Education and Defense, and yearns for Nick Jarrett, professional goddess protector and the soul mate she can never have.

But someone has developed the rare and difficult ability to drain a goddess of her powers, and Quinn is a target. With the world thinking Nick has gone rogue (whatever that means) and that Quinn is influenced by “family ties” she didn’t know she had, keeping themselves safe while working to find the enemy proves harder each day.

But not as hard as denying their hearts…

Want More Natalie?

Visit her website here:
http://www.nataliedamschroder.com

Follow her on Twitter here:
http://twitter.com/#!/NJDamschroder

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