Category Archives: Nina Croft

Distractions

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It’s March already and maybe time to see how the year is going. I set myself some pretty hard goals for 2017, and while I’m not doing too badly, I could definitely do with a few more words on the page. One of my problems is I’m very easily side-tracked at the moment. So I thought it might be useful to actually work out what I am spending my time on when I should be writing.

Here’s a list of the main contenders…

  • Meet my number one distraction this year. This is Rufino, who joined the family just after Christmas. He’s a seven-year-old Spanish/Arab gelding and he’s lovely. If I’m not actually riding him, grooming him, or training him in the round pen, then I’m watching Youtube video’s on how to ride him, groom him, and train him… Plus, I still have my mare, Gencianna, and I have to spend lots of time with her so she doesn’t feel left out.

 

  • Facebooking – this one has got to stop. But there are so many interesting posts about how to ride, groom and train your horse.
  • Reading – I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately and still have about 50 unread books on my kindle, so not going to stop anytime soon.
  • Binge watching 24 – Sigh – I love jack Bauer. But I’m on the final season so this one will end soon.
  • Killer Sudoku. I seem to have become a little obsessed with playing killer Sudoku online (http://www.killersudokuonline.com/). But apparently, it keeps your brain functioning, so I don’t beat myself up about it. My brain needs all the help it can get.
  • Milking an uncooperative goat. Honestly, this was not on my agenda. And it shouldn’t be happening. But my goat apparently has something called precocious udder, which means she is producing milk (unless she’s been out shagging and is actually pregnant—this better not be the case.) Normally, this goes away on its own, but honestly, her udders were positively gargantuan, they were almost dragging on the ground. I needed to do something.

 

So they’re the main things taking up my time at the moment. What about you? What’s your biggest time suck from the things you really should be doing?

About Nina Croft

Nina Croft grew up in the north of England. After training as an accountant, she spent four years working as a volunteer in Zambia which left her with a love of the sun and a dislike of 9-5 work. She then spent a number of years mixing travel (whenever possible) with work (whenever necessary) but has now settled down to a life of writing and picking almonds on a remote farm in the mountains of southern Spain. Nina writes all types of romance often mixed with elements of the paranormal and science fiction.

Sharing the Pain…

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Marketing can be a painful process, but like many things, it’s easier if you share the pain. Cross promoting with other authors can be fun and is a great way of getting your books in front of new readers.

I love the idea of authors helping authors, and after all, there are enough readers for everyone. So here are a few ways authors can help promote each other…

  • Mention other authors in your newsletter, share their good reviews, release dates, add links to their websites and books. Tell your subscribers what books you’ve enjoyed reading or what books you’re looking forward to.
  • If you have a blog, invite other authors to participate.
  • Or set up a joint blog with a group of authors, like this one.
  • Do a Facebook party and invite your author friends to help you host. Same with Twitter and anywhere else you can party.
  • Tweet about what you’re reading.
  • Facebook about other authors you love.
  • Share their tweets and Facebook posts.
  • Produce a themed box set with other authors in the same genre.
  • Set up group sales or joint giveaways, and promote the other authors and hopefully they will promote you.

I recently released Flying Through Fire, book 6 in my dark Desires series. I shared my release day with fabulous author, Dawn Cartier, who writes wonderful paranormal books based in her home town of New Orleans. And I had the pleasure of meeting Dawn earlier this year in Las Vegas at the RT Booklovers convention.

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We tweeted and Facebooked about our releases and included links to each other’s books in our newsletters. Hopefully it introduced a few of Dawn’s readers to me, and vice versa. We also did a combined rafflecoptor giveaway which has a few days left. So please, go meet Dawn…

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About Nina Croft

Nina Croft grew up in the north of England. After training as an accountant, she spent four years working as a volunteer in Zambia which left her with a love of the sun and a dislike of 9-5 work. She then spent a number of years mixing travel (whenever possible) with work (whenever necessary) but has now settled down to a life of writing and picking almonds on a remote farm in the mountains of southern Spain. Nina writes all types of romance often mixed with elements of the paranormal and science fiction.

The Lure of the Mediterranean

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My book, Blackmailed by the Italian Billionaire, is on sale this week at only 99 cents. Blackmailed is one of my earlier books and I wrote it as a sort of tribute to all the Mills and Boons romances I devoured as a teenager.

I’m English, and I grew up in a small town in the north of England, in an area known as the Lake District. It was a beautiful place, but the sun rarely shines and it rains there—a lot. I yearned for the sun, and when I started reading romances in my early teens, I was always drawn to the ones with hot, sultry settings and with tall, dark, handsome heroes; Greeks, Italians, Spaniard’s, all hot-blooded and spectacularly rich (owning their own island always helps). I dreamed of one day lying on a sun-kissed Mediterranean beach with a stunningly gorgeous, very-nearly-naked hero of my own. He’d be all golden skin and rippling muscles, and one look from his dark eyes would melt me into a puddle in the sand…

It never happened. I found a lovely English guy instead, but we did travel a lot when I was younger, and I spent a lot of time lying on sun-kissed beaches. And when it came to settling down, it was hardly surprising that I ended up not far from the Mediterranean. In fact, I now live on a farm in the mountains of Southern Spain, which looks down onto the Mediterranean Sea. I love the area, the people, the food, the fiestas… It’s a fabulously inspiring place and it’s not unexpected that I now find myself unable to resist the lure of writing about Mediterranean men.

Luc, the hero of Blackmailed by the Italian Billionaire, wasn’t inspired by any one man in particular, but by an amalgamation of all those Mediterranean heroes I dreamed about.

bbib-1600px-latestBlurb: Blackmailed by the Italian Billionaire

Olivia Brent is happy with her quiet and orderly life in the country, until the imminent loss of her home forces her to try and track down her estranged father. She’s immediately out of her depth and in danger from criminals she believes her father might be among. Luckily, a stunningly gorgeous and enigmatic billionaire sweeps in to rescue her.

Saving Olivia is not an altruistic act for Luc Severino. He’s been searching for her father for years and feels now he’s closer than ever to getting the revenge he desires. He’s willing to use any methods available to persuade Olivia to help him.

If blackmail doesn’t gain her total cooperation, a little seduction might. But losing his own heart could change Luc’s greatest desire forever.

How do you feel about Mediterranean heroes? Love them or hate them?

About Nina Croft

Nina Croft grew up in the north of England. After training as an accountant, she spent four years working as a volunteer in Zambia which left her with a love of the sun and a dislike of 9-5 work. She then spent a number of years mixing travel (whenever possible) with work (whenever necessary) but has now settled down to a life of writing and picking almonds on a remote farm in the mountains of southern Spain. Nina writes all types of romance often mixed with elements of the paranormal and science fiction.

Things I Love About Series…

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I love discovering new series—that wonderful feeling you get when you really enjoy a book and you know there are a whole load more to come. I love falling in love with characters and knowing I’m going to meet them again. And getting immersed in a world and knowing I’ll get to visit over and over and no doubt learn new things each time.

For the same reasons, I also love writing series. Usually, I don’t start out with the intention of writing more than one book, but then something occurs. This tends to be me falling madly in love with a secondary character and needing to know more about them (this has even happened with the ‘villain’ of a book who’s later found himself the hero of his own story.) Or I can’t bear the thought of saying goodbye to my hero and heroine—I have to know what happens to them—I want proof they are actually living their happily ever after.

Also, although I believe all stories should have a distinct beginning and an end, I love the idea that each individual story is just part of something bigger. A sort of snapshot in time, and there are a whole load of things going on either side of the beginning and the end that I just have to know about—I’m nosey!

So I start to write the next book—it’s a compulsion.

But things were a little different with my latest release, UNTHINKABLE.

unthinkable_v2-500UNTHINKABLE

They were promised a world with no more lies…

Jake Callahan, leader of the Tribe, has always believed he’s one of the good guys. Now, hunted by the government he used to work for, he’s taking a crash course in being bad. What he desperately needs is a bargaining tool, and that’s unfortunate for Christa Winters, daughter of Jake’s former boss.

Christa is a scientist, a total geek, and a good girl with a secret hankering for bad boys. Which turns out to be embarrassingly inconvenient when she’s kidnapped by a stunningly gorgeous—but obviously bad-to-the-bone—man intent on using her against the father she loves. A man with a seemingly uncanny ability to know exactly when she’s thinking about kissing him—which is most of the time.

But people are dying, and it becomes clear that the stakes are much higher than Jake ever imagined. Someone is out to obliterate the Tribe and everyone associated with it, including Christa. Only by working together to uncover the secrets behind the past, can they ever hope to have a future.

UNTHINKABLE is book 1 in my brand new Beyond Human series. And in this case, I set out with the intention of writing more than one book. Four in fact, and while each is a separate romance with a happy ever after, there is also an overall story arc (though I admit I don’t know exactly how book 4 will end.)

What about you—reading or writing—do you prefer a series or do you like your stories different each time?

About Nina Croft

Nina Croft grew up in the north of England. After training as an accountant, she spent four years working as a volunteer in Zambia which left her with a love of the sun and a dislike of 9-5 work. She then spent a number of years mixing travel (whenever possible) with work (whenever necessary) but has now settled down to a life of writing and picking almonds on a remote farm in the mountains of southern Spain. Nina writes all types of romance often mixed with elements of the paranormal and science fiction.

A Diversion in Time…

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Right now, I’m working on Flying through Fire, book 6 in my Dark Desires series. The books are essentially space opera (I got the urge to write them after watching Firefly for the third time) and follow the adventures, romantic and otherwise, of the crew of the space ship, the Blood Hunter. But along with the space stuff, there also more than a hint of paranormal, as Rico, the pilot of the Blood Hunter, is a vampire. My editor refers to the series as Vamps in Space, but in fact there are far more than vampires; there are werewolves, demons, aliens and more recently, dragons (actually alien/dragons.)

Flying through Fire is supposed to be the last book in the series. I’m really struggling with it, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I just don’t want it to end. So when I got the chance to write a short story for inclusion in an anthology, The Dragon Chronicles, I thought why not take a look at what happens after the end of Flying through Fire. And so my story, A Diversion in Time, came about.

The Dragon Chronicles (The Future Chronicles)

 

Dradragon chroniclesgons. They are more than a memory from an age of wizards and heroes. These winged, fire-breathing beasts soar through the traditions of many lands, and through our dreams. In their many guises – Western or Eastern, reptile or lizard or serpent, wyvern, hydra, basilisk – dragons embody everything that we humans call magic.

A Diversion in Time 

At last there is peace in the Universe. But some people just aren’t interested in peace, so once the dust has settled, the crew of the Blood Hunter set off in search of a little excitement. They are heading back to Earth and going back in time.

Along for the ride, are a couple of stowaways. Angel, a young werewolf in search of adventure, and Kronus, an ancient dragon, seeking to regain the power his people once wielded. But when things don’t go entirely as planned, can the two overcome their differences and help each other find what they are looking for?

The Dragon Chronicles releases on April 30th and is available for pre-order here!

About Nina Croft

Nina Croft grew up in the north of England. After training as an accountant, she spent four years working as a volunteer in Zambia which left her with a love of the sun and a dislike of 9-5 work. She then spent a number of years mixing travel (whenever possible) with work (whenever necessary) but has now settled down to a life of writing and picking almonds on a remote farm in the mountains of southern Spain. Nina writes all types of romance often mixed with elements of the paranormal and science fiction.

Taking Control…

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I love celebrating Christmas, but just not yet. It’s way too soon to start and each year the decorations seem to appear earlier and earlier.

In a former life, we often took a holiday in the run up to Christmas to get away from all the fuss. Now, we live on a mountain in a really remote area of southern Spain, so it’s easy to ignore.

On Christmas Eve, we’ll put up the decorations, and then I will get into the festive spirit—I promise.

In the meantime, there are other things to celebrate. Like the release of TAKING CONTROL, my latest Brazen contemporary romance which comes out on Monday, 15th December 2014.

And even more reason to celebrate, TAKING CONTROL is on sale at only 99 cents up until release day. So order your copy now!

“…one read you definitely want on your kindle this Christmas to warm you up…” — Kiwi Book Nerd

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q20YF3A

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A sexy category romance from Entangled’s Brazen imprint…
Why play nice when you can be naughty?
Jessica Bauer is aces when it comes to security, but the PR side? Not so much. Now she has a chance to take over Knight Securities―if she plays nice with the next client. Unfortunately, that client happens to be Declan McCabe. And it’s too bad someone wants him dead, because after he broke her heart ten years ago, Jessica would have cheerfully murdered him herself.
Declan has taken his dad’s not-so-reputable company and turned it around, and in the process, he’s attracted the attention of some vicious killers. The only perk is being reunited with Jessica, who Declan still wants so much he can barely see straight. But Jessica has a plan of her own. She’ll protect Declan. She’ll have unbelievably hot sex with him.  And when the job is finished, she’ll move on. Except that this time, Declan isn’t so willing to walk away…

About Nina Croft

Nina Croft grew up in the north of England. After training as an accountant, she spent four years working as a volunteer in Zambia which left her with a love of the sun and a dislike of 9-5 work. She then spent a number of years mixing travel (whenever possible) with work (whenever necessary) but has now settled down to a life of writing and picking almonds on a remote farm in the mountains of southern Spain. Nina writes all types of romance often mixed with elements of the paranormal and science fiction.

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