Unless you've been hiding in a cave for the past month, you must have heard that the one and only Desiree Holt has just released her 100th book! She's been running a sweet contest all month, and we at Naughty Author Chicks are so incredibly honored to be part of the party.
Here's all you have to do:
As part of the celebration, Desiree is giving away a prize every day of one copy of one of Desiree's novels of the reader's choice from her backlist. Names will be drawn from those who post comments. At the end of the month, one lucky person will win a grand prize of a refurbished Netbook with digital DVD drive. After you (the reader) post here, go to Desiree's web site at www.desireeholt.com and enter to win the grand prize of the netbook at the end of the month.
So, without further ado, we give you...Desiree Holt!
Getting to 100
When I set out on my writing journey nearly seven years ago my goal was to get one book published. Just one. I was so in love with that first book I couldn’t understand why anyone wouldn’t publish it. Apparently every publisher on the planet disagreed with me because before long I had enough rejection letters to paper two houses. Some were form letters, some actually took the time to point out the many flaws in both my writing and my plot. To say that my ego was bruised is an understatement but this is a tough business so I pulled up my big girl pants and moved along. I set the manuscript aside, thinking I’d been battered about it enough and moved on to another project.
By this time I had become part of a critique group, all published authors except for me, and they were “kind” enough to share their expertise with me and show me how to whip a manuscript into shape. I learned about foreign things like “backstory” and “show don’t tell” and “dialogue tags.” Holy cow! In my arrogance I thought after all the reading I’d done I knew it all. I hadn’t even begun. But I owe these women and my current critique partners worlds of thanks. Without them I’d still be writing only for myself.
Sixteen months after my first rejection – a very short time in publishing – I sold my first books, and then the dominoes began to fall. Then I couldn’t stop writing . And before long I was selling to four publishers and tap dancing to keep up with all my deadlines. I have been blessed, truly blessed, because my publishers were and are happy with my product and my list of readers grew and grew.
In my colorful past I spent ten years in the music industry as a booking agent and manager but for some reason hadn’t used all that experience as background for a book. *Shrug*. Maybe I was waiting for inspiration to strike. And it did, in the form of a gorgeous hunk who happened to be a doctor I was seeing and reminded me of a singer I once managed. So while I was writing furiously-every day-I was playing around with a plot in the back of my mind. I think the final impetus came when I was driving to the grocery store (a very long way from where I live in rural Texas), listening to an old cassette (that’s how old it is!) of one of my more popular bands and remembering the concert where it was taped. And like that, the idea for Downstroke began to coalesce in my head.
My hero would be a country rock icon who had been at the very top of the industry before succumbing to its temptations and, in a drunken stupor, rolling his truck and nearly destroying his leg. To get where he’d been he’d destroyed his relationship with the girl he was going to marry and with his brother, his only family. Deserted by everyone, only his brother steps forward to help him recover and heal. Hiding at the family ranch, my hero finally begins to write songs again. But now his songs have the richness that comes from tragedy and torment and his old manager convinces him he needs to tour again to promote his CDs. Back at the top of his game, he almost has it all-the fans, the success – and a killer stalking him.
But what of the woman he walked away from lured by the siren call of success? She’s now owns a successful security and investigation agency and of course she’s the one the brother hires to protect the hero. Of course!
To say that I fell in love with my characters as I wrote about them is an understatement. Two people in their forties with decades of bitterness separating them brought together by tense circumstances. Instantly aware that the magic still exists between them, they struggle to get past the hostility and anguish and reach for what is now a deeper, richer, more mature love.
I loved Dallas Creed, the tormented hero, and Charley Roper, the woman who kept her heart closed off for two decades. I loved reliving the magic of concerts and the electricity of the hype of the music business. Writing Downstroke was my daily reward for making my page count in my other projects. I’ve written full length novels, short novels, novellas of a variety of length and tasty shorts of fifteen thousand words. I always love my story and my characters-if I don’t no one will, right? But the richness of Dallas and Charley’s story was like the temptation of chocolate. I purely and simply loved writing it.
It has it all – suspense, tension, romance, hot sex and the magic that only the music business can create. It thrills me that the schedule fell that this would be my 100th release. A memorable milestone made more so by the book of my heart. I hope you will read Downstroke and share that pleasure with me.
Downstroke Blurb:It’s been twenty years since Charley Roper and Dallas Creed parted with great bitterness. In that time she’s made a career for herself with the FBI and private security and he’s been a country rock music icon…tumbled to the bottom and risen again. Now someone’s trying to kill him and Morgan Creed wants Charley to protect his brother and find out who’s after him.
When they meet again after all this time it’s obvious the chemistry is still there, stronger than ever. They’re older but are they wiser? Caught up in the bitter wash of memories and the tension of a killer in stalking mode, Charley and Dallas begin a roller coaster ride that is emotional erotic and suspenseful. Is their love strong enough after twenty years to pull them back together?
BIO:
Desiree Holt is flavored with the rich experiences of her life, including a long stretch in the music business representing every kind of artist from country singer to heavy metal rock bands. For several years she also ran her own public relations agency handling any client that interested her, many of whom might recognize themselves in the pages of her stories. She is twice a finalist for an EPIC E-Book Award, a nominee for a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, winner of the first 5 Heart Sweetheart of the Year Award at The Romance Studio as well as a CAPA Award, winner of two Holt Medallion Awards of Merit, and is published by five different houses. Romance Junkies said of her work: “Desiree Holt is the most amazing erotica author of our time and each story is more fulfilling then the last.”
You can find her at www.desireeholt.com and www.desireeholttellsall.com
