Rucy Ban's Blog

My second book in the First Things series – Wear You Down – is participating in an exclusive promotion being run by Smashwords at the RT Booklovers Convention 2014.

Free copies will be available for the lucky attendees in a goodie bag being provided by Smashwords!

So if you’re attending the convention, make sure you grab your Smashwords goodie bag because there is a thumb drive waiting there inside for you with Wear You Down already loaded in it, along with some fabulous books by other bestselling authors!

When I’d started my self-publication journey, I’d set a milestone for myself.

But before I share that, I want to tell you about how it felt during those long torturous months when I used to receive standard rejection e-mails from agents. As it is, being a writer is tough. You work alone. For a long time you get no feedback on what you’re writing, you have to discipline yourself, you have to constantly assure yourself that the work you’re doing is not completely useless and utter crap.

Fighting all these moments of horrible self-doubt, once you’ve managed to write that perfect masterpiece…the one that had been simmering inside you all those years…you send it off to agents hoping like hell you’ll get some reply…some sort of comment…feedback…anything. Then you get your first rejection letter. It’s killing of course, but not as much as the last one.

Every day, I used to switch on my iPad and after my shoulders had slumped with yet another standard rejection e-mail, I used to hop over to the iBook Store and dream about seeing my book featured there. Someday, I used to tell myself.

Yesterday, it happened. Yes. My book..my whole series was featured as a part of an ongoing promotion campaign being run by Apple.

‘First In A Series’ is a promotion currently being run on the iBook Store and my book is just one of the many featured there. But. It’s there. It’s what I’d always dreamed about. It might not be much for many authors but for me it means a lot. It’s a validation like no other. Even the CEO of Smashwords, Mark Coker, posted about this promotion and mentioned all the Smashwords authors that got featured in it. Including me.

So, dear reader, if you’re thinking of publishing a book and you’ve been repeatedly getting bogged down, I suggest you wait no longer. The Nike tagline might be a big boring cliche but hell, it’s one hundred per cent true. See for yourself…

FIRST THINGS SERIES on Apple’s iBook Store

SMASHWORDS Article by Mark Coker 

 

Setting the mood for the next book…which is about a road journey…don’t you just love them?

I’ve inserted the links so you can enjoy these too…:)

1) MIKA – I See You

2) Coco Rosie - Good Friday

3) The Beautiful South - Rotterdam

4) Dire Straits - Romeo and Juliet

5)Gordon Lightfoot – If You Could Read My Mind

6) Bombay Bicycle Club – You Already Know

7) Peter, Bjorn and John- Young Folks

8) Mogwai - Take Me Somewhere Nice

9) Mishka – Happy

Wohooo!!!!!Wear You Down hit the number 4 rank on Apple’s iBook store in Australia this week!

The great people at Apple sent me this screenshot and made my day!

As a celebration, I’m going to be giving away Wear You Down at a 33% discount for just this week!! When you order your book from smashwords, just enter the coupon code SC42C to avail this special discount! Promo ends on March 10, 2014. Original price- $2.99 Discounted Price – $2.00.   https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/354595

Thank you dear readers for all the love and support you’ve shown me! Keep reading!

Now before you think I’d smoked or injected something, I think you should know that since my teens, I’ve had this irritating habit of resolving all my internal debates with the help of shoulder angels. It was a cartoon trope I’d heavily relied on to make all the difficult decisions in my life.

Much as I hate to admit, it had saved me a lot of mental torture during my growing up years.

Hey, don’t you dare laugh. What was your counselling bill last month, huh? Yup, that’s what I thought.

But that day for the first time, I decided to ignore my angel and listen to the devil instead. Yup, today was just going to be about me and her…together in this city of dreams.

The little red imp didn’t let me down. It actually turned out to be the best day of my life. I had a taste of something that day. Something I’d never had before. I’m not going to dent my man can by calling it magical or unforgettable. But you do get my drift?

Available for pre-order on iBookstore! 
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/wear-you-down-book-two-first/id705821412?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
Releasing on Amazon on 6th March, 2014.

He was standing there in all his gloriousness, wearing his leather jacket and his sexy-as-hell hair. A smile instinctively broke out on my face but then the wave of relief froze. For the first time, I saw him. As in really saw him.

My eyes took in the vein throbbing wildly on his forehead, the anger burning in his eyes and the hard clench of his jaw. To add to all that serious bad assery, he also had this scar.

My heart thumped an uneven beat as I followed its length. It trailed down his left cheek and cut a scratchy path across his neck, disappearing into the neckline of his leather jacket.

This was not the sexy boy I’d seen at the airport. This was a seriously scary mother.

I was still busy getting freaked out when all of a sudden something heavy landed on my shoulders. My body jolted but then relaxed as I realized it was just his arm. For some unfathomable reason, he’d placed it on my shoulders.

A sudden tug and my body lodged against his chest. Then he started lowering his head and my breath hitched. I braced for what was about to come. But instead of doing anything inappropriate he just brought his lips close to my ear and whispered, “Play along.”

Friday is coming, people!! Three days to go for the WEAR YOU DOWN release and here’s a teaser for you…

Both of us were breathing heavily as we stood there staring at each other, completely amazed by the intensity of what we’d just shared. The year-long separation had done us some good after all.

Harry’s hands moved up to hold my face and his thumb started stroking my cheek. “Baby, we’ve already wasted one whole year so I’m not going to play any more games. I’m in this for the long haul. Are you?”

I nodded my head slowly but then stopped as something occurred to me. “I’m in Rio and you’re from…”

“Illinois,” Harry said quietly.

“So then…how is this ever going to work?”

He looked at me for a beat and then replied in a soothing gravelly voice. It was the kind of voice that could make you believe in love, eternity and happily ever after.

“We’ll make it work. After seeing you work that stage, I don’t think you should ever stop doing what you obviously love and are so good at.”

His words hit me somewhere deep in my heart…

AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER on iTUNES!

LINK TO THE iTUNES STORE - http://bit.ly/1k6X2Wr

Available on AMAZON from 28th February, 2014.

ALL MY LIFE was the second most downloaded book in Australia last month and was even mentioned by Apple as one of the most popular New Adult reads!

It was also featured in the iBook Store (along with the likes of Jillian Dodd and Christina Lauren)! Check the link here which the nice people at Apple sent to me: http://bit.ly/Knr6xa

And for all my dear readers who are waiting anxiously for WEAR YOU DOWN…..you don’t have to wait long….February 28th is coming soon!

I leave you now with a LOVEly…lovely song….

Quantity produces quality.
Begin and inspiration will follow.
Write, write, write more, even more, everyday, even when you don’t want to, when you are sick, when you are blue…just write.
Don’t listen to criticism but do pay heed to suggestions.
Write crap. Edit later.
Don’t get bogged down by the nasty, the competitors or the ever-present self-doubt.
Get into the scene but don’t forget the story.
Shades in characters do make them richer…even if they’re not ‘Grey’.
Listen to music, read, watch, walk, cook, clean, work…do whatever it takes to get your next page out.
Aspire but remember…work before glory.

Okay, ladies, Francesco Cura is here to fire up your Friday! Presenting the cover of WEAR YOU DOWN – Book Two of the First Things series!…You like?

WEAR YOU DOWN will be out on February 28, 2013 on Amazon, B&N, Nook and Kobo. But you can pre-order your copy from Apple right now!  (This link will work if you have iTunes on your device. To pre-order just search for ‘Wear You Down‘ in iBookstore on your iPad/ iPhone and you’ll strike gold. )

BLURB

WEAR YOU DOWN

Emma Paes has had a very Dickensesque start to her life. The born in a dumpster, rescued by a missionary and caged in a convent kind.

Over the years, fueled by her love for sitcoms and classics, Emma dreams of visiting the land of Gilmore Girls, becoming a governess and maybe even finding her very own Mr. Rochester.

When she bumps into Harry Colt while backpacking in Paris, she starts wondering if she’s finally found him. But Harry doesn’t fit into any of Emma’s fictional cut-outs. He is neither a beautiful bastard nor a walking disaster. Dammit, he doesn’t even have fangs popping out during sexy times!

Driven by circumstances, they share a hotel room and spend two loquacious nights together in Paris. But then Harry does something which breaks Emma’s heart and she runs away without saying goodbye.

It takes a whole year for them to meet again. But things are different this time. Emma is no longer the naive girl Harry met in Paris. She’s become the reigning Samba queen of Rio and doesn’t need the crutches of fictional or real heroes to lead her life. And not all the sexy v’s and smoldering eyes in the world can make her change her mind.

Undaunted and undeterred, Harry summons all his courage and charm to pursue Emma and convince her that he is worthy of winning her heart back. But will she let him?

*******

Contemporary Romance. HEA ending. 17+

CAN BE READ AS A STAND-ALONE

GIVEAWAY

Now for the fab giveaway. As a part of a blog hop, I’m offering a $50 Paypal credit (INTL). Go ahead, just enter in the contest below and give it a shot.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

AND HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND AHEAD!