Alice Gaines | Never Give Up on a Book

All an author’s books are her babies, and we love each one. Realistically, not all of our babies are created equal. Some are brilliant and beautiful, but some need braces. On the surface, a few seem like something only a mother could love, but even those are wonderful in their own ways.

Until recently, I’d wanted to get into indie publishing, but I was kept busy by various publishers. When I wrote KISS THE FROG…a book I dearly love…my agent submitted it, but it didn’t seem the story would catch on with traditional houses. I decided that because the book was clearly the first in a series, I’d write the other two books and release them on my own. It took many months to write those, and I ended up not releasing much in 2014 while I wrote, wrote, wrote.

(I did have three erotic novellas out from Avon Impulse this past September. The Club Ecstasy series was great fun. Check them out if the idea of an exclusive sex club for women floats your boat.)

So, The Princes of Danislova series will appear on January 1^st, February 1^st, and March 1^st. KISS THE FROG is first, followed by THE GLASS SLIPPER and then BEAUTY AWAKENED. If there’s enough interest, I may add the story of the princes’ father, who’s also a prince (Danislova is more like Monaco than England in that regard). I love all my princes, and I hope readers will, too.

Another of my unloved-by-big-publisher lovelies, CAPTAIN AND COUNTESS, has had a new life thanks to Kindle Scout. If you haven’t checked the program out, you should. It’s kind of like Dancing with the Stars for books. The author submits the story, Kindle Scout puts up the cover and an excerpt, and readers nominate the books they’d like to read. The submissions are also evaluated by editors. If a book is selected for publication, everyone who nominated it gets a free copy for review.

The book is an older woman/younger man humorous Regency romance that, it seemed, no one wanted. I suspect writing a 35-year-old heroine caused raised eyebrows and concerns that the story wasn’t marketable. Again, I loved my baby. It even won Washington Romance Writers of America’s Marlene award in 2014. But I was worried about having to write two more long books to launch the series. I’d already spent so much of 2014 writing my princes. I decided to give it a try on Kindle Scout.

The whole 30 day period when my book was up for nominations proved nerve wracking and exhilarating. Up when my book was on “Hot and Trending” and down when it fell off that page. The day after my promotion period ended, Kindle Press accepted the book for publication. All my friends who’d nominated Captain and Countess got messages that they’d get free copies, and my inbox overflowed with congratulatory messages. I felt like a beginning author who’d gotten The Call from a publisher for the first time.

So, KISS THE FROG is now available, and CAPTAIN AND COUNTESS will be released by Kindle Press in the near future. My rejected babies will find their home, after all. I couldn’t be more pleased and excited.

Don’t give up on your literary children. They deserve every bit of love and attention you can give them. They’ll reward you for your efforts.

About Alice Gaines

Alice Gaines loves the fantastic and the ultra-sensual. Writing gives her the opportunity to combine these two pleasures. Besides spinning tales in her head, Alice’s passions include vegetable gardening, the San Francisco 49ers, and America’s Test Kitchen.

Alice has a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California at Berkeley and lives in Oakland, California with her two pet corn snakes, Casper and Sheikh Yerbouti.

About KISS THE FROG

Pity sex with the shyest student in the lab?

That’s what Felice Larson’s friends have blackmailed her into. Dev VonRamsberg seems nice enough, if you can see past the hair that hangs in his face, the glasses, and the corduroy slacks. It’ll be embarrassing for her and possibly humiliating for him, but if Felice doesn’t follow through, the others will let their professor know she ditched on a critical research trip. So she borrows a key and lets herself into Dev’s apartment in the middle of the night and promptly gets the surprise of her life.

Christian Devlin Philippe Pascal VonRamsberg, Crown Prince, and Heir Apparent to the Throne of Danislova, has lusted after his co-student, Felice Larson, for months but hasn’t followed through because of his obligations back home. But now that she’s literally snuck into his bed, he takes full advantage, much to their mutual delight. Dev’s been hiding out in plain sight in the United States so he can get his graduate degree and enjoy a more or less normal life before he has to return to Danislova to fulfill his duties to his country. He never expected to fall for an American woman, but now that he has, how can he give her a happy ending?

Felice discovers that she’s kissed a frog and won a prince, complete with a whirlwind tour of his lovely homeland in Eastern Europe. She falls in love with Danislova and the current Prince Royal, Dev’s father—a man closer to a father figure for her than her own parents. Unfortunately, Dev’s duties to his country require that he marry the right sort of woman…the wife his father has already selected for him. Will Felice and Dev face heartbreak, or can love triumph over tradition?

The Princes of Danislova is a contemporary fairy tale romance series in which each young American woman meets her Prince Charming. If you like your romance sizzling, this series is for you as each prince beguiles his princess in and out of bed.