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Why I Write Strong Women–and Why It Matters

 

I don’t remember how I began writing strong women. I do recall, though, an early review of my first book Fearless wherein the review jeered that it should have been FearFUL because Tas was such a timid soul. And I remember thinking . . . well, no. She isn’t. She is just a seventeen-year-old girl who has led a protected life and needs to find her own strength. This is the story of how that will happen.

(And that’s exactly what happened in the four books of The King Quartet and by the fifteenth book in the overall series, Age of Aquarius. So there.)

Still, at some point, I began to internalize this concept as I wrote. I made a conscious decision that the women in my books wouldn’t be damsels in distress or weak creatures. I wanted them instead to be sassy, spunky, confident and able.

Recently, I was at a writers’ conference, where I was discussing romance with a group of other authors. The ages of the writers ranged from (probably) early 30’s to mid-70’s. The conversation was lively and interesting, until some time toward the end, when one author remarked, “Well, we all just have to keep writing strong women.”

To my shock, the younger authors reacted badly to that idea. One replied, “Oh, no, I never write strong women–they’re bitches. Readers hate strong women.”

Those of us who were older hardly knew what to say. It bothered me so much that I brought it up to a bunch of other author friends. And then once I got home, I decided I wanted to do something constructive, which is why today we’re kicking off the #IWriteStrongWomen #IReadStrongWomen campaign.

Please understand that I think strength comes in all forms. I was a stay-at-home, homeschooling mama for over 20 years. That is strength, baby.

Strength doesn’t come from education or money or career or religion or status. It comes from inside you. It comes from experience and choices and–and love. Loving someone else is a measure of great strength and courage.

I write women who’ve never been to college (Jude and Nell and Emmy and Jenna and Ashley and Tori, among them), women who have advanced degrees (Elizabeth, Abby, Maureen), women who would be considered white-collar professionals and and those who own their own businesses and those who are full-time moms . . . what they have in common is their heart and the strength there.

And this is important to me because I have three daughters and will shortly have a granddaughter. I want to leave them a legacy of example–whether that’s in real life or on the page–of women who can do anything they set their minds to do.

I invite you to join our Facebook group,  We Read Strong Women. It’s just fun and chatting about our favorite kickass heroines and their stories–oh, and just maybe a little about the sexy guys who love these spunky women!

I also invite you to join our campaign by posting on your favorite social media site. Just share a picture of one of your favorite strong leading women along with a hash tag like:

#strongwomen
#strongwomenwriteromance
#strongisthenewsexy
#strongwomengreatbooks
#romancetakesastrongwoman
#iwritestrongwo
men

And tell us WHY you read strong women! I can’t wait to see what you have to say.

Psst . . . want to win some goodies?

August has been a little weird and wonky in my life. Between prep for Indie BookFest, getting quite sick at Indie BookFest, traveling to Maine to drop off my daughter at college . . . I feel like normal has been hard to find!

And I was left with a ton of paperbacks when I couldn’t sign at IBF, so that’s why I decided to run this super-fun giveaway–not only books, but all the goodies any rabid reader might need. Enter below .  . . and good luck! 

How about some seriously H O T Military Romance?

I love Maryann Jordan’s books . . . and I’m a sucker for military romance, too. So I’m super excited about this new anthology releasing next month!

Love Under Siege includes stories from Maryann, of course, as well as from KaLyn Cooper, MJ Nightingale and more! You can preorder your copy now (see the links here) and enjoy the hunky goodness on September 18th.

Eight Brand NEW Sizzling Full-Length Novels featuring Military Heroes by acclaimed authors who know how to bring the Heat, Action and Suspense!

  • Tuff Enough by Samantha A. Cole
    While security operative Jason “Tuff” Tanner lives for dangerous assignments, he likes his downtime in his quiet neighborhood too. But that peacefulness is suddenly interrupted when his new next-door neighbor becomes a target for someone hell bent on revenge. Canine rescuer Concetta “Chet” Suarez brings all his protective instincts to the surface, along with feelings he’s never experienced with any other woman. Will he lose her before he ever gets a chance to make her his?

  • Never Forget by KaLyn Cooper
    Dreams or nightmares. Truth or lies. He can’t tell them apart after he sees the woman in his dreams. She is the key to his past, present, and future… She just buried her husband next to her fiancé who was killed in an explosion while they were on a mission together ten years ago. She doesn’t need another man in her life, until someone tries to kill her.

  • Ravished River by Lindsay Cross
    Special Forces Operative Aaron Spears dealt with relationships like he dealt with battle – something to be avoided if at all possible, until Celine Latimer walked into his life and turned his world upside down.

  • Lincoln by PJ Fiala
    Lincoln Winter is hired to bring in a criminal who is selling arms on the black market and he never misses a mark. That is until the sultry Skye Sommers crosses his path and unwittingly gets herself caught up in much more than she can handle. Can they stay alive long enough to find a killer, an arms dealer and love?

  • Mace by Maryann Jordan
    Mace Hanna’s security business keeps him busy…too busy for a relationship. When providing security for a single mom and her young son who has witnessed a murder, he vows to keep them safe…and finds love along the way.

  • Black Jack by MJ Nightingale 
    Undercover FBI agent, Jackson Black doesn’t expect to find love while working deep undercover on a RICO case. But he can’t resist Dawn, the sexy accountant, who keeps crossing his path during the investigation putting both of their lives on the line.

  • Her Guarded Hero by Caitlyn O’Leary
    It’s been five years since his tragic loss and Navy SEAL, Dalton Sullivan heads to Lake Tahoe to be alone. The last thing he expects is horse trainer, Aurora Chance to literally fall at his feet. As danger and raw emotion churn around them, can Dalton be brought back into the light?

  • Not Quite Broken by Abbie Zanders
    Former POW Brian McCain is so busy fighting his demons, there’s not enough left over for anyone else – not even the one woman who has a way of shining light into his darkness. But when a serial killer turns his sights on her, Brian realizes he’s not quite as broken as he thinks he is.

Love Under Siege will only be available for a limited time, grab your copy now before it’s gone forever!

iBooks 
Amazon
Nook
Kobo

THE LOVE SONG GIRL is LIVE!

Welcome to Burton, Georgia, a small town just west of Savannah. In this farm community, the women are sassy, the men are sexy and happily-ever-afters are a specialty of the house. 

Who doesn’t love a love song? Especially a love song that’s crooned by Hunter Jaymes, the hottest new star in country music?

Tori Westin doesn’t have time for love songs. Now that she’s finally moved off her parents’ farm and ditched her cheating, lying boyfriend, she’s ready to start life on her own terms. Those terms definitely do not include falling in love with the sexy and irresistible Hunter. Yes, he’s the kind of guy who makes her laugh, takes her breath away with a single touch and tempts her to imagine what could be . . . but he’s also not planning to stick around Burton.

When Hunter looks at Tori, he sees the possibility of forever. The road is his life, and she feels like the home he craves. Convincing Tori to give love a chance will take more than a romantic ballad, but Hunter knows they belong together.

Now he just has to convince her.

Buy It Now!

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Enjoy a little sneak peek from THE LOVE SONG GIRL:

I trailed him up the wide staircase, our footsteps muffled by soft carpet. At the top, Hunter paused, his fingers fidgeting with the strap of the bag he carried.
“So . . . I have a housekeeper.” He said it as though it were confession of sin, and I couldn’t help giggling.

“That’s okay, Hunter. It’s perfectly acceptable for you to have someone helping you here. Hell, if I could afford one, I’d have one, too. I promise, I don’t think any less of you. No judgement here.”

He rolled his eyes. “That’s not what I mean, smartass. What I was going to say, if you’d let me finish, is that I asked my housekeeper—her name is Betsy, and she’s great—I asked Betsy to get one of the guest rooms ready for you. You know, change the sheets, vacuum, whatever might be involved with that.”

I nodded. “All right.”

“But the thing is, if I’m being honest like I promised, I don’t want you to stay in that guest room. I want you to stay in my room. Sleep in my bed, even if all we do there is sleep. I don’t want to be that far away from you when you’re only here for three days. If that makes you uncomfortable, I understand. We didn’t discuss expectations for your visit here, not the way we did when we were in Burton.”

I smirked. “You mean when I was crystal clear about no sex over those two weeks?”

“Yeah, exactly that.” He regarded me steadily. “I didn’t ask the question, because I was afraid to hear an answer I didn’t want to hear. But I should be more like you, I guess. I should have asked.”

I dropped my purse onto the floor, where it fell with a thud onto the polished hardwood of the hallway, and I took a step toward Hunter. “Ask me now.”

The tip of his tongue darted out to swipe across his lips. “Tori, will you sleep with me in my bedroom? No.” He shook his head, correcting himself. “What I mean is, will you do more than just sleep with me there—will you let me make love to you in my bed, the way I’ve been fantasizing about doing from the minute I came back home from Georgia?”

I held his gaze. We were both serious now, both intent and focused on the words between us. “Back in Burton, my rule made sense, because we didn’t know each other. We knew more by the time you left. And now, we know even more.” I eased forward. “I still like everything about you, Hunter Jaymes. I flew on that plane all the way here to be with you, not for any other reason. All I’ve been thinking about is being with you. So if you don’t plan to take me into your bedroom, right now, and drive me out of my ever-lovin’ mind the way you did over the phone the other night, I might just burn up from the inside out. And it’d be a shame to leave a scorch mark here on your lovely wood floor.”

Read ALL the Love in a Small Town books here! 

 

Tawdra Kandle writes romance, in just about all its forms. She loves unlikely pairings, strong women, sexy guys, hot love scenes and just enough conflict to make it interesting. Her books include young adult and new adult paranormal romance, new adult and adult contemporary romance and adult paramystery romance. She lives in central Florida with a husband, kids, sweet pup and too many cats.

And yeah, she rocks purple hair.

You can follow Tawdra on Amazon to receive updates on her releases. You can also visit her website for more information, and subscribe to her newsletter  for sales announcement, special exclusive content and promotions!

If you enjoy Tawdra’s books, join the Naughty Temptresses!

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O Face (iBooks FRiDAY 5)

 

This week was not a good one for reading–at least, it wasn’t at first. I’m deep into my own writing, and between Halloween and other family fun, reading time has been limited.

But last night, I finally had a few minutes to indulge myself. I decided to read one of our own #MeetCute Books, Heather Hildenbrand’s O FACE. I’d been excited to read it for a while, and I’m so glad I finally had the time!

Since I wanted to try out a new-to-me iBooks feature, I started with a sample of the book first. The initial reading experience was as seamless as it always is, but the real fun came when I reached the end of the sample and it was time to BUY THE BOOK.

First of all, the screen didn’t change; instead, a pop-up slide into place, and all I had to do was use my touch ID to approve the purchase. It took less than a minute, and then the book simply resumed from where I’d stopped. I didn’t have to go back and open another file or figure out where to find it.

I haven’t finished this book yet–refer back to the DEEP IN THE WRITING CAVE, above–but I’m enjoying it so far, and I highly recommend it!

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