Writer's moments

Celebrating Indiana Romance Authors: Ravenna Tate

Today’s featured author is Ravenna Tate–another Indiana author that I haven’t met yet. I’m hoping I will meet her at the next IRWA meeting! Ravenna lives in the Midwest where it’s cold six months out of the year, but inside her stories you’ll find plenty of heat. The sex is hot, the men are alpha, and the women give them a run for their money. We had a fun interview together, and she has inspired me to start watching Game of Thrones.

NAN: Tell us what you are currently working on or promoting.

 RAVENNA: The sixth and last book in my Demons on Wheels MC series – Vassago’s Reckoning – released this Wednesday. The Demons on Wheels MC series was my foray into writing MC – motorcycle club – romance. These are generally one percenters, meaning they’re outlaws, rogue, or a club that stays outside the fringes of society.

NAN: What genre(s) do you write in?

RAVENNA: I write erotic romance for Evernight, mostly contemporary, but I’ve also written sci-fi and paranormal (shifters). Within those sub-genres I write lawless, MC romance, and dark romance as well.

NAN: Do you have an agent and/or publisher, or are you self-published?

RAVENNA: I currently write for Evernight as Ravenna Tate, but also have titles under the pen name Tara Rose with Siren-Bookstrand.

NAN: What advice would you give to an aspiring author?

RAVENNA: Learn your craft. That is the number one rule. Followed closely by learn the industry and the market you intend to write for. Without those two, you’re stabbing in the dark. After that, keep learning both. This is a business. And if you don’t treat it as such, you will never be successful in it. Just as you’d learn all you could about any field in which you chose to work, you must give the same care and consideration to the publishing industry, even if you decide to self-publish. And then write. Every day. Writers write. You can research and read about writing, but none of that will get the book from your head onto the paper. You have to do the work.

NAN: Have you had to make sacrifices for your writing, and if so, what are they?

RAVENNA: I still work a full time job outside the home. I’m up every morning during the week at 4:00 a.m. to get my promo done, and sneak in some writing. I write on my breaks at work. I write on weekends, usually all day long. We make time for the things we love, and right now, I can’t do this full time, so I make it my priority during off-work hours at the day job.

NAN: What obstacles, if any, have you encountered in being a writer?

RAVENNA: Romance is the number one selling genre and has been for over fifty years, and yet there is still a stigma attached to it. And erotic romance, especially. I’ve had people tell me I write porn. I have had 96 titles published under three pen names, and I still have people ask me when I’m going to write a real book. And unfortunately, sometimes it’s other authors who throw up obstacles by behaving in ways that bring us all down. Because when one of us wins, we all do, and when one of us makes an ass of herself or himself, it reflects on the entire community.

NAN: What do you like best/least about writing?

RAVENNA: Least: I need more time!

Best: Everything else. I adore it. I love creating worlds and characters to fill it. I love crafting a story, and I love it when those characters tell me where their story should go. I can’t imagine not doing this.

NAN: Did you learn anything from writing your books, and what was it?

RAVENNA: I learn something new from every single book I write. Whether it’s a craft issue, a better way to convey something to the readers, or a new twist on an old trope. This is not a profession where you arrive one day and are THERE. You constantly evolve and grow as a writer.

NAN: What show have you recently binge-watched?

RAVENNA: Game of Thrones! And now I’m waiting impatiently for the last season to arrive!

You’ll find Ravenna and her books all over social media:

Website: http://ravennatate.blogspot.com/

Evernight Author Page: http://www.evernightpublishing.com/ravenna-tate/

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/RavennaTateAuthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/11283785.Ravenna_Tate

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ravennatate/

The Romance Reviews: http://www.theromancereviews.com/RavennaTate

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00RPMN0BM

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/ravenna+tate?fs=0&_requestid=93611

BookStrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/ravenna-tate

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/ravenna-tate/id957971043?mt=11

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ravennatate1

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?query=Ravenna Tate&fcsearchfield=Author

Vassago’s Reckoning

Jimmy Vaccaro, the Demons on Wheels MC Treasurer known as Vassago, hasn’t seen Marie Vitale for nineteen years. When she shows up unexpectedly in Creek Ridge with Digger, Vassago is hit by the Thunderbolt. Marie was only 11 the last time he saw her, but she’s all grown up now, and Vassago must have her, no matter the cost.

Digger and Vassago have plans to take care of rival Mob boss Roberto di Stefano on their own. But when the real reason Marie tagged along with Digger from Brooklyn is revealed, it throws the entire MC club into danger, and puts a major kink in Vassago’s plans.

Marie worshiped Vassago from afar when she was younger. But once he discovers the mess she left back home, she’s convinced she will never be more to him than a casual fling. And that’s if he survives the danger she brought along.

Excerpt:

Jimmy Vaccaro, known to his Demons on Wheels MC Brothers as Vassago, believed in the Thunderbolt—the Colpo di fulmine—as much as any Sicilian man did. But when it hit him, he was as shocked as if the sky suddenly turned orange and collapsed on itself.

“Jimmy? Is that really you?” Marie Vitale had been an eleven-year-old kid when he left Brooklyn. He hadn’t laid eyes on her in nineteen years, not since he was twenty-three. But there she stood, next to Digger, all grown up and so drop-dead gorgeous he struggled to speak.

“Yep. It’s me.” That’s all you can say?

“You look the same. I swear to God you do. All these years and you haven’t aged.”

Digger snorted. “Yeah, he has. He looks like crap now.”

“Ignore him, Jimmy. He’s been in a bad mood since we left Jersey.”

“I’m known as Vassago around here.” What the hell did she care about his road name?

Her amused smile lit up the entire back hallway. “I’m still gonna call you Jimmy.”

Digger mumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like an insult in Italian. Behind Marie and Digger, Gorgon and Phenex exchanged an amused glance.

Marie shot Digger a nasty look. “Your cousin once removed has been that rude to me this entire trip.”

Digger, whose real name was Daniel Basile, was Donny Messina’s nephew, and Vassago and Donny were first cousins. Did that make Digger his cousin once removed? No clue and who cares. There was no blood in Vassago’s brain right now, so for all he knew, it made Digger his grandfather.

 

 

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