Violet Among The Roses is in book stores!

I just got back from Borders Bookstore where I found a copy of my Cricket Starr book, Violet Among The Roses on the shelf! What a great thrill to see my book in print and available for sale in a regular store.

Cheers,
Janet/Cricket

Promises To Keep #1 at FICTIONWISE!

All week I've been watching my fictionwise ranking for my futurist novel, PROMISES TO KEEP as it rose, and rose, and rose... At this time I'm number one in the ROMANCE category and #8 overall in sales, which means that a lot of people have bought my book over the past couple of weeks.

http://www.Fictionwise.com/ebooks/RomanceEbooks.htm

This totally thrills me. One of the reasons for writing a book is to create a story to share with others and good sales means a lot of sharing.

My thanks to all of you who've contributed to those sales figures. It really makes me feel good knowing there are so many of you out there reading my stories.

I WON!!!

VIOLET AMONG THE ROSES by my alter ego Cricket Starr won the PRISM award for best erotica. This is an award of the Futurist, Fantasy, and Paranormal chapter of Romance Writers of America (FF&P of RWA for short). I'm still a little stunned and overwhelmed by the beautiful trophy I received, as well as how lovely everyone has been to me, including my most worthy competitor for the contest, Leigh Wyndfield. I read her book "In Heat" and believe me, I was worried.

Here is a lovely picture of the award together with a copy of my book.

Cheers!
Cricket/Janet

Reviews, reviews, reviews

The reviewers have spoken and they are happy and when reviewers are happy, I'm happy. I'm very, very happy.

I've updated the page for Promises To Keep with five outstanding reviews:

BJ Deese of ECataRomance

...Janet Miller has written a very entertaining love story, and I would recommend this to anyone who loves a good futuristic romance. Even though this setting is in the far away future, it is very believable, and Janet Miller has written a story that her readers will definitely enjoy and remember. I look forward to reading more of her stories.

Jean of Fallen Angels Review

...The writing is very good, and the plot is well-paced, keeping one's interest throughout. The female characters are smart and brave and willing to take the initiative, perfect complements for colonial men... I quite enjoyed it, and recommend it as a good summer read.

Five Rating! Cy of Romance Junkies

...Janet Miller creates a fascinating world and adventure. PROMISES
TO KEEP shows chivalry is still alive, and what is meant to be will win
in the end. Janet brings the characters to life and combines humor, tragedy,
and romance into one novel while staying within the bubble of believability.

Sinclair Reid of Romance Review Today

...Janet Miller weaves a tale of adventure, danger, and awakening passion in PROMISES TO KEEP. Her characters are captivating and the storyline intriguing. I hope there will be more about the people of Gaia.

Marlene Breakfield of Paranormal Romance

An entertaining science fiction romance with interesting characters
...When all's said and done, PROMISES TO KEEP is an enjoyable science
fiction romance which I can highly recommend.

In addition, I've gotten an excellent review of the Cricket Starr book, Echo In The Hall, which I've added over at the Cricket Starr website.

Katherine J. Turcotte for Romance Reviews Today

...ECHO IN THE HALL is a wonderful fantasy that transports the reader beyond the realm of classic mythology. The sexual intensity between Chloe and Alex is palpable and their everyday problems are real and believable. The addition of Aphrodite, Nemesis, and especially the sexually charged and enticing Pan, add just the right edge to a deliciously sexy book. ECHO IN THE HALL is filled to the brim with heart-pounding, searing sex and mesmerizing magical charm. I don’t think I will ever look at a mythical statue the same way again!

WOW!

Cheers!
Janet/Cricket

ECHO IN THE HALL is out!!!

I'm so pleased! My second book in the Divine Interventions series I'm doing for Ellora's Cave as Cricket Starr is now available. It's on the front page and everything: Ellora's Cave.

So if you feel like a nice little erotic romance about a lady statue looking for love, then this is the book to go buy.

Cheers!

Janet/Cricket

Promises To Keep is released!

I'm so excited that my first full novel in my futurist Gaian world is now released from New Concepts Publishing. Check out my publications page and read the excerpt for more information.

Cheers!
Janet

Great News

Hi all,



There are two pieces of good news. First of all, I've turned in my third Olympian story to Ellora's Cave. Since there are now three books, I have a series which I get to name: Divine Interventions. You see, all three books, Violet Among The Roses, Echo In The Hall, and Nemesis Of The Garden are tales about Aphrodite interfering in the affairs of others. She's a goddess, hence divine...you get the idea. So now if you go to the Ellora's Cave website and click on series, you will see an entry for Divine Interventions and that will lead to a page with Violet Among The Roses on it. In a few weeks, it will be joined by Echo In The Hall, probably in early July, then later this fall, Nemesis Of The Garden will join them.

The next bit of news is that my science fiction romance story, Promises To Keep has gone through final edits and is scheduled for a June release. Promises is the source book for my short story, "The Girl In The Box" and features Ganth's parents, Sarah and Garran Doranth.

There is a cover for it now...a lovely cover featuring the hero, Garran, who is quite the hunk as you can see on the right.

I've added an excerpt from my publications page.

VIOLET AMONG THE ROSES FINALED IN A CONTEST!!!

(Okay, I'm a little excited...)

My Cricket Starr erotica book has finalled in the PRISM contest, the published author's contest of the Fantasy, Futurist, and Paranormal chapter of Romance Writers Of America. Winners will be announced at the National Convention, but I already feel like a winner. This is a major thrill, especially since my name is listed with so many other authors that I really admire.

And I can put this on my website:


Is that cool, or WHAT?
Cheers,
Cricket (Janet)

Well, Dream Quest didn't win the PEARL...

BUT...
I had a great vacation in the South Pacific. Yes, that's me, modeling the latest in tropical attire.

And I've sold another book, this time to New Concepts Publishing. This is a futurist book, about a bunch of lonely colonists who need women...and decide to steal them from Earth, their arch-enemy. Read all about it in "Promises To Keep" coming from NCP.

Cheers,
Janet

What an HONOR! Dream Quest, which includes my short story The Girl In The Box is a finalist in the anthology category of the Paranormal Romance P.E.A.R.L. award! I'm so thrilled, I've been walking on air all weekend.

Please, if you are a member of the PNR readers list, be sure to go over there and vote. Oh, and if you could vote for Dream Quest, we'd sure appreciate it .

Well, I'm jazzed. I'd heard that the RT review of my first Ellora's Cave novel, Violet Among The Roses was really good, and I've been waiting for my Romantic Times magazine to show up so I could see what they said...

And it was nothing but good stuff:

"In Violet Among The Roses, much of the tale focuses on Narcissus's sexual awakening; his exploration of love, both the physical and emotional, is enlightening...the characters' development is on point, and the small amount of secondary characters add flavor."

This makes me happy.

First chapter of Violet at Cricket's home

Hi all,

It's the new year and stuff has been happening. I've sold a second novel to Ellora's Cave called ECHO IN THE HALL. This is the sequel to VIOLET AMONG THE ROSES, and will be the second book in my Modern Myths series. The story revolves around the statue of Echo that is mentioned in the first book. She gets turned human but needs to earn the love of a man to stay that way. Nemesis (who really would rather people call her Nina) is back to help her sister out. Publication is scheduled for this summer.

Another bit of news is that I've joined with three other authors from Ellora's Cave in starting a quarterly newsletter called Femme Fatales. We're going to have a contest with four prizes just for signing up!

The following is our official announcement:

Ellora's Cave authors - Delilah Devlin, Ashley Ladd, Myra Nour, and Cricket Starr - are debuting their group newsletter on February 1st. Members will receive news about their books, review snippets, excerpts, and personal tidbits. The newsletter will be released once a quarter, with an exciting group contest in each issue.

Sign up for Femme Fatales Newsletter and get a chance at these fabulous prizes:

An exquisite Russian lacquer jewerly box
A lovely gift basket
A gorgeous crystal collectible with leaping dolphins in the center
A beautiful violet flower candle surrounded by roses, plus assorted other goodies.

Four member names will be drawn as winners at 9pm central on February 1st. Subscribe by going to the yahoogroup website Femme Fatales or by sending email to femme_fatales-subscribe@yahoogroups.com . Don't miss this opportunity for a chance at some exciting gifts, and a way to keep up with four talented authors and what they are up to!

Happy Holidays!!!

This has been a fabulous year for me, between my regular life (family doing fine, job doing great) and my writing life (three short stories and a novel published). I feel very, very blessed for all the good things that have happened. I've been working on my Cricket Starr website to update it with all the wonderful reviews I've gotten for both VIOLET AMONG THE ROSES and THE DOLL, my sensual romances published by Ellora's Cave.

I put up my short story, "Just a Little Christmas" on the samples page last week, but I forgot to mention that my novel, A CHRISTMAS WITH SARAH has been on sale over at Fictionwise for $3.25 this month. Now that's a real bargain!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and a fabulous New Year.

Cheers!
Janet Miller/Cricket Starr

In honor of the season, I've put up on my samples page a short story I wrote last year called "Just A Little Christmas". It's about a woman and a man and the broken old Christmas tree that brings them together.

I hope you all like it.

Cheers,
Janet

Wyrd Wravings got it first review:
Romance Review Today and my story was mentioned as being one of the reviewer's favorites! YAY!!!

Another anthology has been released, WYRD WRAVINGS, which includes my short story, "The Woman Who Couldn't Say No."

Evelyn is an over-committer, who is forever volunteering to help others. One day she tries a past-life regression tape and discovers that she was once a wise-woman who promised a chieftain to help defend their village. She died that day, but the chieftain follows her to the future and insists she fullfill her promise. Death is no longer an excuse!

Check it out!

DREAM QUEST is available!!!

The anthology Dream Quest containing my short story "The Girl In The Box" as well as stories by Megan Sybil Baker, Rosemary Laurey, C.B. Scott and J.C. Wilder, is now available from LTD Books. Be sure to check it out on my publication's page, read the excerpt, and play the Treasure Quest game... the treasure hunt ends on September 30!

Cricket Starr has a website: www.cricketstarr.com!

My erotica writing alter-ego has opened her own shop where you can find information about her stories, including links to some really great reviews.

Enjoy!

Oh, My, GOODNESS!!!

My first Ellora's Cave publication, THE DOLL, is already available for sale over at Ellora's Cave! This is a short story about a woman who finds a wooden figure in a curio shop that reminds her of a doll she owned as a child...but there is nothing childish about the invisible lover who visits her once she'd taken it home! Look for THE DOLL by Cricket Starr and read the excerpt at Ellora's Cave.

I'm pleased, proud, and thrilled to announce that in the past few months I've sold to a major player in the ebook business, Ellora's Cave. My first story is a "quickie" called THE DOLL that will be published in the next few weeks and my first novel, VIOLET AMONG THE ROSES, will be out later this fall, both under my pen-name Cricket Starr.

Ellora's Cave has received the distinction of becoming the first ebook publisher to gain recognition by the Romance Writers of America, and it pleases me no end to be published by them.