MyRomanceStory in the Apple App Store
Arrow Publications is please to say we’re part of the app revolution. Earlier this year we began formatting our e-book collection for the iPhone, so if you enjoy our romance graphic novels, then there truly is an app for you. As we’ve detailed before, our road to the App Store was rocky. We had already decided to edit our stories for a more general audience, which meant removing some love scenes. The feedback we received from Apple on some panels was basically, "there is something wrong with this panel but we’re not telling you what it is." We were pretty sure they were talking about S-E-X, but since these are graphic novels so we weren’t sure if there was too much sex in the text or the image. Eventually we seemed to get the balance right for Apple and our titles sailed through the review process. It also helped that Apple offered parental controls for their apps. Selected MyRomanceStory titles can be downloaded from the Apple App Store starting at only $0.99. In addition to some changes in content, the stories have been reformatted for the iPhone’s screen. Comments from readers have been positive. They tell us the images are crisp, the colors are vibrant and the text is easy to read. See the New Releases section of this issue for available titles. You can also search for our titles in the App Store by keywords “myromancestory” or “romance story”. If you don’t have an iPhone you can still purchase our stories as ebooks at www.myromancestory.com/eBooks/. Selected stories are also available in paperback. T. N. King National Author's Day We knew it...we knew it...we blew it. With all the last minute fittings for our Halloween costumes the staff at MyRomanceStory did not give November 1, 2009, the attention it deserves. Of course we’re talking about the 80th anniversary of National Author's Day. This national celebration came about through the efforts of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, an international women's organization dedicated to community improvement by enhancing the lives of others through volunteer service. The Illinois Federation of Women’s Clubs made the proposal for a National Author’s Day. The group wanted to “show patriotism, loyalty and appreciation of the men and woman who made American literature possible.” They hoped to encourage new authors by this event, too. In June 1929, the GFWC passed a resolution at their Biennial Council meeting to designate November 1 as an annual observance recognizing the contributions to literature by American authors. While our thanks are a day late, they are still sincere. In fact, we think showing our appreciation for authors should be a month-long celebration. So, we want to thank all authors who write the books that expand our knowledge and keep us entertained. And, we offer a special thanks to the talented men and woman who write for MyRomanceStory.com. We hope everyone will take this month to rediscover their favorite authors and to discover the talents of new ones. We would like to also thank Gail McCormick, GFWC-WHRC Director, for providing background on National Author's Day. The Women's History and Resource Center (WHRC) collects, preserves, interprets, and promotes the history of the GFWC and women volunteers. National Novel Writing Month
Chris Baty, NaNoWriMo Founder and Program Director, says this is, "a wonderful way of opening up your imagination and unleashing creative potential like nothing else." The event has inspired some real success stories. Best selling author, Sarah Gruen, began Water for Elephants as a NaNoWriMo novel. Visit www.nanowrimo.org to join other writers for the NaNoWriMo challenge. Last year, there were more than 119,000 participants of which some 21,000 met their 50,000 word goal. From Discover Your Romance Signs™
Find out how the Scorpio woman pairs with all the other hunks on the Zodiac. Which one is her dream mate? And which one will offer the most romantic relationship? The answers are in the stars, so read more of Discover Your Romance Signs at MyRomanceStory.com. In the Winner’s Circle Congratulations to Tara Woods the latest grand prizewinner in our Ladies’ Night In Contest. Tara, who is a single, lives in Alabama. She tells us that her friends would describe her as fun loving, loyal, and a great listener. On a night-in she loves ordering pizza and watching old movies. A fun night-out would include dinner and a movie, too. When asked if she was romantic, she gave us a definite, “Yes.” She went on to say that when she’s in a relationship, she tries to do things to make her boyfriend feel special. We hope winning the Ladies’ Night In contest will make Tara feel special, too. Tara tells us that she entered the Ladies’ Night In contest because it was fun. She loves reading our graphic novels and had her fingers crossed that she might win. For her grand prize she receives a copy of The Memoirs of Mary Queen of Scots by Carolly Erickson; a gift certificate for a Negril Highlight Tour for two from Trevor Tours Jamaica; a gift card from BedandBreakfast.com and $250 in cash. Tara is thinking ahead to how she will use her BedandBreakfast.com gift card. She says she might use it during race weekend at Talladega or for a getaway to recharge and do a little shopping. Our next grand prize will be announced the week of January 4. 2010. Remember all you need to do is Read to Win!
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Two New Contests at MyRomanceStory.com Paperback $1,000 Grand Prize Giveaway
More than $2,000 in total prizes:
Valentine’s Day Contest
For Valentine’s Day, we want to hear about your TRUE stories of love or woe. So touch our hearts with a romantic story with the happiest of endings or tickle our funny bones with a twisted tale of dating disasters. Our readers—and all of your friends and family—will vote for their favorite stories. When you visit our Valentine’s Day contest pages you can see how the votes are stacking up. The five stories that receive the most votes will advance to the final round. Then our editors will review and rank them to select one grand prize winner, second and third place winners and two runners up. Visit the Valentine's Day contest pages for rules and a list of prizes. Start writing today and your story could be our grand prize winner! From MyRomanceStory Blog Set the World on Fire
Read more at MyRomanceStory Blog.
Our Latest Romance Poll To Know Him is to Love Him!
The question was simple enough: And the answers surprised us. Many romance writers and readers have called Rebecca, a romance classic, so we thought this question might result in some interesting numbers. To our surprise, the results were nearly split between Max being "the Perfect Lover" and voters being unfamiliar with the novel.
We aren't the only ones to consider the book a masterpiece. In Classics for Pleasure, Michael Dirda describes Rebecca as, "a far more complex work of art than commonly believed, being one of the half-dozen greatest romance novels of the century and a subtle undercutting of the whole romance genre." Maybe that description in itself provides the answer to why 38-percent of voters didn't know the book or its hero. Rebecca, published in 1938, is a classic of the last century. Many of the classic heroes of this century are vampires. Perhaps the 38-percent that didn't know Maxim might have known who we were talking about if we'd asked about Bill Compton from Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels or Edward Cullen from Stephenie Meyer' Twilight series. If you are unfamiliar with the book or the movie version of Rebecca, we still think both are worth discovering. Until then we promise we won't ask you anything about Mrs. Danvers!
Romance Continues to Sell Best Selling Romance Novels
Born of Night Windfall: Impulse Temptation A Courtesan's Scandal |
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MyRomanceStory Graphic Novels — Now Available at the Apps for iPhone Store Now you can enjoy MyRomanceStory graphic novels on your iPhone. Purchase your favorite MyRomanceStory graphic novels at the Apple Apps Store. Use the links below to go directly to that title in the Apps Store. (Please note these links will open in your iTunes software.) We will be adding more titles over the coming weeks, so check MyRomanceStory.com for the current list of MyRomanceStory iPhone titles. |
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More formats available Take MyRomanceStory Graphic Novels everywhere you go—on your iPhone...on your laptop...in your purse! |
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If you watch television these days you know that “There’s an app for that,” has practically become a catchword on the scale of “Where’s the beef”. And people aren’t just talking about apps—they are buying them. In September, Apple announced that more than two billion apps had been downloaded from its App Store. That includes more than half a billion apps during the last three months. 
November 1 is also the start of National Novel Writing Month, a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1 with the goal of writing a 175-page (50,000-word) novel from start to finish by midnight, November 30. It is all about quantity of writing not quality. Quality can come later when you turn your attention to editing and rewriting. You may want to check out our 
In This Month's Spotlight: Scorpio (October 23rd – November 21st)
It is easy to enter our Paperback $1,000 Grand Prize Giveaway. 
Tell us about your Special Cupid or your Stupid Cupid
I just had an interesting thought. A romance usually is an intimate, even a domestic story. Often, it’s about women who are quite content to be anonymous in their world—known by relatives, friends, and coworkers, but with no ambitions to achieve the kind of significance on the world stage that would lead them to become best buddies, say, with Michelle Obama. 
Yet the hero of the romance might be an international player, a famous man who has met the movers and shakers of the world and is known and even reviled by millions for his sharp business dealings. That’s an old-style Harlequin favorite: sheer power with no apologies. American heroes tend to be more PC. But my point is that, except for the occasional romance in which the heroine is a famous actress or model, she is usually a nobody...
Some time ago, Poison Ivy wrote a blog article entitled, "
Guess we jumped to conclusions assuming everyone knew this book. The first chapter includes one of fiction's greatest openings, "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again." Certainly Maxim and the unnamed heroine would be familiar, if not from the book, then from the movie. But we were wrong!
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