by Cassidy K. O’Connor

I’ve been an avid reader since high school; my favorite genre was and still is historical romances. During that time I had all kinds of ideas about what my future husband would be like. Never in those dreams did I imagine I would end up marrying someone who hates to read! Ironically I married my high school sweetheart and fifteen years later we’re still going strong. In all that time I can honestly say I’ve only seen him read one book in its entirety and that’s it. Just over a year ago I got the brilliant notion that I could write an erotic story that would keep his attention and maybe even get him a little randy. I wrote the book quickly then sat on it for months; I didn’t have the nerve to give it to him. What if he didn’t like it? A few months ago my sister and I went to New York for a getaway and met up with one of her Indie author friends for dinner. Listening to them talk about the world of self-publishing I grew intrigued. After that I decided to give the story to both my husband and my sister, waiting for their response was harder than I imagined. Thankfully they both came back with positive comments and my sister encouraged me to try self-publishing. It took another month to edit the book, come up with cover art and create a social media persona to work with. I honestly had no idea how much work it all would entail, luckily both my sisters have been helping other Indie authors for a while so they helped me a ton! The book has been out for a month now and is slowly gaining traction, I admit the book is pretty good but I immediately had a fire within me to start book 2. I was consumed with the story line and in just two short weeks I had almost the entire book written. What a completely different experience it was too. I wrote book 1 for my husband, I really geared it towards what he would like to read. Book 2 is all about the ladies, I wrote exactly what we want to read. I am so in love with this story and my characters that I am bursting at the seams to get it out there. When I finished writing the book I actually had tears in my eyes because I was so happy for Jake and Chelsea, I will truly miss writing about them every day. Over the last few months I’ve heard a lot about how other authors write and sometimes I feel very intimidated because I don’t do it like them and I wonder if I’m doing it all wrong. I eventually shut that little voice up because I realize there is no right or wrong way, it’s only wrong to not try at all. Many authors post about their playlists they use during writing – not me I like it completely silent. I actually can’t write much on the weekends because the kids and hubby are here and driving me to distraction. Most of my writing is done during the day while the kids are at school which can get very tricky because I also have a full time day job where I’m lucky to be able to work from home. Balancing the two can get exhausting. A lot of authors also create entire personas about each character; map out the entire storyline etc. I’ve seen Pinterest boards dedicated to an author’s character. This style of writing impresses me, I feel like they have all their shit together. I can’t write like that, when I sit down to write I just let it flow out of me. Of course I have a mental picture of what my characters look like but I don’t like to get overly descriptive. I think readers enjoy piecing together what they look like too and I don’t want to take that from them. When I sent book 1 off to my editor I was giddy until I received it back. It was so covered in red it instantly brought me back to my high school days. It turns out I like to use the word ‘but’ a lot, like 120 times! This was a bizarre habit I had no idea I had, after a few iterations we had a completed book. Next came the book cover, it turns out this is the hardest part of the entire process for me. The pressure of knowing you have to catch a reader’s eye off of one glance is scary as hell. I also don’t have hundreds of dollars to spend on a cover artist. Lucky for me my husband read a couple of articles on book design and we managed to create one on our own. It’s not bad for a couple of novices trying it for the first time! If I had anything to do over again I would have made book 1 longer, it is a truly short story. I took that feedback from my reviews and almost doubled book 2. I finished book 2 a couple of days ago and sent it to my editor, I received a text last night from her. She was gushing about this being one of her favorite books ever; she is so in love with Jake Reynolds she couldn’t get the huge goofy grin off her face. I was thrilled to hear this, I’m glad she got all of the emotions out of it that I wanted to express. She also told me that I had learned a lot between the two books and there won’t be nearly as many red marks this time! The cover art is still my most dreaded task, after a ton mock ups and begging opinions from my sisters I think I’ve finally got that set too. My goal is to have the book out by October 1st; I can’t wait to share it with the world. There is no better feeling than creating something on your own and having the confidence to share it.

Meet Cassidy K. O’Connor:

I’m a born and raised Floridian who loves to travel. I married my high school sweetheart, we have three awesome kids and one crazy dog. I love all things Ireland and visited twice! Reading is essential to life and writing is an extension of that. If my books can make you laugh or give you that tingly feeling in your belly I’ve done something right!

Cassidy K. O’Connor Web Tracks:

Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page

Cassidy K. O’Connor on All The Things Inbetween:

Books:

The Evolution of Sam Synopsis:

Sam Dalton is a confirmed bachelor with few attachments in this world until he meets Keara. New to his building she slowly takes over his every waking thought. Has he finally found the one who can tame him into submission?

Keara is the newest member of the Laochra Gra, a clan of faery women whose mission is to save mortal men from the Lianhan Shee by uniting them with their Soul Mates. Are her newly acquired powers strong enough to teach him the art of pleasuring a woman and preparing him for his soul mate?

Purchase The Evolution of Sam:

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The Evolution of Sam Excerpt:

[Warning :Explicit]

I wake up and my first thought is of her. We had so much fun at the party last night and I was really hoping to get lucky, but I came home alone. She is quickly becoming an addiction for me. I can’t wait to see her again. I can’t go empty handed, so I run down the block to the bakery.  I pick up a couple of cinnamon rolls, croissants, bagels and since I don’t know what she drinks I grab a coffee, tea, and a hot chocolate. I rush back to the building praying the whole time she’s there. I knock and hear her call out she’ll be right there. I wait patiently and get rewarded when she opens the door. She’s only wearing an Emerald green robe that matches her eyes perfectly. I wish I had woken up next to her this morning to see if she always looks this perfect.

“Good morning Sam, have you brought me another present?”

“I wasn’t sure what you liked so I brought you one of everything”

“That is very sweet of you, this pleases me very much. Come in and make yourself comfortable”

© Cassidy K. O’Connor. The Evolution of Sam. 2014.

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