Archive for category promo events

five things on friday: BEA and Save the Date

Jun 7

Posted by kate in conventions, five things, interviews, promo events, save the date, What There Is | 2 Comments

Weekly wrap-up!

1. Save the Date came out on Tuesday! It is now available at most ebook retailers. *dances*

2. It’s Kate McMurray Week at the Armchair Reader. Cole has bravely embarked on the task of reading my entire backlist. We also did an interview that was posted yesterday. Follow the link to all of the posts and leave a comment on the interview to win a copy of the book.

3. Other places I have been this week:

• I wrote a post for the All Romance eBooks cafe blog for Pride Month
• I guest-posted at Charlie Cochet’s Purple Rose Tea House.
• Today I’m at Flirty Author Bitches.

*The last two are stops on the Big Gay Wedding tour. Leave a comment at either to be entered to win a copy of Save the Date.

4. I missed posting last Friday because I was at Book Expo America. It was an interesting experience. Plenty of people have wrapped it up better than me, but I can tell you what I did there, which was a) sweat a lot because, as a friend of mine said, it was hot as balls outside; b) gave away a ton of books at the Dreamspinner booth; c) got some really amazing books and ARCs from around the exhibition hall; d) made some good editorial contacts; e) hung out with some awesome people; f) fangirled on some authors; g) saw celebrities, including Chelsea Handler, Julianne Moore, and Grumpy Cat.

5. I’m currently working on edits for What There Is, a short novella coming out this summer. It started out as a baseball story, but it ended up being about a former baseball player who wants to find something else to do with his life. It’s been a little bit of a struggle because I’ve been out for the count with a nasty cold most of the week, but I’m feeling much better today so I can concentrate on these edits. I saw a cover mock up yesterday and it’s gorgeous.

And that’s a wrap for this week. See you next week!

The Next Big Thing

Jan 2

Posted by kate in promo events, save the date | No Comments

I was tagged by Zahra Owens to participate in the Next Big Thing blog tour. So read in to learn a little more about one of my works in progress!

What is the working title of your book?
Save the Date

Where did the idea come from for the book?
Funny story! A couple of months ago, I got the invitation to the wedding of my ex-boyfriend. I joked on Twitter that, if my life were a romance novel, I’d go to the wedding and meet the love of my life. And thus a plot bunny was born! (The book is about a man who has to find a date for his ex’s wedding, and he does end up going and learning something about himself in the process. If you’re curious, I ended up not going to the wedding.)

What genre does your book fall under?
It’s a romantic comedy novella.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie?
I don’t cast my books because I picture my characters, I don’t picture actors playing them. But for the sake of this exercise, let’s pick some actors. My hero, Tristan, could be played by Ryan Gosling. I think his sporty love interest might be played by Chris Evans. I mean, assuming they’d play gay. ;)

What is a one sentence synopsis of your book?
Tristan needs a date for his ex’s dreaded wedding and when he’s looking, he finds love in an unexpected place.

Will your book be self published or represented by an agency?
I’m not currently represented by an agent (I’m hoping that will change in 2013, actually) but this one is already earmarked for a publisher I have a relationship with.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
One week. (Don’t hate me. The first draft was 29,000 words. And I’m only now, six weeks later, wrapping up revisions.)

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I’m not sure. It’s really more an homage to romantic comedy movies and is meant to be light and funny and kind of like every Julia Roberts movie you’ve ever seen. There isn’t a lot of comedy in this genre (that I’m aware of) but the first author who came to mind when I thought of m/m comedies was Ethan Day. His books are all both heartfelt and hilarious.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?
That whole wedding thing was a major inspiration, obviously. These are also some regular-guy characters; both heroes have regular jobs, hang out in a sports bar, love football. I like to play with character types you don’t see a lot in the genre, so here are some guy’s guys who just happen to be gay.

What else about your book might interest the reader?
It’s set partly in New York and partly in Boston. It’s also really about letting go of the past more than anything else; Tristan goes to his ex’s wedding and has to figure out how to deal with the hand he’s been dealt without lingering in what used to be any longer.

If all goes to plan, Save the Date will be available by wedding season this spring. :D

I tagged a few people, so if they follow through and post their blogs, I’ll add their links below when the posts go live.

big news, small news

Apr 17

Posted by kate in baseball, out in the field, promo events | 1 Comment

Joe Mauer can't help but be adorable.Lots of things to talk about! Today’s post shall be sponsored by the adorable Twins’ catcher Joe Mauer, because I think all posts for the next couple of weeks should be accompanied by photos of hot baseball players.

• Last week’s Beat Your Winter Blues was over at JP Barnaby’s, and we discussed our favorite first signs of spring. There’s still time to enter to win the grand prize!

• You can head on over to Chris’s blog to win a copy of Out in the Field!

• I’m doing some website tweaking. Thanks to my friends Stacy and Alexis for helping me come up with a tagline, which is something I have been agonizing over for a while. I do sweat the small stuff sometimes, I guess. My writers group has been referring to my books as “baseball and gay sex” since before I was published, which, while accurate, is not the catchiest of taglines.

• I wrote a short story for the Goodreads M/M Group‘s Love Is Always Write event. I believe that will be available for (free!) download in late May or early June.

Out in the Field will be out a week from today! I’ve booked a trip on a mini blog tour, so I’m gonna be all up in your face for the next few weeks. :)

Beat Your Winter Blues with a Bonus

Mar 14

Posted by kate in promo events | No Comments

Two posts this week! First, head on over to ZAM’s, where we discussed places we’d send our readers on a mid-winter getaway. (I’m making everyone come to Brooklyn, which is wonderful in the spring. We’ve had really awesome weather the last couple of days, too.)

Then head on over to Clare London’s, where the authors discussed St. Patrick’s Day.

Remember that commenting can get you entered into the big grand prize drawing, so be sure to check out all the posts on the tour!

coming attractions

Mar 10

Posted by kate in four corners, out in the field, promo events | No Comments

I had an especially prolific period last spring and summer, and that seems to bearing out in fruitful ways! I’ve updated the website with the sneakiest of sneak peaks of TWO upcoming books by yours truly.

This is Cap Anson, one of the greatest baseball players of the late 19th century and also owner of a fantastic handlebar mustache.

Out in the Field, a contemporary romance between two major-league baseball players, will be available from Loose Id on April 24th. (The link will take you to the under-construction book page, at which you can read a blurb.) It’s a fun story, but there’s a lot of heart in it, too. (And a lot of baseball, but my beta reader ensures me that a lack of knowledge of the sport will not prevent one from enjoying the novel.)

Also, the ink is drying on a contract for what, on Twitter, I called an angsty friends-to-lovers contemporary set in Chicago. I think that about sums it up. There’s a little blurb on the Upcoming page. That’s due out August/September-ish. I’ll talk more about that when we get closer to the release date.

The reading at Lady Jane’s Salon on Monday went pretty well, I thought. (I’ve had A WEEK, so I haven’t had time to write about it sooner than now.) I may have a couple of photos to post soon. I will say that it is a very strange experience to get up in front of a bunch of people who don’t know you and figure out how to charm them. I’m not a shy person and I’ve done a fair amount of public speaking, but I’m not the sort of person who gets a thrill from being on stage, so really, “nothing bad happening” was my goal. I can’t judge my own reading, but I got enough positive feedback to convince me I did all right.

I’m reading again at the Rainbow Book Fair in NYC, which is two weeks from today. If you are anywhere in the greater New York metropolitan area, you should come by. A lot of great authors will be there. (I’m actually probably the most excited about that—a bunch of authors I really like are coming to my fair city for a weekend, so I can be a fangirl without having to pay for more than subway fare.)

So that’s all the news fit to print around here. Now I’m off to start making a book trailer for Out in the Field!

Beat Your Winter Blues Kate McMurray Giveaway Winner!

Feb 27

Posted by kate in promo events | No Comments

A day late but no less cool! I used random.org to draw a number from the comments, and that commenter will win either a signed print copy of The Boy Next Door or the ebook of their choice from my backlist. That winner is:

Liam Grey

*throws confetti*

Liam, you can either contact me directly at kate (at) katemcmurray.com with your preferences or I will send you an email this evening.

You’re all still in the grand prize drawing, too! Thanks so much for stopping by last week!

serendipity

Feb 25

Posted by kate in promo events, the boy next door | No Comments

Here’s an odd coincidence:

I’m reading at Lady Jane’s Salon on March 5. (Lady Jane’s is New York City’s only romance reading series. It’s at 7pm at Madame X on Houston and you should totally come!) On Thursday, I got a big box delivered that contains the books I’ll be selling at the reading. And then Thursday night, I picked up my mail and saw I got my copy of Romance Writers Report, which is RWA’s magazine, and lo, there is an article called “The Art of Reading Aloud” by Janet Mullany, which features quotes from some of the Lady Jane’s founders on how to do a reading.

It’s like someone knew!

I’m not a stranger to public speaking, but I’ve only done one other public reading, and that was small potatoes and also almost two years ago, so this is making me a teensy bit nervous. Actually, right now, I’m agonizing over which scene to read. I’ll be reading from The Boy Next Door because it just came out in paperback. I’ve got it narrowed down to the first chapter, the scene where Lowell and Jase meet again for the first time, or the scene when Lowell and Jase have dinner right up until Jase finally comes clean and they kiss for the first time, because that is one of my favorite scenes in the novel. (Uh, if any of you have read the book and have alternate suggestions, I’m open to them!)

It’s funny; I go back and forth on whether it’s less scary to talk in front of a room of people I know or a room full of strangers. The Lady Jane’s crowd will be a mix of both, I think. I’m not an especially shy person, and I’ve had to give speeches in front of large groups of people before, but, I don’t know, there’s something different about reading your own writing.

Also, I’m trying to decide if this is a good excuse to buy a new party dress. :)

In other news, I designed new business cards for myself and I’m really happy with how they came out. They’re printed on really nice paper and I can’t stop touching them because I’m dweeby that way.

Beat Your Winter Blues: Authors by the Fireside

Feb 22

Posted by kate in promo events | 26 Comments


January–April 2012

I’m thrilled to be hosting the Beat Your Winter Blues Blog Tour this week! I’ve got Heidi Cullinan, Ellis Carrington, JL Merrow, and Andrew Grey talking about our hearths and homes this week. Remember that commenting on any BYWB post gets you entered into the big grand prize drawing at the end of April and commenting this week can win you a shiny signed print copy of my novel The Boy Next Door or an e-copy of any book from my backlist! (Comment by the end of the day Saturday and I’ll announce the winner Sunday!)

And don’t miss these! Ellis Carrington’s Immortal Valentine; JL Merrow’s Midnight in Berlin and a story in Dreamspinner’s Two Tickets to Paradise Anthology.

Let’s hear what the authors have to say: Read the rest of this entry »

Beat Your Winter Blues this week!

Feb 16

Posted by kate in baseball, out in the field, promo events | No Comments

We are over at JL Merrow’s talking about Valentine’s Day! You can saunter on over there to learn how February 14th is somehow my own personal Bad Luck Day. By some miracle, I manage to escape relatively unscathed this year, although I’m getting over a cold, so that made it maybe not as pleasant as it could have been. (But there was chocolate!)

Actually, things kind of worked out on one front. My 3-year-old Kindle finally gave up the ghost. I called customer service to see if there was anything they could do; my old one was long out of warrantee, but I paid them a surprisingly low amount for a replacement and by whatever voodoo magic Amazon works with UPS, I’ve got that sucker in my hot little hands already. And, since the blue cover I wanted was sold out, I decided to buy a hot pink cover for it, so it’s a couple of sparkly butterfly stickers short of being the girliest e-reader ever.

And it looks like my baseball novel, still titled Out in the Field because I haven’t come up with a better title, will be out at the end of April. Out in the real MLB, pitchers and catchers are reporting for spring training this week, so that thing you smell in the air is the impending baseball season. I, for one, am pretty excited for that.

news

Feb 8

Posted by kate in promo events, the boy next door, vanity | No Comments

Two blog posts in one day! Crazy! Let’s do it in bullet points this time.

  • It’s Beat Your Winter Blues tour day again. This week we’re at Ellis Carrington’s blog talking about where we’d go if we could leave right now. Hop on over for information on how to win books, or leave a comment to be entered into the big drawing, a $200 gift card.
  • I blogged today at the RWANYC blog about how to write a love scene. (The title of the post “No Gratuitous Sex” is a leeetle misleading; look, I’m all in favor of gratuitous sex, but my point about writing love scenes in romance novels is that each scene should have a purpose. Go read the post for more.)
  • Speaking of Lady Jane’s Salon, it looks like I’ll be reading there next month, so if you’re in the NYC area on Monday March 5th, stop by! (I believe I will be reading from The Boy Next Door to celebrate its recent paperback release!) I’ll have more details about that soon. (I just confirmed it this morning, so I’m all buzzing with excitement and nervousness. This is only the second reading I’ve done… ever.)