Betsy Horvath

Everybody has a story.

Category: HOLD ME

  • HOLD ME is live! Again!

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    Well, I am both happy and relieved to let you know that, in between shoveling the massive amounts of snow falling on the Palatial Horvath Estate over the last week or two, I was able to set up everything I needed to re-release my first book, Hold Me.

    That’s right – the book that launched me on my author journey lives again! I actually got the rights for it back at the beginning of 2020, but then, well… 2020.

    But now it’s finally out again as an ebook and a paperback.  The ebook should be available on most stores as I write this post. The paperback takes longer to get into the system so it’s still percolating through. But soon it will be available for purchase, download, or order pretty much everywhere. (more…)

  • When Mom Read My Book

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    Today is my mother’s 83rd birthday. It occurred to me recently that I don’t talk about my mother much here on the blog. If I’m talking about a parent, it tends to be my father. That might be because I’m in the throes of things with my mother, but I have the benefit of distance with my father.

    But I don’t want you to think that I don’t love her, because I do. And I don’t want you to think that she’s not an important part of my life, because she is.

    Mom is a huge reader, and when I was writing my book I knew that she would want to read it if it ever got published. The thought made me choke a little bit – I couldn’t go some of the places the characters were taking me because I kept picturing my mother reading it later. I mean, my book isn’t erotica or anything, but I was still shy about having my mother read sex scenes I’d written. It was a real problem until I metaphorically stuck my fingers in my ears, closed my eyes, and pretended nobody else would ever see it but me.

    Then my book got accepted by Carina Press. Hooray! Then my book came out and was available for sale. Hooray! And Mom wanted to read it. Ummm…. well…. okay….

    I thought I was safe because it was an digital book and she doesn’t have an e-reader. I made various excuses not to lend her my Kindle (well you know, Mom, I use my Kindle ALL the time...). I knew she wouldn’t want to listen to the audio book. Safety!

    Until one of her neighbors, who has a Kindle, told her that she had bought my book and liked it. She asked Mom if she wanted to borrow the Kindle and read it. And Mom, of course, said yes.

    Here’s the conversation we had when she told me she was going to read my book-

    Me: You know, Mom, there’s pretty much cursing in there.

    Mom: Oh, I know curse words.

    Me: And you know, there are, um, sex scenes.

    Mom: Oh, I know sex.

    AACK!!! TMI!

    So, Mom read the book and she really liked it. Well, that’s what she told me anyway. It happened that when she finished, I was a little down because I’d just gotten a rather nasty 1 star review on Audible. She said, “well I liked it. I would give it 5 stars. Okay, maybe 4 and a half.”

    Thanks Mom! LOL

    Ironically, she really liked the sex scenes. I’m glad she wasn’t bothered by them, although it does disturb me in a part of my soul I will not acknowledge to know that my mother enjoyed sex scenes I wrote. She didn’t especially like the foul potty-mouth language, but I warned her so she only has herself to blame there.

    And the advantage of the whole thing is that I’m not nearly so shy about writing whatever happens in the story now. I figure I’ve gotten the worst out of the way.

    She still doesn’t have an e-reader, but when HOLD ME gets printed for the direct to consumer program I’ll be able to give her a print copy of the book for her own. I’ll even autograph it for her.

    Dear Mom,

    Thanks for everything.

    Love, Betsy

    Happy Birthday, Mom!

     

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  • A Post About The Book(s)

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    This is just a quick post to keep you updated on the ebb and flow of my book life.

    First of all, I  have to mention that my romantic suspense novel, HOLD ME, is STILL available for sale at Carina Press,  Amazon, Barnes and Noble or pretty much anywhere you can buy e-books. It’s also available as an audio book from Audible. Just in case you were wondering.  No…no reason…

    For my Harlequin friends, I wanted to tell you that HOLD ME will be part of the Harlequin mystery and romantic suspense program in July or August (I’m not entirely sure which month). This is a direct to consumer program, which means that people who have subscribed receive a certain number of mystery and/or romantic suspense books per month. And mine’s going to be one of them!

    That’s really exciting. It means the book will be printed and made available to a whole new audience who would not necessarily purchase it as a digital book. I’ll get a few printed copies (and I’ll be able to give one to my mother), but it won’t be for sale as a print book in bookstores at this point.

    A few people have asked if I hope to write a sequel, and the answer is yes. I would like to write THRILL ME and KISS ME (shocking titles, no?) for a trilogy. There’s no guarantee they’d ever get published, but I’d still like to write them. The book on which I am currently working is NOT the sequel, because I wanted to work with different characters. Of course, now that I find out HOLD ME was picked up for this mystery and romantic suspense program thing, I kind of wish I’d started on the sequel right away so it would be ready to submit. Ah, well. The best laid plans…

    Once I have a break in my writing schedule, I’m going to update the Extras page with copies of some of the posts I wrote for other people’s blogs during my release week blog tour.  Hey, better late than never. I’ll also post more short stories (once I write them). I’m sure that Katie, Luc and Spot will feature prominently.

    Finally, I’d like to ask you a favor. If you’ve read HOLD ME, please consider ranking and/or reviewing it on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Audible or wherever you found it. When readers rank or review a book, it really does help word of mouth. I hope you enjoyed the book if you read it (obviously), but please be honest in your rankings and any comments you might want to make. Unless you’re my sister. Then you have to give it 5 stars.  I’m kidding. 5 1/2.

    So, that’s what’s going on! I’ll keep you updated as things develop.

    And now, back to our normally scheduled paranoia…

     

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  • Random Notes

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    These are a few random things I keep forgetting to tell you. You know how I am.

    First – to everyone who has read my book or wants to read my book, THANK YOU! Seriously. And thank you for your support and well-wishes. If you’ve, um, supported and well-wished me. LOL

    Next – to everyone who has taken the time to review my book on Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, or wherever, THANK YOU! I appreciate all of the trouble you’ve gone to. (more…)

  • Release Week Reflections

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    As you may have guessed from this blog post, release week made me a little manic. There has just been so much to do, so many people to talk to, so many comments to be made and answered. I actually felt my heart palpitating at work one day when the stress of the day job met the stress of the release. So I decided it was time to stop, sit down, and reflect on things a little bit. (more…)

  • RELEASE DAY!

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    It’s Release Day!

     

    HOLD ME

    by Betsy Horvath

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  • The Cover Has Landed

    Just a short post today, to say… I have an official cover for the book!!!  And here it is:

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