You guys, we have Katie Porter with us! Again! We can’t get rid of her! 😉 Well, the Lorelie Brown half. But that’s ok because we like her. Right? … Right?!?! 😉 [Yeah. I am in a mood apparently.]

Bare Knuckle is Great
By Katie Porter

Okay, you guys, so Carrie and I set up these little formatted templates when we’re writing up a handful of blogs at once, right? Makes life easier to be organized. (I also write To-Do Lists, and color coordinate things and I used to be one of those girls who bought a new planner every year, before smartphones.) Then we each take a handful of them. (And I always get Lime’s place, because I lurve her like hotcakes.) Oh good to know – I was wondering/thought Carrie didn’t like me or something >.> Which… actually still might be true. Fuck. So Carrie sent me the template for the stop here at Lime’s, and she stuck a placeholder title on it: “Bare Knuckle is Great.”

I laughed.

Because gosh, isn’t it so silly that we’d say our own book is great? I mean, people don’t really do that, right? If I had said things like that growing up, I’d have heard it about bragging and how “people” don’t boast. Or I’d have heard something along the lines of “well, sure, that one’s great, but have you started working on the next one yet? Maybe you should think about addressing XYZ in it…?” All as a matter of being helpful, naturally. Uh-huh. So helpful to undercut someone’s pride.

I don’t think it’s even that “people” don’t boast. I think the problem is that women don’t boast. Even when we should.

Because women are great. We’re awesome. The fact that we each get up every morning and deal with the bullshit of a thousand cultures and modern society and have to look at advertising every day… Dude, lemme just say that the day I looked at the Cosmo magazine in my hands and made O.o face and decided to never buy one again? Seriously. A banner day in my life. That one act of resolve has had a tremendous influence on increasing my self-respect and self-image.

I wrote a novella that will be out next year to launch my sexy, rich surfer series. I think it’s probably one of the best things I’ve written on my own. Equally as good as the Vegas Top Guns books. But do I feel “okay” saying that in public? Not really. If I talk about it on twitter, I get all “eep, should I be saying things like this???” My shoulders get tight and I get odd tingles in my fingers.

Eric and Trish from Bare Knuckle are super sexy and awesome. No really, they are. They’ve got issues, for sure, but one of the things I loved so hard about Trish when we were writing this book is how bright and shiny she is. She’s had some hard knocks and things haven’t turned out the way she’s hoped, but she really is…happy with herself. Lots of the time, at least. Reading and writing her? It was like putting on a brain-costume and getting to tromp around in that frame of mind.

And it was good for me. Not a fix it, of course.

I know not everyone has any interest at all in writing books. That’s totally fine, because if everyone did, I’d soon be out of a job. (Not really. My fellow writers are some of the biggest book consumers I’ve met.)

But maybe we should all take a turn now and then putting a little pretend attitude on. We’re super cool. In our own ways, and in our own bodies and in our own styles. Every woman I meet at conferences and soccer games and school events (you see how little I get out) has had something that they ought to be proud of. And I think we need to brag ourselves up a little. Stuart Smalley was a joke because he was overboard, but hey! People do like you!

I promise.

Yeah. I think everyone should brag up themselves. Because we can. And because the world kinda sucks sometimes, so if we’re not going to boast about ourselves, who will, right?

We’d like to give away a copy of Bare Knuckle in any digital format. Just tell me the coolest thing about you. Brag a little. Boast. I wanna hear what’s cool about you.

***

For more about Katie Porter, the co-writing team of Carrie Lofty and Lorelie Brown, visit their website at KatiePorterBooks.com!

Thanks again to Lime for featuring Katie Porter and Bare Knuckle!

I’m really curious too – boast it up! Say nice things about yourself, others, other commenters (do you guys know each other?) It’s “You Are AWESOME day!” Go forth! 

Oh and you know, cuz I guess you want to know about the book…  😛

Vegas Top Guns, Book 5

After a near-fatal plane crash, fighter pilot Captain Eric “Kisser” Donaghue is a changed man. By day he labors to regain his confidence in the cockpit. By night he moonlights as an off-Strip boxer, fighting for prize money to pay for his younger brother’s third stint in rehab.

In the ring, no one cares he once had a face that launched a thousand one-night stands—and neither does Eric. He’s only there to win. Yet he can’t take his eyes off the new ring girl, a glitz-meets-pageant-queen vision of blonde perfection.

Down on her luck but not quite out, Vegas showgirl Trish Monroe lives for the spotlight. The scarred, steely-eyed loner who stares at her from his corner of the ring gives Trish an extra reason to strut her stuff.

Curiosity and the temptation of a no-strings good time bring them together. The discovery of their secret fetishes—she likes to show off, he likes to watch—turns mere sexual chemistry into a fiery exploration of matched passions. They’re a natural fit. Trust in love, however, is harder to earn than trust in bed, especially when this beauty and beast hide even from themselves.

Warning: This book contains a Sin City-style Beauty and the Beast love story, lots of naughty pics and vids, adrenaline-pumped base jumping, and a set of very important note cards. Oh, and as always, an incredibly hot fighter pilot.