M.J. Rose ROCKS!

You know, sometimes you get to know somebody in this nutty business who just exemplifies everything you admire. M.J. Rose is one of those people for me. We "met" back in 1998 when she trying to market her first novel, LIP SERVICE, on on the Internet after a publishing deal fell through. Custom Erotica Source was one of the many sites she contacted -- I was happy to feature her book because even then, I loved how ballsy she was about getting the word out. She was even a Celebrity Writer for CES for a while! Her tenacity and creativity paid off -- a few months later, Ballantine Books gave her a book deal and she's been publishing books (now with Mira Books) ever since. She's an incredibly generous person, believes in the power of books, and knows how to build community among writers. Oh, and did I mention she's a terrific writer, as well?

M. Christian and I asked her to write the foreword to our latest anthology, CONFESSIONS: ADMISSIONS OF SEXUAL GUILT because her latest novel, THE HALO EFFECT, seemed like a great tie-in to the theme of our book. She was very gracious about it and wrote us a great piece -- and even gave us an excerpt from her book to use in ours.

Today, she invited me and M. Christian to talk about the challenges of marketing erotic fiction. How cool is that? Her blog is widely read by readers and writers alike and reflects her own eclectic, curious mind. Whatever she learns, she passes along to others who could benefit from the information. I think that's just smashing and appreciate the heck out of her for doing it.

She's also asked me to write about what inspired CONFESSIONS. You'll find that at her site called "Backstory" starting tomorrow.

Thank you, M.J., for your great writing and your generous nature. You are a role model for the rest of us.