Coming soon from The Wild Rose Press

In this contemporary, #OwnVoices debut set in the Southwest, single mom and recent college graduate gets more than she bargained for when she accepts the help of a sexy as hell businessman fighting to keep his company.

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Single mom Valentina wants to provide a good life for her son, starting with the perfect home. When the deal on her dream house falls through, rather than move back in with her parents and disappoint them and her son once again, she accepts the help of the intimidating-as-hell stranger she’s admired from her coffee shop seat for the last six months. She’s afraid to fall for the wrong guy again, so she makes Cole promise to keep their relationship strictly professional.

Following his failed marriage, Cole can’t find a reason to care about anything or anyone. Saving his company from his ex-wife is the only thing that has kept him afloat for the past six months. As loneliness sets in and he begins to lose the fight over his company, Valentina becomes his lifeline. Cole wants to be more than her landlord, and he has a plan to get her to release him from his promise.

 

Exclusive Advance Excerpt coming soon…

Hi! We both know why you’re here, but before we jump right in, go ahead and read my official bio here. I’ll wait…

Elevator music.

Who am I?

What my shiny, super official bio doesn’t tell you is that I’ve been writing for a long, long time. That for most of those years, I’ve gotten over 200 rejections. And that I never really got anywhere with my writing until I found Twitter, more specifically, until I found the #Pitchwars community.

I am a two-time Pitch Wars hopeful (never a mentee). Back in 2015, I subbed my Prime Vector novel to three awesome YA mentors. I didn’t get in, but I listened to their advice, and kept revising, and writing. I tried my luck again in 2016 with my latest title, Love Over Lattes. Still no luck. However, I received a lot of feedback on specific areas where my manuscript needed re-working. One mentor even offered to re-read my pages. (Go check out Laura Brown’s wish list. She’s an awesome mentor!)

Long story short, I re-wrote my manuscript, and six months later I received an offer for a three-book deal from The Wild Rose Press. Book One in my Desert Monsoon series is due to release Spring 2018. Here’s the shiny new cover released last week at RWA17!

 

Wait, I had a point…even if you don’t get in, you’re here, you’re networking, and honing your craft. That means you’re well on your way to success! Yay, you!

Want to learn more about me? Follow me on Twitter, or better yet, join my closed reader group on Facebook, where I chat about my favorite sexy reads.

Why am I here?

I told you my Pitch Wars story, so I could answer this question. This community has helped me so much, I’m afraid I’ll be struck by lightning if I don’t find a way to pay it forward. That’s it. I’m here to help other authors achieve their writing goals. And to show I’m not BSing here, I will be giving feedback to the first twenty subs I get. If I have time, I’ll do a few more!

My strengths/weaknesses?

Commas are my kryptonite. I can spot grammar errors, but I’m not your best bet if you’re seriously lacking in this area. What I can do is break down your story to its bare bones, and figure out what’s missing…from story structure, pacing, and plot holes to character development and deep POV. I’m tough with my critiques, but only because I can see the potential in the writing and I really, really want it to shine and succeed. If you’re cool with tough love, keep reading…

My ideal Mentee?

My ideal mentee would be a hard worker. We only have two months to polish your MS, so we’ll need to hit the road running. I’ll have charts for you to fill out, and there’s also a spreadsheet. If you want to get a head start, go read Debra Nixon’s GMC: Goal Motivation and Conflict. We’ll start by dissecting your story and your characters. My goal is to get two rounds of edits in, so we can focus on sentence structure and flow.

What am I looking for?

Send me your new adult/adult romances! I’ll take contemporary (my favorite), sci-fi, magic realism, paranormal, light fantasy. If romance is the main story line, send it to me!

To save you time, here’s a list of what I’m NOT looking for:

1. High fantasy
2. Historical Romance
3. Inspirational Romance
4. Sweet Romance
5. Horror
6. Women’s fiction
7. Non-fiction
8. Thrillers
9. Memoirs
10. Western

If your work does NOT fall into any of the sub-genres listed above, we’re getting warmer. What will make me hot for your MS?

1. I have no preference for POV or tense, as long as your prose is fresh with an authentic voice (not necessarily flowery). Also, please do your absolute best to make sure your grammar is in decent shape.
2. Give me a hooky meet cute. I love tropes. My favorite is enemies to lovers, and second chances, but it has to be believable. Same if you’re going for the friends to lovers trope, or strangers to lovers. Give me some sizzling chemistry.
3. This is a given in romance, but I’ll put it on here so you can check it off the list. Happily Ever Afters (HEAs), or Happy For Now (HFNs) are a must. There are no loop holes here.
4. Heat required. I don’t do sweet romance. Send me your spicy and erotic romance. I’m mostly a contemporary author, but if your characters are falling in love, and doing all the sexy things in outer space, I WANT your MS!
5. Consent required. I want strong heroines who know what they want, and know how to ask for it.
6. Rape is a deal breaker for me. Just no. Not even as backstory.
7. Diversity welcome. Bonus points for interracial couples!
8. Contemporary is my main jam. Send me your hot and kinky CEOs, rock stars, bad boys, and men in uniform. Tattoos? Yes, please! I’m all about the romance, but I also need grit and heart. Who/what are these hot guys fighting for?

Some of my recent favorite books…(ehem, notice there are no sexy, sci-fi books here. So sad.)

• Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren
• Royally Screwed by Emma Chase
• Inspire by Cora Carmack
• Reckless Hearts by Heather Van Fleet (aka Awesome Pitch Wars Mentor, go check her go out.)

You made it all the way to the end! Thank you for checking out my wish list. I hope I answered all your burning questions. If not, find me on Twitter, and ask. Like seriously, I don’t mind questions at all…I’ve been there, so I know how difficult it is to choose a mentor. I’m here to help!

That’s it. All I can say now is…this is all…

Check out all the other New Adult/Adult mentors!




1. Brighton Walsh 2. Laura Heffernan 3. Marty Mayberry/Léonie C. Kelsall 4. Kellye Garrett 5. Susan Bishop Crispell 6. Jami Nord/KT Hanna 7. Sandi Ward 8. Tracey Enerson Wood 9. Hayley Stone 10. Laura Brown 11. Jennifer Blackwood 12. Mary Ann Marlowe/Kelli Newby 13. Diana A. Hicks

14. Dan Koboldt/Michael Mammay 15. Jenni L. Walsh 16. Heather Van Fleet/Jessica Calla 17. Michelle Hauck 18. Carrie Callaghan 19. Kelly Siskind/J.R. Yates 20. J.C. Nelson 21. E.B. Wheeler 22. Emma Wicker 23. Clarissa Goenawan 24. Katrina Carrasco 25. Caitlin Sinead 26. Kristen Lepionka

27. Victoria De La O/Layla Reyne 28. Peter McLean 29. Emily Colin 30. Nina Laurin 31. Natasha Raulerson 32. Melissa Marino 33. Sarah Hawthorne 34. Vanessa Carnevale 35. Melissa West 36. David Mealing 37. Derek Chivers

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Hi and welcome to Diana Hicks Books!

I hope you stay a bit. Check out the book titles on the banner to learn about what I’ve written, and what I’m currently working on. There’s also an About page if you’d like to find out about me.

Update: LOVE OVER LATTES coming soon from The Wild Rose Press

Thanks for stopping by!