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Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford - Release Date

Well, I’ve decided to release the second book in the Southern Crime Family trilogy, Sen, on November 25, 2025. Here’s the back blurb for the book. Townsend “Sen” Whitfield knows of only one place to get his gunshot wound stitched up and not have it reported. The local funeral home. When he strolls in, he finds the captivating Tessa Quinn on duty. For years, he’s watched her from a distance, and…

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Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford - Excerpt

Reminder for the readers who have bought Jake: A Southern Crime Family Novel, in the back is an unedited excerpt of Sen (from his POV), the second book in the series. But I decided to offer another excerpt (from Tessa’s POV) in celebration of it being completely edited. Estimated release date is November 25, 2025. A little info before the excerpt, Tessa Quinn is deaf and uses American Sign…

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Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford - Spicy

If you receive my newsletter, that means you enjoy spicy stories. Well, it makes sense for that’s what I write. Anyway, Barnes and Noble has decided everyone has children in their household and needs to restrict their search engine on B&N’s website. Yep. That’s why for the last month I’ve been upset that readers couldn’t find six to seven of my books on their website. My B&N sales had dropped and…

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Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford - Freebies

I’ve been trying to figure out an easier way to provide the short story that I offer as a thank you to people who sign up for my newsletter. Few people ask for the free copy. Probably because the process was a hassle. So I decided to provide a simple link to the story here. LINK TO READ A SHORT STORY: KIDNAPPED FOR A DAY The password is free. You can read it there or download it. It’s in a PDF.…

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Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford - It's Fiction

Did you know that most romance authors write fiction? Of course, you’re saying, “Duh, Carla. I know that.” Well, it’s surprising how many readers think we feel and think just like our characters? If that was true, all romance authors would be arrested for the crimes their characters perpetrated, especially those who write dark romance, thrillers, or suspense. (Eeek! I would be a mass murderer…

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Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford - Day After A Tornado

My uncle who lived in a few places around the world (two tours in Vietnam, stationed in Korea and Japan) along with many years in Las Vegas and the last thirteen years in Cullman, Alabama (out of 87 years) was telling me the tornado that came through his town had him worried. Luckily, none touched down in his area, though straight-line winds got a couple areas nearby. The ones that did touched…

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Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford - Conferences

On and off over the years, I’ve attended RWA or RWA chapter conferences. And this year, I’m going to the Romance Writers of America’s conference in July. It’s being held at the Crowne Plaza in Niagara Falls, Ontario. If you’re planning to attend the conference or the book signing, be sure to look for me and say hi. In 2001, merely as a tourist, I visited Niagara Falls with a friend and enjoyed…

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Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford - Bad Boys

The first round edit for Sen is finished and it’s now with my copy editor. Reminder, I plan for it to be published later in the year with Ethan. Considering Ethan has only two chapters written so for, keep your fingers crossed. I have to mention the Whitfield boys are baaad boys. If you read Jake already, you know that’s a fact. Book Signing Saturday, February 15, 2025: If you’re in the…

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Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford - Speak up

Most authors are introverted and have problems marketing their books. I’ve had people tell me for years I’m an extrovert. Working in industrial and waterworks sales for years, I guess it’s a good thing I am, even though I think I’m a little of both. Anyway, the point is, it’s important for authors to bang their own drum, but the true difficulty is, there are around 2 million people worldwide…

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Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford - Family and Friends

Many years before I was first published, a sweet author spoke to my writers group about how different family and friends responded to her news of selling a manuscript to Harlequin Books. You would think everyone would rejoice at her good fortune. But no, some family and friends belittled the importance of her accomplishment. Others thought it was okay to ask how much money was paid in advance, or…

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Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford - Book Covers

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Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford - The End

Those are two words an author loves to type. When we come to the end of our story, before all of the editing, before doubts set in, and certainly long before reviews, it’s a wonderful feeling I completed the first draft of Sen: A Southern Crime Family Novel finally. Though I admit I didn’t actually typed “THE END” on finishing the manuscript. Really, it would only create more words to delete…

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Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford - TSTL Heroes

In my last newsletter, I talked about Too Stupid To Live (TSTL) heroines, I questioned, why weren’t there heroes like that? But there are. The hero version plays ultra macho alpha. You can find him in many types of romances. He can be a caveman, a sci-fi barbarian, a criminal, or a billionaire. He believes he can do no wrong. He often shows up in dark romances pushing a woman around and forcing…

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Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford - Writing TSTL Heroines

If you’ve been following me for a long time, you probably read some of my comments about writing heroines, and maybe even seen my video about the subject on TikTok. Despite how enlightened and open-minded people claim to be nowadays, I continue to see in reviews people complaining about the Too Stupid To Live (TSTL) heroine. Funny, that I don’t remember reading a review about the male version of…

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Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford - New Words

You probably know that the English language is constantly evolving. That includes new words coming into the language to old ones going out to other old ones coming back into style or making its way into American English, finally. The two words I’ve been seeing a lot and hadn’t before (for me) are bespoke (started in 1583) and welp (started in 1946). Personally, I prefer using the usual custom and…

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Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford - Same Old...

If you’ve been looking for my Author page (carlaswaffordauthor) on Facebook, you won’t find it. I was hacked and I notified Meta. It’s a terrible long story that taught me that criminals will play the long game to get it. (No, I did not click on a link of any type.) Meta shutdown that portion of my FB. So I still have my personal page where I accept “friends.” Meta has been trying to get my…

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Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford - Staying Busy

For any of my newsletter followers who are barely (or not presently able) to read this for they are dealing with real life issues of a partial or fully destroyed home and/or lost family members, I’m keeping you in my prayers. We never know when or where a natural disaster will strike, and Hurricane Helene has certainly reminded us of that. In case you’re one of the lucky ones and not dealing…