Author Archives: Lily Graison

About Lily Graison

Lily Graison is a USA TODAY bestselling author of historical western romances. She also writes a variety of genres under the name L. R. Grasion. Most all of her stories lean heavily to the spicy side with strong female leads and heroes who tend to always get what they want. She writes full time and lives in Hickory, NC with her husband and a house full of Yorkies

Be My Guest…

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Many of you have seen me post about this event over on my Facebook page and with the date quickly approaching, I wanted to guarantee one reader a seat at my table for the luncheon with a special giveaway. I have one (1) ticket available for this event, which is Friday April 24th and Saturday April 25th. There will be author panels, parties, giveaways, food, games, signing cowboys and of course a book signing. This ticket will get you into all these events. All you have to do is get yourself to Nashville! I’ll post below the event schedule so you can look at everything that will be happening. If you would like to get your name into the draw for this special giveaway, enter below. Good luck! *Disclaimer – Winner is responsible for transportation to the event (in Nashville, Tennessee) and for their lodging (if needed). All this giveaway is offering is the two-day pass into the event. Event Schedule Friday, April 24th Breakfast – 10 – 11 Speed dating 11 – 1230 Lunch – On your own Author panels – 2 – 4 Dinner – On your own Party – DJ, dancing, cash bar, meet and greet your favorite authors Saturday, April 25th Breakfast – On your own Keynote Speech – Sharon Hamilton 10 – 11 Book Phrase Bingo – 11 – 12 Lunch – 12 – 115 (provided – guaranteed seat at my table) Games – 130 – 3 Book signing – 3 – 6 Entertainment during the book signing will be cover model and singer Steffen Hughes, cover model and singer Jackson Young, and cover model Daniel Hosse.   Attending Authors (check the main event page as more are added daily) Sandy Lea Sullivan Lia Davis Michel Prince Lily Graison Anna Kristell Randi Alexander Sidda Lee Rain Shannon West Betty Bolte … Keep Reading! →

“How To” Guide for Authors : Introduction

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Back in March I joined a group of ladies in their blogging venture at Sweethearts of the West and over the course of the first month, learned that many of them weren’t taking advantage of social media outlets like they should be. The reason they weren’t was because…they didn’t know how. I’m the type of person who won’t stop digging away at something until I’ve mastered it to the best of my ability and when I see a new way to reach readers, I do my homework and fiddle until I’ve managed to make use of it. Not everyone is as hard-headed as me and most give up without much effort or can’t figure out where to start to begin with, so I promised the other Sweethearts that I’d do a series of social media (and other author friendly) posts to help them out and give them a guide of How To’s when tackling these outlets. I have ten post (so far) that will introduce authors to, and help you set up, manage and maintain a number of sites and applications. I’ll be posting these, one every week, starting next Wednesday. I am by no means an expert and I make no claim to be so these will just be my experience with these programs. The topics I’ll be talking about in the coming weeks are Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter, Mailchimp, Hootsuite, Scrivener, Instagram and creating your own book production schedules. If you want to make sure you don’t miss a week, sign up for email notifications and receive each post in your email inbox.

Beach Bum

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It is currently 27° outside but the sun is shining and the temperatures are ‘supposed’ to climb so… I’m doing what any sensible, “so-over winter” person would do…I’m running off to Myrtle Beach! It’s a girl’s weekend out (we’re leaving the men-folk at home) so I’ll be chilling by a heated (indoor) pool with my mom, sister, and niece until Sunday. I plan to work a bit too – or that’s the plan – so I’m taking the MacBook Air along to remind me I have things to do besides lots of shopping, although, Boardwalk at the Beach will not be missed! If you’re on Instagram follow me there as I’ll be posting pics from my weekend.

Want free eBooks?

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  I was contacted the other day about publishing my book The Lawman, on a website that host only FREE eBooks. I’d never heard of the site but I’ll be the first to say I was excited to learn about it! I may be a writer but I was a reader first, and like most readers….if its free, its for me! Obooko.com offers free membership and has an extensive library of books in a multitude of genres. I haven’t had time to browse the site for long but I did bookmark it for later. Most books stay for a minimum of 60 days so if you see something you like, grab it while you can. As I said, The Lawman is there, so if you haven’t read book 1 the Willow Creek Series, pick this one up. It’s a bestseller, climbing all the way to #21 on Barnes and Noble’s bestselling Nook charts back in March 2013 and hitting #2 on Amazon’s bestselling western chart. If you have read this one already, then tell your friends they can FIND THE LAWMAN HERE!

Sunday Sweet #2 :: Cinnamon Bun Cake

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  Mmm….I’m thinking this would make a mighty fine breakfast. A big ole slab of cake and a cup of coffee. Thats the breakfast of champions, right there. Or it is for those of us addicted to sweets! *wink*     Cinnamon Bun Cake What you’ll need for the Cake: 3 cups of flour 1/4 tsp. salt 1 cup of sugar 4 tsp. of baking powder 1 1/2 cups of milk 2 eggs 2 tsp. vanilla 1/2 cup melted butter For the Topping: 1 cup of butter, softened 1 cup brown sugar 2 Tbsp. flour 1 Tbsp. cinnamon Directions: Mix all the ingredients for the ‘cake’ together, except for the butter, until smooth. Slowly stir in the melted butter and pour into a greased 9×13 pan. For the topping, mix all the ingredients together until well combined. Pour it evenly over the batter and swirl the mixture around with a knife. Bake the cake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. For the Glaze: 2 cups of powdered sugar enough milk to make a runny glaze – about 6 or 7 tablespoons 1 tsp. vanilla While the cake is still warm, drizzle the glaze over the top and enjoy!. (I’ve seen others say this is best the day its baked so wait until you have enough people to finish it….Or hide in a closet and eat it all yourself. Either will work fine.) Has anyone had this before? And does it taste as good as it looks? I saw this recipe over on the blog Housewifery. I’m not sure if its an ‘original’ or not but just in case…I’m linking. Check out the other blog posts while you’re there. I found a lot of neat stuff to explore when I visited.

Newsletter Changes

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  I’ve been having a hard ‘think’ about my newsletter lately. It feels a bit like a wasted oppurtunity to me. I only send them out when I have something ‘important’ to say, mainly because I don’t want to fill readers’ inboxes with a bunch of mail they don’t want. But… that sort of defeats the purpose ‘of’ a newsletter. I’ve been growing my subscriber list for two years now but I think its time for a change as I realize not every reader wants the same thing. Some just want to know when new books have come out. Others like the extra stuff they get throughout the year. So…in order to accommodate everyone, I’ve created a ‘NEW’ subscriber list. To sign up for JUST book release alerts, enter your email address below. This list will ONLY email you when there is an actual book release. You’ll receive no other email thorughout the year. Subscribe to the New Release book alert list. To sign up for the monthly newsletter, enter your information below. This list will go out once a month and contain giveaway information, book news, (as in what I’m working on and my progress), special promotions and exclusive ‘newsletter subscriber’ contest. Subscribe to Lily’s Monthly Newsletter * indicates required Email * Name * You can unsubscribe from any of these list at the bottom of the actual newsletters you receive. For those of you already on my main newsletter list, starting in February, I’ll be releasing a new Free Read, a few chapters every month until the story is told, plus a brand new Gift Card giveaway in every issue, just for subscribers. The Februray newsletter will go out soon so make sure you’re on my (monthly) list to be included in the exclusive, newsletter only, giveaway.

Sunday Sweets #1 :: Oreo Cookie Cake

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  I have a confession to make. I’m addicted to sweets. It doesn’t even have to be chocolate (although it helps). As long as its covered in syrup, sugar or a glaze, I’m all over it! I’ve found some of the BEST dessert recipes, and have a few that my family has been making for a while, and thought I’d share them with you here on the blog every week so…new weekly feature, alert! Sunday Sweets. Clever, huh? For week 1, I have this beauty. I have NOT made this yet as I’m ‘supposed’ to be watching what I eat *cough* but its in my ‘will try this despite the 1,000+ calories I’ll consume when eating the whole thing in one sitting, recipe file.   Oreo Cookie Cake Just looking at that thing makes my mouth water! What you’ll need 1 box of Duncan Hines “Chocolate Fudge” cake 4 – 1 ounce squares semi-sweet baking chocolate 1/4 cup of butter 8 ounces cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup granulated sugar 2 cups of whipping cream 20 Oreo Sandwich Cookies, divided (Note: The ‘Mint’ or “Peanut Butter” Oreos would probably be to die for on this!)   Directions Mix and bake the cake according to the box instructions and place in two 9-inch cake pans. When the cakes are done, cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn them out onto wire racks until the cakes are cooled completely. When the cake is cool to the touch, break 12 of the Oreo cookies into chunks. You can do this by placing them in a zip-lock bag and giving them a good ‘smoosh’ with your hand. Set the cookies aside when you have them crushed.   The Filling Pour your whipping cream into a large bowl and beat until soft peaks form. … Keep Reading! →

New Free Read: A Touch of Heaven by Lily Graison

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I’m always so behind despite my To Do list. It seems as if I get one thing checked off, only to put three more back in its place. Which is why this story has taken me so long to post! A Touch of Heaven was my FIRST published book. Anyone who reads my stories now will be able to read half a page and ‘tell.’ That baby-writer in me made every ‘writing mistake’ there was to make but despite the minor flaws, the book earned me a Reviewer’s Choice Award from eCata Romance and has always been a reader favorite. I removed the book from distribution some time ago. I just didn’t feel it was ‘up to par’ with my current work and I didn’t want anyone to pick it up as their ‘try this author out’ book and judge ‘all’ my stories on that one. So I removed it. Along with my ‘second’ published novel, Destined Hearts. (That one will be free soon as well) Here’s a peek at what A Touch of Heaven is all about… A Touch of Heaven by Lily Graison Contemporaryn Romance Format: eBook Length: Novella 1st Edition: Released-2005 by Linden Bay Romance 2nd Edition: Released-2007 by Alinar Publishing Free Edition: Released-2014 by Lily Graison Paige Foster planned the perfect get-together for her best friends from high school in honor of their ten-year class reunion but her plans go up in smoke when an impromptu trip to The Pleasure Dome, an elite club that features the hottest male dancers in the country, ends up on their to-do-list. Forced into going, she complains until she meets Simon—the main attraction. When Simon looks into the audience before his act and sees familiar faces from his past, he has second thoughts about his performance—until he sees Paige and … Keep Reading! →