DIK (Desert Island Keepers)

Winner Announcement

2012-01-01T11:06:00.000-08:00

I know you all have been impatiently waiting to hear who won what in our Holiday Giveaways so I won't keep you in suspense any longer.

As chosen by Random.org

Holiday Giveaway #1 - Grab bag of books:

Tracey D aka booklover0226

Holiday Giveaway #2 - $25.00 All Romance eBooks GC:

Cornelia Grey

Holiday Giveaway #3 - Grab bag of books:

Stevie Carroll

Holiday Giveaway #4 - Huge Package of M/M books:

Ladycelt

Holiday Giveaway #5 - $100.00 GC to the book store of winners choice:

Amanda

Thank you all for participating!

All of us here on the Island wish all of you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012!

Holiday Giveaway #5

2011-12-31T01:00:00.001-08:00

It's me again... Kris, Queen of the Fucking Universe, although you should all know that by now... you grasping heathens. (Tracy: They're supposed to be grasping heathens, Kris - it's a fucking giveaway!)

Oh, yeah. You read that right.

Don't think someone hadn't noticed your grabby hands all over the giveaways.

Anyone would think that none of you had ever read a book before, let alone bought one.

And you call yourselves book sluts.

Fucking amateurs.

Despite my protests about the undeserving, Tracy, the Head of DIK, has decided to offer you all a final chance at getting a hold of The Big Package, blah, blah. (Tracy: I just wanted to give you another chance to say "The Big Package" because you like it so much.)

Drawing on the final dregs of my 2011 niceness, I, out of the goodness of my black heart, therefore reluctantly agreed to help Tracy out by preparing this post. (Tracy: Honestly. I begged her and she agreed. She is a saint, despite what you've heard.)

See. I can resist the urge to hold a grudge.

Occasionally.

Tracy staring at nekkid boy butt.

*cough* (Tracy: Dude! When you say, "hey look at that ass" how could I not turn around and look?)

But let's move on, shall we. I bet you all are just dying to get your grubby little mitts on the last of the giveaways.

*hmpf*

So, without further ado, I am not-so-pleased to announce that the final Big DIK giveaway is a $100 gift certificate to the bookstore of your choice!

Yeah, that's correct.

100 bucks to one lucky winner!

I told you that you weren't worthy.

*sniff*

To win this GC the same deal applies...

You need to leave a comment with your email addy - or else you'll be getting sweet fuck all - no later then 1am in the early morning of 1 January 2012 (US Pacific Time).

Do yourself a favour and try not to leave it until you are too drunk to enter.

You don't want to end up like Tracy, who flashed her tits to the whole bar when we were in New Orleans earlier in the year.

It was a gay bar too.

Some people try so hard. *shakes head sadly* (Tracy: And whose hands are those in the background encouraging me in my drunken state? Oh yeah, that's right, YOU! I take back what I said about you being a saint, woman!)

*smooches*

Me xxx (And Me!)

Holiday Giveaway #4

2011-12-30T03:00:00.000-08:00

Kris (aka the best con-outerer of ebooks in the entire universe) here to announce the most important of the giveaways for the Big DIK Blast-off...

*heh*

A huge package...

*heh*

Of M/M romance books!

*ponders*

Maybe we should make that two packages.

*waggles eyebrows*

Butt enough of my awesome humour. Check out this loot!

2 ebooks from Tam Ames

2 ebooks from K C Burn's backlist

3 ebooks from Sean Kennedy's backlist
5 ebooks from Stephani Hecht's backlist

4 ebooks from Clare London's back list

2 ebooks from K Z Snow's backlist

3 ebooks (minus Counterpunch and the Dark Soul series) from Aleksandr Voinov's backlist

AND...

thanks to Blind Eye Books... one subscription to Ginn Hale's serialised novel The Rifter! (This was reviewed here at DIK by Her Reviewy Fabulousness Jenre.)

Woohoody!

To win this grabbag leave a comment with your email addy no later then midnight NYE (apparently that's US Pacific Time).

Oh, and no email, no ebooks. No response to the 'yay, you win' email within 24 hours and you're also screwed.

Some incentive to encourage you not to fuck this up:

You're welcome!

Holiday Giveaway #3

2011-12-29T03:00:00.000-08:00

Did I tell you that we have a plethora of m/f books to giveaway? No? Well, we do! That means that today's giveaway is another grab bag of books. Do you know what will be in there until you get it - hell no! But you'll love it just the same won't you...because it's BOOKS!

Leave a comment on this post no later than midnight 12/31/11 (all contests are pacific) and your email address to enter.

Holiday Giveaway #2

2011-12-28T03:00:00.000-08:00

A $25.00 gift card to All Romance eBooks

is up for grabs

Leave a comment on this post no later than 7:00pm on 12/31/11 with your email address to enter to win.

Good Luck!

Holiday Giveaway #1

2011-12-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today's Holiday Giveaway is a grab bag box of books.

Merriam-Webster defines Grab Bag as: A miscellaneous collection.

So what does this mean for you?

It means that the winner of the giveaway will win a box of m/f books....and they'll have no idea what they're getting until they open the box! Sounds fun and exciting doesn't it?

Just leave a comment on this post no later than 12/31/11 at 7:00pm with your email address to enter.

Good luck!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T06:00:00.000-08:00

Everyone here at DIK wishes all of you a very

Have a wonderful holiday!

Some of the Best of DIK from 2010 - Exclusive! The Eric Northman - Little CJ Interview

2011-12-23T17:14:00.000-08:00

How could we have a "Best Of" without having one of Carolyn Jean's (aka Carolyn Crane) famous interviews? This one had me holding my sides I was laughing so hard. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Island exclusive! Eric Northman interviews Crazy Little CJ to learn all about Carolyn Crane and her upcoming novel, MIND GAMES!

Eric: Welcome, Crazy Little CJ. I'm so glad you made the time to be here today. For our guests who don't know, Crazy Little CJ is Carolyn Crane's childhood portrait, painted by an elderly aunt. Crazy Little CJ, I understand you have hung on Carolyn Crane's office wall for years, because her husband won't let you be in the living room because he thinks your eyes follow him everywhere. I think that is terrible.

Little CJ: Yeah. It is. And it's just Little CJ. You can drop the crazy.

Eric: Okay, let's get right to it. Little CJ, I am so in love with Carolyn Crane. You have to help me get inside her head. How can I make her love me? I had hoped that now that I am a TV star, she would think I’m special, but frankly, I feel neglected.

Little CJ : Join the club, dude.

Eric: But you know her better than anybody else. Please, Little CJ—

Little CJ: [interrupting] - Excuse me, sorry, this isn’t what I want to talk about. I’m sorry for your problems and all, but I’m here to unveil something.

Eric: Is it Carolyn Crane? Is she here? How does my hair look? Is—

Little CJ: [interrupting] - you wanna shut your fang box for a sec?

Little CJ: That’s better, TV stud. Okay, I wanted to unveil the cover of the sequel to MIND GAMES! The title is DOUBLE CROSS. It was DOUBLE TAKE but it got changed.

Eric: But MIND GAMES isn’t even out yet. Shouldn’t we be discussing MIND GAMES? I understand it’s fantastic.

Little CJ: Whatever on MIND GAMES. The book you really want to pay attention to is DOUBLE CROSS, the second in the Justine Jones: disillusionist trilogy. And I happen to have a sneak peek of the cover to show our readers today!

~ stony silence ~

Little CJ: You like?

Eric: Not really. I don’t get it. Why are you on the cover.

Little CJ: What’s wrong? I don’t look kick ass enough? Don’t you see my knife?

Eric: Yeah, I see it.

Little CJ: And? And what do you think of my sidekick?

Eric: It doesn’t make sense that Spectra would have a book with this sort of cover, especially as a followup to MIND GAMES, which is a fun, psychologically plotty, sort of sexy urban fantasy. This new cover feels more YA.

Little CJ: What are you? A publishing industry expert now? My sidekick and I fight crime through paranormal cuteness. When people see how cute we are, they think of all the children and baby animals in the world and decide not to be evil anymore.

Eric: What happened to the psychological hit squad? The neurotic vigilantes? The tortured mastermind hero? All the plot elements of MIND GAMES.

Little CJ: That's all history in the second book of the trilogy. Because, let’s be honest, after that hot tub scene in MIND GAMES, I felt like Carolyn needed to clean up her act. Or that psycho hunting cabin scene? Please. I’m trying to rehabilitate her image here.

Eric: Carolyn Crane’s image seems fine to me.

Little CJ: Yeah - to you maybe. Can you guess what my sidekick is named?

Eric: *sullenly* Vampire snack?

Little CJ: *kicks Eric in the shin* No, his name is Buttons.

Tomorrow: Eric Interviews Miss Doreen about the secrets of getting to Carolyn Crane’s heart. The Miss Doreen Interview here. More about MIND GAMES here.

Some Of The Best of DIK From 2008

2011-12-22T08:58:00.000-08:00

If you weren't yet familiar with DIK in 2008 you might have missed quite a few hilarious posts. This one told us a few reasons that Lisabea loved about the island (and I have to agree with her entirely) and even links to a couple other very funny post. Enjoy!

Ten Things I Love
About DiK

10. On Line Community of Chicks Who Loves to Read
and We Don't Get Up in Everyone's Grill
About Asshat Stuff

(Although we have been controversial... by accident!)

You chicks rock cuz you're all about the joy of reading and the celebration of the craft(iness of writ-ors).

9. Unapologetic Ojectification of Smexy Menz

Works for me!

8. Great Times Squabbling Over Heroes

I heart you guys. But will still steal your liquor.
And your men.

7. Diversity and Open Mindedness.

So cute.

6. New Friends and Old Friends

Nothing to do with New or Old Friends but DAMN I love me some RC!

5. M/M Week

Ok maybe not THIS one exactly...but still
...I had to post it again.

4. That fucking hilarious post TPig and I did
with Josh Lanyon (aka Good Sport)

Yes. I have no shame.

3. That fucking hilarious post CJ did.

Neither does she.

2. Author Interviews

Cute Red Head. Funny. Intelligent.
Likes long walks on the beach and men with wings.

1. You Guys. You rock.
And I appreciate the support and friendship.

Look at those drummies!!

Thanks and Have a Happy
Healthy, Stretch Pants wearing
Pig Out on Thursday (if you're in the States)
Otherwise..er.. have a great weekend!!

The Desert Island Keepers Will Be Closing at the End of 2011

2011-12-20T15:31:00.001-08:00

I know, I know, it’s sad for all of us here at DIK as well, but it’s time to say goodbye. We have appreciated all of the support that we’ve gotten over the past 4 years and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being a part of it all. We couldn’t have done it without the followers, commenters, guest posters, authors and of course the many DIK ladies that have posted during that time. We’ve loved meeting every one of you and will miss you all.

I personally want to thank the current DIK ladies for their hard work and dedication to keeping things going. You all are wonderful and I give you all a great big {{cyber hug}}.

Amanda
Bridget Locke
Ciara
D.L.
Dr. J.
Jenre
Kati
KB/KT Grant
Kim
Kris
Kristie J
Lea
LesleyW
Lisabea aka LB Gregg
Mandi
Ms. Moonlight
Renee
Sarah
SidneyKay
Stephanie
Sweet Vernal Zephyr

We’re not gone yet! In the next couple of weeks we’ll doing some “best of” re-posting and some giveaways so be sure to check back!

Tracy

Love Your Books....Just Don't LOOOOVE Your Books

2011-12-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

*I originally posted this at Katidom about three years ago, but it's such a fun topic, I figured why not do a re-post?*

When you're reading, are you a delicate reader? Or do you beat the crap out of your books?

I can honestly say, that each and every one of my books is well loved by the time I'm done with it. I'm one of those readers who immediately cracks the spine of my book. If I'm interrupted while reading (usually to let the dog in or out of the house), the book goes open faced down on the coffee table. If I'm reading and I can't find a book mark, the page gets folded down. And yes, I've been known to hop, paperback in hand, into the swimming pool on a raft.

Sacrilege, I know.

Now, there are certain books of mine that I cherish and treat much better than others. I own a couple of copies of different books so that I always have one that is in good condition.

But yes, my name is Kati, and I beat the crap out of my poor defenseless books. I will say though, that I am VERY careful with loaned books. If the book belongs to someone else, I treat it very, very carefully. But my own books I beat the crap out of.

Now it's your turn. Are you hard on your books? Or do you carefully read them so that the spine never cracks, a page is never turned down and they go back on the shelves looking as pristine as ever?

Wedding Bells

2011-12-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

I'm getting married a little over 10 days from when this posts. Scott proposed this past January, and we immediately made plans for a BIG wedding to celebrate with every person that we love. We set the date: March 17th (which is also my birthday), and we booked the venue. And we talked and talked and talked about guest lists, food, plans, etc. But as the date got closer, we began to realize that really, we just wanted to be married. And the prospect of taking on tons of debt to have that BIG wedding was both daunting and frankly, stupid. We both had big weddings the first time around. So we talked about it, and decided that we didn't want the big wedding, we just wanted to get married - as soon as possible, which translated to December 27th.

So,we decided instead to have a small family wedding at our house with only our direct family and our very best friends in attendance. We decided to have dinner after the wedding at our favorite little Italian restaurant. We also decided to have a BIG party this summer at our house so that we could still see all those people who we love and want to celebrate with.

As a bride to be, I love all the wedding shows. I love seeing the pomp and circumstance associated with weddings. Hell, I'll freely admit to watching the Kardashian extravaganza (I know, I know...). I watched every moment of the Royal Wedding coverage. I love the spectacle. But for Scott and I, small and intimate is what we wanted.

What about you? If you're married - did you go BIG? Or small? If you're not married, what does your dream wedding look like?

Can't Fake This

2011-12-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

Please welcome author Casey Crow to the Island!

Thank you so much for having me today and featuring CAN’T FAKE THIS. I'm so excited to announce my debut has been out since Dec. 6 with Loose Id. It's funny how things work out. CAN'T FAKE THIS started out on a whim. At the last minute, I decided to enter this 10,000 word contest. I’d written spicy mainstream, but this was my first dive into erotic waters. I didn’t win the contest, but after having what I thought was a good start, I added some more words and low and behold, this erotic became the first manuscript I sold.

CAN’T FAKE THIS is about a divorcee ready to reenter the dating world. Anna Ryan is determined to be the best “product on the market,” which requires a lot more experience so she propositions sexy police officer Chase Harris to teach her how to make hot, passionate love as opposed to just having sex. He takes it a step further, instructing each lesson based on The Twelve Days of Christmas.

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…temptation in a hot package. For more, check out the book trailer! The story definitely has my “Sexy, Sassy & Southern” trademark. Here’s a sneak peek.

My zipper slid down with a hiss, exposing my bare flesh to the cool air of the room. “Do you know what today is?” I was breathless as the material spilled below my hips.

Chase pushed my hair aside, his tongue sweeping every vertebra until he knelt on his knees kissing the small indention of my lower back. “Sunday.”

“December fourteenth.” I needed to be the one on my knees. My legs had turned all Jell-Oy. Yeah, I wasn’t an expert in the chemistry department, but even I could sense the spark between us, the hot, electric pull. As his teeth pulled at the peach bow of my G-string, I could already imagine his cock sliding into me. He yanked the dress down and turned me around. My crotch was now at his eye level. I rubbed his shaved head, debating whether I should pull his face to my panties or hike a leg over his shoulder. Or both. I settled for the latter before my weak knees collapsed.

“It’s twelve days till Christmas,” I said. The figure eights he licked along my inner thigh made it rather difficult to carry on a coherent conversation.

“Consider tonight an early present.” He swooped in for a taste, or so I thought, as hot air breezed my pussy. Before I knew it, Chase slipped my leg off his shoulder and stood to scoop me into his arms. He lowered me onto the cold leather of the sofa, but the chill disintegrated the moment his warm body stretched over me. His large, dark pupils filled with lust — and dare I say, need? — as his dick throbbed between my legs. I squeezed my thighs, putting pressure on his cock. He let out a low groan while my body strained for more than a tease. I lifted my hips to rub up and down on his shaft.

We ground our bodies together, my gaze trapped by his own for a deliciously suspended moment. It never occurred to me this kind of intimacy was odd. I mean, most folks would be kissing and getting it on by now, but after all the exciting tension that had built all night, we suddenly slowed down…to savor. Damn, it was sexy.

Zero doubt played in my mind. I wanted this guy to help execute my plan. “I’m thinking I deserve one every day for the next twelve days,” I said as he moved in for a kiss.

The grinding of his hips against mine stopped. Chase pushed up on his elbows and stared at me, lifting a curious brow.

“Hear me out.” My fingers examined his rib cage, stopping to pay homage to his thick, oblique muscles. “I need someone like you to…” My throat closed. When had my palms become this sweaty? I took my hands off his body so he wouldn’t notice, and prayed the cool air would dry them.

“Like me?”

“Experienced…not looking for attachments.” I threw in the last bit to remind us both Chase fulfilled the role of Frog number one.

He grinned. “What do you need?”

“I want you to spend the next twelve days teaching…showing me how to make love.”

He winced, and sucked a hiss through his teeth. “You write sex for a living.”

“Writing about it and really living it are two different things.” I squirmed out of his hold. He pulled away as I sat Indian style across from him. “Look, here’s the deal. It’s been eight long years since I’ve been single, and now that I’m back on the market, I intend to be the best product out there.”

His lips twitched as his gaze roamed my body. “You’re pretty damn good as you are.”

I blushed and grabbed a red throw pillow to cover my nakedness. “Thanks, but I need, shall we say, tutoring in the fine art of love making.”

“Let me get this straight.” He barely contained the laughter in his voice. “You’re asking me to instruct you on how to have sex?”

“No dummy. I know how to have sex. Anybody can pump and hump.” The image of my ex flashed in my mind. “I want passion, chemistry and hot, sweaty multiple orgasms.” I tossed the pillow on the floor and rose, knee walking across the sofa toward him. My fingers teased the hem of his T-shirt. They finagled their way underneath the soft material and behind the waistband of his jeans. I pulled him close. “I want to make love.”

“For twelve days? Then I’m off the hook?” He looked so relieved I almost giggled.

I pushed my pelvis against his cock and smiled when it twitched back to life. “Yes.” I grabbed his ass and gave it a tight squeeze. Then, I ran my mouth up the side of his neck to his ear, nibbling the lobe. “You interested?”

Casey Crow is a Summa Cum Laude graduate from the University of Alabama with degrees in Business Management and Dance. She received her Master of Business Administration from the University of Mobile. Casey resides in Mobile where she stays busy with her two young children. She also works as a dance choreographer, pageant coach, professional emcee and model, and certified Miss America preliminary judge. In fact, she is a former Miss University of Alabama. Casey writes erotic and spicy contemporary romances with the tagline “Sexy, Southern & Sassy.”

Visit Casey at http://www.caseycrow.com. On Facebook at Casey Crow and Twitter at caseyecrow.
CAN’T FAKE THIS book trailer.
Buy now from Loose Id., or Amazon.

Review: The Rifter Part 10: His Holy Bones

2011-12-11T08:26:00.000-08:00

Well here it is, finally, the last part of this tremendous serialised novel, The Rifter. Part ten, as you may imagine, is packed through with action, adventure, love, tragedy, betrayal, ruined hope and ultimately an ending which, although is classed as 'happy' still leaves you with a lot to think about. All whilst drawing together the strands of the story to a cohesive and satisfying conclusion.

Part ten begins where part nine left off. Ravishan is injured, possibly fatally, and John divides his time between wanting to be close to Ravishan, and his duties as the newly revealed Rifter. Some of those duties lie in managing to convince the kahlirash’im, that he is just as much human as he is god whilst also coming to terms with his god-like abilities. Other duties involve repairing the damage that he inflicted on Vundomu as well as dealing practically and emotionally with the knowledge of how many people died when he stormed the tower in order to save Ravishan. This meant that much of the first part of the book is relatively quiet, showing us the healer and nurturer that John will become as he gets older, and how he can use his abilities for good. That doesn't mean there isn't action too, as we find out the circumstances which surround Ravishan's death in a scene I found immensely shocking, and which suddenly made John's initial reaction to the appearance of Kahlil in the future make a lot more sense. We also find out what happened to Laurie in Umbhra’ibaye. One thing I've loved about reading this book as a serial is the way that I suddenly get these 'lightbulb' moments about things that I've puzzled over a bit in previous parts of the book.

The second half of this part then moves forward into the future and picks up where we left Kahlil in part seven. He's been captured by Laurie and is now being held as bait. Kahlil knows that John will come for him and that when John does, Laurie will kill him. Yet he's trapped, unable to move, terribly injured and guarded by Laurie's hungry bones. Rescue is in the form of a complete surprise and I found the remainder of the book a strange mix of heartwarming and heartbreaking. This was especially true for the character of Laurie who I found difficult to figure out in book seven. I couldn't see why she hated John so much, but things become so much clearer here.

Like much of the entire novel, this part focuses on the choices that John makes and the consequences of his actions. John has some difficult choices to make here and has to face the consequences of his past actions. He has strong emotional ties to Laurie, and knows that he has somehow failed her, but he also realises that his reluctance to 'deal' with her in the past has caused the loss of many lives. Even right at the end, when John knows what must be done, he wavers between giving Laurie what she wants and doing what he knows is right. Even I felt some compassion for Laurie at the end, knowing how much she had lost and that it had driven her quite mad. The confrontation between John and Laurie towards the end of this part was filled with much sorrow and recrimination but was also a fitting conclusion to their troubled relationship. It made me quite sad to remember the happy, dippy Laurie from part one and compare her to what she is at the end. Very sad, actually.

John too has come a long way from the College student he was in part one, and even in this last section we are shown how much he has grown, matured and changed in his time in Basawar. I liked that John has learned strict self control, that his impetuous actions in the past have made him more careful and less likely to fly into a destructive temper. The John we see at the end of the book is a true leader, one who looks to others first before his own needs. I liked him a great deal.

Another thing I really liked about this final part was the way that the present and past were resolved. I'm not going to go too much into specifics because that would spoil things, but the loose thread involving Ravishan in the past and Khalil in the future is brought together in a most pleasing way.

I finished this final part feeling a little bereft that it was all over. The book has brought me so much pleasure over the last 10 months that I'm sorry that it couldn't continue on for a few more months more at least! However, all good things come to an end, and this was a marvellous conclusion to what has been a simply stunning piece of fantasy writing. If you haven't started reading this book yet then I urge you to begin now. It's a long book, yes, but it's a wholly rewarding read. It's also not an easy read, and definitely not for those of you who are squeamish because some of the violence in the book is quite graphic. It is a book for those who love dark fantasy and want to read a complex, intricate novel with a huge cast of characters, but which retains at its core a heartfelt romance.

I said in my review of part 1 that I would wait until this last review before I grade the whole book. Really, though, there is no grade that I can put on this because 5 stars seems so inadequate. It's definitely worthy of the grade DIK because I shall be re-reading this many times in the future.

Buy this book HERE.

So You Wanna Be An Irregular?

2011-12-10T06:00:00.000-08:00

And for Blind Eye Books’ third and final day here on the island, I’m giving the reins over to Astrid Amara. Hell Cop fans may remember her previous invention, Romancebot 2000. This time she’s conducting a Q & A session for aspiring Irregular agents. Let’s just listen in…

NATO IRREGULAR AFFAIRS DIVISION – RECRUIT TRAINING SESSION 101

Training Instructor: Welcome, recruits! Thank you for attending this morning’s training here on NIAD’s secluded instruction island. Well, it’s not our island. Due to budget cutbacks we were forced to sell our island. This one is rented from our gorgeous hostesses at DIK, which is fine by me. It has a better bar than the last one.

But to get back on task, hello! We’re excited to have such a talented group of individuals to help push the objectives of our agency forward into the 21st century.

By now you’ve probably caught on that NIAD agents are often referred to as “Irregulars” but that doesn’t mean all of us are odd. Some…a few are normal citizens. What makes an Irregular different from the rest is he or she knows about the multiple, other-worldly individuals and interactions that happen on this planet every single day, and work to enforce the laws that keep humans and other-worldly citizens safe.

But enough from me! I thought we should start the training session by talking with a few of our established agents who are recently in from field operations, so you recruits can get a feel for the kind of work your training will prepare you for. First, let me introduce you to Agent Keith Curry, based out of our Headquarters branch in Washington D.C.

Thanks for making it out to the training base, Agent Curry.

Agent Curry: Thanks, bro.

Training Instructor: You have specialized in culinary investigations since joining the agency. Can you tell us about what sort of situations you investigate?

Agent Curry: Gristly, bloody, and hugely unsanitary. But sometimes, also delicious.

Training Instructor: What do you enjoy most about being an Irregular?

Agent Curry: Having access to the amazing range of foods found in the different realms. Not that I eat them—that would be nuts. I just like having access. It’s a chef thing.

Training Instructor: I also see you have brought Agent Gunther Heartman with you. Agent Heartman, do you also work in culinary crimes?

Agent Heartman: No. I just came along for the 3:45pm sugar break.

Training Instructor: Any words of wisdom either of you would like to pass on to the new recruits?

Agent Curry: Take a good, hard look at everything you put in your mouth…. And by the way, can that bartender make me a sidecar the RIGHT way?

Training Instructor: [frowns] …not sure. Agent Heartman? Any words?

Agent Heartman: Try not to be judgmental. Sometimes it's hard to tell the bad guys from the good guys at first glance.A

Training Instructor: Thank you very much, Agents Curry And Heartman! Now I’d like to introduce my old friend, Agent Rake.

Agent Rake: Hmm. Actually, if we’re going to be strictly honest, I think we are all a little odd. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Did anyone catch when we’re breaking for lunch?

Training Instructor: You recently transferred to the Vancouver B.C. branch office. Tell me what kind of work you’ve been involved with there.

Agent Rake: That’s highly classified information.

Agent Heartman: Lighten up, Rake.

Agent Rake: Hey, if I was any lighter I’d have wings. Okay, okay. We had a little bit of a situation with a group of radicals. Nothing we couldn’t handle. Our job would be easy if the people trafficking in stolen magical artifacts were just in it for the money, but some people it’s a political cause. Those are the ones we have to watch out for.

Training Instructor: You’ve had so many transfers over the years. Where are you originally from?

Agent Rake: Kansas.

Agent Curry: I got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore…

Agent Rake: We’re not in Kansas. We don’t have a field office in Kansas. Come to think of it, we don’t have a field office here either.

Agent Heartman: It’s a joke, Rake. You know--like you saying you’re from Kansas.

Training Instructor: What’s your favorite thing about being an Irregular?

Agent Rake: Getting to hang out with a bunch of comedians.

Training Instructor: And last, do you have any advice for the recruits?

Agent Rake: The pay is lousy, the hours are lousy, the company is lousy. It’s you’re basic law enforcement entry position -- with a high risk of being eaten before your third year anniversary.

Training Instructor: Thank you Agent Rake! And now, recruits, I’d like to introduce Agent Silas August, who comes to us from the San Francisco branch office, recently returned from an internal investigation in Mexico City. How are you, Agent August?

Agent August: Fuck you. Where’s the bar?

Training Instructor: [nervous laughter] …heh heh. So what’s your favorite part of working for the Irregular Division?

Agent August: There is no favorite part. It’s a terrible job and hell on the social life. I haven’t been laid in seven years. I just had someone put their fist through my torso. They won’t let me use my shard pistol in California. A taco gave me the shits and I –

Training Instructor: OKAY, thank you very much. Is the gentleman beside you an agent?

Agent August: No, Deven’s a consultant for the agency. Deven? You want to say something?

Deven: …do I have to?

Agent August: Deven is shy. He’s also socially inept. But he can kill three demons with his bare hands in under a minute, and can work some freaky ass magic. And he’s mine, so don’t get any ideas you perverts.

Deven: [rolls eyes] What am I doing on this island?

Training Instructor: How did you get that scar across your throat, Deven?

Deven: Lord Knife slit my throat when I was a hostage in the Aztaw underworld. Can I go now?

Agent August: Yeah, I’ll meet you back in the cabana, baby, soon as I’m done with this bullshit. Am I done with this bullshit?

Training Instructor: …uh, sure. Thank you Agent August.

Agent August: Whatever.

Training Instructor: Oh! I can’t believe Agent Henry Falk is here! Recruits, Agent Falk has been with the division since the very beginning. Agent Falk, do you mind if I have a word with you?

Agent Falk: [takes a swing from his flask, stares blankly]

Training Instructor: How has the agency changed over the years since you first started?

Agent Falk: People seem more grossed out by using spit and urine in spells nowadays.

Training Instructor: Ew.

Agent Falk: See what I mean? No one will even touch Brownie shit anymore.

Training Instructor: Is it true you recently visited the Sidhe realm?

Agent Falk: How would you define recently? I was there when I bought my last pair of socks. That was in ’68. Is that recent?

Training Instructor: [frowning] uh… no. Its 2011 now.

Agent Falk: Woah! [takes another swig from his bottle]

Training Instructor: Well, what would you say to the recruits about… oh my god, is that blood soaking through your trenchcoat?

Agent Falk: Yeah. Woops. My bad. Sorry about the floor. Will you excuse me now? [goes to bar, orders more whiskey]

Training Instructor: [shouts after him] I think you should go to the medical ward!...well, I don’t know about you guys, but the bar by the pool is getting kind of crowded, and I’m thirsty. Let’s take a fifteen minute break and reconvene here for our next session, “Oral Suction Techniques For Removing Hydra Venom From Wounds!”

**
Got any questions for the our training instructor? No need to raise your hand. Just go ahead and ask!

(And we're giving away another Irregulars preorder today too, so that’s just one more reason to comment!)

Irregular Chat with Irregular Authors

2011-12-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

Hi there, Nicole Kimberling here with day two of the Blind Eye Books 2011 Round Up and Jamboree.

Today Astrid Amara and Josh Lanyon join Ginn and I to talk about writing our shared world anthology, Irregulars.

Nicole: For those of you unfamiliar with shared worlds, basically all the authors write their own stories but in the same setting, and allowing their characters to cross over. So all the authors have separate novellas – and obviously each of us bring a different tone and point of view – but the agency for which the characters work remains the same.

My story, Cherries Worth Getting, follows Agent Keith Curry, a former chef assigned to investigate cases of questionable culinary practices of extra-humans, who all-too-often put people on the menu. It also stars Gunther Heartman, another Irregular agent who I straight-up stole from Ginn Hale. And that’s the beauty of shared worlds. You read a side character in another author’s story and say, “I love that guy. I think I’m going to swipe him.”

Josh: My story is called Green Glass Beads. I got the idea from a poem called “Overheard on a Salmarsh” by Harold Monro, which I first read as a little kid. It’s a dialog between a nymph (which is a kind of fairy) and a goblin. They’re debating about these “green glass beads on a silver ring” the nymph has stolen out of the moon. It’s a poem about obsession -- well, as much as it’s about anything -- and that’s pretty much the theme of my story.

Astrid: My novella No Life But This is set in Mexico City and follows Deven Shaw, a consultant for the Irregulars who is being paid to assist Agent Silas August in his investigation into the murder of his partner. Deven spent most of his life as a hostage in a hellish demon world, living as an assassin, and has to re-learn what it means to be human. Which is hard because Agent August isn’t really the helpful, patient kind of mentor one would desire. But he IS sizzling hot.

Ginn: [not here]

Nicole: Ginn???

Ginn: Sorry, I was spaced out looking at the donuts on the cover of Astrid Amara’s upcoming title, Miracle of the Bellskis, which is being released December 13th from Loose Id. I can’t wait for this sequel of Carol of the Bellskis to come out… also, I need to eat something.

Astrid: Yeah. Yeah do that. And while you’re eating, I’ll be reading The Rifter Part 10 by Ginn Hale, which is by the way, the LAST episode of this serialized novel. So if you hate waiting, and want to read all ten amazing parts one after another, now’s your chance!

Ginn: Yeah. And Josh’s Lone Star came out on the 5th, in Men Under the Mistletoe from Carina Press. Read that too.

Josh: Cowboys. They’re almost as yummy as doughnuts. Cowboys and Indi…er…jaded ballet dancers. Hey, it’s a Christmas story. Magical things happen. Anyway, it’s part of the Men Under the Mistletoe anthology, and all the stories are magically delicious.

Nicole: Man, I love holiday stories. Hey, wait! Stop plugging other companies you guys. This is a Blind Eye Books post!

Ginn: Maybe you should put donuts on the covers of more of your books.

Astrid: Yeah. Hanukkah donuts, bitches.

Josh: And gingerbread reindeer cookies with silver balls. The tiny shiny candy kind, I mean. That you buy in bake shops.

Nicole: ANYWAY…. Back to Irregulars. Ginn?

Ginn: Things Unseen and Deadly does not feature a sizzling hot agent and/or assassin, though Josh’s wicked cool Agent Rake does make an appearance. But for the most part my story is about Jason Shamir, a young unemployed musician who discovers that he has not been suffering from psychosis but was born with other-worldly vision. Which makes him a target of extra-human interest. It also allows him to see Agent Falk –

Nicole: - A dirty old bum –

Ginn: Yeah, but not to Jason, who can see who he really is. A kick ASS dirty old bum!

Astrid: Who swills poison and wears filthy clothes.

Josh: So hawt.

Ginn: And kicks ASS! Though I should say that Agent Rake also kicks ass. Come to think of it, Deven kicks ass too. And so does Gunther. Damn it! They ALL kick ass! This is a great anthology.

Josh: This is a kick ass anthology!

Nicole: Irregulars is available for print pre-order from our website and for digital pre-order from Weightlessbooks.com. Buy a print copy before January 1st, you get the digital edition free!

Thanks ladies and gents for participating. Tomorrow, we’ll let Astrid loose to have her wicked way with the characters from the anthology.

Astrid: Heh. Probe.

Nicole: Ew.

Note: We’re giving away a free digital pre-order of the Irregulars to one lucky commentor today.

It ain't over till it's over... But just so you know, it's over on Tuesday

2011-12-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

Hi there, Nicole Kimberling here with the Blind Eye Books 2011 Round Up and Jamboree. We will be here for three whole days answering questions and giving away prizes! Today, I’ll talk to Ginn Hale about the upcoming release, His Holy Bones, the tenth and final book of her ongoing novel serialization, The Rifter. Tomorrow, Josh Lanyon and Astrid Amara will be join Ginn and I to talk about our 2012 release, a shared-world anthology called Irregulars. And finally on Saturday, Astrid Amara brings her own wacky sense of humor to the island when she interviews the main characters from Irregulars about what it takes to be an agent in the super-secret Division of Irregular Affairs.

But first things first. Ginn Hale is known to most people as the author of the Gaylactic Spectrum Award winning novel Wicked Gentlemen. This year Blind Eye Books teamed up with online indie ebook wizards Weightless Books, to digitally serialize Ginn’s epic fantasy novel, The Rifter.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story, here’s the upshot:

When John opens a letter addressed to his missing roommate, Kyle, he expects to find a house key. Instead he is swept into a strange realm of magic, mysticism, revolutionaries and assassins. Though he struggles to escape, John is drawn steadily closer to a fate he shares with Kyle—to awaken the destroyer god, the Rifter, and shatter a world.

I adore this complex and amazing story so much that I could go on about it for days, but I thought that most readers here on the island would prefer to hear about The Rifter from Ginn Hale herself.

Nicole: When I suggested that The Rifter was a good candidate for reviving the 19th century practice of serializing fiction, did you think I was off my nut?

Ginn: Hmmm… how to answer tactfully… I was pretty surprised by the thought of releasing the book in ten segments. But after we talked a little I started to see how it could all work and I got excited about the whole idea. Soon I realized that you were right on your nut as always!

Nicole: Now that Rifter Book 10, His Holy Bones, is about to be released, how do you feel about the success of the project?

Ginn: I’ve been very pleasantly surprised to discover just how many people wanted to discuss the plot as it developed. It was really fun to hear all their ideas and answer their questions. It brought back the whole reason I love writing, which is to share stories.

Nicole: One of the fantastic things about this whole serialization experiment has been the response from the readers at Goodreads. I personally thought it was great to go chat with them and hear their theories as they all read along each month. But I was there as an editor and also a fan of your work. As an author, was it intimidating to participate in such a lively discussion of your work?

Ginn: I didn’t find it intimidating so much as slightly nerve-wracking because I had to be careful to keep my trap shut to avoid spoiling future releases.

The more I got to know the individual members of the Goodreads group the more I wanted to be able to re-assure them about their favorite characters or pass on “valuable” information. And once various delicious bribes began to be offered I really had to fight to clam up!

I’m feeling almost giddy about the release of book ten because I’ll finally be able to reply to people without having to edit myself for all potential spoilers.

Nicole: Did you have a favorite character in The Rifter?

Ginn: That’s a very tough question. It’s an epic inhabited by a good number of characters and I tried my best to make them all interesting. Though for me, as the author my enjoyment of the characters often differed depending on what I got to write about them.

For example I really enjoyed describing John’s experiences of geology and botany, particularly as the book went on and his awareness grew. Kyle was a joy for moody action; as an author I could always count on him for some cathartic butt-kicking. Ji was awesome for feeling wise and dangerous and Pesha almost bounded off the pages, she was so energetic, flirtatious and excited to fulfill her own potential. Of course, after a thousand pages certain characters actually started to give me a feeling of nostalgia. Both Alidas and Saimura were that way.

Nicole: Any last thoughts?

Just that I’m quite glad that you convinced me to serialize The Rifter. It’s been a pleasure and conversing with the Goodreads group not only allowed me to see my own work in an entirely different way but it also made me appreciate how involved, excited and clever readers really are.

To celebrate Ginn’s epic achievement, we’re giving away one complete Rifter subscription to one lucky commenter!

Got questions for Ginn? Ask away!

Things You May Not Know About Me

2011-12-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

For the last two blog posts I’ve been writing about the “real me.” That’s the Vanessa Kelly who writes sexy, Regency-set historical romance for Kensington Zebra. But I also have an alter-ego—V.K. Sykes, and under that name I write steamy contemporary romances.

But there’s even a bit of twist to my writing alter-ego: there are two of us jostling around under that one pen name. The other is my husband, Randy. Yep. We’re one of a rare breed in the romance writing world – a husband and wife team. Our first book was published last year with Carina Press, Harlequin’s digital first imprint. It’s called CaddyGirls, and it’s a sexy read about a young woman who’s an aspiring pro golfer, who supports herself by caddying for rich guys on the golf courses of Las Vegas. It’s a fun book, and hubby and I really enjoyed working on it together – even though we had the occasional argument about that thing guys really hate to talk about. I’m referring, of course, to emotions, and the need to have them in a romance novel. As you can imagine, I tended to carry the day in those discussions!

I’m happy to say that V.K. released another book this past June. We chose to take a different route from our last book – this time we’re indie published on Amazon, Smashwords, and Nook. The book is called Hardball and it’s another sexy contemporary romance, starring a hot baseball hero and a very serious surgeon as the heroine. As you can imagine, there’s a lot of heat between these two characters when they get together.

Here’s the blurb for Hardball:

After years of hard work and keeping her nose firmly to the grindstone, Dr. Holly Bell has finally achieved her dream: a position as a pediatric surgeon at a prestigious teaching hospital. Children’s lives rest in her skilled hands. That means total dedication to her work and her patients without letting anything or anyone get in the way. And a hot affair with a superstar athlete is most definitely getting in Holly’s way.

Nate Carter, star pitcher for the Philadelphia Patriots, has the world in the palm of his baseball glove. He’s at the height of his game, a west coast team is about to lure him with even greater riches, and the most gorgeous women in town are in full pursuit. Nate has everything he wants, or at least he thinks he does, until he meets the beautiful and brainy Dr. Holly Bell. He’s totally up for a hot affair, and Holly turns out to be the hottest.

But will Holly be willing to play his game? When the lovely doctor starts changing the rules, Nate realizes he just might be playing for keeps.

Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? Very sexy fun, if I do say so myself! There’s also an element of suspense in this book, which really ups the stakes for Nate and Holly. To read an excerpt, please stop by our VK Sykes website. While you’re there, you can also have a look at the CaddyGirls excerpt too.

What about you, readers? Do you wish you had an alter-ego? If so, what would you chose to be? One person who comments will win a copy of Hardball.

When she’s not trying to figure out who she is, you can find Vanessa Kelly on the web at www.vanessakellyauthor.com. And when she’s working with her dear hubby, you can find her at www.vksykes.com.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

2011-12-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I talked about my latest book, My Favorite Countess. In this post I’d like to chat a bit about my next book, His Mistletoe Bride. As you might surmise by the title, it’s a Christmas book (it comes out in October 2012). I had a great time writing it, partly because I got to research Christmas customs during the Regency era, which is the period in which my books are set. Much of what we recognize about Christmas didn’t develop until the Victorian period, when Prince Albert brought some of his German holiday traditions with him to England. And then there was Dickens, who also helped develop the modern version of seasonal celebrations in his famous story, A Christmas Carol.

But the folks in the Regency period also loved Christmas and they celebrated it with style, especially when it came to food and drink. One of the most treasured traditions of the time was the partaking of the Wassail Bowl, a beverage we would recognize today as mulled wine. There were many different recipes for Wassail, each family carefully passing down their particular version from one generation to the next.

Here’s a description from antiquarian Geoffrey Gent, describing one passing of the communal bowl:

“When the cloth was removed, the butler brought in a huge silver vessel of rare and curious workmanship, which he placed before the Squire. Its appearance was hailed with acclimation; being the Wassail Bowl, so renowned in Christmas festivity. The contents had been prepared by the Squire himself; alleging that it was too abstruse and complex for the comprehension of an ordinary servant. It was a potation, indeed, that might well make the heart of a toper leap within him; being composed of the richest and raciest of wines, highly spiced and sweetened, with roasted apples bobbing about the surface.”

Rich and racy—sounds good to me!

I may not have my own family recipe for Wassail, but I do have one of my mother’s old Christmas cookie recipes. When I was a kid these cookies were my favorite, and I still love them. Give them a try—I bet you’ll love them too!

Flora’s Russian Tea Balls

Preheat oven to 300F

1 cup softened butter
¼ cup sifted confectioner’s sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon water
2 cups flour (sifted)
1 cup chopped pecans

Cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla. Stir in water. Add flour and blend thoroughly. Stir in nuts. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Cool before removing from sheet. Roll in frosting, then flaked coconut (optional).

Frosting:
4 cups confectioner’s sugar
½ cup milk

And what’s the Christmas Season without a little gift-giving? I’d like to give out another one of my books today: my first historical romance, Mastering The Marquess. Just tell me what your favorite Christmas recipe is. One person who comments will win a copy of the book!

Vanessa Kelly writes Regency-set historical romance for Kensington Zebra, and has been named by Booklist as “one of the new stars of historical romance.” She recently won the Maggie Award for Best Historical Romance for her second book, Sex And The Single Earl. You can find her on the web at: www.vanessakellyauthor.com.

I've Got A Secret

2011-12-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

Hey, folks! I’m Vanessa Kelly and I write Regency-set historical romance. I’ve got lots of things I’d love for us to talk about, and books to give away over the next three days. Let’s get started, shall we? Today’s topic, as you can tell by the header of this post, is secrets.

Who doesn’t love a good secret? There’s nothing like that little zing you get from being in the know—to have access to info that no one else seems to have. But a secret can also be a heavy burden that weighs on the soul, and it can make life very, very complicated.

In my latest Regency-set historical romance, My Favorite Countess, my heroine keeps lots of secrets, including hiding her true nature from most everyone she knows. To the world, Bathsheba is a beautiful but hard-hearted woman who cares for no one but herself. She does very little to dispel that impression as she sweeps through the ton, levelling people right and left with her scathing intellect and devastating wit. Trust me. If you get on Bathsheba’s bad side, you’ll be sorry!

Why the heck, you may ask, did I make this type of woman the heroine of my book? It’s because of her secrets. You see, Bathsheba first appeared as the villainess of my second book, Sex And The Single Earl, but even in that story the reasons for her rather nefarious actions seemed motivated by something more than greed or selfishness. As I went deeper into her character I discovered those motivations—she is fiercely loyal to her family, and is determined to protect them from hardship at all costs. Bathsheba suffered several tragedies when she was young, tragedies that made her responsible for the well-being of those weaker than she is. She’ll do what she has to in order to keep them safe, and the hell with what others might think of her.

Bathsheba has a lot of pride, too. So rather than beg for help or reveal the scandals in her past, she’s created a diamond-hard facade to protect herself and her family from the discovery of those secrets. Most people can’t see past her facade, but one man can. Yep. He’s my hero—the intelligent, noble-minded, and very sexy doctor, John Blackmore. As a man who has devoted his life to helping those in need, John is determined to get past Bathsheba’s secrets to find the woman within. Bathsheba, naturally, wants nothing of that, but John proves to be her Achilles’ heel. Their encounters are passionate and deeply felt and I loved writing about them.

By the way, I have a secret of my own I’d like to share with you. It’s about my writing life and it’s…well, all I can say is that you should stop by for my Wednesday blog post to find out all about it! But for now, let’s keep talking about secrets.

Do you like books that contain lots of secrets? Do you crave heroes who are dark and mysterious and drive the heroine crazy? And what about all those secret baby stories—love or hate? One person who comments will win a copy of My Favorite Countess.

Vanessa Kelly writes Regency-set historical romance for Kensington Zebra, and has been named by Booklist as “one of the new stars of historical romance.” My Favorite Countess was recently nominated for an RT Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Regency Historical Romance. You can find her on the web at: www.vanessakellyauthor.com.

Oops . . . I Mean a Big Oops . . . I Missed My Third Day Yesterday . . . Menage & Paranormal Romance--from the Sublime to the Ridiculous .

2011-12-04T15:51:00.000-08:00

So I am going to post something now and hope Mother Tracy doesn't get on my case. I have certainly done that often enough in her growing up years. Actually, I had something all composed and got stuck in the doctor's office for four hours yesterday. What a pain . . . no pun intended . . . and when I got home I was thrashed. So after an already full day today--we even went to the county animal shelter to scope out a dog for the National English Shepherd Rescue--I realized that I hadn 't taken the time to put up anything for yesterday or today. So here goes . . .

I was first introduced to Paranormal and Menage romances about two years ago. Go figure . . . I must have been living in a cave. Just too busy with other stuff and had, in truth, just let my love of reading get stuffed away for quite a few years. I was busy going back to school and such, so when T

Wolf Signs was one of the first and I absolutely loved it. I was so over the top over this book that I didn't hesitate to get all the succeeding stories in the series and I still enjoy them whracy challenged me to get involve in book reviewing and blogging, I discovered these two genres of romances and found them fascinating. I rapidly developed a love for the work of authors like Vivian Arend and Tymber Dalton, Nalini Singh and others who created alternative species and universes in which they looked perfectly normal but were most definitely unique.

en I go back to one or the other. Maya Banks' Golden Eyes was also the first feline shifter

story I read and I also began to appreciate her writing style and the gifts she brought to telling a story that really should sound strange but just didn't. I couldn't get enough of those sexy shifters.

But then I caught on to Menage stories and here again Maya Banks shown brightly with her Coulter Family series of books. But even then, I began to wonder about the multiple lovers and such. Now I don't think there's much out of the ordinary and the multiple partner component is more often in stories than ever before.

Now it seems that the multiple partner component is even greater and I just recently found a series about some shifter brothers that had all fallen love with the same young woman--longhorn shifters. I have to acknowledge that I was so fascinated with the thought of men turning into behorned cows that I had to buy the novellas. Each story now is about one of the seven brothers. It wasn't enough that this woman took on seven husbands. They all started sprouting horns everytime they spied anything red--you know, red is, I guess, a real turn-on for bulls.

Move on to a menage series that recently came out which was set in the future--on a planet where seven brothersbought" a woman at an auction--where women who had no resources and were not allowed to work and had been brought and dumped on this particular planet--and now she was deemed worthy of only being a purchased house woman who "serviced"others (the eighth brother seemed to have dropped out of sight) were research scientists and security personnel and were on a planet where there were few women. They "serviced" the men who bought her, kept house, etc. Apart from the very upsetting use of women in that setting, it did turn out that all seven men fell in love with her and as multiple/plural marriages were allowed and in this instance, encouraged, this young woman was released from slavery to become the darling of her husbands. The eighth brother turned up eventually and this "lucky" (?) woman took on another brother and seemingly was happy to do so--at least, in the story, anyway.

I don't know how much more we can tease out this multiple partner business but it seems that it just keeps growing. I certainly believe in a fantasy world, but I don't know--I have a deep respect for these women to take on seven bulls or eight brothers or whomever. It just keeps on getting gooder and gooder. I know now that I have lived a very sheltered life--just haven't lived at all if this is what I have missed. Anyway, its fun reading and even as riduculous as it gets sometimes, we all need fantasy in our lives, possibly more than we realize.

In truth, I am astounded at all the variety that is out there, and in a world where people are often required to live pedantic lives according to someone else's template--even we here in the States find social and moral codes oppressive at times--it is delightful to encounter writers who are willing to push our boundaries out into the unexpected and possible the overly fantastic. Keeps us thinking and makes us appreciate the possibilities when brains are allowed to think at will. Ain't creativity grand???

Thanks for letting me visit these days. I have loved being a guest here and appreciate your responses more than you can know. Be safe and well.

OK, Just An Opinion: Adult Toys for Kids?

2011-12-02T13:06:00.000-08:00

Hey, hey, Dr J here again.

OK, I am just in the mood to rant a bit, and I know it will probably go over like a led balloon. It also may be that as I represent the "older generation" that I see things just a bit differently because of my history, experience, and up-bringing. But here goes.

I am absolutely floored when I stand in line and listen to kids and their parents discussing possible Christmas presents -- "what do you want for Christmas" or "what are you going to ask Santa for?" The list that pours out of the mouths of nine and ten year olds almost makes me feel like I am living in an alternate universe. I spoke with one little girl not long ago who wanted this extensive list of electronic toys, including a cell phone with an extensive number of "bells and whistles" and I asked her what was wrong with new shoes or a new dress, or perhaps something nice for her room. Her response: "Are you crazy?"

I'm sure that we all look to give our kids and grandkids nice stuff and certainly the choice is often largely guided by our income. But I have to say that I have a really BIG problem with giving nine and ten year olds, and even some early teens, adult toys. When I saw what some kids were getting for their birthday I wondered what their parents w ere going to pull out of the hat for their high school graduation. Possibly their own Rolls Royce?

I remember one Christmas, several decades ago, when hubby and I and our four kids really didn't have two thin dimes to rub together. We scrimped and saved and managed to get them some new clothes, a nice toy for each and candy and such. As I was preparing to wrap their gifts, I realized that I hadn't gotten any Christmas wrapping paper. It was Christmas Eve and the stores were closed. Now what???? So I went to my neighbors living on each side of us, and got all the Sunday funny papers they could find and wrapped Christmas presents in the funny papers. Now the upshot of this story is that while the kids were delighted with the new clothes, the toy, the candy and such, they spent nearly the entire day reading all the Sunday funny papers. I think it is a Christmas I will always remember. That was also the same Christmas after we had a fire in our house and all the Christmas ornaments were gone. Again the financial crunch was pretty profound, so I went to the store and got wooden, paint-by-number ornaments and all of the kids and I spent several weeks painting the various ornaments that managed to remain in the family collection for many years afterward.

I guess my concern is that we are so anxious for our kids and grandkids to have the "latest" that we forget that an important part of our job as parents and grandparents is to "preserve their childhood." They are adults for a large percentage of their time on this planet. Once childhood is gone it is never to be retrieved. I really think we don't work hard enough at making sure that they have learned the simple pleasures of life, the ways of enjoying life without all the gadgets and the electronic wonders that are out there.

Remember, this is just my opinion. How do some of you feel about all this?

Discovering an Author Who is New to Me: Jayne Rylon and the Men in Blue Series

2011-12-01T11:13:00.000-08:00

Dr J signing in for the next few days.

While on my recent trek around the United States via Amtrak, I was able to delve into the nearly 300 books I had on my new Kindle (there's 411 now) and feed my reading addiction at the level I know will drive away nearly everyone if I indulge like that all the time. Certainly, even on the trip, my hubby would get a bit huffy with me and then pull out the laptop and play his Spider Solitaire while leaving me to read until the Kindle was dead. A couple of those books that I had downloaded just prior to our departure were the first two books that are co-authored by Mari Carr and Jayne Rylon. Now I have read and reviewed a number of Mari Carr books for The Book Binge and loved them. But Jayne Rylon was new to me and set me off on an internet search to find books that she had authored previously. In the process I found the Men in Blue series. As I began reading the first book I realized this was a wonderful novel and couldn't wait to get my hands on the next two. I know we all read lots of book reviews, but I love to bring books to everyone's attention that aren't necessarily the most recently released. I am still determined not to miss some of the literary offerings th
at authors have made for their readers that are several years old. Such is this series.

This first book in the series begins the stories of a group of cops in a small conservative community, all of whom have known each other for years a

nd all of whom are brought even closer by the murder of one of their own. Lacey, their dead comrade's sister, has been like a "little sister" to them all as they have all surrounded her in a circle of support for years after her parents were killed and her well-being relied on her brother alone. Now he is dead--murdered in an alley--and two of these cops are particularly close to her, but not as close as she would like. She has been in love with them for years and they with her, but it has all been hush-hush. Lots of secrets between these three, and while there is lots of hot sex, there is also the sense that within this close circle of the Men in Blue there is understanding and acceptance. Perhaps that is why they can take a chance on being themselves. Just a really great read and one that is compelling from word one.

"Razor" is the nickname of one of the cops in the group who has found himself seriously wounded because he trusted the wrong person and that person was a female. Now he is sent und

ercover to gather "intel" on an heiress who is running from her abusive husband and who is "hiding in plain sight" as a performer on one of the celebrity dance TV shows. Once again the circle of friends is deeply involved in the story and there are lots of ins and outs, twists and turns, as Razor and Isabella move from rather acerbic dance partners to friends to . . . well, you know. Yet there is more to this novel than a love story between an heiress and a cop. Trust is at stake, a crime ring of sex slavery, some family issues and connections that not only surprised the characters but will shock the reader as well, and Razor's continuing sense that he can no longer trust his own cop instincts. After all, he trusted one woman and it almost killed him. Ms Rylon really does tell a mean story here, one that could conceivably stand alone but which connects so intrinsically with the characters in the first book. All of them waft in and out of each other's stories and the reader really develops a sense that they are all a known entity. It's one of the aspects of a series that I like best. Single novels often have me wanting so much more and there just ain't no more! Not so with this book. And Ms Rylon's writing is consistent, the story is tense and edgy, and the characters never fail to captivate. There's good stuff

here!!

This third book is J-Rad's story, the computer geek who is really a Dom in hiding, and whose reputation precedes him in the BDSM circles. He has been out of the lifestyle for a while, but his connections and his reputation are needed in an undercover capacity. This is the most difficult book of the three to read because the emotions are very raw, the BDSM components very hardcore, and the reality of uncovering the sex slavery ring and those who are involved could be very offensive to some readers. But the basic underlying reality is that J-Rad must confront his own darkest self and decide what part they will play in his future. A past happening has taken him out of the lifestyle but now as he is faced with the worst that he has ever imagined, he must make some decisions about himself and about the part that will be played by those in his close police circle. It is the kind of novel that just puts it all "out there" and lets the reader decide how much they can take.

We have all heard about the strong loyalties that law enforcement officers have to one another, much of which is needed as they stand alone in situations surrounded by people who would love to "do them in." This series, however, puts greater depth and understanding into the kinds of friendships these individuals have developed among each other and are valuable even as fictional works for that reason.

Also, novels that are honest about the sex slave trade in today's world are doing us all a favor to remind us that nearly 800,000 individuals are kidnapped--literally disappear and are sold as sex slaves around the world. The highest percentage of those are American females. In my younger years there was lots of talk about this and then the discussion just sort of went silent. I am very grateful to authors who are gutsy enough to do some research and even in fictional works are willing to be blunt about the presence of such crime on our planet. With the internet and world travel now so accessible, it is probably much worse than we even realize.

So, I hope that you will investigate Jayne Rylon's work and perhaps pick up one or all of the books in this series. It's worth the cost and the time to read. I know I am delighted to have discovered another author of this caliber.

LB Shares Photos

2011-11-29T14:18:00.000-08:00

Last month I was lucky enough to spent a couple weeks with G in Asia. We traveled like crazy people, two days here, three there, G working and I...working...and even as crabby and exhausted as I was from all the travel and working, we managed to have some fun (when I wasn't crabby and exhausted or working). I haven't had time to share any photos until now, so lucky you, here I am on the island with my photos!

Some Things I Loved About My Trip To Asia

Korean Animal Sculptures

I told G I wanted one of these for the house. He didn't get me one. :)

Alcohol with lime

(I'm sure you can get this anywhere but I discovered it in Thailand.) Take rum, add lime and brown sugar, and you get LB asleep in a lounge chair for two hours.

Palace Guards

I spent the day taking in Seoul and the lovely woman I was with took about forty photos of me making a peace sign. I gotta tell you, it never grew old. Peace!

Street Musicians

There was so much I loved about Hong Kong. It's vibrant and urban and international and everywhere there's something new and exciting to see. Places to shop. Weird and wonderful things to eat. Here's a street musician. We were on our way to the Fish Market to pick out our dinner.

Mango and Sweet Sticky Rice

We bought this at a hawker market in Thailand for like fifty cents. Extremely fresh Mango, the rice is sweetened with fresh coconut. We ate this little pan in about fifty seconds flat. Delish.

A Cave Full Of Penises

I am not making it up. That cave is full of penises.

Strange Bar Fun

Beer is served while the fish enjoy feeding on your feet. I guess it's some sort of novelty, but trust me when I tell you I declined sticking my toes into that water.

Buddhist Temple

This is Hong Kong again. Sunset from the Gondola

Coffee

Okay, I enjoy coffee everywhere, but I binged on cappuccinos while I was away.

Fruit

One of the things I loved best about my trip (and G took real pleasure in this, too) was being introduced to all marvelous and new-to-me foods. While there were many things I wouldn't eat (Chicken Feet and Jelly Fish and Hairy Crabs) the fresh fruit and veggies were heavenly.

So there you go--a few things I loved most about my trip to Asia.

AND...enter to win a copy of my new release Simple Gifts!

And The Winner Is...

2011-11-27T08:01:00.000-08:00

The winner of the Carol Cassada Giveaway is:

Hilcia

Congratulations!

Stories & Such

2011-11-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

I've been working on a new story for a few weeks now. It's got it all: intrigue, sexy characters, fun dialogue and awesome sexual tension. Well, I say it's got it all, but it doesn't yet. See, here's the thing. No matter how you see the story in your head, the first draft never has it all. It would be lovely if it did, but for me it doesn't. Nine times out of ten, I end up with more of an outline than an actual story. I then have to go back and add in all the juicy bits that I skipped when I wrote the first draft.

My story usually reads "action, kiss, run away, shooting, flirty dialogue, another kiss, sex, argument, more sex, final showdown with bad guy." LOL! Simple, but it gets the basics across.

My biggest frustration I have with myself is trying to silence my inner editor. I can never shut it up completely, but I've learned a few things over the last year or so that allows me to actually finish stories instead of writing the first chapter five hundred times & then being sick of the story.

My critique partner on the other hand, writes amazing stuff from the get-go. I admit to being envious of her abilities, but I can't wait for her to get her stuff out for you all to read. It's amazing! I think that's the thing I love the most about having a CP...the push from them. If she's getting something finished, my competitiveness kicks in & I want to finish something to. Here's hoping one day we'll both be published and best sellers. :D

Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T14:16:00.001-08:00

This was my first Thanksgiving in Michigan and it was a lovely day. Got to spend it with family and friends. The food was delicious and the company was grand. :)

I got to thinking about things I'm thankful for & thought I would put up a list here for you to enjoy. Yay you!

1. My family. Without them, I don't think I would be sane.

2. Being creative. Being a writer is a hard job, but I'm so thankful God gave me the ability to do so.

3. Florence + the Machine "Ceremonial": One of the best CD's I've heard in ages. Excellent writing fodder.

4. My favorite authors. Been blessed with great books by so many authors this year, I can't even begin to list them all. Am thankful they're still writing! Yay!

5. My friends. It sucks that they're all so far away, but I know if I need them, they're just a text or email away.

6. This blog. I've met some truly awesome people because of it. I'm so thankful for it.

There are many more, but this is the basic list. Thank you all for being here. :)

Respecting the Romance

2011-11-22T07:59:00.001-08:00

I think we can all agree that romance rarely, if ever, getsthe respect it deserves. We’ve all putup with our fair share of ribbing, raised eye-brows, and snide commentsbecause, “oh, you read those books”. Well ladies of the island, this past month I attendeda magical event- a gathering of people who wanted to discuss romance not justbecause they enjoyed it, but because they think it has literary value!

This year’s International Conference on Popular Romance washeld at my college, meaning I was lucky enough to attend some of theevents. It’s amazing the tidbits youlearn at these things, like Lisa Dale once took a class with my advisor (andfell asleep during it) and SB Sarah can do a kickass Pittsburgh accent. No worries, I absorbed some academic bitstoo. In fact, I was even part of one ofthe presentations!

Amy Burge, a well-dressed Ph.D. candidate in the Centre forWomen’s Studies at the University of York in the UK directed my Popular Romanceclass (jealous yet?) in a meeting which would later be used in her “(Re)Readingthe Romance: A Hands-On Harlequin Workshop”. We were all given the cut out words of a single page of a Harlequin novel,which we then rearranged as we saw fit. Here’s a quick look at how it went:

Don’t I have class with some of the prettiest girls! Now you also know what some of my friendslook like haha : ) I was so glad theydidn’t include me in the clip. I had justrolled out of bed (well, technically I had peeled myself off the floor) and Iwasn’t quite rocking the sweats and frizz that morning.

Here’s my interaction with the Harlequin romance:

I think it states the obvious- I am a romance reader and love these “guilty pleasures”!

Guest Author (+ a Giveaway): Carol Cassada

2011-11-18T06:00:00.000-08:00

Hello, my name is Carol Cassada and I’ve been writing professionally for about two years, I guess you could say I’m a newcomer to the industry. It’s always been my dream to write, I didn’t care what type it was, I long as I wrote I’d be happy. I explored different fields; journalism, screenwriting, and technical, but in the end I chose to write books.

In February 2010 my first book Going Home Again was released by Romance Divine, an ebook publisher. As any writer will tell you it’s a big accomplishment, all your hard work has paid off and your dream has come true. I’m continuing on with my dream, this year I’ve self-published two books in a series line Westmore and Westmore: The Aftermath, which I’ll be discussing today.

The inspiration behind the series came from a love of soap operas, like many women I was a huge soap fanatic and still am. During my teen years I had a notebook where I wrote my own soap opera, I’d jot down characters and storyline ideas. But with college I didn’t have much time to do anything with my ideas, so I tucked the notebook away. Then after Going Home Again was published, I was looking for inspiration for my second book, so one day I came across my old notebook and decided to turn the ideas into a book series.

The Westmore series revolves around the lives of three families: The Greens, The Braxtons, and The Reynolds.

The Green family consists of widowed matriarch Charlotte who vowed never to date again after the death of her husband; however she changes her tune when handsome detective Jim Bryant enters the picture. Meanwhile, her oldest son Jack longs to do more with his life, than just bartending, and holds out hope an important business opportunity comes his way. Youngest son Peter returns home from college with his new girlfriend Zoey, whose ten years older than him and a major concern for Charlotte. Scott and Alicia are members of a rock band looking to make it to the big time, but fate has other plans.

The Reynolds are an upper class family, consisting of real estate tycoon Stan. His life is thrown for a loop when his son Jacob begins dating rocker chick Alicia Green, who he disapproves of. Then his daughter Laura and granddaughter Megan return home after Laura’s divorce. Laura doesn’t tell her father the real reason she split with her husband was due to her infidelity. However once Laura gets her life back to normal her ex shows up threatening to reveal her secret.

The Braxtons are a rich family that consists of brothers Andrew and Jeff who face personal issues. Jeff and his wife Marie face trouble in paradise after their only daughter Vanessa leaves home. This event causes Marie to think of all the pain her father-in-law Clayton imposed on the family, including costing Marie a chance at a second child. Her repressed resentment threatens to destroy her marriage.

Meanwhile Andrew whose a controlling man has drove away his two daughters, now wife Elizabeth who’s tired of his behavior decides to break free as well. As if that wasn’t enough, Andrew is furious when son Wayne decides to leave the publishing company and branch out on his own. Andrew sets a plan in motion to destroy his son’s dream; however his actions will spell consequences for others.

At the end of the novel Wayne Braxton is involved in a car accident with Scott and Alicia Green, Westmore: The Aftermath deals with consequences of the car accident. Alicia suffers from dire injuries and fights for survival, as her family gathers around her. Meanwhile, Elizabeth goes to great lengths to conceal her son’s involvement in the accident, Wayne goes along with his mother’s plan, but the guilt becomes too much for him, and he finally confesses. When he does all hell breaks loose, Charlotte sets out for revenge against The Braxtons. Meanwhile Elizabeth turns to Andrew for help, which he reluctantly agrees to. Once it looks like he and Wayne’s estranged relationship is repaired, Andrew’s ulterior motives could tear it apart.

Currently I’m working on volume 3 of the Westmore series, which I hope to release by spring of next year. There’ll be lots of drama and romance in store for the characters in the many volumes I have planned. If you’re a soap opera fanatic like me, I hope you’ll enjoy Westmore as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.

To learn more about my books visit:
http://www.carolcassada.net/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Carol-Cassada/233360543344573
http://twitter.com/#!/dramacjc

The Giveaway: Carol is generously offering up 1 ebook copy of Westmore to one lucky winner. Just leave a comment on this post along with your email address (so we know how to notify you if you win) by 7:00pm (pacific) on 11/26/11 to enter to win. Winner will be announced on 11/27.

2011-11-15T13:50:00.000-08:00

Books being made into Movies, what are your thoughts?

We are on the cusp of one of the biggest movie releases of the year for many ladies I know, Breaking Dawn is being released on the 18th of this month (2 Days away) and I know I will be one of the many people that will be going to a midnight showing of the film and I cannot wait but I am worried about how they are going to portray certain things in the books. I loved the Twilight books and I do have to admit I hated the first movie and I had to think long and hard about things.

A good friend of mine recommended that I try the movie again. But the next time I went to see the movie that I separate the movie and the book and appreciate the movie for the movie and stop over analysing the way that things were done and enjoy the movie for the movie. I have to admit this is one of the best pieces of advice that anyone has ever given me and something I have tried time and again when it comes to the portrayal of some of my favourite books into the world of film.

Increasingly I am finding this is the case with many of the books and series that I love. This week the release of the Hunger Games trailer has left me hanging and wanting more. Is it March yet! I adore the Hunger Games series and I will be so upset if the movie does not live up to my expectations.

It seems that no sooner has a series established itself than a studio is buying the rights to make it onto a movie and it becomes an overnight sensation. The Fever Series by the wondering Karen Marie Moning being one that springs to mind most recently.

If you are like me then you cannot watch the movie until you have read the book(s) as I find reading the book first is always a much richer experience and one in which I relish in.

So what about you? Do you prefer to read the book first or do you not mind or are you a person who will watch the movie first and then read the book if the movie piques your interest you then will read the series?

I'm looking forward to reading what you all prefer. I'm off now to relax with a lovely cold glass of white wine and take a well earned rest on the Island.

Thank you for reading.

Monday Men - Yeah, NSFW - sorry!

2011-11-14T09:24:00.000-08:00

Sharon Lathan book giveaway winner!

2011-11-13T19:09:00.000-08:00

The winner of the Sharon Lathan giveaway is:

cyn209

Congrats!

(we will contact you by email regarding getting the book to you!)

Review: The Rifter Part 9: The Iron Temple by Ginn Hale

2011-11-13T08:07:00.000-08:00

Things are really starting to hot up now in this penultimate part of The Rifter. The story stays with John all the way through as he adapts to his new name of Jath'ibaye and attempts to use his Rifter powers to aid the Fai'daum in their fight. The story opens with John and a small band of Fai'daum rebels who have learned that the Ushiri priests are capturing suspected witches and imprisoning them. Even more horrifying is when it is discovered that the women are being raped in an attempt to increase the numbers of the Ushiri. When the daughter of an influential man is taken, the whole city of Giza is in uproar and John and the Fai'daum take advantage of this to attempt a rescue. Meanwhile, further south Ravishan and Ji are fighting a battle of their own.

There were a couple of things which struck me in particular about part 9. Firstly, the focus of the story has narrowed considerably from part 8. In the previous part the story was busy with rich description and the introduction of many new secondary characters. In this part we focus on John and a small band of Fai'daum rebels, led by Lafi'shir, and there is less in terms of lengthy description of setting and more in terms of dialogue and action. I found this much easier to keep track of who was who as each of the men have distinct personalities and attributes. Each man or pair of men spends a specific amount of time with John so that by the end I felt as though I knew them as well as John does. This also allowed a rather sweet romance sub-plot to strike up between two of the men and provided some much needed emotional relief from some of the heavier violence that permeates this story (I'll talk more on that later). Relief was also found through the camaraderie between the men, which again seeks to bring everything down to a much personal level for John. These are no longer faceless rebels or a huge mass of people living together underground, but rather people who John is growing to respect and like a great deal. I have a feeling this is going to important in the last part of the book.

Secondly, this part is almost non stop action scenes with only a few small quieter scenes to break up the tense and often horrific action. Here we see just what a destructive force is inside John as he, seemingly without thought, kills and maims to reach his own, and the Fai'daum's, goals. John's knowledge that he cannot be killed not only shows him his immortality, but it also makes him less caring of the mortality of others, in particular those who work for the priests or carry out their evil deeds. This is such a great contrast to both the John we see at the beginning of the book and the Jathi'baye from the sections set in the future, that it's a little disconcerting to read. The John here is black and white in his ideas of what constitutes right and wrong and anyone who doesn't fit with his view deserves all they get - even former friends. Having said that, I can see that it is also necessary to see this side of John. For us to understand the Jathi'baye of the future we need to know what led that gentle John from the start of the book to unleash his powers upon Basawar. It's almost frightening to see just how out of control John becomes as this part draws to a close, and yet it is still in keeping with the man we know will do anything to save those he loves.

A word of warning, there's a lot of violence in this part of the book, much of it done to John, and it's rather gruesome in its description in places. Don't let that put you off though because after the quieter and more descriptive foundations laid in part 8, part 9 comes as a whirlwind of action which gripped me from the start. The final part is only a few weeks away and in some ways I'm dreading it. It not only means the end of a book I've thoroughly enjoyed, but it's also going to be quite emotional and perhaps terrible in some of the things that are going to happen. Mostly though, in my mind is a couple of questions: Will John ever get back to Earth and does that even matter now? We shall see.

You can either buy this ninth part - and then any of the other parts - separately for $3.99 each, or buy the whole book at $29.95 and each month the new part will be sent to you via email. More information about this and the buy now page can be found HERE.

Garden of Apples Giveaway Winner

2011-11-10T09:52:00.000-08:00

The winner of the ebook copy of Garden of Apples by M. Nova is:

Chrisbails

Congratulations!

(You will be contacted via email regarding the book)

Desert Island Keepers. I like the sound of that.

2011-11-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

My name is Josee Renard and I’m an addict. A book addict. I write erotica, but I read everything. And when I say that, I really mean it. I’ve been reading it all since I can remember – mysteries, thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, romance of all kinds, kids’ books, YA, non-fiction about whatever I’m interested in at the moment, literary novels, poetry, short stories… The list is probably long enough to fill up my whole post.

And being an addict means that I have a huge TBR pile and I’m always adding to it. I’m never completely comfortable with the pile – and by that I mean that I never quite feel as if I have enough to read. Choosing desert island keepers would be a ginormous challenge for me.

Should I go with half a dozen of the longest books? Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance. James Michener’s The Source. Dickens’ Bleak House. You get the picture. This way I’d get a whole lot of pages for my buck.

Or should I go with the books I know I’ll read over and over and over again (because I already have)? Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Judith McNaught’s Someone to Watch Over Me. Any book of Suzanne Brockmann’s. Michael Ondaatje’s In the Skin of a Lion.

I suspect, though, that what would happen is I’d buy the new top of the line Kindle (I don’t yet have an e-reader), a couple of solar panels to charge it, and load it up. I’d do this because I’m an addict. I can’t live without books, a lot of books. I start to panic if I’m on a plane and I don’t have three novels plus four or five magazines just in case.

And on that Kindle, I’d include all my favorites: the hundreds (I’m not kidding) of books I can’t give up because I re-read them; the poetry of Neruda, Bronwen Wallace, Al Purdy, Mary Oliver and Raymond Carver for starters; the newest releases of my go-to writers – Brockmann, Roberts, King, Ondaatje, Kearsley, Sinclair, Hoffman, McCarthy, Irving, Stephenson, Gibson, Holly and others; some serious non-fiction, probably by Gladwell to start with; and a year’s worth of back issues of The New Yorker.

And then I’d go to Amazon and just click on every cover that tempted me. I might get some things I wouldn’t ordinarily read – but for sure I’d have 1,400 books to entertain me. On a desert island, with nothing else to do, that might last about a year. And then I’d start over again.

That would work. I could make it with 1,400 books. Maybe not for long – but for a year I could do it.

I’m ready. Just let me know when I have to leave.

Josee

Blurb:

Jules has been drooling over Shea, the barista at the coffee shop around the corner, for months. But it’s way worse now that Shea has been away for six weeks. Even a weekend in Las Vegas and his incredibly detailed fantasies about their first naked encounter don’t help.

What he doesn’t realize is that Shea has been crushing on him for just as long and when he gets back from Australia, he’s got plans for the two of them—naked, sexy, hot plans.

You can find Josee at:
http://joseerenard.wordpress.com/
http://www.joseerenard.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Josee-Renard/163055307086304/
http://www.twitter.com/Josee_Renard
http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/author/joseerenard.htm

Miss Darcy's Triangle by Sharon Lathan (and a giveaway)

2011-11-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

Imagine this: You are young, attractive, rich, upper class, and on a grand tour through Europe before settling in Paris for a time of endless entertainments. Beauty and amusements surround yet your heart yearns for music. Of all that Paris has to offer, the lure of opera and creating melodies enraptures your mind and soul more than anything else.

While there you encounter two men.

The first is a viscount and heir to an earldom. He has a fabulous sense of humor, loves to laugh and tease, and is a brilliant composer. He can play any instrument, although the piano is his favorite as it is yours. Instantly a bond of friendship is formed, serving as a muse in collaborating while composing. Oh, and as a bonus he is young, has tousled curly blonde hair, is charming and witty, grey-eyed, and possesses a mischievous grin. Think of a young Simon Baker.

The second man is a wealthy baron who is in Paris as a master of the violin at the Conservatoire de Musica. Georgiana’s first impression is best to give a brief description:
“He was only of medium height, but brawny and possessing a face to rival the gods as personified on canvas or in marble. Nothing she had viewed in Italy eclipsed the figure standing before her. He was flesh and blood. His perfectly chiseled attractiveness was magnified by lushly curled coal-black hair, dynamic ebony eyes, bronzed skin, and a full mouth lifted in a vibrant smile. He possessed an energy within that was rawly male and charismatic, piercing her as a lightning bolt even from several feet away.” Oh my! Are you feeling warm? The man pictured here is close to my envisioned baron.

Both of these men pursue you. Both intrigue you and stir your heart. Both are worthy gentlemen with every qualification for the perfect husband. What a dilemma! What should you do?

I know. Some of you do not see the problem here. “I would take them both,” you say. “Why not have the cake and eat it too?” If this story was a contemporary erotica I could have lots of fun with this triangle and would probably agree with you!

Alas, it is the Regency Era so the limitations are firmly in place. You must remain proper and you must choose.

Miss Darcy Falls in Love presents this situation for Georgiana Darcy. She faces the reality of having affection for two decent but very different men. She must learn to understand her heart and know which man is her soulmate. But what if she does answer the call of her heart and it is the one she believes does not love her in return?

Excerpt--

Georgiana nodded, once again staring intently into his eyes. Sebastian was still leaning over the piano surface and returned the frank stare. “So the baron was not your first instructor in the violin?”

“I was an incompetent before the baron got his hands upon me. He tried his best, but I fear it was useless.” The reminder of Lord Caxton was not a welcome one under the current circumstances, making Sebastian’s smile wan.

“How long have you known him?”

Sebastian straightened, managing to somehow keep his expression impassive. “Only for a few years. We met at Oxford.”
“Were you personal friends with many of your teachers?”

“No. Lord Caxton and I were never intimates either. He is quite a bit older than I am, and teachers did not generally socialize with the students. But we both have a penchant for cards and moderate gaming, often meeting at the university gaming halls. I am not a huge gambler, Miss Darcy. I pray you do not get that impression.”

She did not seem perturbed, nodding calmly and bringing the conversation back to Caxton, much to Sebastian’s annoyance. “And Lord Caxton? Is he what you would consider a huge gambler?”

“No, I cannot say he ever was,” he answered truthfully. “He is wise in that regard. For both of us, it was a casual pastime, the spirits and cigars as appealing as the game.”

“Yes, I can imagine. Or rather I know that is what gentlemen claim. It is a mysterious amusement, ladies only allowed to spin conjectures as to what truly takes place behind the closed polished wood doors.”

“I would reveal the truth, Miss Darcy, even to the point of facing being blackballed as a traitor to my sex, but trust me, it is not nearly as exciting as your wild fantasies. Best to leave the mystery intact. I will tell you that I win my games most of the time.”

“Then I am surprised the baron invited you! Perhaps he does not mind losing money?”

“I think he sees it as a challenge to supplant me,” Sebastian replied, wondering if she sensed the double meaning.

“Well, good luck tonight then. May the best man prevail.”

“Indeed. Let us hope the battle fairly fought with the outcome as fate designs,” he stressed, not referring to a game of cards.

Synopsis of Miss Darcy Falls in Love--

Noble young ladies were expected to play an instrument, but Georgiana Darcy is an accomplished musician who hungers to pursue her talents. She embarks upon a tour of Europe, ending in Paris where two very different men will ignite her heart in entirely different ways and begin a bitter rivalry to win her. But only one holds the key to her happiness.

Set in post-Napoleonic Empire France, Miss Darcy Falls in Love is a riveting love story that enters a world of passion where gentlemen know exactly how to please and a young woman learns to direct her destiny and understand her heart.

Sharon’s Bio--

Sharon Lathan is the best-selling author of The Darcy Saga sequel series to Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. Her previously published novels are: Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One, Loving Mr. Darcy, My Dearest Mr. Darcy, In the Arms of Mr. Darcy, A Darcy Christmas, and The Trouble With Mr. Darcy. Miss Darcy Falls in Love is Georgiana’s tale of love and adventure while in France. Complete with a happy ending. In addition to her writing, Sharon works as a Registered Nurse in a Neonatal ICU. She resides with her family in Hanford, California in the sunny San Joaquin Valley. Visit Sharon on her website: www.sharonlathan.net and on Austen Authors, her group blog with 25 novelist of Austen literature: www.austenauthors.com

Sharon is offering 1 print copy of Miss Darcy Falls in Love to one lucky commenter. Just leave your name and email address on this post no later than 7:00pm on Saturday, November 12 to enter to win. (US & Canada only)

Book Giveaway - Garden of Apples by M. Nova

2011-11-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today one lucky commenter has the chance to win 1 ebook copy of

Garden of Apples by M. Nova.

Just leave a comment on this post no later than 7:00pm (pacific) on 11/9/11 - along with your email address - and we'll announce the winner on Thursday, November 10th.

In a forgotten land, a novice farmer, Adam Prestan, becomes possessed with temptation when he spies the indescribable beauty of an unadulterated wine heiress, Eve Telanis. In the spellbinding world of Eden, purity and courtship reign supreme. Defiance incurs death. Such stringency leaves these romantics seeking liberation from the rules and the key to unlock their emerging taste for one another.

As intimacy and adventure commence in this epic journey, Adam and Eve conceal their bond, stumbling on a remedy that offers them seclusion. Lucas Greetious, the expelled ex-captain of the governing force, holds the map to their secrecy. Adam and Eve chance everything, including their families, by indulging in a forbidden paradise and ignoring the deadly consequences.

Do they hold the power to siphon love and life from one to the other, or will they be solely responsible for breeding dissension and the demise of many? It only takes one bite. And one bite might just set them free …

“If you are not cut out for war, you’re not carved for love.”

Excerpt:

Temptation 3:
Despite some overcast, the sun sat on her galactic throne, birthing a new day for the world of Eden.

At the Hall of Order, Governor Christopher passively walked down a long corridor, sandwiched between the captain on his left and the first lieutenant to his right.

“What can you tell me of Lucas?” asked Josiah, looking to Michael.

“Some say he is recruiting.” Michael adjusted his utility belt. “Others are not so sure.”

“I don’t see for what,” Gabriel chimed in. “He is not a legitimate entrepreneur — by any means.”

“That would be the day I give him governing rights over Eden,” joked Josiah. “He is up to something — always was.”

The captain suggested, “It may be for a revolt or underground syndicate. I don’t know.”

“We had better keep an eye on him. With his favorable reputation, he has pull. I wouldn’t doubt his targeting the young and naïve. I bled with him in the war, fighting side-by-side. He knows our creed, and I intend on protecting it.”

“Understood,” said Gabriel.

“Everything that you two risk your lives for can change, if you fail to keep a tight watch on Greetious.”

The three moved on to other business, continuing down the hall.

Eve and Delilah roamed around the marketplace, investigating all sorts of merchandise. Delilah, however, did most of the snooping, while Eve held her day’s objective intact. Eve looked in every direction, just in case Adam might appear sooner than planned. She pulled her ruffled white cap forward, blocking the sun. The small hand on the nearby clock tower was not far from striking twelve.

Upholding punctuality, the ladies arrived at the fruit vendors.

“Why do you appear so absent?” asked Delilah, wiping her hands along the sides of her flowery dress.

“Do I look all right?” returned Eve.

“My precise point, Eve.” As a caring friend, Delilah observed her attire comprehensively. “Yes, you are lovely — a lovely, red apple.”

“I am so nervous.” She aimlessly searched through the green pears.

“Why? It’s only fruit.”

Eve giggled. “Not where we are, silly. Promise you won’t say anything?”

“Just go on with it, will you.”

“Adam is meeting me here at noon.”

“For what?” Delilah smirked.

“I am not sure. We rode on his horse and agreed to meet here.”

“I see something behind your eyes. But, I’m not quite sure what it is just yet.” Eve laughed, guilty as charged.
Judeah Roman, a young man of Adam’s age, saw Eve and Delilah cavorting by the fruit. He went towards them. The fellow was raised underprivileged, never knowing his mother. His father preferred inhabitance in taverns, or anywhere else but at home with his son.

Disheveled hair was normal for the youthful lad. Rags would be another description for the clothing he wore — torn, aged, stained. Judeah was motivated to alter such things about his appearance. Such inspiration came from the woman he aspired to marry, the one standing where his legs led him — Eve.

The dames saw him approach and turned away, wishing he were only a momentary apparition. Their dreams were shattered. He was incarnated and standing before them.

“Would you like some fruit, my lady,” he asked in a cracking voice. Young Roman took hold of an immature plum and extended it to Eve.

Eve quickly signified disinterest in the motion of her head and faced Delilah, who was no more enthusiastic about his presence than her companion. Eve rolled her eyes so that he would see it, and travelled in circles around different fruit carts, to no avail. He persistently followed her.

“Please go away,” blurted Delilah, with a diabolical grin.

“Excuse me?” he responded, but never looked at her. His murky eyes were geared toward the woman he worshipped.

“You!” exclaimed Delilah. He glanced at her. “Yes, you! Leave — take a bath or drown in the lake.” He checked Eve for her disapproval of his dismissal. She denied their eyes catching. “Do something — anything — somewhere else.” Delilah shooed him away.

He was affronted and subsequently humiliated, especially in front of his eventual wife — so he prayed. His head descended from the hurt. It did not matter to him where, but he headed elsewhere. Each stride he took away reiterated each step backward he had taken from grasping her. No one could convince him that this was Eve’s doing. It was Delilah’s fault alone. This partially appeased him.

Lucas was in listening range to what just occurred, and observed Judeah’s entire rejection and expulsion. He was not solo. Desaro accompanied him.

“The youth,” started Lucas, “are so precious, carefree. They are ignorant of responsibility, or even the meaning of love, Des.” Desaro cleared the sweat from his brow. “What they think is love is lust. And, what they think of lust is that it’s a sin. They are confused.”

“They are predictable,” said Desaro. Lucas grinned. “Good place to begin.”

“Eden is mine. I saved Josiah on many accounts. He has never been face-to-face with the people — I have.”

“That is true, my Lord.”

“While the almighty Governor hid in his office, I kept this city operating — safe from harm. He would banish me — like I’m not righteous enough? Things will change, Desaro. Things will change.”

“We should wave him off, just as Judeah was,” said Desaro, snickering.

“Poor boy. Another lost youth, desiring acceptance — belonging.”

“He may find it someday. We did.” They smiled at each other. “You know, we will need a vast supply of pistols, rifles and ammunition to properly combat Josiah and his slaves.”

“No, Des. We are in need of anything that can be flung, swung or shot silently.” His friend looked at him, perplexed. “Anything with a sharp point. Does that help? We must be as snakes, hidden within common grass. Smite unheard. Pierce with venom. Blend back into the pasture.”

The clock struck twelve. Delilah saw Adam coming in the distance. She also witnessed him inspecting his clothing for spots.

“Here he comes,” Delilah informed Eve. “Would you prefer me to stay for moral support?”

Eve laughed. “I think I’ll manage. You may leave.”

“Enjoy yourself, Evy. But, not too much.” She gave her friend a devious stare.

“Get out of here.” Eve smirked and sent a gentle push Delilah’s way.

To alleviate crossing paths with him, Delilah left in a different direction.

Eve faced away from Adam, once again pretending she was unaware of his approach.

He stood behind her, saying, “I know you feel my existence.” She hid her smile. “Very well. I must be going, then.”

As soon as he rotated one hundred and eighty degrees, she grabbed his left shoulder and softly said, “Adam, where is your sense of humor?”

“I can tell that yours is still available.” She would not acknowledge his sly remark.

They walked closely, ending up near an apple vendor. He grabbed a Granny Smith apple and tossed it north and south.

“Would you like one?” asked Adam.

“Not that one.” He appeared insulted. “I like Pink Ladies.”

“I like my women tan.”

“You’re a funny one, aren’t you?”

“You will have to find out, I presume.”

She shook her head at him.

Lucas and Desaro strolled past the young adults. Lucas grinned as he stared into Adam’s eyes. The men exited the Fruit Market.

“Who are they?” asked Eve, watching them leave.

“The one that smiled is Lucas Greetious, a former Arch.” His eyes were fixed on her. “The same for the other gentleman. I think his name is Desaro or something like that.”

“What happened to them?”

“Who knows?” Adam could not have cared less about them at this moment. Her blinding beauty enraptured him. “So, did you enjoy the ride?”

“I have to admit, I was a bit scared at first, but I could get used to that sort of excitement.”

Unintentionally, they found themselves wandering from the fruit, stopping before two gigantic golden gates. Where the gates were connected to the high concrete wall was a statue of a cherub on top of each column. The barriers were sturdy and successfully reliable in preventing civilians from entering the Majestic Garden. Adam and Eve studied the entrance, standing abreast.

“Adam, have you ever been in there?”

“No, you must have permission. It’s the primary source of income for Eden.” He was astonished that she held no knowledge of this or so she led him to believe. “You must have the Governor’s authorization, or the Archs will wring your neck. Have you been in there?”

“No, but I heard it was more enrapturing than the countryside. One can get lost in a matter of minutes, and never want to return.”

“So I’ve heard.”

She turned to him with wide eyes, saying, “The fruit in there is the most luscious and appetizing fruit you will ever taste — plums, pears, oranges, bananas, nectarines, strawberries, cherries —”

“Apples?”

“Apples and more than we can imagine.”

He smiled at the joy in her tone, in her eyes. “Are you sure you were never there?”

“I said ‘no’. I heard people around here gossiping about it.” She glanced at the intimidating gates and said, “Not sure how they found out. But it sounds amazing and so desirable, doesn’t it?”

“Even more desirable than you?”

“Mr. Prestan, I am a modest and pure woman,” announced the lady, smiling.

“Are you?” He held a straight face. “We shall see.”

Eve smacked his arm. “You are horrible!”

“And you are the most ravishing woman I have ever seen.”

She blushed. “Someday I want to get lost in that garden.”

They peered through the golden bars on the gates.

“The price is too steep, dear,” warned Adam.

Eve gave him a disappointed look. Though she knew he was right, she preferred her wishful thinking over his practical stance.

The duo headed back toward the apple stands.

This time Adam took hold of a Pink Lady. “This can be yours if you should desire it.”

“Why would I want that one?” she replied rudely. “You have tainted it with your farming hands.”

“Oh, I see,” he responded, with eyebrows raised. He lifted his free hand and said, “A man that works, that toils for his family, scares the rich girl.”

“How dare you, Adam!”

“No.” He looked at his hands, as did Eve. “You insult these hands. Yet these hands may be of some important use to you in the future.”

She crossed her arms and asked, “Such as?”

“You will have to stay near to find that answer. As for now, no apple for you.” He placed it back in the cart. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. “Now you want what you cannot have — hmmm?”

“Brat!”

“Prissy Daddy’s girl!”

They gazed deeply into one another’s eyes and released no sound. Their hearts did the talking at this instance. If everyone around them disappeared, they would never know, frozen in their passionate trance.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her father coming their way. He had yet to find his daughter, observing new items from the merchants.

“I have to go, Adam.” She walked past him, forbidding any public display of affection.

“Wait — are you going to service tonight?”

She turned to him. “I will if you do.”

“Then, I shall.” He smiled. “I will see you later, priss-pot!”

Eve wrinkled her nose and returned a sincere and smitten expression. Off to her father she ran.

Adam watched John embrace his daughter. How severely Adam wanted her in his grasp. Fortunately, he would see her at the Cathedral. His chance might come sooner than expected.

M. Nova

Sucked in by Vampires

2011-11-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

Twilight Fangirl, keeping the squeeeeee!
Breaking Dawn Movie 1 - November 18th

I admit to turning my head at anything vampire: cupcakes, chokers, temporary tattoos, candy blood. But just how extensive a collection can I get and still be seen as a responsible adult? The secret is camouflage. Wear that blood drip chocker with you favorite black dress and bangles. One piece at a time gives you the pleasure of indulgence and the dignity of playing grownup.

Not that we know how you all feel about series and movies,
What's your take on spin off merch?
I totally get sucked in! I bought Twilight stickers and then had no idea what to do with them. LOL

FANGirl

2011-11-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

Our favorite YA series (to hate, for some) breaks out in the movies November 18th. Breaking Dawn: Part 1

Twilight Fangirl... get it? Fang + girl = Fangirl!

Yesterday I asked about rereading a series.

Today I want to know what you think about the jump from book to movie?

It never works out for me. Those actors just don't look like the characters in my head.

Twilight Squee

2011-11-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

With Halloween freshly killed, there's an abundance of bloody accessories on sale. And why does that matter to us book lovers?

Breaking Dawn: Part 1 the movie releases November 18th

That's right - I'm a Twilight Fangirl and I'm here keeping the squeeeeee!

Now for a conversation starter:
Do you reread books in a series in preparation for the new release?
I DO! But I'm a little touched in the head that way. ;) ~Miranda

Say What?

2011-11-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

Please welcome author PD Singer to the our island home!

Stories take us all over the world, into the far corners and distant times. They take us to new places that exist only in the mind. A movie can place us in time and space, with garb, landscapes, buildings, and iconic images, but a story has only the words to do it. Descriptions help place us in the correct world, but so does dialog. If every character sounded straight out of Middle-Where-the-Author-Lives, how would we truly know where we are?

One of the treasures of my youth (they are still in the bookcase) is a set of abridged classics meant for young readers. In the years since, I've read the full works of most of them. Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore, was one I couldn't finish.

Oh, I read my abridged version so many times that the spine cracked, but I bailed on page four of the full version. The reason was dialect. Pity the editor, working with lines like this:

"Small thanks to thee, Jan, as my waife bain't be a widder. Zarve thee right, if I was to chuck thee down into the Doone track."

Used in small proportion to the rest of the text, as my edition proved, it was an ornament. The full version was a solid wall of this. Not a wall, a mountain range. And I couldn't pass through it. By page four, I hated that story, I hated that author, and I was having trouble remembering what it was that I'd enjoyed so much before.

I tried to read another early love from this collection aloud to my young sons. Set in Yorkshire, Bob, Son of Battle was just chock-full of the dialect, all spelled out. For some reason, this was easier to cope with than Lorna Doone, perhaps because it tended to the dropped letters more than the morass of vowels and strange words. Once I started reading them Arthur Ollifant's story of the brave wee doggie, my mouth and brain disconnected.

"Aye, the Gray Dogs of Kenmuir, bless 'em!" Tammas was saying. "Yo' canna beat 'em nohow. Known 'em this sixty year, and niver knew a bad un yet. Not as any on 'em cooms up to Rex son o' Rally. Ah, he was a one! We've never won Cup since his day."

"Nor niver shall agin, yo' may depend," said the other gloomily.

"G'long, Sam'l Todd! he cried. "Yo' niver happy onless yo' makin' yo'self miser'ble."

By this time, all three of us were "miser'ble" because not a word went unstumbled over. I fully believe that one "never" was a type-setter's rebellion.

Fortunately, the huge use of dialect has declined in the years between those two books and others like them, to a more judicious sprinkling across all genres. There are some that use a word or two, others that have what's nearly a second language going, but nothing I've read comes even close to Lorna Doone.

Two recent books come to mind where the dialect has been utilized well, just enough to get the feel of the place but not so much as to be intrusive. Some readers do find anything but standard language as an irritant, but as you can see, I've been tried by fire.

Val Kovalin used a few very light touches to convey the sense of place and people in her shape-shifter novel, Call and Answer. Speech in Louisiana bayou country has a very distinctive sound, which Val chose to hint at, rather than reproduce wholesale.

Charlie’s voice tightened. “What the devil is going on with you this summer?”

Henri shook his head, unable to meet Charlie’s stare. He shrugged.

Charlie’s eyes narrowed. “You going to tell me anytime soon? ’Cause I got a lot of questions, me.”

That one "me," where most people don't put it, gets quite a lot accomplished!

The bayou folks speak French, too, something that again is only hinted at. A word here, an endearment there gives the flavor, whether the conversation is taking place in English or in French.

“You’re putting me on!”

“No, I’m surely not, cher. It’s true, every word. But I need you.”

Now and again, for characterization, the conversations are entirely in French, which again, are not reproduced completely. This is the French of the land, not the French of Parisian salons, signaled with a slightly less than grammatical sentence that matches the rest of the dialog. Just a comment that the speakers have switched languages, followed by speech of the same rhythm, and the conversation has an all-new subtext.

“He’s a boy! How can that be right?”

“Madame,” Henri said.

She switched to English, as if to make him the outsider. “What is it?”

“I got to get dressed,” he said, sensing they would speak English from here on.

Her lip curled. “I ain’t stopping you.”

Henri turned away, dressing with shaking hands. No way to prevent her from getting an eyeful. In his haste, he’d skipped his shorts and shoved them in his jeans pocket.

“Sophie.” Gabriel’s heavy phallus lay flaccid against his thigh. “Let us be.”

“Me, I’m just getting started!” she burst out...

“...What for you afraid?” Gabriel asked in French. “She can’t harm you.”

It came as a small relief to drop back into what had become the language of their courtship.

Just these small touches, and the author puts us very firmly into a specific place and manipulates the mood. Masterful, but only one reason I enjoyed Call and Answer.

Eden Winters had an entire world to build in another story I've read and enjoyed recently. In Galen and the Forest Lord, she has a whole society to define, with a level of technology to establish, and a mythology to boot. This is from the beginning of the story:

Galen said, "I ne'er believed the tales. Wolves be bad, evil creatures, eating unwary sheep and banished villagers. No kindly old grandfa could be their master."

Kitta shook her head. "They be not merely tales, lad, and the current lord's not so very old. He's scarcely two and twenty summers, so I'm told. And haven't I shared the bravery of the mountain warriors, who take the shape of great, flaming birds whilst in battle? Many a villager they've saved from raiders."

What did you take away from the language, not just the words? I got "rural," from the dropped letters, "depending on oral tradition", from the rhythm of the sentences, and "low level of technology," from the way the verb "to be" is used. "Whilst" is not a standard American word, which gives me an additional "not from here" boost, though other readers may have seen nothing unusual there. That's a substantial amount of world building in a small space, just by playing on things that I find familiar.

In fact, you can hear the echoes from the first two examples, where all of these things are indeed true. If you do an apostrophe count, there's only one that isn't a possessive, so I could reasonably read aloud from this story without stumbling.

Now, Eden may or may not have decided that this precise effect was what she expected the use of dialect to accomplish. Or she may have tapped into a general sense of assumptions, deciding they "felt right." What she did do was enhance the social structure with the use of names.

His uncle's last duty as Galen's guardian would be to see him suitably joined. Once paired, Galen could assume his position as head of the family, and instead of Galen Olaf-kin, the tables would turn. Olaf Galen-kin. Nice sound to that, Galen believed.

Not only do the names tell us how the families are structured, but did anyone else hear the ominous music start?

My contemporaries tend to be set in my own back-yard, where the speech patterns are familiar, but for an excursion across an ocean and a hundred years into the past, I had to consider how much dialect to use. Donal and Jimmy are Irishmen from Belfast, journeymen in their trades, which in this time and place means they are literate and likely to read a lot of newspapers. Other things I had to take into consideration were some readers' assumptions about what a brogue sounds like, other readers' knowledge of what a brogue sounds like, how much dialect I was willing to wade through as reader and writer, and a publisher who likes standard American English spelling.

So a sentence like this one:

"D' ye fancy taking the grand tour tomorrow?" asked the only stranger in a sea of familiar faces.

is about as brogue-y as it gets. I think 'twas appears four times in the entire piece. Ye gets a bit more of a workout, though "you" also appears, and for almost everything else, I decided to rely on word choice and sentence pattern.

"Do I fancy spending two days' pay to see a ship I've been in and out of for months?" Donal lifted his brow at the absurdity.

"Two?" The stranger regarded him frankly, which made Donal want to squirm. "I'd have thought-- "

He chopped off the appraisal of Donal's status in the yard, though what he'd said already was both rude and flattering. The five shilling fee would have been the best part of two days' wages for an unskilled laborer, but part of Donal's skills were in ciphering and forethought. "One for the tour, one for the wage they'd dock me for missing work. Ye must figure that in too."

The stranger laughed. "That would account for the lightness of my pay packet last week. 'Twas a dear cup of tea, then, and all for me getting thirsty before end of day."

I could have stuck a "'t'would" in Jimmy's last line, or dropped a g, but would it have added to anything but reader annoyance?

Another thing I had to contend with is another language. Gaelic isn't likely to have been the language of conversation in the metropolitan areas, but having grown up in a home where English only went back two generations, I was used to a fair sprinkling of other words in speech. Partly for flavor, partly as emphasis, and partly to avoid bogging the story down, I decided to keep the Gaelic to endearments only.

Jimmy calls Donal mo stór once when no one else can hear them. It means "my treasure," though it's sometimes translated at "my dear", which is more how it's used. Mo mhile stór is "my thousand treasure" and I love that endearment. The one time it appears, I hope you'll agree that the setting was right for it. Once or twice, they bare their souls enough to call one another mo ghrá, my love.

Val Kovalin could assume a general understanding of the few French and Cajun words she uses, but with Gaelic, that's a poor assumption. Still, I left the exact translations out of the story itself, trusting the readers to put it all together from context; the words appear sparingly.

In almost everything, my first inclination is to go for total accuracy. In my writing, I've learned to temper complete detail with the needs of the story. This is entertainment, not studying for a degree; the reader wants just enough dialect to evoke setting and time. With Maroon: Donal agus Jimmy (and you pulled the meaning of agus out of that title without a beat, didn't you?) I hope I've struck that balance.

Find Maroon: Donal agus Jimmy here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PD Singer lives in Colorado with her slightly bemused husband, two rowdy teenage boys, and thirty pounds of cats, all of whom approach carefully when she's in a writing frenzy. She's a big believer in research, first-hand if possible, so the reader can be quite certain PD has skied down a mountain face-first, been stepped on by rodeo horses, acquired a potato burn or two, and will never, ever, write a novel that includes sky-diving.

When not writing, playing her fiddle, or skiing, she can be found with a book in hand. Her husband blesses the advent of ebooks -- they're staving off the day the house collapses from the weight of the printed page.

Follow the adventures at her website.

The "I Have No Idea What to Post" post aka Historicals vs Contemporary romances

2011-11-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

Tracy here. I have to be completely honest with you, I have no idea what to talk about. I'm sitting here wracking my brain trying to figure out some great quirky and funny thing to post and yeah, it's like the desert up in my brain. Sand blowing around, not a thought in sight. Sad really when you think about it.

Then...inspiration. Ok, maybe not inspiration exactly but a thought (thank heavens, I thought those went the way of the yeti) . I was looking at my "read" list over at Goodreads and thinking to myself - why don't I read more historical romances? I really love them. I have a ton of them on my shelves waiting to be read. On the whole though I really read more contemporary romances than anything else between the m/f and the m/m that I read. Why is that? I know I don't like reading too many historicals all in a row because they kind of lose their charm and if I read more than 2 in a row then they all start to sound the same. I KNOW they're not the same but they kind of....blend.

I don't think this applies as much to contemporary romances and I can't quite figure out why. When I think about it there are a gajillion situations that can be written about historically as well as in contemporary times - so why wouldn't I think that the contemporary romances blend?

Yes, as a matter of fact I am asking you to pick my brain. Do a good job and don't hurt me while you're at it.

That is all. I'm tapped out.

Happy Halloween and Halloween Romances

2011-10-31T10:03:00.000-07:00

So it’s Halloween. I know in some parts of the world the readers are saying, BFD because you don't celebrate it! Well in America Halloween is a damned fun holiday.

Lots of people decorate their houses in a spooky manner. I know in our neighborhood this past weekend there were tons of folks out decorating and even some getting ready for having haunted houses in their backyards or garages. It’s a pretty innocuous holiday but one I really enjoy. I hate going costume shopping with my kids (as Kris can attest) because they want to try on everything (even if they already know what they want to be) and never pick what I want them to (lol) but when it comes down to the night of the big H and they dress up and go trick or treating I love seeing them having fun.

So what do I like about Halloween besides the kids stuff? That’s easy. I love reading romances that have costume parties where people meet and fall in love. I especially like these if one or both of the people are in masks or make-up so that the other person falls in love with the person and has no clue what the other one looks like.

Sad to say that I haven’t read even one Halloween story/costume party romance this year. *gasp* Unheard of! Sue me! There just haven’t been any that have caught my attention!

So even though by the time I get replies and seek out these books Halloween will be over, I’m gonna ask for recs anyway. Do you have any favorite Halloween romances or romances containing costume parties that you want to pass on? I’d love to know what they are. Oh, and you know me – I’ll take m/m recs as well as m/f!

(If you're out and about tonight have a happy and safe Halloween!)

Tropes in Romance: Good or Bad?

2011-10-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

I can hear some of you asking now, what is a trope? Simply, a trope is a cliché, a common (sometimes overused) literary device. Some common romance tropes are the virgin, friends-to-lovers, enemies-to-lovers, lovers torn apart, The Big Misunderstanding, The Bad Boy, the brooding vampire, insta-love, etc. There is an endless list of tropes easily found in just about every romance title, be it mainstream or gay romance, and every genre has its own special tropes readers either love or hate.

So, the question becomes, are these tropes good or bad? Do they add to a novel or detract? I know a lot of authors and readers who would say to bury the trope deeply, or subvert it in some way. And I agree, subversion of a trope can be an awesome way to bring something unique into a genre full of tropes. For example, vampires and shifters. The images of the brooding vampire or the dark alpha shifter are classics that can be found throughout the genre.

Imagine a vampire who has every reason on earth to hate himself. He’s a murderer, a thief, a seducer. But, because he has someone in his life that reminds him of all the good he has done alongside the bad, he remains optimistic about his existence. Instead of brooding, as a vampire might if he hates who and what he is, he instead revels in the positive aspects of his affliction, finding love and peace rather than endless angst and self-loathing. This would be a new take on an otherwise tired trope.

A subversion of the dark alpha shifter could be a headstrong beta who challenges the alpha of the pack for leadership, but then loses. Here, the main character has been built up as the big bad shifter, one who will take down the current alpha, and then fails spectacularly. The trope has been taken and turned on its ear, because he is the dark alpha-minded shifter, but he really isn’t alpha material. Not yet, anyway.

At the same time, though, taking a trope and owning it 100% is just as valid. The author just has to do it right, sell the reader on it from page one. Don’t half-ass your handling of a trope. That leads to unhappy readers, poor reviews, and a discouraged author. If you’re going to write your two main characters falling in love within the first four sentences of meeting one another, then take that up right to the end. Explore what happens with fated love, with soulmates, with what appears to be the loss of free choice. If you have a Bad Boy, keep him bad from beginning to end, even if he does have a heart of gold under all the rust.

Tropes are great literary devices, and no one can escape them. They creep into all writing, television, movies, plays, music. They’re just there, the undercurrent of the familiar. Tropes aren’t good or bad. They are what they are, and in the hands of a skilled author, a reader can be taken on an amazing journey.

Where you can find S.L. Armstrong:
Website: http://www.slarmstrong.net/
Twitter: @_slarmstrong

What is Wild Moon Books?

2011-10-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

Wild Moon Books is the newest imprint from Storm Moon Press. We’ve branched out from GLBT and alternative lifestyle fiction and created an arm that will publish mainstream erotica and erotic romance. Wild Moon Books focuses on quality fiction, author-centric publishing, competitive pricing, and fun, exciting contests and giveaways for readers.

Currently, Wild Moon Books is scheduled to launch in January 2012, but we’re actively seeking submissions for anthologies, novellas, and novels. If you write heterosexual erotica or erotic romances, then take a look at the Wild Moon Books site where all the submission guidelines and anthologies calls are. Our contracts offer generous royalties, along with one of the first flip-point structures in the erotic romance industry, and we ensure authors are not bound to us through Right of First Refusal or non-compete clauses. We’re here for authors and readers.

Readers can look forward to discounted pre-sales of titles, fun contests, giveaways, and competitive prices. All our books will be available not only on the Wild Moon Books site, but in all major third-party vendor sites, so readers will be able to purchase Wild Moon Books at their favorite retailer. There are many surprises in store for readers during Wild Moon Books’ first year, and we can’t wait to start the ball rolling!

We’re excited to begin this new venture, and we can’t wait to work with some awesome authors to bring readers great reading experiences.

Where you can find Wild Moon Books:
Website: http://www.wildmoonbooks.com/
Twitter: @wildmoonbooks

Moving Beyond M/M

2011-10-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

Every writer tends to have their favorite topics and themes, their favorite genre or sub-genre. They might go for years simply writing in one place or continuing a series of books to the exclusion of all else. This is very common, and rather than buying into the view 'Write what you know', I prefer to tell people 'Write what you love'. If we were to limit ourselves only to the topics we have personal knowledge of, I think fiction would suffer. Instead, it's important to just write what you love and explore different topics that you love.

My co-author, S.L. Armstrong, and I love researching new topics and being inspired by a broad range of themes in erotic romance. Ever since we started writing together, we've focused on gay (M/M) erotic romance, because we both love to read and write men falling in love, overcoming obstacles, and finding fulfillment with one another. We've always had a soft spot for paranormal and BDSM themes as well, so we love writing vampires/immortals and exploring different facets of BDSM. Heck, it was a love of both that led to the idea behind Catalyst, which follows the romance between a man with a blood fetish and his psychologist.

Despite our natural tendency to stay in our comfort zones, S.L. and I are always keen to push our boundaries. Because of that, we plan on moving beyond writing exclusively gay fiction (with the occasional dip into lesbian pairings). One of our current writing projects involves Lilith and Cain (of biblical fame), and it will be our first official foray into mainstream M/F erotic romance. We're really excited about the novella trilogy, which will follow Cain and Lilith from shortly after the murder of Abel to modern day London!

In addition to our M/F pursuits, we're also pushing ourselves to showcase more bisexual, trans*, and polyamorous fiction over the next couple years. We pride ourselves on keeping inventive, and sometimes inventive means moving beyond the comfort of M/M erotic romance. Bisexual men and women tend to be sorely under-represented in GLBT erotica beyond the familiar tropes of the 'hot bi chick' and 'one-time ménage', so that's definitely a corner of the market that S.L. and I would love to help expand. The same goes for trans* fiction, which may have a smaller market but is just as important to the spectrum of sexuality and identity.

For both our writing and our management of Storm Moon Press, we strive to find the themes in erotic romance of which we would love to see more, and then write what we wish were there for us to read! While we have plenty on our creative plates for the next few years, with everything from contemporary western to high fantasy to polyamory romance, Storm Moon Press has several anthology calls for all flavors of GLBT erotica and erotic romance, along with open calls for longer pieces with specific themes! Our new imprint, Wild Moon Books, will also be launching in January 2012 for mainstream erotic romance titles, so keep an eye on us these next few months!

We hope that our submission calls spark ideas for you writers and pique your interest as readers! Be it mainstream M/F or the LBT part of GLBT, Storm Moon Press is taking it up a notch and providing you with something that goes beyond the ordinary and beyond the M/M erotic fiction we specialize in!

Where you can find K. Piet:
Website: http://www.kpiet.net/
Twitter: @k_piet
Publisher: http://www.stormmoonpress.com/ and http://www.wildmoonbooks.com/

Halloween Reads

2011-10-26T04:00:00.000-07:00

Tori & I are recovering from heavy DIK partying last evening and enjoying some quite time sipping some bottled water whilst laying on a cozy lounge chair under one of the cabanas here on the beach. The waves are lapping on the shore under a beautiful blue sky, I love the sound. (Hey a girl can dream right?) :)

This Monday is Halloween and aside from the fact I have to work (bah) it is one of my favorite festive occasions. Certain books and specifically the particular series I'm featuring today makes me think of Halloween. Jeaniene Frost's extremely popular Night Huntress series to me is imminently "Halloweenesk". I mean the names of the vampire heroine and hero associated with the series are Cat & Bones. Bwahaaaaa! The cover art for the six books written in the series thus far have that spooky, dark Halloween feel. And, of course each of the titles reference the grave....

Flirting With The Grave…

Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping that one of these deadbeats is her father – the one responsible for ruining her mother’s life. Then she’s captured by Bones, a vampire bounty hunter, and is forced into an unlikely partnership.

In exchange for help finding her father, Cat agrees to train with the sexy night stalker until her battle reflexes are as sharp as his fangs. She’s amazed she doesn’t end up as his dinner – are there actually good vampires? Pretty soon Bones will have her convinced that being half-dead doesn’t have to be all bad. But before she can enjoy her status as kick-ass demon hunter, Cat and Bones are pursued by a group of killers. Now Cat will have to choose a side … and Bones is turning out to be as tempting as any man with a heartbeat.

You can run from the grave, but you can’t hide…

Half-vampire Cat Crawfield is now Special Agent Cat Crawfield, working for the government to rid the world of the rogue undead. She’s still using everything Bones, her sexy and dangerous ex, taught her, but when Cat is targeted for assassination, the only man who can help her is the vampire she left behind.

Being around Bones awakens all her emotions, from the adrenaline rush of slaying vamps side by side to the reckless passion that consumed them. But a price on her head – wanted: dead or half-alive – means her survival depends on teaming up with Bones. And no matter how hard Cat tries to keep things professional between them, she’ll find that desire lasts forever … and Bones won’t let her get away again.

Some Things Won’t Stay Buried … At Grave’s End

It should be the best time of half-vampire Cat Crawfield’s life. With her undead lover Bones at her side, she’s successfully protected mortals from the rogue undead. But though Cat’s worn disguise after disguise to keep her true identity a secret from the brazen bloodsuckers, her cover’s finally been blown, placing her in terrible danger.

As if that wasn’t enough, a woman from Bones’s past is determined to bury him once and for all. Caught in the crosshairs of a vengeful vamp, yet determined to help Bones stop a lethal magic from being unleashed, Cat’s about to learn the true meaning of bad blood. And the tricks she’s learned as a special agent won’t help her. She will need to fully embrace her vampire instincts in order to save herself – and Bones – from a fate worse than the grave.

Her dreams leave her in grave danger…

Since half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her undead lover Bones met six years ago, they’ve fought against the rogue undead, battled a vengeful Master vampire, and pledged their devotion with a blood bond. Now it’s time for a vacation. But their hopes for a perfect Paris holiday are dashed when Cat awakes one night in terror. She’s having visions of a vampire named Gregor who’s more powerful than Bones and has ties to her past that even Cat herself didn’t know about.

Gregor believes Cat is his and he won’t stop until he has her. As the battle begins between the vamp who haunts her nightmares and the one who has her heart, only Cat can break Gregor’s hold over her. She’ll need all the power she can summon in order to bring down the baddest bloodsucker she’s ever faced … even if getting that power will result in an early grave.

Danger waits on both sides of the grave…

Half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her vampire husband Bones have fought for their lives, as well as for their relationship. But just when they’ve triumphed over the latest battle, Cat’s new and unexpected abilities threaten to upset a long-standing balance…

With the mysterious disappearance of vampires, rumors abound that a species war is brewing. A zealot is inciting tensions between the vampires and ghouls, and if these two powerful groups clash, innocent mortals could become collateral damage. Now Cat and Bones are forced to seek help from a dangerous “ally”—the ghoul queen of New Orleans herself. But the price of her assistance may prove more treacherous than even the threat of a supernatural war. …to say nothing of the repercussions Cat never imagined.

How do you send a killer to the grave when he’s already dead?

Having narrowly averted an (under)world war, Cat Crawfield wants nothing more than a little downtime with her vampire husband, Bones. Unfortunately, her gift from New Orleans’ voodoo queen just keeps on giving–leading to a personal favor that sends them into battle once again, this time against a villainous spirit.

Centuries ago, Heinrich Kramer was a witch hunter. Now, every All Hallows Eve, he takes physical form to torture innocent women before burning them alive. This year, however, a determined Cat and Bones must risk all to send him back to the other side of eternity–forever. But one wrong step and they’ll be digging their own graves.

I've been glomming this series for a long time and one of these years on Halloween Eve I'm going to immerse myself in a Night Huntress read-a-thon. ;)

Any favorite Halloween reads or series you'd like to share? Do you like the Night Huntress books?

Tonight Storm Moon Press arrives on the Island, for a 3 day vaca! Be sure and give them a warm Island welcome.

This is it for Tori and I until 2012! Wishing all of you a Happy healthy festive season and we will see you in the New Year!

Genre Confusion...

2011-10-25T04:00:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd ramble on about an issue that has been bugging me for a while now: the genre designation assigned to romance novels. As the title of this post indicates I'm rather confused about this issue. (Yes, I confuse easily.)

I talked about After Midnight yesterday, mentioning what a special read it was for me. When I reviewed the book I checked out the publisher's website and was shocked to find the genre label for this book was Interracial. That's it, that's all! Huh? What happened to contemporary romance? The only thing I could attribute the odd genre designation to was that the heroine's father was Native American. Her mother was American. Um...Why would this fact make the book Interracial? Are not Native Americans, American? lol Call me dumb but I just don't understand it.

I guess part of my confusion stems from the fact that I live in a multicultural city and mixed race relationships are extremely common and part of our cultural mosaic. There is no differentiation, really. In my mind, you love who you love exclusive of heritage or gender.

Blood on the Pen was one of my favorite reads of 2010, it is a gripping crime thriller that doesn't spare the grisly in its graphic depiction chronicling the mechanizations of a sociopathic serial killer. This book is meticulously crafted, excellent storytelling. The genre designation?

Crime Fiction/Mystery/Light Interracial Romance

Now, the crime fiction and mystery I get, but once more, we have the Interracial label. I could be wrong but I believe the heroine (who rocks BTW) of the novel is a Hispanic-American. Again, why does this require the book to be designated Interracial? Would lovers of an excellent murder mystery be bothered by the fact that the hero of the story shows affection to a Hispanic-American woman?

I noticed a number of review requests that were coming down the pipe at a blog where I share my thoughts about books fell under the space opera genre and it prompted me to ask what it was? Color me stupid, I mean I've been reading romance since the age of 12 and am damn old now but I'd never heard of this particular genre until recently. Anyway I was given the explanation found on Definition from Wikipedia:

Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap opera" (see below). Perhaps the most significant trait of space opera is that settings, characters, battles, powers, and themes tend to be very large-scale.

I was astounded to discover it's been around for a very long time. Duh! Wikipedia gives the example of Planet Stories which was an American Pulp Fiction magazine. I think this cover looks like kind of campy sci fi. lol

I was told it could be equated with Linnea Sinclair's Sci Fi Romance novels, but I always thought of her work as exactly that, not a space opera, although her novels are certainly grand in scale. I'm in no way meaning to denigrate Space Opera as a genre, but it did and does produce significant confusion on my part. I mean Sinclair's novels are fast paced adventures. I always found soap operas to be ongoing painfully slow and nonsensical. lol *scratching head*

Another genre label that I find confusing is Police Procedural. What happened to Crime Thriller or Mystery? What is wrong with Romantic Suspense?

Do we need to subcategorize to define romance novels like surgical subspecialties? On the other hand, I know it's vitally important to give readers accurate direction so that they can chose books that suite there tastes. I do think that romance genres move in and out of vogue depending on what types of reads are selling well. However, do we need to define and "sub-genreize" to minutiae?

Any genres that you find confusing? Have you ever been steered to a book by the genre label it has been assigned and been surprised or even disappointed by it's content?

Tori and I are looking forward to one more fun day with our heroes here on the island tomorrow and are going to be chatting about Halloween reads! Specifically, a series that I think is quite "Halloweenish".. lol

I hope everyone has a wonderful day and that your week is going well so far. :)

The Power of an Awesome Read

2011-10-24T04:18:00.000-07:00

Tori and I are back on the island for a 3 day fall getaway. It’s getting chilly back home, but I love the fall, the comfortable temperatures, the beautiful colors. We have a huge maple on our front lawn and I actually look forward to raking the leaves each year when they fall. I can’t believe how quickly 2011 has passed. Its nearly November and while flying over on the DIK jet (Tori quite likes its luxury BTW) I got to thinking about some of my favorite reads so far this year, took a peek at my Goodreads favorites list and thought I’d talk about some new-to-me authors that have rocketed to the top of my 2011 Awesome category.

First is Sarah Grimm’s contemporary romance After Midnight, an emotional love story about Isabeau Montgomery, a piano virtuoso who has had a tragic life and Noah Clark, a famous rock musician. I wasn’t expecting much from this book but quickly became captivated by Ms. Grimm’s vivid descriptive prose and exemplary characterization. Noah's persistence while wooing Isabeau along with his compassion and tenderness toward her is extremely touching. I found reading about their journey toward eventual happiness to be unique and memorable.

Thirteen years—that's how long Isabeau Montgomery has been living a lie. After an automobile accident took her mother's life, Izzy hid herself away, surviving the only way she knew how. Now she is happy in her carefully reconstructed life. That is until he walks through the door of her bar...

Black Phoenix singer/front man Noah Clark came to Long Island City with a goal--one that doesn't include an instant, electric attraction to the dark-haired beauty behind the bar. Coaxing her into his bed won't be easy, but he can't get her pale, haunted eyes nor her skill on the piano out of his head.

Can Noah help Isabeau overcome the past? Or will her need to protect her secret force her back into hiding and destroy their chance at happiness?

Next has to be Nadia Lee’s, contemporary romance Carnal Secrets, another emotional story which details the relationship between Natalie Hall and billionaire Alex Damon, who reminded me of Edward Lewis from the movie Pretty Woman. Alex, however is far more appealing, innately seductive and confident. Their tempestuous romance and Natalie’s issues tugged at my heartstrings. Once I started this one, I couldn’t put it down.

After a rapid change in management, Natalie Hall is surprised to find that she's being promoted so quickly. But when it becomes obvious that the new CEO is interested in her on a more personal level, she pushes him away -- she doesn't want to repeat her past mistake of giving her heart to the wrong man.

A self-made billionaire, Alex Damon has his own reasons for pursuing Natalie. Her adoptive father, a powerful U.S. senator, is using his political clout to protect his friends the Rodales, who Alex intends to destroy for ripping his own family apart when he was a child. Furthermore, he suspects that Natalie is spying for the Rodales.

What he hasn't planned on is her unflinching sense of loyalty and integrity, the sizzling attraction between them that threatens to turn into something much more, and the dark secrets that can destroy them both.

Then there is the romantic suspense, Jamie Alden’s, Beg for Mercy, which sat in my TBR pile for a while before I picked it up and by the end of the first chapter I was completely entranced. A multilayered story, Beg for Mercy details heroine Megan Flynn's stalwart refusal to give up on her brother Sean who has been wrongly convicted of the heinous murder of a woman and has been sentenced to death. Ms. Alden crafts a gripping subplot involving a sociopathic serial killer who literally made my hair stand on end. The kicker is, the man Megan loves is Detective Cole Williams, who saw to it Sean was brought to trial and convicted. Can anyone say conflict? I thought this one was brilliantly crafted and am panting for the next book in the series Hide from Evil, which is Sean Flynn’s story and releases tomorrow. :-)

He lurks in the shadows, waiting and watching . . . And once he has you, all you can do is. . .

Megan Flynn thought she was falling in love. Cole Williams wasn't just handsome and passionate, he was one of the good guys. Or so she thought, until he arrested her brother-the only family she has left-for a murder she knows he couldn't have possibly committed. Now, with her heart broken and her brother's life hanging in the balance, Megan will risk everything to prove his innocence. Even if that means throwing herself into the path of a sadistic killer with a hauntingly familiar MO.

Seattle Detective Cole Williams had given up on making Megan see reason where her brother is concerned. But when she insinuates herself into the most shockingly brutal case Cole has ever worked, he can't stand idly by. Plunged into a secret world where the city's elite indulge their darkest desires, Cole will do whatever it takes to bring down a madman who has made Megan his most coveted prey.

Deacon’s Touch, erotic author Callie Croix’s debut novel about a former Pararescueman who due to a significant injury was forced to give up the career he loved. He has returned home to the Texas dude ranch he and his brothers own to try to get himself sorted out. Deke meets Jessie, a hard working, up-tight stock broker when she comes to the ranch to attend a Bachelorette party. Deke is a sexual dominant and Jessie is a repressed submissive. This is a hot sexually explicit erotic romance, and all I can say is the love scenes crafted for this hero and heroine equate with an emotional maelstrom. Callie Croix is better known as romantic suspense author Kaylea Cross and I can tell you she has a new fan. :)

After her own engagement goes to hell, workaholic Jessica Talbot dreads her friend’s bachelorette party at a dude ranch in Nowheresville, Texas. But the outlook for the weekend brightens when Deacon Dumen picks her up at the airport. The sexy cowboy awakens every dormant sexual fantasy with nothing more than a friendly smile and a handshake.

Ex-Air Force Pararescueman Deke Dumen doesn’t know what to make of the sexy yet reserved brunette who breaks through the walls he built after an injury ended his career and a divorce soured him on relationships. As a guest at his family’s ranch Jessie is off limits, but the Dom in him rebels at the restriction, even as he realizes his penchant for control in the bedroom would likely scare the holy hell out of her.

When Jessie shocks Deke by asking for exactly what he’s been craving, he’s ready to break the rules and introduce her to his own brand of dominance. Her willing surrender rocks them both to the core. But once the weekend’s over, they must decide if it was just a wild fling or the start of something more.

I've enjoyed a great year for reading so far but these among a number of others share a few things in common:

The books are keepers.
The plot and some of the scenes that are particularly moving stay vivid in my memory.
I return to these books again and again to re-read coveted passages or in some cases the entire story.
I've reviewed all of them.
I'm looking forward to reading more work from each of these authors.
If someone asks me about a book I've enjoyed this year that falls in the genres mentioned above I suggest one of these novels or novellas (or others that have fallen into my Awesome category).
Lastly, when a book such as the ones I've mentioned above impact me so powerfully, I have difficulty picking up another read for days after.

What about you? Any special, memorable stories that have stood out for you this year and qualify as "favorites"? Any new-to-you author's whose books you are going to watch for?

Tori and I will be back on the Island tomorrow talking about Genre confusion....and it doesn't take much to confuse me. lol Have a wonderful day everyone!

This Time of Year

2011-10-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd start the day off with a little eye-opener ;)

Excuse me for being immature, but it's October 22nd. Which means soon, it's . . . . . . . .

HALLOWEEN!

Though I outgrew trick-or-treating in like, eleventh grade, Halloween is still one of my all-time favorite holidays. The costume parties, the haunted houses, the bobbing of apples -- definitely a rush of blood to the head.

It isn't very widely celebrated here in Korea -- major sadness -- but I still bought costumes from an online shop. Just to get myself in the mood and all.

My options: slutty maid or slutty pirate.

Considering I won't actually be attending a costume party here (unless I host one.......hmmm...), I'm not quite sure why I have these. But I'll figure out a use for them sooner or later. I'll save them for next year when I'm back in the states if I must!

I suppose the excitement of Halloween is the same idea as the appeal of paranormal romance; people love the adrenaline, the supernatural, the magic of possibility. Even if nothing actually happens by the end of the night, we at least keep in mind that it is that initial, fluttering hope that makes it all worth it.

May your Halloween be magical!

Culture Shock

2011-10-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

Understandably, Korean society and American society aren't exactly the same. I arrived knowing that, but there was one thing I didn't expect to be so different. . . . . .

The male population.

The above picture may be a gross over-exaggeration of what men are like here in Korea, but let me tell you, none of them are even remotely close to men of American standards. The majority of the guys here are more feminine than I am. And if you don't believe me, please allow me to give my extrapolations.

Exhibit A: The infamous earring

In terms of dating material, you know you're in trouble when your boyfriend wears more jewelry than you do. There are two different types of body piercings: the badass kind (see Josh Beech), and the incredibly girly kind. Looking at the photo, which do you think I classify Korean guys as?

Exhibit B: Le super super super skinny jeans

My only concern here, is that his butt looks better in these pants than mine does. That, and the fact that his family jewels may be suffocating a little (a LOT).

Exhibit C: The straightenings, the perms, the root-to-tip dye jobs

I just.... I can't even....... o.O

Exhibit D: The manigan (man + cardigan)

At least I know if I ever run out of things to wear, I can always borrow his clothes every once in a while.

So fashion-forward, these guys, no? I'm sure there are some more "American" guys here... I've yet to find one, however!

til tomorrow,

Stephanie

What to Read?

2011-10-20T04:14:00.000-07:00

Some of you may already know, but considering I haven't blogged in a really long time, most of you may not; in July, I made a move to Korea on an abroad program for school!

Wish I had some cool pictures to share with everyone, but unfortunately I A) Happen to be an awful photographer and B) Haven't gotten the chance to travel anywhere cool.... so here's a picture I took with my laptop. I call it A Room with a View:

I know this isn't that impressive, but trust me, it's way prettier at night. And when there aren't trees in the way.

Since I'm at an international school, I don't feel as much as a foreigner as I expected. What I did expect was to be much busier because of balancing classes with the foreigner-ness, and boy, have I put my money where my mouth is. I haven't blogged in SO long :'( and I only get to go to Seoul (the NYC of Korea; only about an hour away from my town!) once every few weeks. Welcome to the student life.

What I have been able to keep up with, however, is read. Of coooourrse. *Collective eye roll* Here's a picture of my book lovin':

Yes, I am the sort of freak who reads four or five books simultaneously. What can I say, I'm a restless person. One book is just not exciting enough for me ;)

Here's what's beside my bed:

Alison Wonderland by Helen Smith: About two-thirds of the way in, I like it so far -- it has a sort of a British charm and bluntness, but so far it's been really slow. The plot is interesting enough to keep me hanging on, but not enough to thrill me terribly. Be on the lookout for a review at my place soon!

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice: Visiting the classics, oh yes! To be completely truthful, I haven't really started this one, LOL. But it is literally waiting at the side of my bed (as pictured above!), wishful of my TLC. Which I will give soon! Once the half-semester is over :)

Until There Was You by Kristan Higgins: My newest Harlequin obsession. I'm only about a quarter in, but I'm already in lurve. In lurve, I say! Kristan Higgins is a godsend to the contemporary romance genre.

Atonement by Ian McEwan: One of those books I know I would not have been able to get through, if it weren't for good ol' lit class. Just turned in my final analysis essay for this one, actually! It's a brilliant novel, but way too flowery and slow for me. I know it's a perennial modern classic and all, but come on; you and I both know I'm more of a penny dreadful kind of girl. Otherwise known as: cheap romance junkie.

The Things they Carried by Tim O'Brien: Just got into this one. It's in the same unit as Atonement for class. It's much more fast-paced (at least of what I've read so far), which means I like it better (so far). Me and my prejudgments.

So what's everyone got beside there bed? Read anything good lately that you recommend? Dish! I'm always in search of new books to read, even though the list is unending.

❤,

Stephanie

Cover Alert and Excerpt from Scandal in the Wind by KT Grant

2011-10-19T10:24:00.000-07:00

Excuse me while I pimp myself out. I was just sent the cover for my next release that will be released in a few days.

Scandal in the Wind is a Lesbian Historical Romance from Ravenous Romance.

Can I admit how excited I am at being called a "best selling author"?

Synopsis: Lily Odell was the belle of Charleston, South Carolina high society until her husband, Beau, walked out on her after believing she’d been unfaithful to him. Lily has always been devoted to Beau, although she has kept a dark secret concerning her relationship with her childhood girlfriend. Now Lily has been ostracized because of the gossip and lies and has no one to turn to for help.

Charleston’s most popular brothel madam, Mrs. Rose Ware, lives her life on her own terms and answers to no one. When she discovers Beau abandoned Lily and has thrown her out on the street, Rose takes Lily in until she can get back on her feet. Rose has always been attracted to the spirited and beautiful Lily, but kept her feelings to herself because of her wanton reputation and her past with Beau. Now that Beau’s out of the picture, she might have a chance to seduce the heartbroken Lily.

Lily wants revenge against Beau, and Rose is more than willing to help her. Soon both women come up with a plan, one that will scandalize Charleston, and expose a forbidden passion between a brothel madam and a genteel Southern lady.

How about an excerpt to tickle your fancy?

Lily placed her hand over Rose’s. “Why didn’t you come to me last night?” she asked.

Rose’s hand twitched as Lily drifted her fingers back and forth over the side of her stiff ones. She finally pulled away, dropping her arms to her sides. “You had Beau to take care of you. I wasn’t needed.”

“You’re a foolish, stubborn woman, Rose Ware,” Lily stated in an incensed voice.

Rose opened her mouth to argue, but not one peep left her, for Lily hands came around her head and gave her a kiss.

A deep moan left Rose, and when Lily’s fingers dug into the back of her nape, she pulled her roughly against her and kissed her greedily. She gave her open mouth kisses, which Lily received by opening her own mouth wide and tangling her tongue with Rose’s searching one.

By the time she needed air, Rose had pulled Lily’s hair out of her pins and her mouth was swollen and red. Her own throbbed, among other key areas on her body aching to be caressed and filled.

“I should make you angry more often,” Rose joked and spread her fingers through Lily’s hair, making a curtain over her shoulders.

Lily gave her a disgruntled look as she pressed her palms against Rose’s chest. Rose shifted to push her breast into Lily’s palm. Lily cupped her there, squeezing her flesh and causing her nipple to harden.

“I came here to talk to you.” Lily removed her hand.

Rose released a suffering sigh. “Then why did you kiss me just now? It makes me want to do other things besides talk.” Rose went over to the settee in the corner and patted the seat next to her. Lily followed and sat down, taking Rose’s hands in both of hers.

“I missed you and wanted to make certain you tasted the same like the last time I kissed you,” Lily said and turned Rose’s hand over to trace the lines on her palm.

Lily’s simple touch made her inner thighs slick and she pressed her legs tightly together to cover her arousal. First they would clear the air and then spend an hour or so involved in more amorous pursuits if she had any say.

A KT Grant Ponder: Is Research Important To You as a Reader?

2011-10-18T08:42:00.000-07:00

Are you the type of reader who will mark down a book based on inaccuracies found in something you have read?

I've noticed lately if say, in a contemporary novel, the author has incorrect information about a character's profession (mainly the hero or heroine), book reviewers will call the author on it or give it a lower grade. Or in a historical romance, if events haven't occurred yet, or something hasn't been invented, but yet the event if mentioned or some sort of item is used at one point, readers will become annoyed.

As an author who writes both contemporary and historical fiction, I'm full aware I have to do some research when writing a book. An example is with my soon to be release from Ravenous Romance called Scandal in the Wind. Scandal takes place in Charleston, South Carolina in 1871. This is a lesbian historical romance where a soon to be divorced Southern belle ends up in a sexual relationship with a Madam of a brothel.

When writing Scandal in the Wind, I had to keep in mind that two women, such as my heroines, couldn't be as public with the affections mainly because of the time and setting. Scenarios where women drink alcohol in public, including something as simple as having a newspaper sent to a house are two things I had to research. Also, the wardrobe for both men and women had to be correct. I even went as far as finding out what flowers and plant life are indigenous to that area.

Details and facts can be very important to some when reading, but in the end it's all subjective.

Are you one of these readers who expect the facts in the book to be correct or do you just shrug and go with the flow?

Talking to Myself in Funny Voices

2011-10-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

Please welcome Jessica Freely to our island hideaway!

Thank you to the ladies of DIK for having me here today, and thank you for joining me as I celebrate the release of my new m/m erotic romance, Broken, the book that answers the question: What happens when the closeted younger brother of a mob boss falls for the boss's latest acquisition, a rent-boy from Hong Kong?

Broken is now available from Loose Id

For the first four months of sales I am donating half of my proceeds from Broken to Project Polaris, combating human trafficking and modern day slavery.

I'm thrilled to be here and to share with you a story about how Broken came to be.

Oh, but before I forget, I'm running a contest today and the winner gets a free copy of Broken. Please leave a comment to this post and you'll be entered. The lucky winner will be announced at the end of the day.

Do you ever wonder how a book goes from idea to completed project? Well, the truth is, no two writers work exactly the same way.

Sometimes, the process is different just from one project to the next. Take Broken, for example. This story began way back in 2007 when I was at YaoiCon. I had just met my first epublisher and the prospect of a fertile market for m/m stories had set my little brain on fire with story ideas. An hour before I caught the shuttle to the airport, I sat down and quickly jotted down several quick outlines. One of these was what eventually became my David and Seth series. Another was about a mob enforcer who falls for a rent boy.

That little kernel of a story sat in the back of my brain gestating for three years while I worked on other projects. By the time I started working on it last winter, it was ready to come out into the world.

Not just ready, bursting with eagerness.

The first draft was pouring out of me and right in the middle of it, I had another convention to attend. EPICon, in Williamsburg, VA. I live in Michigan, and I was driving. The prospect of taking a week off in the middle of this creative frenzy troubled me deeply. In the first place, I wasn't sure the project was going to let me put it on hiatus. In the second place, there's always the chance, when you bring a hurtling locomotive to a screeching halt, that it might run right off the rails. I couldn't risk that.

So I did something I've never done before.

I used a voice recorder.

I know, I know, big deal, right? Well it was kind of a big deal to me. I'd tried using one in the past, and it had felt odd and awkward and I hated the way my voice sounded on playback. That's what I sound like to other people? I'm never talking again! (Heh, fat chance of that.)

Anyway, whether it was my overwhelming need to keep creating Broken or something else, I got over myself and I used the voice recorder on the Evernote app on my iPhone. All the way from Detroit to Virginia, a trip I broke up into three days of driving, I ruminated on the story and talked to myself. Well, to my phone. In the evenings, I transcribed my day's notes and used that as a jumping off point for more writing, which in turn fed my brain for the next day, when I drove and talked out the book some more.

It worked a charm, and had the added benefit that now I have all these little audio clips that stand as a record to the process by which Broken came into being. Some of them are ideas or observations. The ones I like the best are the ones where I take on the roles of the characters and actually talk out their dialogue. (I use funny voices and everything.)

It worked so well I kept it up even after I got home. I was taking audio notes in the gym, in the coffeehouse, in the parking garage. And somewhere along the line, I got over the sound of my own voice, too, so much so, in fact that I've decided to share these little glimpses behind the scenes of Broken with the rest of the world.

From Aug. 30 through Nov. 10 every Tuesday and Thursday on my blog, I'm posting a mini podcast featuring one of my audio notes. They're short, almost always under five minutes long and often much less than that, and they cover everything from mobster birthday parties to notes for scenes that never made it into the book.

But my audio madness didn't stop there. I have a subscribers-only Yahoo! newsletter group. These are folks who have deliberately signed up to receive notices whenever I have a new release out. They are insane maniacs and I adore them. So of course I try to do something special for them whenever I can. That's why I've created an audio version of the first chapter of Broken. It's available exclusively to my newsletter members. (For more information on my group and how to join, go here http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jessicafreely/)

I love how writing just keeps pushing me out beyond my comfort zone. Thank you for accompanying me on this leg of my journey!

About Broken:
When the closeted younger brother of a mob boss falls for the boss's latest acquisition, a rent-boy from Hong Kong, it's either suicide or one last chance for two broken men to mend each other.

Buy Link: http://www.loose-id.com/Broken.aspx

Excerpt:
Eben had lied to his brother and made love, both for the first time, all in one day.

And now he and Xiu were supposed to go back to their regular lives and never touch each other again. The thought of that hollowed out Eben's heart and filled it with ice.

But the sight of Xiu waving a condom at him and grinning melted it all over again.

There'd be plenty of time later for real life. Eben pulled Xiu down and kissed him. "Good morning!"

Their naked bodies pressed together. Xiu's cock was hot and hard. He shifted his hips to rub it against Eben's own erection. They bumped and slid together, filling Eben with excitement and longing. This was their chance. Whatever they wanted, they had to do it now.

Eben sat up and took the condom from Xiu. He tore it open and started rolling it over Xiu's cock.

The expression on Xiu's face made Eben laugh. Mouth open and eyes wide, he looked like Eben had just brought a goat into the bed with them. "Seriously?"

"Yes, of course!" He paused. "Unless you don't want to."

Xiu opened and closed his mouth a few times before saying, "No, I do. I just -- Most guys I --" Xiu laughed too. "But what am I saying? You're not most guys. Yes, why not?"

"Exactly."

Xiu smiled and his dimple appeared. He watched, apparently mesmerized, as Eben finished rolling the condom down his cock.

Eben lay back and lifted his knees. "Now this is my first time," he said, grinning. "Be gentle with me?"

That got a burst of startled laughter from Xiu. "You are just --" He leaned forward and kissed Eben, pulled back and gazed into his face with glittering dark eyes that might have had tears in them, and then kissed Eben again. "Oyun. I will be gentle with you."

Xiu kissed his way down Eben's body. Every press of his lips and glide of his tongue awakened Eben's nerve endings until he hummed like a tightly strung wire. Precum dripped from his cock and beaded on his belly. Xiu dragged his fingers through it and painted circles and flowers on Eben's skin. Then he reached down and pressed his slick fingers to Eben's hole.

A jolt of adrenaline-laced excitement shot through Eben at that touch. He was a little scared. It was probably going to hurt but he didn't care. He wanted it anyway.

Wet heat enveloped his straining cock, derailing his thoughts. Xiu had one hand wrapped around the base of Eben's cock. He sucked Eben while he played with Eben's asshole. The warm, silken suction and the delicate dance of damp fingers combined to make Eben's head spin and his balls tighten. "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!" He bucked up, helpless in the grip of Xiu's erotic mastery.

Xiu pulled off him for a moment and reached for the lube. He spread more on his fingers and then went back to sucking Eben's cock. One finger probed at Eben's opening, which fluttered in response to the gentle pressure. Slowly, Xiu breeched Eben's body. It felt weird at first, kind of uncomfortable, and then something deep inside Eben's body sparked to life and started to pulse, demanding more. "Oh!"

Xiu slid his finger in deeper, deeper, all the while working Eben's cock with lips and tongue. Eben was caught in a whirlwind of sensations, and then suddenly, Xiu's finger brushed that pulsing spot inside and Eben's whole world turned to molten joy. "Jesus!"

Eben's body seemed to suck Xiu's finger in now. He wanted more. More. He pushed down against Xiu's finger and then thrust up into Xiu's mouth, his hips moving as if with a will of their own. He reached down and stroked Xiu's silken hair. "Jesus Xiu. You… you…"

Xiu slid another finger inside Eben and joy turned to ecstasy, bright and sharp with need. Eben's balls drew up. Honey gathered in Eben's belly. "You better hurry. I'm… I'm…"

Xiu pulled off and readjusted his grip, grasping Eben's cock and the base of his balls and clamping down tight. The sweet fire in Eben's belly had nowhere to go now. All it could do was build as Xiu kept stroking the sensitive walls of Eben's channel with his fingers.

Eben had never felt anything like this. His hands and feet tingled. His cock throbbed. This was going to kill him but at least he'd die happy.

At last Xiu withdrew his fingers and shifted position. He leaned forward and kissed Eben. "Ready?"

"Oh my God! Yes, please!"

Xiu grinned and kissed the tip of Eben's nose. More lube and then the warm, slick, firm head of Xiu's cock nudged at Eben's body. It felt really big, but Eben was far past caring at this point. "Yes. Do it. Please."

Sweat beaded on Xiu's forehead as he slowly pressed inward, stretching Eben wider and wider. Eben struggled for breath. This is impossible. It… it… Oh! Suddenly, Xiu's cock slid all the way in and filled Eben with so much heat and pressure and pleasure that ecstasy seemed to flood every part of his body. And because Xiu still had a vise-like grip around the base of Eben's balls, it had nowhere to go except to take Eben higher. "Oh God!"

For a moment neither of them moved, and then Xiu very slowly withdrew, leaving Eben empty and aching to be filled again. When Xiu thrust forward again, his cock slid right over that little pulsing place inside and sent Eben reeling.

He whimpered when Xiu withdrew again, and bucked up to meet him at the next thrust. The same rhythm that had taken them the night before found them again and soon they were moving together as if they were one being. Ebb and flow, thrust and flex.

Xiu fucked Eben with relentless majesty, sweat dripping from his face to land on Eben's chest. Eben arched beneath him, lost in the tide of their passion, no longer able to distinguish one sensation from another.

Their pace quickened. Xiu released his stranglehold on Eben's balls and the knot of pleasure in Eben's belly that had been building and building all this time pulsed. Xiu reached down and stroked Eben's cock.

Eben's whole body jerked as every ripple and wave that had washed over him until then suddenly rushed to the base of his balls. He came, shouting and spasming, helpless in the grip of an orgasm that seemed to pour out from everywhere at once and wash him clean.

"Ling jan ging kei!" Xiu pumped into him. He leaned forward, capturing Eben's mouth with his as he thrust raggedly and then went still.

They clung together as aftershocks shook their bodies. Eben fully expected to find that they lay in the middle of a crater, but as it turned out, it was still just his bedroom, unchanged, though it seemed impossible that anything could be the same again after that.

Short Stories by Josephine Myles

2011-10-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

Today is Jo's final day here at DIK and many thanks to her for ~~saving my lazy arse~~ filling in for me! Today Jo is talking about something very close to my heart. The humble short story:

Short Stories

I know many readers aren’t that into short stories and much prefer sinking their teeth into an epic novel, but I absolutely adore them. Thanks to Jen and Tam setting up Brief Encounters Reviews, I now have a source of great reviews to help me choose my next m/m short story. I’m going to use their definition of a short story as being anything up to 20,000 words, which includes the whole spectrum from drabbles (100 words exactly) to novelettes.

Here are my top six reasons why short stories rock:

They’re quick to read

This is a huge bonus for me, as a busy mum and writer. Back when I had plentiful free time, I used to lose whole days devouring huge, brick-like novels, including lengthy fantasy series and classics like War and Peace. However, these days I generally only find the odd half hour at either end of the day to read, so I tend to lose track of where I am in a longer work. I really appreciate being able to finish a story in one sitting – or at least within a few days of starting it so I haven’t forgotten how it started by the time I reach the end.

They’re often free (or very cheap)

Okay, I know that the prices publishers charge can seem like a rip-off when compared to novel length stories, but the canny reader can find scores of free self-published short story ebooks out there – just try browsing the freebies at Smashwords and All Romance eBooks. And if you’re willing to read online, many publishers and writers have free shorts on their websites too.
I do buy individual short stories, but I also go for anthologies as they’re a great source of cheap short stories – the price per story is usually less than a dollar. There are also huge numbers of $0.99 short stories available on Amazon – usually self-published.

They’re great for sampling new authors

I’ve found plenty of new favourite authors through reading shorts in anthologies, and some new friends as well! This is why I think it’s so important that shorts are carefully drafted and edited – for me, they’re often the first (and possibly only) chance an author will get to hook me in. If I love someone’s short story I will always buy something longer by them.
They’re sexy

I have to admit, I won’t often buy novels that are pure erotica as I find it can get quite tiresome if the whole plot is sex, and there’s no guarantee of a happy ending. However, I’m perfectly happy to read erotica in short story format.

They force writers to get to the heart of the story

With a limited word count, writers don’t tend to include so much of the pointless filler scenes, convoluted backstory and info-dumps that can plague longer, poorly edited m/m novels (especially from certain publishers, who shall remain nameless). I’m not saying all shorts are perfect and I’ve certainly read a few duds in my time, but I think that writers tend to focus more carefully on their words when they have a limited number of them to make an impression. They’re also far less likely to lose sight of the central thrust of the story.

Another thing that consistently delights me when authors get it right, is the beautiful simplicity of a well-crafted short story. I love the fact that a story can be set entirely in one scene, or one location, or within a strictly limited time frame. Many of my favourite tv series episodes and plays are set in one location and unfold in real time, so perhaps it’s no coincidence that I love it when short stories do this too.

They let writers and readers experiment

There are plenty of sub-genres, tropes and themes out there that don’t grab me so much and I’d be wary of reading at novel length (including, but not limited to, dark fantasy, high fantasy, hardcore BDSM, kidnapping, space opera, vampires and shifters), but that I’m perfectly willing to sample in a short story. Similarly, I’m not all that interested in reading long novels that are either angst-fests or super-fluffy (I prefer a more nuanced mix), but I can handle shorts at either extreme.

Other things writers might experiment with in shorts, but which might become tiresome at novel length, are unconventional points of view (second person, for instance), present tense narration, dialogue only, and highly unsympathetic narrators. I can’t cope with being inside the head of a character I don’t like for a whole novel, but I’ll go with it for a short.
There are also shorts out there dealing with all kinds of kinks that don’t often make it to longer novels, including cross-dressing heroes. God, I’d love to see more of those at novel length!

***

So those are my top six reasons for reading short stories. What do you all reckon? Do you read many shorts, and if so, what are your reasons for doing so? And those who don’t care for shorts, I’d love to know why!

Oh yes, and if you want to read any of my short stories for free, you can find links to downloadable ebooks here, and the free reads on my website here.

The Inexperienced Hero by Josephine Myles

2011-10-14T05:51:00.000-07:00

Are any of you fans of the inexperienced hero? I’m not necessarily talking about virgins (although I’m happy to include them here), but those guys who’ve either never had a relationship before, or are entering into a new type of relationship for them. I’ve realised I really enjoy reading and writing these types of heroes, as there’s so much scope for conflict and character development as they negotiate their way through the minefield of a brand new relationship.

The virgin hero

I’ve got to admit, I don’t find enough of these as I’d like within m/m romance. Perhaps it’s because it’s hard to imagine someone getting it completely right the first time around, so no matter how beautiful the love story between two heroes in their early twenties, the realistic part of me doesn’t always hold a huge amount of hope for their HEA. I say this having recently written a novella featuring two young university student heroes, one of whom was a virgin at the start. I believe in their HEA, though – I have to!

Of course, you do occasionally find characters who stay virgins for longer (yes, it does happen), but the author needs to work extra hard to make the reasons for this convincing. Perhaps a past traumatic sexual experience if it’s a darker story, or maybe they’re just workaholics or painfully shy.

What’s more likely in m/m romance, is to find a hero who’s had sexual encounters with women, but is still a virgin when it comes to same-sex encounters. It takes skill to make a gay for you or out for you storyline work, but I really appreciate them when they do. Not only does this character have the fun of discovering what goes where in the bedroom, but they have to face the world as a gay man for the first time. They also get to find out all the ways in which sharing a relationship with a man is different to doing so with a woman.

Okay, I know men and women probably more similar than we are different, but I still think hormones have a lot to answer for. Testosterone is great for action and single-minded purpose, but it doesn’t necessarily help with compromise and domestic harmony. I’m just sayin’...

The never-had-a-boyfriend hero

These ones are great fun to write, because they can be as experienced as you like in the bedroom, but they’ve never before found anyone they wanted to settle down with. Watching them discover the trials and joys of having a life-partner can be by turns amusing, angsty and heart-warming. This was one of my favourite things about writing Dan in Barging In – he might have had boundless experience in terms of shagging his way around the world, but he didn’t have the first clue about how to behave as a boyfriend.

Of course, this type of character can be extremely angsty if their reasons for not having settled down are because of previous traumatic experiences, such as being abused or betrayed. I’m not quite so keen on these kinds of darker stories, but I know a lot of readers adore them.

The novice hero

These guys will have had regular relationships before, but are entering into a new kind of relationship for the first time. An awful lot of BDSM novels have one of the characters (usually a submissive) as a novice being initiated into a D/s relationship. I think this works really well for readers who are unfamiliar with these kinds of relationships, as it gives them an outsider’s view of a new world. They can share the novice hero’s new impressions, and are given the explanations they need to make sense of the power dynamics that a more experienced practitioner would take for granted. In many BDSM novels this is all the conflict you need – or all that the author sees fit to include, at any rate.

Alternatively, you can have someone who’s experienced as a Dom or sub, but is entering into a 24/7 Master/slave relationship for the first time. These books can be absolutely fascinating, but only ring true when they’re written by authors who’ve done their research diligently or lived the lifestyle themselves.

Ménage relationships are another great testing ground for the novice hero. Indeed, in many of these set-ups all three characters are entering into a ménage for the first time. Again, there is ample grounds for interpersonal conflict simply from the dynamics of three men trying to work out how to make this work – especially when it’s a form of relationship much of the outside world condemns. Not only do you have all the deliciousness of three guys in bed together, but you have three guys fighting over the duvet and who gets to sleep in the middle.

***

Those are some of my favourite kinds of inexperienced heroes in m/m, but perhaps you can think of more? Do you have any favourite novels to share that feature any of these types of hero? Alternatively, do you prefer your heroes to have plenty of previous relationship experience, and if so, why?

Please share!

Waving Hello to Josephine Myles

2011-10-14T05:46:00.000-07:00

For my final two days at DIK I'm going to stop being controversial and hand some of my time over to my good friend and all round brilliant author, Josephine Myles. Firstly for today here's a quick intro followed by a post about Inexperienced Heroes. Over to you, Jo!

Hi there, Josephine Myles here – Jo, if you want less of a mouthful. Jen has very kindly let me take over the blog for today and tomorrow, so I’ll be lounging around and sharing some of my thoughts about inexperienced heroes in m/m romance and why I love short stories. I hope you’ll share your thoughts on those with me!

I’ve been writing m/m for the last couple of years and have had numerous short stories published, but my first novel didn’t come out until last month. Barging In is a contemporary m/m erotic romance set on the canal near Bath, and it allowed me to indulge my love of flawed heroes and narrowboats. Here’s the blurb and a short n’ sexy excerpt to kick things off:

Blurb:

When the boat's a rockin’, don't come knockin’!

Out-and-proud travel writer Dan Taylor can’t steer a boat to save his life, but that doesn’t stop him from accepting an assignment to write up a narrowboat holiday. Instead of a change of pace from city life, though, the canal seems dull as ditchwater. Until he crashes into the boat of a half-naked, tattooed, pierced man whose rugged, penniless appearance is at odds with a posh accent.

Still smarting from past betrayal, Robin Hamilton’s “closet” is his narrowboat, his refuge from outrageous, provocative men like Dan. Yet he can’t seem to stop himself from rescuing the hopelessly out-of-place city boy from one scrape after another. Until he finds himself giving in to reluctant attraction, even considering a brief, harmless fling.

After all, in less than a week, Dan’s going back to his London diet of casual hook-ups and friends with benefits.

Determined not to fall in love, both men dive into one week of indulgence…only to find themselves drawn deep into an undertow of escalating intimacy and emotional intensity. Troubled waters neither of them expected…or wanted.

Product Warning:

Contains one lovable tart, one posh boy gone feral, rough sex, alfresco sex, vile strawberry flavoured condoms, intimate body piercings, red thermal long-johns, erotic woodchopping, an errant cat, a few colourful characters you wouldn't touch with a bargepole, and plenty of messing about on the river.

Excerpt:

It was dark under the trees. As Robin waited for his vision to adjust, he concentrated on listening. There was a faint splashing sound off to his right, and he waited until Dan was finished before clearing his throat.

“Dan?”

A dark shape detached itself from the shadows and moved towards him. The next thing he knew, arms were snaking around his waist and he felt warm breath on his cheek.

“Robin? I hope that’s you.” Dan’s voice was low and seductive, but he held himself back as if expecting Robin to make the first move.

“It’s me,” Robin whispered, not trusting his voice to stay steady. All he could concentrate on was the press of Dan’s warm body against his, the scent rising from him, sweet and heady. His hands rose of their own accord, pulling Dan’s head closer as he closed in for a kiss.

Dan tasted of lager and marijuana, with that underlying sweetness Robin remembered from before. He moaned into Dan’s mouth, growing hard so fast it was painful. He grabbed hold of Dan’s arse and pulled him in tight, willing him to feel how much he wanted him. Dan responded by grinding his hips, and their erections rubbed together with an intense friction. Made Robin want to rip Dan’s clothes off and have him on the damp leaf litter.

But Dan had his own ideas, and Robin found himself stumbling backwards as Dan broke off the kiss and pushed him, his fall broken by a tree trunk. He panted, slightly winded by the unexpected blow. That was uncalled for! But then Dan slid a cool hand down the front of his trousers, and all other thoughts fled.

“Oh! This is a pleasant surprise,” Dan said, fingering Robin’s Prince Albert piercing in a way that made him whimper and push into Dan’s hand. “I think I’d better get a closer look.”

And when Dan sank down, unzipped Robin’s fly and exposed his aching prick to the cold night air, Robin needed the support of the tree behind him. Dan’s hot breath against the head of his cock made his knees buckle as he trembled with anticipation.

But Dan seemed determined to tease him, nuzzling, licking and touching him so gently it was an exquisite torture. Dan paid special attention to the piercing, and the way the ring moved under his tongue sent jolts of pleasure racing through Robin’s body. He gasped, his hands clawing at the bark. He had to stop himself from grabbing Dan’s hair and thrusting into his mouth. He wasn’t going to be that needy. He wasn’t that desperate. He wasn’t.

When Dan finally enveloped him in the moist heat of his mouth, Robin had to bite down on his hand to prevent a howl escaping. The relief that the torture was over barely registered—now he had to concentrate on not coming too fast. To hold back, to make it last. No matter how good. And oh, it was good. Dan knew what he was doing, taking him deep and making happy noises like Robin’s dick was the most delicious thing he’d ever tasted.

***

Barging In is available from Samhain Publishing, Amazon, and all good online bookstores.

Author bio:

English through and through, Josephine Myles is addicted to tea and busy cultivating a reputation for eccentricity. She writes gay erotica and romance, but finds the erotica keeps cuddling up to the romance, and the romance keeps corrupting the erotica. Jo blames her rebellious muse but he never listens to her anyway, no matter how much she threatens him with a big stick. She’s beginning to suspect he enjoys it.

For more about her published stories, regular blog posts and saucy free reads, please visit Jo’s website.

Heroes Who Cheat

2011-10-13T05:38:00.000-07:00

Infidelity in a hero is a tricky topic, isn't it? And one that many readers just cannot stand to read about, to the extent that they DNF any book with a hint of infidelity. This has always been the case but recently I've seen a bit of an upsurge in general outrage over infidelity on sites such as Good Reads. I've read comments where people have outright condemned a whole book, no matter how well written, because one of the characters has cheated on the other. I've had readers email me to check whether there is any infidelity in a book I have reviewed because they wouldn't read it if there was, even if I had given the book a glowing review.

I've come to the conclusion that I must be a person of dubious morals because I'm willing to give a cheating character the benefit of the doubt and would never dismiss an entire book based on the flaws of one character. Yes, even one who is unfaithful. Now that doesn't mean to say that I condone infidelity, and certainly if a hero consistently cheats on the other hero/heroine throughout the book then I wouldn't like that man very much - indeed a man like that would be more akin to villain material than hero. I would also question why the person being cheated on would keep standing for that behaviour from their lover. However, there are occasions in a book when I enjoy an infidelity storyline because they often show a significant character growth, and I'm also very partial to a flawed character who makes mistakes.

This is the crux of the matter really: Is the infidelity a mistake, a product of a flaw in a character which needs to be addressed and resolved for love to flourish? If it is, then I'm willing to set aside any reservations and see where the book takes me.

Another thing to consider is the definition of what cheating is. This varies from person to person as can be seen from the following example:

I read a m/m romance book recently which a few people called a 'cheating book'. Now, I have to admit, I was scratching my head a little over why people felt it was a cheating book because I couldn't remember there being any cheating in it! Then I remembered the following scene: To set the scene, the hero is a man who in the past was used to sleeping around a lot. He meets another guy whilst on holiday and they spend a week together, promising afterwards to keep seeing each other long distance. Whilst back at home the hero is lonely, plus he and his lover have argued. He goes out with his friend with whom he used to have a 'friends with benefits' relationship, gets completely plastered and they end up at his friend's flat, kissing and getting naked. However, before the deed takes place, the hero comes to his senses and puts the brakes on.

Depending on your definition of cheating, then hero could be a cheater or not. The way I saw it was that the hero's natural inclination when going out was to pick up a guy and have sex and so the temptation, when back in his regular life away from the long distance lover, is to do what he's always done, especially when there was bad feeling between them at that time. The fact that he didn't go through with it, meant that he didn't cheat - therefore he had overcome his essentially flawed nature. However, I know that many of you will read that description and say that because he kissed and got half naked with someone other than the hero, then he is a big, fat cheater and deserves to be condemned as such.

Interesting, huh?

What I will say is that there has to be a reason why a hero cheats for it to be effective in a book, and it either has to further the plot or show us something of the character of the cheater. One of the most controversial cheaters I've come across in m/m romance is Jake Riordan from the Adrien English books by Josh Lanyon. Jake cheats on Adrien and his wife but still manages to remain sympathetic in my eyes because the author shows how much of a mess he is. The emotional fallout from his actions are what drives the romantic narrative and keeps me reading. I know not everyone agrees with me on this matter!

One final thing to say is that for me to truly forgive a cheater there must be a significant amount of grovelling done by the person who cheats towards the person cheated on. Preferable on their knees or prostrate on the floor with promises of endless chocolate/back rubs/blow jobs. Also once the cheating is done and all has been forgiven, then that will be it. The hero remains faithful to their dying day. Unless, of course the other hero/heroine suggests bringing a third into their bed, which is a different matter entirely!

Do you agree with me? Are you one of those readers who cannot tolerate any hint of cheating in your romance, or are you like me and have a certain fluidity when it comes to this theme? Do tell.

ROMANCING LADY CECILY: An Exclusive Excerpt

2011-10-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I provided an exclusive excerpt to ROMANCING THE COUNTESS. In the spirit of teasing you with more excerpts, I’ve decided to provide below an exclusive excerpt of ROMANCING LADY CECILY, a 15,000-word e-short which is related to ROMANCING THE COUNTESS and includes its own hero, heroine, and HEA. In ROMANCING LADY CECILY, we see the love story of Lady Cecily Bishop, the best friend of Angela (the hero’s deceased wife in RtC). I hope you enjoy this exclusive glimpse. =)

The official blurb:

Follow acclaimed author Ashley March, praised by Booklist for her “elegant writing [and] sizzling sexual chemistry,” into the world of Victorian romance, where Lady Cecily Bishop—promised by her parents to a stranger—must fend off the seductive games and heady caresses of Baron Sedgwick….a task that becomes more difficult with each soul-searing kiss…

Exclusive Excerpt:

“Cecily.” She shivered when he spoke her name, the heated stroke of his breath against her throat stirring lust and want and every unspeakable sensation she’d prefer to ignore. How many times had she told herself she would no longer be moved by him—by his voice, his gaze, his touch . . . his kiss? He had no right to intimacy with her. And she had no right to give it to him.

When she tried to turn her head away again, his hand left her breast and touched gently at her chin, drawing her gaze back toward his. “Why are you crying, kitten?”

She closed her eyes. At the moment she wasn’t strong enough to resist the entrancing pull of his gaze, those black eyes which could insinuate with one glance every dark and terribly delicious thing they could do together.

“Shall I force you to tell me, then?” he asked, the words murmured low, rough like velvet, causing a flush to rise to her skin.

“No. You shouldn’t have asked me to come. It was a mistake to follow you.”

“Perhaps. But it’s always a mistake to follow me, isn’t it? What would your betrothed think, I wonder? Surely you haven’t mentioned in your letters how you allowed me to lie you down in the grass and raise your skirts to your thighs, or how you begged me to kiss your—”

She covered his mouth with her hand, ignoring the way her fingers trembled against his lips. “I am well aware of my faults, my lord. I would ask you to release me now. Let me leave.”

His mouth moved beneath her palm, forming the shape of a kiss against her flesh. Cecily’s pulse leapt as she remembered the last time she’d tried to keep him from speaking, from employing his voice and words to seduce her. She hadn’t succeeded very well then, either.

But this time he lowered his arms to his sides and leaned away, against the soft-as-butter leather squabs at his back. It had been more than a month ago, and yet still she couldn’t forget the supple caress of the seat against her bare skin in contrast to the rough abrasion of his jaw along her inner thigh. “You may leave,” he said, gesturing grandly toward the carriage door. “Hurry now, before your servant returns home and your family begins to question your whereabouts.”

Cecily narrowed her eyes at the obvious taunt. They both knew the footman had turned in the opposite direction of her house when he’d left her with the baron.

Still, grateful for the reprieve, she lifted herself from his lap and reached for the handle. It twisted easily beneath her hand and she pushed, the door giving way until a spatter of raindrops fell in the space between.
He said nothing, but she could feel his stare. Watching her, waiting as he always did. As if hoping that one day she might do something to surprise him. And oh, how she longed to surprise him, if only to comfort herself with the knowledge that he didn’t know her as well as he assumed he did.

He expected her to run away, but she wouldn’t. Not today, at least. Cecily held herself still as she crouched beneath the carriage ceiling, gripping the handle, her head and face sluiced by the rain. She counted for ten seconds. Long, interminable seconds, an eternity’s passage of time. Anticipating an unknown answer, hoping he might give in first and demonstrate a similar weakness for her.

At twenty seconds, she wished him to hell.

When she reached thirty-seven seconds his hands gripped her waist. She heard him give a low curse, and then he was pulling her back, reaching around her to shut the door. He sat down and pulled her onto his lap again, then lifted his fist to knock against the roof and signal the driver.

The carriage began to move. Cecily’s eyes were swollen, her nose likely red and her cheeks pale from the cold. But for the first time since she’d heard the news of Angela’s death, she smiled when his eyes met hers.
“You think you’ve won, don’t you?” he asked, his gaze trailing down to her lips, then lower still to where her bodice lay plastered against her breasts. “I wish you could see yourself. Your cheeks flushed with triumph, your eyes shining in victory. But what you don’t realize, my dear, is that I was prepared to let you walk away. I would have let you go. I wouldn’t have followed you, and I wouldn’t have called you back. Do you know why, Cecily?”

She forced her lips to remain curved. “Why?” she asked, whispering lest he hear the truth she denied to both of them.

“Because you always return to me.” He tilted his head, his lashes lowering to where his fingers played with hers, his large, black-gloved hand appearing even more wicked and erotic against the backdrop of her delicate white one. “Even now you did not wish to leave, rather waited for me to insist that you stay. It appears, my darling, that despite all of your words to the contrary, you have actually begun to develop a tendre for me.” His lashes lifted, his onyx eyes stifling the breath in her throat.

Cecily swallowed and shook her head. A stream of water trickled from her temple down her cheek. “No.”
“No? Then perhaps it is something different, something entirely separate from mere romantic sentiments. Perhaps it is this.” He disentangled his hand from hers and followed the path of water with his finger, caressing her jaw before slipping below to her throat, down the slope of her chest and halting at the line of her bodice. He teased her, the pressure of his touch feather-light as he stroked back and forth across the swell of her breasts. She closed her eyes and arched against him.

She heard the swift intake of his breath, the satisfied sigh which followed. “Ah, Cecily,” he murmured low in her ear, his voice filled with dark amusement. No doubt he smiled as well, pleased to make such a fanfare of her weakness. The cool slide of leather moved upward, pausing over the frantic thrum of her heart. “Is it me for whom your heart quickens?”

His other hand reached below, to the sodden hem of her dress. Cecily moaned, then bit her lip, her legs quivering as she imagined the next path his fingers would take. “Is this why you stayed? Is this why you continue returning to me?” One damp stocking rolled to her ankle.

She couldn’t speak. She could hardly breathe, convinced that the barest touch from him now would send her flying apart, helpless in his arms.

“Answer me, Cecily. Is this what you wanted?”

She waited, a wordless plea that he would continue without her response. The rain pattered ceaselessly against the roof, the slosh of the wheels and stomp of the horses’ hooves louder for the silence within the carriage. She sensed his stare on her, a presence which evoked the same impulse to surrender as the sensual drag of his lips across her skin. Her memories were slaves to him, tormenting her with the knowledge of the pleasure he could give her if only she answered as he wished.

Minutes passed. A quiet expectation weighted the air between them, the substance of her desire a tangible, relentless compulsion, more inevitable even than the draw of oxygen into her lungs. It was cruel of him to force her to say the words, when he knew that someday she must deny him and instead turn to another.

Still, when his hands fell away and he began to withdraw she panicked. She caught his arm, pressed his palm over her heart once again. “Yes,” she whispered, meeting his black gaze, blushing at the dark promises within. “This is why I stayed.”

And God help her, because when the day of her wedding finally came, she didn’t know if she would be able to find the strength to leave.

Whew! *fans self* I just read this excerpt for myself and I must admit, it’s a bit spicier than I usually write. Which might explain why I enjoyed writing ROMANCING LADY CECILY so much. =) Some people say that the heat level in romances seems to be increasing across the board, no matter what sub-genre. Some readers rejoice in this, while others complain. What type of heat level do you prefer, dear reader?

One random commenter will be chosen to win a copy of my newest book, ROMANCING THE COUNTESS (open internationally)! Also, find out how to win the ROMANCING THE COUNTESS Book Tour Grand Prize of 50+ romance novels by visiting www.ashleymarch.com!

ROMANCING THE COUNTESS: An Exclusive Excerpt

2011-10-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I debuted my first haiku ever in dedication to ROMANCING THE COUNTESS. And, as a result, I learned that I should stick to writing books. =) Today, I’d like to give you an exclusive excerpt to show that ROMANCING THE COUNTESS truly is much better in prose format.

The official blurb:

Sebastian Madinger, the Earl of Wriothesly, thought he'd married the perfect woman-until a fatal accident revealed her betrayal with his best friend. After their deaths, Sebastian is determined to avoid a scandal for the sake of his son. But his best friend's widow is just as determined to cast her mourning veil aside by hosting a party that will surely destroy both their reputations and expose all of his carefully kept secrets...

Leah George has carried the painful knowledge of her husband's affair for almost a year. All she wants now is to enjoy her independence and make a new life for herself-even if that means being ostracized by the Society whose rules she was raised to obey. Now that the rumors are flying, there's only one thing left for Sebastian to do: silence the scandal by enticing the improper widow into becoming a proper wife. But when it comes to matters of the heart, neither Sebastian nor Leah is prepared for the passion they discover in each other's arms....

Exclusive Excerpt:

Sebastian blinked as a footman swung the entrance door wide and beckoned him inside. Giving his card, he said, “I believe Mrs. George is expecting me.”

The footman bowed. “Of course, my lord. If you would follow me, please.”

Instead of leading him to one of the more formal receiving rooms as he’d expected, the servant continued up the staircase to the second floor, toward the bedchambers. As they reached the landing, Sebastian could hear Leah’s voice, strong and clear, so different from Angela’s soft, dulcet speech.

“That one to charity. No, not the striped one—the footmen can look over it first. And the hat—yes, the one with the red band. My God, how many hats does one man need?”

The footman halted before what appeared to be the master’s bedchamber. “The Earl of Wriothesly, madam.”
There was a noticeable silence, and Sebastian wondered whether she’d forgotten about the message she’d sent. Then: “Oh, yes. Please come in, my lord. It will be only a moment.”

Pausing at the threshold, Sebastian peered inside. While the room might indeed have once been assigned the role of bedchamber, it now resembled little more than a storage closet. Waistcoats, jackets, top hats, trousers—every article of a gentleman’s wardrobe was separated into haphazard piles, with some thrown onto the bed, others embraced by the chairs in front of the hearth, and even more scattered on the floor. As he watched, a short line of footmen and maids exited the dressing room, each carrying another stack of clothing. These were dumped at the foot at the bed, which seemed to be the only space unoccupied in the room.

Mrs. George came at the end, her arms wrapped around a tower of bandboxes, her head peeking around the side as she walked. After tumbling them into the center of the new pile, she turned around, dusted her hands together, then curtsied. “My lord.”

He should never have told her to remove the veil. Her eyes were too bright—dear God, sparkling even—her cheeks flushed, her lips creased in an upward curve which appeared inclined toward permanence.

Sebastian would have preferred tears. Torrents of them, in fact.

“You’re not wearing a widow’s cap,” he said.

She grimaced. “Yes, of course you would say something.” Gesturing toward the servants sorting behind her, she said, “I’ve decided it’s unnecessary. My clothes declare me to be in mourning, and the widow’s cap was only making me feel like a mare with blinders on. Besides, I’m in my own home, with no one to see me except the servants. And, well, you.” She paused, her lips tilting upward again in that annoying little manner. “I hope I haven’t offended you.”

Of course, she wasn’t sincere. Nothing about her appearance or tone could convince him that his opinion mattered in the least.

She was so damned happy, a novelty in his misery-shadowed world of the past three months. His servants, his brother, the other lords at Parliament—everyone tiptoed around him, careful not to speak too loudly or laugh in his presence. Only Henry dared to smile at him, his childish innocence leaving him oblivious to the despair which had settled over the house and all of its occupants.

But Leah George wasn’t a child who didn’t know any better. And even if she’d known of the affair months ago—even if she despised Ian for it—she should at least have the decency to be miserable, too. If not for his death, then for the knowledge that she’d been betrayed. For the sudden change in the life that she knew. For not being able to wear anything other than black, for the balls and soirees and musicales it was now inappropriate for her to attend. God, for anything, as long as she didn’t smile like that.

Sebastian responded with an emphatic frown, dismissing her as he glanced over her shoulder. “I see you’re cleaning.”

None of his maids had been sent into Angela’s rooms; he had yet to venture into her bedchamber himself. The temptation to sit there with her fragrance surrounding him, pretending as if she would soon walk through the door, as if none of it had ever happened, was too much. It was nearly as strong as the temptation to destroy everything and set fire to her memory.

Clearly Leah, however, showed no struggle in moving on.

She followed his gaze, shrugging. “Preparations for my return to Linley Park. For the servants and then for charity—much better than indulging the moths and rats, I thought. But come,” she said, moving toward a door at the side, “I know you must be impatient to learn why I asked you here.”

Silently Sebastian followed Leah through the adjoining door into another bedchamber—her bedchamber, by all appearances. Except for the large canopied bed swathed in dark blue drapes in the middle of the room, the decorations were decidedly feminine. Not the rose and cream femininity Angela had favored, but a delicate palette of light blue and yellow. Comforting instead of sensuous, the textures and furniture more practical than luxurious, and yet Sebastian couldn’t help but feel awkward as he entered. This was an intimacy he didn’t welcome, a view into her private life he didn’t care to see.

His gaze fell to Leah, who had already bent over a stack of odds and ends farther in the room. No servants traipsed back and forth here; only the voices emanating through the open door kept them from complete isolation.

With a glance over his shoulder, Sebastian moved closer until he could be assured only she would hear his voice. “We had an agreement, damn you.”

Her head shot up, her hands pausing in their reach toward the pile. Her gaze narrowed, she looked him up and down—a bloody measuring of his worth, it seemed—then returned to her search. “I recall. I’ve told no one the truth.”

“No? Perhaps you believe your servants are both blind and deaf, then. That they don’t realize how unnaturally happy you are a mere three months after your husband’s death. I don’t give a damn what you wear or say or how you act when you’re alone, but at least show some degree of decorum in front of others. If not—”

“Thank you, my lord.” She cut him off without looking up. “I believe I understand your meaning.”

“If not, people will begin to wonder why you aren’t mourning your husband, then try to discover a reason. It wouldn’t take long for anyone to suspect the truth, given the circumstances of their deaths—”

“Dear Lord,” she exclaimed, rising to her feet. “Have you always been this overbearing?”

Sebastian snapped his mouth shut as she turned around, hating the fact that everything about her reminded him of Angela—not in similarities, but in contrasts. Her voice, her decorating style, and now, with only a foot between them, her scent. Rather than the warm, sultry combination of lavender and vanilla, he breathed in the artless aroma of soap: earthy, subtle, its only fragrance a slight hint of seawater.

He edged away, to the opposite side of the pile on the floor. Unclenching his jaw, he snapped, “Only to those who behave in such an obstinate and reckless manner.”

He should have felt contrite; he’d never spoken to a woman without the greatest deference. He’d certainly never cursed at one as he’d done earlier. But no guilt seeped into his conscience. Standing before Ian’s widow, this woman who served only to remind him of his loss, there was nothing but anger and frustration and an irrational desperation to flee.

Then she laughed, and there was also a great deal of annoyance.

“You think me obstinate?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“And reckless?”

He hesitated, for her smile had grown wide at his response. Above all else, he didn’t want to do anything to make her any goddamned happier. Yet he refused to retract the words. Slowly, warily, he nodded.

The sun could have lost some of its brilliance, for all the pleasure radiating from her face.

Sebastian scowled. “You are quite contrary.”

“Oh, come, Lord Wriothesly,” she said as she knelt once more to the floor. “Wouldn’t you agree that ‘obstinate and reckless’ is much better than being obedient and wretched?”

“Recklessness can make one wretched as well.”

She glanced at him from beneath her lashes. With Angela, the gesture would have been seductive. Leah George, however, appeared only mischievous and sly.

Sebastian cursed. “As I said before, I don’t care what you do privately, but with others I expect you to act per society’s rules, lest the truth become known.”

“And I’ve already promised not to reveal your secret.” She chose an item from the stack of odds and ends, a small leather-bound book. “I am curious, however, what you think would constitute doing something reckless in private. Embroidering upside down? Reading the Bible in the bath?”

“Are you curious, or simply looking for ideas?”

As a writer, one of the things I like to do most is explore the vulnerability of my characters, as I think it makes them seem more human and much more interesting. In this excerpt, I show Sebastian’s vulnerability as he compares Leah—and his newfound awareness of her as an individual—to Angela, his unfaithful deceased wife. What characteristics or explorations do you most enjoy reading about in a romance novel? For example, there is strength, humor, bravery, etc.

One random commenter will be chosen to win a copy of my newest book, ROMANCING THE COUNTESS (open internationally)! Also, find out how to win the ROMANCING THE COUNTESS Book Tour Grand Prize of 50+ romance novels by visiting www.ashleymarch.com!

ROMANCING THE COUNTESS Haiku Style

2011-10-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

Please welcome author Ashley March to the Island!

A huge thank you to the ladies at DIK for hosting me for the next three days as I continue celebrating the release of my newest book, ROMANCING THE COUNTESS!

I have a confession to make: I used to write poetry. Amendment: I used to write poetry in middle school when there was always plenty of angst. =) (To my surprise and pleasure, I once won $250 for winning a poetry contest back then, too!) However, of the poetry I’ve written, I’ve never tried a haiku. But I recently read a review of a romance novel written in haiku form, and I thought it would be fun to try my hand at haiku by writing a synopsis (spoiler free!) of ROMANCING THE COUNTESS. I have a feeling I’m about to be humbled. ;)

But first, the official blurb:

Sebastian Madinger, the Earl of Wriothesly, thought he'd married the perfect woman-until a fatal accident revealed her betrayal with his best friend. After their deaths, Sebastian is determined to avoid a scandal for the sake of his son. But his best friend's widow is just as determined to cast her mourning veil aside by hosting a party that will surely destroy both their reputations and expose all of his carefully kept secrets...

Leah George has carried the painful knowledge of her husband's affair for almost a year. All she wants now is to enjoy her independence and make a new life for herself-even if that means being ostracized by the Society whose rules she was raised to obey. Now that the rumors are flying, there's only one thing left for Sebastian to do: silence the scandal by enticing the improper widow into becoming a proper wife. But when it comes to matters of the heart, neither Sebastian nor Leah is prepared for the passion they discover in each other's arms....

ROMANCING THE COUNTESS in Haiku

By Ashley March

A woman betrayed
A man in love with his wife
Soon everything changed

Carriage accident
On one dark and stormy night
A widow is free

She wants happiness
He wants to protect his son
House party comes next

Hint of scandal here
He rides in to save the day
Nothing to be saved

A clever widow
A grieving man who needs help
Enemies then friends

A kiss, but no more
But ho! What scandal is this?
He was right to fear

Though they are parted
Their lives intertwine again
Soon they must marry

While he falls for her
She must deal with past secrets
Second chance at love

Thankfully, a truth
One you will be glad to know
Book is much better

Ahem, yes. Lol. I think it’s obvious that was my first attempt at a haiku. Do you read poetry in addition to romance novels? Do you write poetry? What is your favorite poem?

One random commenter will be chosen to win a copy of my newest book, ROMANCING THE COUNTESS (open internationally)! Also, find out how to win the ROMANCING THE COUNTESS Book Tour Grand Prize of 50+ romance novels by visiting www.ashleymarch.com!

Review: The Rifter Part 8: The Silent City by Ginn Hale

2011-10-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

Reviewing the eighth part of this serialised novel is going to tax my reviewing skills a little! The book itself is the same number of pages as usual (each serial is about 130-150 pages) but this part, more than any other has a focus on setting the scene and consolidating information, rather than there being anything concrete in terms of dramatically furthering the plot. In fact I can probably give you the entire plot of part eight in one sentence: John and Ravishan join the Fai'daum and learn of their ways.

The story picks up straight on from part seven. John and Ravishan are now outlaws, and after being discovered by a band of Fai'daum rebels accompany them to their hideout - a huge city built underground. John uses his time there to try and control his increasingly erratic powers as he trains with Ji. As the part draws to a conclusion the Fai'daum are preparing themselves for battle, and John in particular is hoping to be able to rescue Loshai from Umbhra’ibaye.

As I said earlier, much of this part of the book is used to show the reader the world of the Fai'daum and for us to understand their goals and intentions in waging war on the priests such as those John trained with in Rathal'pesha. We meet characters that we have met before such as Saimura and Ji, but most of the characters in this part are new to us. It seems a strange thing to be introduced to so many new people so late on in the book, but I have a feeling that the key to understanding the future happenings in the book resides with knowing the goals and objectives of the Fai'daum. After all, Jath'ibaye in the future sections of the book allies himself with the Fai'daum and it is here that we see the beginnings of that alliance.

This part also continues to show us the depth of love and attraction felt between John and Ravishan, but also emphasises some of the differences in their temperament. There's a side to Ravishan in this part which aligns more with what we see in Kahlil in the parts set in the future, showing us that they may be on different time lines but are still the same person overall. John's wish for peace wars with the cruelty he experiences in the harsh world of Basawar, and some of the most heartfelt and poignant sections of this book were when John thinks of Nayeshi (or Earth) and longs to return.

An ongoing theme of the sections set in this timeline is that of John's discovery that he is the Rifter and his fight against his powers and his nature. This is given more space to explore here too. John's fear that his power should be discovered and used for ill is ever present, and yet it's becoming increasingly difficult to hide who he is to those who spend much time with him, especially Ravishan. One of my favourite scenes in this part comes towards the end and shows not only John's desire to hide his powers but the increasing suspicion of others towards his ability to heal so quickly. It will be interesting to see how this all comes to a head in the next part.

Above all though, Part eight shows us the depth of imagination of this author. Each time we move to a different setting the wealth of detail amazes me. The underground city of the Fai'daum is shown to us in all its vivid richness. The people, no matter how incidental, are well drawn and realistic. There might not be a lot of action in this section but I was still engrossed in the lives of the Fai'daum and their preparations for war. I get the impression that this eighth part of The Rifter is the deep breath or calm before the storm. All the pieces are slotting into place and I'm looking forward to seeing how everything comes together in the final two parts of the book.

You can either buy this eighth part - and then any of the other parts - separately for $3.99 each, or buy the whole book at $29.95 and each month the new part will be sent to you via email. More information about this and the buy now page can be found HERE.

Vampires, Hot or Not?

2011-10-08T00:10:00.000-07:00

Vampires, Hot or Not?

What do you think of the current outburst of Vampires, they are everywhere. In movies, TV, books, comic book and magazines. There are sparkling ones, ugly ones (very few), hot and mean. There are women Vampires as well. What would Dracula think?

A little information to help you make your decision. I will go over a few, there is no way I can cover them all, lol. Well I could, but if I posted a twenty page blog I don’t think I would be asked to blog here again, LOL.

I didn’t like it.Twilight is a young-adult vampire-romance novel by author Stephanie Meyer. It is the first book of the Twilight series, and introduces seventeen-year-old Isabella "Bella" Swan, who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington and finds her life in danger when she falls in love with a vampire, Edward Cullen. The novel is followed by New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn.

It became an instant bestseller when published originally in hardback in 2005, debuting at #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list within a month of its release and later peaking at #1That same year, Twilight was named one of Publishers Weekly's Best Children's Books of 2005The novel was also the biggest selling book of 2008 and the second biggest selling of 2009, only behind its sequel New Moon. It has been translated into 37 different languages.

When first published, Twilight gained much critical acclaim. Critics often described it as a "dark romance that seeps into the soul" and praised it for capturing "perfectly the teenage feeling of sexual tension and alienation". On the other hand, in more recent reviews, some critics thought that Bella's appeal to Edward was "based on magic rather than character" and that Bella is a weak female character. However, almost all critics, whether they acclaimed the novel or not, agreed that it was a literary phenomenon.

A film adaptation of Twilight was released in 2008. It was a commercial success, grossing more than $392 million worldwide and an additional $157 million from North American DVD sales, as of July 2009.

My FavoriteInterview with the Vampire is a vampire novel by Anne
Rice written in 1973 and published in 1976. It was the first novel to feature the enigmatic vampire Lestat, and was followed by several sequels, collectively known as The Vampire Chronicles. A film version, Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles was released in 1994 starring Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst, Antonio Banderas, Christian Slater and Tom Cruise.

To date, the novel has sold some 8 million copies worldwide.

Damon. That’s all I have to say, lol. The Vampire Diaries is an American teen supernatural drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. The series premiered on The CW Television Network on September 10, 2009, and has currently finished its second season on May 12, 2011. The series takes place in Mystic Falls, Virginia, a fictional small town haunted by supernatural beings. The main focus of the series is the love triangle between the female protagonist Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) and Stefan and Damon, all of whom have dark pasts. Later light is thrown on the mysterious past of the town involving Elena's malevolent doppelgänger Katherine who seeks revenge against the town, Stefan, Damon, and Elena.

The pilot episode attracted the largest audience of any series premiere since the network began in 2006. The first season averaged 3.60 million viewers. The show initially received average reviews, but critics agreed that the series improved over the course of the season; the second season premiered to generally favorable reviews. The show has received numerous award nominations, winning a People's Choice Award and many Teen Choice Awards. On April 26, 2011, The CW renewed the series for a third season, and began on September 15, 2011.

The best part of Buffy was Angel. I am actually not fan of Vampire hunters.
I like to think that have vampires have a heart and should be treated as such.Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an American television series that aired from March 10, 1997, until May 20, 2003. The series was created in 1997 by writer-director Joss Whedon under his production tag, Mutant Enemy Productions with later co-executive producers being Jane Espenson, David Fury, David Greenwalt, Doug Petrie, Marti Noxon, and David Solomon. The series narrative follows Buffy Summers (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar), the latest in a line of young women known as "Vampire Slayers" or simply "Slayers". In the story, Slayers are "called" (chosen by fate) to battle against vampires, demons, and other forces of darkness. Like previous Slayers, Buffy is aided by a Watcher, who guides, teaches, and trains her. Unlike her predecessors, Buffy surrounds herself with a circle of loyal friends who become known as the "Scooby Gang".

The series usually reached between four and six million viewers on original airings. Although such ratings are lower than successful shows on the "big four" networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox), they were a success for the relatively new and smaller WB Television Network. Reviews for the show were positive; it has been included in many "best of" lists, including being ranked #41 on the list of TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, #2 on Empire's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, voted #3 in 2004 and 2007 on TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Everand listed in Time magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME." It was nominated for Emmy and Golden Globe awards, winning a total of 3 Emmys. However, snubs in lead Emmy categories resulted in outrage among TV critics and the decision by the academy to hold a tribute event in honor of the series after it had gone off the air in 2003.

The WB network ceased operation on September 17, 2006, after airing a homage to its "most memorable series", including the premiere episodes of Buffy and its spin-off Angel. Buffy's success has led to hundreds of tie-in products, including novels, comics, and video games. The series has received attention in fandom (including fan films), parody, and academia, and has influenced the direction of other television series.

Moonlight, this forever will be my Favorite Vampire TV
SeriesMoonlight is an American paranormal romance television drama created by Ron Koslow and Trevor Munson, who was also executive producer for all episodes with Joel Silver, Gerard Bocaccio, Gabrielle Stanton and Harry Werksman. The series follows private investigator Mick St. John (Alex O'Loughlin), who was turned into a vampire by his bride Coraline (Shannyn Sossamon) on the couple's wedding night fifty-five years earlier. In the present day, he struggles with his attraction to a mortal woman, Beth Turner (Sophia Myles), his friendship with Josef Kostan (Jason Dohring), and his dealings with other vampires in Los Angeles.

The series was commissioned by Warner Bros. Television in 2007 as a presentation lasting 14–20 minutes. Alex O'Loughlin, Shannon Lucio, Rade Šerbedžija and Amber Valletta were cast in the lead roles, and Rod Holcomb was hired as director. David Greenwalt joined the staff in May 2007 as showrunner and executive producer with Joel Silver; however, health reasons forced Greenwalt to leave the series. All of the original actors, apart from the male lead role, were recast in June 2007, and Sophia Myles, Jason Dohring and Shannyn Sossamon replaced them. With an almost entirely different cast, a retooled, full-length pilot for television audiences was re-shot.

Moonlight was premiered on September 28, 2007, and shown on Friday nights on CBS. Although received poorly by critics, the pilot finished first among total viewers and adults 18–49 for its night. The series received generally negative reviews, and averaged 7.57 million American viewers per episode. Many critics criticized the acting and the writing; however, Jason Dohring's performance was praised. Moonlight went on hiatus due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, but returned with four new episodes once the strike ended. On May 13, 2008, CBS announced that Moonlight was officially cancelled.

I saved the best for lastTrue Blood is an American television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris, detailing the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional, small town in the state of Louisiana. The series centers on Sookie Stackhouse (played by actress Anna Paquin), a telepathic waitress who falls in love with vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer
The show is broadcast on the premium cable network HBO in the United States. It is produced by HBO in association with Ball's production company, Your Face Goes Here Entertainment. It premiered on September 7, 2008.
The series has received critical acclaim and won several awards, including one Golden Globe and an Emmy. The show's second 12-episode season had its premiere on June 14, 2009 and the third season on June 13, 2010. On June 21, 2010, HBO renewed True Blood for a fourth season.
On August 11, 2011, HBO announced that True Blood was renewed for a fifth season of twelve episodes to air in summer 2012. However, although Alan Ball signed a multi-year contract with HBO in July 2011, he has only agreed to produce the show for the fifth season. Despite this agreement, Ball has stated that he has no desire to leave the show.

You have gathered some of the facts. Now cast your vote. Please leave a comment with your email for a chance to win my upcoming Vampire novel Inamorata, when it comes out in print this winter.

Synopsis for Inamorata is the first Novel in the “One Bloody Night Series

They are supposed to be low key and get their nightly fix from a bag. But what if they could spend a cozy evening eating an old fashioned meal and then when they were done they would simply set the place on fire and walk away—no one would be the wiser?

That’s the plan when a group of rogue Vampires has poisoned the entire security staff at a Christmas Eve party at a mall in Chicago and proceed to take over for the evening and feast upon their own kind of tradition, four house keepers, a maintenance man, a girl who lives in the mall, a lonely late night worker and a couple who have escaped to the department store where she works so their spouses wouldn’t be privy to their affair and some other delightfully unexpected guests.

Everything goes exactly as they expected until the group leader Lucius Sturdevant, and second oldest Vampire to date, realizes that the woman that lives in the Comic book store that is trying to figure out how to kill him is the reincarnation of Laura, the love of his life, that died in his arms of old age, because he didn’t have the heart to turn her.

My vote…HOT!

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Thank you so much Desert Island Keepers and Commneters, this has been so much fun!