New Island Girl-Harper Fox

So hello, Lisabea/LB Gregg here. It's great to be back on the Island for three days. Thank you, Tracy. I love this place. I'm scarce lately--but I am truly a fan of DIK.

And, you know me--I always swing by the island with some friends.

Last week while I was vacationing in a Central American paradise, my pal Josh Lanyon strong-armed NoseInABook to resurrect (at least temporarily) ManLoveMonday. The nerve. Really. But he used his power for good--he introduced our new friend, Harper Fox.

Obviously I'm green with envy that he gets to have all the fun. So I paid invited Harper--(and Josh)-- to keep me company for the next three days.

There will be gifts. Later you greed hounds. SATURDAY.

Without further blather, let's welcome Harper Fox , author of the delicious new m/m novel Life After Joe, which is hot off the Carina Press on the 28th of this month.

First, Harper gives us a peek at her keeper shelf--that IS what we do--and, oh my, here is the weighty list she donated to our DIK community library.

Harper Fox's DIK

The Arrival, Shaun Tan

A silent graphic novel. This is my favourite book out of 45 years of more-or-less being able to read, and there's not a word in it. Instantly globally comprehensible and yet mystic and totally beautiful, a story of immigration, any stranger arriving anywhere in any strange land. It's a perfect thing.

Vanity Fair, WM Thackeray

A canny few words in this one! All of them contributing deliciously to the jouncing, rollicking glory of it. All human life is here. Unsanitised and clearly seen and completely compassionate. That's what flies it for me – how can you be so crystalline about the depths of human nature, and still have so much love?

Portrait of a Lady, Henry James

Sumptuous evocation of Old Europe, its delights and pitfalls. Riveting what-if storyline – what if you give a young, intelligent woman a huge amount of money and set her free? It's a cathedral of a book. You can go back there forty-odd times and still not see everything.

Middlemarch, George Eliot

Love-hate relationship with this one. I need to go there and kill off Mr Causaubon, the leeching, life-draining blight on Dorothea's soul. But of course he dies anyway, and then you see that Dorothea's tragically lost in life-denial anyway, and – well, I'd set fire to the parsonage.

Cranford, Elizabeth Gaskell

If there weren't a million gentle, detailed, observant reasons to love this book anyway, there's also good advice on how to treat old lace when it's been through a cat.

The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova

I lose myself in this one every time. Plot within winding, intricate, labyrinthine plot. The best vampire novel I've ever read, and an unforgettable evocation of a dark old world reaching out hungry tendrils into modern day.

About Me--Harper Fox-- Q&A

Favorite Reading Position

Just to the left of mid-Victoriana where I can see right through their plot. Or belly-down on the lawn in the sun. I think I can remember how that felt. Damn British summer.

Best love song

Love Song for a Vampire, Annie Lennox. I'm not ashamed. Every nape-hair rigid and quivering, every time.

Favorite Heroine

Becky Sharp in Vanity Fair. Little minx! Brilliant, seminal, entirely human portrayal of a survivor.

Author everyone loves but you don’t

Okay, I have to say it. Stephanie Meyer. Go on – stone me. “Snickered”, three times in the first thirty pages. I just couldn't get past it. Snickered! Why, everybody knows it's “Mars'd”.

If you could be in one book/series/world which would you pick

I'd be in Mary Renault's Fire From Heaven. Not any of the later ones, because that would mean I'd failed in my mission to make Alexander keep Hephaistion at home, and not pack him off on campaign like a damn fool.

How old is your inside voice

Um... Which one? Can you hear them too? Noooo! Cleanse the hive! Cleanse the hive!

Favorite sex song

Has to be Peter Gabriel's The Rhythm of the Heat. Oh that long remorseless drum outtro. Almost anything can be accomplished. LB interrupts **OMG I LOVE THAT SONG**

If you could be a hero who would you be

Roney out of Quatermass and the Pit. Um, 1950s Brit scifi series... Brilliant and unflappably good humoured right up to the point he incinerates himself to save the world. Oh, or Cap'n Jack. Harkness, that is, not Sparrow, though t'other is good too. I'd love to try a little feckless pansexuality.

What heroine is most like you

Tragically, poor flipping Charlotte out of Pride & Prejudice. I would so get born into the wrong stratum of society, panic at the prospect of lifelong poverty and spinsterhood, and end up hitched to Mr Collins.

What heroine would you like to be

Isabel Archer, Portrait of a Lady, Henry James. To change the ending. Catch my Isabel following her principles and sticking with that inbred Roman fop. No, I'm for Caspar Goodwood, with his millions and his steely grip, thank you very much and arrivederci.

Boxers, Briefs, boxer briefs, kilt (I say we add commando)

Oh, kilt. I'd love that. Proper plaidie, like Blossom in Highlander. “Och, Connor! Mah plaidie's awa'!” Yes, love, I just bet it is.

Favorite book set on a tropical island

The Beach by Alex Garland, though it gives me the willies. Just don't ask me to read Lord of the Flies again. Some willies are unacceptable.

What hero is most like your significant other

I've racked my diminishing RAM space for this but nobody even comes close. She a blue-eyed, honey-haired, mould-breaking one-off, the Goddess be forever praised.

What hero would you like to be your significant other
Whaaaaaaaaaaat? My SO is my hero. Also my heroine. Also she is learning what a blog is and I like my risotto served free of sauteed hemlock.

If you were stuck on a desert island what 3 things would you bring
Ideally? Quick wits, charm and heroism. Truthfully? Laptop and lightning-harvesting perpetual charger (currently still in R&D). And a damn good pair of tweezers.

BRILLIANT CHOICE OF TWEEZERS!!

Two brows up.

Favorite drink to bring to the DIK party
You know I'm partial to a Cosmo, but I can't carry that across a bar, let alone to a party, so I'll bring a demijohn of our homebrewed elderflower wine. Oh-arrr, 'twill be a good DIK party, moi friends! Cheers, all.

Thanks Harper Fox! And invisible Josh. So, when shall we three meet again?

**stirs cauldron**

Tomorrow! Stay tuned...

~LB

Please Welcome Fiona Jayde to the Island!

It is my great pleasure to introduce and welcome multitalented Author Fiona Jayde to the Island!

::Big round of applause - raising drinks::

I was delighted and honored when Fi agreed to guest here at DIK because I’ve been a fan since I read her short story “Booty Call”, in 2009. I have read a number of her publications since and I can tell you she pens steamy romances spanning a number of romance sub-genre’s including fantasy, science fiction, romantic suspense and contemporary! Fiona is also a gifted graphic artist and crafts her own book videos which are brilliant!

Fiona’s most recent release “Treasure of Devil’s Isle”, a time travel romance involving a handsome pirate is now available from Red Sage Publishing.

Welcome to DIK Fiona! I was quite um... excited to see you disembarking from the frigate that is anchored off shore and being escorted in the little landing skiff by a handsome... Wow, is he a pirate?

Thanks for having me Lea! Cap't Jared Tacht kindly agreed to escort me here to the island since I may be many things, but a sailor I'm not. *whispers* He is the son of the legendary pirate Edward Tacht but he really doesn't like to talk about it.

Oh, okay, cool, well, you’ll have to introduce him to myself and da ladies later. ;) (I for one am keen to be introduced!)

You got it!

Are you ready for the rapid-fire induction DIK “About Me”, questions?

*Nervous breath and exhale* Okay shoot!

Favorite Reading Position?

Sitting on the overstuffed green couch with hubby, my bright blue Snuggie and either or both of our cats. Especially when its raining.

Oh, I love kitties, that is so nice!
How old is your inside voice?

Umm... I'd say 19. Old enough to know better, but still crazy enough to do it anyway... Plus I have a real bad case of potty mouth.

I love potty mouths.. ;)
If you could be a hero who would you be?

Huh - tough question! I'd like to be Bruce Lee from "Enter the Dragon" and embody the teacher and the fierce warrior.

What heroine is most like you ?

Hmm... Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I used to be very shy and awkward and bookish until I came into my own "power" so to speak. The power in my case was learning and teaching martial arts - it's amazing how much confidence one gains when teaching little kids to kick and punch and yell..Maybe it was as simple as shouting over them? LOL

Willow was awesome! Even when she turned into an evil witch!
What heroine would you like to be?

I'd love to be Buffy - but sans all the conflicts and torture. I'd love to have super powers and kick major ass, but I don't have the spine for bearing the weight of the world on my shoulder. I do love that she's a survivor and looks stylish while kicking vampire butt:)

Yeah, Buffy was uber cool.
Boxers, Briefs, boxer briefs, kilt (I say we add commando)?

I'd say commando. Though a kilt could be interesting.

Favorite book set on a tropical island?

I'd have to say Paradise Rules by Beth Kery.

Oh Gawd, I loved Jace Koa, awesome hero!
What hero is most like your significant other?

I'd say Don Eppes from TV show Numb3rs. Very clear headed, take charge, calm (unless you push a major button), loyal, loves his family... and well... hot:)

If you were stuck on a desert island what 3 things would you bring?

My Kindle, chocolate covered pomegranate seeds, and the hubster:) (Hey, someone has to put a tent together and reach for coconuts! )

Chocolate covered pomegranate seeds? Wow, how, um yummy? lol Never heard of that one Fi!

Favorite drink to bring to the DIK party?

Something fruity and sweet... My sister in law introduced me to Captain Morgan mixed with peach juice - I'd say it would be perfect for DIK party!

ROFL! You sure have unique taste buds there Fiona!

Fi, you write really wonderful stories from a wide variety of romance sub-genres. Any particular favorite?

Thank you! I honestly can't say I have a favorite genre because it changes based on whatever book I want to write. When I was writing Cold Victory, I was in love with Sci Fi. Right now, I'm writing a romantic thriller and loving it.

Do you have a Question you would like to ask folks who stop by and say Hi today?

Who are some of your favorite romance heroes and why?

Thanks Fiona, great answers and a an excellent question for da ladies! LOL

Contest now closed to entries.

Publisher: Red Sage Publishing
Category: Adventure, Time Travel, Historical, Pirates
Length: Novella
Available Format: eBook

Victoria Randall – an adventure seeking librarian with a love for romance novels–is thrown though time when lightning strikes. She wakes up in the eighteenth century on a frigate with pirates and a hunky captain. She's either crazy or in a romance novel, nearly lashed, thoroughly loved. And yet this romance novel is nothing like the ones she’s read before.

Excerpt & Order

We’ve planned a rockin luau tonight with da DIK menz and ladies. Fiona is going to be back on the island with us tomorrow talking about her favorite DIK books she has brought along.

Please Welcome Guest Author Jaci Burton (and Biker Dude *g*) To The Island!

It is my great pleasure to introduce and welcome National Bestselling author Jaci Burton and her hubby affectionately known as “Biker Dude” to the Island! 

::Big round of applause - raising drinks:: I was delighted and honored when Jaci agreed to guest here at DIK because I’ve been a fan since I read “Wild, Wicked and Wanton”, in 2008, in fact it was my favorite Erotic Romance Anthology that year. I have gobbled up every one of her publications since and am still working through her Ellora’s Cave backlist. :)

Jaci’s most recent publication “Bound, Branded and Brazen” releases tomorrow from Berkley Heat and I can tell you it is an awesome read about 3 sisters and the HOT cowboys in their lives!

Lea: Welcome to DIK Jaci! I’m delighted to see you brought Charlie (aka Biker Dude) and a couple of dirt bikes along. Might as well make use of all the amenities, including the um, dirt while ya’all are here on the island! Are you and Biker Dude happy to get away from Oklahoma for a wee break to our little island paradise?

Jaci: Thank you so much for letting us come to the island! You have no idea how happy I am to get away from Oklahoma. It’s winter there. It’s been winter there since December. I am not happy about winter. I need some sunshine on this body. Give me the blowfish bikini top and a shot of tequila and I’m ready to go!

LOLOLOL! Are you ready for the rapid-fire induction DIK “About Me”, questions?

Hit me with your best shot, honey. Shot of tequila, that is.

ROFL - I can tell this is going to be a fun 3 days!
Favorite Reading Position?

Usually on the couch with the foot rest up, the back of the couch pushed all the way to ‘sleep’ position. Blanket and pillow on my lap and my iPhone zipping through those pages.

How old is your inside voice?

She’s typically a childish 12 year old prone to acting out with Biker Dude because he’s typically a 12 year old boy. See how it’s all his fault?. Though sometimes she’s a bratty 16 year old who wants things her way just…because. Very rarely does she act like an adult. She can’t help that either. She figures life’s way too short to act like an old person.

If you could be a hero who would you be?

Any of Roxanne St Claire’s Bulletcatchers. I have serious mad love for their skills.

What heroine is most like you ?

There’s a little piece of me in all of them. Usually the smart mouth part. Heh.

Well, I for one love your 'smart mouth'.. *g*
What heroine would you like to be?

Gina from Surviving Demon Island. She was fearless, yet vulnerable. And of course she was beautiful. And an actress and adventure junkie. She’s been one of my favorite heroines to write.

Oh I loved Gina! She was an awesome heroine!!
Boxers, Briefs, boxer briefs, kilt (I say we add commando)?

Boxer briefs are incredibly sexy on a man. The outline…oh the outline…..

Oooh Yah... Yummy!
Favorite book set on a tropical island?

Roxanne St Claire’s Then You Hide

What hero is most like your significant other?

Pretty much every damn one of them in some form or another.

What hero from a novel would you like to be your significant other?

Roarke from J.D. Robb’s series. That Irish lilt whispering in my ear? *swoon*

If you were stuck on a desert island what 3 things would you bring?

My toothbrush, toothpaste, and my husband, because he can build things and he knows how to fish. Really, what more do I need?

Well it's sure nice to have Biker Dude here!! 

Favorite drink to bring to the DIK party?

Captain Morgan and Diet Coke.

Well lets pour you one and get this party started!

Thanks Jaci, awesome answers! LOL

We’ve planned a rockin luau tonight with da DIK menz and Ladies. Jaci is going to be back on the island with us tomorrow talking about her favorite DIK books she has brought along.

Contest is now closed. The winners will be announced soon!

Wild, Wicked, & Wanton

Three friends...three secret desires...three chances to make it all come true.

They're inseparable best friends who delight in sharing their wildest secrets and dares. But their latest bet is the boldest one of all: each must sleep with whomever the other two have chosen for her. And come back with every juicy detail...

WILD

Abby married the town bad boy. And he lived up to his reputation, bedding any woman who let her guard down. She swore off men for good, but never counted on a pair of sexy veterinarians who are fulfilling a desire of their own.

WICKED

Blaire is the town heartbreaker. Afraid to commit, she's broken off three engagements. Yet there's one man she never had the courage to bed. The one man she really loved. But now, the decision is out her hands.

WANTON

Callie is the sensible one....but beneath it all she's a true romantic, with the broken heart to prove it. Now her long-dormant fantasies may be getting a workout. A new man enters her life and everything about him is irresistible.

Thanks again to Jaci Burton for spending time on the Island with us!!

Welcome Guest Author Jill Myles!

Join me in welcoming Pocket author, Jill Myles, whose debut novel, Gentlemen Prefer Succubi (Book 1 of the Succubus Diaries) is out now. 

Nom Nom lickable mantitty ahoy!

Synopsis: Jackie Brighton woke up in a dumpster this morning, and her day has only gotten weirder. Her breasts grew overnight, her sex drive is insatiable, and apparently she had her first one-night stand ever . . . with a fallen angel. Of course, she only remembers gorgeous Noah’s enormous, er, package. And their steamy shower sex. Hmm . . . and the dark stranger whose bite transformed her into an immortal siren with a seductive Itch. With help from Noah and fellow succubus Remy Summore, Jackie adapts to her new lifestyle—until she accidentally strikes a deal that sends her lover into the deadly clutches of the vampire queen and lands Jackie, Remy, and the queen’s wickedly hot right-hand man into the middle of a fierce battle for an ancient halo. But how’s a girl supposed to save the world when the enemy’s so hard to resist?


We've asked Jill some hard hitting questions that all authors must answer here on the DIK Blog:

 Favorite Reading Position:

Jill: Missionary! Ha. I bet you see that joke a million times, right?


Favorite Heroine:

Jill: Ooo, tough one. I'm very partial to Garwood heroines overall, but I also really like Houston Chandler from Twin of Ice by Deveraux. Or maybe Lady Liana from The Taming. Or maybe Alice from Demon Bound by Meljean Brook. Or maybe Jessica from Lord of Scoundrels.

Author everyone loves but you don’t:

Jill: Oh dear. This is the part where I tug at my collar and demur to answer. But I'll say J K Rowling! I've never cracked one of her books because I'm just not interested in wizards. I'm sure they're perfectly lovely books.


If you could be in one book/series/world which would you pick:

Jill: Oh man oh man oh man! I would love to be a Dragonrider in the Dragonriders of Pern by McCaffrey. Or a Guardian in Meljean Brook's series! Or a valkyrie in Kresley Cole's series! Crud. You said one, right? (I suck at this game). Okay, I pick the Dragonriders then. As long as it's a gold. And the nearest bronze rider is hotness and non-rapey. Actually...maybe I'd better go with Meljean Brook's series.

How old is your inside voice:

Jill: Twelve. Duh. ;)

If you could be a hero who would you be:

Jill: I would probably be Jake from Demon Bound by Meljean Brook. He's fun and frisky and not all that serious. I admire that in a man.

What heroine is most like you:

Jill: Man, these are hard questions! I don't know that there are a lot of heroines that are like me, because I've never been soul-mated to a vampire, or carried off by pirates or anything. It's sad, but I'm closer to Aunt Pittypat than Scarlett O'Hara. So find me a rotund, smirky heroine who is completely inappropriate at all times, and that will be my heroine soul mate.

What heroine would you like to be:

Jill: Mary Luce from Lover Eternal. She gets to shag Rhage for all eternity. We'll just gloss over that cancer thing.

Hmmm... Dragon Rhage... look hot, right?

Boxers, Briefs, boxer briefs, kilt (I say we add commando):

Jill: I'd say kilt except he'd probably start talking in brogue, and I hate brogue. So let's go with Boxer Briefs! They're practical and comfy and yet outline the package in the most amazing ways.

Favorite book set on a tropical island:

Jill: Durrr....here's where I can't think of a book set on a tropical island. Unless England counts as an island that just isn't tropical? Cause I've read a lot of medievals...


What hero is most like your significant other:

Jill: Well, my husband is an artist, and has a hysterical sense of humor, an incredibly deep voice, and great lips. And he's about as adult as a twelve-year-old-boy (which makes him the perfect match for the twelve-year-old-girl living inside me). So I don't know if there's a romance hero quite like my husband. Maybe Ash from the Evil Dead movies, but I can't count him, right?


What hero would you like to be your significant other:

Jill: Just my husband, really. Him or the Phantom of the Opera. The Gerard Butler one, not the Gaston Leroux one that has the big hole in his head (ick).

Jill, come join my in my underground lair where we can create sweet music together!

If you were stuck on a desert island what 3 things would you bring:

Jill: A flare gun, a satellite phone, and um, a Kindle (can they get reception out there?).

Favorite drink to bring to the DIK party:

Jill: Something served in a coconut with an umbrella, obviously! Or maybe just Goldschlager -- it's funny when everyone barfs all sparkly.

If you have any other questions for Jill, ask away!

And make sure to come back tomorrow where Jill discusses who she would cast if Gentlemen Prefer Succubi were made into a movie.