Archive for the 'Whatever' Category



Friday, September 18th, 2009
From beginning to end: One writer’s neurotic, uh, emotional journey

Cross-posted from Fire & Ice

Oh, sure, most readers might think authors are all a bunch cool cats with nary a care in the world when it comes to writing and publishing.

That only means that most readers have not met me.

Join me as I break down the angst of producing a book from beginning to end.

The Research Stage — There is excitement! Geeky joy! The glomming of lots of new books to read in order to help me build my world! Yay! I wallow in the slop of researchy glee.

The Plotting Stage — More happy, happy, joy, joy! The creation of new characters? Bliss! Discovering their pasts and all the deep, dark secrets that drive them? The formation of new worlds? Wheee!

First Draft — Oh, the joy! I love the first draft. That’s when I get to write uncensored. I give myself permission to let it just flow out without judging myself (much) or second guessing myself (much). I look forward to writing every day. I love it with a passion that gets me up from my soft bed at six every morning to write before my tornado, er, daughter wakes up. There are occasional bouts of dark ohmygodthisSUCKSandeveryonewillhateit, but they aren’t frequent.

Second Draft – This is the part where the judging and second guessing occurs. Editing is an intensive thing and the second draft can take me as long to finish as the first draft. Anxiety sets in. Lots of ohmygodthisSUCKSandeveryonewillhateit. Lots and lots of second guessing myself. There is angst and woe , woe and angst, following by some angst and then some woe. Plus, lots of cutting, adding, and rearranging. Yet, when I’m finished with this draft I’m happy with the book and I have beaten most of the anxiety monsters into submission.

Third Draft – Polishing, mostly. Proofreading. I have accepted the book and feel certain there are many flaws that I cannot see which readers WILL see and point at when the book is finished, but I love my characters, I love my world, and I love the book. I feel I have done my best and I have done justice to my original idea. I feel good about sending it off to my editor and I pop a bottle of champagne after I do.

Author Alterations – Angst, angst, angst as I see a million things I would do differently if only I could do one more draft (I would do ten if I could. For me the revisions never stop). However, I realize that I while I can make some changes to the book in this stage, I can’t do anything super duper major. Still, I nearly kill myself going line-by-line through the book painstakingly, making whatever changes I possibly can. By the end of this stage I’m so sick of the book, having read it five billion and twenty two times now, that I. Never. Want. To. See. It. Again.

Final Pass Pages – This is just a final proofreading stage. This is a particularly painful stage for me (see above). Still, I once again go painstakingly through the book looking for typos.

Book Release — Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Lots of joy! My book is out there and people are reading it. Ohmygod…my book is out there and people are reading it? Eeeeeeeeeeek! What if everyone hates it? What if it totally sucks? Ack! Blarg! Blargity blarg blarg blarg! *vomits in trashcan* And yet…my anxiety is also mixed with this euphoria born of having my story out there in print.

Gradually the anxiety fades back into peacefulness as I see that not everyone hates my books *wipes sweat from brow* Whew! I mean, I can’t expect to please everyone but most people seem to be enjoying it. And all is well. S’okay. Zen place is found once more.

And the cycle starts again.

So, there’s a peek inside my head. Scary, huh? 😉

Saturday, September 12th, 2009
Snippet Saturday — Worldbuilding

Today’s Snippet Saturday theme is worldbuilding. I thought for today I would re-post what I wrote up on the demons in the Elemental Witches series. Then scroll down for a little excerpt from Witch Heart. 🙂

Demons seem to be a whole new trend in urban fantasy and paranormal romance these days. Sometimes they turn up as the good guys, the bad guys, or sometimes a shade in between. The demons of the Elemental Witches Series are shade in between. Well, except for the Atrika. They’re pretty much all bad.

There are four demon breeds in my worldbuilding:

The Ytrayi (E-TRAY-EE) – The leader caste. Loyal and operating on a strict Code of Conduct, they rule things in their world. The leader of the leaders is called the Cae. His name is Rue.

The Syari (S-YAR-EE) – The scholar caste. They are the archivists, holders of knowledge and do all magickal research.

The Mandari (MAN-DAR-EE) – The builder caste. Responsible for creating and maintaining the structures in the capital city of Ai and in all of Eudae. The buildings are made of lavender and rose marble, sometimes black or gray, and are built in columns, gentle slopes and arches. The palace, called Yrysvront, is majestic in its architecture.

The Atrika (A-TREE-KAH) – The warrior caste. Genetically engineered by an unknown hand, they are brutal and unforgiving. They are also like passionate children, following their whims no matter the destruction they might cause. Their favorite food is rotting meat and they have a nasty habit of cannibalizing their enemies on the spot in battle.

In my series the elemental witches are a hybrid of human and demon. Long ago, during the early days of human civilization, the daaeman, (who reside in an alternate reality called Eudae), opened a portal to Earth and came through it to interact with human beings.

In the beginning, it was a free-for-all on humans. Some of the demons hunted them for sport, others respected humanity and helped them improve their societies, and still others fell in love with them. For the ones who fell in love and wanted to marry and have children, there was a problem since the basic difference in the genetic makeup between humans and daaeman didn’t allow for mating. Human women couldn’t carry daaeman babies.

Out of this need, the daaeman constructed a magickal solution, using the four elements as a base. The children born of these unions were demon/human halflings and their magickical abilities were tied to one of the four elements used in the spell—earth, air, water or fire. They became the elemental witches.

It was decided that the daaeman were interfering too much in the evolution of humanity and so they withdrew from Earth, closing all the portals. When they did this, it shrouded the origins of the elemental witches in secrecy. The elemental witches learn about how they came about only midway through my series, when the witches begin interacting with the daaeman once again.

There’s a little interesting side-effect of the hybrid demon/human condition. The elemental witches with an overabundance of Ytrayi genes tend to be the good guys—the coven witches. Those with the Atrika genes tend to be the baddies—the Duskoff warlocks, who have turned their back on the tenet of harm ye none and betrayed the coven.

But there are the quirky ones, like Micah, who definitely has a bunch of Syari in him. And there’s Jack McAllister whose father was the head of the Duskoff, yet Jack never inherited his father’s baddie leanings.

So there are no blacks and whites in this world, just shades of gray, which is the way I like it best. Makes it far more interesting, and, I think, more realistic.

In Witch Fury the threads I’ve pulled between the Duskoff, the coven witches, and the daaeman throughout the series will finally weave together in an explosive mix. The Atrika and the warlocks have things planned for the coven witches and it just might end them.

Here’s an excerpt with a couple of demons from Witch Heart, the third book in the series…..

He adjusted the mirror to reflect into the back seat. There, Claire took deep, measured breaths with her eyes closed. For being plunked down into an alien world and into a life or death situation simultaneously, Adam thought she was doing exceptionally well.

He let his gaze trace the curve of her cheek. She was brave. Pretty too, in an unconventional way. She wore no makeup to speak of and, by the looks of her creamy, clear complexion, probably never had. Her dark hair hung to her narrow shoulders in a tangle of natural curl. Her face was heart-shaped, chin coming to a sharp little point. A long–nearly too long for attractiveness–nose sat atop a nicely shaped mouth, bottom lip much fuller than the top.

Adam noticed women. All the time.

Even when he’d been deeply and insanely in love with his wife, he’d noticed them. He’d never been unfaithful in his life, but no woman escaped his eye. Claire was very attractive in a pixie-like way. She was small, which made him instantly want to protect her.
His stomach tightened. He wondered what she’d had to endure in her life. It couldn’t have been easy to survive as the only elemental witch on Eudae.

Her eyes popped open to find his in the rearview mirror. Their gazes caught, locked. Adam almost fell into the power of her blue eyes. Oh, there was a lot to this woman…much more than he’d seen so far.

“They’re near,” she whispered. Her voice in the quiet sent a shiver up his spine.

Theo straightened and Adam snapped to attention, glimpsing the slow moving headlights of a car on the road behind them, just barely visible through the foliage.

“Fuck,” he murmured. They were trolling for them. The demons knew they’d gone to ground. The car rolled slowly past them and he let out the breath of air he’d been holding.

Then the car stopped.

Claire turned in her seat to watch through the leaves. They could see nothing but swatches of light, but the low idle of the SUV’s engine reached their ears.

The vehicle backed up a little and stopped on the road parallel to their position.

“Out,” said Theo in his low, gravelly voice. “We need to get out now.”

He was right, there was nowhere for Adam to move the car. He’d gone all in for this poker game, tried for a bluff. Apparently he’d lost. “Yeah.”
Quietly, they opened the doors and slid out. Claire grabbed their sword sheaths and handed them over to Adam and Theo once they were clear of the car. Behind them, the SUV’s engine stopped.

Leaves and dead plant matter crunching under their feet, they made their way into the darkening gloom. The chill in the air kissed their skin and showed their breath white in the early spring air.

As they hunkered behind some brush, Claire shivered beside him. Adam channeled a little heat, the seat of his magick in the center of his chest pulsing a bit, and sent it through his arms, hands and chest. Then he pulled Claire toward him, wrapping her in a close embrace. She stiffened against him at first and started to push away, but then melded to his body like warmed candle wax.

More footsteps on the winter dead Wisconsin ground. Demon footsteps. Growing nearer and nearer.

Motionless, Claire in his arms, Adam watched through the brush as the demons approached the car. One had his hand on the trunk. The other one, the tall blond one, was nearing the driver’s side.

Pulling away from Claire, Adam stood and shot a fire bolt in the direction of the car’s gas tank. It hit in a white hot explosion.
Thomas’s ninety thousand dollar car blew up, the demons along with it.

“Oh, Houses,” Claire breathed, shooting up to stand beside him.

Adam didn’t know what houses had to do with anything.

She cringed against him, covering her eyes from the brightness of the blaze, and Adam held her close, protecting the side of her head with his hand.

Theo’s lips curved in a rare smile. “Nice shot. Don’t know how the bossman will feel about it, but nice shot all the same.”

Adam grinned cheerfully. “Thanks. Let’s just hope those bozos left the keys in the SUV. Otherwise, we’ve got a long walk.”

Theo’s grin deepened. “No. I can hot wire it.”

Adam cast him a sidelong look and mocked, “Why Theodosius Winters, I declare! You shock me!”

Apparently Theo’s short stint of verbosity had come to an end. He simply strode forward, toward the crispy demons.

Adam and Claire followed. They had to get out of here before the fire was noticed.

As they skirted the vehicle, Adam increased the heat of the fire. He wanted no trace of that car left to lead back to Thomas Monahan or the Coven.

“God, demon magick is putrid,” said Theo. “I had hoped to never again have that stink in my nose.”

“You’re not the only one,” Adam answered.

Theo raised his hand, also expending magick to clear a ring around the sedan with his earth abilities. It ensured the fire couldn’t jump to the nearby trees and bushes. True, this area had received a lot of moisture recently, but better safe than sorry.

The authorities would no doubt wonder about the strange ring, but humans were notorious for finding plausible answers for implausible occurrences.
The two demons had been thrown back in the explosion and now lay burned and smoking not far from the vehicle. Damn it. Adam had been sure they’d been mostly incinerated in the initial blast. One of the demon’s legs was on fire. Both lay at unnatural angles, eyes open.

Maybe this whole thing would be over before it had even begun and they could get back to the Coven. Although they needed to do something with the bodies. Humans found answers for the implausible, sure, but if they decided to do an autopsy on these guys…. There wasn’t any explaining away acidic blood.

“They’re not dead, Adam. Even though they look it,” said Claire as they passed. “They’ve gone into a type of coma that happens when their kind sustains a bad injury. They’re regenerating right now and they’ll probably recover.”

Adam stopped short, remembering Thomas and Isabelle telling him of the motorcycle crash that Isabelle had initiated in an attempt to kill the last Atrika. Erasmus Boyle had lain prone on the road for a time too–thought dead before he’d woken up and poofed Isabelle right out of Thomas’s arms.

“Really? Fuck.” He pushed a hand through his hair and tried to mask his disappointment. “That sucks. I guess thinking this could be over quick was too optimistic. The Terminator has nothing on these guys.”

Claire just frowned at him and he realized that pop culture references were a little lost on her.

He drew his sword from the sheath he carried. “Then let’s make sure we give them a wound they can’t recover from.” He grinned. “These fuckers might be immortal, but I want to see one try to re-grow its head. Theo, please take Claire to the SUV. I’ll be right there.”

Theo guided Claire away and Adam turned toward the prone demons. This wouldn’t take long. Just a little chop here and one over there, heads would roll, and he would duck the spraying acidic blood. Then he would puke, and they could all go back to Chicago. It was a great plan.

Simple. Clean. Efficient. Perfect.

Sword grip clenched in his hand he approached the one whose leg was doing its best to burn to ash and tried not to gag from the stench of baked demon. Ironically, according Micah’s sources, they would love the aroma of cooking aeamon. Probably serve it up with chutney and a nice white wine.

He stood near Demon One’s head, feet spread, and readied his sword for a death blow. The thing’s blue eyes stared blankly up at him. He sure as fuck looked deceased. Adam raised his sword.

The thing blinked and his eyes focused on him. A hand snaked out and grabbed his leg.

Damn it! He’d betrayed a cardinal rule of horror movies and now he paid for it! Never go near the monster, even if it looked dead.
Adam brought his sword down fast and hard, but the demon let go of him and rolled to the side. His blade bit soil and dead leaves. From his left, movement caught his eye. The other demon was moving too.

Damn short comas.

Tires slid on the ground behind him. He whirled to see the back door pop open and Claire, pale-faced, motioning to him. “Come on! Get in!”
His hands tightened on his sword and he looked back toward the creature. The demon he’d tried to skewer growled and turned his head toward Adam. His eyes were glowing red. That meant the demon was in a killing rage. He remembered that clearly from the last Atrika he’d fought. The other one lurched to stand about four feet away, his lips curled back and fangs extended.

When were demons not in a killing rage?

“Adam!”

Demon One–the blond one–snarled.


Want more snippets! Follow the snippety conga line!

Michelle Pillow
Kelly Maher
Mark Henry
Jody Wallace
Jaci Burton
Elisabeth Naughton
Ashley Ladd
Moira Rogers
Taige Crenshaw
Lauren Dane
Victoria Janssen
Vivian Arend
TJ Michaels
Juliana Stone
Anya Bast
Lacey Savage
Eliza Gayle

Saturday, September 5th, 2009
Snippet Saturday: Fight Scenes

Snippet Saturday: Fight Scene (emotional)

Welcome to another installment of Snippet Saturday! Today’s theme is emotional fight scenes. I picked one of the tense, emotional scenes from The Chosen Sin. Daria and Alejandro have a tumultuous relationship to say the least.

Enjoy!

chosensin

He glanced at her. Damn it. She hadn’t been feeding. “You’re pale and shaking.”

She turned away. “I’m fine.”

“Fine, my ass.” He took her by the upper arm and spun her around to face him. “You haven’t fed. Fuck, Daria. I knew you weren’t feeding from me, but I thought you’d have sense enough to feed from someone.”

She yanked her arm away from him. “Leave off, I’ll find a donor today.”

Overwhelming possessiveness swamped his brain and shut everything else off for a second, including logic. “The hell you will. I don’t want your fangs in anyone but me.”

Daria glared up at him. “You just said you thought I’d been feeding elsewhere these past couple days.”

“That was then. Now that I know you haven’t been, your sweet ass is mine.”

“I’m not sleeping with you, Alejandro.”

He hitched one side of his mouth up in a wry smile. “Isn’t it a little late for that? That deed’s been done.” He paused and his grin widened. “Several times.”
She turned away from him. “I can’t.”

The rejection stung. “Afraid you can’t resist me?” He tried to sound cocky.

“Yes, actually. My libido has had a good taste of you, Alejandro, and now it wants more.”

And, for whatever broken reason, she didn’t want to indulge it. Daria didn’t want a longer taste of him.

Alejandro went silent for a long time, processing her words. In a way, maybe he should be flattered. She considered him a threat to the walls she’d built around herself. That meant he’d done a good job with his original intention–tearing them down.

It hadn’t been enough, though. Alejandro was beginning to understand that Daria was too damaged to accept his love.
Then he finally said, “I promise not to push you, okay? Take my blood, and I won’t touch you in any way not related to the feeding.”

She turned and looked at him.

“I’ll be a perfect gentleman.” He raised his hands, palms out. “Swear.” He’d do his best, anyway.

“I would rather feed from you than a stranger.”

“That’s a point we can both agree on.” He moved to sit on the plush, overstuffed burgundy couch. He stretched his large frame and groaned. “Better hurry up, though, it’s almost time for us to head back over to Sante’s.”

They’d agreed to watch over Ari Templeton ever since the explosion. Tonight they would sit with her and watch the asteroid shower, a magnificent yearly event.

She glanced at him, hesitating.

“Daria, you’re going to do the biting, not me.”

She took a moment longer and then walked to the couch.

“It’s not flattering to my ego be treated like I’m an executioner.”

She only lowered her gaze and straddled him tentatively, not meeting his eyes.

His breath rushed out of him at the sensation of her pressed against him, the warmth of it bleeding through his pants and touching his hard length.
Alejandro knew she fought herself over him. Obscenely, that made him want to push her even though he’d promised not to.

Daria rested her hands on his shoulders and stared into his eyes. Shadows and uncertainty lurked in their depths. He’d vowed that if there wasn’t a way into her heart, he’d find another way to get under her skin. Apparently he’d succeeded. But it wasn’t enough. Alejandro wanted her love.

“Come on, querida,” he said softly. “Bite me.”

Her eyelids lowered a little as the invitation settled over her, likely the result of the acute hunger she must have been feeling. She leaned in toward him and he tipped his head to the side, offering her his throat. Daria hesitated, her gaze flicking to his eyes and then focusing on his jugular. She dipped her head and her fangs scraped his skin, making pleasure flare throughout his body. Two sharp punctures, a stab of sweet pain, and her veil unfurled over him, making his body tense with sexual need.

Was it wrong that he wanted to ease her pants off and tease her until she yielded to him? The urge was strong. To keep his fingers from straying, he fisted her shirt in his hands and held on tight as she took what she needed from him.

Alejandro would always let her take what she needed from him.

The suction on his throat intensified. Her body trembled. She shifted her hips against him, rubbing herself like a cat along his body. Her hands fluttered from their place on his upper arms and eased downward.

“Don’t,” he growled. The one word ripped through his throat.

He couldn’t handle it if she touched him. He would strip her and take her right here on this couch for sure and break the promise he’d made.
She halted and a shudder ran through her body. Her hands gripped his waist and didn’t move again.

Finally the suction at his throat eased, but not until he began to feel the strain of the blood loss in his body. Daria had waited far too long to feed.
She eased away from him, still not meeting his gaze. He grabbed her wrist before she could pull away.

Alejandro really didn’t know why he did it, other than that he hated what lay between them right now. He wished he could force it to be another way, that he could erase parts of Daria’s past and make her heart fit to love and trust again. He could feel her slipping away from him more and more.

Daria stilled, looked down where he’d trapped her wrist and then up at his face. Her color looked better now. She was flushed from the rush of his blood through her veins.

They remained that way for several moments, holding each other’s gaze–his jaw locked and fear flickering through her eyes.
Finally he released her and she snatched her arm away as if he’d burned her.

And that was that.

Daria was lost to him. Maybe she’d been lost from the beginning and he’d been stupid to try and make her see he loved her.

Want to read scenes from some other authors? Here’s a whole list:

Lauren Dane
Leah Braemel
Jaci Burton
Elisabeth Naughton
McKenna Jeffries
Moira Rogers
Taige Crenshaw
Victoria Janssen
Vivian Arend
TJ Michaels
Juliana Stone
Anya Bast
Lacey Savage
Eliza Gayle

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009
Why do you put books down?

Cross-posted from The Bradford Bunch blog

A few weeks ago I came across a fantasy novel on Amazon. The reviews for the book were glowing and called it noire historical fantasy, saying it was both dark and humorous. Just the thing I love to read. So, I ordered it and eagerly started in.

Basically, the novel follows the stories of about five different characters. They’re scattered all over this fictional world and none of them seem to have any link to the other. It was a little like reading five different novels in one. However, I suspected the stories at some time would begin to converge, so I kept on with it.

But the book was long, too, and slooooow. The pacing was so slow that I almost put it down several times. By then it was the characters that kept me reading. Almost every single last one of them are anti-heroes, so twisted and flawed that you wonder how you could be rooting for them, let alone care about them. This author has a real talent with character development.

So, even though the book was slow and disjointed like crazy, I didn’t put it down.

Then I got to the last third of the book and, wow!, the plot took off. The various storylines of the characters converged and the action picked up. I couldn’t stop reading until I got to the end and I practically sprained a finger in my haste to order the next book in the series.

Then I was really, really bummed because I won’t have the next book to read for several days. Meh.

So I picked out an urban fantasy book from my TBR pile last night that I’ve been meaning to read and settled in with it. The heroine was the typical kind I often read in urban fantasy–shallow. In this book the heroine is mostly concerned with her weight (and making snide remarks about other people’s weight) and appearance, guys, and getting that perfect designer dress on sale.

Now, I know that many times heroines start out this way and through the course of the book they grow, change, and get “deeper”. Hell, most of my heroines start out that way, though in my case my heroines start out powerless and then get more and more powerful as the story progresses. They rarely start out shallow.

There’s nothing wrong with a heroine starting off shallow and then developing throughout the story. Usually I love those kinds of books. But for some reason this heroine grated on me and I had to put the book down. I doubt I’ll pick it back up because I don’t think I can read this heroine long enough to get to the part where she starts to mature. It’s in first person, see, and I don’t want to be in her head. Normally I’m fine with first person, just not THIS time.

Ultimately, I think the deal is that I just couldn’t care enough about the character to continue.

I’m still trying to lay my finger on why, exactly, I was able to find those anti-heroes in the fantasy novel care-worthy enough for me to continue on with the book (even though the beginning was slow and disjointed), and why I can’t find it in me to continue with the urban fantasy novel with the shallow heroine.

It’s not about character likability. The characters in the noire historical aren’t likable at all. I think it has to do with whether or not the characters intrigue me. Are they interesting and different enough for me to want to invest my time in them? I think it must come down to that.

So, here’s my question for you all — what are some reasons you put down books you paid good money for? Does it come down to character? Pacing? Point-of-view? All of the above?

Conversely, what elements might keep you reading if there are several things about the book that niggle?

Friday, August 28th, 2009
Searching for the miraculous…

Happy Friday, all! Want a shot at winning a copy of Witch Fire and Witch Blood? Head on over to Fire & Ice and comment on my first blog post. I’m talking about finding magic in the mundane today.

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009
Bradford Babe New Releases!

Cynthia Eden offers one of her amazing stories in this new anthology, Belong To The Night, (Uhm, can I belong to the guy on the cover, please?)

51eY0nrtTcL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_ “The Wolf, The Witch, and Her Lack of Wardrobe” by Shelly Laurenston:

Jamie Meacham has enough trouble controlling her supernatural abilities. There’s no time for lust, or for Tully Smith, even with his smoldering amber eyes. But Tully’s grappling with his own animal instincts as a powerful shifter-wolf, trying to protect all his territory-including a certain sassy witch-from vicious rivals.

“In the Dark” by Cynthia Eden:

FBI agent and leopard shifter Sadie James’ undead ex, Liam, still arouses her deepest desires, distracting her from tracking the brutal rogue shifter who is terrorizing Miami. By teaming up with Liam, Sadie has a better chance of solving the case, but as passion consumes them, she stands to lose more than just her heart.

“City of the Dead” by Sherrill Quinn:

Dori Falcon is a witch with a plan: get to New Orleans, locate her missing brother, and recover the Eye of Bastet, a mysterious and powerful amulet. Her plan never included falling for sexy Cajun copy Jake Boudreau; but without his help, she may never find the demon who has her brother, and the key to her family’s survival.

And Shelli Stevens has a novella in Sexy Beast VII!

51Fs2MxaR8L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_ Big and bold, primal and powerful, these men have a seductive sensuality that no woman can resist. Come enter their world of carnal desires and wanton sexuality…if you dare…

“Chanku Challenge” by Kate Douglas

When Beth and Nick first discovered the amazingly sensual power of their Chanku birthright, the desire to mate was fierce and uncontrollable. But Beth remains haunted by an event from her past, and she must confront it in order to accept her new life and find the happiness she so desperately seeks…

“Eye of the Beholder” by Anitra Lynn McLeod

Terrified at the rumors of her new husband’s hideous disfigurement, Larra of Rellmon fears the night and his approach. But as the hooded Dauer caresses her body Larra’s shivers of terror become quivers of ecstasy, and under cover of darkness she willingly submits to complete sexual surrender…

“His To Reclaim” by Shelli Stevens

Five years ago Gemma gave her heart and soul to a fellow werejaguar only to have him disappear. Now Hunter has come back and kidnapped her on her wedding day in order to make her his again, and he will tempt, tease and taunt her body to the heights of hedonistic pleasure to get exactly what he wants…

Monday, August 24th, 2009
It’s Monday

Oh, Monday, the bane of us all. I don’t have to go into a job today, since I work at home. Still, it’s one of those mornings. You know, the kind where you drop everything you pick up and nothing seems to go right. Everything is just out of sync for some reason. And, boy, my internet connection does NOT like me today.

Yet…today is Monday! THE Monday when Between Fire & Ice: Women Writing in the Shadows kicks off! And that just makes the day so much better.

Alyssa Day starts things off with a post on new beginnings and there’s prizes! So, go on over and help us christen the new blog. Yasmine, Alyssa and I want to see you there.

As for me? Well, I’m going to do my best to kick this day into gear and lose that out-of-syncness. I have edits to do on Cruel Enchantment. I can see the end of the second draft and that makes me happy. I also have to clean my toilets, which makes me not so happy, but, hey, that’s life. Sometimes you have to clean toilets.

Friday, August 21st, 2009
A New Blog! Fire & Ice

I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be participating in a joint blogging effort with authors Yasmine Galenorn and Alyssa Day! Fire and Ice: Women Who Write in the Shadows. Alyssa will be blogging on Mondays, Yasmine on Wednesdays, and I’ll be taking Fridays. The blog officially kicks off next week.

I hope to see you all over there! I think this will be a lot of fun. 🙂

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
Revisions, revisions….excerpts, excerpts…

I’m eyeball deep in revisions to Cruel Enchantment at the moment. I’m trying to get this book pretty much finalized so I can work with a clear head on Jeweled, a different book. Working on two books at once makes me nuts, so I try really hard not to do that. I guess I can only keep one world in my head at a time.

I did take part of Sunday off to go swimming, though. Man, it is H-O-T here. Whew. And it’s that sticky, humid kind of hot that suffocates you right when you step out the door. I’m not a huge fan of the heat, unless the heat happens to be in Mexico and my butt is on the beach. This is the kind of hot that makes you want to stay inside, the kind of hot that makes me look forward to autumn…which is rolling in surprisingly fast. I blinked and the summer went *poof*.

Next month Hot for the Holidays will release (September 29th). This anthology features stories from Lora Leigh, Angela Knight, Allyson James and myself. My novella, Sweet Enchantment, will be your first taste of the Dark Magick series. I posted an excerpt of Sweet Enchantment on my site, if you care to check it out.

January 5, 2010 is the release date for Wicked Enchantment, the first full-length novel of the Dark Magick series. I’ve posted the first chapter on my site, if you want a sneak peek. I had to trim this excerpt up a bit, though, because I realized belatedly there was a whole bunch of spoilers for Sweet Enchantment in it. That’s the pitfall of writing stand-alone novels, I guess.

I can’t wait to introduce you all to Piefferburg. Essentially it’s a resettlement area for the fae, in a reality in which the fae are real and the human population knows about their existence. In this world humans both fear and are fascinated by the fae. With the help of the Phaendir, a order of druids, the fae have been captured and are being held in a large, warded territory of the United States. Of course, the fae want OUT of Piefferburg. That’s their overall struggle in this series–how do the fae break out of Piefferburg, how do they defeat the Phaendir, and how do they deal with the humans who so fear them? As an added complication, there’s internal strife between the Summer Queen of the Seelie and the Shadow Royal of the Unseelie.

The Dark Magick series is action-packed paranormal romance. If you enjoyed the Elemental Witches series, you’ll like this one too.

In other news, Taken, my verra hot menage a trois romance from Samhain is now available on the Kindle. And next month is RAW. Anyone going to be there? I’m really looking forward to it.

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
A couple pictures from my trip…

I found the Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance (I have a short story in it) at Fnac in Brussels.

The market in a small town in Bordeaux. Once a week every village has a market day. Vendors come in the morning and set up stands with fruit, cheese, vegetables, wines, meats, fish, clothing. You name it, there’s probably a stand selling it. The food all looks yummy. Of course I wanted to buy everything.

It’s required that you have mussels and frites when you go Belgium. They kick you out if you decline. 😉 We had our mussels and frites at the North Sea.

And me stuffing my face with the best Belgian waffle (with cream) that I have ever had in my life.

You may notice that almost every photo has something to do with food. Can you say TREADMILL? I can.