Writing About My Generation

  Writing About My Generation

By Leslie D. Soule

  Today, I'd like to write about a subject that is both dear to me and extremely awkward at the same time - my generation. Born in 1983, I just barely missed the cutoff point for Generation X. I could have belonged to the "slacker" generation, a generation witha  really cool name. Instead, I was born into Generation Y.

 

  For those of you who are unfamiliar with the symptoms of Generation Y-ers, look for people who have worked full-time while going to college, unemployed people holding Master's degrees, and jaded retail workers scraping to get by. Generation Y is actually "Generation Why?" as its members are forced to wonder why it's so hard to survive in today's society.





  Well, I wrote a short story back when I was in college, taking a full load of courses. I was also working full-time and experiencing first-hand the difficulties of belonging to a generation that I have dubbed "The Abandoned Generation". My short story "The Devil's Bidding" features a couple of model Generation Y-ers. The "hero" of the story, Tom Harper, is still living with his parents as he goes to college. His girlfriend, Brenda, is a dispirited retail worker. Disillusioned with his life, Tom makes a mistake that costs both he and Brenda dearly. His mistake is so big that Satan himself has to get involved, and even the Lord of the Underworld himself is revealed to be plagued by the addictions of modern times.

  While this story can be read solely for its entertainment value, it is also a commentary on the Y Generation and its strange, terrifying, lonely struggles. Can technology save my Generation Y-ers from a primordial evil?

  Thanks for joining me here today to ponder the struggles of Generation Y. One lucky commenter will receive a free ebook copy of my short story "The Devil's Bidding".



I love April Fool's Day

Hi, I’m Sue Charnley author of the April Fools for Love Duet, The Catnapped Lover and Devil May Clare.  April Fool’s Day is a short two days away, and I can’t wait to celebrate.  No, I don’t play mean jokes on people (other than my characters that is—they’re fair game), I watch funny movies, read jokes on-line, and tickle my sweetheart which leads to other, well, uhm…fun stuff.  Below is an example from The Catnapped Lover, of how I can louse up a character’s life.  My heroine, Rue Clancy wasn’t at all happy when she found herself in what I saw as a darned funny situation. 

If you like what you read, here are purchase links for both of these books. The Catnapped Lover, Amazon, Devil May Clare, Amazon.

If you want more, you can read longer excerpts at The Catnapped Lover and Devil May Clare

Want swag?  Leave a comment and tell me what your ideal April Fool’s Day celebration is along with an e-mail address where you can be reached and I’ll contact you with details about where to send an SASE.  Sorry, you must have a US postal address. 

From Chatper One of The Catnapped Lover

   Balancing an armload of mail, an overloaded briefcase, and a gym bag with two yogurt cups teetering on top, Rue Clancy rushed to her cubicle. She prayed that her chauvinist boss hadn’t realized she was missing. For the fourth time this week and the umpteenth time this month, she was late. Once again a power outage in the decrepit apartment building where she lived had caused her alarm clock to fail. As a result, she’d gotten up late and still hadn’t caught up.

   The yogurt cups threatened to topple off the gym bag. Sending one hand to their rescue, Rue sacrificed her hold on the mail and the briefcase. She wasn’t about to let her lunch decorate the linoleum underfoot. The mail showered to the floor. The briefcase hit her foot. With her free hand she plastered the cups to her side. The gym bag slid down her arm. The webbed strap twisted tourniquet fashion around her wrist.

Rue managed a couple of sideways hops that brought her to the edge of her desk. The gym bag swung wildly. Leaning against the arm weighted down by the gym bag’s stranglehold she, managed to dump the yogurt cups onto the desk without mishap. She pulled herself upright and reached for the tightly twisted strap at her wrist.

   Somehow, during all the hopping, the bag had swung around her legs and gotten wedged in the narrow space between her desk and file cabinet. The same strap that cut off circulation to her hand pressed into the backs of her knees, pinning her neatly to the desk. Only an act of extreme dexterity could save her from her own folly. Imbecile, why didn’t you make two trips?  She scolded herself.  Because you didn’t want to risk having the boss see you coming in late, that’s why.

   “CLANCY! You’re late.” 
   Rue’s heart hit the ceiling. She knew the shout—a cross between an operatic tenor and a pig at slaughter—belonged to her boss. Still, she hadn’t been prepared to hear his screeching quite so soon.

   “What the hell are you doing with your coat still on at 10:00 in the morning? Do you know how many clients we have backed up in the lobby? They’re all waiting for you to get your lazy little behind to work on their ADC and Food Stamp applications.”

   “I’ll get right on it, sir.” Rue tugged at her imprisoned arm and wondered exactly how she was going to free herself. At the same time she prayed that her boss would remain blind to her obvious difficulties. The lecher would love an opportunity to put his hands on her while she was literally bound at hand and knees.

  “Good. Get those people cleared out of here by noon, then come to my office.”

  “Yes, sir.”

   Rue heard the man lumber on down the hallway, and she expelled a disgusted breath. If you hadn’t been so wrapped up in yourself, Rue, you would have heard him coming. Yeah, and if you had made two trips, you wouldn’t be wrapped up at all. So get yourself out and get to work.

   She leaned her weight against the strap where it crossed her thigh hoping to pull the bag free with her weight. What’s it going to take to loosen this stupid bag, a ten-ton truck? I know I’m a bit small, but this is ridiculous!

   She swung her hips with increased vigor against the webbing. She bounced. When I get out of this, I’m going to cut this bag up and feed it to the nearest garbage disposal.

   Praying that she didn’t slip a disk, Rue gave a mighty heave with her backside, throwing her entire body into breaking the webbed hold. Something gave.

   Rue flew across the tiny space, landing shoulder first against the opposite file cabinet. Her hair tumbled out of its neat chignon. Her shoulder ached. Her formerly numb hand tingled. She blew rust-colored curls out of her face and turned to survey the damage. 

   The webbed strap remained completely intact. The bag was a total loss. Make-up and hair care products littered the cubicle floor. One of her gym shoes had landed sole up on the file cabinet. Her sports bra and workout clothes lay in a heap framed by the shredded bag.

   “Unusual decorating choice, Rue. Too bad personal items are against regulations. You might have started a trend.” Carolyn DeWitt, Rue’s best friend and co-worker, leaned against the cubicle opening.

   “It’s nice to see you too, Carolyn.”

 

When an Author's Life View Infiltrates Her Romantic Adventure

Everyone has a driving force in their life. Mine's balance. It's the goal of just about everything I do. Balancing time with my kids and my husband and my jobs and writing. Balancing ignoring the unimportant housework and not letting my house reach "disgusting." Sleep versus relaxing in front of the TV. The convenience of take-out with our budget. Healthy food versus indulgent food. Exercise with all of the above.

Despite balance being the driving force in my own life, it's not usually a theme in my books. And I don't think you'd expect it to be when you pick up Fight or Flight, my new release from Carina Press. But it wormed its way in there anyway.

Regan Miller went on the run with her infant daughter when she was 19. The baby's father told her to run, just before dying in her arms. She did, but didn't run far enough, and shortly after Kelsey was born, "they" came and tried to take her. Regan stopped them, and ran again—and again and again and again. Her life is about survival and escape. Paranoia and distrust. And it has an irrevocable effect on Kelsey.

But Regan doesn't want her daughter's life to be hell, so she struggles to find any element that can make it normal. Letting her play soccer, staying in one school district as long as possible, even dating occasionally, because that's something single moms do.

So what if they know a hundred different ways to get home—or leave? So what if they never take something into their lives that they won't want to leave behind? All that matters is keeping Kelsey safe. The strain of also trying to keep Kelsey from hating her takes its toll on Regan.

The biggest toll is her personal relationships. When paranoia turns out to have been founded and someone is after her daughter again, Regan is forced to ask for help from her hunky neighbor, Tyler, and once again forced to find balance. This time it's between trusting and guarding not only her daughter's safety, but her own heart. It's a balance Regan fails to find, with unbearable consequences.

~~~~~~~~
Natalie J. Damschroder's latest romantic adventure, Fight or Flight, is available now from Carina Press, via Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and wherever e-books are sold. It's also available in audiobook! Her next book in this genre, Behind the Scenes, will be out late this year.

You can learn more about Natalie and her books at her website, eHarlequin, Goodreads, Twitter, and Facebook. She blogs with three other opinionated writers at The Gabwagon, and with four other obsessed passionate Supernatural fans at Supernatural Sisters.

Vampires Realm - Deadly, Dangerous and Sexy!

I'm Felicity Heaton, and I'm here today to talk about my Vampires Realm series and the latest novel in it, Hunter's Moon.

Vampires are sexy. They’re dark, mysterious, and dangerous. The ultimate bad boys. The ones who send our hearts racing and adrenaline pumping. Of course, that isn’t to say that their furry counterparts can’t be just as devastatingly handsome. The alpha werewolf is a force to be reckoned with. Rugged, rough, and commanding, he’s a man who will bend the heroine to his will and claim her for his own.

That’s the sort of vampire and werewolf that I love to write. I don’t apologise for how brutal or dangerous they can be. Vampires and werewolves are killers. They’re top of the food chain and they know it. I always stay true to their nature, although I like to change a few aspects of them in each of my stories to spice things up a little. I don’t do redemption or the non-human blood drinking vampire. I want to read about vampires and werewolves who are deadly, and of course, dead sexy, so I write that sort of hero and heroine so others can read about them too.

A vampire who refuses to drink human blood, to embrace their nature, is a real turn off to me. We’re attracted to the myth of the vampire because of their bloodlust and their powers, and their desire to sink those luscious fangs into our lovely necks. Without those things, they’re just not as interesting.

Each of my stand alone stories has a different take on vampires and werewolves. I have vampires with powers, and those without. Vampires who are born and age, and those who are turned and don’t. I love to toy with the myth and make them unique. The purest of my vampires are those in my Vampires Realm series.

Vampires Realm is a work of passion for me. I love to world build and I’ve spent a long time thinking about the way the series will work, and the world it’s set in, and the type of creatures who inhabit it. The series is set in Europe, and follows vampires of the seven ancient pure bloodlines. Each bloodline rules a different city, although there is conflict in St. Petersburg and Prague as two vampire bloodlines reside in both of those. There are laws governing the bloodlines, and Law Keepers who deal with any who break them. There are hunters who would like to eradicate the pure bloods, but they’re not strong enough to fight such superior creatures, and often end up fighting weaker mixed blood vampires that infest the continent. A fight with a pure blood would end pretty quickly. These are the elite. They’re powerful, deadly, and unafraid of hunting human prey. They live in their own world. A world within our world. They rarely interact with humans, and keep to themselves, living in near-harmony with us without our knowledge of their existence. Their interest lies in governing their people and continuing their existence, and they have laid down strict laws to ensure this happens.

There are werewolves in the series too. Although most of them are slaves kept in compounds by the pure blood vampire families, there are those who have escaped and have struck out on their own. There are even those who have gathered other werewolves to them and created a stronghold for their kind, a place where they can live without fear of the vampires.

It’s a dark world, one full of threats as the hunters begin to advance themselves through genetic manipulation, becoming dangerous to the pure bloodlines. It’s a world on the edge, full of conflict between the bloodlines, and prophecies that threaten to destroy everything. But it’s also a world where love grows, regardless of the laws that forbid certain relationships, and where heroes and heroines do incredible acts of bravery to protect both vampirekind and humankind. It’s a world that I love to write and explore, to bring to life in the imagination of the reader, and to share with them, and I hope that you will enjoy it too.

The Vampires Realm series currently encompasses nine stories, the most recent of which is out now. There are six novels, including a trilogy, two novellas (one of which is free), and a free short story. My most recent release, Hunter’s Moon, is a werewolf/vampire romance and is set outside the usual setting of Europe, instead focusing on remote Canada as the location.

I’m writing another novella for release this year, and then a novel or two for release in 2012. I have also written a few short stories based on the Vampires Realm series and characters for my A Day in the Life series, which is a series of free short e-books where I catch up with characters after their novels. For more information about the Vampires Realm series, including excerpts of the stories, the free stories, and information about the characters, please visit the official series website: http://www.vampiresrealm.com

If you would like to read more about my other paranormal romances, including my series about gorgeous angels and a duo of books about one hell of a sexy black panther shapeshifter, and also my free A Day in the Life series, then check out my author website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk

Hunter’s Moon
Having witnessed vampires slaughtering his werewolf pack during their escape from the horror of the compound where they had been held captive, Nicolae’s hatred of the species burns deep in his veins. A century has passed since that night and the months in which he travelled to the Canadian wilderness to escape it, but the nightmarish visions and his failure as an alpha still haunt him, forcing him to live alone and keep his distance from other werewolves.

When a night hunt with the local timber wolf pack leads to a run-in with unfamiliar hunters, Nicolae tracks the scent of blood permeating the forest to an injured woman and races to save her, but has he made a terrible mistake in doing so? When she attacks him, revealing her true nature, he can’t believe his eyes or the fact that he can’t bring himself to kill her. She’s beautiful, and a vampire.

Tatyana is on a mission. Far from home and bearing a heart filled with grief, she’s intent on killing the hunters she’s tracking, but her plan didn’t include being shot with poisoned arrows. When she comes to in the presence of a glowering handsome male werewolf, she isn’t sure what to expect. His dark demeanour and cold tone warn her that he isn’t like the subservient werewolves she’s used to, and that she might not be out of danger yet, but she doesn’t let it discourage her. Working with him to discover why the hunters have come to Canada, she attempts to shatter his antiquated opinion of vampires, but the closer she gets to him, the harder it becomes to battle the forbidden hunger he stirs in her.

Will Nicolae be able to overcome the darkness in his heart and his memories, and embrace his desire for a vampire? Can Tatyana face her fear about the Law Keepers and risk her heart and her life for the sake of forbidden love? When they discover what the hunters are after, will they be able to stop them before it’s too late?

Available as an e-book for only $2.99 or a paperback for just $6.99!

Read the excerpt or find out where to buy: http://www.vampiresrealm.com

To see the rest of the books in the series and to find out where you can purchase them, visit the Vampires Realm website: http://www.vampiresrealm.com



Biography
Felicity Heaton is a romance author writing as both Felicity Heaton and F E Heaton. She is passionate about penning paranormal tales full of vampires, witches, werewolves, angels and shape-shifters, and has been interested in all things preternatural and fantastical since she was just a child. Her other passion is science-fiction and she likes nothing more than to immerse herself in a whole new universe and the amazing species therein. She used to while away days at school and college dreaming of vampires, werewolves and witches, or being lost in space, and used to while away evenings watching movies about them or reading gothic horror stories, science-fiction and romances.

Having tried her hand at various romance genres, it was only natural for her to turn her focus back to the paranormal, fantasy and science-fiction worlds she enjoys so much. She loves to write seductive, sexy and strong vampires, werewolves, witches, angels and alien species. The worlds she often dreams up for them are vicious, dark and dangerous, reflecting aspects of the heroines and heroes, but her characters also love deeply, laugh, cry and feel every emotion as keenly as anyone does. She makes no excuses for the darkness surrounding them, especially the paranormal creatures, and says that this is their world. She's just honoured to write down their adventures.

Website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk
Vampires Realm website: http://www.vampiresrealm.com
Blog: http://www.indieparanormalromancebooks.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/feheaton
Twitter: http://twitter.com/felicityheaton

Feel free to leave any questions you have about the series and the stories, and I'll be sure to answer them all for you.

Felicity Heaton

New Release - Collective Shivers: Can You Spare a Dollar for Japan?

The entire world has been affected in some way by the terrifying events caused by the Sendai earthquake this past March. News stories continue to add more about these devastating events and the tenuous circumstances in Japan.

Upon being bombarded by these news stories, romance and speculative fiction writer L.K. Below could not bear to stand idle. Rather than indulge her feeling of helplessness, she did the only thing she knew how to do: she wrote. Two weeks after the Sendai disaster, the product is a short fantasy story called Collective Shivers.

Hailed by beta readers as an “out-of-world experience,” Collective Shivers contains an earthquake, a mysterious and resilient people, and one man who suddenly doesn’t feel up to scratch. Who knew that a people so outwardly unfeeling could have touched Gunnarr in such an emotional way?

More information about this story can be found at the author’s website, www.lbelow.net/japan. All proceeds from this book will be donated to the Red Cross foundation to help with relief efforts in Sendai and elsewhere as new tragedies unfold.

So the real question is: Can you spare a dollar for Japan?

Different sides

There are many sides to any story. I was having a conversation with a friend in which we were discussing a book we had both read. We both had a different side we came away from the story with. Although it has happened before, each time I think it is so interesting. It has lead to some very lively and interesting discussions.

It is fun to dissect what we each got from a book. She sees things or subtle contexts that I didn’t or vice versa. When we discuss it together it is like uncovering parts of the book I didn’t have any clue about. This is why I love having these conversations. It is good to get a different side to the story.

Many times after our discussions we both go reread the book. We see the different side we each saw yet we sometimes find even more sides. Yep lots of discussion material to have. It is so much fun when reading to discover even more. There are even times they read something I haven’t then give me there thoughts. Since we have a similar taste in books I use what they think to try a book that I might have been unsure of.

So what are some books your have discussed with other and found a different side?

McKenna Jeffries
http://www.mckennajeffries.com/
…. sensual, edgy, unexpected

Blog: http://www.mckennajeffries.com/blog
Chat Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/McKennaJeffriesList
Free Reads Site: http:/ /www.satinnotes.com/

Conquering Jazz - What’s a woman to do when she unwittingly makes a tantalizing proposition to her best friend?

Be brazen, bold and set some ground rules. Her offer. One night of carnal bliss. No emotion allowed.

His counter offer. A continued affair to fulfill all their sexual cravings.

His hidden agenda. Conquer to make sure their affair never ends.

Buy here at Liquid Silver Book.

FALLING FOR THE ENEMY—a conversation with Paige and Bryce

Harlequin has reissued 4 of my Silhouette Desire titles in ebook format, written under my pseudonym of Shawna Delacorte, from my backlist of 21 Harlequin and Silhouette titles. Visit my Shawna Delacorte blog for more information on these ebook reissues. http://shawnadelacorte.blogspot.com

All 21 of my Shawna Delacorte titles from Harlequin and Silhouette are listed on the Shawna Delacorte Page of my Samantha Gentry website. Excerpts are listed on the Books page. www.samanthagentry.com

FALLING FOR THE ENEMY is the fourth of my Harlequin reissues in ebook. I chatted here at The Romance Studio blog about the other three on January 24, February 8, and February 11, 2011. Today I'm pleased to have Paige Bradford and Bryce Lexington as my guests.

Hello, Paige and Bryce. Thank you for making room in your schedule to chat with us today.

Bryce: It's our pleasure.

My first question is for you, Paige. You moved from St. Louis, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California, then you went to work for Bryce's company…is that correct?

Paige: I'm from Los Angeles originally. After my divorce, I returned to be near my father. He was my only family.

About your father…I understand that you're the one who found his body after he…

Bryce: Would you mind skipping that topic? It's an emotional—

Paige: It's all right, Bryce. Yes, I'm the one who found my father's body after he…he shot himself. In addition to a suicide note, I also found scraps of paper in the fireplace that he had apparently tried to burn. Bits and pieces of things that didn't make sense, lots of numbers. (glances at Bryce as if seeking reassurance) And Bryce's name mentioned several times.

Bryce: (grasps her hand and holds it) And that's when she started prying into my life, a situation that quickly came to my attention only I didn't have a clue why she was doing it.

Paige: Well, what I found led me to believe he was responsible for my father committing suicide. I was determined to prove it…to bring him down and expose him for what he was. Or, more accurately, what I believed him to be. I also wanted to find some way of keeping him from closing down my father's company and putting 100 employees with families out of work.

Really? Bryce, you actually owned her father's company?

Bryce: Well, sort of. By default, actually. I didn't really want it.

What happened next?

Bryce: What else…I hired her as my personal assistant so I could keep my eye on her in order to find out what she was up to. And the rest, as they say, is history.

No, I meant what happened next with her father's company.

Bryce: You'll need to buy the book to find out about that.

Okay, I'll accept that. Now let me change the subject. There's a question I've been dying to ask you.

Bryce: (laughs softly then flashes a teasing grin) Uh Oh. That sounds ominous. Do I need to consult my attorney?

LOL…I think you'll be okay.

Paige: Don't worry. (offers a mischievous grin) I'll protect you if she gets too rough.

Bryce: Looks like I'm covered. Fire away.

From the beginning, I notice you called her Bradford rather than Paige, Ms. Bradford, or Mrs. Bradford, and continued it for quite a while in the same way as guys refer to each other by their last names. Why did you do that?

Bryce: That's an easy one. From the first time we met I knew I had to keep an emotional distance and make sure nothing between us became personal.

Do I detect an immediate attraction?

Bryce: Definitely. Calling her Bradford helped me maintain that emotional distance. At least for a while.

Paige: I was feeling it, too. As much as I wanted to believe he was the ruthless shark I had made him out to be, the more I was around him…the more I found out about him…my firm convictions began to rapidly crumble. There was the Italian family who owned the small neighborhood restaurant in London, the business negotiations for new contracts, his work ethic. Everything going on around me shot down all my preconceived notions until I didn't know what to think anymore.

Tell me about the avalanche.

Paige: Plain and simple…Bryce literally saved my life.

What happened?

Paige: It's all in the book.

Oh, I see. LOL Another suggestion to buy the book if you want to know the answers. Sounds like a good idea. Thank you for being with us today.


FALLING FOR THE ENEMY, a Silhouette Desire by Shawna Delacorte reissued in ebook format. Available at http://ebooks.eharlequin.com (do a search for title). Barnes and Nobel for NookBooks at www.bn.com and Amazon for Kindle at www.amazon.com

Blurb:

A Dangerously Desirable Boss:
Paige Bradford intended to expose Bryce Lexington for the ruthless shark he was. But when they started working together, the sparks they gave off jettisoned her best intentions…. Paige knew this corporate hunk wasn't what he seemed—but was she losing her heart…to the enemy?

Hiring oh-so-sexy Paige might have been the biggest mistake Bryce had ever made, but he had to learn what she was after. Especially since she had Bryce—the man with everything—wanting something far more precious: Paige's love.

G-rated excerpt (inside front cover):

The look on Bryce Lexington's handsome face said it all. He liked what he saw, liked it very much. Paige felt an inexplicable tingle of excitement as he continued to stare at her. She quickly pulled the beach jacket on, covering her body from shoulders to mid thigh.

"Tomorrow, Bradford…" Bryce paused to take a calming breath. "Tomorrow bring your own swimsuit." He quickly turned and left the pool house without even pausing to look back.

Paige closed her eyes. The look of smoldering intensity that Bryce had greeted her with popped back into her mind. A tremor of sensual desire made its way through her body, then settled low inside her.

Paige was not sure what she wanted anymore or why she was still there. She probably should have resigned as she had originally planned, but now it was too late.

Text Copyright © 2002 by SKDennison, Inc. Cover Art Copyright © 2002 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited. Permission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A. Cover art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited. All rights reserved. ® and ™ are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its affiliated companies, used under license.

Danger. Intrigue. Romance. All that's necessary for a great romance.

Just like making the perfect cake takes just the right ingredients, so, also, does creating the perfect romantic suspense. 

You need the right amount of danger, intrigue and of course, romace.

In my latest release, Don't Close Your Eyes, Kara Bryant and Davis Martin have a history together. But the danger they both thought they'd buried in the past, once again takes a life of its own.

Here's the blurb:   

 Right from the start, the chemistry that ignited between psychic Kara Bryant and FBI Agent Davis Martin threatened to consume everything within its wake. Including Kara’s heart and Davis’ job. When the FBI hired Kara to use her psychic powers to help solve the biggest case in the Bureau’s recent history, neither Kara nor Davis had any idea, the impact the Death Angel case would have on their lives at that time, certainly not in the future.


Kara had a special “connection” to the Angel killer, which enabled her to witness the unimaginable pain inflicted by the Death Angel serial killer on his victims, and it almost cost Kara her life when she became the Angel’s final victim.

Five years later, Davis had no idea his relationship with Kara resulted in a child, until a killer copying the Death Angel’s MO resurfaced and he turned to the one woman he never stopped loving for help, discovering Kara was also the mother of his child.

Buy the book

All the best...


Mary Eason
www.maryeason.com





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Author Island Book of the Day

Good morning folks! Head over to Author Island for your chance to win a download of my brand new erotic release, Someone to Love Me. Good luck!


http://www.authorisland.com/

What's Your Path?

This morning I drove Kid2 to preschool as I do twice a week. The school we chose is a wonderful program where the kids get a lot of outdoor time and creative art and game playing. The downside is this school is 25 minutes one way from my house, and that's without traffic. So I've perfected the art of driving her there in the shortest amount of time so I can get home in the shortest amount of time and have as much time to myself as I can to do things like write books. And blog posts.

There are many routes to the preschool, each with different pros and cons. You've got the shortest way, the long way with all the hills and pretty trees, the almost-shortest way that goes through a lot of traffic and a school zone where you must slow down to 20 mph and sometimes dodge teenagers, the middle way that hits the interstate and passes a gas station and drive-through restaurant, and the really long way via the grocery store that is hands down my least favorite, for obvious reasons. Writing a book is like that too. You've got short ways and long ways and reasons to favor all those ways based on your schedule and needs.

Got a tight schedule and lots of contracts? You're gonna be hitting the short road time and again, figuring out the latest possible departure time and where there's never any cops just in case you want to, I don't know, speed a little bit. But you're going to miss out on scenery, and if you're running low on gas--watch out. Got something new in the works you're mulling over? Scenic route! Inspiring natural beauty, less stress and traffic, more time to converse with your protagonists about how their day went. Need to restock your proverbial shelves or run a manuscript through more wringers? Then the crappy grocery store route is all about you, with the bonus being it's less crowded early in the morning and hey, you were out and about anyway, right? Two birds, one stone, no more typos, and a full pantry.

I've written books in all different ways and in my humble opinion all the books, in the end, are equally good. I've written manuscripts in a couple months and I've written manuscripts in a couple years. Leisurely books and frenetic books. There's no right and wrong path to a book, although there are ways that will stress you out or make you miss a deadline or end up with you off in the weeds, looking at pretty trees, or require you to dress in something other than sweatpants and a slompy T-shirt, not to mention do SOMETHING with your hair, OMG. The trick is to choose the right route for your current schedule and not to always pick the same route if you have options, because falling into autopilot on the same road going to the same place at the same time of day can result in -- let's just say a fender bender and leave it at that.

Metaphorically speaking, of course. I'm an excellent driver. *shifty eyes*

What's your path to writing a book? Got any time-saving or scenery-enhancing secrets to share?

Jody Wallace
So much cyberspace, so little time!
www.jodywallace.com / www.meankitty.com

Siblings

By Janet Quinn Cornelow

Chewbaca, my dog, has been an only child since January when Teddi, the cat, passed away. She was very old and very sick. We tried bringing a kitten into the house a year and a half ago, but it upset Teddi. She was the nervous type.

Now, my oldest son Tom wants to get a kitten. He wants to get a Maine Coon, which turned out to be an expensive proposition. We had a Maine Coon before, but he just came to us and was not a pure breed. He was the sweetest cat though and the alpha male in the house. We are also going to rescue a kitten from the animal shelter. Hopefully, they will bond and play together.

Getting a pure breed cat means the cat stays in the house, which is a bit of a problem because Chewbaca has a giant dog door. The door is big enough for a person to go through. A kitten would have no problem, except Chewbaca hates it when the cats used his dog door.

To start with, I decided that Chewbaca needed to learn to use the door with the plastic sheet in it. We have tried before and he has just sat on which ever side he was on and wouldn’t go through it. So, on Sunday, my daughter-in-law Loki and my youngest son Rob came over to work with him.

Chewbaca is a drama queen. You’d have thought we were trying to kill him. He went out, then he followed Loki back through it, but he kept eyeing the plastic like some strange monster that was going to get him. He jumped up into the recliner nearest the door and cowered. Rob chased him out of the chair and he immediately jumped into the other chair. He tried his cute look. It took awhile, but we got him to go through several times with a lot of treats.

Tom and I spent the rest of the night telling him what a good dog he was every time he went through the door. I still don’t know why Chewbaca suddenly decided to use the door with the plastic after all these years of refusing. At least it is a step in keeping the kittens in. We have to do something more when they get older.

I looked at electronic dog doors where the dog wears a collar that opens the door. I figure once Chewbaca masters the plastic, we could get an electronic dog door. The problem is, the biggest one I can find is only 7 ¼ inches wide and Chewbaca’s door is 15 inches wide. There is no way he is going to fit through the smaller one.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

Contemplating Contemporary Romance

Contemplating Contemporary Romance
By
N. J. Walters

The hue and cry has gone out over the past few years and many readers are complaining there just aren’t enough contemporary romances being written anymore. Everything is paranormal or historical, or a combination of both. Don’t get me wrong, I love me a good paranormal book and historical isn’t too far behind. And I’ve even been known to read a book, or three, that combines them both. But, like a lot of readers, I enjoy a good contemporary romance too.

I guess that’s why I’ve written my fair share of them. There are a lot of interesting subjects you can delve into within the covers of a contemporary novel. My Jamesville Series, from Samhain Publishing, has allowed me to indulge my love of this genre.

Discovering Dani was actually the first book I ever wrote. It’s a story of a woman’s struggle to raise her younger brothers while keeping a roof over their heads. Enter an arrogant, rich businessman and the sparks fly. The next book in the series took a turn even farther towards family. The Way Home features a marriage of convenience in order to give an orphaned child a home. The problem is the heroine is in love with the hero and has been for years, while he’s never seen her as more than a friend.

Several years passed before I attempted the next book in the series—The Return of Patrick O’Rourke. This is a much darker and spicier tale. The heroine is a victim of abuse, while the hero, a cop shot in the line of duty, has to figure out what he truly wants to do with his life. Both are wounded souls who find one another.

The Seduction of Shamus O’Rourke might be my personal favorite in the series. Shamus is the type of man any woman can love. He’s handsome and loyal and an all-around good guy. He’s not perfect by any means, because that wouldn’t be any fun. He has a stubborn streak a mile wide and when he wants something he’ll do anything in his power to get it. This is a story of coming home and having to face the past and put it to bed once and for all. That’s exactly what the heroine does. What she doesn’t expect is to find love and have her life in danger at the same time. Redeeming a former villain from an earlier book was fun. It made me realize that things aren’t always what they seem to be with some people. Everyone has secrets.

A Legal Affair is a short, very sexy romp. Small town lawyer, Alicia Flint, has a one-night fling only to discover that she now has to work with her mystery man. By the Book is more of a mystery, a woman in jeopardy story. When Amanda Barrington moves to Jamesville to start her new rare book business the last thing she expects is for her life to be in danger. And the series ends with Past Promises and Linda Fletcher, a woman dealing with an overbearing family while trying to figure out who she really is and what she wants out of life. Who can’t relate to that?

I think that’s what readers find so attractive about contemporary romance—they can relate to the characters and the situations they find themselves in. The heroines are women they might be friends with. They come from all walks of life but, like most of us, they are trying to get by in life and find happiness. Then there are the secondary characters that populate these books. Readers usually don’t want to let them go without their stories being told. I know I don’t want to let them go either.

So, there you have it. Writers are still penning contemporary romances because they offer so many opportunities and are simply wonderful stories. I love Lori Foster and Sharon Sala contemporary romance books.

How about you? Who are some of your favorite contemporary authors?


N.J. has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, dragons, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.

Check out all my books at http://www.njwalters.com/
http://www.njwalters.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/awakeningdesires/ (newsletter group)

Women's Rights! Or lack Thereof

All women know or should know about the horrors sister women face in some Middle Eastern and other Islamic lands. Beheadings, hangings, stonings, honor killings, banishment, being second, third or even fourth wives, wearing stifling clothes in hundred plus degree heat and so forth. But did you realize things weren’t much better for women right here in America. For sure, they stopped burning witches by the eighteen hundreds and arranged marriages have mostly gone by the wayside, but women were still second class citizens and still are even today by some standards.

Equality has always been a struggle. A hundred and thirty years after men and fifty-five years after freed slaves—men only—received the right to vote, women were finally allowed to vote—only ninety stinking years ago!
But voting wasn’t the only issue. Enjoying sex was supposed to be the exclusive domain of men. Respectable women simply didn’t enjoy sex. Which takes me to the next issue, women’s occupations.

Women seldom worked with or alongside men when they could even find work. There wasn’t much work for women and women seemed, throughout the history of our country, to be relegated to work that was considered beneath men. Seamstresses, maids, nannies, secretaries, nurses and teachers.

Teachers were especially discriminated against, their personal life being forever under scrutiny. In most cases, until the sixties, women teachers were not allowed to get married, have babies or even DATE! They could be fired for dating and sex was simply not an option. It makes me wonder how many teachers sought sexual favors within their own ranks and gender as their only recourse.

Regarding sex, the sixties seemed to be a defining moment when it came to sex. Before then, it was to be considered dirty by women and was tolerated in marriages as a wifely duty. Can you believe it? Women weren’t supposed to like and want sex. Why, the hell, would men not want women to enjoy sex when they themselves were on a constant search for it?

Well they didn’t and many still don’t, but the of idea of free love and the advent of birth control pills turned into the sexual revolution for women—thank God. Women were finally free to follow their libido and until the eighties when AIDS curbed things somewhat, one night stands, singles bars and disco became the mantra of the seventies and early eighties.

Have women finally reached equality? Not quite. Working women still only make three quarters of what their male fellow worker makes. But at least they can pick up a three pack of condoms at Walgreens, go to their favorite night spot, drown their inequality sorrows on serial Strawberry Daiquiris and eventually, if they want, hook up with three strapping studs. Mmmm! Just like in the ebook they finished.

This editorial is a reprint of a blog that was posted last October. I hoped you liked it. All comments are welcome.

Speaking of just finished eBooks, I'd like to tell you about a couple of mine. Warning there're explicit sexual descriptions in most of my work.
____________________________________________________________


Sister Laurel & the Atheist a hillarious romantic comedy is an exception
Buy link: Sister Laurel and the Atheist.

BLURB
Wildly attracted to each other, can a beautiful, shy sister and a devilishly handsome atheist fall in love and find happiness despite their differences?

It was love at first sight. That’s what the lovely, shy Sister in Waiting Laurel, and the devilishly, handsome Julian Peters both agree. But is their overpowering love and attraction enough to allow this unlikely couple to overcome the obvious societal obstacles plus the differences between their own core beliefs to make a life together?

Sister Laurel & the Atheist is a cute, humorous and oh, so, romantic story.



_______________________________________________________________

DUPED! A romantic comedy with a paranormal twist.
but link: DUPED!

A suicide bomber couldn’t blow newlywed, Jamilla Turner Randle’s, idyllic life to smithereens any better, than a call from her husband’s other wife—Jeanette—did, “Lady, you have been duped!”

Seeking succor, Jamilla visits her best friend Sal. With his help, Jamilla retains Letta Storm, a pit-bull of an attorney, who likens herself to the perfect storm, to straighten out her life.

At a barbeque thrown by Sal, Jamilla meets Tony. She feels an instant, undeniable, compelling bond with Tony, however after her marriage fiasco, she’s reluctant to trust her judgment regarding men.
Nevertheless, the attraction is too strong to be denied and with Tony’s patient persistence, her heart begins to warm.

The three of them begin to pick up the pieces of Jamilla’s life and in the process discover secrets even she didn’t know she had.
______________________________________________________________

NAKED RESEARCH is about a popular woman author who writes erotic romance novels.

Rebecca Roth, an author of erotic romance novels, writes from experience. Except her latest book is about something she has never experienced--a ménage a trois.

Seeking to expand her horizons, she visits a popular cocktail lounge and runs into Kevin MacCloud, a man’s man and a woman’s Lothario. Sparks fly between them. She wants him desperately, and the feeling is mutual, but she needs a second lover. Fortunately, Vince, his roommate with movie-star looks, is at home and willing to please.

A Siren Erotic Romance

New Scottish Medieval from Tarah Scott

My latest release The Pendulum: Legacy of the Celtic Brooch is now available.

Two men.

Two murderers.

Two demands for the promised payment of marriage.

Murder, deceit, and fraud pull Lady Arin Keith between these men.

Which one will bed her, claim her...own her?


Lady Airin Keith won't rest until Lord Jason Bothwell is tried and convicted for the murder of his young wife. An unexpected marriage proposal brings an opportunity to prove the earl's guilt, but the knight who appears with her great grandmother's lost brooch threatens to interfere with Airin's brand of justice when he demands the agreed payment of marriage.

CHAPTER ONE

Scottish Highlands, 1388

Lady Airin Keith slid free the bolt, then inched open the hidden door to the Scarlet Knight’s bedchamber. Light sliced across the floor in a single, thin strand, and music, along with male laughter, seeped into the room from the great hall below. She hesitated. The hallway door had been left ajar. Had the knight already taken to his bed? The hour was not yet nine. Surely, he wouldn't leave the merry making so early? Mayhap he was unable to hold his liquor. That would serve her well, but no man such as the Scarlet Knight could be anything less than a skilled drunkard. Curse him and her father. She had ridden hard in order to arrive before it was too late.

Airin cocked an ear, straining to hear any sounds of light snoring or breathing. Nothing. She pushed open the door several inches and peered into the dark until the bed took shape. Thank the saints, empty. She whirled, her long braid snapping around to her belly, and hurried to retrieve the lit candle she'd left around the bend.

Back at the door, she stepped into the room as a man staggered down the hallway. She jerked her head right as his backside disappeared from view. A moment later, his roar of laughter echoed up the stairs he descended.

Fool. ‘Twould serve him right if he landed skull first on the great hall’s stone floor. Airin hurried to the hall door. With a quick glance through the slitted opening, she clicked the door shut, then turned and blew out a long breath. When this was finished, she would teach her father a lesson for such underhanded dealing.

Her gaze fell on a table sitting beneath the lavishly curtained window to the right of the bed opposite her. On the table sat a small, unadorned, wooden box. Airin stared. The box looked like that which Perry had described in his missive. By the saints, could the burglary be accomplished so easily? At least a hundred men milled about the castle. Yet, no guard stood watch outside the room. Mayhap the Scarlet Knight was not as canny as was said. The thought should have soothed; instead, dread coiled like an adder around her insides.

Full Excerpt

Amazon
All Romance Ebooks


www.tarahscott.com

Sink your teeth into this FREE vampire romance story

Reunion, a FREE vampire romance novella in my Vampires Realm romance series, is now available in multiple formats from Smashwords. You can download the story in its entirety in PDF, LRF, MOBI, EPUB and PDB formats. Alternatively, you can download the unsecured PDF from my website. I've added both site links and the blurb for the book below. Happy reading, and do share this free story with others you think might enjoy it.

Reunion
F E Heaton
For the Venia Law Keeper, Marise, returning home isn’t something she wants to do, but duty dictates that she must answer Lord Timur’s call for assistance and investigate the attempt on his life by a vampire. Faced with her old home, she tries hard to suppress the memories it evokes, of happier times in the arms of her ex-lover, Jascha, and of the darker times with him that led to her leaving.

She puts the atmosphere and looks she receives down to fear from the attempt to kill Timur, but when she lays eyes on her lord, she realises that it may be for another reason and that the attacker may not have been a vampire after all. Left with only one other source of information, a guard injured in the attack to a point beyond recovery and left to remain awaiting death, she decides to question him before he dies and then get the hell out of there.

Only when she sees that the dying guard is Jascha, she begins a battle with her heart that will see her struggle to turn her back on Jascha and her family again, and maintain her sense of duty. Is fifty years enough to forgive the one you love for breaking your heart? Will Marise finally confess to everything she’s held inside and kept hidden from him? And can Jascha convince Marise to listen to what he has to say and make her love him again?

Download PDF from my site: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Reunion
Download from Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/b/46224

Felicity Heaton

To series or not to series?

Series can encompass a variety of different things. As a kid growing up, I loved the teenage mystery series—Trixie Belden, Donna Parker, the Hardy Boys, Encyclopedia Brown, heck, even the horribly dated Bobbsey Twins. Nancy Drew was the one exception. Never could stand her. These books followed the same characters through a variety of adventures, hopefully learning a little something with each episode. Then I discovered fantasy and science fiction. The Narnia books, Lord of the Rings, and so many more. Still the same concept though—same main characters, different stories.

But in romance, series usually don’t work that way. For a romance to be a romance, you have to take two (or sometimes more) characters from not being together, to their happily-ever-after. That’s pretty final. Although I have read a few great books where the romance continues to grow and evolve in a second book, (Jayne Ann Krentz has a couple good examples of this) that’s about the limit if each story is really a romance. So a series takes a different turn. Usually it’s a common world, town, family, or group (a Navy Seals team, perhaps) that have overlapping stories. Each book of the series features a different character finding that HEA. So each book as a unique hero and a unique heroine. One of the great features of this kind of series is that you get to peek at the HEA of earlier couples. It can be kind of like catching up with old friends.

From a reader’s standpoint, I love series. I love seeing that couple A is still together a few years later, maybe with children, or still helping to save the world. I still have the first romance series I ever collected, Roberta Gellis’ fabulous Roselynde Chronicles. She broke a rule in this series, too. The first two books had the same heroine. Yep. Her first HEA wasn’t so ever-after. Husband number one was much older and died while she was still in her 30’s, leaving her to remarry a man much closer to her own age. I’m not sure you could get away with that in today’s market, but as Ms. Gellis was one of the founders of the historical romance genre as we know it, she did. I had the chance to meet her at last year’s RT convention, and practically genuflected at her feet.

Series have problems though. They can go on way too long. Then they run the risk of being repetitive or jumping the shark. There are a couple of very big names that I used to run right out and buy on release day. Now I get them from the library if I bother at all. I totally respect author Linda Howard who said she wasn’t writing any more books in her MacKenzie family series, because she didn’t want to have to kill off the parents. Sometimes, you just have to let go. And who knows? If she hadn’t, we might not have had all the NEW wonderfulness she’s written since.

As an author, I am learning about the pitfalls of series. Writing book number three can be hard. There’s a lot already written in that can’t be changed, so you have to write around what’s been set in stone by previous books. You have to work to make each hero and heroine different from the others—can’t have them all blending together. Even names are a bigger challenge. But sales-wise, there’s a definite plus. When a new book comes out, sales spike again for earlier books in the series. And when you’ve written a character who’s just too cool to say goodbye to, it’s nice to be able to give them their own HEA.

I’ve written several series, for several publishers, and I love them all. So yes, I’d have to say I’m in favor of the series concept, both as an author and as a reader. And if I ever drag one out to the point of absurdity, will somebody please let me know? Now, though, I’d like to introduce you to my newest series, The Gaslight Chronicles. Book 1: Steam & Sorcery, debuted this week from Carina Press, and I couldn’t be more excited. Here’s a snipped to whet your appetite:

Steam & Sorcery

Gaslight Chronicles #1

By Cindy Spencer Pape

Buy here from Carina Press

BLURB:

Sir Merrick Hadrian hunts monsters, both human and supernatural. A Knight of the Order of the Round Table, his use of magick and the technologies of steam power have made him both respected and feared. But his considerable skills are useless in the face of his greatest challenge, guardianship of five unusual children. At a loss, Merrick enlists the aid of a governess.

Miss Caroline Bristol is reluctant to work for a bachelor but she needs a position, and these former street children touch her heart. While she tends to break any mechanical device she touches, it never occurs to her that she might be something more than human. All she knows is that Merrick is the most dangerously attractive man she’s ever met—and out of reach for a mere governess.

When conspiracy threatens to blur the distinction between humans and monsters, Caroline and Merrick must join forces, and the fate of humanity hinges upon their combined skills of steam and sorcery…

EXCERPT(pg):

“Caroline, dear, I’m so grateful you could come.” Miss Hadrian hurried into the foyer just as the butler was taking Caroline’s serviceable gray cape. The older woman clasped Caroline’s hand warmly in her own and held her arm to guide her down the wide, imposing hallway.

As usual, Miss Hadrian was dressed in understated elegance. Her deep blue gabardine day dress was made from the finest fabrics, but boasted a single flounce to the skirt and simple braided trim in lieu of the usual ribbons and ruffles. She also wore far fewer petticoats than was the norm for women of her social class. In such company, Caroline didn’t feel quite so dowdy in her brown serge dress, trimmed only by a small ivory lace collar with a tiny brown-and-green ribbon at the throat. It was her newest costume, though it was no more flattering than any of her others. Flattering was not something she strove for when meeting prospective employers.

“You really couldn’t have been available at a more opportune time.” The paneled corridor was unexpectedly free of any knick-knacks or even paintings, though there were several nails still showing where paintings would once have hung. Odd. Had the Hadrian family fortunes taken a sudden reversal? “You’ll understand why I thought of you when you meet the children, my dear. You are exactly what they need.” There was a harried note in Miss Hadrian’s voice that Caroline had never heard before. Certainly something was amiss in this household.

The two women entered a pleasant sitting room, though it too, was devoid of any decorative items save a single bronze urn and a pair of small silver statuettes on the mantelpiece. The furniture was expensive and covered in quality fabrics, so whatever reverses had occurred must be quite recent.

Sir Merrick stood as they entered. The moment she laid eyes on him, Caroline forgot all about the sunny yellow room with the thick green and bronze carpet. Twin shivers coursed down either side of her spine and she knew at once she was going to have to regretfully decline the position.

Households with men were dangerous to a young, relatively attractive governess.

Households with men like this were dangerous to any woman with blood in her veins.

CONTEST:

To see more of Merrick and Caroline’s adventures, I’d love for you to stop by the Carina Press website and check out Steam & Sorcery. To celebrate the new release, I’m running a contest. Comment on any (or all) of the blogs I visit on my blog tour this week. One entry per person, per blog stop. You can visit my blog to find the other stops. After the final stops on Sunday, March 13, I’ll draw one winner for a free download of Steam & Sorcery, or their choice of my other available titles. Happy Reading!

Deducing a Vampire from Kayelle Allen

Deducing a Vampire

Kayelle Allen

www.kayelleallen.com

Author of Science Fiction and Paranormal Romance

I have a game for you today. I'll give you the start of a vampire story, and you tell me which way the plot should go.

Imagine a vampire who cannot bear the sun beta tests a vampire-rated sun block. It works so well that he can walk through the park and observe a picnic in the afternoon.

Now, suppose he discovers that it forms a shield that protects him at the molecular level. It makes him bulletproof, stake-proof, and knife proof. At first, he thinks this is wonderful, but then he discovers that this sun block was actually created by his greatest enemy. The downside is he can no longer feel a kiss, never bite his victims but can only drink blood drawn by others, never make love or feel the touch of human skin against his own.

Suppose then that he finds a lover who has the ability to move past all his defenses and touch him -- really touch him -- all the way down to his heart, and the final dregs of his immortal soul.

The only problem is, the lover ______.

One simple rule: the lover may not be a vampire hunter or assassin.

Fill in the blank with an idea, and share it with us.

Good News to Share from the Kougar

Hi, romance lovers. May luck wing the soles of your feet, and wing your soul during this magical, mad month of March.

March means Spring is arriving. Don’t most of us yearn for that magical transition on the 20th, given the trials and tribulations of this winter season?

As I’ve admitted before, I’m a coloraholic, and proud of it. Give me rainbows, outrageous neon zaps of color. Give me romantic pastels, jewel colors, and Safari tans. Give me a world, no, a kaleidoscopic universe of color.

However, I’ve always had a passion for red hair. Any shade. From black with glints of red, to mahogany brown, to nearly blonde with a tint of strawberry. Thus, I’m sharing the picture above taken during redhead day. I resonate so strongly with it, it feels as though I home, once again.

And, yes, of course, I’m a redhead. And, yes, my heroines are redheads, all the various glorious shades, while my heroes always have, at least, a touch o’ red.

Another day celebrating redheads in a roundabout way...that routy, reverent and irreverent holiday, St. Patrick’s Day. Affectionately known as St. Patties, or St. Pats, or the Wearing o’ the Green. Where everyone who wants to be Irish... well, join the parade and party like the leprechauns and fairies. Or, you can swallow down that green beer... nope, not me!

On that note, a group of us authors are having a Luck of the Irish blog hop.


~~~~~~

Okay, switching holidays for this good news.

Just Another ParaNormal Halloween received a 5 star review from Linda at Goodreads~ goodreads.com/book/show/9476103-just-another-paranormal-halloween

What Linda said:
Just Another Paranornomal Halloween Is A Collection Of Great Stories By Eight Authors That Combined Their Tales In One Awesome Good Read! From Pixies And Wolf Shifters Falling In Love, To Vampires And Tiger Shifters To Witches And Necromancy, There Is Something For Every Taste! This Is A Chance To Read An Author's Style Of Writing And Enjoy Their Books. I Just Loved Every Story That I Read And I Laughed At Ms. M'Lady's Wit And Cried At Ms. Phelan's Story Of Lovers Separated By Fates.

THE TIGER’S MASQUERADE is my erotic romance short story. Here’s the blurb ~

Stacy wasn’t looking for a tiger-man to erotically and exotically fill her tank , then steal her heart. That is, until the Halloween ‘Call of the Wild Masquerade’ ball. But, what kind of tiger does she have by the tail?

Zyrru wasn’t looking for a human woman to un-tame his fiercest passions, and alter his royal life forever. After all, he’s only vacationing on Earth, and is almost engaged to The Princess. But her rosefire scent is irresistible.

Available at ~ mojocastle.com/ParaHalloween.html ~
~~~~~~


More good news and definitely music to my authoress ear!

AUTHOR DISCOVERY ~ Murder by Hair Spray in Gardenia, New Atlantis

~~~ An Author Discovery by Serena Shay ~~~

What happens when two strong-willed characters collide? A whole lotta alpha goodness!

Kalypso Sun Wing and Zryphus Vasquoz are sure to delight readers with their sassy interactions with one another and their "my way or the highway" attitudes.

Kalypso Sun Wing likes to think she's as hard-headed a leader as they come, what with her command position during the conflicts and her general dislike of Federal, but really she is a mushy-gushy marshmallow on the inside. She protects her friends, her society and the ones she loves.

Zryphus, whew, what can I say about Zryphus? He's smart and a male in all the wonderful ways men can be male. He comes on strong and stays that way, proving to Kalypso that he's here to stay and that she can trust her heart with him.

I love the way Ms. Kougar has taken a real historical event and injected it into a fabulously fictional future. The mixing of the two era's offers, to this readers way of thinking, an innocence to a fast paced, post war society.

Don't miss Murder by Hair Spray in Gardenia, New Atlantis - New Atlantis Trilogy, Book 1. You'll want to be ready for the next installment on the newly re-risen continent!


Serena Shay

Author of the top selling, THE CHALLENGE ~ serenashay.com ~ shapeshifterseductions.blogspot.com ~
~~~~~~

Murder by Hair Spray in Gardenia, New Atlantis
by Savanna Kougar

Blurb:

In 2051, Atlantis is no longer a legend. The risen antediluvian land has been colonized by rebels who battled for freedom against the Global Elite.

New Atlantis Sheriff, Kalypso Sun Wing, has survived the sterile fifties' suburbs, the revolutionary turbulence of the sixties and the disco guru seventies. After the suicide of the man she loved, Kalypso barely survived the designer eighties or the fast-forward nineties. Watching Atlantis rise from the ocean she realized her destiny.

Zerculeon, Zryphus Vasquoz, chose an enforcement career with Earth's Federal Union. He is fascinated with primitive worlds and wants to make his own way outside the family heritage. Once he gets an eyeful of the beautiful Sheriff, as they investigate the Hair Spray serial murder, Zryphus knows he's found his one woman, despite her cold disinterest.

When the Hair Spray Killer stalks Kalypso, Zryphus won't let her out of his sight, or his bed. They realize those controlling the Killer's leash will use every evil to win world dominion.
~~~~~~

Available at ~ bookstrand.com/murder-by-hair-spray-in-gardenia-new-atlantis ~ bookstrand.com/savanna-kougar ~
~~~~~~

HAPPY WEARIN’ O’ THE GREEN ~

Savanna

Savanna Kougar

~ Run on the Wild Side of Romance ~
~~~~~~

Savanna Kougar is a bestselling ebook author with Siren-BookStrand Publishing. She is also a print author with Siren-BookStrand and MojoCastle Press, and an ebook author with Liquid Silver Books, Aspen Mountain Press and MojoCastle Press. She writes love stories because that’s her deepest heart. She writes in the futuristic/fantasy/paranormal subgenres because that’s her fiercest passion. You can find her at her personal blog ~ Kougar Kisses ~ and at the following blogs as a contributor.

SHAPESHIFTER SEDUCTIONS
HAPPILY EVER AFTER
LINDSAY’S ROMANTICS
Romance Writer’s Behaving Badly
TITLE MAGIC

The Irish Appeal

When I sat down to write a book featuring an Irishman (the culmination being Stone Cold Kiss, my newest release), my boyfriend told me it had to include three things:

-Drinking
-A bar fight
-And a casual attitude towards the above two things


And my boyfriend would know. You see, he's from the province of Newfoundland (Canada). You're probably thinking to yourself, "That's not Irish," but have you ever been there? Celtic music pervades along with, yes, those three things he mentioned above. Newfoundlanders have every bit of the attitude and charm that resides just across the Atlantic Ocean from them. I also have an aunt-by-marriage who is from Ireland, but that's beside the point.

There's something irresistible about Irishmen, wouldn't you say? Along with the accent, they have that flair, that charm that makes every woman a puddle at their feet. Could it be their casual attitude toward, well, everything?

For me, the hero of Stone Cold Kiss, Seamus, is so magnetic because of his attitude. He's not pretentious, though he might be slightly smug. He's just...Seamus. He knows who he is and what he wants -- and that last just happens to be Kelsey Donovan. Poor woman just didn't know what she was in for when she flew to Ireland :)

Do you find Irishmen irresistible? If so, why?

Blurb: One Kiss…

Dangling over the parapet of a castle, Kelsey Donovan doubts her decisions as she battles with her fear of heights. How will kissing the Blarney Stone change her life? But as the arms of a sexy Irishman close around her, she begins to change her mind.

Can it lead to a lifetime?

When Seamus McKinley rescues a tourist gripping the Blarney Castle for dear life, he never expected her to grab hold of his heart just as tightly. But can he convince her to meet him halfway?

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L. K. Below writes romance and speculative fiction. Her newest release, Stone Cold Kiss, is now available from Lyrical Press, Inc. On sale for release day, March 7th, at 30% off! Visit her online at www.lbelow.net or on her blog at http://lbelow.blogspot.com.