Cari Quinn's Keeping the Flame Lit

Blog swap day! Erotic romance author Cari Quinn has taken over my blog, but that's all right, I've taken over hers. Thankfully Cari sent me some questions because I really haven't a clue what you want to know about anymore -- whether me or Texas Tangle. So once you're done reading Cari's post here, pop on over to her blog...Okay, Cari, the stage is all yours:

Cari Quinn, Girl Writer

First off, big thanks to Leah for having me here once again. She's the best!

My topic today probably is pretty self-explanatory from the title of the post. I know, I know, what right does a thirty-something single gal have to inquire about the secret world of committed relationships? I mean, each one's like a diamond. Some hard edges, some scratches, lots of shine in the right shaft of sunlight. But even the most loving couples struggle to keep the passion alive. I remember this myself from my days of coupledom. With work and families and kids and housework, who has time for romance? We're so busy nowadays that sometimes it's easier to get a hold of our significant other via text message or Twitter rather than actually having a face-to-face conversation. So how do you make time for romance? Sure, you can spice things up via sexy voicemails, but eventually you're going to be in the same room and there has to be some way to shed the shackles of daily life that keep your libido on ice.

For Ty and Jenny, the couple in my recently released novella, Ex Appeal, their relationship has become stale. So stale that Jenny thinks Ty's more attached to the TV during football season than he is to her. What woman can't relate to that? She tries everything she can think of to add back some zing, but Ty seems suspicious of the changes she tries to make. Breaking up seems like the only thing to do - except both are miserable. Neither make a move to rectify that fact until Jenny discovers Ty's decided to seek a new relationship online via the dating website he never knew she worked for. That's when the fireworks really start. ;)

Since Ex Appeal's an erotic story, you can probably guess how Jenny and Ty endeavor to work through their issues. But what about real life? Romance is more than hitting the sheets, though that's certainly nice too. But the little flutter in your chest when you see you guy or girl...well, that's the really good stuff. So how do you keep your heart fluttering? Do you and your mate have special routines or rituals? Do you go away on vacation, just the two of you? Maybe share a glass of wine after the kids are in bed? I'd love to hear what works for you. I can always use the tips for if and when!

As the webmistress for one of the Northeast’s hottest dating sites, Hunk Du Jour, Jenny Talbot is no stranger to reading the applications of potential clients. But when the latest application that crosses her inbox belongs to Ty Randall, the guy she broke up with a mere twenty-seven days ago, she does a double take. Reading what Ty wants in bed not only gets Jenny hot, it also makes her rethink ending their relationship. All she longed for was a little more spice in the bedroom—okay, a lot more—but he let her go without an argument. Faced with the possibility that Ty may really be moving on, getting her ex back becomes more appealing than ever. But will revealing exactly what she needs allow Jenny to finally experience ultimate pleasure or will she drive away the man she loves for good?

Ty inhaled deeply. His head swam at the scent that filled his nostrils, an aroma that was all Jenny. His fingers clenched on the doorframe above his head as he took in the sight of her lying nude on the bed. God, she was beautiful. Her golden skin glowed under the track lighting, and her wet pink lips pursed as she concentrated on what she was doing. The pain that had seized him moments ago when he'd walked in the unlocked door and heard her moans coming from the bedroom faded away in a flood of lust.

He couldn’t stop the sound that escaped him. Part groan, part growl, all need. Her gaze swung toward the door, her pupils widening until her hazel irises all but disappeared. He met her eyes briefly, electrically, before he deliberately shifted his attention back between her thighs.

Abruptly, her movements stilled.

They stared at each other in silent challenge. Her flushed face reddened even more, the color inching all the way up to her hairline. She’d always been a blusher, but he hadn’t seen that reaction from her in too many years to count. It had been a long time since he’d flustered her, and he liked it.

For a moment, neither of them moved. Hello, awkward. But in spite of the strained circumstance of their reunion, he only wanted one thing.

For her to finish.

“Don’t stop,” he murmured.

Buy Ex Appeal here

Want to know more about Cari or her others books? You can find Cari on Twitter or Facebook under (shocking, I know) Cari Quinn or you can visit her blog at http://cariquinn.blogspot.com/ which should be your next destination since you-know-who is over there. *cough*ME*cough*  But don't forget to give Cari some romantic advice -- I'm going to be giving away the winner's book of choice from Cari's backlist...Contest closes at July 1st at 10 EST.

Bio:
Cari Quinn wrote her first story - a bible parable - in 2nd grade, much to the delight of the nuns at her Catholic school. Once she saw the warm reception that first tale garnered, she was hooked. She attempted her first romance in junior high, long before she'd ever read one. Writing what she knew always took a backseat to what she wanted to know, and that still holds true today. Cari's genres of choice include contemporary, romantic comedy, romantic suspense, urban fantasy and paranormal. Recently she discovered erotic romance. Oh, how far she's come.

Texas Two-Step blogging

Sorry about this folks, but there's been a bit of a glitch (entirely my fault) -- I completely fumbled the ball on today's guest blogger's post.  But I won't leave you completely in the lurch -- I'm over at Inez Kelley's today being my usual smart a$$ self talking what my boys think of what I write and other insights into the glamorous life of a writer. (When Texas Tangle released yesterday? I was loading the dishwasher and washing the kitchen floor.)

At one point last night I was flipping around the various sites and noticed that it had hit #47 on the Amazon Kindle Bestselling Eroticas list. (before you get too excited that means I sold about a dozen books)  But hey, I'll take it!  And yes, I was lame and did screen shots and everything.  (When I was looking at my stats later, I realized it may have actually been lower on the list earlier in the day but I'd missed it.  *shrugs*)

After I cleaned up the kitchen (it's dirty again, how the heck does that happen?) I wrote three blog posts -- hence the dancing I put you through yesterday. "You were so busy I had to do a quick 2-step to keep up with you!" was a note one of you sent me in an email last night ;) (Are your feet still sore?) Anyway here's a rundown of some of yesterday's information I hope you didn't miss:

If you haven't already, don't forget to go over to Embrace the Shadows and vote for Texas Tangle's cover in their Clash of the Covers contest. Show cover artist Angela Waters some love because she sure created one smoking hot gorgeous cover when she made Texas Tangle's cover.

If you scroll down, you'll see that I've got a couple contests going --

1. There's the for-newsletter-subscribers-only contest--there's a Texas Tangle t-shirt as a prize.  If you're not getting my newsletter, you can subscribe now and I'll send you a link to the newsletter so you can still participate.  If you have signed up for the newsletter, they went out yesterday morning, so check your spam box if you haven't seen it already.  Contest closes July 15th.

**edited** please put "newsletter contest" as the subject to your entry, thanks!

2. There's one open to everyone -- download the excerpt provided by Carina Press (it's the entire first chapter of Texas Tangle) and then email me at " contest @leahbraemel DOT com " with the name of Nikki's dog to enter. The prize is a necklace with a horse shoe pendant in a sweet little red cowboy hat jewelry box.  Contest closes July 12th.
 **edited** I forgot to add the part that's down below:  Get 10 extra chances by posting about it on your blog and sending me the link, or Twittering about it on Twitter (don't forget to refer to @LeahBraemel so I see it mentioned in my timeline.)  Oh, when you email me, please put "horseshoe contest" in the subject line so I can catch it and tag it appropriately.**

Oh, and both contests are open internationally, by the way.

Texas Tangle - now available!

Kick up your heels and hold onto your hat! You finally get to read about naughty Nikki, delicious Dillon and broody Brett! *tosses confetti into the air and plays raucous country music*

If you've been following this blog for the past year, you know that this book kicked my behind all the way from here to Texas and back again. Nikki and Dillon were quite willing to indulge me with a little foreplay, but dang it all if they didn't decide to bring in Dillon's best friend Brett to tease me.

"Dillon! Did you really suggest we have a...a...threesome?" Nikki may have blushed to the tips of her ears, but she didn't shoot down the idea now, did she? 

"Sure did. Come on, it'll be fun." Dillon's grin was so bright I thought someone had turned a 3000-watt halogen beam on me.  "How about we invite my best bud Brett?"

"Someone holler for me?" Brett stalked into the room, his hat pulled low over his brow. "I got issues, you know. Deep dark secrets. A painful past.  The type of stuff country songs are written about."

Oh, boy, did he ever! But you know what, I like the story so much better because of all the conflict Brett added. Angst. Passion. Angst. Pain. Angst. Sizzling, simmering sex! Texas Tangle has it all. Including a smart-ass grandmother that I can see myself turning into.

And now you can finally read what I've been talking about. Go buy it and read it. Then come back and tell me what you thought. Ask me questions about it.  I'll be blogging again later today talking about a couple contests that I'll be holding. (Nope, I'm not giving away Texas Tangle, but I am giving away a Texas Tangle t-shirt amongst other things.)

Go. What are you waiting for?  Then check back to see what else you can win...

Buy Texas Tangle here!

Three Contests for you

Contest #1:

Is being held by Red Garnier on her blog -- she's giving away a copy of my Personal Protection to one lucky commenter on her interview of me. **EDITED**Contest is now closed. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Contest #2:

is open only to newsletter subscribers.  If you've already subscribed, you've been sent a newsletter (they went out at 9 this morning) with all the details. If you're not a subscriber yet, you can still enter -- sign up for my newsletter now and I'll send a link to the newsletter to you so you can take part too. You have between now and July 15th to get your entries in.  The prize? Your very own Texas Tangle t-shirt. Who wouldn't want a TT tee? (see even my prizes alliterate)

Contest #3: I'm going to be giving away a silver necklace with a silver horseshoe (it's not sterling silver, just silver-colored) in a cool little cowboy hat all its own.



So how do you win this necklace, you ask? Email me with the name of Nikki's dog (it's in the downloadable excerpt -- you can download it from Carina's blog or from my website.)


Get 10 extra chances by posting about it on your blog and sending me the link, or Twittering about it on Twitter (don't forget to refer to @LeahBraemel so I see it mentioned in my timeline.)

Contest closes on July 11th and the winner will be announced here on my blog on July 12th

I had so much fun writing the three main characters of Texas Tangle, that when it came time to do a trailer, I thought they each deserved their own. That’s because they each have three very distinct personalities in my mind.

First there’s Dillon, who is very laid back, easy-going, will offer a hand up to anyone he comes by. So when Nikki comes home and finds her home stripped of everything she owns, he’s right there for her.  Not because he wants anything from her (though he’s always been sweet on her, he’d never abuse her trust.) 




Then there’s Brett who is dark and tortured but honourable to the core.  Dillon and his family saved when he was a boy, (you’ll have to read how) and he would do anything for them. Including giving up the possibility of winning the woman he’s dreamed about since one night in high school when they shared what could have been the start of an everlasting passion only to be torn apart.  (This is the debut of his video -- I LOVE the music I found for this one, to me it's so evocative of the passion yet sadness within him.)





 Finally, there’s the woman caught between them. Nikki Kimball had no idea Dillon liked her back in high school.  Or why Brett never asked her out after that single night of innocent passion.  She tried to do the right thing, by the boy who did ask her out, her parents, her brother, only to be let down every time. Ten years later, she’s finally kicked her cheating husband to the curb and reclaimed her life only to have her own brother steal everything she owns.





So three different videos -- using almost the same graphics in each other, the words and point of view changes to reflect the characters. But it's the music that speaks to me on these. It captures how I see each character's personality -- Dillon laid back and happy-go-lucky, Brett sad but passionate, Nikki - seeking peace in the comfort of home and loved ones. 

What do you think?  Which one is your favorite?  (and don't you think Curly did a fantastic job on them? I LOVE LOVE LOVE that picture of Dillon and Brett as little boys, don't you?)

Oh, and once you've read Texas Tangle, does your opinion change? Come back and tell me then...

Vote for Texas Tangle's Cover

As I said, there's a lot I have to say today, and normally I'd post this over a few days, but I'm hosting guests every other day this week until Saturday, so I'm going to be making multiple posts today.

For each of my previous two release days, I’ve come down to my desk and found Gizmo Guy has left a little present on the keyboard. I’d like to say today was no different. Except it was. Oh, GG did buy me a present, it’s just that … well, his planned surprise sort of got ruined. The middle of last week I put in an order for some prizes for some contests I wanted to hold. Including a t-shirt with Texas Tangle’s cover on it (more on how to win that in the post above about Texas Tangle's release). I happened to mention it to GG the next day. Turned out that on the very same day (possibly at exactly the same time) he'd had one made up for me too.

He’d known Curly was working on the videos for me, so he surreptitiously grabbed a copy of my cover and took it to a local t-shirt making place and had one made for me. (You should hear the story he tells about the guy’s reaction “Whoa, what’s going on here? There are TWO guys with one girl!”)

Anyway, my point is (yes, I do have one) this hot cover, that is currently gracing the front of my t-shirt is up for best cover as part of the Embrace the Shadows Clash of the Covers competition.

Each Monday three covers compete against each other for best/favourite cover. Angela Waters did such a beautiful, and extremely HOT, cover that turns heads everywhere. So at some point this week, make sure you drop in on show Angela your appreciation and vote for Texas Tangle’s cover.

Buy Texas Tangle

Bernita Harris's Dark and Disorderly

Leah, thank you so much for having me today. My paranormal suspense, Dark and Disorderly will be released tomorrow from Carina Press-- I'm one part scared and two parts so excited I can hardly type!

Dark & Disorderly

Sometimes, one learns too much about the living from the dead.

It begins with the ghosts.

Ghosts have appeared more and more frequently until the sheer number of apparitions across the country constitutes a epidemic. Specters appear on streets and roads causing drivers to careen over sidewalks and into ditches. Spirits invade homes, businesses and public buildings and drive down property values. These shades represent more than a disorderly nuisance, for some of them are dark and malignant. The public becomes truly and literally spooked.

The town council of Waredale, ignoring equally the pronouncements by assorted experts from portentous psychologists to hysterical World-Enders, decides the proliferation of ghosts within their municipality is basically a property standards issue, and the solution to the problem a form of by-law control, like barking dogs, parking meters and garbage. To this end, they hire a paranormal consultant and ghost-buster. Lillie St. Claire. Lillie is a Talent, one of the rare few who can safely and permanently dispatch ghosts by simple touch.

It begins with ghosts but it doesn't end there. Other paranormalities begin to appear.

And Lillie faces opposition from both pro-spirit and anti-specter factions, and from citizens who view exorcists as one step removed from demons of the dark. Some people do call her a Talent. Some people just call her the Freak.

Lillie understands and accepts these opposing hostilities, but she just wants to do her job. It's the only thing she feels she's good at, her only value. But while a pedophile ghost molesting children in a housing complex deserves exorcism, a few frail ghosts in an abandoned family graveyard in the way of development pose no threat to the living...

When the revenant of her dead husband bursts through her front door intent on murder, Lillie knows she's in serious trouble...Trouble that isn't helped by the enigmatic comments of a bean sidhe, who in her aspect of a Woman of the Fords frequents the local laundromat, and who insists on calling Lillie "cousin" and "leannan"--or by the attentions, the very particular attentions, of big, ugly, suspicious, psi-crime detective, Johnny Thresher.

Meet Bernita Harris

What's the most interesting/unusual thing you've done for the sake of research?

Visiting a cemetery in the dead of night to feel the atmosphere and check out the visuals/properties of tombstone shadows, hoping no one saw my flashlight and called the cops thinking I might be up to no good, like, oh, grave robbing.

Do you have writing rituals?

Not really. Doesn't everyone stagger out of bed at an ungodly hour, richochet off the walls on the way to the kitchen to make coffee, leave a trail of coffee drops back up the stairs to the office, and then stare at the computer screen until their eyes uncross?

With your latest release, did you have any specific inspiration? Did you do anything to help keep you in their world--music or a movie or something?

I read a lot of ghost stories, but specifically, it was the novel's first line. I don't where it came from, but I built the entire novel around that first line.

Music would have probably helped, but I'm out of the habit. While I was writing D&D,I had to be able to hear if my husband needed anything and hadn't collapsed on the kitchen floor.

What is something unusual you do or have done that people normally don't know or would be surprised to know about you?

I have to scramble to answer that question...I know how to shoot, snare rabbits and make maple syrup--but that the result of a country childhood. I used to be able to translate Anglo-Saxon( with the usual help from glosses and grammars.) I once was a forensic consultant in occult-related material. Once I stabbed my brother in the forehead with a hay fork...


What's your favourite memory from when you were a child?

Kittens. Striped kittens, marmalade kittens, kittens with three-color patches. Kittens rolling in the sunlight on the wide veranda of my parent's house... Kittens tumbled on top of each other in a nest in the hay mow. Kittens smelling milky and soft and and sweet.

Which would you rather meet--an alien or a ghost?

Oh, a ghost without doubt. I understand ghosts. I know where they come from.


Dark and Disorderly: Available from Carina Press and where ever e-books are sold.

Dark & Disorderly
Excerpt

Lillie St. Claire is a Talent, one of the rare few who can permanently dispatch the spirits of the dead that walk the earth. Her skills are in demand in a haunted country, where a plague of ghosts is becoming a civic nuisance.

Those skills bring her into conflict with frightened citizens who view Talents as near-demons. Her husband has come to see her as a Freak; so when Nathan dies after a car crash, she is relieved to be free of his increasingly vicious presence. Lillie expects to be haunted by Nathan’s ghost, but not to become Suspect # 1 for her husband’s murder and reanimation.

But what is most surprising of all is the growing attraction between her and psi-crime detective John Thresher. He thinks that Lillie killed Nathan–and Nathan must agree, because his zombie is seeking revenge. Now she and Thresher must work together to solve her husband’s murder–before his corpse kills her…

I was standing there naked when a dead man sauntered into my bathroom.

That was the first frightening thing. I knew he was dead. I'd seen him buried beneath the cold clay of the old cemetery. His gravestone was due to be delivered within the week.

He sauntered. He didn't shamble.

That was the second frightening thing, because I always thought such creatures did. Stumble and stagger, that is.

I emitted an "Eeep"--like a paralyzed parakeet--and skittered backward until the shelves holding soaps and pretty bottles bit into my bare behind.

"Nathan!" I gasped. I shouldn't have. His name stopped the slow, blind swing of the sleek blond head and gave the viscous brown eyes focus. On me.

He curled back his sulky lips and leered.

That was the third frightening thing.

More about Bernita...

Bernita Harris worked as a short-order cook, a library assistant, and a less-than- serious actress before winning a university fellowship and earning a Masters in English Literature. Subsequently, she worked in public affairs and later as a forensic consultant in occult-related material, events, practices and beliefs.

A Libra and left-handed, she is drawn naturally to the sinister side of justice. She has grown four splendid children and now lives in an old house in the Thousand Islands with a German shepherd, a “mostly” corgi and ten thousand books. A Canadian who hates the cold and thrives on spring, she spends her time writing, tending her herb and flower gardens and negotiating with the dead.

Previous to DARK AND DISORDERLY, her first novel, she has published occasional pieces of non-fiction, poetry and several short stories in the Weirdly anothologies from Wild Child Publishing. You are invited to visit her at An Innocent A-Blog or  on Facebook .

Contest Winners

There are a two winners here, so make sure you read the whole post...First off, the winner of their choice of Inez Kelley's backlist is...

Cathy M

Cathy, I'll be contact you about what book you'd like and what format. You'll have 7 days to get back to me (if you don't receive my email or if you fail to respond to my email, it'll be up to you to contact me to claim your prize.) After that I'll draw a new winner.


There were 5 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Cathy M
2. Sharon K
3. flchen1
4. Claire Robyns
5. Joder

Timestamp: 2010-06-26 15:36:11 UTC




And now for a bit of housekeeping..I'm giving a...

Shout out to Sharon

Sharon, you were chosen as the winner of Red Garnier's contest for The Satin Sash last week (it was annnounced in the comments of Red's post.) Sharon, you need to contact me before Tuesday -- send an email to contest @ leahbraemel DOT com (without the spaces) with your mailing address so I send you your paperback copy of Red's book. If I don't hear from you by Tuesday noon, I'll draw a new winner.

Abby Wood's Consent to the Cowboy

A while back I went to a talk given by a well-known acquiring editor who during the course of her talk mentioned about having to write for a global market.  She made a comment that was a little disheartening for me.  She said that cowboy stories didn't sell. Having just sold TEXAS TANGLE to Carina Press, I was a little worried that maybe my sales wouldn't be very good. Not two days later, I read an article about what book titles caught a buyer's eye. In that article, a different editor gave a list of words that, if they're in a title, are golden.  Two words jumped out at me. Texas. Cowboy. Well, between my book Texas Tangle and today's guest blogger Abby Wood's Consent to the Cowboy, I'd say Carina's covered both their bases, haven't they?

Meet 
Abby Wood

You might figure that with having an erotic contemporary western book that I would chat about those sexy cowboys and spunky women who love them, right? Maybe, I'd even talk about the country lifestyle of driving trucks, ropin' cattle, and the rodeo…nuh uh. There's something right up there in the order of importance as big belt buckles and well-worn hats, and that is animals.

Doesn't matter if you're a cowboy with a horse, a rancher with cattle, or a farmer with chickens, we all know that if you love the country life, you also love animals. I know with living in the country, I can tell the worth of a man by the way his lips curve when he eyes a newborn calf or the way he can pick up a puppy and pepper its face with kisses. If that happens, you've got a good guy right there!

When I began writing Consent to the Cowboy, it wasn't enough that my hero had a horse. Nope, this was no ordinary cowboy. I had to give him something special. A dog. Not just any cattle dog or ol' mutt that lays on the porch. A St. Bernard. A big, furry, droolin' mountain of a dog with a very special characteristic. He's a kleptomaniac.

How did I come up with that idea? It just so happens that I own the dog in the story. Oh sure, in real life, he's a mix. Half St. Bernard and half who-knows-who-his-daddy-is dog. The kleptomaniac idea also came from him. Yes, he carries our chickens into the dog house and keeps them there by blocking the door with his big furry body. He's rescued birds and taken them home. Heck, even our firewood is not safe. I can go out at anytime and find shoes, buckets, tools, cats, and clothing piled in the corner of his dog house. He's a gentle giant around the other animals, but if they are dumb enough to let him pick them up, he tries to take them into his house.

That's not the only animal that is taken from my own life. The geese in the story…mine. What they do to the heroine…that's happened to me. What do the geese do? Well, you'll have to buy the book to find out. 

Of course, Consent to the Cowboy has plenty of sexy cowboys and a spunky heroine that you'll fall in love with too. Lol

Do you have a pet that's a unique character and should have a small part in a book? Tell me about him/her…

Consent to the Cowboy

Surrounded by beer-swilling, skirt-chasing cowboys her whole life, barmaid Daphne Norris has no intention of ever settling for any of the men in her Podunk hometown. So when bronc rider Will Hanson sends shock waves to her core with just one glance from his striking green eyes, no one is more surprised than her.

But Will is no ordinary cowboy, and he can see that Daphne is no ordinary small-town girl. He can sense in Daphne the quiet strength and devotion needed to satisfy a man like him, a man who needs to be on top, in every aspect of his life.

Daphne hasn’t ever succumbed to her submissive desires before, and Will awakens her in ways she never imagined. While she’s not prepared to give him her heart, she agrees to Will’s offer of three days of intense pleasure, and then she’s walking. But Daphne falls hard and fast, and now she has a decision: return to a normal life, or give up everything for Will...

Excerpt

“What can I get you?” She stared at his chest, unwilling to face those green eyes. Any contact sent her stomach into a tailspin.

“Look at me, sweetheart.” He issued a soft order but one that left her struggling for breath.

Why did he order her to do things in such a way that she wanted to do anything he asked? She debated whether to deny him the pleasure but in the end, her body cried out for her to do what he asked. She raised her gaze, her lower lip trembled and she caught it between her teeth.

“Aw, there’s your pretty face.” He lifted the corner of his mouth. His eyes narrowed in amusement. Lines crinkled at the corners and she melted. “I’ll start with a beer.”

She moved her head in a tight nod to let him know she heard and turned to go get the drink.

“Sweetheart?”

She stopped, turned and raised her eyebrows.

He leaned forward, his elbows on the table. “Do you work tomorrow?”

She shook her head.

“Good.” He leaned back. “What time do you get off tonight?”

“Seven. I worked a short shift.” She glanced down at her watch. Only thirty minutes remained and she’d have the next three days off.

“You’ll meet me out at my truck?” He raised one eyebrow, challenging her to say no.

No. “Yes.” She turned this time to escape the satisfied smile gracing his handsome face and to hide the evidence of her excitement. Oh sweet Pete, I’m caving.

She didn’t stop at the bar to pick up his order. Instead, she pushed through the swinging doors into the back of the bar where she hid from the truth. Her body warmed and her insides trembled at the thought of what tonight meant to Will. Did he want to sleep with her? What if he ordered her to fuck him?

The doors swung open and she jumped back. She blew out a breath. Ana must have watched the whole exchange between her and Will.

“Well?”

“I’m meeting him after work.” She grabbed Ana’s hands and squeezed. “What the hell did I agree to? I know nothing about him.”

“Relax. Breathe in.” Ana imitated a Lamaze coach. “Out. Good. Go with the flow. Maybe he wants a few dates. He could also be looking for a wife. Who knows, but you’ll never cure your curiosity if he shows up all the time asking for a little time with you and you keep saying no.”

She nodded. “You’re right. I can do this. It’s not as if I have to have a relationship with him. I’ll meet him, find out how horribly right I was, and that will be that. We’ll go our separate ways.”

“Thatta girl!” Ana pushed her toward the doors. “Now, go serve drinks, and skip out of here five minutes early and tidy yourself up.”

She swung back around. “Oh God, do I look terrible?”

Ana laughed. “No, but a spritz here or there will disguise the beer and smoke scent. Although, sweetie, if anyone’s going to make that the scent of the year, it’ll be you.” She grinned. “Can you see women in New York trying to bottle that?”

Daphne groaned and curled her lip. “I am a barmaid.”

"Exactly!”

If you want to read more of Abby's Consent to the Cowboy, you can download the entire first chapter here. (right clicking and choosing "Save Link As" works best.) Or you can buy it here.  (Like Texas Tangle, Consent to the Cowboy won't be available to download until Monday, but you can still pre-order it.)

Want to know more about Abby -- find out what other books she's got, or read her bio? Visit her website, or you can follow her on Facebook or Twitter.

**Edited**totally forgot to mention, today's a true blog hop -- I'm over at Abby's today talking about how real life incidents ended up in Texas Tangle.

Teeing up with VK Sykes

Today's guest author VK Sykes has a split personality. Or maybe I should make that a dual personality. You see, VK Sykes is actually two people. VK is Vanessa Kelly, and Sykes is Vanessa's husband Randy, I mean Randall Sykes. Which makes me want to shout:

Hey look over here! We have a man in the house! 

Okay, so it's not the first time I've hosted a male writer. It is the second time. And to add extra zing to the mix, he brought his wife along. Or she dragged him over kicking and cursing. Hmm, that doesn't sound right, now does it? My erotica writing mind is taking that places they probably would prefer I wouldn't go, especially with a guy named Randy, LOL. Yup, I went there--I can hear Randy groaning from here. He's probably heard that tired old joke a billion times before. Or maybe the groan is a left over reaction to the earthquake we had here yesterday afternoon...which they would have felt too because...

They're Canadian!  Well, Randy is. Vanessa's a Jersey girl but since she's married to Randy we can make exceptions for her. Us Canucks are very friendly. Especially since Randy and Vanessa live half the year in Canada (right near the epicenter of yesterday's earthquake.) The other half of the year they join the flocks of snowbirds and head south for the winter, lucky ducks.


Anyway, Vanessa and Randy, as VK Sykes have a book coming out with Carina next month--it's a romantic suspense called Caddy Girls. So I invited them to come play on my blog and sent them some questions...

Leah:  All right, you two, cut out out the kissy-face and tell me, what’s the most interesting/unusual thing you've done for the sake of research?  (Okay, I'll try to tone down the snickering. Yes, my brain really is THAT filthy. Do you have any idea how many golfing euphemisms can be used for sex?)

VKS: In addition to writing sexy contemporaries, Randy and I also write romantic suspense.  One of our current projects is set in Florida, and the heroine is a detective at the Palm Beach Sheriff’s office.  We thought it would be great if we could get insight into the work of a homicide detective, so we contacted the media office to set up an interview.  We expected to meet with the media liaison officer and hoped to get a few minutes with a detective or police officer.  Much to our surprise, the media officer conducted us up to “the Floor” of the homicide unit, took us to the bedroom (which was also the lunchroom), and then deposited us there with SIX female detectives and the chief of the Violent Crimes Unit.  All of whom looked like they had better things to do than talk to a couple of romance novelists!  I mean, these were serious women—all homicide detectives, all with very big guns on their belts.  Fortunately, once they realized we’d done our homework, they couldn’t have been nicer.  Some of them spent almost two hours with us, explaining procedures, cases, and then giving us a tour of the floor.  We were in awe of these smart, cool, dedicated women who have one of the most demanding jobs on the planet.


Leah: Wow! I'm jealous. I only got to hang out and drink beer with the Toronto bomb squad and SRU but they never took me on a tour of their place. *sigh* Back to the interview: do either of you have any writing rituals?

VKS: Randy’s ritual is to sit down at his computer and start writing, darn him!  He’s such a guy that way.  I, however, have several rituals.  I have a small meditation altar, and I usually start by doing a short meditation to clear my mind and sharpen my focus.  Sometimes it even works!  Then, I drag every little thing I could possibly need into my bedroom and lay it all out on the bed.  I have a little laptop desk that I use for my alphasmart, so I like to write on the bed while spreading all my bits and pieces of notes, charts, and research books all around me.  It’s a desperate attempt to make me feel in control!  Finally, I get a cup of coffee and install it on my bedside table.  Once I do all those things, I’m ready to write.

Leah: Um, gee, Vanessa, I guess I have been hanging around my testosterone filled house too long because my ritual is the same as Randy's.  The only thing I have in common with your routine is the cup of coffee.  All right, I have to ask this -- Caddy Girls. Golf -- what was your inspiration? (Do I really need to ask that? Considering Gizmo Guy came home with a new, well, new to him Taylor Made driver today? I think we all know who came up with that idea and I doubt it was Vanessa. Although Susan Elizabeth Phillips did a golf story--Lady Be Mine. Okay, I'll cut them both some slack.)

VKS: Randy can totally claim to be the source of inspiration for CaddyGirls.  He loves golf and he loves Las Vegas, where the book is set.  One day, while cruising the internet, he came across a site where you can book a female caddy for a day (or several days) of golf in Las Vegas.  Most if not all of the people who do that are businessmen, looking for a cute girl to lug around their clubs.  We discussed it, and agreed that a frustrated female caddy would make a great heroine for a sexy contemporary.

Leah: Ha! Knew it! So what did you do to help keep you in their world? *Yes, I'm looking at Vanessa for that one, it's sexist, I know.*

VKS:  We talk about our stories a lot as we’re writing them, so that tends to keep us focused and on point.


Leah: I'm going to get a bit more personal now. *did Randy just cringe? I'm not THAT bad. Well, ok, maybe I am* What is something unusual that you do or have done that people normally don't know or would be surprised to know about you?

VKS: The really unusual and surprising thing about Randy is that he is writing romance novels.  Most of his friends just about passed out when he told them what he was doing.   Not too many guys in the romance-writing business, although that is starting to change.  As for me, I wish I could say something exotic, like, I used to be a marine biologist or I go spelunking in caves, but that’s not the case.  What might surprise some of my friends now is that I was such a wild child in my high school and university days.  I’m pretty much of a straight arrow now, and I like to fly under the radar.

Leah: *pats Vanessa's hand.* It's all right, we had our visit from this week's marine biologist on Tuesday. To have two of you in one week would just be overkill, don't you think?  This next question is for both of you:  do you have a favorite book (someone else has written) that you keep as a 'comfort read'?

VKS: For Randy, I would say just about any book by Pat Conroy.  For me, just about any book by Georgette Heyer or Loretta Chase, but especially Regency Buck, Arabella, or The Grand Sophy.  From Loretta Chase, Lord of Scoundrels and The Last Hellion.  When I’ve had a rough day, I love to reread those particular books.  Oh, and Jayne Castle, aka Jayne Anne Krentz.  Her books are awesome comfort reads.


Leah:  Anyone else notice that Randy's not getting a chance to get a word in edgewise? Vanessa's answering all his questions for him. *high fives Vanessa* Way to go, Sister, you've got him trained! *cough* sorry, Randy, forgot you were here. Last question, just for fun. Which would you rather meet – an alien or a ghost?

VKS: Both would probably scare the crap out of me, but I would definitely take alien over ghost.  Of course, I hope it’s an alien from Star Trek and not War of the Worlds!!  As for Randy, he doesn’t believe in either of them.  Mr. Pragmatist, I call him.

Leah: *cough*wimp*cough* I've met both. The UFO freaked Gizmo Guy and me out more than the ghost. Enough of my silliness, tell us about your latest book.


VKS: CaddyGirls is a very sexy contemporary set in Las Vegas.  The heroine, Torrey Green, is an aspiring golfer who has a real shot to go pro.  But she’s strapped for cash, which forces her to work as a caddy girl, lugging golf-clubs for butt-pinching businessmen.  She needs a sponsor and fast, and she thinks she’s found it in rich, handsome videogame mogul, Julian Grant.  But Julian wants something from Torrey, too.  And when she finds out what it is, she’s not going to like it!

If you enjoy books by Lori Foster and Kristin Higgins, I think you’ll really like CaddyGirls.

For our readers, since it's not yet up on the Carina site, here's a sneak peek at the blurb for Caddy Girls.

CaddyGirls

Torrey Green once had a promising golf career, now she’s stuck caddying for butt-pinching businessmen. She doesn’t mind playing dumb while hauling clubs if it means she can get her golf career back on track, and she’s going to need an influx of cash to focus on the pro circuit. A booking from video game mogul Julian Grant could be Torrey’s cash-flow solution.

In town for a business deal, Julian’s partners plan for a little action on the greens. They’re looking for some fun with their rent-a-caddy girls, and have a lot riding on who can score, on the course and off. This type of gamble isn’t Julian’s style, but he’ll do whatever it takes to keep his partners happy – even if that includes breaking a few hearts along the way.

Julian soon discovers that Torrey is more than just a caddy girl and they spark an intriguing attraction – but if Torrey discovers the truth behind his idiotic wager, all bets are off…

VK Sykes

Want to know more about Vanessa and Randy, I mean VK? You can visit their website or friend them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter. Oh, and if you want to read an excerpt, you can go here.

Leah: Phew! I made it through the whole interview without once cracking a joke about putting from the rough...or gripping and ripping...

Writing "Beneath the Surface" with MJ Fredrick

I love how fate works sometimes. Today's guest blogger contacted me just minutes after another author contacted me about delaying the post originally scheduled for today saving me a whole lot of trouble trying to line someone else up. Talk about serendipity. So please welcome fellow Samhain author, MJ Fredrick!

Writing "Beneath the Surface"
with MJ Fredrick

I love reading reunion romances--the hero and heroine had a romantic connection when they were young, one of them did something stupid, and they come together years later, older and wiser.

WRITING reunion romances is a whole different ball game. Yes, you have the instant connection built in there. Yes, you can get to intimacy that much quicker. BUT you have to have a strong enough reason for these two people who loved each other to walk away from each other, but it can’t be so strong that they can’t find their way back together.

I think one of the considerations has to be how long the hero and heroine were together. I think the longer they were together, the harder it is to break them up. Also, if they have kids (that they both know about), it would have to be a doozy of a reason to break them up. Also, you couldn’t let a lot of time pass before they saw each other again, because a hero would want to see his kids.

In the very first romance I wrote, the hero and heroine were cops. They broke up when he was accepted into the FBI, and he left her and their four kids. Um. I think I know why this one didn’t sell.

In a later version of the novel, I took away their kids and they split up because they lost a child. Heavy. And realistic. I do want to go back to that one, though.

In Beneath the Surface, in print July 6 from Samhain Publishing, I went through several reasons to break up Mallory and Adrian. It wasn’t easy. She’d loved him since he’d joined her parents’ archaeological dig when they were both in college. They were wild for each other and married young. Adrian was very dedicated to his job, and Mallory, who’d been raised by nomadic archaeologist parents, was ready for a home. That had to be a consideration. But was it bad enough to split them apart?

I toyed with the idea of her having a miscarriage when he was on a dig, and not telling him, but that didn’t make either of them very heroic.

I toyed with the Big Misunderstanding, but could that drive these two passionate, smart people apart?

So I ended up giving them both a reason to leave, his guilt, her resentment and frustration, and I gave them some time apart before they confronted each other. She’d walked away from every aspect of the life they’d shared, and he dove in head-first, determined to prove himself to her.

See if this is something you’d like to read:

In retrospect, perhaps archaeologist Mallory Reeves shouldn’t have delivered the divorce papers to her estranged husband mere weeks before her marriage to another man. She knew seeing Adrian again would stir up memories, but she didn’t expect so many of them to be good, not after the mess they both made three years ago.

She also didn’t expect to want to stay at the dig site on the Yucatan Peninsula. But the lure of the ancient ship and, yes, her sexy ex provide more of a draw than the white picket fence she thought she wanted.

Marine archaeologist Adrian Reeves has good reason to trust no one. His former partner—and former best friend—made off with his last archaeological find. And his wife left him, frustrated by his obsession for professional revenge.

Now both Mallory and his nemesis have returned, and it can’t be an accident that they’ve turned up in the middle of the most important excavation of his career. Seeing her again unearths old pain—and rekindles never-forgotten desire. Now he has to decide if he can trust Mallory again. More importantly, if he can trust himself with her.

What are your favorite romance themes? What’s your favorite reunion romance?

Meet
MJ Fredrick

MJ Fredrick knows about chasing dreams. Twelve years after she completed her first novel, she signed her first publishing contract. Now she divides her days between teaching 4th grade students how to write and diving into her own writing, traveling everywhere in her mind, from Belize to Honduras to Africa to the past.

To learn more about MJ, please visit www.mjfredrick.com or
www.marywritesromance.blogspot.com. You can email her at mjfredrick13@gmail.com or join her Yahoo group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mjfredrick. She’s also on Facebook and Twitter under MJFredrick.

Interested in MJ's Beneath the Surface? You can buy it through Samhain, Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Toni Anderson's Sea of Suspicion

Whee! Today's guest is fellow Canadian writer Toni Anderson. Oh, all right, so she may not have been born on Canadian soil, but she's adopted us, so now we claim her as our own. Toni's first release from Carina Press is her Sea of Suspicion (isn't that a great title?) So, Toni, tell me a little about yourself.  

Toni: Thanks for letting me be here, Leah. I’m a former marine biologist who conducted my Ph.D. at the Gatty Marine Laboratory in St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland. I was born and raised in the U.K., but now live in Canada with my husband and two children. I set my stories in the stunning locations where I’ve been lucky enough to live and work—the blustery east coast of Scotland, the remote isolated mining communities of Northern Labrador, the rugged landscapes of the U.S. and the Red Center of Australia. I escape the long brutal Canadian winters by writing Romantic Mystery and Suspense stories.


Leah: Man, I'm jealous of all that traveling. Scotland's on top of my list of next places I want to visit. And that lovely Moraine Lake beyond you is up there too (I've been there, have a very similar picture even, but I wanna go again!)  Oops, sorry, back to you... With all the travels you've done, what's the most interesting/unusual thing you've done for the sake of research?

Toni: I’ve used a lot of real life experiences in my stories. The most unusual was working on a telemetry study in Northern Labrador and staying onboard a boat with 60 sailors one summer. I’ve also requested tours of local police stations in the UK and visited the US State Department & US Postal Inspectors HQ in Washington, D.C. Oh, and one major thing I’ve done that was very exciting was visit The White House last summer. As a Brit it was a real honor to be let inside where myself and a group of other RS writers grilled all the Secret Service personnel within talking distance.

Leah:  Ah, man, I really wanted to go on that trip too. *beats back the green-eyed monster with a stick. Not sure who won that battle though.* Do you have any writing rituals?

Toni: When I’m home and the kids are in school I write all day between dropping them off and picking them up. Right now I’m on the move and I just write whenever I get the chance. I do make soundtracks for each story I work on and as I’m a slow writer I can get a bit fed-up of hearing the same tune a billion times over

Leah: If your latest release were made into a movie, who would you cast as the hero and heroine?

Toni: Sean Bean would be the hero—perhaps a few years younger if we could turn back the magic time clock, and Laura Linney would play the heroine. I love both those actors.

Leah: What is something unusual that you do or have done that people normally don't know or would be surprised to know about you?

Toni: I used to be a scubadiver. As I’m a poor swimmer and general coward most people would be surprised. I gave it up when I developed an even greater fear of dive cylinders. Actually, dive cylinders feature in the final scene of SEA OF SUSPICION.

Leah: I like snorkeling but I've never had an opportunity to scuba. But if there was somewhere I'd love to scuba dive it would be in the Caribbean. Man, the snorkeling there is fabulous. I doubt you'd get the same pretty fish off the coast of Newfoundland. So, tell us, when you're not scubadiving or meeting with real life Secret Service men, do you have a favorite book (someone else has written) that you keep as a 'comfort read'?

Toni: I reread Susan Elisabeth Phillips books for comfort. I think her characters are fantastic and I love the way she reduces them to emotional rubble before she gives them their happy endings.

Leah: SEP's Heaven Texas is up there on my top ten favourite reads. (yes, I used the U in favourite. It's spelled right up here in Canada, and since Toni is Canadian/Brit, I'm going with OUR way, LOL) Ooops, got off track again there.  Here's your last question -- Sweet or Spicy?

Toni: Despite being a chocoholic, I’m ‘spicy’. Even now I’m salivating thinking about chilli garlic prawns. As for books it just depends on the story. I’m so easygoing.

Sea of Suspicion

by Toni Anderson 

Marine biologist Susie Cooper traded her life in America for a dream job on the rugged Scottish coast. Now all she lacks is the right man to start a family with. After their first meeting, she knows sexy Detective Inspector Nick Archer isn’t what she’s looking for. He’s the type of guy whose idea of commitment is staying the whole night.

Nick has returned to St. Andrews for one reason only—to fulfill his vow to find his wife’s killer. Relentless in his twelve-year quest for justice, he has no problem using Susie to get close to his primary suspect: her boss. But the passion between them smolders, and as it ignites, Nick finds himself torn between his past and his present—with Susie.

When one of her boss’s students is murdered, Nick’s investigation draws Susie into a web of madness and betrayal. They will have to learn to trust each other if they’re going to catch a killer…and come out of this alive.

**************************

They turned into her drive and a security light flooded the gravel yard, revealing the beautiful old stone cottage flanked by patches of heather and herbs.

Home. Thank God.

Grabbing her purse, she shoved open the door before they’d stopped. Dormant wheat fields stretched behind the cottage, which bordered a golf course. Emily and Lily’s cottage topped a low rise three hundred yards away, tall hedges giving both houses seclusion and privacy.

Nick stood beside the car door, one foot on the sill, hands on the roof, looking delicious. His eyes darkened as they met hers. “Still want me to call a taxi?”

The air between them crackled with possibility, but Susie nodded. She wasn’t some easy lay for a stranger. She needed to believe she was worth more than that.

“Can I at least walk you to your door?”

Susie looked over to the French doors twenty yards away up three uneven stone slabs. Nick’s request was a baited trap, but he wasn’t that irresistible. She nodded.

Fog billowed along the lilac hedge that marked her property, enfolding them in a soft mystical silence. He fell into step beside her and handed her the key fob. She moved ahead up the steps, brushing an old lavender bush that released its fragrance through the night air. Fumbling, she dropped her keys and Nick bent to retrieve them before she had chance.

“Nice place,” he commented. “Secluded. Wouldn’t have to worry about upsetting the neighbors with loud music or screaming sex.”

Her skin sizzled and every sense felt electrified as if someone had plugged her in and flipped a switch. Her eyes widened, her chest tightened. This was dangerous. She was too aware of him, too interested in the idea of screaming sex, and too damn drunk to run as fast as she should.

And he knew it.

She pressed back against her door, her shoulder blades drawn up tight together. Nick slipped the key into the lock and took a step forward, bringing him close enough to touch if she so much as took a breath. So she didn’t. The lock clicked and he took a step back with a grave expression on his face.

“I’d kiss you goodnight if you didn’t look so scared,” he said softly.

“I’m not scared.”

“Good.” His eyes sparkled as he lowered his mouth to hers.

Mistake! Her mind screamed but it was too late. The breath whooshed out of her as he pressed the gentlest kiss to her lips—as fine a sensation as the stroke of a feather across sensitive skin. And the world stopped. Then every sense climbed to high alert as he took a half step closer, the bulk of his shoulders blocking the wind, and heat coming off his body like rays from the sun. He smelled spicy and male, the leather of his jacket creaking as he shifted his stance. He took her by surprise as he slipped one hand beneath her coat, resting it possessively on her hipbone. Startled, she opened her eyes.

But he kissed her again, this time less gently. Sliding his hand to the base of her spine, the burning impression of each finger pressing through the cotton of her T-shirt, brushing bare skin. His lips were teasing and coaxing, not what she expected from a man who screamed danger. Her palms braced against the muscles in his chest, but they weren’t exactly beating him off. He eased her toward him, enticed a trembling response from her body, but all of a sudden he jerked away and stuck his hand in his pocket.

“Bloody hell.” He pulled out a cell phone, adjusting it to read the display in the poor light. Swearing, he looked at her with an apology in his eyes. And regret. Because she was a sure thing. “I’ve got to go.”

“You’re on call?” Susie couldn’t believe the disappointment in her voice. Go! Please go.

His smile was a slash of white. “Criminals always know when I have a night off.”

His eyes slid to her car. “Can I borrow your Mini?” He gripped the back of his neck, looking up at her from under heavy brows. “I’ll get it back to you before morning.”

“Take it.” Susie wouldn’t be accused of getting in the way of law and order, plus it would get him away from her faster. Next time she saw him she’d be sober and prepared. “I’m not planning on going anywhere tomorrow so there’s no rush to drop it off.”

She opened the front door, pulled the keys out of the lock and twisted off the ignition key from her octopus key fob.

“Here.” She threw it to him, not surprised when he snatched it out of the air without even moving his gaze. His intensity was unsettling.

“Susie…I’m sorry.”

She dashed inside and closed the door. Locked it. He could have her car, no problem. But he couldn’t have her. She wanted a relationship, a future, a family. Nick Archer was a lousy bet for anything except orgasms and heartbreak, and not even the orgasms were guaranteed.

**************************

My first Romantic Suspense, HER SANCTUARY, was released in 2009 to some great reviews.  I write about my travels on my blog and update on Twitter.  Readers can sign up for my newsletter on my website, or friend me on Facebook.  I’ve also set up a fan page for SEA OF SUSPICION with location photographs and anecdotes.

Corn, Cows and Christmas trees, oh my!

Almost forgot to mention -- it's a true blog swap day -- I'm over at Toni's blog talking about where I grew up and how it influenced me when I was writing Texas Tangle. (There are pictures too comparing my parents' back yard with a Texas farm.)

Watching Sunrise with Inez Kelley

I really wanted to title this post "Talking Dirty with Inez Kelley" Why? Because last year Inez is the one who had me rolling on the floor in laughter with her first guest blog during last year's Birthday Bash when she discussed "do the lips match the tips." Yes, "those" tips. So how could I resist asking her back for an unprecedented sixth visit!!! to celebrate her release of Salome at Sunrise from Carina Press? Because we're both rather blogged out, I tossed some off-the-cuff questions at her the other day. And learned that if magic exists, and I need a spell cast, I'm heading straight to Inez...

Bryton Haruk sets out on a suicide mission to stop the bloodthirsty Skullmen from terrorizing the war-weary Land of Eldwyn. Consumed by guilt over the death of his wife, Bryton seeks revenge and reunion in the afterlife with his lost love. His purpose is determined, his bravery unmatched, until the queen casts a spell to save Bryton from himself.

Salome is that spell. A bird-shifter, she can harness the earth's breeze and take the form of a beautiful, innocent woman. Her challenge is to harness Bryton's pain and guide him to peace. She entrances and irritates him, tempting Bryton from his mission. Even as he gives in to the passion between them, Bryton insists on mounting a solo attack on the brigands' compound, and Salome fears her love won't be enough to save him...

In Salome at Sunrise, your hero Bryton is a fierce warrior who has suffered the devastating loss of his family and is intent upon seeking revenge when the reader first meets him. But tell us what Bryton would have been like as a child? 

Oh lord, he has changed. Well, not so much changed but grown up. As a child, he is described as a mischievous imp who was always into trouble. Throughout SALOME AT SUNRISE, you get glimpses of the child that Bryton was. For example, Taric(the hero from the first book, MYLA BY MOONLIGHT) convinces kid-Bryton he can fly using a bedsheet as batwings. That adventure ended up with Bryton having a broken leg. You see him discover what it truly means to be the King’s Might and his Law and when he was offered the role as bodyguard to the monarchy (at 15!!). His devilry matured into a smart mouth and a wicked adult sense of humor.

What’s your favourite sentence/paragraph that exemplifies the relationship between Bryton and Salome?

I am going to give you two since they have such a unique relationship. They are rivals as well as lovers.
RIVALS:

He crossed his arms and shifted his jaw. “My heart is dead. I have no use for pretty words or pretty women unless their legs are spread. Are you offering?”

“Is that what you require? ’Tis an easy enough request.” Salome slid her feet apart, widening her stance on the rocky outcrop.

Her naive compliance with his brash proposition ripped a grunted laugh from him. “Go away, Salome.”

LOVERS:

He had not hurt her. He had trusted her. He had shown her his soul, raw and bleeding. He had loved her and begun to heal. She loved him and would forevermore. Their lips did not steal a kiss, did not take one or claim one. They shared one, as two halves of a whole. Words were useless, powerless, nonexistent for the union that formed. Not made of iron or silk, rope or vine, it joined their souls with an awesome force. It came from the strength of a man and the softness of a woman. It had no match. Love bonded them beyond magic. 

If you could cast a spell like the queen in Salome at Sunrise can, what spell would you cast?

Oh wow LOL, let me think. Uhm

Ancient magic of song and time, come now in this hour of grime
A gift of laundry, folded straight, every sock to find a mate
Drawers of clothing, pressed and fresh, take away this laundry mess
Hear my cry wept in the night, banish this mountain out of sight

Leah: See, I told you. You need a spell cast, Inez is your go-to-witch, I mean gal! All right, I've often seen you declare that you're the mother of demon-spawn (what else can you call a twin boy who uses glue to achieve the mohawk haircut his mother doesn't want him to have?)  Which makes me wonder where he got it? Were you also a ‘demon spawn’ or were you Princess Perfect?


I was Little Miss Motherhen to a brood of younger sibling chicks. I feel like I have been cooking for a family since age 12 and folding enough laundry for an army platoon. I kept my demonness to the written page back then. My first story was a semi Little Rascals spoof.

Leah: On the couch, the kitchen table, or the backyard?

Shower, baybee!

Leah -- You'd want to have a picnic in the shower? I guess that might save some time if you were serving baby back ribs...Oh, geez, I shouldn't have gone there, I can just imagine the jokes Inez could do with what type of picnic could be had in the shower...Okay, going along that line of thinking ...give me one line that I could respond “that’s what she said” to:


Writing is the toughest job you will ever do in your pajamas.

Leah - I had to think on that one for a minute, but yup, it works! And finally, the obligatory host question: Inez, you’ve got a few irons in the fire with Carina, want to tell us about your other upcoming releases?

Well, Salome at Sunrise is a completely stand-alone book. You don’t HAVE to read Myla by Moonlight to understand it. I am currently writing the final in that trilogy now and hope to have it ready for submission soon.
In June, Carina Press debuted with the first in an erotic novella series titled DIRTY LAUNDRY. (as you see, I can twist anything into something about writing). Ginny Glass has the first book COIN-OPERATED about a reluctant Dom, a too-willing Sub and what happens when those longings rise to the top.

In July comes a co-authored story she and I wrote called TALK DIRTY TO ME. Professor Jarod Reed hides behind an anonymous name, a cell phone and his voice to soak Biologist Nora MacGregor’s panties. It causes a little problem when he wants more than talk.

August brings my solo offering in COMING CLEAN, a m/m/f ménage that explores when friends become more and secret desires are exposed. Not only is a life-long friendship at stake, but a marriage as well.

The whole summer is going to sizzle. Writing that series was so much fun! The concept is simple: Everyone has dirty little secrets, some are just dirtier than others. When you bring those secrets out in the wash, someone is bound to get put through the wringer.

Thanks Inez, I know how brain-fried I've left you, so I appreciate the sacrifice.

If you want to know more about Inez, you can visit her website at http://inezkelley.com/ or follow her on Twitter http://twitter.com/Inez_Kelley

All right, here's my contribution. I'm going to give away an e-copy of any of Inez's backlist. But you have to tell me what type of spell you'd want cast (no, you don't have to come up with a a fantastic rhyme, just what you'd want to have changed. Of course if you can come up with a poem, all the better...

(Oh, and this contest will be open until Saturday June 26th at 11 a.m. Eastern Time. Winner will be announced at noon. So if you really want to write a spell/poem, you've got some time!)

Rule Britannia...

Don't forget I'm over in England today (unfortunately only in cyber-England) with Claire Robyns.  She's asking me some questions about Texas Tangle.  Go here and have a read, then come back and enter my contest for one of Inez Kelley's books.

Kris Starr is Lovely

Woot! There's another Canadian author in the house!  (I should have been tipped off when she mentioned her crush on Toronto's Tiny Perfect Mayor's son, Jonathan Crombie.)  I grabbed Kris' bio from her blog/website for you:

Kris lives in the wilds of Northern Canada with her daughter and science geek husband. She spends her time attempting to control household chaos and creating stories for Ellora’s Cave and Carina Press. Kris has been writing since the age of ten, beginning with a Nancy Drew-style mystery story featuring herself and a couple of her friends. Future leanings became clear, however, when she started penning naughty stories for high-school friends, featuring Scott Baio, Rick Springfield or any member of Duran Duran.

Meet Kris Starr 

Hello, there! Kris Starr here, taking over Leah’s blog for today. I’m thrilled beyond belief to be a part of the Carina Press launch – along with Leah and many other talented names – and am excited to be able to talk to you today about my release as well as a little bit about myself!

Leah gave me a few questions to answer, so let’s get right to those, shall we?

So tell me when you first realized you wanted to try getting published? Was it an Aha! moment? Or was it a dream from when you'd been little? Or were you dragged into it kicking and screaming?

Good question! I’d been scribbling things for years and years, starting around the time I was nine or ten years old, but I never seriously thought about it as a way to earn a living (although in my dog-eared, dilapidated “School Memories” book, “writer” is a chosen future profession – along with “actor”, “teacher” and “lawyer”). In high school, I started writing some slightly spicy “fantasy” stories for friends about their celebrity crushes, which was a lot of fun (and believe me, I wish I had kept some of those stories!). Real life eventually seemed to get in the way of anything else, though, as we all know. A few years ago, however, on a whim, I entered Ellora’s Cave’s annual Caveman anthology competition with a short novella called Virtuosity – and won a spot. It was such a thrill and made me think, “Hey, maybe I really can do this!” And so far, I’m doing okay, I think – my fifth story was just contracted with Ellora’s Cave!

Do you have any writing rituals?

Emmy Rossum

Honestly, no. Although one thing I do need is peace and quiet (an empty house is perfect). I love the idea of book soundtracks that some authors make, but having music playing or other noise in the background would just drive me bonkers.

If your latest release were made into a movie, who would you cast as the hero and heroine?

Umm…my books would likely not be mainstream film releases – more like XXX titles, I think! So I don’t know who I’d cast in the roles. My inspiration for the characters in Lovely, however, were Emmy Rossum in her role from the Phantom of the Opera film as Angelique, and Canadian actor Jonathan Crombie as Alexandre, as inspired by his role as Gilbert Blythe in the amazing Anne of Green Gables miniseries that came out many years ago. (Can I admit to a huge JC crush here? Well, it’s true!)


Jonathan CrombieDo you have a favorite book (someone else has written) that you keep as a 'comfort read'?

Like most other authors I am also a voracious reader and have a bunch of “comfort reads” that I pull out time and time again, but I have to admit that one of my absolute favourites is Dean Koontz’s Lightning. I absolutely love that story. (I’m a longtime Koontz fan, too, and can only dream of writing characters and dialogue as well as he does!)

When you're not writing, what do you like to do just to kick back and relax?

Well, not everybody knows that as of this writing I am very, very pregnant, and when this post is published on Leah’s blog, the newest member of the Starr family may just have arrived! Hard to say for certain because my due date is June 23rd, and I have no idea if Junior Peanut will arrive anywhere remotely on time or not. Suffice it to say, there will be very little “free time” once that event occurs! In the meantime, though, I love reading and doing handicrafts (knitting, sewing, miscellaneous projects, etc.) and spending time browsing the ‘net looking at tutorials and project ideas. That’ll all be taking a back seat very soon, though.

I’ll probably start watching more TV (we watch almost zero right now) as something to do while I’m nursing. (Gotta love Zip.ca – the Canadian version of Netflix!)

All right. That’s enough about me. I know you’re curious about the book, so let me tell you a little bit about it.

Lovely is the story of Angelique, a Parisian prostitute, that takes place in the year 1900. A new caller named Alexandre shows up at her door, and changes her life forever.

They call me Lovely. But I know I am not.

Once I had another name. Now, as Angelique, I do what I can to please les messieurs. What would they say if they knew I felt no pleasure? To them I am wanton, insatiable. I alone know the truth.

So I am mystified by my reaction to my latest caller. Alexandre. Handsome. Well-bred. With an air of innocence that intrigues me. And true pain in his eyes. A mere kiss on the hand inflames me as never before. In moments this man disconcerts me like no other, and soon I can think of nothing, no one else. And yet, he barely touches me.

I know my true purpose is to mend his wounds, but I wonder what lustful appetites are buried deep within him. I will do what I can to discover his secrets…

Lovely is available from Carina Press June 21!

Thanks so much to Leah for having me here today! And I do hope that if you read Lovely you’ll let me know your thoughts on the story. Swing by my blog or shoot me an email anytime!

Cheers!

If you want to know more about Kris, or keep up with any news about her new baby, you can visit her blog or follow her on Twitter.  

Take Two

Phew! My turn again. What's gone on this week with the Braemel's while I've been hosting all my guests? Well, as I told you last weekend, my eldest son Guitar Hero got a job, so he started that on Monday. The first day he came home and fell asleep by about 7:30 pm. And, um, that's about all that's been exciting. But that's good too.

I swapped blogs with KS Augustin's blog, from "down under" I hopped over to Carrie Lofty's blog, and the Nine Naughty Novelists. If you missed my post over on Carrie's blog, or even if you didn't, part of it was the debut of the second in the Texas Tangle trio of trailers (oh, my! alliteration comes so naturally to me--I didn't plan on writing it that way, it just...happened!) Oh, sorry, got distracted by all those Ts. Anyway, Nikki's trailer debuted on Carrie's blog on Tuesday. And because I liked it so much, I'm going to inflict it on you again post it for you to enjoy here.

Time's a Wasting with Ginny Glass

Wasting good writing time: a day in the life of a distracted erotic romance writer.







Hi blog readers, Ginny Glass here. Thanks to Leah for inviting me here to guest blog on her snazzy site! I know you folks are expecting a big promo of my current Carina Press release Coin Operated (obligatory buy link! – www.carinapress.com) or for me to chat about the next installment in the Dirty laundry series, Talk Dirty To Me, co-written with Inez Kelley (obligatory awesome friend and co-writer website link! www.inezkelley.com )

Sorry to disappoint. Just to satisfy a few questions that I received via twitter yesterday:

Inez: No, I have never “done it” on a washing machine. When I do, you will be the third to know.

Yvette: I like liquid laundry detergent and I LOVE any fabric softener that I can smell later in the day, still in my clothes!

Today I’m talking about what I do when I’m AVOIDING writing – all those websites and little things that distract me from sitting down in front of the laptop and churning out my daily pages. We all have them, don’t be afraid to admit it!

Here are a few of my favorites.

Pandora: Internet radio customizable by your very own tastes in artists, music style or song type! Endlessly amusing. www.pandoraradio.com (Leah here--unfortunately Pandora is only available to those in the US. The rest of us, well, I use iTunes Radio feature--lately I've been hooked on Cinemix which is found in the Classical section, but it's really a constant mix of movie soundtracks.)

Twitter: Find me at twitter.com/ginnyglass - I love fun hashtags and finding new friends to follow.

Wikipedia: Almost limitless possibilities for research as well as a great way to kill time filling your “back burner story ideas” folder! I love Wikipedia for little-known works of literature summaries and obscure historical events. www.wiki.com

Engrish!: A mis-translated Other-languages-to-English website, full of funnies! www.engrish.com

Ebay: Self explanatory. You know you do this too. My current ebay obsessions: vintage kitchenware, vintage cast iron (in search of the perfect 13 inch skillet!), books, shirtdresses and sunglasses!

What are some of your favorite time killers?

(Leah here, adding a few links/notes of my own:  Ginny Glass's website (not a timewaster), Ginny's Facebook page (um, okay personally I consider Facebook a timewaster, but, um, not Ginny's page?) Don't forget Ginny's blog, oh, and just for good measure Ginny's bio:

Ginny Glass writes wicked smart, rocket-hot, melt-your-heart, zap-your-undies fiction. She's a 28-year-old snarky brunette who likes thunderstorms, junk shops, Ovaltine and writing author's biographies for herself (kidding - these things are horridly difficult to write.)

Why romance? Who knows. Ginny once got Fabio's "Pirate" confiscated by a teacher in middle school, and it's been debauchery and a slow downward moral slide from there. Not because Ginny was reading a dirty book, but because she only read it halfway through and KNEW she could write something better.

Ginny currently lives in the desert and has high hopes that she will someday develop superpowers. You can write to Ginny to ask questions, complain about all the snark in this website, discuss the miracle of cuisine that is Captain Crunch French Toast (yes, all one food!) or just generally say anything via the "contact" tab to your left.

and since Ginny won't promote it herself, here's a peek into Ginny's book Coin Operated:

Elijah Elliot and Beatrix London's fledgling ad agency is under siege. Not from outside competition but by Eli and Bea's unspoken lust for each other. As their unsatisfied cravings to dominate and submit bloom into vivid daydreams, the office becomes a minefield of frustrated needs and dangerous desires. Now something's gotta give or their partnership is going to self-destruct.

When Bea unveils a racy new light bondage ad campaign for their key client, she pushes Eli to cross the line he's drawn between them—the one that keeps him from doing all the hot, sinful things she imagines he's capable of...

AND finally, you can download the first chapter of Ginny's Coin Operated here. (probably best if you right click on the link since it's a PDF file)

Now, tell us, what are your favorite time wasters? (no, I will not accept "reading Leah's blog"!!!)  Tell me in the comments, and I'll give away a copy of Ginny's Coin Operated to one lucky commenter.  This time, you've only got 36 hours to get your comments in. Winner will be announced Saturday at noon! (That's eastern time, folks)

**Edited**The Winner has been chosen -- Elaing8, email me at contest @leahbraemel DOT com (without the spaces) with your choice of ePub or PDF and I'll forward your copy of Ginny's Coin Operated. For everyone else, thanks for taking the time to pop over and comment, and if you're arriving after the contest has closed, you're still free to leave comments...Ginny will be happy to get them!