I could listen to him all day

Over on Twitter, a few of my fellow Carina authors are celebrating that their books are about to released as audiobooks through Audible.com. One of the authors was contacted by one of the people who was going to read their book, asking about a pronunciation. (I think that's such a great thing to do--can you imagine writing a book and a name or something being pronounced wrong all the way through it?)

Now, I'm not a big fan of audiobooks -- my attention drifts and I start tuning it out the way I would a radio playing in the background. Next thing I know, the disk is done. However, one of my writing buddies loves listening to audiobooks in her truck as she delivers the mail. Her favorite is Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series narrated by Davina Porter. (If you click on the link, there's an option to preview/hear Davina's narration.)

But the Carina authors were talking about what guys they'd love to hear reading their books. So they've started up a Twitter hashtag #SexyVoices discussing what actor or celebrity you'd want to hear reading an ebook. (Feel free to play along.)

So far the nominees are Sean Connery, Sean Bean, Alan Rickman, Clive Owen and Henry Cavill. (What is it about Brits/Scots men that is sooo attractive?)  Oh, the Yanks have been appearing on the list too -- Jeff Bridges, John Goodman (yeah, he's got a sexy voice), Michael Douglas, James Earle Jones, Michael Dorn (Worf from Star Trek: TNG and Deep Space Nine as well as many of the movies), Jeffrey Dean Morgan. And the Aussies and Canucks are represented as well with Hugh Jackman, Donald Sutherland and his son Keifer (did anyone miss the Vancouver Olympics? That was Donald narrating the opening of the games. Rawr!)

Then we started branching out to not only actors but musicians. Inez Kelley suggested Trace Adkins in this video (embedded has been disabled so you'll have to go listen to it on YouTube.) O.M.G. Yes, that man has one sexy voice. Even if you don't like country music, listen to the first few lines when Trace is speaking...

Then Inez pointed us to this video. Don't watch it without tissues handy.



Anyway, that got me thinking: are there any voices that stick with you, that you'd love to listen to narrate an audiobook? (And is it weird to you when you hear a love scene narrated? Or is that just me who gets a fit of the giggles?)

Susanna Ives: Rakes and Radishes

Thank you Leah for having me on your blog! Let me start by displaying the cover of my book RAKES AND RADISHES and the back cover blurb.

When Henrietta Watson learns that the man she loves plans to marry London's most beautiful and fashionable debutante, she plots to win him back. She'll give him some competition by transforming her boring bumpkin neighbor, the Earl of Kesseley, into a rakish gothic hero worthy of this Season's Diamond.


After years of unrequited love for Henrietta, Kesseley is resigned to go along with her plan and woo himself a willing bride. But once in London, everything changes. Kesseley -- long more concerned with his land than his title -- discovers that he's interested in sowing wild oats as well as radishes. And Henrietta realizes that gothic heroes don't make ideal husbands. Despite an explosive kiss that opens her eyes to the love that's been in front of her all along, Henrietta must face the possibility that Kesseley is no longer looking to marry at all...

RAKES AND RADISHES has received a rating of 9.5 / 10 from The Season and 5 bookies from Book Lovers Inc.

Okay, now that I've gotten the promo stuff out of the way, I want to talk about Regency setting. One of the reasons I love to read and write historical fiction is to get immersed in another time. I want to “feel” how a character moved around in her space, what she saw as she walked down the street or visited the theater. I dug through all kinds of internet archives looking for images of London in the early 1800s. Below, I have taken some quotes from my book describing settings and placed them beside an image of the actual place. I'll let you judge if I got the details correct.

Thomas Shepherd's watercolor of
Curzon Street

Kesseley's London house is on Curzon Street.

The carriage rode along the edge of the park, the boughs of oak trees arching over them. On their left she saw grand white houses that resembled decorated Queen cakes with curving bay windows and terraces.

Oh Lud, was one of these Kesseley's?

But the carriage took a swift turn away from the park and into a grid of row houses, coming to a stop before a plain brown brick dwelling with a wrought-iron gate.

Henrietta sat still as Kesseley and his mother gathered their persons. Surely this couldn't be their London home?

"We're here," he said.

Think of something nice! "It looks so -- comfortable."

Hyde Park

It certainly wasn't fashionable hour. The park was almost empty but for the people in dark, worn clothes, eyes averted, quietly hurrying to other destinations. She pulled Samuel onto the path, and he actually started to trot beside her, like a good hound.

This was much better, almost enjoyable, as the cool wet, morning breeze blew under her bonnet, tingling her cheeks. For a moment, the sun popped out from between dense clouds and sparkled through the tree leaves. Henrietta's heart lightened.

A rather proper elderly man with a pearl-handled cane passed her. Henrietta smiled. He only scowled.

What? She looked down. Samuel was hunched, defecating on the soft sable sand.

Samuel!


This is the outside of the park, but I think the image is very evocative of the times.

Boodle's.

Thoughts in this vein kept him occupied all the way down St. James to the great white bay window of Boodle's.

The door swung open, and two fashionably dressed bucks leaped onto the pavement, each holding ducks, their faces alight with secretive mischievousness. Tucking the ducks under their coats, they ran down the street on a seemingly urgent mission. Kesseley watched them leave, then stepped inside.

The porter leaped from around his desk and grabbed Kesseley's arm. "Deliveries are made in the back!" He spun Kesseley around to the door.

Covent Garden

The balconies inside the theatre were stacked so high it was dizzying. Even at the tiptop, slammed against the stunning oval ceiling, people sat peering over the rail. Using the constant of gravity, Henrietta tried to calculate how long it would take a person falling from that height to hit the gallery. Approximately 1.5 seconds, she decided.

Apsley House

I used the Apsley House as inspiration for this ball scene:

Kesseley believed that Lady Huntly had managed to squeeze the entirety of fashionable London into their ballroom. Golden fires roared in four fireplaces and hundreds of candles hung in three expansive chandeliers. Their light caught in the mirrors running along the walls, reflected back, multiplied. The place was brighter than heaven and hotter than hell. Beneath his coat, sticky sweat soaked his shirt.

Almack's.

They drove around the fountain and then turned into a dark, narrow lane. Kesseley pointed to a flat, unremarkable building. "You should know this place."

Henrietta shook her head.

"It's Almack's." He laughed. "I thought all ladies knew Almack's."

This squat building was heaven? She had expected angels, pearly gates and St. Peter standing at the door with a guest list. It looked rather pedestrian.

Argyll rooms

Kesseley followed Bucky and his friends to an entirely different ball at the notorious Argyll rooms. Under the stately bronze goddesses lining the walls and the eighteen chandeliers that ran down the length of the room, the lightskirts danced. Their provocative gowns of sheer white muslin hung low to expose their bosoms and clung to their limbs, giving the inspecting gentlemen a good eyeful of the merchandise.

Royal Greenwich Observatory

Kesseley arrived at the Royal Greenwich Observatory as the last light of the sinking sun lit the road. The silhouette of the old observatory rose above the treetops. From the high perch, Kesseley could see the Thames snaking to London, where the lights of the city blurred in the haze of coal. But up here the air was clean and crisp, fragrant with the sweet scent of flowering trees.

Green Man Inn

A footman in green livery ran out from The Green Man Inn and opened the hackney door. Henrietta latched on to his hand and stepped down, feeling her heart slow. She had made it to safety. The rain was coming down harder, and she shouted above its roar, asking the hackney driver to wait.

You can learn more about RAKES AND RADISHES by visiting my website www.susannaives.com or buy it at Carina Press.

Word on the Street 2010

Today was the giant celebration of books in Toronto today. That's right a book festival. Every reader and author's dream block party. It's called Word on the Street and there are books of every type -- children's, non-fiction, fiction both literary and genre. Authors of all types are there, mingling with readers. Kelley Armstrong was there, as was Robert Sawyer (author of last year's series Flash Forward, and many other fantastic science fiction novels) and Karen Dales. (You may remember Karen who was a guest blogger at last year's Birthday Bash.)  The picture doesn't show it but she had a pair of boots that left me with serious boot envy.

me with Karen Dales, author of Angel of Death

Sony was there promoting its readers, as were Kobo! (They were giving away t-shirts and ball caps -- I asked if I could have one to giveaway on my blog, and they were good enough to give me one of each! So you can look for an upcoming post about the great folks over at Kobo, especially since I was on their Top 50 books over there recently.)  There was even a tent devoted to digital books and encouraging the discussion of this new form of reading.

I went down there today to help promote the Toronto Romance Writers. If you'd stopped by, you might have met JK Coi or Tiffany Clare. Maybe you chatted with Kimber Chin, Storm Grant, or Mary Sullivan. (I must admit I would have loved to have stayed and chatted more with Mary and picked her brains about writing for Harlequin.) If you were lucky you introduced yourself to Harlequin's newest author Vicki Essex. Or were captivated by the effervescent Bonnie Staring, Erin G or Susan Daly. Or our lone male advocate Wayne. (Woot, Wayne! for daring to take on all that estrogen today.) (I left a couple last names as I wasn't sure if they wanted their real last names used on the blog and I didn't want to totally violate their privacy.)   There were others there on the earlier or later shifts that I may have missed, so sorry if I did.

Vicki Essex, Tiffany Clare, Bonnie Staring, Wayne T, me, and Storm Grant

 If you walked up a couple of tents you would have found the great folks of Harlequin selling their books for fantastic prices -- for $5 I picked up Maria Snyder's Sea Glass and Fire Study, as well as Courtney Milan's Proof by Seduction.

Harlequin Books tent

While I was there, fellow TRW member Kate Bridges was signing her books and she very graciously not only signed a book to me but also an extra one to give away here on the blog. So I'm going to invite Kate to be my guest so I can have a "I Heart Kate Bridges" Day and hold a contest for her book  Alaska Bride on the Run.

  

Toronto Romance author Kate Bridges

I also snagged a couple of Mary Sullivan's fantastic SuperRomances.  Mary writes cowboys -- see I'm not the only Canuck obsessed with the Texans. :)  I'm going to try and arrange for her to be my guest too!

MJ Fredrick: Sunrise over Texas

Meet
MJ Fredrick

I recently noticed a trend in my stories—my characters always seem to be traveling from one place to another. I guess it’s a popular device to show character growth, to show them getting to know each other as they deal with trials and tribulations along the way. In my case, I use it to isolate my characters so I can concentrate on the relationship and the intimacy can develop. I like my characters to team up instead of being at each other’s throat, and while sometimes my characters start out at odds, they migrate toward an us-against-the-world mentality.

In Hot Shot, the characters hiking down a mountain share a tent after sending the rest of the crew back in a helicopter. In Breaking Daylight, the characters hiking through the jungle had a scene in a waterfall after being separated from his unit, in Don’t Look Back, the characters driving through Africa share a tiny bed in a motel after being separated from the rest of the team.

Sunrise Over Texas is a bit of a departure in that the hero and heroine are traveling with the heroine’s mother- and sister-in-law. This pushes them together more as they work side by side despite the disapproval of her mother-in-law.

Do you like road trip stories? I’ve told you why they appeal to me as a writer. Why do they appeal to you as a reader?

Sunrise Over
TEXAS

Texas Frontier, 1826

Kit Barclay followed her husband into the wilds of Texas only to be widowed. Stranded with her mother- and sister-in-law to care for, with no hope of rescue before winter sets in, Kit has only one goal: survival. So when a lone horseman appears on the horizon, and then falls from his mount in fever, Kit must weigh the safety of her family against offering aid and shelter to the handsome stranger.

Trace Watson has lost everything that ever mattered to him. Trying to forget, he heads to the frontier colony of San Felipe, not caring if he lives or dies. But when he wakes to discover he's being nursed back to health by a brave young widow, he vows to repay her kindness by guiding the three women back to civilization, no matter what the cost.

Soon, Kit and Trace are fighting the elements, Indian attacks and outlaws—as well as feelings they both thought were long buried...

You can buy Sunrise Over Texas from Carina Press, Amazon.com, Kobo Books, Books on Board, All Romance ebooks and other etailers.

Want to know more about MJ's other books? Visit her webpage.

A Different Type of Protection

The other day I mentioned to Gizmo Guy that I really should be storing my backups offsite "just in case" of a fire* or other disaster. We started talking about all the things we needed to protect.

Today Gizmo Guy brought home a small fireproof safe so I started gathering things to put into it. I started with a DVD that I'd burnt as a backup of all my data on my hard drive -- music, photos, and most importantly all my writing docs. (Gizmo Guy has taken a copy of that to his office as well "just in case".)


I twittered about trying to decide what to put into it and quite a few people responded with the following ideas.

• Photos (especially irreplaceable ones from when the children are little) stored on a disk or a flash drive, 
• passports, 
• insurance documents, 
• social security cards, 
• birth certificates, 
• marriage certificates (and divorce certificates if we'd had them)
• wills and power of attorney papers
• a list of account #s and passwords
• retirement or investment income papers
• photos of everything in the house, including the house itself for insurance purposes (GREAT idea that had never occurred to me.)
• and of course any valuable jewelry

Hmm, I suspect I may be needing to acquire a bigger fireproof safe. Ours is just about filled with only our wills, passports and power of attorney papers. Oh, and a couple of back-up disks that we'd originally bought it for. And I'm also wondering if by putting everything in the safe I may have opened ourselves up to problems should we ever be burgled.  You see, while I'm terrified of fire, I've been lucky enough not to live in a house that's caught fire. But I HAVE been burgled before. (Which is what gave me the idea for Nikki's burglary in Texas Tangle.)

Tell me, is there anything I've left off the list?


In the meantime, I'm going to make sure I have lots of these on hand:

Texas Tangle on sale for $0.87 at Amazon

I have no idea why, it's not on sale at any of the other ebook sellers, but for some reason Amazon has listed Texas Tangle for $0.87 cents today. I have no idea how long it will be offered at that price, but it's an 83% savings. So if you still haven't bought your copy, jump on it!

###Edited### I'm getting reports from people on Twitter that some people are seeing the price as $0.87 and some are seeing $3.99. (Yet if they scroll down, they can see that others have bought it for .87 cents -- under the "what viewers ultimately bought" section.) Let me know what you see it listed as (and what country you're in. Maybe it's a geographical sale?) Either way if you see it for the lower price, grab it while you can. Who knows how long it will last.

###Edited again###so far it looks like only people in Canada are seeing this sale. People in the States aren't, though some are seeing the .87 on that lower part of the page but it's not available to them. @GillianArcher from Ireland can't see it when she checks the US site either. Considering Canada represents only 5% of the North American book sales, it's only open to a very small percentage of you. Which is frustrating for my US readers (but yay, normally up here in Canada we have to pay $2 more for any AMZN book to pay for international Whispernet rates.) But you can check anyway...

Looking Ahead

How the heck did it get to be mid-September--and FALL--already?

If you're in southern Ontario next Sunday (September 26th), I'm going to be at Toronto's annual Word on the Street celebration at Queen's Park. It's a chance to mingle with publishers, authors and illustrators of all types of books--non-fiction, children's books, young adult, literary, romance, you name it.  I'll be hanging around the Toronto Romance Writers' booth mid-afternoon.

It's only about three weeks to Thanksgiving (up here in Canada, we hold it on the second Monday in October) and I've got not a clue what to serve considering that this year two of our family are now complete vegetarians. Since a turkey is probably out of the question, maybe I'll see if I can find a turkey breast for Guitar Hero and I. And  since Gizmo Guy's diabetes diagnosis and I'm trying to watch my intake as well, I can't make a fancy sweet potato pie with marshmallows or GG's favorite for Thanksgiving -- peanut butter pie (OMG I finally found the perfect recipe for it and now after only two years I can't make it *sob*)  I guess I could make one of my apple or peach crisps but I make those fairly often and I don't feel like they're special enough for Thanksgiving dinner.  I can substitute Splenda instead of sugar, but we also need to go easy on butter and oils. Heck with diabetes even fruit can be too much. Any one got any good recipes for a fancy dessert I can adjust for someone with diabetes?

(image from http://mcbrideandgroom.clarksrule.com/2008/11/23/our-signature-pie/peanut-butter-pie/ but the recipe I use isn't from there.)

Gizmo Guy Strikes again

Yup, he sent me another joke that I thought I'd share. It's an oldie but still funny...

Two old ladies were waiting for a bus and one of them was smoking a cigarette. It started to rain, so the old lady reached into her purse, took out a condom, cut off the tip and slipped it over her cigarette and continued to smoke.

Her friend saw this and said, "Hey that''s a good idea! What is it that you put over your cigarette?"

The other old lady said, "It's a condom."

"A condom? Where do you get those?"

The lady with the cigarette told her friend that you could purchase condoms at the pharmacy.

When the two old ladies arrived downtown, the old lady with all the questions went into the pharmacy and ask the pharmacist if he sold condoms.

The pharmacist said yes, but looked a little surprised that this old woman was interested in condoms.

He asked her, "What size do you want?"

The old lady thought for a minute and said, "One that will fit a Camel."

What Do Ya Think About That

It's rainy out, which may explain my mood, but I'm finding myself thinking a lot like this today...



(It's Montgomery Gentry, by the way, with "What Do Ya Think About That")

Debut Author Kathy Ivan: Desperate Choices

Meet 
Kathy Ivan

My journey to publication began much like everyone else. I wrote when I was younger short little snippets of stories. Took creative writing classes in high school, but then real life invaded and my writing got pushed aside as reality struck. The longer I ignored it, the fainter the voices were that wanted their stories told, until one day they stopped completely.

Don't get me wrong. I still read, voraciously, just about anything and everything I could get my hands on. Didn't matter what genre it was. Heck, I didn't even know what genre was. To me, if it had printed words on the page, that was good enough. But my stories? The ones that used to be in my head? Gone.

Fast forward more years than I care to admit. I'm working as a medical transcriptionist every day, plodding away on the computer, headphones attached to my head listening to physicians mangle words so badly as to be unintelligible to the human ear. Add a foreign accent on top of that along with blinding headaches and you've got my day. Then I found out one of my coworkers has published a book, a romance. (I worked at home and she worked in the office, so I wasn't really privy to that fact until after she was published.

So, I e-mailed her congratulations. She e-mailed me back and invited me to a book signing at a conference called Dreamin' in Dallas. Wow, I'd never been to a professional book signing before, so another coworker and I went and got our copies signed. This author invited me to a DARA (Dallas Area Romance Authors) meeting. Me in a room with a bunch of romance authors? Sounded excited and terrifying at the same time. Why not?

The end of April rolled around and I walked through the doors of the hotel and into a whole new world. All the people were excited to talk about books. Not just reading them, but writing them. Something I had stopped dreaming about after high school. Could I try again? Wasn't I too old, too far past thinking I could make a go of something as fickle as trying to write a book?

No, I didn't think so. After work, in the evenings and on the weekends, I sat at my computer and wrote. Maybe a few pages at a time, sometimes only a few paragraphs at a time, but slowly a story began to emerge. A pretty good story, I thought. The characters and stories which had been silent for so long had returned.

The next year, at Dreamin' in Dallas, with a finished manuscript, I pitched to an editor. Wonder of wonders, not only did she like the concept, she asked for the full manuscript. I, of course, was walking on the clouds. Yep, this was it. I was going to sell this manuscript and be the new Nora.

Only I didn't hear back from her. Months passed with no word. So I queried more editors, entered the manuscript in a few contents. Got really good feedback most of the time, but always the same answer. Thanks, but no thanks. (Finally heard back from that first house after 2 years, with a no thanks, too.)

Fast forward 5 years later. After multiple attempts to sell my manuscript, working on other things in the meantime, I decided to “retire” it from circulation and concentrate my attention on the next big project. I decided to give it one last shot at a new publishing house, Carina Press. They said they were looking for stories a little different from everybody else. So, March 6th I e-mailed it to Carina and pretty much forgot about it. May 11, 2010 my phone rang. Checking the caller ID, I see James, Angela in the viewer. The name sounds familiar but I can't place it.

Turns out she is the Executive Editor at Carina Press and wants to talk to me about my book. The editor, acquisition team, and she have all read it and love it. They want to make me an offer. Once I've climbed back down off the ceiling, of course I said I'd love to discuss it with her. The rest, as they say, is history.

I guess the moral of my story is . . . don't ever give up trying. If I hadn't tried “one more time”, Desperate Choices would be sitting under my bed, probably never to see the light of day again. The manuscript that five years before couldn't sell finally sold.

Write what you love and love what you write. It makes all the difference in the world.

 Desperate Choices

When psychic Theresa Crawford's former beau walks into her New Orleans New Age shop, she senses trouble. Big trouble. Max Lamoreaux hasn't come to discuss their relationship—the private investigator is on a case, and he needs Theresa's help.

Max's godson is missing. The police have declared Tommy a runaway, but Max's gut tells him otherwise. While he's highly skeptical of Theresa's abilities, her visions provide the only clue as to who's taken Tommy. The longer Max works with Theresa, the harder it is to resist his desire for the sexy woman.

As they inch closer to finding Tommy, Max and Theresa also discover that time hasn't diminished their powerful attraction. But Theresa harbors her own dark secrets from her past. Secrets that broke them up before—and could drive them apart again, unless Theresa can learn to trust Max with everything...

Read an excerpt

Pre-order Desperate Choices from Carina or Amazon.com. Desperate Choices will also available through Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books, Sony, Books on Board and other etailers.

Like the sound of it? Leave a comment for Kathy for a chance to win an e-copy of Desperate Choices.

More about 
Kathy

Kathy can't remember a time when books and reading weren't a part of her daily life. She was blessed with a mother who instilled in her a love of reading at a young age. This progressed into a passion for the written word in all forms, which led to her writing. Every day new stories and new ideas roam through her head, the characters chomping at the bit for their turn to be front and center and have their stories told. That love of storytelling translates into her desire to write and share her stories with others.

Her day job is about as uncreative as it gets. She does medical transcription, spending numerous hours each day trying to decipher the mumbled, garbled, often unrecognizable words physicians are dictating in an effort to make a complete and comprehensive patient record. It's almost as bad as trying to read their handwriting!

Born and raised in Miami, Florida, she's lived in various places, from California to Hawaii and back to Florida before finally settling in Texas. Kathy makes her home outside Dallas, Texas. She's a member of Romance Writers of America and Dallas Area Romance Authors (DARA).

Visit Kathy's website or her blog and follow her on Twitter.
 

Winner of AJ Llewellyn's contest

Beth

Congratulations, Beth. Please send me an email (to leah DOT braemel AT gmail DOT com ) so I can forward your information on to AJ so he can send you your prize.

There were 9 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Beth
2. jsquilter
3. Linda C
4. joann
5. judiebabie
6. Valerie
7. Silver Pixies
8. Loretta Canton
9. Kei

Timestamp: 2010-09-14 15:24:21 UTC

Winner of Bella Andre's Contest

Estella

Congratulations, Estella. You've won a paperback copy of Bella Andre's TEMPT ME, TASTE ME, TOUCH ME. Please email me at leah DOT Braemel @ gmail DOT Com with your snail mail address and I'll forward your information to Bella.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to comment on Bella's post.

Jumping the Shark - The Delicious Dilemma of Writing a Series

Meet 
AJ Llewellyn

As I write this blog, I'm putting the finishing touches to my latest M/M erotic mystery novel, “Mated” (book 4 in the Mingo McCloud series) coming to www.eXtasybooks.com September 15. Mingo and his lover Francois have become two of my favorite characters to write and I've loved creating this series in which Mingo is involved in criminal cases but not as a cop, private eye or attorney. He's a mild-mannered forensic accountant.

His occupation is one that came to me after watching an episode of “Forensic Files.” A forensic accountant was interviewed regarding a woman's homicide. I'd never heard of this occupation and tracked down the man in question. I've been bugging him ever since, especially since the Mingo and Francois books have been selling so well.

Since the first book, “Wanted“ came out in January, I've been blessed with great reviews and wonderful emails from readers. Its success spurred book 2. I asked some of my readers for book title suggestions, and Silver Pixies, herself working on a werewolf novel, suggested “Needed”.

“Bonded” the third Mingo book came out two months ago, the title suggested by another reader, Judie Stewart. Both Judie and another reader, Teresa, suggested “Mated” for book 4 and like Silver and Judie did before, they will receive a dedication in the book and free copies when it's published next week.

It struck me that in writing a series where readers are attached to characters that authors can go one of two ways. In her long running “Stephanie Plum” series, author Janet Evanovich made a decision at the start to never let certain elements in her books change. She has said many times that the character of Grandma would never die. Neither would Stephanie's hamster, Rex. Her torn feelings for good cop Morelli and bad boy Ranger will never be resolved, and so on…

Though there is a comfort in that knowledge when you crack open a Stephanie Plum book, the formula for me, has started to wear thin. I mean I sure don't wanna see Rex snuff it, but frankly, after sixteen books her series is getting well, stale. Janet must have been listening to some of the criticisms though because in her latest installment, the bail bonds company where Stephanie works, closes down. This opens the way to interesting new employment in book 17.

This got me thinking.

How far does one go in a series? For me, the stories must evolve. In my M/M paranormal “Phantom Lover” series for example, the characters of Kimo and Lopaka are now married with three children. There is now also a spin-off series featuring the children, “Children of the Rainbow”.

With the Mingo series, I felt that Mingo and Francois shouldn't rush to the altar and they won't, but I do chuck them into one scary situation after another…and the two men into each other's arms, often. Though I base my fictional crimes on real events, I give my own take on it and bustle the guys off onto the next wild ride.

In the last book, “Bonded”, Francois revealed he had a son, a 13 year old firecracker named Ferric who now lives with them in Maui. This is the plotline of Mated:

Mingo and Francois thought they'd be safe from catastrophe in beautiful Connecticut but even on the mainland, Hawaii's hottest crime-fighting couple can't stay out of trouble…

Mingo McCloud, his lover Francois and Francois' son Ferric are in Hartford, Connecticut for their best friends' wedding. Mingo and Ferric are carjacked on the way to picking up the brides' wedding cake. Francois, furious that he wasn't there to protect his family, drops the super-secret case he's been working on to take Mingo and Ferric for a quick, sun-drenched trip to his birthplace of St. Martins in the Caribbean.

Unbelievably, Mingo and Ferric encounter the same two men who carjacked them in Hartford…and it soon emerges that they are connected to Francois's latest security case. Francois is now hell-bent on revenge, whilst Mingo must deal with long-dormant feelings for his ex-lover Kaolin who is on vacation in St. Martin. He wants Mingo back and will do anything to win his heart…even to marry him. But there's another guy hovering too, hunky FBI agent Sage Brantley, who wants another hot threesome with Mingo and Francois. Who will die? Who will get bedded? Are Mingo and Francois fated to be mated…and, were the carjackers' guns made in Taiwan?

How about other authors and also, more importantly, readers? Do you ever feel a series jumps the shark with outlandish new developments or do they not even attempt to skirt the shark's razor sharp teeth?

Which do you prefer? The knowledge that nothing changes when you visit your favorite characters or do you prefer the chance that maybe something drastic will bite them in the butt?

I really want to know. I'm inclined to enjoy both but as an author, I adore sharks and I guess I like to flirt with danger. On the page at least, it keeps me out of trouble.

So please give me your opinion. I really want to know. Leave a comment. Best response wins a free ebook from me!

Aloha oe

A.J.

www.ajllewellyn.com

www.facebook.com/aj.llewellyn

www.myspace.com/ajllewellyn

www.twitter.com/ajllewellyn

Mated: Coming September 15 to www.eXtasybooks.com

Page link: http://tinyurl.com/2ay9ctf

Winner of August's Reader Appreciation Contest

Annilu Magloire

Congratulations, Annilu. You've won a copy of my back list. Email me at leah DOT braemel AT gmail DOT com with your choice (and format) of either Private Property, Personal Protection or Texas Tangle.

There were 115 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Anilu Magloire
2. Valerie
3. Gina Leigh Maxwell
4. jeanette8042
5. Inez Kelley
6. Sharon
7. Rebecca Rogers Maher
8. Mary G
9. Estella

(If you wish to see the rest of the list, you can send me an email...)

Winning News

Happy Labour Day (yes, that's with a U since I'm Canadian).  Gizmo Guy and Curly have just left to go golfing, even though it's raining and GG is taping the Top Gear marathon so I'm not allowed to change channels. Which all means I'm back to writing today. I've been fleshing out the synopsis/plot (*gasp* yes, I've changed from a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants writer to a plotter, sacrilege I know) of a new contemporary story. I'm reluctant to say "which" story because I feel like I may jinx everything if my editor reads this blog.

Kobo's Top Selling Book, Sept. 3, 2010

As you can see from the graphic above, last week's sale on the Kobo jumped Texas Tangle up to their 1st place slot for the day. I'll take that. Not to be outdone, my rankings over on Amazon jumped too and the Tangle managed to make it to #27 on the Bestselling Romances list and #1 on the Bestselling Erotica list.

Amazon's Bestselling Erotic, Sept 3, 2010

If you missed the sale, don't worry. Carina Press has included Texas Tangle in another sale on their own site. While it's not reduced by 80%, you can still get 25% off the cover price. Just look for that big "Enjoy Sexy Romance" banner at the very top. Although the cover's not there, when you click on the banner, you'll get all the books that are part of that sale. Or you can just click here. ;)

Also, news on the contest I ran earlier this week -- I've heard from two of the winners, but am still waiting to hear from Zee.  The first prize winner, Donna, has very graciously declined the earrings she won, so they'll be going to Terri, Zee and new winner Cories will be receiving the book bags. Cories if you could get in touch with me by email (leah DOT braemel AT gmail DOT com) with your snail mail address I'll pop it in the mail for you.  If Zee doesn't get in touch with me by the end of the week, I'll be looking for Ina as she'll be next in line. So keep an eye on this blog to track what happens.

What's that? There's another Texas Tangle contest?

Yup, that's right. Blackraven's Erotic Cafe is holding a blogiversary celebration. Today Blackraven's giving away TWO copies of Texas Tangle, along with another Texas Tangle book bag and a Texas Tangle mouse pad. (Come on, think about it, a chance to run your hands over those guys all day long? How can you pass that up?)   Plus there's a really steamy-hot excerpt -- I will give you a warning that it's definitely NSFW, so you may have to wait until you get home to read it!

But that's okay because it's open until 1:00 pm Central Standard Time Saturday, so get your butts over there. There is a small question you have to answer, but it's a really simple one! 

Where do you go again?  Why, click right here! 

Winners of the Texas Tangle Contest

Donna, Terri and Zee

Donna, you've won the cowboy-boot earrings, Terri and Zee, you've each won a book bag. Donna, I'll be sending you an email to the addy attached to your blogger profile to get your mailing information, or you can send me one if you read this first; Terri and Zee, you'll need to send me an email with your snail-mail address so I can send your prizes to you.

You'll have seven (7) days to contact me regarding your winnings, or I'll draw a new winner.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to visit my blog and leave a comment. For those of you who are new to my blog, I host guest authors every Wednesday and they often have contests too. This week's guest, Bella Andre, is hosting a contest that's still open, so if you want to enter it, there's still time.

Oh, and if anyone's wondering how I chose the winners, I use random.org's list randomizer. I type in the names of everyone who left a comment, then hit "randomize" and it mixes up the names for me:

There were 45 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Donna
2. Terri
3. Zee Lemke
4. Cories
5. Ina
6. Leni
7. SiNn
8. Loretta Canton
9. Mary Sullivan
10. Rebekah
11. Skyla11377
12. Tabatha
13. Jo Ann
14. Lucy
15. Lauren Fraser
16. catslady
17. Estella
18. Tara W
19. snehausa87
20. Debby
21. Elaing8
22. Em
23. Chantel
24. Debbie
25. Amy S
26. Karen K521
27. Mariska
28. Stacey Hurley-Rider
29. Rubynreba
30. Armenia
31. Patsy
32. Joder
33. Kathy
34. Benita
35. Sherry
36. April3025
37. Linda Henderson
38. FlChen
39. Beverly
40. Nic
41. Terry Dubbs
42. Valerie
43. robynl
44. Desi
45. Orelukjpo

Timestamp: 2010-09-03 16:37:32 UTC

Texas Tangle On Sale for $0.99

Carina Press has been having a "Deal of the Day" special every day this week over at KoboBooks. Today they're offering Texas Tangle for only 99 cents. Since it's normally $5.85 which they have been offering for $4.59 up until now, that means you're saving $3.60.

Not to be outdone, Amazon has picked up on the challenge and is offering the same deal. So it doesn't matter whether you're buying for the Kobo or the Kindle, you can get your very own copy of Texas Tangle on sale but ONLY for today.

**Edited** I just discovered Barnes and Noble is matching that price too. So if you have a Nook, you can take advantage of the discount.

Buy Texas Tangle from:

KoboBooks

Amazon.com

Barnes and Noble

After today, you'll still be able to buy it at those links, but it'll be back up to its regular price.

Since Texas Tangle's my third book out, I figured I'd celebrate all three, and hold a contest!

Here's a tiny taste of each of my books - these are my favorite lines (if you've already read any of them and have favorite lines, I'd love to hear them!)

Private Property:

“You’re trespassin’ on private property, sweet pea.” His deep voice resonated through her chest, its slow cadence drumming a prisoner to the gallows.

Confidence wrapped itself around him in a comfortable cloak. Something in the way he held himself told her not to let his casual pose deceive her. He looked like he could have played defensive end for the NFL and would relish the opportunity to tackle her.

You can read more about Private Property right here on my blog. You can buy it at My Bookstore and More, Amazon, Books on Board or All Romance eBooks.

Personal Protection:

No, she wasn’t one hundred percent sure, but there was no way she was going to stop whatever rock had just started rolling down the hill to perdition. Not after she’d had a sampling of the bliss he could bring her. Besides, Andy was right, she had a shot at happiness, something she should grab with both hands. She’d had enough of all the coulda-woulda-shouldas. Even if their affair only lasted one night, she wouldn’t—couldn’t—turn away now.

You can find out more about Personal Protection here. Sam and Rosie's story is available both in digital and paperback format. You can buy it through Samhain's My Bookstore and More, Amazon (p'back or digital), paperback only at The Book Depository or IndieBound, or you can purchase the digital copy through Books on Board or All Romance eBooks.

Texas Tangle:

This one was really tough because I have so many favorite lines. Actually they've all been tough to choose just one line.

If he could do nothing else this night, he’d find out just how much he could rely on Dillon’s friendship. With that one small movement, he revealed a tiny part of himself he’d never dared reveal before. Allowed him a glimpse behind his façade.

Still not sure if you want to buy Texas Tangle, even though it's only 99 cents?  Go here for a whole long list of reviews, the trailers, and the back-cover copy.

So now to the contest details: I'm giving away two book bags and a pair of silver cowboy boot earrings (they're pierced post earrings) in a teeny-tiny cowboy hat (that looks a lot like one of my real cowboy hats. (One prize per entry)

How to enter to win? Just leave a comment in this thread, and noon on Friday I'll draw for 3 winners. First prize will be the earrings, second and third will be the book bags. **Edited Friday PM** CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN THE NEXT BLOG POST.

Bella Andre -- Love Me

Welcome Back
Bella Andre

Thanks so much to Leah for having me as a guest on her blog again! How is everyone doing since late spring when I was here last? How was your summer? Any good news roll in? Did you get some time to relax with a few great books? Ever since I got my kindle I've been reading like crazy! Of course I loved Texas Tangle. :) It's still warm here in Northern California, but some of the trees around my house are already starting to turn colors!

I'm here this time around to tell all of you about a book I'm really proud of and thrilled to have finally gotten the chance to write! You see, five years ago, I wrote a book called TAKE ME, about a full figured heroine named Lily and the unrequited love she feels for the hero, Travis. Ever since then, the lovely women who've read it have sent me a bazillion emails, all asking the same thing: "When are you going to write Luke and Janica's story?"

This summer, I finally had the chance to write LOVE ME, and give two characters that I've never been able to forget their very own happily ever after. I've included an excerpt from the book below. I hope you enjoy it!

Love Me

by Bella Andre

Buy it on Kindle 
Or the Print (via Amazon)  version through Amazon

Or through Smashwords for Non-US/Non-kindle users 

(Note: LOVE ME is not currently available in any brick-and-mortar bookstores. Both the ebook and paperback version can be found online, however.)

It's been five years since Lily Ellis and Travis Carson got married and fell in love in TAKE ME....now it's finally time for Janica Ellis and Luke Carson to get their very own happy ending.

If there's one thing that Janica Ellis is absolutely certain of, it's that she and Luke Carson are totally wrong for each other. She's a wild, artistic and outspoken fashion designer. He's a type A, workaholic trauma surgeon (who just happens to be sizzling hot and her brother-in-law!). But Janica is about to be proven wrong when opposites attract...in the sexiest possible way.

After a life-changing night in the ER, Luke is desperate for escape - and relief from his personal demons. For five years he has fought his attraction to his sister-in-law, but when he's pushed too far, he can't fight it another second. He needs her. Desperately. He's spent his whole life doing the right thing. For one night, he's going to follow desire instead. Straight into Janica's arms.

Janica can't believe Luke is finally at her front door...and that he's kissing her like he's been waiting his whole life to touch her. But even as their sensual connection deepens with every touch of skin on skin - and the man she always thought was such a good boy turns out to be sinfully, toe-curlingly bad between the sheets - Janica soon realizes she wants more than Luke's body. She wants his heart too. But what will Luke do when one night of extreme passion turns into an all or nothing proposition?

Love Me
Excerpt

LOVE ME (Take Me sequel) Excerpt
copyright Bella Andre, 2010

Janica couldn't get enough of Luke.

She could feel the warmth of his skin beneath his clothes as her hands roamed down his back, then back up and across his broad, muscular shoulders, but it wasn't good enough. She wanted to know the feel of him beneath her fingertips.

Skin on skin.

Let the love begin.

Oh yeah.

She couldn't remember ever feeling like this, so utterly consumed by a man, so frantic to get him naked, to feast her eyes and hands and mouth on every inch of his body. Sex had always been at the top of her favorite-things list, but this desire-this total, all-encompassing need-was something else entirely.

So different, in fact, that as she yanked his T-shirt out of his pants and broke their kiss long enough to pull it up over his head, she started freaking out a little bit.

Because with his torso bared before her, with all of that hard heat at her disposal to caress and run her tongue across, she wanted so many things so powerfully all at once that instead of being able to do any of them she found herself paralyzed.

Pressing her hands flat against his chest, she could feel the beating of his heart against her palms. A hard, fast pounding that mirrored her own heartbeat.

So many years she'd dreamed of this moment, so many years she'd thought it would never come, and now that it had, she felt almost frightened.

She lifted her eyes to his at the exact moment that her heart said, I love you.

No.

She stumbled back from Luke, or tried to, but his arms were faster than she was.

She hadn't read love in his eyes at any point so far tonight, only lust. Pure lust. And now he was saying, "Yes or no?" in a low voice that rumbled through her entire body like a sensual earthquake.

Oh god. It couldn't be true.

She couldn't be in love with Luke.

Of all the stupid things to feel for him, love was definitely the stupidest.

She swallowed hard, made herself locate her voice, which felt like it had dropped way down deep into her toes.

"To what question?"

"Tonight. This. You and me."

Ah, now she got it. He was asking her if she could forget about who they were. About their past. About how this could thoroughly complicate their future. He was asking her to make a choice between risking everything she was for this one night...or running scared from it.

She hadn't been afraid of anything for a very long time. So why, she wondered helplessly, was she afraid now?

And why had her brain actually thrown the word love into the mix?

His hands were warm on the small of her back, just above the curve of her ass. The heat of his bare chest radiated out to her as she stood in his arms. A bone-deep longing to shut her eyes and lay her head against him while he held her close hit her hard.

God, what was wrong with her tonight? Here she was on the verge of getting everything she'd ever wanted and instead of grabbing Luke with both hands, dragging him to her bedroom, and having her dirty way with him, she was freaking out.

"Yes or no?" he repeated.

She tried to say yes, but all she could get out was, "You already know the answer."

He shook his head, just as she'd known he would. He wasn't the kind of man you could fool. He was too smart. Too quick.

"I want to hear you say it, Janica. I need to hear you say it."

His need rocked through her. She couldn't say no to him. Just as she couldn't say no to herself, to her own desperate need.

She licked her lips. Opened her mouth. Finally whispered, "Yes."

That one small word was all it took for him to take over.

Contest!

I will be giving away a paperback copy of one of my earlier books - TEMPT ME, TASTE ME, TOUCH ME - to one lucky commenter. So please say hello and as we get ready for fall, I'd love to know - what do you most look forward to in autumn?

All my best,

Bella