It Must Be Thursday

There is this line from Buffy The Vampire Slayer where Willow or someone says, "Buffy, Dawn's in trouble!" And Buffy answers, "Must be a Tuesday". I'm feeling very Dawn-esque these days, except my name is Mia and for me, "It must be Thursday."

Today, like the past month of Thursdays, is another challenge waiting for my attention. You see, my air conditioner broke down on the first day of the hottest month of the year, in the hottest heatwave Grand Rapids, Michigan has had in years. Yes, that's my luck. Fortunately a guy friend (for he is not my boyfriend, but also not exactly a friend, but a guy I date sometimes. And by date, I mean fool around with when I'm bored--translate that however you want to) gave me his AC window unit. But, I don't work in my bedroom, so, I spend the days sweating--much less than sexy. And now, here I sit in air conditioned comfort, at Bronwyn Green's house. It's a beautiful thing... until I have to go back home again.

So I've been dating (follow me here, folks. I switched topics. Yes, I can do that.) a bunch lately. I'm not exactly sure how it all happened. I mean, I'm not exactly man-manna and so the fact that I've had six dates in the last five days with three different men, seems a bit--okay, a lot--out of character for me. Livin' the dream baby.

Here's the thing though. One of the guys looks like my ex but he's so nice. That's the AC giving guy. He's kind, non-judgmental, and if it makes me happy, then he's content. There's another guy I really hit it off with. I like him. He makes me laugh and makes me a little nervous. He kisses like crap and I have no desire to get physical with him for other reasons I wouldn't be a lady for mentioning. The third guy is hot. Like FREAKIN' HOT, but it doesn't look like he's going to call me back. I think the male/male erotic romance writer schtick kind of turned him cold. Too bad, because although he was a dick, I'd kind of like to keep that one around for visual stimulation.

Sadly, none of them get my motor going. It's like kissing a friend. Or a brother. I mean, you can squint your eyes and pretend, but all in all, they aren't the ones I want to end up with.

Back to the drawing board.

Any advice for the chronically dating? I'd love to hear it.

Independent Publishing...What Do You Think?

These days there are so many options for writers. Many, I know, see major print publishers as the only way go. New authors are rejected time after time for years on end (despite the fact their work is stellar) and just keep at it, refusing to try alternative means of becoming published. Others of us saw the benefits of e-publishing years ago and are now on the fast track of a burgeoning industry that has given rise to some of the best authors to be found anywhere.

I remember how it all went down many years ago. Computers weren't in every household despite interest being very high. Readers back then would never have imagined they'd one day read books on small electronic devices that were lighter than a paperback book. It all seemed like something out of a sci-fi movie and folks had a hard time visualizing such a thing. But with the passage of time, e-book readers, tablets and smart phones have become commonplace while the cost of paper books have exploded. For the price of a big bag of paperback books, you can now pick up an e-book reader and store over a thousand books that cost much less than their paper brothers. Portable, efficient and fun. What a world!

With the e-publishing explosion, more and more authors are looking at self (or indie) publishing rather than going the more traditional routes. My friends and I have been looking at this too. Yes, we all are with reputable publishers who provide content editing, covers, distribution, etc but there's nothing wrong with looking at other avenues. From what I gather in my research, authors must find a good editor to make sure the work sparkles and shines and they must find someone to do their cover work and then they are responsible for promotion (which we all do, as a rule, anyway). I believe there is money to be made out there and a little investigation and careful study is in order to see if this might be worthwhile. Hey, I don't know why not! I have no intention of leaving my current publisher but throwing out a book or two on my own might be a pretty cool venture. Still studying the in's and out's of this whole thing. What do you think and what have you heard? There are plenty of 'boards' out there where writers are discussing this and I believe there's a wealth of information for someone who is prepared to do some checking.

If you are indi-pubbed or considering it, I would love to hear your thoughts.

Welcome Guest Blogger Alyssa Fox

I’ve come to talk about heartache today. We’ve all been there at one time or another. All of us girls have helped each other through it. No two women handle it the same way; some have a girl’s night out, watch a movie, eat ice cream or chocolate. It’s never a fun thing to go through, but it’s a part of life. Sometimes you have to go through a lot of hurt to find the right man for you. This is one of my favorite quotes about men when you’re still searching for Mr. Right: "Men are like roses, watch out for the pricks!" It’s true you have to weed through all the wrong ones before getting to Mr. Right.

One reason I love writing is I can torment my characters as much as needed to break them down, which of course is something you have to do to get them to their happily ever after. As an author, you can’t make their journey an easy one. For one, that would make for a crappy read. And for number two, that’s not how it happens in real life. That’s what both Erin and Kyle are learning in my debut book, Road to Recovery. Erin has given up on finding that one person until her five year plan is in place. She was burned in a bad way. Kyle has lost his wife and daughter; he’s not looking to fall in love ever again. Short flings will do him just fine…better than getting his heart into the mix. Things get complicated when a mentorship with the Chief Pediatric Surgeon becomes available.

Dr. Erin Miller and Dr. Kyle Reynolds are competing for a coveted mentoring position at Maple Forge Memorial Hospital; they plan on pulling out all the stops. But their careers and their desires collide, tangling their past with their future and giving them a chance for love.
So, tell me, what you do when someone breaks your heart? If you’ve already found that one person for you, then tell me what you used to do, or how you help friends get through that hard time?
I can be found at my website http://www.alyssa-fox.com/. Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/AlyssaFox99 Faceboook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Alyssa-Fox/149547855112826

Blurb
Dr. Erin Miller’s life was going great; for the most part, anyway. She was single, had a career she loved, and a cherished circle of friends, but something was missing. When a mentorship with the Chief Pediatric Surgeon becomes available, she couldn’t be more thrilled. Maybe this is just what the doctor ordered! That is, until the handsome and charismatic Dr. Kyle Reynolds decides he wants the mentorship as well.
Kyle Reynolds has lost everything including his wife and daughter. With nothing left in his life except for his job, he sets his sights on the new mentorship position with single-minded determination. The only obstacle he faces is the sexy Dr. Erin Miller.

Excerpt

"Can I cut in?"
She jerked her head in his direction and shot him a dirty look. Kyle’s pulse raced as he glanced over her body. She wore a short skirt and halter-top. Her clothes flattered all the right places on her. She'd finished the look off with some sexy heels.
“No.”
The other man’s hands slid to her hips, pulling her closer. Kyle couldn’t miss the surprised expression that appeared on her face. Or how he wanted to rip the man’s hands from her hips at that moment.
“I believe it’s her choice who she dances with.”
“Listen, you had your chance before I asked her,” Dave barked back.
“Hello, I’m right here and can speak for myself. I’m not some toy.”
The other guy walked off in a huff, spitting something about jealous boyfriends. Kyle pulled her close. She flattened her palms against his chest. The heat from her hands seared him, as if there wasn’t a shirt as a barrier between her touch and his bare flesh.
"I never said I wanted to dance with you."
"Too bad. You’re going to."
"The hell I will." She took her hands off him and turned to leave, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
Kyle placed her arms around his neck and molded her body to his. Like a switch, the arousal he’d seen in her eyes earlier flared to life. A sensual voice echoed around them as it blared from the speakers. She took a ragged breath before she moved with him.
She rolled her hips into him, and he pulled her closer, allowing no space between them.
His right hand trailed a slow path down her arm; goose bumps rose on her satiny skin. Kyle looked at Erin as his hand trailed down to her hips, her gaze on his mouth. He could tell what had happened earlier had affected her as much as it had him. He planned to kiss her before the night ended, but for now, he'd enjoy having her in his arms, keeping her wondering when it would happen.
She drew her focus to his eyes. “You're arrogant."
"Yes, and now we have that out of the way, let's move on, because it's not going to change."He bent closer to her and inhaled the cinnamon-orange scent that was only her. "Je tu vous embrasserai, donc à fond que vous oublierez votre nom, votre sucre.”
"Stop, doing that! I haven't a clue what you said."
He moved closer to where only she could hear him. “I said I'm going to kiss you, so thoroughly you'll forget your name, Sugar.” Kyle moved back and watched her cheeks flush pink as she contemplated what he'd said.

Deep Thoughts

I’m often asked why I write and lately I have to say, I’ve been in a quandary about that. We write for many and varied reasons. Some are quick to say they simply love writing. Not a thing wrong with that. You love something, you do it. Right? That’s a no-brainer. Others write for a bit of extra income and some pen stories to be a part of ‘the writing world’ of authors, readers, publishers etc. These are all valid and sound reasons for wanting the life of an author.

Lately though I’ve been wondering exactly why I do what I do and each time I’ve asked myself that question I can’t think of an answer. Sad isn't it? Once upon a time I loved to write and craft a story that ate away at me until I could do nothing else but get it down. I was passionate about learning my craft. Driven. Ambitious. Dying to ‘get there’. When I became published and had reached that ultimate goal, I loved the world…meeting other authors and developing friendships with women who were like me yet, each very different from me, too. They are women who have enriched my life and I simply can’t imagine a day not talking with them.
So why the funk? Maybe I needed to have a little chat in the mirror with Jack Handey from the old Saturday Night Live sketch “Deep Thoughts” but in the end, a simple conversation with my daughter started me thinking and suddenly I KNEW why I wrote and why I’ve chosen to live this life.

Last night I had an epiphany.

My twenty-year old picked up a beautiful notebook I’d been given as a gift from an author friend. You know the kind…lovely and filled with blank pages just waiting to be filled. She said…Mom, I need one of these. Did you keep a journal? Yes, I told her, I wrote my deepest thoughts for years. Even when I was your age. She said…can we go tomorrow and get one for me? Sure, I said, not a problem. It’s good to write out your feelings. Sometimes it makes things more clear, ya know?

So as she sat near me while I worked at my desk, I noticed the intense look of concentration on her face as she typed into her own laptop. Of course, I knew what she was doing and in a moment of clarity I remembered again why I actually DO love to write. Even though a fictional story is, well…fictional…there is always a grain of truth to be found, isn’t there? I realized in that rare moment that I am constantly searching for answers to why people (even fictional ones) behave the way they do, say the things they say, and how they learn to accept and love. Yeah, it might sound kind of goofy to say that I am a truth seeker but I really believe that’s what motivates me to write a story.

What a relief to finally know.

Heroism, what be thou?

Like most of us, I suffer from author Multiple Personality Disorder. It's a little difficult to keep things flowing from one aspect of my persona to the other. Especially when I have friends who don't understand writing, don't read, think I'm nuts for writing what I write, and generally are unimpressed that I know famous people (and trust me, with the name dropping I've done, I could have sunk the Titanic all over again, <--Just realized that makes me sound like an ass, but I promise, if I'm an ass, I'm a really nice one. *blink* So now I just sound like I have absolutely no humility. I think I'll stop while I'm a head.).

BUT (she said, trying to get back on topic), I'm gonna veer around this topic until I finally figure out my point, bear with me. It's only because I'm actually trying to draw from two totally opposite directions.

What directions, you may ask? Writing romances and Biggest Loser and heroism. No, srly. And here's why.

We write about heroes. Duh. Not exactly a news flash. But what is it that makes our heroes heroic? I remember when I was a brand new baby writer, I had this book with a woman (what? I can write women, shut up) in it. The way I had written the story, she did prevail in the end, but for the majority of the book she was petulant and childish (that's what I get for modeling my heroine after the books of teh 80z). I sent it to a contest thingy, and three of the five judges wrote, "Not heroic" in the margin. Sure they said it in different ways, yet the message was the same. Characters throwing hissy fits, stomping their size four and a half feet, tossing their "wild mane of curls", and pouting with cherry red lips (gag. gag. gag) aren't heroic. They're just childish.

So back to boyz. Because I like me some of that.

What makes a hero, heroic? Is it because he puts up with the above type heroine and doesn't lose his patience? Is it because he handles all the problems with his big broad shoulders and never lets on how difficult it is? Is it because he's freakin' hawt and he lets his woman be her own person, save her own day, make her own discoveries while he screws her senseless and loves her unendingly (okay, I think that one got my vote. Way to go, subconscious!)?

Now to Biggest Loser. You still with me? I record shows, because they are inconveniently on. Last night while I worked on the day job (which bleed over by a lot), I had Biggest Loser playing in the background. They had this "Final Exam" thing with each of the trainers. When they got to Jillian, I started tearing up. I was annoyed, because displays of emotion for no apparent reason trigger my WTF button in a big way.

But then I realized why it got to me. I teared up because she was playing the part of someone who feels defeated by their failures. The job of the contestant was to give her usable advice to show her what they'd learned about self-worth. But here's the clencher: One of the contestants realized what she was doing. She said, at some point she heard all the words she used to say about herself, coming out of Jillian's mouth like they were her own problems.

With that in mind, I listened to contestant after contestant deal with their own self-doubt and self-hatred in the guise of comforting Jillian through her weakness. OMG! TEARZ! Contestant after contestant, all but one having lost more than 100 pounds at this point (the other lost 98), were faced with their own words. Their own tape recorder of hate that they used to play. "I'm a failure. I never accomplish anything. I'm too fat/short/stupid to deserve happiness. I'm so tired of my life." And who wouldn't be with that kind of baggage, that kind of verbal butt-kicking? I just wanted to hug them all.

As writers, I think we deal with the self-recriminations too. If we write, we feel guilty about not spending time with the family. If we don't write, we feel guilty about not working. If we don't sell enough, we decide we're inadequate/stupid/bad writers/terrible people. If we sell a lot, it only lasts until the next royalty check when, if it dips, we wonder where we went wrong. If our family disapproves, we might hide what we do, defend what we do, blush because of what we do. We face social ridicule for writing "those books" and even though we're proud of them, the sting does eventually settle in as defensiveness.

And here's where I tie all this together. I have this fan-girl. Her name is Amanda P. She's from England and she is the most amazing woman. Despite any of her own life drama, she never fails to send me encouragement. I get long emails from her a couple of times a week talking about my talent. Admittedly, it's hard to hear. I have my own tape recorder of failures playing, and hers, talking over it, confuses my tiny mind. Her latest email made me think of Biggest Loser and those heart wrenching confessions. It made me think of how easily we give the title "hero" to a fictitious character, but forget to remember the heroes we see everyday.

The heroes like you. Like me. Like your neighbor, Bob, who looks like he doesn't care a whit that his dog just went in your yard. Even he has that tape recorder. Some people just live up to that expectation they have for themselves. Some people strive to improve. Some people struggle under the weight of their own self-hate, never realizing that they are heroes. HEROES!

Amanda wrote me this, in her most recent email. It's all I'm going to share because it was a private email, and she knows stuff that I don't want to put out there. Also, pretend she's talking to you. Pretend it all day long and remind yourself of it when your tape recorder begins to play.

I say, don't you always find  the ones who can laugh about the shit that has literally been thrown at them are always the bestest of people and have to have any problems dragged out of them? It makes my respect for you grow because, although i am aware you weren't fishing for it and certainly don't think you deserve it, to follow your dreams against opposition and keep trying despite all the setbacks sounds bloody heroic to me.

~Amanda P.

One breath in. Now breathe out. YOU are a hero. Believe it.

~Mia

Multi-tasking FAILURE

For years I've read about writers who bounce back and forth between current works in progress. Never, never have I been able to figure out how that do it. I'm jealous, too! I would love to take a morning to work on a shifter and then switch gears to my hot, little cowboy story in the afternoon. You know, I figured I must be missing something or just flat not doing something right. So several weeks ago I tackled this. How hard could it be? Take a short break between the two stories and dig in. Riiiiight. That folk saying about teaching  old dogs new tricks definitely applies readily to ME. I just couldn't do it. Not exactly sure why but skipping between stories messes with my WAH, my ZEN, my HAPPY PLACE. Could NOT find my happy place while working on several things at once. It screws with my head and I've now decided I'm just not a multi tasker. I sooo envy women who do many things at once, do a perfect job at each and manage it with every hair in place and hell, they do it in heels.

Most of my friends know that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love it because it's not about gifts. Just a great meal shared with family and loved ones. As I thought today about my super duper multi-tasking failure I wondered about my love of this holiday considering all that cooking. Yes, I do it all from planning the meal, grocery shopping and all preparations (not to mention fancifying everything). Had a conversation with my son the other day about my failure and he laughed...Mom, I can't do it either. I suck at it but hey, you do Thanksgiving, don't you? It's great every year and it's a lot of work.

Yes, son, it is.

 I've been thinking today that maybe I'm not so great at this holiday. I've been fooling myself since I'm not a multi-tasker. I do great until The Mothers show up. I work away, totally in control and in my element but then they arrive and all my calm and cool flies right out the window.

Mom: Honey, can I do something?
Me (putting together a last minute dish): No Mom. Thanks, just sit over there and look pretty.
Mom: Are you sure?
Me (looking up as sweat begins to bead on my forehead): Uh uh. Yeah. Uh. Yes. I'm good. You just sit.
MIL (who can't hear and talks very loudly...bless her heart): Honey, can I do something?
Me (shaking head, trying to smile): Nope. No, you just sit there and look pretty. Sit with Mom. You can look pretty together.
MIL (moving closer, very close, oh about three inches from my face): ARE YOU SURE? Can I set the table?
Me: okay. okay. Sure. (I begin to look frantically for an ingredient only to find it is right in front of me)
MIL: Where are the placemats? Oh can I pour tea?
Mom (jumping up and tired of looking pretty): I can do that. Oh, the tea needs sugar. Where's the sugar? Is it in here? (She then proceeds to open and shut every damn cabinet. In the background Mr. Reg is yelling from his post in front of the game...dinner almost ready? Do you need anything?)
Me (stirring, stirring, forgetting an ingredient, cussing a blue streak before remembering it's Thanksgiving and I'm supposed to be sweet and cheerful): No, not that one Mom. Here wait. It'll be easier if I get it.
Darling Husband (walking in, seeing me wilting and harried): Hey ladies! Lets watch the parade.
MIL and Mom: Ohhhh noooooo. She needs help.
Mom: Honey, you're sweating. Are you okay?
Daughter: (who is quietly watching the chaos) Here you go, Mom. (as she drops two tylenol into my hand)

In the end it all works out as it has for the past twenty-five years but each time, the conversations are the same. For me? Too much info to process coming straight at my head. So I figure I'm not as good at multitasking as I thought.

Talk on the phone and drive? Not happening (nor should it). Walk and chew gum (doubtful). Write two books at once? Nope. Not ever.

Where Do YOU Draw The Line?

Before I begin today's post, I want to remind everyone that The Three Wicked Writers Plus Two have a Yahoo group and we chat there all day every day. It's a fun group to belong to and we invite you to join. 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/threewickedwriters

Also, Regina Carlysle, Natalie Dae, and I share a newsletter group. No chatting. Just once a month news

from the three of us. So if you're interested in receiving a monthly update from us, please join the Risque 

Newsletter. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/risquenewsletter 

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

We draw imaginary lines in our personal lives all of the time. Simple things like what types of movies we watch or TV programs, what to wear and just how low cut. LOL All of this got me to thinking about just where we should draw the line in what we write overall within the erotic romance genre.

It would seem that more and more, certain subject matters are becoming less and less taboo. It wasn’t that long ago, maybe four, that M/M was considered to be a taboo genre. But look at it now! It has been well accepted within the almost all female erotic romance reading community.

There was a time in which BDSM was only whispered about. Now? Even I have a scene or two here and there with handcuffs and a spanking. LOL I even have one book in which I use wax play. It never ceases to amaze me just how sexy all of this comes across when I write it, too. If a guy had you tied up in bed and was coming at you with a candle and tilted it so the wax would drip on your nipple, would you think that was sexy? In my real life, I just can’t see that happening in any way that I would consider sexy. But when I see it all written down? WOW! Just WOW! Now I’ve had a paraffin bath for my hands and that feels pretty good. But the temperature is a certain level, etc., and I’m in control. And as we all know, it’s that lack of control that makes the difference. But still…my nipples? Hmmm…

Menage is all the rage. I’ve got one of those I’m working on—IF I can ever finish it. I have trouble writing ménage as strictly romance, however. I’m pretty vanilla—well, I like a little chocolate syrup and a few nuts, too—LOL—but I don’t see the romance in ménage at all. I’m more of a one-man-one-woman kind of gal. But I have read a ménage or two that came close to showing me a loving relationship. I think my friend Ava Rose Johnson did a good job with her books. For me, though, ménage fits much better in the paranormal realms, maybe sci-fi, too. But that’s just me.

Publishers usually list what they DON’T want to see in a submission. And I must say I agree with their list. However, there are publishers out there that will publish anything. We’ve all seen that. No bestiality has always been a rule with legitimate publishers, but lately I’m seeing publishers extending that warning to include no sex with a shifter while in shifted (animal) form. That leads me to believe that there are enough authors out there who are writing this that the warnings have started showing up. I love shifters. But to me sex with a shifted form would be a major ick factor.

Today that has me thinking about just where I believe the line is sometimes crossed and places we don’t need to go. I don’t like to see blood drawn in BDSM books. That bothers me. I don’t like to read erotic romance books in which children are introduced as characters. And I’m not talking about children being a part of the actual story line other than being someone’s children, but just being in the story. If a character has children, and the romance starts, I like to see the kids packed off to grandma’s. LOL A sexy relationship with kids underfoot just loses its sexual tension for me. Now that doesn’t mean it can’t be done or isn’t being done. Just means I haven’t read one in which it works and it’s not good for me. So personally I won’t write a book with children in it—unless it’s NOT erotic romance—and very probably not in mainstream romance either.

I also have a bit of a problem with polyamory. Or however that’s spelled, LOL. And it’s not the sex part of it all. Nope. It’s the way the relationship is presented. One man—two or three women. And these women get along???? No way. Two women in the same house???? There would be blood on the floor. Now I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that this does and has worked for a very long time in real life and we see these men and women on TV all of the time.

Yep, we do. And it’s usually when the FBI has gone in and rescued a bunch of them. OR it’s on a Lifetime movie. To me? That’s a “control” situation. A cult. Brainwashing. The women are born into a situation in which they had no choice or are lured into a situation where they had no real understanding of what they were getting into. And I have heard of polyamorous relationships that work just fine through a couple of blogs. But I do believe those are the exceptions and not the rule at all. So I don’t enjoy reading that particular subject matter.

What about the “ick” factors in acceptable scenes? Anal without lube? Anal and then vaginal sex with no clean up in between? Those are two of mine for sure. Authors AND EDITORS need to pay attention to specifics. What do you think of two brothers involved in a ménage? Or fisting? Tongues in places you generally wouldn’t think about putting them?  

Where do YOU draw the line? What’s your personal ICK factor? What sexual relationship or act do you feel is just not for you? Has anything in the erotic romance/erotica genre NOT been explored that you’d like to see written about? 

Today I'm sharing Tina Donahue's book trailer from her sinfully good IN HIS ARMS. The music, the imagery...everything is just so amazing. Make sure you stop by Tina's website and check out all her books. She's just too talented and you can't bypass her books for sure! http://tinadonahue.com 

http://tessmackall.com  

Three Wicked Writers Plus Two Yahoo Group:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/threewickedwriters

Gifts that Keep on Giving...

There's just something about a series. It's the gift that keeps on giving. I mean, let's face it, another new book in a continuing saga keeps readers coming back for more. But why do we love them so much? That's easy. In book one we fall in love with the hero and heroine and want more of them, even if it's just an eensy taste. We want to know if they got married, had kids, and if they are still saying 'I Love You' as subsequent stories unfold. It's hard to give them up. Nothing keeps an avid reader on the edge of her seat more than the anticipation of the arrival of another installment in a favored series. I got hooked on them years ago when I began reading Nora Roberts. I loved how she would introduce three characters and make us anticipate that next installment, weaving in everyone from prior books. JR Ward has done it quite successfully with her Black Dagger Brotherhood series as has Christine Feehan with several of her series.

You know how you'll read a book and see it become a movie? Often we are disappointed in those because two hours usually just isn't long enough to capture all the details that made the book so delicious. I suspect this is why the longer television series are a perfect medium for the telling of the book. We want more time with the main characters (and often want more time with the secondary characters as well). Would the Charlaine Harris stories that are the basis of the hit HBO series True Blood, have worked better as a movie? I don't think so. We want a rich...not a rushed...telling of our favorite stories.

For an author, writing series simply gives us more time and more opportunity to enrich our characters, giving them layer and depth that would be much harder to achieve with a single novel. Personally, I love writing them. There is something definitely satisfying about the inclusion of past characters mixing in with the new folks who populate the storyline. My first series for Ellora's Cave was the High Plains Shifters series about a small Texas town entirely populated by wolf shifters. It is a challenging project no doubt about it. Building a whole new world and filling it with interesting characters is a fulfilling as an author and keeps my creative energy high. Nothing like it.  

Tomorrow the fifth book of the High Plains Shifters series debuts at Ellora's Cave. Lawman was a bit long in coming but I hope fans of the series believe it to be worth the wait!

COMING SOON - May 4


Book 5 in the High Plains Shifters series.



In the deep of night she longs for him. Mate, lycan, lover. Her lawman. As Katalin Petrova struggles to control her wild and untamed “gift”, she yearns for the only man who can make her whole. His every touch burns, searing her with unimaginable pleasure. Only her strong, protective lover can tame the wild yearnings of her body and help her claim the power of her ancestors.


While Gabriel Dunham, lycan lieutenant of the Wolf Creek Pack, watches over his intended mate, his patience to claim her nears an end as savage need burns his body. Consumed by unbridled lust, he claims her, takes her, hoping it will be enough to protect Katalin from unseen forces determined to rip her from his arms

An Excerpt From: LAWMAN

Copyright © REGINA CARLYSLE, 2011

All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.

Chapter One



Though it was midafternoon, weariness settled over Sheriff Gabriel Dunham like a shroud and he had only a serious lack of sleep to blame. Nights spent in his truck while watching over Katalin, his intended mate, had taken their toll on him. Every night, he stared toward her small, secluded house where a warm bed and a beautiful woman waited for him. But he was no fool. He didn’t dare go inside. Taking her now, making her his wasn’t an option at the moment.

She was too fragile, much too delicate and Gabe simply wasn’t strong enough to hold back from his determined need to stake his claim on her.

Kat needed more from him now than hot, frantic sex.

After all she’d been through, Katalin needed safety and he wasn’t quite sure that he could deliver considering the raw, savage need that clawed through his belly. It was like a prairie fire gone wild, alarming in its intensity.

Protecting others was in his nature and he’d face death rather than hurt her.

A lawman who’d lived more than two hundred years on this earth, he’d worked the docks in the great ports of St. Louis during American expansion to the West and then later, he’d followed covered wagons filled with hopeful adventurers. In those days, he’d been a lycan in search of a pack, a place and a people to call his own. He’d settled in rough, rowdy towns throughout the savage West selling his skills with a gun, sometimes in the name of law and order and sometimes not. Many had been the time Gabriel Dunham had accepted the job as “protector”, a bodyguard to the rich and powerful. That he was a giant of a man who stood well over six foot seven and appeared as intimidating as hell had kept him employed throughout the West during the many years of his life.

Gabe leaned back in the chair at his scarred desk and propped his booted feet atop it, crossing them at the ankle. His eyes burned like hellfire and he needed sleep in the worst way. Burning the candle at both ends wore at him.

As always, in quiet moments, he thought of Katalin Petrova.

Through the past centuries, he’d hoped and prayed for a mate, the woman destined to belong to him alone and he’d pretty much given up on ever finding her. But now, through an act of fate, she was here, a beautiful female who was too damn delicate to touch.

Breakable.

She’d just taken a job at the library at Cloverfield High School. The school year was brand new and suddenly the local streets were quiet since every teen lycan in town was currently parked at the school instead of dragging Main Street or partying out by the lake as kids were known to do. He knew that after her ordeal over the summer she was making baby steps toward re-entering society. Dr. Santos, a lycan psychiatrist from Dallas, had suggested this job would be a good thing for her so Katalin had bravely forged ahead with things.

Was she thinking of him as he thought of her, a quiet obsession born of desperation burning just below the surface of her skin? Scrubbing his palms over his face, Gabe finally closed his eyes and let her image swim to the surface of his mind. Damn but his mate was a pretty woman. The ache of his need wasn’t a sudden thing but a perpetual burning in his gut, a need to claim her, fuck her, and make her his.

For life.

Sighing deeply, the sound of the air conditioner a low hum in the room, he let himself drift off as memories of his first moments with her sifted through his brain and sleep took him away.

“I’ve got you now, Katalin. You’re safe.” Sitting at the side of her bed as shadows surrounded them, Gabe reached out his hand to brush back a pale reddish curl from her forehead. Someone had once told him this particular color was strawberry blonde but it sure looked like a Texas sunset to him. Katalin Petrova’s exotically tilted blue eyes looked back vacantly but he sensed the current of emotion that raced through her veins. Letting his mind meld with hers, he absorbed her desolation into his pores. A vast emptiness, fear, rage, guilt.

Guilt?

What the fuck? Why?

That he felt her emotions, even buried as deeply as they were, was no surprise to him. This was the way of mated couples. Instant recognition had swept him from the first moment he’d clapped eyes on her. “You don’t have to worry about anything now. Not even talking, honey. I know you can’t right now but that’s all right. Do you hear me? You are going to be fine and nothing is gonna pry my ass from your side. Do you believe me?”

Katalin blinked.

More Easter Update

Piggybacking on Tess's post from yesterday here but I couldn't resist talking about our Easter holiday. Maybe because it was a tad more memorable than most. Long ago we stopped with the whole dying-eggs thing, the baskets and fancy Easter outfits. Our kids are really not 'kids' anymore so we tend to have a nice dinner and that's about it. Fine with me. I've always thought the most important thing about holidays was having family together to celebrate the moment.

This year we had a double whammy with Easter and Mr. Regina's birthday. So along with the nice Easter meal we had birthday cake and gifts. The day started out nice enough. My son and daughter were home and the moms came over. The day began overcast but since no rain was in the forecast, I figured all the 'little egghunters' would have a pretty good time in backyards and parks all over town. That wasn't in the cards. The storm hit unexpectedly as the skies opened up and we were pelted with hail for the next three hours. I didn't think it would be all that bad at first but when the pea-sized stuff turned into baseball sized hail we knew we were in trouble. Me and Mr. Reg's cars were safely in the garage but we had four cars in the driveway that got serious damage. We lost the glass from a patio table and leaves were stripped from trees to litter the ground. We had some flooding too. Alarms went off everywhere at tornadoes touched down around us. Fairly scary way to spend our Easter Sunday but, in the end, everyone was fine and there wasn't any significant damage other than to cars. Yesterday we noticed signs for local roofing companies up in a number of yards and we heard the body shops and insurance companies stayed busy fielding claims for car damage. Odd way to see a boost to the local economy, isn't it? Well, life happens and it's best to be ready for anything. Just hoping we have less drama on our next holiday.

Bunny Up!

Okay! Time for everyone to BUNNY UP! Tell us about your Easter weekend. What did you eat? Who did you see? Did you travel? I would loved to have hit the coast this weekend. I heard that Regina had some bad Easter weather.

How many of you ODed on Chocolate? LOL I actually ate a marshmallow PEEP last night! Woot! My family grilled out. Very non-traditional for us. I usually do turkey and ham and all the trimmings. This year it was bbq ribs on the grill, corn on the cob, mac 'n' cheese, and green beans. AND? Store bought pies. Lemon meringue and razzleberry. What's razzleberry? A combination of blackberries and raspberries. lol

It was a nice sunny day. Got a little hot in the afternoon and I almost turned on the AC. But then I thought about my promise NOT to use AC until June 1. Sighhhh Wonder if I'll be able to keep that promise? LOL The power bill here this winter was ridiculous. But then spring took its time getting here, so we ran the heat much more so in the past couple of months than normal.

C'mon, share your holiday fun with all of us. We'd love to hear about your individual traditions!

And today's book trailer is by Karenna Colcraft for her book Seeds of Desire from Ellora's Cave. Love the music. So sexy! You can find out more about Karenna and all her writing by clicking HERE!

You can find Tess' books at Ellora's Cave and Pink Petal Books.
http://tessmackall.com

I've Got the Fever!

I woke up this morning with that old Peggy Lee song stuck in my head. Feverrrrr, when you kiss me, fever when you hooold me tight! FEVER! The big problem is I'm not suffering from any kind of romantic fever, believe me. Nope. Spring Fever and I swear it's contagious. My mind just isn't functioning right now. Lately, we've been piddling in the yard planting our flowers and it looks like today I'll be heading to my handy neighborhood Lowe's to pick up some more.But it doesn't end there.

The other day on our readers loop we were discussing home projects we've been tackling. I got the feeling lots of us were feeling the same and needing to freshen things up around our places. BTW...if you'd like to join a small, friendly and fun loop, we'd love to have you. Sign up HERE!

For the past week or so I've been jotting down things I want to do to the house. You know, accessory stuff. I need some new floral arrangements and I have some prints in rooms that don't really work anymore. I need a massive mirror to hang over a buffet table in the dining room. Just thinking about all the improvements I needed to tackle made my head spin so one night I sat down at the computer and went mentally from room to room taking note of things I need. Let me tell you it's a long, long list but I'm planning to get to work on it.

I don't really know what brings this on. Maybe it's the sudden change of weather from winter to spring but I can't seem to think of anything but fixing up the house, sprucing up here and there. So okay. My mind is focusing in that direction so I've decided to go from room to room and add little touches. My daughter is coming in this week for a little Easter break and we've already talked about this 'nesting' thing. Hey, the birds are doing it so why shouldn't we? We have plans to tackle accessories in a few of the bathrooms before digging into the bigger, more expensive things.

My office already got a slight sprucing up (although there is much more to go) when I took some money I'd gotten for my birthday and bought a pretty new print for one wall. I have problems in my office. It was once my son's bedroom but when he left years ago, I sorta took it over so that I could have my own office. Over the years, a number of things, including my promo material, have ended up in his big closet. They sit there in boxes among his assorted broken or seldom used gadgets and clothes he wore in high school. Umm. He is now 25 so I don't think he'll be wearing that junk anymore. Anyway, I walked in there the other day to shove another box of promo stuff into the space and realized the light bulb had burned out. I tried to step inside and thought...what the hell...I couldn't step into the room to change the bulb. That's how bad it is. I felt like one of those poor people from Hoarders. So tackling that damn closet has moved to the top of my list. How did I let things get so bad?

So now I'm figuring that once I tackle the projects that are screaming at me, I might be able to concentrate on other, more important things. I don't think I'm alone with this whole spring nesting thing. Am I? What project leaps to the top of your to-do list?

Favorite Lines Today at the Blog!

Sometimes I think that what makes or breaks a book is the author’s ability to deliver a really great turn of phrase. You can have an amazing plot, true-to-life characterization, but it’s those lines that stand out that make it all worth the read.

Have you ever been reading and everything is status quo. You’re getting into the characters, the plot is moving along at a nice pace, and then BAM! The author writes a line that just says it all. And as an author, the little green-eyed monster usually nips at me bad!!!! LOL I hear myself saying: I soooo want to write like that. Why can’t I write like that? What school do I need to attend to do it?

Sighhhhhhhh

No school for it. I’ve written some lines that I truly love. But do readers see it that way? I started thinking last night about some of my fave lines from my books and thought I’d post a couple today. And what I’d like everyone to do—readers and authors—is to post a fave line that you’ve read. For authors, it can be a line you’ve written. Or a line from another author’s book. And you can list more than one fave line most certainly. So, authors and readers, have at it! Post your fave lines.Name the author and title of the book, too, if you can. And definitely comment to each other!

Here are my fave lines from some of my own writing:

1.    He was wet panties and get-naked-quick in one fine-looking package. Bottled sin. A walking aphrodisiac. And all that with just a “hello”. –Twelve Days of Love http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9071-twelve-days-of-love.aspx

2.    Diving from the hidden waterfall. That’s the image his mind conjured, the feeling that raced through his body. A euphoric swell of excitement so thick he couldn’t breathe, could only taste and fall further and further, deep into the pool that was her. –Black Cougar Curse http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9014-black-cougar-curse.aspx

3.    What self-respecting forty-three-year-old woman with two grown kids wears hot pink? –Latin Rhythm http://pinkpetalbooks.com/Latin-Rhythm-Tess-MacKall.html

And today I'm showcasing Regina Carlysle's book trailer for Panther Moon. It was created for her by Tina at Topaz Promotions. Panther Moon can be purchased at Ellora's Cave. http://jasminejade.com 

Welcome our Guest...Paige Tyler

I'm so excited to announce I have a new book out with Ellora's Cave! It's a paranormal romance called GHOST HUNTER, and it's got a hunky hero, a kick-ass heroine and a serial killing ghost that's scary as hell! Not to mention a smokin' hot cover!

I love when I come up with an idea for a book out of the blue, which is what happened with GHOST HUNTER. When I heard my local RWA chapter set up a lecture with a team of paranormal investigators, it got me thinking right away about writing a book about a ghost hunter. Because the chapter is far from where we live, though, we didn't actually go to the lecture. I was a little bummed about that, especially since they were giving out EMF detectors. On second thought, maybe it was better we didn't go. Ghosts freak me out, so having something that can detect them probably wouldn't be a good idea.

Enough about me, back to the story behind the story. While I knew the hero was a ghost hunter named Trace, I wasn't quite sure how the heroine fit into the story, or even who she was. So, my hubby and I played around with a few ideas at our local PF Chang's (we come up with a lot of story ideas there!) We both decided that having the heroine Cassidy need the hero's help because her house was haunted or something like that didn't seem original enough, so we made her a budding romance writer who tags along with the hero and his team to do some research. Like any good story, though, it had to have some conflict, which is why Trace and Cassidy completely rub each other the wrong way right from the beginning. Actually, he thinks he's a jerk. But don't worry, Cassidy discovers underneath that rough ghost hunter exterior, Trace is just the man she's been looking for. It doesn't hurt that he's hot!

Okay, so we had our hero and heroine. Now we needed a bad guy. That's where the ghost comes in. He's not your standard, everyday ghost, though. He's a serial killer who attacked Cassidy that comes back from the grrave to continue his string of grisly murders, and she's at the top of his list. To make things even more interesting, not only can he do all the regualar ghostly stuff like walk through walls and materialize out of thin air, he can also take solid form.

I'm not going to tell you any more than that, though. Don't want to give too much away, you know. I will add that my editor at Ellora's Cave told me she got so caught up in the story, she completely forgot she was reading a submission!

Now that you know the story behind the story, I think I'll tease you with an excerpt. Enjoy!


BLURB:


Almost getting murdered by a serial killer gives Cassidy Kincaide a new lease on life and convinces her to go ahead and tackle that ghost-hunter novel she's always wanted to write. So, she hooks up with a gorgeous paranormal investigator named Trace McCord to do some research.

Cassidy and Trace rub each other the wrong way right from the beginning, but they have to put aside their differences when the serial killer who attacked her comes back from the grave to continue his string of grisly murders, with her at the top of his list.



Trace has to keep Cassidy close to keep her safe, and as they try to stay one step ahead of the ghost while figuring out how to stop it, he and Cassidy end up in each other’s arms. While Trace has a whole list of reasons why he shouldn’t get involved with her, he finds himself falling in love with the beautiful blonde anyway. And even though Cassidy started out thinking he was a jerk, she learns that underneath the rough ghost hunter exterior, he’s just the man she’s always been looking for. Now, all they have to do, is live long enough to be together.





EXCERPT:



Trace was only a few miles from the address Robert had given him for Cassidy when his cell phone rang. At first he wasn’t going to answer it, but some sixth sense made him change his mind. Now he was glad he had.

He was about to disconnect the call when he heard a muffled scream on the other end of the line. It was quickly followed by a loud clatter, then nothing.

“Cassidy!”

No answer.

Trace felt his chest tighten. Swearing under his breath, he shoved his cell phone in the pocket of his jeans and floored the pedal on the Hummer, running a red light to get through the intersection. The other drivers honked their horns as they squealed to a stop, but he ignored them. There was no way he was going to let Cassidy die.



Five minutes later, he slid into the parking lot outside her apartment, running over an ornamental fence and a flower bed to come to a screeching halt a few feet from the front door. Jumping out of the Hummer, he ran around to the back and grabbed his duffel bag full of gear. Throwing it over his shoulder, he raced up the steps and charged through the door into the building, scaring the hell out of two women carrying laundry baskets.

“Where the hell are the stairs?” he demanded, not wanting to waste time with the elevator.

The women timidly pointed around the corner.

Trace didn’t thank them as he ran in that direction. He hit the steps hard, taking them hree at a time. Once on the fourth floor, he ran down the hall, checking the room numbers on he doors. When he came to the right one, he didn’t even bother to slow down. Instead, he kicked the door in as hard as he could, reaching into his bag for his shotgun as the frame splintered and the door flew open.

He looked left and right as he entered the apartment, but there was no sign of Cassidy or Del Vecchio. Trace’s blood ran cold at the scene that met his eyes. The living room looked as if a cyclone hit it. The couch and throw pillows were sliced to shreds, stuffing still floating hrough the air. The coffee table was lying on its side, as were the two end tables, and the lamps that had been on them were smashed to pieces along with practically everything else in the place. Even the walls had been slashed.



“Cassidy?” Trace called.

“In here.”

Trace followed the sound of her voice until he came to the kitchen. Cassidy was standing in the center of the room inside a wobbly drawn circle of salt, ready to throw a handful of something in his face. She sagged with relief at the sight of him, letting the stuff in her hand trickle out onto the floor. That was when he realized she was holding a big container of oregano.

“Is he gone?” she whispered.



Trace nodded. “Yeah, he’s gone. But I’m getting you the hell out of here anyway.”

He didn’t wait for an answer, but simply slung the shotgun over his shoulder by the strap, then walked into the kitchen and swung Cassidy up in his arms.

She put one of her own around his neck. “Is it safe for me to leave the circle?”

“Yes. I’ll keep you safe. Trust me.”

Apparently she must have believed him because she didn’t resist. She cuddled the container of oregano close to her body and leaned against his chest.


He frowned. “Cassidy, you did great with the salt circle. It saved your life without a doubt. But what are you doing with the oregano?”

She looked up at him with big, blue eyes. “Isn’t it what you used to get rid of ghosts?”



His mouth twitched. “That’s sage and garlic. You can ditch the spaghetti spice.”

“Oh,” was all she said. Resting her head on his shoulder, she let the container of oregano tumble to the floor, then put that arm around his neck, too.



Giving the place one more look to make sure Del Vecchio hadn’t come back, Trace carried her out of the apartment and right passed the alarmed neighbors who had come out into the hallway to see what the ruckus was all about. Trace imagined they got their money’s worth seeing a big guy with a shotgun and a duffel bag slung over his shoulder carrying a beautiful half-naked woman in his arms. He abruptly realized he probably should have taken a few minutes to let Cassidy grab some clothes. But then the lights in the hallway flickered and he decided he could get her clothes later. They were getting the hell out of there.



“Is she being kidnapped?” one elderly woman asked another in a low voice as he and Cassidy passed them.

“If she is,” said the other old woman, “then I want to want to be kidnapped next.”

Any other time, Trace would have laughed, but right now all he wanted to do was get Cassidy someplace safe. Fortunately, he knew exactly where to take her.



Watch the Trailer Here!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7c6DgZ-fHs

Get your copy of GHOST HUNTER at Ellora's Cave!
http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9148-ghost-hunter.aspx
http://www.blogger.com/goog_1335884635


*hugs*
Paige

http://www.paigetylertheauthor.com/
http://paigetylertheauthor.blogspot.com/

Convention CRAZY!

I swear. It has been soooo fun trolling facebook and looking for pictures from sunny California site of this years Romantic Times Convention. I scour each pic looking for friends and being jealous as hell that I wasn't there. siiiigh.Maybe next year. Now that my buds are home I'm really anxious to hear all the gossip and stories about the things they did. Over the past couple of years, I've considered attending this convention but always the length of the conference holds me back. Let's face it...six days is a mighty long time to live out of a suitcase and considering all the elaborate costumes involved for the numerous parties, it looks like an awful lot of work and preparation for one convention.

Must admit though, now that I've seen the pictures and heard some of the chatter, it is something I must consider. Looks like convention season has kicked off in spectacular fashion which has me wondering if any of you are considering a conference for authors and readers this year. I know a number of great ones are coming up this summer and fall. As for me, I will once again (third year in a row) attend Ellora's Cave's Romanticon convention in Akron, Ohio. I've already started gathering up promotional items to give away at the Swag Zone and during the giant booksigning on Sunday. Seriously, this is a not be missed event. I wouldn't dream of being anywhere else come September. EC always gives the best parties and I know everyone at this years RT went on and on about the Bollywood event. From personal experience, I can tell you EC throws the best parties around and I have first hand experience when I say Romanticon is a non-stop party and you'll never meet a nicer, more fun group of people ANYWHERE.

You can read all about Romanticon HERE!

So are you thinking about it yet? Admittedly there are a few other conferences I might consider in the future and I'm constantly talking with other author friends which ones are worth the bucks. Things to look for? Easy. Great venue, friendly people, good food and lots of parties. So what are we waiting for? I can already think of several dozen folks I would loooove to meet in person and spend some serious face-to-face time with. Lets meet up!

In other news: Look what I just got from the Cover Gods at Ellora's Cave!!! This is the cover of my upcoming book Lawman. Lawman is book five of my High Plains Shifter series and if you are a fan of these stories, I think you might really like this! At least I hope so. It was one of my favorites to write, for sure. I'm expecting edits any day now and am keeping fingers and toes crossed that it releases soon. If you are unfamiliar with the series and want to check it out, head over to Ellora's Cave. The books in order are Highland Beast, Lone Star Lycan, Ringo's Ride and Edge of Nowhere. If you prefer your books in print, all four books are available in two print volumes, Lone Star Beasts and Riding the Edge.

Reviews:
In the past few days I've gotten some great review news. Panther Moon (book two of the Savage Sanctuary series, EC) was voted Book of the Month at Sizzling Hot Book Reviews! Many, many thanks and hugs to those who voted! MUAH!

Sizzling Hot Book Reviews also reviewed Feral Moon (book one of the Savage Sanctuary series). You can read the full review HERE.

Panther Moon was just reviewed by Siren Book Reviews and received a Best Book rating. YAY! So many thanks to Cia at Siren. You can read the review HERE.

Blowing The Lid Off: Bad Shenanigans In Author Land!

I’m floored. Just absolutely floored. And I think that may very well be a strictly Southern expression so basically what I’m saying is I’m just absolutely pissed off and it’s to the point of being so bad I’m lying on the floor with it!

We hear the old “authors behaving badly” all the time. But it’s usually in reference to something they have said or done publicly. Well, let me tell ya…it’s not just the public persona that needs to maintain professional standards…AND…remember exactly what friendship means.

No one ever talks much about what goes on behind the scenes, do they? It’s all whispered. It’s the truly DIRTY end of this business. No publisher selling your book and conveniently forgetting to send you your money, keeping the rights to your books long after your contract has expired can surpass some of the antics that go on behind closed doors. If you think that an author having a melt down on a blog is bad behavior, remind yourself of some of the downright mean-spirited things that go on in private.

We all know it happens, too. And if you didn’t know it, you suspected.

There are cliques in the publishing world, aren’t there? This group of authors hangs with this bunch. That group hangs with another bunch. You can tell exactly who are friends, can’t you? No problem. It’s great to have friends online. You need to bond with other authors. And oftentimes that bonding comes about through shared publishers, shared genres, or even shared battles you’ve won together—or lost. I know I have some dear friends due to a couple of publisher closings that left us with our jaws dropping. Bonds are forged, lifelong friendships are made. All good, right?

Not necessarily.

Don’t let friendship get in the way of good judgment. Don’t let that one friend talk you into something you should not do. Don’t let the pack mentality become so rabid that you attack when it is just plain damn wrong. Think!

I’ve recently become aware of an incident that involved that pack mentality. A group of author friends going to Amazon and giving one-star ratings to two other authors to be exact. Yep. How do I know this? Well, when you get ready to email someone, make sure you select exactly who you want that email to go out to when that drop down menu appears, okay? And you’d best check all recipient names before you hit send, too.

The authors who had planned this are very very lucky it wasn’t me they were going after. The two they had targeted want all of this to go away, but know I’m blogging about this, know I won’t use any names. Why? Because I promised them I wouldn’t use names. I gave my word. Something that the unholy alliance of authors who planned the Amazon sabotage probably wouldn’t understand. But if it were me? I’d publish their names and the email that was accidentally intercepted. Damn straight I would.

I’ve been around the block a whole lot of times, and there is no way in hell that I’d let that bunch go without public humiliation. I liken what they planned to do, what they have so obviously done before to other authors judging by what I read, to career murder. If an author can commit career suicide, surely sabotage should be viewed as murder.

Now, in another entirely unrelated situation, lots of authors have been complaining about getting bad ratings at Good Reads. A couple of M/M authors I talked to last night have had twos tossed up less than an hour after a book’s release—and the books would have taken much longer than that to even read. But it’s not just within the M/M genre this is happening. It’s happening to M/F authors, too. There is also the matter of Facebook taking down pages with no explanation whatsoever—to both M/M and M/F authors. The reason I am pointing out that it’s happening to both is because no one needs to think this is genre-based. It’s not. It’s about erotic content in general.

Several authors have said that the Facebook take downs occurred a few days after they had accepted friendship from someone they deemed to be of an ultra-conservative religion. Hmmm…when you get a friend request, make sure you take a look at that person’s page before you accept. If their profile is set to private and you can’t get any info? Well, I’ve accepted in the past and then deleted later on when I discovered the person was not a true reader and just a guy looking for women. Or when I’ve discovered pics and statements made on the page that are contrary to my beliefs. Lately? If a page is set to private, I just don’t accept. Period.

With the Good Reads ratings, some authors suspect it’s other authors giving the bad ratings. Why would they do that? Same reason they were going to do it to the authors above on Amazon. Jealousy. The author is good, getting too much attention, better sales, or just plain rubs them the wrong way. But there is something else to be considered here too. Put aside ultra-conservative fanatics. Put aside jealousy from other authors. What about authors who don’t write erotic romance and consider it porn?

Have you ever come across one of them? I have. And it wasn’t pretty.

As soon as they find out you write erotic romance—BAM—they don’t want to talk to you anymore. And if you are published with a digital publisher? Well, you don’t rate a simple howdy do! And no, not all authors who are published or aspire to be published with NY publishers only are like this. Not at all. I’m just giving you the different possibilities for these ratings that seem to be cropping up everywhere these days. Conspiracy theory? No. Shenanigans! And the not so funny kind at that!

And about those bad ratings showing up less than an hour after a book is released and it would take much much longer to read the book? Well, what about when the book releases and less than an hour later, it shows five-star ratings? Same thing—just the flip side. Hey! Rate your own book a five. That’s cool. Damn straight it is. You worked hard for it. But please wait until the day after it releases, will ya? LOL See, I consider that okay. But what isn’t okay is when an author registers with Amazon or even their publisher with several different email addresses and leaves all kinds of glowing comments for herself and that wonderful five star—occasional four-star rating (just to make it believable), now is it? Basically, if a book goes up today and I go back the next day and I see fifteen glowing comments? I’m going to read them. Yes, I am. And not everyone is good at hiding their writing style. You see, as an editor, I’ve learned to mimic various author styles of writing. I’m one of those who could vary my reviews on these sites and get away with it! LOL Joking, joking, joking. It’s just not something I’d do. I’d know I did it and it would bug the hell out of me. But not everyone does a good job of writing these reviews. So when I spot these hoards of readers going to a site and posting glowing reviews, it catches my attention, and I can almost always spot the reviews that were written by the same person. It’s not always the author doing this either. Sometimes it’s a well-intentioned friend.

But think about it. KNOW that someone is going to notice. And I’m not the only one who notices.

And here’s one more thing for you to think about:

This is something that happened a couple of months ago to a friend of mine. She had been a friend to two authors—online, of course. She chatted back and forth with both of them daily. She considered herself to be good friends with both and had been for almost two years. But the author/s confessed something to her that ruined both those relationships. It seems that these authors had been talking to this friend of mine but were one in the same. Just an author with two separate pen names, friending other authors as two individual people. Confused? Me too.

How the hell can you pretend to be two different friends to the same person for almost two years. My friend listened to this author/s problems. Talked to her through her marital breakup. They exchanged pics of their children for God’s sake. Oh…the author with the two pen names has four children. But she split them up in “ownership” between the two pen names. Now that’s just WHACKED! My friend was hurt by this. Deeply. She asked me just a couple of days ago if I used more than one pen name. My reply? “Hell no. I don’t have time, energy, or the intelligence needed!” LOL The only way I’d ever use a second pen name would be if I tried my hand at Young Adult. And then I’d keep that pen name a secret—but NOT from my friends. And I KNOW who they are, too! But you see? My author friend now suspects everyone is lying to her. Not good.

It breaks my heart that someone did this to her. Really does. It could be argued that when they struck up a friendship, revealing that pen name wasn’t necessary. But after three or four months? Definitely when you begin to reveal personal information, I’d say it would have been time to come clean, wouldn’t you?

If the shenanigans I’ve posted about today boggle your mind, well, you’re right on track. We should all be hearing a collective “HUH?” while reading. What happened to playing fair? Honor? Respect? For that matter, what happened to The Golden Rule. Remember that one?

DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU.

And I don’t mean to bring religion into all of this. But don’t you think that living your life by the Golden Rule just plain works? Nothing religious about it. Just plain makes sense to me, at least.

To those of you who have engaged in some of these kinds of shenanigans, I say, back up. Take stock. Recommit yourself to maintaining a better level of professionalism. And if you choose to make friends online, then be respectful.

To those of you who have never crossed the line, I say, others can and will learn from the example you set. It’s through you that new authors learn—and not just about the writing craft.

In closing today, I want to issue a warning. The price of chocolate is going up! LOL…yeah, the price of everything is going up, but chocolate has me worried, lol

AND…for my weekly book trailer showcase, I’ve chosen Cindy Jacks! I love this video. Soooo sexy! It’s for her Ellora’s Cave Quickie entitled LEAP. You can find Cindy here: http://cindyjacks.com



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Books available from Ellora's Cave and Pink Petal Books.