Friday, October 29, 2010

Men In Uniform

Today I am in between trips to Orlando. I got back Wednesday from a business trip for my day job - it was a tradeshow for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. It was actually a really cool show - there were all kinds of things related to law enforcement, like guns, body armor, police cars with flashing lights (which got REAL annoying after a few days), SWAT vehicles and helicopters. Not to mention all the men in various uniforms - not only police officers, but military as well. and FBI and DEA agencies. It was quite enjoyable, all those men (and many women too) walking around, looking official and damn sexy! I do love men in uniform, not to mention a good many of them were carrying handcuffs! ;) LOL!

One highlight was an exhibitor's booth for a company that makes a license plate recognition system for things like remote ticketing. It so happens that we've been trying to sell our cameras into this company for some time, as we market the component cameras for many other companies with similar systems. This company though had a celebrity on hand to promote their products:



Anybody remember him? Yep, it's Erik Estrada, the star of CHiPs, from the 1970's. I think he looks pretty good, doesn't he? I look like hell, long days on the floor and being a little nervous will do that to you. It was a delight to meet him, sadly, he ran out of pictures to autograph, so I grabbed the first thing I could find in my bag - the pad I had made with the cover of In The Devil's Arms! He was quite interested in that, so we talked about it for a few minutes before I got my hug and picture. He really was quite charming. And I also left him with a page from the pad and urged him to buy the book! LOL! Definitely the highlight of the trip.

But now I am frantic, as I am heading back to Orlando, this time for a well-deserved Disney vacation. Traveling alone is much easier, I have one checked bag, my carry-on and my purse. This will be an interesting test of my organization skills. I think we're in good shape, though I could use another day or so to prepare. The only other issue is I am losing the first three days of NaNoWritMo, so I'll have to work extra hard next weekend to catch up.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

(Too Many) Characters Welcome

So as I plan for NaNoWriMo, I’ve been tossing around a few ideas. I really wanted to work on my sci-fi themed story, but technically, I’m not supposed to as I have already started it. I only have 8K words so far, but I wouldn’t count them in my totals written for the month, if I went with this story.

One in particular keeps coming to the forefront as I jot down brief notes for characters I may want to write about (their names, their appearance and the like). These characters are part of my medieval family I created when I wrote The Heart of The Panther. My critique partners may remember Gillian and Royce, and Gillian’s brother Simon and his “from-another-time-but-really-from-his-time” woman, Caroline. I know, that was confusing. But years ago, I started a story involving Gillian and Royce’s daughter, Marisa. I got about seven chapters into that one and it kind of withered and died on the vine. The plot was illogical, as were some of Marisa’s actions. But I’ve got a new slant on her now, and her nemesis Iain, the Scottish warrior who wants vengeance against Marisa’s father. So I’m leaning toward writing that this month – I have an opening already in mind, and I think I can reasonably tie in a bunch of kink to really spice the story up. It should work well, considering that opening scene does place her in a captive role.

The catch? I have a really great (IMO) idea for Helene and Devlin’s daughter as well. Since the Marchand men are happily and proudly Dominants, I wondered what a Marchand woman would be like. I tend to prefer to write my stories with a male Dom and a female sub, though I do enjoy reading a good ménage where there are both female and male subs in the relationship. But I cannot get into the mindset of a female Domme, or a male sub to be able to do a story like that justice. I guess I’m wired to prefer a male Dom and female sub. But being that Regine Marchand is a headstrong, independent woman, it should follow, that as a Marchand, she would be natural in the Dominant role. But I couldn’t help thinking what if she was truly a submissive, and didn’t recognize the fact?  And I have just the guy to show her how to face the reality she isn’t a Domme. The setting for this book worked out pretty well, as I used my love of horses and riding and the equestrian world in general to make her a professional three-day eventer who gets caught up in a scandal. Who suspends her from competition? None other than the man who showed her what it means to accept submission at the hands of a strong yet loving Dom. And you know those equestrians, they have all sorts of gear that lends itself to a BDSM relationship.

Then I decide I’d like to travel back in time again and want to write Marisa and Iain. As usual, I can’t make up my mind – it’s like trying to decide between the Brownie Sundae cake and the Italian pastries for dessert. Can’t I have them all?

So the debate continues – I may just have to flip a coin. I’d love your opinions. What do you think? Which would you rather read?



Monday, October 18, 2010

NaNoWriMo

I've seen the talk increasing over the last few weeks, and think I might actually sign up for NaNoWriMo this year. I never "officially" join in, but the last two years, I did participate on my own. Last year, I wrote almost the entire story of Lily and Aidan (Healing the Mage), even if I did end up cutting a good third of it. The year before was a huge chunk of In The Devil's Arms (won't even mention how much of that got cut!).  I've been toying with which ideas to focus on this time around.


This year, I think I'm going to focus on my sci-fi-ish ms, Prince of the Universe ( a little Highlander influence showing up there!). I'm about 25 pages in with it, and the characters there are really calling to me. Since I'm losing a nice chunk of November this year (family Disney trip, little guy's b-day, Thanksgiving, though I don't host, thank God!, and very busy at work), I've decided that I will, for the first time ever, see if I can write something less than 100K words. Actually, I may shoot for half that with this story. I'm hopeful, even if my last "short story" ended up at 113K words! I figure the lack of available days may help in that goal.


So we'll see how it goes with this, for the first time, I have a basic, relatively simple plot, though we'll see how long that lasts. And, the hero in this story also has a brother, but he's been patiently waiting for me to get to him. Good thing. He's got plenty of time to hang out, as long as he doesn't make a mess of the place, or get too demanding. Because otherwise, I'll have to banish him to the dark corners of the basement until I'm ready to deal with him.

Authors, are you planning to participate this year? If so, what are your plans for the month?

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Trail Me Teasers Blog Hop

Another blog hop - though I haven't quite got the hang of getting all the good stuff in here (like the really cool logo!). I'm working on it! See below for the details:

Join us for Trail Us Teasers.

Readers - do you want to meet some authors you've never read before? Hop onto the blog hop, stop at each blog and leave comment.

Authors - If you write paranormal, historical, romance, join our blog hop and meet new friends!

Bloggers - Do you review paranormal, romance, historical, whatever? Add your link.

Here's how it works:
READERS:
•Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from blog to blog. The idea is to find some new to you authors and new reading material. Leave us a comment as you hop from blog to blog! We'd love to hear with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Trail Us Teasers host Brita Addams along with the wonderfully talented authors and bloggers on the list. Enter your name and blog/website url into the Linky tool.

•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. You have 150 characters. Put the name of your blog, a sentence from one of your books, etc. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!

•Please share the Linky list in a post on your blog! Follow the link and grab the code.


A Brief Excerpt - Caution: NC-17

I've been working on writing the last little bits of my current WIP, Healing the Mage. I have maybe another page or two worth to write, then it's time to begin the dreaded revisions. My hard copy has so many notes, it looks like it's bleeding! But the progress has been worth it. But I have to say I haven't been too pleased with how the love scenes are working out.

Usually writing the sex is the easy part for me, making all the rest come together coherently often poses a challenge as I tend to over-complicate things. but as I've been working through some earlier scenes, I haven't been satisfied with how they've come out. Last night, I did some tweaking to the first love scene in Healing the Mage. I think it works better, then again, maybe not. So because I like to share my agony, I thought I'd post a snippet here. If you think it works, let me know, and if you think it doesn't, I'd like to know that too, and why. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a bubble and not hitting the high notes as I should.

Anyway, here are Lily and Aidan, shortly after Lily has stumbled over a very ill Aidan and brought him home in an effort to help him. Things don't turn out quite as Lily planned, but then again, if they did, there wouldn't be any story to tell would there?



Heat. It broke through her foggy slumber, flooding her with warmth. She inched closer. A soft moan near her ear tore through the veil of hazy dreams that had left her restless, seeking the promises carried on intense swells of feverish intensity.

The warmth of a solid chest, strong, alive, seared into her awareness. Powerful arms folded around her. One large hand rested on her belly. Her eyes snapped open. Aidan.

He’d buried his face against her neck, his warm breath tingling and tickling her skin. A shot of excitement slithered along her spine. She stared at the hand on her stomach, the long, strong fingers. The thought of them running over her body drew a little shiver of excitement. She raised her hand, gently touching his large one, meandering over his fingers, sliding to the wrist. His warm skin was sprinkled with a light dusting of gold hair, soft under her touch. His lean forearm rested on her waist, burning her through her dress as she continued her exploration, finding his upper arm muscled and solid under the black t-shirt. She shifted slightly, and he gave a soft snore. She froze, cautiously turning her head to look at him. He still slept. Her fingers resumed tracing a vein on his arm and she let out the breath she’d been holding.

It felt nice having him wrapped around her like this. Zut! It was a whole hell of a lot better than nice. There was no pain this morning, there was just his warmth, his presence surrounding her, calming and invigorating her at the same time.

She wanted to laugh. Last night she’d sworn off men. And here she was with one on her bed. Granted it wasn’t exactly how a woman wanted to get a man in her bed, and she was sure he wouldn’t be here any other way, but it was still completely at odds with her promise to herself.
Her hand drifted again, lingering on his bicep, tracing down past his elbow. She imagined him leaning above her and… What was she doing? She needed to get him out of her bed. At that moment, the fingers on her stomach flexed, ever so slightly. She gasped, her nipples hardening as the fingers moved again, the caress growing more insistent and seeking. Her hand tightened on his arm.

She held her breath as he moved slowly, massaging with a light touch that unsettled her in more ways than she cared to admit. The power scorched through her, settling in her core, making her pussy throb. What was happening between them?

“Aidan, wake up,” she said, hoping he would stop, at the same time, hoping he wouldn’t.

“I am awake.”

His sleep-roughened voice only sparked more fire in her veins. How could he do this so easily? She hesitated, then turned to face him. His silvery-blue eyes were wide open and watching her, and a hint of a smile played on his lips.

“Like what you see?”

“How long have you been awake?” she asked.

“The whole time.”

She closed her eyes and swallowed. Her heart threatened to explode, both from embarrassment and the knowledge that she had indeed, liked what she’d found. There was no graceful exit from this one.

If only she hadn’t felt his pain last night, heard his moans of agony. She sighed and looked away, knowing she needed to get free of him, even as she wanted to stay wrapped in the cocoon of desire he slowly built.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have ….” His seeking touch moved more insistently, sliding up toward her breast. She held her breath, knowing she should stop him, yet wanting to feel his caress. She closed her eyes against a half-hearted denial, fighting the need to press even closer, to touch him as he touched her.

“I’m glad you did.” His slow progress was maddening, even as he passed his lips along her ear, his words a vibrant whisper that left her gasping.

“I didn’t mean… oh, it’s too much.” His fingers slid still higher and ignited her yearning, more intense than she’d ever known before.

“It is, isn’t it, Lily? Too much and not enough.” His low voice was a caress of its own. “Even in pain, I recognized the attraction and had to have more. You felt it too.”

“I… no, I didn’t.”

His chuckle sounded like thunder in her ear. “Don’t delude yourself, little Healer. Your touch did more to me than ease my pain.”

With that, he cupped her breast and she couldn’t stop from arching into him. At the same time, his lips moved along her neck, and she was suddenly on fire, aching and desperate for more of his touch. She bit her lip to keep the moan from escaping, but his hand squeezing and caressing her breast had her head swimming. With a start, she realized he was under the blankets with her, pressed against her ass. Even clothed, she could feel his erection, hard and insistent. Another bolt of lightning sizzled along her skin, his lips now on the curve of her shoulder, easing the strap of her tank dress away.

She quickly gave up the effort to remain motionless. Instead, she pushed into him, turning and allowing him the freedom to touch her, to bare her skin as he did. Finally, he eased up on one arm and she found herself completely underneath him, his crotch pressed into hers. She let the moan escape then, her pussy throbbing in sudden need. This shouldn’t be. He was a stranger, really, a pureblood Zyndevine Mage just coming into his powers. She was a former Enchantress who’d turned her back on magic and all of its trappings. But the desire would not be denied and she reached for him, sliding her arms around his neck and pulling him near for a kiss.

She meant to keep it slow and gentle, but Aidan consumed her with his mouth, his lips and tongue wreaking havoc on her senses as he dove deep into her mouth, teasing her, making her quiver wildly. She let the last of her doubts go as she met his tongue with hers, her body curling around him.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Blog Hop

I was invited to join a blog hop by my fellow Noble author, Brita Addams. It seems like a really cool idea, and a good way for readers to meet new authors, and vice versa. And as a reader too, it gives me more options to find new books and authors to read myself. I've decided to participate, and can only hope I got this all right. My somewhat decent technical agility has abandoned me when it comes to this blog!

Anyway, leave a comment, and then take a look at the list below and see who else you might like to meet/visit. And perhaps find some great new books to read as well!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

The Good Old Days

So, tonight at my parents' house for dinner, where I go each Sunday with the kids, we got to talking about home remedies. It started because while I was in San Diego, my team and I sat around talking about what their parents would give them - for everything. One guy had cod liver oil, another had something else, to be honest, a lot of beer had been drunk that night, so I don't remember it all. But I do remember the horrified looks when I told them about one of my grandmother's remedies - one she gave to my mother and my aunts. For a sore throat, a spoonful of Vaseline with sugar on it was the norm.

I mentioned this to my mother, and she started telling me about other things, which then brought up the point that most drugs that are illegal today, weren't until the 1930's or thereabouts. She dug this up to point out some other things either she, her friends, or my grandmother had been given. Probably my great-grandmother, but we have no way of knowing - she left her husband and daughter (my Grammy) to run away with another man when my grandmother was a baby.

Anyway, I'm sure this isn't the first time this is out there, and I wish I knew who to credit it to, but I got such a chuckle, I thought I'd share. Of course, this is also one way of stalling with the scene I'm writing, as it's not going as smoothly as I'd hoped. And oddly enough, I have a story idea for some of this, but I doubt anything will come of it. One of those "sounded like a good idea at the time" sort of things.

WHY OUR GREAT-GRANDPARENTS WERE SOOO HAPPY
Why Our Great-Grandparents Have Such Fond Memories Of Their Youth...I'm surprised that they could remember anything!!

A bottle of Bayer's 'Heroin'


Between 1890 and 1910 heroin was sold as a non-addictive substitute for morphine. It was also used to treat children suffering with a strong cough.


Coca Wine, anyone?


Metcalf's Coca Wine was one of a huge variety of wines with cocaine on the market. Everybody used to say that it would make you happy and it would also work as a medicinal treatment.

Mariani Wine


Mariani wine (1875) was the most famous Coca wine of it's time. Pope Leo XIII used to carry one bottle with him all the time. He awarded Angelo Mariani (the producer) with a Vatican gold medal.

Maltine


Produced by the Maltine Manufacturing Company of New York .
It was suggested that you should take a full glass with or after every meal. Children should only take half a glass.

A paper weight


A paper weight promoting C.F. Boehringer & Soehne Mannheim , Germany. They were proud of being the biggest producers in the world of products containing Quinine and Cocaine.

Opium for Asthma


At 40% alcohol plus 3 grams of opium per tablet, it didn't cure you, but you didn't care...

Cocaine Tablets (1900)


All stage actors, singers, teachers and preachers had to have them for a maximum performance. Great to 'smooth' the voice.

Cocaine drops for toothache


Very popular for children in 1885. Not only did they relieve the pain, they made the children very happy!

Opium for new-borns


I'm sure this would make them sleep well (not only the Opium, but also 46% alcohol)!

It's no wonder they were called, 'The Good Old Days'!! From cradle to grave ... Everyone Was Stoned!!!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Winners

I had meant to post this last night, but when I got home from critique group, the little guy was still awake, and the next thing I knew, I wasn’t! LOL!

In any case - Congratulations to Brita Addams and Alina290 – you’ve each won a copy of In The Devil’s Arms!

I’ll need your email addresses – still figuring this blog thing out, is there a way to direct message me? I know that’s a feature with LiveJournal, Twitter and Facebook, but am still a little clueless with this. I also haven’t figured out how to follow blogs – I thought I was following several people but apparently I’m not. *sigh*

Somehow, I’ll figure it out – but I’m open to any info anyone can share! :) I think I’ve got way too many places to keep up with!

Congratulations to the winners!

Sunday, October 3, 2010

It's Release Day!

This day has finally arrived! I’m so excited to finally see In The Devil’s Arms released. Many many months of blood, sweat, and yes, quite a few tears, have paid off. This book is very near and dear to me for a lot of reasons, especially the people who inspired it, and encouraged me to keep going, even when I was ready to give it all up. And I quite literally was ready to give up the dream of seeing myself published again. Not only that, but this book inspired my current WIP, and spurred plans for another book or two in the Magiste community in New Orleans. The Magiste, which is the term encompassing various types of magical people, are everywhere, as I am finding out through some new characters who’ve recently introduced themselves to me. :)

Back to In The Devil’s Arms – I can’t stop staring at the cover. It is simply gorgeous, when I first saw it, it left me breathless. I’m getting silly about it, too, I think. I’ve printed a few copies to place around my various work areas, and even downloaded it to my phone. Fiona Jayde is an amazingly talented artist. If you haven’t seen it yet, here it is:




And the blurb:

"Helene Gaudet is finally free of her past – a rageful ex-husband whose curse has left her unable to have children. Helene shares those past agonies with no one - certainly not with a Marchand.

Her lonely life is upended when she encounters who she believes is her perfect Dom in an internet chat room. To her shock, her Dom is none other than Devlin Marchand, the very person who handed her over to a dark sorcerer to be killed.

Yet, Devlin proves himself to be a loving Master, and lust and love grow with each tormenting, releasing, encounter. But guilt over his past betrayal is multiplied when he learns the curse that has dogged his lover for years comes from the trove of magic created by his very own family. Devlin fears all he has built with Helene will be destroyed.

Can they overcome the past to have a future together?"


As my critique partners and friends all know, I love playing in alternate worlds, or realities, or planets. Magic is one of my favorite alternates, because I love how it can be used in so many ways. I’m also partial to vampires, and am trying to figure a way to blend the two again, as I did in The Taste of Magic. There are some ideas brewing, but I am trying to keep it to just notes until I finish Healing The Mage (for my critique partners, that’s Lily & Aidan). Harry Potter and Charmed are two of my favorite obsessions, as well as Highlander, which is an alternate reality as well. And a longtime favorite that is inspiring another set of characters is Dragon Ball Z, one of the most popular Japanese anime series from the 1980's & 90’s. The recent remastering for the 25th anniversary has revved up my love for this show, especially those nasty Saiyan warriors, Vegeta and Raditz. Yes, I freely admit, I am partial to the bad boys and villains! I’m also starting to dip my toes into the True Blood pool, I’m sure it won’t be long before that takes up a permanent space in my favorite things list. Like I need another obsession to take up my time.

So in celebration of the release, I am giving away copies of In The Devil’s Arms randomly to two commenters to this post. So comment here and share your favorite magical stories, or recommendations. Or simply say hello!

In the meantime, pop over to Noble Romance and take a look at some of their other titles as well. Every one I’ve read is hot, hot, HOT! Here's the link: http://www.nobleromance.com/Default.aspx