I admit, I'm a romantic. I love LOVE. I love to read romance, watch romantic movies, anything that brings those tingles of new love back. Give it to me!!!
Yesterday, I was floating in a cloud of pure bliss. Really, just call me Sappy Sapperstein. It's my new name, and trust me, it fits. You know when you (ok, I'm assuming you're as sappy as me, so just play along) close a romance novel and you've fallen in love right along with the characters, and you feel all giddy. And maybe a little sad because you have to leave them now.
YESTERDAY, I WAS SO THERE!
I am not kidding you. I forgot to eat! I have the appetite of a man and I didn't eat a bite all day, didn't even think about eating, until my family asked what was for dinner. I was too busy floating around in my tingly bubble, sighing at the memories, and going back to re-read my favorite parts.
Yes. I had it bad. The romance that got me was my latest story. The sequel to my novel, Cowboy Games. If every book I wrote toyed with my heart like this one, I'd write eighty-two books a year. I went back to edit eight times, just so I could jump into the story again.
Sigh...
And this morning, I woke up wanting to read it from start to finish. What's the last book that made you feel this way? Remember, we're still pretending you're as sappy as me, so MAKE ONE UP if you have too. Don't leave me dripping from my sappy little cloud alone.
Ok...GROUP HUG! I've got plenty of this love to share.
I have blogged before about my volunteer efforts at my local library. I work with a small group of volunteers who collect book donations for a sale on the last Saturday of every month. every dime we make goes straight back to the library. We pay for children's programs, the water, electricity and we buy new books, DVDs and music CDs.Being the only guy among a sea of lovely, mostly retired old ladies, the task of handling the big donations of huge boxes and bags falls on me. Often with creepy results. I've opened boxes to find dead bats, mice, massive spiders, used voodoo dolls and condoms...you name it. Yesterday, we met to plan our setup for tomorrow's sale and a famous actor - alas, he must remain anonymous - ran in with a massive black garbage bag. "I hope there's no magazines or text books in there," I said. These days even thrift stores won't take text books and magazines. We just can't sell them. "Nope," he lied and ran off to his waiting Rolls parked in the red zone. I tentatively opened the bag and discovered a treasure trove of - eeewww - used spanking magazines. I stared at the haul for so long, my old biddies hobbled over to see what was what. One of them extracted a magazine and asked, "Why are some of these pages stuck together?" Most of us laughed and one old lovely said, "If I need to explain that to you dearie, then it has been a long time since you had sex!" "It hasn't been that long," she sniffed. "I have five boyfriends at the rest home." I don't know about you but I spend a lot of time at the library and I have never, but NEVER seen spanking magazines anywhere on a library shelf! What the hell am I supposed to do with these things? Why bring them to a public library when you are instantly recognizable and dump them? People, either donate them to an AIDS hospice or bite the bullet and throw them away. One of my old ladies were thumbing through magazines and I must say we got a good laugh out of some of the images. As one of my girls quietly hid an issue in her knitting bag, the rest of us were examining other evidence. "This is research for you, isn't it, A.J?" one of them asked me. "Yes," I said. "Don't tell me you write this stuff," another one said. "No," I replied with as much dignity as I could muster. "My stuff has a plot." They laughed in my face. I am not into spanking. In my experience, my lover Herve is very open to all my suggestions, especially the ones that involve us being naked. I make no judgements on anybody's sexual preferences...but really, the anatomically impossible task of beating your own ass as you are tied up, left most of us stunned.I am not sure I want to try the equally impossible things one guy was doing to another with an abnormally large cucumber. "That looks like it hurts," somebody said over my shoulder. It sure did. "But cucumbers are good for you, aren't they?" the woman with the five boyfriends asked. "I must stop at Whole Foods on my way home..." Since that particular issue fell open right at that page, I am betting our movie star will soon be experiencing Donation Remorse. He is surely going to miss his er...treasures...but he will be happy to know they have all gone to good use. A few good men might be surprised with what their women come up with over the next few days and the rest of the magazines? Even our local AIDS hospice declined them, but our recycle bins were grateful to receive them all.
I missed my post last month due to some major family illnesses and issues but I'm back now and ready to blog. In January I attented marscon as an author guest. It was my first con invite and my first time doing a reading and speaking on panels. I had a great time. I read from my m/f werewolf themed story, A Little Taste of Red, though next time I will come prepared with something lesbian themed to read because there were lots of requests for that genre and no one really brought any. (I promise to be prepared next time ladies!) We had a great time, the adult panels were fabulously educational and entertaining, though I doubt I'll ever look at anything with tentacles on it the same way again. we also did a GLBT in sci-fi panel, a shifter panel, a late night ADULTS ONLY reading, ran a table with lots of goodies to give away and to sell(Though regretfully my print book wasn't out in time but there is always next year) I got to meet so many people that I chat with regularly online and can now put faces with the emails. Helen madden, who organized the massive EPIC event was wonderful and so much fun to hang with. Now I'm looking to the future and what other cons I might be able to attend either this year or next. Big on my list would be GCLS or Saints and Sinners (Whooo hoo) I'd also love to be able to do Dragoncon and maybe some more local readings and events. Anybody in VA need an extra author? ^_^ Beth Wylde Visit my yahoo group for new release info and contests: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bethwylde/
Have you ever wondered what authors do with those pesky characters that just won't stay in the background? You know the ones I mean--the best friend that has an opinion on everything, the buddy who is always there to back the hero or heroine up (and give them crap when they screw up), the couple who steal the attention in the one or two scenes they have in the whole book?
Well, I have to tell you, it's difficult to figure out what to do with them. On one hand, they grab the readers' attention and get them asking questions. On the other hand, they distract and annoy a writer when they'd really rather keep the story centered on someone else.
I know, I sound crazy, spouting off as if these figments of the imagination were actual people. Flesh and blood members of society that you could run into if you walked around the right corner. I have to tell you, to me they are real. I argue with them--reasoning is usually out of the question, especially when they're refusing to follow the plot outlined--LOL. I try to cajole them into staying on the path I've created, but they rarely listen.
And boy, can they be stubborn! When a friend and I were working on a book, years ago, we had one character who was downright rude about trying to steal the scenes he was in. Add to that his adamant requests for us to write his story had my friend and I so frustrated, we finally gave up and had him shot. We left him bleeding on a warehouse floor for about three months while we completed the other scenes necessary. Unfortunately, the pesky little bugger threatened to die on us if we didn't at least get him off the floor. Begrudgingly, we did. But, he did stop bugging us for attention after that.
Right now, I'm dealing with an even worse kind of secondary/extra character. The quiet one. This guy just will not give me any information. No matter how I ask, cajole, or try to tease the information out of him, he just relaxes into his chair at the Diablo Blanco Club and smiles at me. I only know a few things about him (and no, I won't tell you all--that would spoil the fun!), but I do know that he will eventually get his own book. But not yet.
So, here's my question for you all (don't I always have one for you?) Who were some of your favorite secondary characters in the books you've read? You know the ones you really, really want to know more about and hope they get their own book some day.
Mine are too many to count, but here are a few: Cat from Laura London's Windflower Andrew from Laura London's The Bad Baron's Daughter Nicki from Linda Howard's Mackenzie series Alex Stone from Cherry Adair's The Mercenary (whose story was finally released last year--yay!)
I've been trying to come up with a topic for my first blog post as a member of Midnight Seductions. So after running through various topics, I decided to blog about my animals and how they influence my writing.
Animals?
Yup. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those crazy old ladies with 47 cats in my house. After all, I'd never admit to being old.
I love my animals, and I seem to be developing a penchant for having an animal secondary character in every book.
Most of these animals are based on animals I've known and loved. The horse in the first picture is my beloved Hanoverian mare, Gailey, who stars in my latest release, The Gift Horse. In this particular novel, I experimented with short scenes in the horse's point of view.
Then there's Khat. Now, my hubbie and I are not cat people--well at least we weren't. I mean I like cats, but a nice barn cat that doesn't spread cat hair all over your house. My husband is one of those macho guys (a former Army Ranger and SF Weapons Sergeant) that didn't like cats at all. At least, he "claimed" he didn't. A year ago last fall, an orange tabby moved into our barn. Hey, we were fine with that. They're ruthless mousers, and we're all for a friendly little barn cat. So we fed him...
Khat had greater aspirations. He wanted to be a house cat. Last winter, my husband injured his back at work and was flat on the couch for a few weeks. Day two on the couch--I came home from work. There was the cat on Dennis' chest, both of them sound asleep. One year later....So much for the barn cat.If you have cats, you know the rest.
Khat is going to be the feline star of my next novel.
That brings me to the deaf, lame, and blind dog. Years ago, my former husband and I took in a Rottweiler badly in need of a home. When we divorced five years ago, my ex got custody of Casey. Last year, I got him back. Casey is seventeen years old, somewhat blind, really deaf, and has two good legs. But he's happy, healthy, and still living a quality life. This picture is of the old man rolling in the snow last month.
Finally, we have Skeeter. Skeeter had been owned by a family who didn't really like him. They kept him chained in the backyard. He'd never been a house dog and had no manners when we got him.
Skeeter needs a job or a tireless ten-year-old kid. His obsession is his tennis ball. We live in the woods and often entertain friends by throwing the ball in the woods. They watch in amazement as Skeeter circles over and over until he finds the ball.
Skeeter is in my current WIP as a clepto Lab who steals and hides anything he can get his mouth on.
So if you read my books, you'll see my animal friends in some form or another. I'd like to hear about your pets. If you're a writer, do you ever use them in your books? If you're a reader, do you like reading books in which animals play a role?
First off, let me tell you about my latest release. Don't Spank the Vamp became an immediate bestseller, hitting the list in just 48 hours! I was so jazzed with it, happy to see my readers were interested in seeing the added scenes, heat and emotion. I love this story, birthed from a simple workshop comment at RT. To read where the idea actually came from, check out my Samhain blog at http://samhainpublishing.com/blog/2009/02/11/and-just-where-did-the-title-don-t-spank-the-vamp-come-from.
Dawn is so focused on making a name for herself in the art world, her personal life has fallen into a rut. She spends far more time with her hands in clay than on a man. Then her friends liven things up by taking her to a toy shop for her birthday. A very different kind of toy shop for special sexual games. And there’s more than sexy entertainment on the shelves—a fortune teller says Dawn’s destiny awaits if only she will reach out and take it.
Aidan is a vampire who has existed for over a century searching for his one true soulmate, his twin-flame. One look at Dawn takes Aidan’s breath away. One kiss later, he knows she is the one woman who will sustain him forever—if he can convince her to walk with him on the wild side.
Dawn responds to his inspiration better than he could have hoped. Then she goes one toy too far…
Now...let's talk about vacations. I won't be blogging next month because I'll be in Ireland!!! Well...actually on the 23rd of March I will be standing over the anvil in Gretna Green, Scotland, with my honey, renewing our vows!
I'm so excited. We will be gone from March 5th to March 29th and will be traveling all over the England, Scotland, Ireland and if we have time, we might nip over to France so Jonathon can check out the Normandy beaches of WWII. (He's such a guy!)
I'm hoping to post my travel log when I can. When we have computer access, we'll take advantage of it and let you all know what's up, but we are mostly staying in B&Bs so not sure what will be available.
I've got a great contest going on for this vacation. You can win some wonderful prizes, brought back from the UK! Interested? Check it out at http://cjengland.com/contests
Oh, and don't forget my free read! It's getting close to the end and the situation is going downhill fast! Enjoy it at http://cj-england.livejournal.com/
You all have a great rest of February and take care of yourself in March! I'll be back next time with a ton of cool news and travel pics!!!!
Whoever said moving was an adventure either had a sick sense of humor, or they've never done a move with two young children.
But, we're off. On Monday we head out to Minnesota. The new office is lined up, but for now we'll be living with my Mother in Law.
So, needless to say, I'm exhausted. Packing. Editing. Packing. Reading through submissions. Packing. Chasing the children away from the boxes. Packing. Cleaning. Oh, and did I mention packing?
Still, there's been some good news in the last month. A trip to Barnes and Noble left me floating on air. Lust at First Bite (from Black Lace) which includes my story, Only The Beginning, was faced out not once, but twice! Damn, that was certainly a feel good factor for me. I've never had a faced out book before!
The first couple of reviews for the anthology have come in as well, and in each one I've been personally mentioned. And the reviews have been damn good!
But, there's packing to do. Empty boxes to fill. So, it's back to the grindstone I go before we head to the frozen north...
I guess you are wondering what is broken? Well let me start at the beginning....
A few years ago my folks decided to get themselves a flat panel television. The sales guy told them it would last them about 19 years if they watched it 8 hours a day.....
My parents don't watch that much television but still they were upgrading after their old one died after many years....They even got the service package from the store.
Now not even four years later the protection plan has expired....and you guessed it....The TV is broken...
Wasn't this suppose to last at least 19 years? Yup...Well it dies after not even five years...
Yeah I know stuff breaks but not when it is suppose to last the so called 19 years they tell you about....
They went to the electronics store to tell them what had happened.....I would be pretty pissed off as well considering the television was not cheap and it didn't even last a 1/4 of the time they said it would.
You want to know what the electronic store told them....Basically too bad....They even tried to sell them another TV...Yeah...
Urm I don't think so....As they were at the store the employees were feeding the same trash about a huge flat screen TV to another couple...
Now my folks are left with a broken TV...It is not cheap to buy a new one......
Is anyone else ready for spring? I swear, it's been so cloudy, overcast, and downright cold I haven't the energy to do anything but veg out in front of the TV.
Embarrassing!
I hate being boring and uninteresting but absolutely nothing is inspiring me these days. My current WIP is suffering too. Yesterday I re-wrote the same paragraph a couple of times. Moved on and repeated the process on the NEXT paragraph. As a writer I find this lack of creativity sort of humiliating.
First there was my day of the marathon watching of the entire season of Wolf Lake. Very hot series but I spend all day watching this knowing I'd be left hanging because it was a failed series from years ago. No new shows on the horizon. But what do I do? Keep watching, mesmerized, as if the series would magically resolve all the outstanding issues between the characters.
Then yesterday my daughter flipped on America's Next Top Model. Yes, I think she was bored, too. This isn't normally her type of thing. Oh. My. God. Please, please tell me I didn't actually watch this drivel all day and most of the evening. Eighteen and nineteen year old girls fighting over 'who ate my brownies' and 'omg!!! She's in the bathroom throwing up!' and 'sniff sniff...I just couldn't take a good pic today and my hair SUCKS and everyone HATES ME!!!"
Somebody shoot me! I think I've lost my ever-lovin' mind! If the weather and my mood doesn't change soon there's no telling what kind of marathon crap I'll be watching next. Um...think I'm avoiding things? Yeah. Me, too.
Lately, I've noticed several trends in the erotic romance world that leave me scratching my head, or in the case of the trend I'm going to discuss today, extremely annoyed.
Others may disagree with my opinions. If so, I'd love to hear what you like about the trend, so I can get some insight into why it seems to be so popular.
Baffling Trend #1: The m/m/f menage made up of a committed gay couple + some chick
Here's the setup--Boy meets boy. Boys are together in gay domestic bliss. One (or both) of the boys suddenly decide what they need to make them complete is a woman...
W...T...F????? This does not compute.
Now don't get me wrong, I like menage stories. I like them when the boys touch, and when they don't. I like them when they involve two women and a man. It's all good.
BUT, it makes absolutely no sense to me when the author sets a couple of guys up as gay and then has them suddenly decide they need a woman. Why would a committed gay couple do that? I don't suddenly feel that my hubby and I need to add a woman to our relationship to make it complete, because that's not the way I swing.
I understand that menage is hot right now, and readers seem to like m/m/f better than other kinds, but couldn't the two guys be friends, or bisexual even, rather than being gay? Yeah, the stories are fiction, but come on. I can't suspend disbelief quite that much.
Am I the only one that thinks this is weird? I'd love to hear everyone's opinions on the issue.
Good morning the day after Valentines - I hope yours was delightful and romantic. Hubby and I dressed to the nines this year and went out to eat at the local restaurant we save for only the most special occasions - they had flown in fresh tuna steaks (hard to get, here in the landlocked Midwest!) and created an exquisite mango chutney with cilantro and jalapeno. Definitely worth it!
It can be cold and brisk here in the upper Midwest, but warmth can be found in a California cafe, just in time for Valentine’s Day. The characters in my latest release, Detour Ahead, are spending February not far from San Diego, in the California foothills.
Hot-shot Chicago prosecuting attorney Traci Steele works tirelessly keeping rapists off the street to prevent other women from suffering the hell she’s endured, so she resists her friends’ insistence that she take a two month R&R in their California Live Oak condo—until they persuade her to help their rancher friend as a private investigator.
Though he runs the stables at Live Oak, well-muscled mustached wrangler Scott McCord much prefers working with the race horses he trains at his ranch, and he can’t believe his old friends have sent a greenhorn female to help him with horse troubles.
The improbable dance between this mismatched pair barely fits in around the escalating suspense of whoever’s after Scott’s horses. Traci is as tenacious in her sleuthing as she is terrified about her inability to ever love a man. Can Scott succeed in gentling her - like he does his horses - before she flees in panic?
Here’s a peek at their banter:
EXCERPT:
"You were right," Traci exclaimed, "this pie is scrumptious."
"Told you Julian is world famous for its apple pie." Scott smiled easily. They sat in a corner of a small store-front specialty shop. Oversized mugs steamed with lattes.
"So, tour guide," she said, "we're at forty-five hundred feet and still only fifty miles from the ocean. That boggles the mind. And we're sharing a heavenly pie. What else should I know about this quiet place?"
"Appreciate it while you can. It won't be that way on the weekend. Julian can become wall to wall cars and people."
"Too bad." Traci looked out the window. "This is so charming. What you just described doesn't fit."
"Many of the locals would agree with you, but it's the tourist trade that allows this place to survive. Bed and breakfasts. Art galleries. History of gold mining. Upscale souvenir shops. Hole in the wall coffee shops like this one. None of these would be here if it weren't for the crowds coming up from the cities seeking fresh air and solitude."
"It doesn't sound like they find much solitude."
Scott sipped from his coffee mug and peered at Traci. "That's an interesting statement coming from a big city woman. I thought solitude for you folk was gathering shoulder to shoulder in some small town and being satisfied that you'd ventured outside the big city."
Traci kicked him under the table. "What do you know about big cities? I find solitude out on the lake. Sometimes even in a park."
"You really are a sailor at heart aren't you?"
"Yes, I am." She laughed. "Unlike you."
"I can learn--if I have the right teacher."
"So, are you coming to Chicago to take lessons?" Traci quipped. When she saw his eyes light up, she realized her mistake. She kicked herself for getting caught up in banter.
"I don't know. Would you like that?"
She must look like an idiot staring wide-eyed at him, but she couldn't find any words.
"If I were to come to Chicago?"
Breathing at last, she countered, "I'm not worried. You wouldn't leave your horses for more than a couple days." She glanced at her watch. "There are a couple more art galleries that I want to browse before they close. We should be going."
Scott shrugged. She was forewarned by that wicked, slow smile of his. "But," he said, "you might want to write on your napkin 'to be continued.' This conversation is not finished."
Every year Valentine's Day passes by and it's never been much of a landmark for me. Beyond seeing a ton of pink and red cards, boxes of candy in the stores, and diamond commercials insisting upon a colorless rock's significance in a woman's life, I've never really thought much of the holiday.
Valentine's Day has become a commercial sell-out. Some couples mark it as one more excuse to celebrate their love and devotion and I see nothing wrong with that. Hey, the more excuses the merrier, right? ;) But on the whole, I also know of some who flat out refuse to celebrate it and they have their reasons.
I think honoring your partner and celebrating love should be done 24/7/365 not attributed to a Hallmark greeting card or a box of candy. When you get something for your partner "just because" versus buying for a commercialized holiday, I believe that to have greater meaning.
It's funny. As an erotic romance writer, I feel like I'm expected to champion the holiday. There's a greater pressure to write and read romance and those who are not single by choice are made to feel miserable on this day. Thankfully I feel that I know better than this; my idea of what constitutes romance probably wouldn't sell, but I understand that what is "ideal" is different for everyone.
Romance to me is putting up with all of the thorns amidst the roses. It's cleaning up after your partner when they get sick. It's keeping chemistry and passion alive while battling day to day stresses and woes. When romance can thrive hand in hand with reality's messes, that to me is real romance.
So regardless of whether or not you choose to celebrate today, do remember this: hug your loved ones and appreciate them for all that they're worth, flaws in all. They are of more value than all of the diamonds in the world.
A brutal economy isn’t helping much in the writing industry. Lately, I’ve been reading several posts on our MSA site about the subject. I believe everyone looks forward to that little glimmer of light where the economy’s concerned, hoping that we’ll get a breakthrough soon.
I’m surprised we haven’t had more publishing houses go under. A year or so ago, there were several that closed within weeks of each other. That was devastating to quite a few authors. It seemed like a rippling effect.
Now that we have a new president and he’s working with a stimulus package to stir the economy, let’s hope his plan works. It would be wonderful to put a book out there and have a hit, making a lot of money in sales.
To me, reading a book takes me away from everyday problems. While reading, it’s easy to forget the bad economy and skyrocketing prices at the grocery stores and gasoline pumps as you enter the fantasy world for a short time. Let’s hope that e-book readers feel the same way even with a bad economy and the book sales surge.
Do others reading this blog forget your every day problems while reading a good book?
Be sure and look for my book Angel in Blue. www.romancedivine.com http://www.allromanceebooks.com Amazon.com Kindle Books
Hot Sex on Wheels www.extasybooks.com March 1st Release Date
Going to the Beauty Shop has always been a mother/daughter tradition in my family. We get up early in the morning, trudge up to the hairdresser who treats us like queens and makes us feel, even if just for one day- Magnificent. We're pampered beyond belief- someone washes our hair, massages our heads, paint our nails and maybe, if we're lucky, throw in a bit of town gossip!
No, I didn't go get my hair done in the 50's, I'm not that old, but it almost seems like that's what I'm describing. My mother and I recently went to get our glam day and I observed how much things have changed.... there are no nail techs in hair salons anymore. When I asked why I was told they couldn't make money with all of the nail salons open now. Hmmm. Well that just stinks! Instead of talking to me the shampoo girl talked to her co-worker who stood on the other side of my head. There are partitions between the clients so never the others shall meet. I could pass most of this off as signs of the times- until IT happened.
The phone rang...someone on the other end of the line had an emergency. A botched hair-color job sprang to my mind. I have tons of friends who try to do this at home and ulimately regret it. Nope, that wasn't it. The unidentified person insists that she must come to the salon right away. She can't fix the mishap on her own and she can't go in public until the issue is remedied. Well by now we all want to know what's going on. I was glad it my mother and I's hair wasn't yet finished.
About ten minutes later the troubled client rushed through the door. Panic lit up her face. Her hands rubbed together. The fright in her eyes was almost comical. One of the girls rushed her over to the owner who took one look and told her to go to the sink where the 'expert' could help her. Come to find out this girl had shaved part of her eyebrow off trying to get them perfectly even and symmetrical. Being a woman who doesn't wax I had no concept of this problem but it was intriguing. They worked on her for a few minutes and then broke the news: give it time, it will grow back in. She broke down-cried even. In fact she stayed several more minutes to make sure there was nothing they could do. I wondered how they could see her eyebrows through the caked on make-up that she wore.
Once they convinced her to leave the raw spot alone for a few days she went to the waiting area and had her dad take her home. Ummm, yes, I said her dad. The girl was ELEVEN. Just turned the ripe age of 11 in fact. I was flabbergasted! I'm fairly sure that I still played with Barbie dolls at that age. I know for a fact that I didn't wear makeup, jewelry, and mini-tight clothing with a push-up bra. I know that I had no clue what went on in a Hair Salon at that age.
Now, here's where I admit that I don't have a daughter of my own. I have a son. Is that why I don't understand this? I see three and four year old girls wearing high heels and makeup at the store. Okay, I see young boys with painted nails but that's a whole other issue. Playing 'dress up' is one thing. Being a grown up at eleven? Totally different.
Do you think the abundance of erotic romance, pictures or even movies has anything to do with this change of lifestyle? I've talked to many high-school age girls who read erotic romance, flip through Glamour expecting to be just like the models and watch movies upon endless movies where the heroine is always stick thin and beautiful.
You tell me...where have all the little girls gone? Is it possible they all grew up to write erotic romance?
I just wanted to let everyone know that chivalry might not dead. Sometimes I wonder about this. Yeah I get the occasional door held open, but I’m always left wondering if it’s due to a ingrained social thing. You know it’s the polite thing to do. Now yesterday I was at our local DMV, 9 months pregnant big as a house standing in line at the DMV. Not fun. And it seems like everyone a head of me has fifty things they want to do and no idea what they need to do them. At least this is how it feels. So after about fifteen minutes, the guy ahead of me turns looks at me takes not of my paper work( already filled out and ready to go) and asks if I’d been here already. I just kinda smile, shake my head and go nope, I just knew what I had to do. See I like to be prepared, when I deal with stuff like this. The guy looks down at the stuff he’s holding, several forms, plates, etc. He looks back at me and says would you like to go ahead of me. Now it might not seem like a huge deal, and it still took an hour before I got out of there, but little things like this make you feel pretty good. So when your out and about next time, make some ones day by just being nice.
Do you ever get your ideas from real life events? Or sometimes does reality cross over into the line of fantasy? Or vice-versa?
My new sweet short story "The Storm" is due to be released on March 5. It was originally slated for release on February 19, but it got moved ahead. That's no bother. Just gives me more time to promote it.
I based the story in part on a beach not far from my home. Just off the shore is a small island - more of a rock, really - that you can sometimes walk to when the tide is very, very low. The thing is, you can't stay there forever because once tide rolls back in, if you are still on that island, you are stuck there until tide rolls out again. I have often walked to that island and looked for sand dollars and sea urchins when the tide is very low. I have never been stupid enough to be trapped on it.
So, that island and the beach near my home gave me the idea for "The Storm". Not only does the hung over, idiotic main character get stuck on a small island after he wakes up from passing out, there is a nor'easter on the horizon. If you are from New England, where I live and where my story is set, you know to never mess with a nor'easter.
This idiot, of course, messes with it.
I thought no one could ever be stupid enough to pull a stunt like that in real life. Be careful what you wish for.
According to a Newsday article, "Charlie Sirico, 46, of Bay Shore, was alone on tiny Fishers Island about 4 p.m. when the boat he took to get there began to drift away with his dogs still onboard, police said. Sirico jumped into the water and tried to swim to the boat, but gave up and swam back to shore as it drifted away, police said. Winds were 32 to 38 mph, the Coast Guard said, and it was 16 degrees out, said Marine Bureau Sgt. Joseph Hauswirth. "He must have been freezing," he said."
He was fine and the dogs were fine after being rescued. Whenever I post this story, most people worry more about the dogs than about Sirico. I have to agree. I'd never leave pets outside in 16 degree weather. That's beyond cold.
So, has real life ever reminded you of your fiction? Readers, have you ever read a book that reminded you of something that really happened to you? I love it when a book has that kind of effect on people. It's the "ripped from the headlines" business you see in "Law & Order". Those kinds of things are sometimes called Easter Eggs, which are little news bits and other oddities that are considered "inside jokes" to the creators. Easter Eggs are very common in TV, movies, and computer programs. One Easter Egg in a recent episode of "Psych" had Shaun making fun of the TV show "The Mentalist" because "The Mentalist" is a rip-off of "Psych". Another is in the game "Riven". Photos of the children of the designers are embedded in the backgrounds of the game on the main island. They're not hard to find, but you do have to look for them.
Keep an eye out on my June release of "The Haunting of the Sandpiper Inn". I have a few Easter Eggs in that book that people who keep track of hauntings will recognize.
And finally, don't miss my release party at the Midnight Seductions Yahoo Group on February 19 for "The Storm". The story doesn't come out until March 5, but I'm holding my release party on the 19th anyway. I am giving away a prize of the story to a lucky winner who will get the story delivered on the March 5 release date. Here is the link. The release party starts at noon EST, and it ends around dinnertime.
So, have you ever read books that reminded you of real events? Have you found Easter Eggs in TV, games, or movies? It's fun to get an inside joke, isn't it?
Now, any of you that know me or have read any of my work know I have a vivid sexual mind, but is it all talk or do I walk the walk? Here's a true story. I'll let you decide.
Let me tell you about a one night stand I passed on, many years ago in my carousing days. My buddy and I were sitting at the bar of a dance club called Skinny Dugan’s next to a woman who worked at the same company as us. I’d never seen her at work (it was a big company) but we’d talked before at this same club, so seeing a familiar face at the bar we took the vacant stools beside her. I have to admit she wasn't bad looking in a Goth sort of way. We talked a little and I was in a frisky mood so more as a joke than anything, I wrote on a cocktail napkin, 'Would you like to fuck?' and slid it over to her. To my shock, she said absolutely. In hindsight, I probably wished I'd taken her up on it.
I don’t want you to think I’m a total dud, having notched something like a dozen one night stands, but I was so surprised, I thought this was too easy and silly me, I tried to get out of it. LOL How? By adding fuel to the fire and saying my friend and I were a team and only did threesomes. LOL In my relatively young naivety, I believed women had a different set of values than men when it came to sex and that would surely back off this all too eager woman. It probably goes back to my lying high school health teacher who told our class; while men can have sex with anyone, women need a romantic link to have sex. I’m sure there’s a modicum of truth there, but experience and observation have led me to believe men and women’s views about sex are extremely close.
Back to my story. I swear to you this is true. She said it sounds good to her and proceeded to tell us some of the kinkiest things she'd done. Like I said, this happened several years ago so I don’t remember the experiences she cited but, she did get around. I seem to remember something about four guys. (at once?) Then she asked what was the kinkiest things my buddy and I had ever done. I managed to get my share, but I was pretty conventional so needless to say, what I had just proposed and was trying to get out of, would have been the kinkiest thing, I'd ever done.
By now, my friend was green. He was married and had no intention of getting between the sheets with her. He looked at his watch and said, "Oh my God, I have to go." and split—the coward. Of course, that left me an out because my so called threesome partner left and dumb me, instead of making an exception because she was so hot and all that tripe, I took it.
I think about that sometimes. Two of my existing books start with true incidents I experienced. (The ones with the long titles) Maybe I should write this experience into a new book.
What do you think?
And while I’m asking questions, for the sake of research :
1.Has anything like that ever happened to you?
2.What would you have thought if you’d received such a note? (Providing you found the guy who passed it attractive.)
3.How would you have responded?
4.Assuming this was a little too overt for your tastes, what pick up lines or methods, if any, would have worked with you?
It's true. I have never felt such a rush of anger and anguish in my entire life. And I guess it proves to me just how important my writing is.
I left three teenagers up last night and on my computer. I had told them time and time again not to upload junk. Well, I got up this morning and my comp was frozen. I rebooted. Got rid of a bunch of stuff they had indeed downloaded to the comp.
Then I did some promotional work for my new release His Sweet Obsession. Returned some emails. Talked to my friend Sarah Masters, a fabulous new author on the scene, I might add.
Then I proceeded to pull up my latest work from my Word file so I could get something accomplished. But it would no longer pop up for me. The file seemed to be there, but it would not upload for me. NOR WOULD ANYTHING ELSE!~ All my work! Several works in progress, notes over two years old. My heart and soul, GONE!
I frantically begin to deal with the situation. Two hours later, I have my files back. What did I discover? Those screwy file corrupting downloads were in my word program!
Usually, I let the kids sleep late on weekends. But let me tell ya! They just got a wake up call from HELL!!! TESS HELL!!!!
While I've been busy with real life and last-minute work (fourteen and eighteen-hour days are a killer on a deadline), I'm still thinking of romance when I can keep my eyes open.
But what can you do when you don't have time? When you get home at 3:30 in the morning and the kids get up at 7, and he's snoring away, having stayed up until late with a sick child?
My answer: tease.
Life doesn't always cooperate. Kids don't always cooperate. Murphy's Law rules supreme around here, so quite often romance and sex are placed at the end of the long line of emergencies that pop up.
But teasing... oh, so fun, so quick and so sexy! A quick e-mail to let him know I'm thinking of him. A little text message reminding him of his favorite piece of my lingerie. A naughty little phone call just as he's leaving for lunch -- walking out of his office, but still surrounded by co-workers and he can't say anything back. I just know his face is red and his libido piqued... I just love being naughty. My sweetie has this cute, embarassed laugh when I catch him off guard that really gets my juices flowing.
Teasing helps to remind us that some time soon we'll find that stray moment where the kids aren't screaming, the teenager isn't asking for money, and the rest of the world can slip away for a little while as we create our own paradise.
I've had a ton of fun writing this prompted story, but like all good things, it must come to an end.
I know I've been teasing you all for a while, so at long last, here's the hot stuff I promised! [Warning: Contains m/m sex]
In case you missed the beginning: read part one HERE.
Cory brought Kyle’s hand to his mouth.He cleaned the glaze from Kyle’s fingers with long, slow swipes of his tongue, starting with the pinkie.When he reached Kyle’s index finger, he took it into his mouth and sucked lightly.
Kyle groaned, his eyes falling half-closed.“Cory…”
The sweep of Cory’s tongue over Kyle’s captive finger turned the other man’s words into a sharp gasp.He released Kyle’s finger with a pop, grinning.“I think I got it all from your hand, but I’m not finished.”
“Oh?”
“You’ve still got some right…here.”He leaned forward and ran his tongue along Kyle’s bottom lip, tasting glaze and coffee and man.At first Kyle sat stock-still, but after a moment his lips parted, and he kissed Cory back, spearing his hands into Cory’s hair.
Their tongues tangled as the kiss deepened.Cory trailed his fingertips along Kyle’s jaw, down his neck, to his chest.He wanted more, a lot more.Pulling back just enough to break the kiss, he whispered, “How am I doing so far?”
Kyle rubbed his chin, pretending to think.“That was pretty good, but I’m still not completely satisfied.”
He had to smile.“I can’t let one of our best customers leave unsatisfied.We’re all about service here.”
The remark, or maybe his suggestive tone, made Kyle laugh.“Good.Service away.”
After weeks of seeing Kyle at the bakery and thinking about all the things he’d like to do to him, Cory couldn’t believe he was about to get exactly what he’d wanted.“I thought you’d never ask.”
Slipping out of his chair, he pushed the table back and knelt on the floor between Kyle’s legs.Kyle gazed down at him, anticipation and heat in his eyes.Those big hazel eyes widened even further as Cory ran his hands up Kyle’s jean-clad thighs.He kept his hands moving until he hit Kyle’s waistband, where he made quick work of the button and zipper.
The hot, stiff cock that popped out was everything he could have hoped for.He smiled up at Kyle.“Nice.”
The other man might have wanted to reply, but he never got the chance, because Cory took Kyle’s cock into his mouth.He gripped the base of Kyle’s cock with one hand, and used the other to fondle the man’s balls, rolling them gently.
Whimpering, Kyle brought a hand up to twine into his hair.“God, Cory, that’s so good.”
He wanted to make it even better.On each upstroke, he rolled his tongue over the head of Kyle’s dick.Within a couple of minutes Kyle’s hips were rocking up to meet his mouth.He opened his throat as much as he could, welcoming the motion.
The tension in Kyle’s body warned him the man was close.He continued to suck, bobbing faster to drive Kyle over the edge.Kyle moaned.“I’m gonna come.”
He didn’t pull off.Instead, he redoubled his efforts.Kyle’s cock throbbed, and then he was coming.Cory swallowed the bittersweet fluid, sucking until Kyle was completely spent.
Finally he released Kyle’s cock and looked up.The other man was staring down at him through half-closed eyelids.“Wow, Cory.That was…wow.”
He grinned.“I live to serve.”
A slow smile lit Kyle’s face.“And you do it so well.”He reached down to stroke his fingertips over Cory’s swollen lips.“Now it’s my turn.What would you like?”
Oh man.What wouldn’t he like?“I’d really like to fuck you.”
“Do you have a condom?”
This was really going to happen.He nodded.“And lube.”He wasn’t much for random hookups, but he still carried a condom and a small packet of lube in his jacket, just in case.“I’ll go get the stuff.”
Without another word, Kyle stood, pushed his jeans down over his slim hips, and put his palms down on the table.Cory nearly swallowed his tongue at the sight.After a second of staring, he snapped himself out of his trance and jumped up to go grab the condom and lube.
He rushed to the back, grabbed the supplies out of his jacket pocket, and strode back to the table.Kyle stood waiting for him.Over his shoulder, Kyle muttered, “Hurry.”
Cory hurried.He ripped open the tiny pack of lube and slicked up two fingers, pressing them into Kyle’s tight passage.He twisted and scissored them, opening Kyle up as quickly as he could without hurting him.Kyle pushed back toward him, moaning.
God, he wanted to fuck Kyle so badly.“Ready?”
“Yes, now, please.”
The desperation in Kyle’s voice matched his own.He opened the condom packet and sheathed himself, then slowly pushed into Kyle’s body.He was close already.The blow job he’d given, and getting Kyle ready, had put him near the edge.He gripped Kyle’s slim hips and thrust fast and hard.The pleasure of it made his head spin.The only thing that would make it better was if Kyle came again.He reached around and gripped Kyle’s dick, finding it hard again.
“Come with me.”He stroked Kyle in time to his thrusts.
“Cory!”
Kyle’s body tightened around him as his lover came into his hand.He cried out as well, his orgasm bursting from him with a force that surprised him.Then he leaned against Kyle’s back, worn out.
A few minutes later, Kyle laughed softly.“I’ve never had better service at a bakery.Or anywhere else, for that matter.”
He pressed a soft kiss to the back of Kyle’s neck.“Good.”He paused for a moment, feeling warm and good and hopeful.“Does that mean you’ll be back for more…donuts?”
Kyle turned his head to smile at him.“I’ll be back for a lot more than that, if you’ll let me.”
His next kiss landed on Kyle’s lips.“I’d like that.”
Kyle’s smile widened.“Why don’t I help you finish up here, and maybe we can go to my place?”
“Great plan.”Cory grinned.He’d never had so much fun after hours.To think he’d been annoyed when Kyle first came in, and now he couldn’t be happier.Next time he saw his brother, he’d be thanking him.Having to work late tonight had turned out to be better than he could have dreamed.
THE END
Special Delivery, coming February 10 from Freya's Bower!
