Right now

Haven't done this in a while. Five things I'm into right now:

1. Hula-Hooping (What's not to love, right?)
2. Twisted By Love by Jasmine Haynes (Fascinated by reincarnation)
3. Kenny Chesney's Come Over (Well ... it's KChez without a hat ... and a sexy chick without much of anything)
4. Sudoku (for pre-beginners!)
5. Non-scary Halloween movies ('cause I'm a wimp)

Ass kicking

Unless you're part of a writing team, putting words to paper is, for the most part, a solitary endeavor and sometimes one that just ain't workin'. The Muse left the building. The train of thought derailed into the Nothing. Characters stand around in the corners of your mind shuffling their feet, flipping you the bird, and calling you a fucking loser. [nodding] Yep, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

It's times like these that I rely on my comrades in ink. Sometimes it's enough just to wander to their blogs, see what's going on. Other times a more immediate response is needed, so a WiD (Writer in Distress) text, email, or phone call goes out. Two of my regular Keepers of the Sanity Keys are Jasmine Haynes and VJ Summers. I admit wholeheartedly that they have dragged me from the very edge on many occasions. It was not a pretty sight. Thank you so much! *mwah* I never underestimate the importance of a venting session.

There are times though when venting just isn't going to do it. Nope, some days call for more drastic measures to be taken. Those times call for a good old-fashioned, honest to god ass-whooping. Now I'm not talking about a little slap on the hand or even a firm twisting of the ear to drag your wayward characters back into the thick of things. No, no, no, my friend. I'm talking about throwing them out through the double-pane window into the backyard and kicking the living hell out of the them. I'll admit, these are probably not scenes that will ever cross an editor's desktop. That's okay. Sometimes just having a few characters bloodied and beaten for a page is all it takes to carry on. 

[looking around]

You seen my baseball bat?

(And for the record, a search of "sexy baseball guy" garners an incredibly fucked up collection of photos that I'll probably never be able to bleach from my brain. And "bloody baseball bat" offered up just as many, though they were disturbing for reasons that should have kept me from doing the damn search in the first place.)

The trip of firsts

Last month I took a trip ... one that I lovingly referred to as my Trip of Firsts. It was to a little town in California to meet my wonderful friend, Jennifer, in person for the very first time. But what other firsts would happen during this trip?

Well, for one thing, I'd never gone anywhere (on my four previous non-stop flights and one helicopter ride) that required a connecting flight. So this trip doubled my times on a jet. Flying out, I connected in Dallas/Fort Worth. [shrug] Yes, I only saw the inside of the terminal briefly, but I'd never been to Texas ... and now I have. (Same goes for the return trip ... landed in Chicago. ) From Dallas, I flew into San Jose, California. During this flight I may have actually seen a portion of the Grand Canyon. I'm not really sure, but it was a HUGE hole (crack? opening? whatever it was, it was big!) way down there and I was impressed regardless.

Jennifer and I have been corresponding via email, snail mail, and phone for nearly four years, but of course, I'd never actually seen her in person. As I exited the terminals in San Jose, I knew her. I started waving at her and her hubby, Ole, as soon as I saw them. We smiled and made our way to each other, and then I hugged my friend for the very first time. (We've shared many, many virtual hugs [aka *hugs*] and those are wonderful if that's all you can give at that time, but the memory of the real hugs shared during that week make my heart truly smile.) I felt welcomed from the very first moment.

The Santa Cruz Boardwalk was a lovely and enchanted place to visit! There were all sorts of rides and games and people! Jennifer and I had our photo taken in one of those little booths! Loved it. The sea lions by the wharf were loud and lazy. There were wonderful thrift shops filled with all sorts of things. I simply loved it. I don't recall ever having been beneath a wharf, so I will say that was another first. And up until that very day, I know my feet had never touched the waters of the Pacific. Another first.

We spent a beautiful day with Jennifer's mom and took in the sites of Carmel and Point Lobos. Amazing! But my favorite part of that day was simply listening to the lovely cadence of "Mom" as she spoke with her soft, elegant British accent. I told her I could just listen to her talk all day long.

Another day, we walked the streets of San Francisco and ate lunch at a retro-type diner called Lori's. Delicious food and just a fun atmosphere to eat it in, too. Then we wandered around The City, up and down the hills for which the city is famous. We even rode the Bay Area Rapid Transit (aka BART) ... another first.

And just in case San Francisco didn't do in my leg muscles, the next day we walked through the enormous redwood trees of the Henry Cowell State Park! Oh. My. GOD! It was another incredible day! We walked the steep hills to reach the outlook, then ate the lunch Jennifer carried on her back for us. LOL! Those simple sandwiches tasted like 5-star restaurant cuisine after that workout. But we did it!  

There were so many things that I loved about this trip that it's very difficult to narrow them down to several paragraphs. The long talks with my beautiful friend. Laughing. Being silly together. Taking walks. Having the cat, CT (aka Crooked Tail), find a comfortable spot on my stomach during the nightly movie. Talking. Talking. Talking.

Many wonderful memories were made that week. I thank Jennifer and Ole for welcoming me into their home and for making it an unforgettable trip of firsts. [sigh] I wanna go back.

<<<  I know this one cuts out part of my face (y'all know what my smiling mouth looks like anyway!), but I simply love the expressions on Jennifer and Ole's faces ... so I'm including it. Miss you both!

VJ

Today I met with a wonderful writer friend ... VJ Summers. VJ writes incredible solo works, and also writes with talented Sierra Summers under the name Violet Summers. We are part of a group of writers that tries to get together once a month, but I've missed several months and just plain missed them. VJ and I met for lunch and spent a couple of hours chatting about life, what we're working on, and just catching up.

There are many [many] different directions that my life is being pulled at this precise moment, but being with VJ reminded me of the void in my life that only words can fill. For those who are anticipating the next books in the Vintage Love series, rest assured that they will be coming.

Thanks VJ for the pleasure of your company today, sweetie. I love you.

5 Things

Happy Holidays to you all!!

Things you may find me doing these days:
Sipping a non-fat Chai Tea Latte at Starbucks with my hubby.
Wii bowling with friends and family.
Texting my kids.
Dressing in layers for warmth.
Designing covers for my friend's Max Starr series.

Max Starr series by Jasmine Haynes

Jas is one of my very best friends and I am soooo thrilled to announce that her amazing Max Starr series is being released through Amazon.com! Dead to the Max is available now! This news alone is worthy of a blog post, but add to it the excitement of having my name included in the project as the cover artist ... well, damn!

Here is the link to Jas's page where she has all the information about this super hot, erotic, emotional rollercoaster ride of a series:  Max Starr

Congratulations again, Jas! And thank you so much for helping get my name out there. Too wild!

Mistress ... please!

I love books involving light to moderate BDSM. The dynamics are incredibly erotic, tantalizing all the senses. I've read many more that feature the male dominant (featuring both male and/or female submissives), rather than the female dominant ... probably due to the bulk of D/s being written revolving around the male Dom.

But there is much to be said about a male in the submissive position. Let me clarify. I'm talking about a man that could be the typical Alpha male: strong and sure of himself in other areas of his life, but needing to give over control in the bedroom. Mmm-hmm ... you know the type I mean. Now imagine all that strength as yours to command and ultimately pleasure.

I just read Resisting Command by Jennifer Leeland and oh my god! Paul was an excellent submissive to Jenia's female dominance. I'm thrilled that Violet Summers has a new book coming soon featuring a lovely Domme: Velvet Submission.

Okay, here's where I ask for your help. I need your recommendations of smokin' hot books featuring the D/s theme -- Domme or Dom -- because it appears I have a new addiction. [grin] Come on now, help a girl out.

"Fill Your Reader Blog Tour" and giveaway! Come on by!!

There's an awesome event taking place today with literally dozens of authors from Liquid Silver Books participating...

It's the Fill Your Reader Blog Tour!

There will be all sorts of delicious men to ogle, books to purchase, an opportunity to chat with many of the authors, and a chance to win a TON of exciting books for your new ereaders!!

If you've arrived at my page and had no idea about the Fill Your Reader Blog Tour, then click the link above to go directly to the beginning to start the tour!

Take your time, wander through the blogs (leave a comment at each stop to be eligible for the amazing giveaway), then drop by the chat. I'll be popping in and out of the CHAT ROOM throughout the day. Can't wait to meet you!

Yours for the Night by Jasmine Haynes

Jas is my very dear friend and her book Yours for the Night released on Tuesday!! You need to run to the store and pick up a copy of this delicious triple treat and enter the world of Courtesans, where the fantasies are bought and the sex is scorching hot.

Look at that sexy cover! And believe me when I tell you that Jasmine's stories are guaranteed to raise the temperature in the room and send you running for your S/O!

Congratulations, Jas!!

Dedication

One element that didn't make it into the final edit of Open Proposal was the dedication. It's important to me that it's "out there" for people to read, so here is the dedication as it would have appeared:

Dedicated to Carrie Clemons for daring me (as only a best friend can) to finally finish something for her to read, and to Jennifer Skullestad for her friendship and patience as she pushed (dragged) me through this incredible journey. Huge thanks to Terri Schaefer for believing in me and to Lynne Anderson, my editor, for her wonderful support and expertise. You all ROCK!

Rooster lovin'

Dawn (domesticwitch.blogspot.com) participated in a blog circle featuring decorative roosters. I didn't see it early enough to get into the round, but decided to post my rooster here anyway.

You may recall that I "hamster sat" several months ago while our friends visited the Grand Canyon. This fun guy was a thank you gift for taking care of Teddy. I love the vibrant color and think of them each time he catches my eye!

Still blogging over at Jas's place...

In case you've just arrived to my blog, I have been guest blogging this week over at the Jasmine Haynes Files. Jasmine Haynes is a totally amazing author and truly dear friend. She invited me to celebrate the release of Open Proposal over there. Please give it a look and leave a comment, too!

Guest blogging at Jas's place

Jasmine Haynes has invited me to guest blog at the Jasmine Haynes Files on Monday, so be sure to stop by and leave a comment! First book release and first guest blog...all in one day!!

Two days to go!!

Interviewed!

I was recently interviewed by my beautiful friend, Dawn...aka Domestic Witch. Click here to read that interview.

Sweet treats...(explicit)

This is a comment that I added to Jolie Cain's post today at LiquidSilverBooks blog, Silver Expressions - SEx:

Meggie dipped a plump strawberry into the melted chocolate. “Open,” she said, holding it to Jared’s lips.

Rather than taking the treat, he lifted her to sit on the edge of the counter. “You open, baby.”

Jared spread her creamy smooth thighs, pushing the thin cotton skirt up to her bare pussy. He took the strawberry from her fingers and painted her tiny clit and labia. Leaning back on her hands, Meggie met his gaze as he licked and savored her like the sweetest fruit.

“Mm, my favorite,” he whispered, grinning against her soft skin.

Why erotic romance?

I've spent my life writing. As a kid I would make up tales about the little cutout scenes I created, then I moved on to poetry and essay-style stuff. For years I wrote a newsletter for my family and friends. Wrote some things for a local newspaper, and also had some short sweet romances published in now-defunct small press magazines.

Of course, writing isn't only about what we create, it's also about what we read. What we are drawn to when we have a few minutes of free time. I've been an avid reader all of my life, and a romance reader since my early teens. First YA (excellent stories that left me craving so much more), then Loveswepts and Desires (beautifully written stories that tried to push the envelope of the times, but still restricted in what they could contain), and also some single titles that were allowed a more liberal canvas. Penthouse and the like were okay for getting down and dirty fast, but lacked the emotional content I enjoy in a romance.

I read Twin Peaks in the summer of 2007 and loved it...so much I thought I'd spontaneously combust. All I could think was: Women really write like this? But I'd borrowed it from the library and one of the authors that I really enjoyed, Jasmine Haynes, didn't have any others available at the library. Now that I've read nearly all the books of my wonderful friend, I'm not surprised that the library doesn't carry them, though I'm sure not the only one in my community that would enjoy them!

In November 2007, I participated in the NaNoWriMo--National Novel Writing Month, and won...which is to say I reached the goal of 50,000 words in thirty days. It was a huge cluster though that has yet to be untangled. What the NaNoWriMo showed me in the last twenty pages that month is that I like to write love stories, yes, but not with sweet or even mildly hot sex. The stories that I needed to write would be filled with playfulness and love, but also darkness and kink. Not always dark, but always lusty.

Why erotic romance? Because I love sex. It's fun and should be explored with all the senses, including the largest sex organ of all--the brain.