Z.A. Maxfield's Blog, page 20

Blog Tour Winners!

Home The Hard Way blog tour winners are as follows:

Grand prize $25.00 Gift Certificate from Riptide:

Sheila S.

July 28, 2014 – Fresh Fiction – no commenters

July 28, 2014 – The Novel Approach — EWA

July 28, 2014 – Smut Book Club – Jodi M.

July 28, 2014 – Cup O’ Porn — Jill Prand

July 29, 2014 -The Pen & Muse — Alaina

July 29, 2014 – Love Bytes Reviews — Colette

July 29, 2014 – The Blogger Girls — Sula

July 29, 2014 – TTC Books and More — Jennivie

July 29, 2014 – Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words — Jeanreads2

July 29, 2014 – The Jeep Diva — Su Holland

July 30, 2014 – Prism Book Alliance — Rod B.

July 30, 2014 – Words of Wisdom from the Scarf Princess — Jen

July 30, 2014 – Attention is Arbitrary — couldn’t find post (any ideas?)

July 30, 2014 – Erotica For All — Alaina

July 31, 2014 – Book Reviews & More by Kathy – Christine

July 31, 2014 – Rainbow Gold Reviews — Ardent Reader

July 31, 2014 – MM Good Book Reviews — Stephanie Frederic

July 31, 2014 – 3 Chicks After Dark — Trix

July 31, 2014 – Sinfully Sexy Book Reviews – Bonny

August 1, 2014 – Joyfully Jay — Antonia

August 1, 2014 – Boys in our Books — Barbara Elsborg

August 1, 2014 – That’s What I’m Talking About — no commenters

August 1, 2014 – All I Want and More Books — Alex

August 1, 2014 – Smoocher’s Voice — Smoocher’s Voice -  Trix

As you can see. Some people won  more than once. It’s random. I pick numbers and then I go in and look at comments. I try to announce winners as soon as possible, but I was road-tripping with my daughter so I’m a little late.

Please check the book page of this site, HERE and choose a book from my backlist that you want, and then let me know by using the contact form or emailing me directly at zamaxfield (at) zamaxfield (dot) com

Thanks to all the bloggers and readers out there for making my book launch fun, successful, and easy!

XOXO, love to you all!

ZAM

More Housekeeping!

I’m playing catch up here, folks. I can’t believe it’s been nearly three months since Fugitive Color came out. Friday may be for Fugitives, but Monday is for Mea Culpas…

At some point, I think I lost the last thread to my sanity because I looked at my posts to find where I’d announced the winners of my Fugitive Color Audio book contest, and I didn’t have one. Not even a pending post…

What. The. HELL??

So instead of just one person winning, I picked three of the commenters from that post, and I’m sending each of you a complimentary copy of the audio book.

I really do have a personal assistant, and I’m no longer going to be afraid to use him… I LOVE writing. LOVE it. I love disappearing into my writing cave and coming out holding some kind of newborn, whether it’s a book or a blog post or a novella or a short story, or simply a fun email I sent to a friend.

The whole calendar thing? Making appointments and keeping them? Remember when things are due? Updating twitter and Facebook and my blog? Not so much…

*sighs*

I am THIS close to finishing some new cowboys. THIS *pinches fingers together* close. But I really don’t want anyone to think I’m a tool, or that I offer prizes and then fail to deliver.

So…The winners are:

Michelle, Readercat, and Paula!

Look for emails with instructions today!

ZAM

It’s What…? It’s AUGUST???

DEAR GOD. IT’S AUGUST.  It’s really August. And it’s raining in LA today, so it feels like New Orleans.

Today, my dearest, gentle readers, I must make the apologies.

I have been so busy. I’ve been writing, my offspring have been graduating and moving in and out of college dorms. I’ve attended Romantic Times in New Orleans and RWA2014 in San Antonio.

I went on a research trip so I could find out all about New Mexican flora and fauna. I have been on a health kick and a food plan. I have plumbed the depths of despair, “Wait–Are you fucking telling me fried zucchini doesn’t count as a vegetable?” and flown to the heights of happiness…

See, the thing is, I actually don’t manage my time very well. I know that there are books coming out. I know my kids have move in dates and move out dates. I plan for all the eventualities, like conference, and such, but stuff ALWAYS happens.

And housekeeping gets left for last. MEA CULPA. Here’s a list of Sunday Brunch winners I haven’t announced that has gotten so long it’s laughable: Bear with me, and I will delegate this in future so someone will do this better than I ever did: My beloved author assistant, William.

The thing is, I LIKE picking the winners and doing the e-mailing. So I kept putting it off until I had a nice big block of time. Guess what? I never found one!

So: AT LAST, my Sunday Brunch Winners have been chosen and are as follows:

***If for some reason you don’t receive your gift card from me in the next twenty-four hours please email at zamaxfield @ zamaxfield (dot) com to let me know***

4/13 - Alishea
4/20 - BubZ
4/27 - Penumbra
5/4 –   Jbst
5/25 - Carly Rose
7/13 - Penumbra
7/20 – Michael
7/27 – Roger Grace 

Sunday Brunch Blog 8/03/2014

Once again it’s time for the weekly Sunday Brunch with ZA Maxfield! This week, we have one awesome friend joining us! Please welcome Lane Hayes!

This week’s question is: “What kind of shoe are you? Why?”

***BIG NEWS*** From now on, instead of the ebooks we’ve been awarding as prizes, I’ll be giving out a $5.00 Amazon gift card so readers can use it for the ebook (or other Amazon purchase) of their choice. All you have to do is comment below for your chance to win!

Now let’s hear from Lane Hayes!

Wow.  Great question.  The answer for me is a fairly simple one.  Flip-flops. It may not sound particularly exciting, but I live in Southern California in a coastal town where I can literally wear my favorite Havianas year round.  And I do.  Even in winter, I can wear jeans, a sweater and yeah… flip flops.  Sounds weird, eh?  Depending on where you’re from, I totally get it.  I’m from Michigan originally and although I haven’t lived there in decades, I know there is no way in hell you’d be wearing anything but boots in the winter.

Lifestyle factors into your shoe choice as much, if not more than weather and where you reside.  I live near the beach in the kind of town where stereotypical surfers reign.  They say words like “dude” and “bro” a lot.  And when they claim something is “sick”, they don’t mean a trip to the hospital could be in your cards.  They means it’s awesome, cool and totally rad!  Get the picture?  Dressing up for them means wearing a shirt with a collar.  I have two teenage boys, one of whom I know for a fact only wears collared shirts when he’s forced.  As a result, he owns two.  Seriously.  In other words, things our very casual in our neck of the woods.   There are plenty of snooty folks who live here too, of course.  You know the type who love to drop designer name brands and would miss a dental appointment before a Botox injection appointment.  Think Real Housewives of Orange County. We see all kinds here.

I’d be less than honest if I didn’t admit to insisting on a teensy bit of fashion where my Havianas are concerned.  I own a rainbow of colored flip flops to go with practically any clothing color combination I dream up.  And my toes are always done.  That’s a must.  But at the end of the day, I’m a huge fan of simplicity.  Anything I wear must be 100% comfortable.  I’ve suffered through the days of slipping into a pair of heels or ill-fitting shoes for work or a special occasion and yes, I’m still forced to do so every once in a while. I don’t enjoy it.  Most days, I get to wear whatever I choose.  It’s a perk of being an author.  My dog doesn’t care if I’m in pjs till noon or that I hate wearing makeup.  And he certainly doesn’t care what about my footwear!  It’s why we’re friends, I suppose.

Personality-wise, I wonder what a $25 pair of flip flops says about me.  Then again, I don’t.  I’m comfortable… in my choice of footwear and in my own skin.  I think that’s all that really counts J.

Thank you very much for having me here today, ZAM!  I’ve gone from chatting about Madonna on my first visit to beachwear… an interesting array of topics for sure!

Best wishes,

Lane Hayes xo

Author of the best-selling Better Than Stories series

Better Than Good, Better Than Chance, Better Than Friends

Buy Links for Better Than Friends

Amazon | Dreamspinner Press

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Thank you to Lane for joining us this week!

Road Trip!

Five GREAT reasons to drive across the country (even though you’re supposed to be promoting a new book release.)

1. The USA is HUGE. Face it. Despite any plans you make–despite the number of times you take off with the intention of seeing every little thing, peeking into every corner, and finding out what’s around every river bend–you will probably not be able to do it.

At least driving affords one the opportunity to at least look around while you’re on the interstate. For my trip to San Antonio with my daughter Zoe, we drove  onout to Texas the I-10 and for the trip back we took the I-40. The southwest is amazing. The colors are vibrant, the land varied and breathtaking. The way the Texas countryside changes from the stark desert to the prairie to the juniper forests and lush green of the hill country is spectacular. I’d love to have traveled lighter and stayed on the road way longer.  We had a metric fuckton of clothes and shoes and toiletries–all the subterfuge I need to look good for a conference–or I’d have maybe kept going on the I-10 all the way to Tampa…

2. Inspiration. Every road trip brings inspiration! A lot of my interviews include the question “What inspires you to write?” What DOESN’T inspire me to write? I can’t see a Pinon tree, or drive over a bridge, or past a saguaro, or see or a line of highly graffitied, half-buried Cadillacs without wanting to write something.

If you add people you’ve got an infinite number of stories. A weathered but handsome cowboy leans against the fender of his truck with a knowing smile on his face. A young woman dances in a roadhouse, breathless from exertion and anticipation and some sweetly seething chemistry that’s building between her body and the cocky cowboy she’s dancing with, a couple my age walks along holding hands in a kind of daze–maybe it’s the first time they’ve been alone in twenty years because the final kid has gone off to college and they have to relearn each other all over again. A gaggle of kids takes pictures of geese on the River Walk. They’re wondering if they can get away with one of those little boats. They’re wondering if there’s a treasure they can dig up, or ghosts they can chase. I can hardly contain myself. Life is fantastic!

Everywhere you look, the wide blue sky arches over somebody’s story. The real problem is deciding which story to write. It’s amazing how engaged my muse is when I’m driving and I can’t really do anything about it.

3. Food. Barbecue is food group. Each region has it’s own style, it’s preferred meat. In Texas, beef is king. Brisket is meltingly tender and there’s not enough time in the day, or room in my stomach, to try it all. In fact, I looked at a LOT of barbecue I wanted to try but I didn’t allow myself to really indulge this time because of the heat and the Unpleasant Truths lately presented by my aging body. (My doctor would be so proud).

To this food-related category, I’d like to add a little note about salsa. Salsa is a vegetable. Or a fruit. It’s mostly made of things I can feel virtuous eating, even if I need a corn chip to transport it to my mouth. Salsa is practically a HEALTH FOOD. And I was in the southwest. LUCKY ME!

In California, at least where I’m from, salsa is composed of tomatoes, onions, jalapeños or some other variety of pepper, cilantro, and salt. Depending on the ratios used and the way it’s diced up, you can either make a pico de gallo type chunky salsa, or a regulation, dip your chips, kind of puree…

But oh, my god, each place where we stopped to eat from Arizona to New Mexico to Texas had a different kind of salsa. Some involved cooked tomatoes, some green chiles or chipotles instead of jalapeños. Some came to the table hot (WTF?), some seemed to be creamy, and some didn’t have tomatoes at all. Some salsas were so spicy they blew the roof off my mouth (thank you Track One in El Paso! Delicious!) and some tasted like tomato soup and made me long for a grilled cheese sandwich.

I’d add Bloody Mary’s here to this category, what’s better than salsa you can drink. I take mine without alcohol thank you, but with some big, pimiento-stuffed green olives speared on a little saber, please!

Keep on keeping on, Salsa Makers. Space is vast and the universe infinite. There is room for all of us in the quest for the perfect condiment.

4. Camaraderie. Doing anything with my daughter is amazing. I always enjoy spending time with my kids, but taking my recently graduated lit major daughter to a romance writers convention where she got to see what I do for a living (and meet some of the people who make it possible) was very exciting. She took a picture of Jayne Ann Krentz over my shoulder (because I was signing across from her) and posted it to social media. Of course I was a starstruck, babbling idiot. My daughter was like…where do I recognize that name from…?

5. Working it! I got a new picture taken for my author bio, and I unveil it here. What was mostly a whim because of a chance meeting with Marti Corn, a photographer taking appointments for pictures of the attendees, which turned into an absolutely fabulous morning of me trying not to feel stiff as a board while I sat for a photo shoot in the Menger Hotel (a haunted, and hauntingly beautiful place). Everyone should have a Marti to take their picture. Click here for her website.

She made me look (and feel) so pretty. She took a whole bunch of pictures, and in the end, we settled on five that I wanted to keep. This one, which I’ll be using for my official portrait, and a couple just for fun, including a fun barefoot shot I had her make for my hubby…

And YES!

There is a new ZAM book out! You can find out everything you need to know about Home The Hard Way by following along the Blog Tour. Follow along for a chance to win! CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS!

Warning: This ain’t your usual ZAM book.

 

Tuesday Teasers with guest author Lloyd Meeker

Welcome to Tuesday Teasers with ZA Maxfield! This week we have author Lloyd Meeker joining us!

Fans of Teaser Tuesdays know what’s going to happen here:

I’ll post a snippet from one of Lloyd Meeker’s books with the character names asterisked out.

Your mission is to guess which of Lloyd’s books the excerpt comes from! Email your answer to me,  zamaxfield (at) zamaxfield DOT com. Please be sure to put “Teaser Tuesday” in the subject line! I’ll draw a random winner each week. It’s that simple! Come play along… If you guess correctly, you’ll be entered to win a prize!

Here’s a little bit about Lloyd:

Lloyd Meeker can’t help what he writes – stories arising from the between places, the mystical overlapping between the worlds of matter and spirit, and the eldritch beauty that dwells there. It’s his natural habitat.

He’s in love with the adventure and magic of living there, loves plunging into stories full of both, and wants to take you along. Mostly he’s in love with love, and believes deeply in the power of love to overcome any challenge. He’s known it in his own life, and seen it in the lives of others.

In addition to his written work, which includes novels, essays, poetry and short stories, he has served since 2008 as a judge in the Queer Foundation’s annual National High School Seniors Essay Contest, which promotes effective writing by, about, and/or for queer youth, and awards scholarships to the winners. Finalists are selected from schools across the United States by members of the National Council of Teachers of English.

Happily ensorcelled by music, subtle energy healing, and the wonders of nature, he lives with his very understanding husband in southern Florida, among friends and family, orchids, and giant hibiscus that take his breath away every morning.

You can find out more about Lloyd on Facebook, Twitter, his website, or email him.

HERE’s the snippet:

“Have you ever mated in spirit-body?”

A shudder of rising desire surprised ***. “No.” His voice was low, hungry. “Not yet.”

“I will show you. Come.” Together they floated to the grass. “We sit facing each other. Like this.” He sat cross-legged and beckoned to ***. “You sit close. Closer. Put your legs over mine. Yes. Put your feet behind my back. Yes. I put mine behind you. Put your arms on my shoulders. Yes.”

At first touch, ***’s breath caught. He whimpered, wild with excitement, and leaned forward for a long kiss.

******* broke the kiss with a smile, gazing into ***’s eyes. “I hold your waist, draw you closer so you sit on me, and our spirit- bodies unite.”

Their eyes held, unwavering, deep. *** gasped with pleasure. “Oh! It feels just like—”

“Yes. Exactly like. Closer than bone and flesh, than breathing. It is good. Now we embrace. Tighter. Yes.”

Only the fires of first touch, of joining were familiar to ***. Then nothing was at all like anything he had felt before. He couldn’t bear his own ecstasy, yet knew it without effort, just as he knew *******’s. They formed one being, one matrix of power, one undulating wave on the vastness that lifted them, drowning them.

He became vast, permeable, fluid, gas, solid, a tree’s memory, desire fierce as a hawk’s cry. His body/not-body was denser than stone, or quick and diaphanous, wild and mercurial. He sighed, and his breath blossomed into brilliantly feathered birds that soared away in a breath-taking flashing of wings, bringing the feast of his lover’s tongue back to him, sweet as ripe fruit dripping, *******’s breath becoming the same birds, nesting and mating in his throat.

The ***** itself gathered them up in their laughter and lunging play, binding them together with ropes of stars, firing their bodies into untraceable arcs, wheels of light and shadow, giving and receiving.

It stretched them glittering across the rough floor of scorching deserts, snaring them in cactus and brush, it calmed them in the icy violence of thunderheads, pressed them together into melting lava, a mountain, a valley, a well, into veins of glowing quartz, sharp fingers of clarity racing through crushing mass, triumphant and free.

******* was a volcano and *** an ocean meeting him, infinite welcome. He evaporated and condensed again around the heat of newborn rock, caressing him with his eternal waves.

Then, helpless and all-powerful, all his chakras flowered open, his body swelled, failing to contain his essence, bursting open into stars rising in a spiral fountain, twining together, together melting and falling—into spent ash, soil, stone, silent water, root, rest—complete.

In a long, slow return to himself, his senses reorganized into familiar patterns. He stared at *******, but couldn’t form words. He ran his hands up *******’s arms to his shoulders, gave up trying to speak, and buried his face in his neck.

“Now we are united not only by your action in my childhood, ***, but also by our loving,” ******* murmured, stroking ***’s hair. “*** and ******* have both chosen this—together now in a good way. Because of this our paths will cross often, and well.”

~ * ~ * ~

Thanks for joining us, Lloyd!

If you think you know what book this excerpt came from, don’t forget to email ZAM at zamaxfield (at) zamaxfield DOT com with your guess!

Sunday Brunch Blog – 7/27/2014

Once again it’s time for the weekly Sunday Brunch with ZA Maxfield! This week, we have one awesome friend joining us! Please welcome EM Lynley and Lloyd A. Meeker!

This week’s question is: “Do you remember the first movie you ever saw? What was it, and how did you feel?”

***BIG NEWS*** From now on, instead of the ebooks we’ve been awarding as prizes, I’ll be giving out a $5.00 Amazon gift card so readers can use it for the ebook (or other Amazon purchase) of their choice. All you have to do is comment below for your chance to win!

First up we have Lloyd A. Meeker!

Fantasia came to Loveland, the Colorado town closest to the farm where I was born, some time in the fifties and I was included in a carload of kids organized to go see it. While going to a movie was a big deal for us all in itself, Fantasia blew the doors off my imagination. Happily I don’t think I’ve ever recovered the doors! I’m very grateful. The movie changed the way I experience music, that’s for sure. Just the orchestra warm-up made me shiver.

The abstract shapes that rolled across the screen to Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor somehow rewired all my circuits. Each of the episodes gave me something, including the perfect object lesson provided by Schubert’s Ave Maria, that of how dull being “holy” must be.

In contrast, Night on Bald Mountain was pretty hot, the harpies had red nipples. Rites of Spring was awesome with the doomed dinosaurs, Dance of the Hours was fun, as was Tchaikovsky’s Nutckracker. I loved Beethoven’s Sixth, even at my tender age I thought the muscular centaurs were mighty fine. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice scared the snot out of me. Another object lesson — this time about being a naughty boy!

There may have been other musical segments, but those are the ones I remember fifty some years later. Overall, I hit just about every color on the emotional spectrum that an eight year-old kid can experience, and I came away with a completely rearranged sense of what was possible in stories, and certainly a new feel for music and ideas coming together.

Buy Links for The Companion

Dreamspinner Press Ebook | Dreamspinner Press Print

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Thank you to EM and Llyod for joining us this week!

Sunday Brunch Spotlight with Jeff Adams

Once again it’s time for the weekly Sunday Brunch with ZA Maxfield! This week, we have a special Sunday Brunch Spotlight with Jeff Adams. In addition to our weekly Sunday Brunch question, Jeff has kindly answered a few more questions for us! Jeff’s book, Hat Trick 2: Playing the Rebound releases today!

This week’s question is: “Go back in time and change one thing. What do you think will happen?”

***BIG NEWS*** From now on, instead of the ebooks we’ve been awarding as prizes, I’ll be giving out a $5.00 Amazon gift card so readers can use it for the ebook (or other Amazon purchase) of their choice. All you have to do is comment below for your chance to win!

Here’s Jeff’s answer to the Sunday Brunch Question of the Week!

Hmmm. I’m not sure I can do this. I’ve watched way too much Star Trek in my life and have seen the ramifications of playing with time travel. Save Edith Keeler, the Nazis take over the world. Rarely does good come from time travel, even though bringing whales from the 80s into the future seemed to work out okay. I suppose if I could go back and change something and know that I wouldn’t wreck the universe, or lose the things I love about my life, I would make sure that humans took care not to cause global warming. The whacky weather of the past few years is not fun.

Now, on to the other questions!

Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions for our readers. Tell us a little about yourself.

Thanks for letting me come to brunch, ZAM! I’m thrilled to be here. Here’s the quick rundown on me: husband, author, Detroit Red Wings / Pittsburgh Penguins follower, occasional hockey player, cyclist, musical theatre and dance fan and I’m an internet project manager to pay the bills. My husband and I relocated across the country just this month after fifteen years in New York City. We’ve escaped the big city and settled in Humboldt County California, back to where met in the late 90s.

When you start a book, do you already have the whole story in your head or is it built progressively?

With the sequels to Hat Trick, I find I now fall somewhere in between a plotter, figuring the whole thing out ahead of time, and a pantser, where I just make it up as I go. The major plot points of the two sequels were mapped out before I wrote too much, but how I got from point A to B was made up on the fly. Sometimes that meant some minor adjustments to point B, but overall Hat Trick 2 ended up where I thought it would. We’ll see if that holds true for three.

For stories outside the Hat Trick universe, however, I’m a pantser all the way becuase I really enjoy making it up as I go. It keeps it intereesting and I can always refine for timeline and continutinty in edting.

When and why did you begin writing?

I started writing a bit in middle school. It was in 10th grade that I really took off though becuase I had a wonderful English teacher, Janice Winokur, who turned me on to writing and Shakespeare. I eventually majored in journalism and worked in the field for a decade. Throughout that I dabbled on short stories, which few people ever saw, because I simply enjoyed creating. For a while in the early 2000s, I also co-edited and wrote for a literary magazine that I created with a good friend from college (that mag still exists at www.thefirstline.com). I finally started publishing my own stuff in 2009 with some shorts at Dreamspinner and JMS Books. In 2013, I moved to being a novelist with the young adult novel Hat Trick and today my new adult follow-up, Hat Trick 2: Playing the Rebound debuts, also from JMS.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Writing physical altercations is difficult. I can make characters verbally fight pretty easily, but if punches need to be thrown, or even more, it’s something that I have to consider carefully, and read over a lot, to make sure it visualizes well.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Keep writing! And keep learning the ins and outs of publishing so you’re able to always professionally present yourself and your work. Also, find people, both other writers and readers, you can trust to beta read and give you truthful, constructive feedback. Lastly, research publishers so you know which ones publish the type of stories you write so you’ll know where to submit. Or, read up on self publishing and publish your own work.

What do you like to read?

Since I’m writing a lot of young adult and new adult these days, I’m tending to read those genres pretty heavily. I also pick up m/m books that feature hockey players since, besides covering the Red Wings, I’m the literary editor for PuckBuddys.com. I read a lot of other stuff too, but right now those are my most read categories. I have to admit, however, that when I’m in writing mode I tend to read less. It’s sad, but true.

Will you write more about these characters?

Yes. As I alluded to earlier, there will be a third novel in the Hat Trick series. I’m currently about half-way through the first draft.

There’ll also likely be a couple short stories likely to happen as well. Back in late December 2013 I did a short story that gave a brief glimpse of Simon and Alex, the lead characters, in their freshman year at University of Michigan. It served as a nice bridge between them being high school seniors in Hat Trick and college sophomores in Hat Trick 2. I see a similar story to give a glimpse of them as juniors since the third novel will have them as seniors. It’s possible there may be another short story after book three that catches up with them after college too.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

There are a couple of common themes in the Hat Trick novels: life is better when you’re able to be your true self and the importance of true friends. There may be strife, but knowing yourself, being yourself and finding good friends can help you get through to the other side.

About Jeff Adams:

Jeff Adams caught the writing bug in middle school and finally became a novelist with the Hat Trick series. He’s also got short stories published with JMS Books and Dreamspinner Press. Jeff and his husband Will left the hustle and bustle of New York City to return to the more peaceful lifestyle of Humboldt County, California, during the summer of 2014, which should allow for more time to write. Extending his love of hockey beyond novels, Jeff covers the Detroit Red Wings, as well reviews LGBT books that feature hockey, for PuckBuddys.com. To know more about Jeff, visit jeffadamswrites.com and follow him on Twitter at @hockeyguynyc.

You can find out more about Jeff on  Twitter, his website, on Amazon, or on Goodreads! You can find out more about Hat Trick on the official website or Facebook page! Hat Trick 2: Playing the Rebound can be purchased now from JMS Books!

Thank you so much for joining us, Jeff!

Sunday Brunch Blog – 7/13/2014

Once again it’s time for the weekly Sunday Brunch with ZA Maxfield! This week, we have one awesome friend joining us! Please welcome A. Morell and JP Barnaby!

This week’s question is: “What’s the best invention ever and why?”

***BIG NEWS*** From now on, instead of the ebooks we’ve been awarding as prizes, I’ll be giving out a $5.00 Amazon gift card so readers can use it for the ebook (or other Amazon purchase) of their choice. All you have to do is comment below for your chance to win!

First up we have JP Barnaby!

The best invention ever traces back to 1450′s Germany with the printing press. An automated physical (arguably portable) representation of ideas to share across the civilized world. A forerunner to the the internet and the global sharing of information, innovation, and porn.

Buy Links for A Heart for Robbie

Dreamspinner Press Ebook | Dreamspinner Press Print | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | All Romance eBooks

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Next up is A. Morell!

I’ve given it a lot of thought, and I’m gonna have to go with the waffle.

If you think about it, they’re a work of simple genius, and quite beneficial to our present society of environmental awareness. They’re basically edible plates—what’s better for the environment than edible food containers?

Of course, they’re more than just conveyors of butter and syrup. Some of them hold ice cream. Or chicken. Then there’s the waffle-cut french fry. What other form of potato can deliver maximum potential dipping sauce per bite? The waffle even inspired some intrepid soul to invent the Choco Taco. Tacos! For dessert! And you can’t forget about their delicious, indolent cousin, the funnel cake. What’s a carnival or amusement park without them? I’m also fairly certain that if there is a heaven, at least one small corner of it smells like freshly made waffle cones at all times.

So yeah, waffles. Other than that, maybe Scrivener.

Buy Links for Change of Fortune:

Dreamspinner Press 

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Thank you to A. and JP for joining us this week!

Tuesday Teaser with guest author Wade Kelly

Welcome to Tuesday Teasers with ZA Maxfield! This week we have author Wade Kelly joining us!

Fans of Teaser Tuesdays know what’s going to happen here:

I’ll post a snippet from one of Wade Kelly’s books with the character names asterisked out.

Your mission is to guess which of Zane’s books the excerpt comes from! Email your answer to me,  zamaxfield (at) zamaxfield DOT com. Please be sure to put “Teaser Tuesday” in the subject line! I’ll draw a random winner each week. It’s that simple! Come play along… If you guess correctly, you’ll be entered to win a prize! Wade has graciously offered an ebook copy of any book off her backlist!

Here’s a little bit about Wade:

Wade Kelly lives and writes in conservative, small-town America on the east coast where it is not easy to live free and open in one’s beliefs. She writes passionately about the controversial issues witnessed in real life and strives to make a difference by making people think. Wade does not have a background in writing or philosophy, but still draws from personal experience to ponder contentious subjects on paper. When not writing, she is thinking about writing, and more than likely scribbling ideas on sticky notes in the car while playing “taxi driver” for her three children. She likes snakes, and has a tegu (lizard) living in her bathroom.

HERE’s the snippet:

“Here, hold this.” I handed my beer to **** and sat next to *****. The prospect of kissing this guy shot sparks of tingling desire through me, but I had to play it cool. No way was I getting hard and giving the girls the wrong impression. This was a game. I wasn’t gay.

I questioned ******* with a look. “Am I kissing him or is he kissing me?”

Before she could answer, ***** took hold of my chin and turned my head to face him. He planted his lips firmly on mine and lingered before pulling back with a sigh. “Nice. You willing to take it further?” ***** asked, teasing my lips with a swift flick of his tongue. His pale blue eyes were firebrands.

Helplessly, I nodded and leaned in. All my nervous energy from before transformed into a surge of adrenaline. I had to have more of that mouth.

The girls squealed in delight, but I ignored them as *****’s hot mouth connected with mine again. ***** curled his fingers into my neck and pulled me closer. He parted his lips, and I slipped my tongue inside his mouth, taking control of the kiss and causing ***** to moan. This was so fucking good. As our tongues clashed, I felt a deep need to fuck like I’d never felt before.

I turned him on the sofa and leaned in, pushing him against the back of the couch. He whimpered and moved his hand down my neck and onto my chest. His warm palm rested over my pectoral muscle, and it made me want to flex for him, but I didn’t. As soon as I thought about it, he pinched my nipple and those tingles I felt all over my skin intensified. My body was humming in ways I hadn’t expected, and I conjured up thoughts of doing things I didn’t expect. Instinctively, I moved my leg over *****’s knee and angled my hips a smidgeon. Oh God, I need friction. I gripped his shoulder with one hand as I held the side of his neck with the other, but man-oh-man did I want to touch myself or rub against his leg a little. Anything.

***** felt unbelievably good against me.

As if it was the most natural thing in the world, I slid my fingers into the short hair behind *****’s ear and that was when someone commented, “Jeez, you were right. ****’ll fuck anything.” The sound of an unfamiliar female voice behind me uttering such a toxic comment squelched my unexpected hunger, but I controlled my resentment. It was far better to ignore the comment and pretend it hadn’t happened than cause a scene and draw unwanted attention to the fact that I was hard as hell and seconds from dry-humping *****’s leg. If I was cool about it, maybe ***** and I could slip off somewhere.

I slowed my pace, kissing him gently, and pulled back as if nothing were amiss. The heady look in *****’s eyes stroked my ego, so I winked at him before facing the gathering throng of horny women.

~ * ~ * ~

Thanks for joining us, Wade!

If you think you know what book this excerpt came from, don’t forget to email ZAM at zamaxfield (at) zamaxfield DOT com with your guess!