L.A. Witt's Blog, page 10

NOW AVAILABLE: Unhinge the Universe

It's finally here! The first book Aleksandr Voinov and I wrote together, Unhinge the Universe, is now available from Riptide Publishing, and is also on AllRomance, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Rainbow ebooks.




SS Lieutenant Hagen Friedrichs is the sole survivor of a party sent to retrieve his brother—and the highly sensitive information he’s carrying—from behind enemy lines. But his daring rescue attempt fails, and Hagen becomes the prisoner.

Allied command has ordered Captain John Nicholls to extract critical intelligence from their new Nazi POW. His secrets could turn the tide of the war, but are they real? John is determined to find out . . . and to shatter the prisoner who killed his lover during the attack on their tiny base. The deeper he digs, though, the more he realizes that the soldier under the SS uniform is just like him: a scared, exhausted young man who’s lost loved ones and just wants to go home.

As captor and captive form an unexpected bond, the lines quickly blur between enemy, friend, and lover. And as horrifying rumors spread from the front lines and American soldiers turn their sights on the SS for vengeance, John may be Hagen’s only hope for survival.

COMING SOON: Unhinge the Universe

Today, Aleksandr Voinov and I were finally able to reveal the cover and blurb for our upcoming World War II historical novel, Unhinge the Universe. It's currently available for pre-order from Riptide Publishing, and will be released July 15.
We're both really excited about this one. It's my first foray into World War II (certainly not Aleks's -- if y'all haven't read Skybound , YOU MUST), and it was the first book we wrote together when we formed our unholy alliance last fall. It's got all kinds of fun stuff: men in (and out of) uniform. Two snarly Alphas who don't want to play nice and definitely don't want to back down. A captor and captive who are never quite sure who's really in charge. 
There's also a bathtub involved at some point. Just sayin'.

Give me one fixed point and a long enough lever, and I'll unhinge the universe. — Archimedes.

December 1944 – The Battle of the Bulge 

SS Lieutenant Hagen Friedrichs is the sole survivor of a party sent to retrieve his brother—and the highly sensitive information he’s carrying—from behind enemy lines. But his daring rescue attempt fails, and Hagen becomes the prisoner. 

Allied command has ordered Captain John Nicholls to extract critical intelligence from their new Nazi POW. His secrets could turn the tide of the war, but are they real? John is determined to find out . . . and to shatter the prisoner who killed his lover during the attack on their tiny base. The deeper he digs, though, the more he realizes that the soldier under the SS uniform is just like him: a scared, exhausted young man who’s lost loved ones and just wants to go home.

As captor and captive form an unexpected bond, the lines quickly blur between enemy, friend, and lover. And as horrifying rumors spread from the front lines and American soldiers turn their sights on the SS for vengeance, John may be Hagen’s only hope for survival.

NOW AVAILABLE: Finding Master Right

Finding Master Right is now available from Riptide Publishing, and can also be purchased from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and AllRomance Ebooks. (other links will be added to my website as they're available)

It's all fun and games until somebody falls in love. 

Chase has just arrived at a much anticipated leather convention, and he’s about to lose his mind. Not only is his ex attending, but Chase is also rooming with Derek, a submissive he’s been dying to top. Although Derek is in search of a Dom, he made it painfully clear when the two of them hooked up for a very hot—but very vanilla—night just before the convention that he wasn’t interested in submitting to Chase. 

Derek isn’t stupid. No matter how desperate he is to submit to Chase, he wants no part of a rebound relationship. As long as Chase is still pining after the sub who broke his heart a few months ago, Derek’s keeping him at arm’s length. Besides, there’s another Dom at this convention, the gorgeous Master Raul, who Derek is determined to attract. 

But when Chase and Derek are confronted with all their kinks, from ropes to leather, bondage to flogging—not to mention each other—they can only ignore their mutual attraction for so long.

Some long overdue updates (again)...

Wow. I really need to stop slacking on my blogs. I've been saying that for a while, I know. I'm trying, I swear!! :)

So here are some updates and what's coming up over the next few months.

If you're in the UK and will be attending the UK LGBT Fiction Meet-Up, I'll be there along with my lovely partner in crime and co-author, Aleksandr Voinov. After the meet-up, Aleks and I are going to kick around London for a while before jetting off to Germany and Poland for some on-location World War II research.

I'll also be going to Toledo Pride in Ohio on August 24th, and GayRomLit in Atlanta in October. If you're at any of those events, do come say hello!

Now, what about books? Well, there are a few of those coming down the pipe...

For one, I'm now co-authoring with the amazing Cat Grant, and we're wrapping up our first book, a Navy SEAL story called The Only One Who Knows. That one will be available from Samhain Publishing in late 2013/early 2014; keep an eye on this site for updates.

Aleks and I are releasing our fourth Market Garden book,  If It Fornicates , which will be available from Riptide Publishing on June 10th. The following week, on the 17th, you can grab my kinky little leather convention romance,  Finding Master Right .

Aleks and I also have our first historical, Unhinge the Universe, coming out this summer; details on that one coming very, very soon.  August will be another double-hitter, with Market Garden #5,  Capture & Surrender , and The Distance Between Us #3, Meet Me in the Middle. And then in September, both Tooth & Claw #3, The United & The Divided, and Tucker Springs #6, After the Fall, will be released.

Now you can see why I've been so busy these last few months! LOL

What about the future? Well, Aleks and I have a number of books lined up and ready to write as soon as we've both finished some solo projects, and Cat and I are plotting and scheming to join forces again as well. Some other co-authored projects are being bounced around too, but you'll just have to wait for details on those. ;)  And of course, there will be plenty of solo books, too. Lauren Gallagher might even be writing a bit more in the near future.

So for the next month or so, I'm still plowing through a few projects before my workload is a bit more manageable, and then I SWEARZ I'll be updating these things more often!

A word about out-of-print titles...

A few readers have noticed lately that a number of my books have disappeared from various sites such as Amazon and AllRomance, and folks have e-mailed me with questions regarding their future availability.  So, I wanted to address those questions and update everyone on the status of those books.

The biggest question is, will the books be available in the future? In short, yes, they will.

Several are already with editors for facelifts, though the publishers have not yet been determined for all of them. Some will be self-published and some will be reprinted through other houses. As contracts have not yet been signed and plans have not yet been finalized, I can't name names or give out dates, but rest assured that plans are very much in the works. Announcements will be made as soon as I'm given the green light, or have made the final decision to self-publish this or that title.

In short, my backlist is absolutely not going away. Some older titles will disappear for a little while to visit the edits-and-cover-art spa, and then they'll return.  When they do, some will have added material, such as extended epilogues. There's even a very good possibility of some brand spanking new sequels.

As of the date of this blog, the following titles are temporarily unavailable:

By L. A.:
Cover Me
Trust Me
Search Me
The Best Man
Noble Metals

By Lauren:
Between Brothers
The Next Move
Until It's Over
Cold Feet in Hot Sand
Light Switch
Reconstructing Meredith
What This Woman Wants
Disengaged

Please visit my website (http://www.loriawitt.com) for updates and additional information.

NOW AVAILABLE: The Princess and The Porn Star

The Princess and the Porn Star  is now available from Samhain Publishing! It's currently on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes, and should be up on sites such as AllRomance very soon.

Also, Blogger has decided it doesn't want to let me copy and paste the blog without jumping through eleventy billion formatting hoops, so in the meantime, the blurb can be found here. I'll keep trying...

America: Put Up or Shut Up

This is not a political blog, and I usually don't drag politics onto it, but I've been chewing on this post for a while. So, here we go...

Okay, I think I speak for pretty much every American when I say that our current political climate sucks. It really does. The general consensus seems to be that our legislators—mostly career politicians—are out of touch with the lives of the American people. All over the country, hand-wringing and earnest political discussions pepper meals, car rides, water cooler conversations, and social media. Everyone’s worried, everyone’s upset, and everyone knows exactly what the problem is.


“Congress,” we all say with knowing nods. “They’re corrupt, and greedy, and out of touch. Just a bunch of rich white guys looking to get themselves re-elected and have their pockets lined by big corporations.” And then we shake our fists at the sky because Congress sucks and there’s (allegedly) nothing we can do about it.
I’m not here to argue that Congress is a room full of misunderstood saints. Quite the contrary. What I want to point out is the thing that doesn’t help any of us: Armchair legislators. We all have solutions in mind, and we all know what Congress shouldbe doing, and we’re all angry about the things Congress is doing. Usually it’s the fault of those from the other political party, so the Republicans point at the Democrats, the Democrats point at the Republicans, and not a damned thing gets done. Kind of like in Congress.
The thing is, folks, for all we want to fix America, we’re collectively not doing very much about it.
According to Wikipedia, there were 33 seats up for grabs in the U.S. Senate during the 2012 election. When the votes were tallied, 21 of those seats went to incumbents. In 2010, 21 of 34 seats also went to incumbents.
In two elections, with 67 opportunities, we elected 25 new Senators and kept 42 incumbents.
The 2012 results in the Houseweren’t much better. In the state of Arkansas, there were four seats up for grabs with three incumbents running. All three were re-elected. Out of California’s 53 seats, only 7 representatives lost their re-election, and 35 incumbents won (remaining seats were either new seats or representatives who didn’t seek re-election). In over half of the states and all U.S. territories, every incumbent seeking re-election won.  Only New Hampshire saw a complete turnover, with both incumbents losing re-election. Overall, only 26 incumbents lost.
Let’s read that again:
In more than half of the states, and all U.S. territories such as Guam and Puerto Rico, every incumbent seeking re-election won.
So, for all we complain about Congress being the problem and Congress not getting the job done… we’re, um, not doing a heck of a lot to change it.
Seriously. What should we do if our legislators suck? Quite simply, stop re-electing them.
Let me draw your attention back to the above figures.
67 chances for new Senators. 25 new Senators obtained.  Over half of the states re-electing 100% of their incumbents to the House. We complain that Congress is the problem, and yet we were only compelled to vote out 26 representatives.
Now, do all of those legislators suck? Of course not. Heaven help us if they did. But if Congress really isn’t doing what we expect Congress to do, why do we keep re-electing the majority of the people in Congress?
If a legislator is awesome and ethical and actually doing their job, then by all means, keep them. But I find it hard to believe that the vast majority of our legislators are awesome and ethical and actually doing their jobs, or we wouldn’t all be complaining about how Congress isn’t getting anything done.
So what do we do if they’re not doing what we elected them to do?
Vote. Them. Out.
Okay, but what happens when that legislator runs against someone who’s even worse? Or what happens when they run unopposed?
That, my friends, is where we need to step up. This is where the government needs to start being a bit more “by the people.” Those words weren’t meant to be lip service. We as American people have a responsibility to make sure we are governed “by the people,” and that doesn’t mean “by someone else who hopefully won’t screw me over.”  It doesn’t mean “by the Democrats or the Republicans, depending on who has the majority.”
It means us. It means you, it means me. It means we need to run, and it means we need to vote. When the options on the ballot are not good enough, then there is only one solution left:
We need to get our butts out of our armchairs and put those butts into the seats currently occupied by the butts of irresponsible, unethical, corrupt, and dishonest politicians.
If we want to see things change, we need to make those things change. We are not without power, and we are not without responsibility. I don’t think it’s enough to call your congressman. I don’t think it’s enough to write to your congressman. I don’t think it’s enough to pass around memes on social media and hold up signs at demonstrations.
Don’t call your congressman. Be your congressman.
Think about it. There are 33 or 34 seats in the U.S. Senate up for grabs every four years. In the House, there are 435 seats. That means that in 2014, there are 468 opportunities for American citizens to occupy seats in the United States Congress.
Four hundred sixty-eight seats, folks.
And that’s not counting all the seats available in state legislatures.
You want things to change? You want your voice heard?
Then do something.
Get off your butt and get on the ballot. Don’t have a lot of money for a campaign? Use social media. Contact your local media. Work together to promote a potential candidate. Make some noise, folks! We live in a time of unprecedented ability to transmit and receive information. If a music video can get millions of hits on YouTube and turn someone into a global celebrity virtually overnight, then there’s no reason a potential candidate can’t reach their voters, get noticed, and get elected.
If the only way someone can get elected in this day and age is still to be a rich, party-backed candidate who charms and smooth-talks his way into the hearts of voters, then we have no one to blame but ourselves, the voters who allow ourselves to be won over like that. We can reach people, and we the people can be reached.
“But I can’t run for Congress! I’m not a politician or a lawyer!”  You don’t need to be. There is no such requirement to get into Congress. And we don’t need more politicians or lawyers. We need people who are willing to raise their voices, rattle some cages, and approach legislation from the point-of-view of the people who will be affected the most by that legislation: everyday Americans.
We need people who will raise unpopular measures like Congressional term limits and pay cuts, forcing those in Congress to decide if holding onto that cushy paycheck is worth the backlash when it comes time for re-election. The only way things like that will pass is via Constitutional amendments, which means someone with a butt in a chair in Congress needs to get the ball rolling. We can start all the online petitions we want, but if we want something like this to actually happen, it needs to make it into Congress. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a lot of faith in our current seat-occupants that someone will propose, let alone push, something like that.
“But I don’t know how to be a good politician/Congressman/etc!” Quite frankly, neither do the people currently occupying Congress. We need our voices to be heard by Congress, and at this point, I think that means getting a few of us intoCongress. We don’t need to be experts on political strategy and smooth-talking to see when a bill—and the people discussing it—don’t have our best interests in mind.
And whether you get yourself on the ballot or not, vote!
Seriously, people. Vote!Don’t like the incumbent running in your district? Vote him or her out!  Research your candidates. Read about them. Vote for the person whose ideas align with your own, not the one who looks slick in a suit and kisses babies for the camera. Vote for the one who’s as tired as you are of the way things are, not the one who happens to be in the same political party you usually vote for. Vote for someone because he or she makes sense, not because he or she has a catchy slogan and shiny campaign signs.
If you can’t take the time to know who you’re voting for and make an informed, responsible decision, then don’t take up my time complaining about how Congress isn’t doing what they’re elected—and paid—to do.
So let’s say people get off their butts and get elected. Now what?
Now it’s time to get to work. Time to rattle some cages and get some stuff done. Such as?
For starters, since they can only happen via Constitutional amendments, I propose:·         Congressional term limits.·         A significant pay cut for legislators and the President.
What if these don’t pass?  Well, voting records are public. If your congressman doesn’t like the idea of a pay cut or a term limit and can’t offer a satisfactory explanation, or if you simply don’t like how he votes on issues that matter to you, he doesn’t have to be re-elected.
So, Lori. Are yougoing to put up or shut up too?  Yes, I am. Residency requirements are proving to be a sticky wicket after I’ve moved several times thanks to the military, and I will likely move again between now and the 2014 election. However, if I can iron out those details, I will be putting my name out there as well. 
In closing, I think we’ve all had enough, and it’s time to make some changes. If we can’t rely on our legislators to make those changes—and judging by the incumbency rate, I’d say most of them have had ample opportunity—then we need to get in there and do it ourselves. Which means we need to get ourselves on the ballots, and we need to stop voting in the same old faces who apparently can’t get a damned thing done.
It’s time, America. Put up or shut up.

Back in the Saddle

Yes, I'm still planning to post pics from my London trip. When? I'm not sure. Hopefully before I go back in July, though.

But I just had to share the latest adventure that's beginning over here in Omahatropolis. As I'm sure I've mentioned on this blog before, I grew up riding horses. Somewhere between driver's licenses and adulthood, life sort of intervened, and I didn't ride so much anymore. Then I got married and moved away, and have never had the means to have a horse since then. I did briefly ride a friend's horse in 2005, and showed him once, but that was the last time I got on a horse.

It's been almost eight years, y'all. When horses are in your blood like they're in mine, that is a long, long time.

So last week, I was poking around at some ads for horses, and had an epiphany: I could afford to get (and maintain) a horse.

After some prodding from some enablers -- er, friends -- I decided to just do it.

I went to visit a farm yesterday where there were several horses available for lease. A few of them seemed nice enough, but didn't really pique my interest.

Then I saw this face looking back at me.
And I was a goner.

Long story short, I am now the proud lessee of Jesse, a 6 year-old Appendix Quarter Horse gelding. Though I'm not 100% convinced of his breeding. He has no papers, after all, so we're just sort of guessing. What I do know is that he runs like a thoroughbred, stops and turns like a quarter horse, trots like an Arab, and gets into everything like a Morgan.  So he's probably just a big ol' mutt.

I don't care. I adore him.   
He's got a lot of crappy training that needs undoing, but with some time and patience, he'll get there. I'm not looking to show him (though I might take him to some small local shows next year just for the hell of it), and he's not mine to sell, so I'm not in any hurry. We'll just take it easy, and a little at a time, fix the bad habits he has on the ground and under saddle.

It feels so good to literally be back in the saddle after too many years. Now, horses are time-consuming, of course, especially those that need some training. There's also the 35-minute drive each way to visit him. Chances are, working with him will cut into my writing time. I'm already figuring on reducing my daily quota to 4,000 words on the days I work with him.

But I'm okay with that. I've been running myself into the ground, and have been spending too much time at my desk. Jesse will be that balance I so desperately need. Will stories come out a little slower? Probably. But I think they'll be stronger because I will have a clearer mind, not to mention the exercise which I sorely need. Just being around a horse, especially one like him, is insanely therapeutic for me. The simple act of walking into a barn calms me down.

So in the end, between Jesse and traveling, I think there will be fewer words this year, but they'll be better words because I'll be in a better state of mind.

If anyone needs me, I'll be at the barn...

NOW AVAILABLE: Covet Thy Neighbor and Test Drive

Two new releases this week!!

First,  Covet Thy Neighbor , book #4 in the Tucker Springs series, is available from Riptide Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, AllRomance Ebooks, and Rainbow Ebooks.

Opposites attract, but heaven help these two.

Tattoo artist Seth Wheeler thinks he’s struck gold when Darren Romero rents the apartment across the hall. The new guy is gorgeous, witty, and single, plus he’s just the right blend of bold and flirtatious. Perfect.

Except then Darren reveals that he moved to Tucker Springs to take a job as the youth pastor at the New Light Church. Seth is not only an atheist, but was thrown out by his ultra-religious family when he came out. He tends to avoid believers, not out of judgment but out of self-preservation.

But Darren doesn’t give up easily, and he steadily chips away at Seth’s defenses. Darren is everything Seth wants in a man . . . except for that one massive detail he just can’t overlook. Is Darren’s religion the real problem, or is it just a convenient smoke screen to keep him from facing deeper fears? It’s either see the light, or risk pushing Darren away forever.

Also, Test Drive, a contemporary short story, is available from Amber Allure. Additional links will be added here as they are available. This story is part of the Office Affairs Amber Pax, and can be purchased individually or along with the other stories by Heidi Champa, Christiane France, Sean Michael, and Anne Brooke here.

Sean Waters is down on his luck thanks to the economy, and winds up working for his domineering father’s car dealership. It’s not the greatest job, but it’s a paycheck. The only problem? He’s got a wicked crush on the general manager, Jackson Shaw.

When Jackson suggests a drive in one of the brand new sports cars, Sean has no idea it’s not the car Jackson really wants to take for a spin.

They both need this job, though, and the boss isn’t keen on employees getting involved with each other. But it’s just a lusty little crush anyway, so they can move on and pretend nothing ever happened.

Can’t they? 

The Clampetts go to London, Part 1

So I've been incredibly remiss in blogging about my ongoing visit to the United Kingdom. I had planned to blog at least every other day, and now I've been here a full week, and not a single blog post besides this one. What the hell, author lady?

I do have a legitimate excuse, though. Seriously. You see, every day, we come back from sightseeing and pretty much faceplant within a five-foot radius of our bed, and don't wake up until it's time to fling ourselves towards the train station the next morning. I'm telling you, I haven't slept this well in years. And, yeah, okay, I've been uploading pictures and putting them on Facebook, but I've been borderline catatonic with exhaustion most nights and haven't had the brain cells to compose a coherent post. The jury's still out on whether this post -- written while I'm taking a day off from traveling -- will make any sense. So just blame my fatigue if this post suddenly horse potato couch laserbeam kitten squirrel.

But Lori, you guys are supposed to be on vacation. This is true. We are on vacation. And the vacation is doing what it's supposed to do, which is recharging my brainbits and pouring gallons of inspiration into my skull. I'm itching to write like I haven't itched to write in ages, and this itch won't be treated by any over-the-counter ointments. I need to write, yo!  The only casualty to this recharging is my body, which is currently aching in places I didn't know existed and is, according to my guesstimates, approximately five pounds lighter than it was when I stepped off the plane a week ago. The reason for all of that can be summed up in two words: Aleksandr Voinov.

You see, Aleks is a resident of this fine city, and is not a big believer in doing things halfway. When I asked him to show Eddie and me around London, I had no idea that we would be seeing a month's worth of London in the space of a week. No joke. Since we've been here, we have:

Visited the Churchill war rooms.Toured the London Museum, the British Museum, the National Army Museum, the Maritime Museum, the Museum of Natural History, and the science museum.Attended a play in the West End, which starred James McAvoy, and yes we met him afterward (squee!). Explored Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, and God knows where else.Visited at least half a dozen bookstores.Seen Big Ben (sorry, the clock tower containing the bell that is called Big Ben), Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and the Thames from several angles.Logged God only knows how many miles on the Underground (aka, the subway). Saw Django Unchained.Visited a Templar church, an old church near the spot where William Wallace died, and the Salisbury Cathedral.Visited the Roman baths in...Bath.VISITED FREAKING STONEHENGE.Visited, boarded, and didn't get kicked off Cutty Sark.Got high off chocolate fumes at M&M World in Piccadilly.In a week. One. Week. All of this while moving on trains and our own feet (plus a bus for the stuff outside London).  Because Aleks has, in his own words, turned sightseeing into an extreme sport. (For the record, he's been as thrilled as we are whenever a bench comes into sight and we have the chance to sit for a few minutes, so we're not the only ones with slightly tender hooves.)
So how is London? 
Well, it's big. It's crowded. It's kind of terrifying in some ways because it IS so big and crowded. And I really, really, really don't want to leave.  Kind of weird when you consider I've never been a fan of cities, and even Seattle grates on my nerves after a while, but I like this place. I've only been here a week and I'm already planning my next visit this summer. Never thought I'd say this about a huge city, but I could totally live here. 
But what the hell is a travel post without some pictures, am I right?  We've already taken a good 1,000 or so photos, and I'm finally getting my butt in gear and cropping them, resizing them, etc.  So stay tuned...photo post is coming very, very soon. 
And just to tide you over until I have a chance to post all of those pics, here is a shot of my husband being...well...