Sara Daniel's Blog, page 24
September 20, 2015
Cool Dessert and Hot Book! #recipe @DominiEastwick #BlackHillsWolves @DecadentPub
Guest Post from Dominique Eastwick
Italian Raspberry Torte
1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
2/3 cup sugar & ¼ cup sugar
¾ cup sour cream
½ cup butter, melted
2 eggs
½ tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. almond extract
1 8 oz pkg. cream cheese, softened
2 cups fresh raspberries
Fresh mint sprigs (optional)
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease a 9" springform pan: set aside.
Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl combine 2/3 cup sugar, ½ cup sour cream, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and ¼ tsp. almond extract with an electric mixer.
Add flour mixture to sugar mixture. Beat until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake 15 minutes. Remove partially baked cake from oven and place on wire rack.
In a new bowl beat cream cheese and ¼ cup sugar with an electric mixer until smooth.
Beat in remaining sour cream and almond extract.
Spoon cream cheese mixture over top of partially baked cake, Spread mixture carefully to edges. Return cake to oven. Bake 20-25 mnutes or until top is set and edges are brown.
Place cake on wire rack. Mound berries on cake, pressing some of the berries gently into cake top.
Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of cake from pan.
Cool 30 minutes more. Remove sides of pan.
Serve chilled. Add mint sprigs, if desired.
Makes 12-16 servings
Nothing goes better with a cool dessert than a hot book. Here's a peek at my latest erotic release. I hope you enjoy it.
The mysterious and intimidating lone wolf, Z, has returned to Los Lobos. Descended from a long line of gifted yet secretive shifters known as Infiltrators, his people are the spies of the shifting world, rarely seen and harder to track.
Ripley Greystone has a big problem—her pack is Alpha-less and a local coyote band knows it. The safety of her pack rides on trusting Drew, the new Alpha of the Black Hills Wolves. But, admitting the reason for needing his help isn’t something she’s quite ready to do.
Drew senses there’s more to Ripley’s request to join his pack than what she leads him to believe. There’s only one way to know for sure—send an Infiltrator to spy on Ripley and her pack.
Forced to infiltrate her pack to discover its hidden secrets and protect it from the coyotes determined to claim the she-wolves for themselves, Z finds more than he expects—all the while fighting the need to claim Ripley as his mate.
EXCERPT
A hairsbreadth divided them, and it took all the willpower he processed to fight the building desire to pull her into his arms. Her breathing quickened, and as he gazed into her blue eyes, her raw sensuality forced him deeper into the cavernous pit he’d fallen in when he’d first seen her.
The words came out on a whisper. “You feel it, too, don’t you?”
“This attraction?” Z raised an eyebrow.
She closed her eyes. “It won’t work. I have secrets you could never understand.”
“We all have secrets,” he said then gave in to his animal nature and claimed her lips, though touching her nowhere else. He burned himself into her, forcing her to recant her words of denial.
It will work. He didn’t know how, but he didn’t think he could walk away from these feelings again. Having ensured the Greystones posed no threat to the Tao Pack, he could make his top priority the safety of his mate. His second would be to figure out the logistics of having a mate not of his pack.
Her deep groan rumbled through him, and every thought but Ripley faded. Passion swirled and something new, something different…something more, accompanied by a fizz running along his spine and through his nervous system, charging his powers. The urge to howl grew.
Get your copy of Black Hill Wolves Infiltrating her Pack from Amazon .
Award-Winning author Dominique Eastwick currently calls North Carolina home with her husband, two children, one crazy lab and one lazy cat. Dominique spent much of her early life moving from state to state as a Navy Brat. Because of that, traveling is one of her favorite pasttimes. When not writing you can find Dominique with her second love…her camera.
Learn more about Dominique Eastwick on her website , blog , and Amazon author page . Be sure to join her Newsletter for up to the minute info on new releases, contests, and more.
Stay connected on Twitter , Tublr , Tsu , and Pinterest ..
Italian Raspberry Torte
1 ¼ cup all purpose flour½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
2/3 cup sugar & ¼ cup sugar
¾ cup sour cream
½ cup butter, melted
2 eggs
½ tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. almond extract
1 8 oz pkg. cream cheese, softened
2 cups fresh raspberries
Fresh mint sprigs (optional)
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease a 9" springform pan: set aside.
Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl combine 2/3 cup sugar, ½ cup sour cream, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and ¼ tsp. almond extract with an electric mixer.
Add flour mixture to sugar mixture. Beat until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake 15 minutes. Remove partially baked cake from oven and place on wire rack.
In a new bowl beat cream cheese and ¼ cup sugar with an electric mixer until smooth.
Beat in remaining sour cream and almond extract.
Spoon cream cheese mixture over top of partially baked cake, Spread mixture carefully to edges. Return cake to oven. Bake 20-25 mnutes or until top is set and edges are brown.
Place cake on wire rack. Mound berries on cake, pressing some of the berries gently into cake top.
Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of cake from pan.
Cool 30 minutes more. Remove sides of pan.
Serve chilled. Add mint sprigs, if desired.
Makes 12-16 servings
Nothing goes better with a cool dessert than a hot book. Here's a peek at my latest erotic release. I hope you enjoy it.
The mysterious and intimidating lone wolf, Z, has returned to Los Lobos. Descended from a long line of gifted yet secretive shifters known as Infiltrators, his people are the spies of the shifting world, rarely seen and harder to track.Ripley Greystone has a big problem—her pack is Alpha-less and a local coyote band knows it. The safety of her pack rides on trusting Drew, the new Alpha of the Black Hills Wolves. But, admitting the reason for needing his help isn’t something she’s quite ready to do.
Drew senses there’s more to Ripley’s request to join his pack than what she leads him to believe. There’s only one way to know for sure—send an Infiltrator to spy on Ripley and her pack.
Forced to infiltrate her pack to discover its hidden secrets and protect it from the coyotes determined to claim the she-wolves for themselves, Z finds more than he expects—all the while fighting the need to claim Ripley as his mate.
EXCERPT
A hairsbreadth divided them, and it took all the willpower he processed to fight the building desire to pull her into his arms. Her breathing quickened, and as he gazed into her blue eyes, her raw sensuality forced him deeper into the cavernous pit he’d fallen in when he’d first seen her.
The words came out on a whisper. “You feel it, too, don’t you?”
“This attraction?” Z raised an eyebrow.
She closed her eyes. “It won’t work. I have secrets you could never understand.”
“We all have secrets,” he said then gave in to his animal nature and claimed her lips, though touching her nowhere else. He burned himself into her, forcing her to recant her words of denial.
It will work. He didn’t know how, but he didn’t think he could walk away from these feelings again. Having ensured the Greystones posed no threat to the Tao Pack, he could make his top priority the safety of his mate. His second would be to figure out the logistics of having a mate not of his pack.
Her deep groan rumbled through him, and every thought but Ripley faded. Passion swirled and something new, something different…something more, accompanied by a fizz running along his spine and through his nervous system, charging his powers. The urge to howl grew.
Get your copy of Black Hill Wolves Infiltrating her Pack from Amazon .
Award-Winning author Dominique Eastwick currently calls North Carolina home with her husband, two children, one crazy lab and one lazy cat. Dominique spent much of her early life moving from state to state as a Navy Brat. Because of that, traveling is one of her favorite pasttimes. When not writing you can find Dominique with her second love…her camera.Learn more about Dominique Eastwick on her website , blog , and Amazon author page . Be sure to join her Newsletter for up to the minute info on new releases, contests, and more.
Stay connected on Twitter , Tublr , Tsu , and Pinterest ..
September 17, 2015
A Light in the Desert #softthriller from @amontgomery8
I'm delighted to introduce you to my author friend Anne Montgomery. Anne is visiting today with her new release A Light in the Desert, an intriguing Soft Thriller novel I think you'll enjoy.
A Light in the Desert traces the story of a pregnant teenager who bears an odd facial deformity, a Vietnam veteran and former Special Forces sniper who, as he descends into the throes of mental illness, latches onto the girl, and a group of Pentecostal zealots – the Children of Light – who have been waiting over thirty years in the Arizona desert for Armageddon.
The Amtrak Sunset Limited, a passenger train en route to Los Angeles, is derailed in their midst’s, a deadly act of sabotage. Their lives are thrown into turmoil when local and state police, FBI investigators, and a horde of reporters make camp by the twisted wreckage of the Sunset Limited. As the search for the saboteurs continues, the authorities find more questions than answers. The girl mysteriously vanishes, the assassin struggles to maintain his sanity, and a child is about to be born in the wilderness.
EXCERPT
Most of the two hundred and forty-eight passengers on the Sunset Limited were asleep when David Flowers – weaving slightly as the sleeper car rattled along at fifty miles-per-hour – moved along the passageway en route to the bathroom. At the end of the car he saw Mitchell Bates, a twenty-year Amtrak veteran.
“Don’t forget to get me up when we get to Palm Springs,” the passenger said. “Don’t wanna sleep through my stop.”
“Don’t worry about a thing,” Bates responded, smiling. “That’s what they pay me for.”
Two cars back, Kelly sat wide awake, fingers cupped around her eyes, the outside edges of her hands pressed tightly to the window. She could see the moonlit desert careening by, the scattered mountains black against a star-filled night sky. She felt the gentle rolling of the car: a strangely pleasant feeling. A sense of calm surrounded her, maybe because, for the first time since her father died, there were other people who cared about her. Kelly glanced over at Miranda, still engrossed in a two-month-old, dog-eared issue of Glamour Magazine. Had her mother ever had a friend?
Up in the cab, the engineer watched as the massive headlight bathed the track ahead in bright white light. He’d been on this run hundreds of times. A curve that would lead the train onto a trestle that spanned one of the deeper washes between Phoenix and L.A. was just ahead. The headlight blazed – a star shooting in the darkness – wrapping the track in light as harsh as any clear desert day.
But the damage was under the rails where no light could penetrate.
****
Ramm was driving on the dirt road that would take him back to the cabin. That edgy, too-much-caffeine feeling gripped him again. He should be on the train, the one protecting Kelly. Had he made a mistake contacting the watchers, which meant he had put himself in play again? The community in which he’d worked for so many years was relatively small and there was always the possibility that word had spread about the debacle in Jerusalem. By contacting the watchers, he might have put himself in jeopardy, which could also bring harm to those around him.
Ramm’s head began to pound, the migraine accompanied by a hazy aura. His psychological state was fluctuating. How long could he stay ahead of the problem without medication? What if he blacked out again? What if he was hospitalized and people started checking on him?
Feeling impotent, powerless, Ramm jammed on the breaks. The truck skidded to a stop on the soft shoulder where blacktop and dirt merged at the turnoff. He rubbed his face hard then gripped the steering wheel. When he looked up and peered through the windshield, Ramm blinked several times, confused.
There, in the night sky before him, floating in a spectral light, was Kelly’s face. Ramm squinted, shutting his eyes tight, then looked again. The ghostly image was still there, hovering before him, her troubled visage beckoning him to follow. She merged
with paintings and sculptures – the mother of Jesus in all her quiet grief, the face of Mary on the shimmering white marble of Michelangelo’s St. Peter’s Pieta, on Raphael’s Madonna del Granduca, her desolate melancholy depicted by Masaccio, Veneziano, and countless other artists through time.
Ramm painfully unclenched his hands from around the steering wheel. The suddenness of the bright light caught him off guard. His first reaction was to grab for the loaded Glock he kept under the front seat, but when the glare splashed past him, followed by the steady beat of the passing railcars, he relaxed.
Then, an unexpected wave of heat engulfed Ramm, and he pushed open the cab door and stepped out, breathing deeply, trying to clear his head. The noise hit him like a blow, shattering the desert calm, causing Ramm to reflexively drop to the ground. He lay there listening to the calamitous groaning, a ghastly noise that washed over him like a rogue wave.
To read more from A Light in the Desert please click a vendor's name:
Sarah Book Publishing - Amazon - Barnes & Noble
Anne Montgomery has worked as a television sportscaster, newspaper and magazine writer, teacher, amateur baseball umpire, and high school football referee. She worked at WRBL‐TV in Columbus, Georgia, WROC‐TV in Rochester, New York, KTSP‐TV in Phoenix, Arizona, ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut, where she anchored the Emmy and ACE award‐winning SportsCenter, and ASPN-TV as the studio host for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. Montgomery has been a freelance and staff writer for six publications, writing sports, features, movie reviews, and archeological pieces.
When she can, Anne indulges in her passions: rock collecting, scuba diving, football refereeing, and playing her guitar.
Learn more about Anne Montgomery on Wikipedia . Stay connected on Facebook , Linkedin , and Twitter .
A Light in the Desert traces the story of a pregnant teenager who bears an odd facial deformity, a Vietnam veteran and former Special Forces sniper who, as he descends into the throes of mental illness, latches onto the girl, and a group of Pentecostal zealots – the Children of Light – who have been waiting over thirty years in the Arizona desert for Armageddon.The Amtrak Sunset Limited, a passenger train en route to Los Angeles, is derailed in their midst’s, a deadly act of sabotage. Their lives are thrown into turmoil when local and state police, FBI investigators, and a horde of reporters make camp by the twisted wreckage of the Sunset Limited. As the search for the saboteurs continues, the authorities find more questions than answers. The girl mysteriously vanishes, the assassin struggles to maintain his sanity, and a child is about to be born in the wilderness.
EXCERPT
Most of the two hundred and forty-eight passengers on the Sunset Limited were asleep when David Flowers – weaving slightly as the sleeper car rattled along at fifty miles-per-hour – moved along the passageway en route to the bathroom. At the end of the car he saw Mitchell Bates, a twenty-year Amtrak veteran.
“Don’t forget to get me up when we get to Palm Springs,” the passenger said. “Don’t wanna sleep through my stop.”
“Don’t worry about a thing,” Bates responded, smiling. “That’s what they pay me for.”
Two cars back, Kelly sat wide awake, fingers cupped around her eyes, the outside edges of her hands pressed tightly to the window. She could see the moonlit desert careening by, the scattered mountains black against a star-filled night sky. She felt the gentle rolling of the car: a strangely pleasant feeling. A sense of calm surrounded her, maybe because, for the first time since her father died, there were other people who cared about her. Kelly glanced over at Miranda, still engrossed in a two-month-old, dog-eared issue of Glamour Magazine. Had her mother ever had a friend?
Up in the cab, the engineer watched as the massive headlight bathed the track ahead in bright white light. He’d been on this run hundreds of times. A curve that would lead the train onto a trestle that spanned one of the deeper washes between Phoenix and L.A. was just ahead. The headlight blazed – a star shooting in the darkness – wrapping the track in light as harsh as any clear desert day.
But the damage was under the rails where no light could penetrate.
****
Ramm was driving on the dirt road that would take him back to the cabin. That edgy, too-much-caffeine feeling gripped him again. He should be on the train, the one protecting Kelly. Had he made a mistake contacting the watchers, which meant he had put himself in play again? The community in which he’d worked for so many years was relatively small and there was always the possibility that word had spread about the debacle in Jerusalem. By contacting the watchers, he might have put himself in jeopardy, which could also bring harm to those around him.
Ramm’s head began to pound, the migraine accompanied by a hazy aura. His psychological state was fluctuating. How long could he stay ahead of the problem without medication? What if he blacked out again? What if he was hospitalized and people started checking on him?
Feeling impotent, powerless, Ramm jammed on the breaks. The truck skidded to a stop on the soft shoulder where blacktop and dirt merged at the turnoff. He rubbed his face hard then gripped the steering wheel. When he looked up and peered through the windshield, Ramm blinked several times, confused.
There, in the night sky before him, floating in a spectral light, was Kelly’s face. Ramm squinted, shutting his eyes tight, then looked again. The ghostly image was still there, hovering before him, her troubled visage beckoning him to follow. She merged
with paintings and sculptures – the mother of Jesus in all her quiet grief, the face of Mary on the shimmering white marble of Michelangelo’s St. Peter’s Pieta, on Raphael’s Madonna del Granduca, her desolate melancholy depicted by Masaccio, Veneziano, and countless other artists through time.
Ramm painfully unclenched his hands from around the steering wheel. The suddenness of the bright light caught him off guard. His first reaction was to grab for the loaded Glock he kept under the front seat, but when the glare splashed past him, followed by the steady beat of the passing railcars, he relaxed.
Then, an unexpected wave of heat engulfed Ramm, and he pushed open the cab door and stepped out, breathing deeply, trying to clear his head. The noise hit him like a blow, shattering the desert calm, causing Ramm to reflexively drop to the ground. He lay there listening to the calamitous groaning, a ghastly noise that washed over him like a rogue wave.
To read more from A Light in the Desert please click a vendor's name:
Sarah Book Publishing - Amazon - Barnes & Noble
Anne Montgomery has worked as a television sportscaster, newspaper and magazine writer, teacher, amateur baseball umpire, and high school football referee. She worked at WRBL‐TV in Columbus, Georgia, WROC‐TV in Rochester, New York, KTSP‐TV in Phoenix, Arizona, ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut, where she anchored the Emmy and ACE award‐winning SportsCenter, and ASPN-TV as the studio host for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. Montgomery has been a freelance and staff writer for six publications, writing sports, features, movie reviews, and archeological pieces. When she can, Anne indulges in her passions: rock collecting, scuba diving, football refereeing, and playing her guitar.
Learn more about Anne Montgomery on Wikipedia . Stay connected on Facebook , Linkedin , and Twitter .
September 15, 2015
Tugging on my Heartstrings with Reunited Lovers and Reunion Stories #amwriting #storyconflict
My Love Affair with Reunion StoriesBy Sara Daniel
Half of the books I’ve written are reunion stories in one form or another. The One Night with the Bridal Party series kicks off by reuniting two lovers in
One Night with the Bride
. Caroline plans to grit her teeth and marry a guy she feels nothing for, but when given the chance to check out the only man she’s ever loved… well, she’s only going to look and satisfy her curiosity, not dump her fiancé for her true love. Uh huh. I’m already cheering for the past lovers to get back together.
Oh, and don’t worry about that guy she feels nothing for that she’d been planning to marry. He’s been emotionally unavailable for fifteen years since he and his high school love went their separate ways after a heartbreaking tragedy. He gets a reunion story too in
One Night with the Groom
.
Reunion stories of past lovers work because they’re so powerful. The story has inherent conflict. The couple either left each other for a reason or were torn apart in the past. Those unresolved issues don’t fix themselves. They remain and often grow bigger over time because the past conflicts become magnified by the hurt and pain of their years apart. But the characters are still wildly attracted to each other and long to relive the intimacy they’d once shared.
My latest release in the bridal party series is
One Night with her Husband
. As the title suggests, the two characters have a history and a connection and are looking for one last chance to either make their relationship work or split apart forever. Their angst, emotion and vulnerability are sky high. Because I want them to have a happily ever after and I know they won’t achieve it without each other, I’m rooting every step of the way for them to reunite in an everlasting love.
One Night with her Husband
She walked away from her marriage seven years ago...Marcia Johnson always assumed her husband would follow her eventually. She’d achieve success while she waited and prove her decision the right one. But when he finally turns up, she’s not ready. Her career hangs in the balance, and her weight has skyrocketed. How can she face the man she loves and show him she made the right choice? Especially when he’s matured from a decent-looking college student into the sexiest man she’s ever seen.
He’s waited seven years for his wife to finally need him…If Adrian Torres can save her business, maybe he’ll have a shot at saving their marriage. But the woman he finds is too competent and independent to ask him for help. She even shrugs off his touch instead of reacting with the desire he hoped to ignite. Have the embers of their marriage finally died? Is it time to end their relationship and move forward?
He wants a divorce…Her world ripped apart, Marcia turns to 1Night Stand to give her one more night before she lets Adrian go. She dares not hope for more. Even Madame Eve couldn’t have the magic to save their neglected disaster of a relationship…could she?
Amazon All Romance eBooks Kobo Google Play iBooks
Half of the books I’ve written are reunion stories in one form or another. The One Night with the Bridal Party series kicks off by reuniting two lovers in
One Night with the Bride
. Caroline plans to grit her teeth and marry a guy she feels nothing for, but when given the chance to check out the only man she’s ever loved… well, she’s only going to look and satisfy her curiosity, not dump her fiancé for her true love. Uh huh. I’m already cheering for the past lovers to get back together.
Oh, and don’t worry about that guy she feels nothing for that she’d been planning to marry. He’s been emotionally unavailable for fifteen years since he and his high school love went their separate ways after a heartbreaking tragedy. He gets a reunion story too in
One Night with the Groom
.
Reunion stories of past lovers work because they’re so powerful. The story has inherent conflict. The couple either left each other for a reason or were torn apart in the past. Those unresolved issues don’t fix themselves. They remain and often grow bigger over time because the past conflicts become magnified by the hurt and pain of their years apart. But the characters are still wildly attracted to each other and long to relive the intimacy they’d once shared.
My latest release in the bridal party series is
One Night with her Husband
. As the title suggests, the two characters have a history and a connection and are looking for one last chance to either make their relationship work or split apart forever. Their angst, emotion and vulnerability are sky high. Because I want them to have a happily ever after and I know they won’t achieve it without each other, I’m rooting every step of the way for them to reunite in an everlasting love.
One Night with her Husband
She walked away from her marriage seven years ago...Marcia Johnson always assumed her husband would follow her eventually. She’d achieve success while she waited and prove her decision the right one. But when he finally turns up, she’s not ready. Her career hangs in the balance, and her weight has skyrocketed. How can she face the man she loves and show him she made the right choice? Especially when he’s matured from a decent-looking college student into the sexiest man she’s ever seen.
He’s waited seven years for his wife to finally need him…If Adrian Torres can save her business, maybe he’ll have a shot at saving their marriage. But the woman he finds is too competent and independent to ask him for help. She even shrugs off his touch instead of reacting with the desire he hoped to ignite. Have the embers of their marriage finally died? Is it time to end their relationship and move forward?
He wants a divorce…Her world ripped apart, Marcia turns to 1Night Stand to give her one more night before she lets Adrian go. She dares not hope for more. Even Madame Eve couldn’t have the magic to save their neglected disaster of a relationship…could she?
Amazon All Romance eBooks Kobo Google Play iBooks
September 13, 2015
Taken by the Billionaire Alien Next Door - #NewRelease from @jsubject #sfr
Taken by the Billionaire Alien Next DoorBy Jessica E. SubjectErotic Sci-Fi RomanceISBN: 978-0-9948431-0-4Living on the other side of the tracks was a fantasy Erika never expected to come true. But when her mother marries an investment banker, she moves to a home larger than all her previous houses combined. While searching for her new stepbrother to help with unpacking, she stumbles upon his smokin’ hot neighbor, all alone in his mansion and busy at work on a… flying saucer? Can Erika escape before he notices her, or will she be abducted by the sexy alien?
Available from: Amazon US / UK | All Romance | Nook | Play | iBooks | Kobo
Excerpt“What exactly do you think I am, Miss Erika?”
“An alien.” There, I’d said it, and I expected him to laugh in my face and deny it.
Instead, he placed his hands behind his back and stepped nearer. “And what if I am?”
My breath caught. “I….” I should have kept my mouth shut. No, I should have waited for Barron to text a reply, never come over to the neighbor’s house. Now, I was stuck in a basement hangar with a flying saucer and a guy who could be from another planet.
Laken inched closer, and closer still. I moved along with him until my back hit a wall on the other side of the room. Trapped. Trying to duck away wouldn’t do me any good. He’d only race around and block my way again. My heart beat so hard, I expected it to thump right out of my chest. Would he let me go, or did he have other plans? If I screamed loud enough, would someone come to my rescue?
Leaning forward, he placed his palm on the wall behind me. “What if I told you I knew the instant you came into this room?” He ran his other hand along my cheekbone, tucking my hair behind an ear. “What if I told you I could feel your attraction, smell your sex?”
A shiver raced down my spine. Sure, I wanted to jump his bones before I’d seen his eyes. Now, I yearned for a way out, a clear path to escape from Mr. Sex-on-a-stick who may or may not be an extraterrestrial.
He dipped his head so close to mine, his warm breath brushed my neck. A flash of heat washed over me. Fuck, it had been so long since I’d been with any guy. Did it really matter where he came from?“What if, Erika? If I am an alien? Would you still find me attractive? Would you still want to lick me from head to toe? Suck my cock? Would you want me to fuck you against this wall, in my spaceship, and on every single surface of this room?”
About the AuthorJessica E. Subject is the author of science fiction romance, mostly alien romances, ranging from sweet to super hot. Sometimes she dabbles in paranormal and contemporary as well, bringing to life a wide variety of characters. In her stories, you could not only meet a sexy alien or two, but also clones and androids. You may be transported to a dystopian world where rebels are fighting to live and love, or to another planet for a romantic rendezvous.When Jessica isn't reading, writing, or doing dreaded housework, she likes to get out and walk with her giant, hairy dog her family adopted from the local animal shelter. Jessica lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and two energetic children. And she loves to hear from her readers. You can find her at jessicasubject.com and on twitter @jsubject.Website/Blog | Newsletter | Twitter | FacebookPinterest | Goodreads | Amazon | Authorgraph
Contest!Enter to WIN a $10 Amazon.com or AllRomanceeBooks.com GC from Jessica E. Subject. Contest is international except where prohibited by law. No substitutions will be made. Must be 18 or over to enter.a Rafflecopter giveaway
Nominate your favorite One Night With the Bridal Party romances for TRR Readers' Choice Awards @DecadentPub
Friends, I need your help!Two of my One Night With the Bridal Party books are up for The Romance Reviews (TRR) Readers' Choice Awards.
One Night With Her Husband is contending in the Erotic Romance - Contemporary category, and One Night With His Wife is contending the Erotic Romance - Western category.
Both books need 50 nominations by September 30th to move to the next level. You will have to create an account with TRR if you don't already have one. (It's fast and easy!) Then click on the link for One Night With Her Husband, and click on the blue bar at the top of the page. Finally, repeat for One Night With His Wife.Thank you SOOOO much for all your support!
One Night With Her Husband -- http://erotic.theromancereviews.com/viewbooks.php?bookid=18953
One Night With His Wife -- http://erotic.theromancereviews.com/viewbooks.php?bookid=18952
September 10, 2015
Friends for Life #TrueFriendship @ValaKaye #YALit #paranormal
Guest Post by by Vala Kaye
“Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart” ― Eleanor Roosevelt
Not all the people you meet during your teen years will become your BFFs, but if you’re very fortunate, one or two might always be with you to share the ups and downs that happen to us as we go through life.
I have two “lifetime” friends. One I met in junior high and the other in high school. One is similar to me in temperament, while the other couldn’t be more different. We’ve shared school experiences; engagements, marriages and divorces; the birth of children; and the deaths of grandparents, parents and siblings.
Those are the big things, the huge emotional highs and lows that only time and the love and caring of true friends can help see you through. But we’ve also always been there for one another through the smaller things in life, everything from movie nights and mid-terms to concerts and cooking disasters.
When I was working on my YA paranormal novella, Ghost Writer, I gave my main character, Malden, a friend named Ashley. They go to the same school and I suspect they’re truly BFF’s. When I was writing the scenes where Malden and Ashley, though physically separated by hundreds of miles, are online in their school’s student chat room, I thought about how my friends and I sound when we’re filling each other in on “the latest.” Not only do we talk about what’s happening to us and what we’re feeling, but sometimes we also pick up on what our lifetime friends aren’t saying, what they’re holding inside because they’re afraid of being embarrassed or laughed at.
Because we love them, we have to gently remind them just who they’re talking to. With a lifetime friend, they’re safe. And it’s okay to share anything.
Here is a short intro to my YA Paranormal. I hope you enjoy it.
Tech-savvy teen Malden Montgomery leaves New York City anticipating nothing but boredom when her artist-mother brings her along on a two-week vacation to a family inn in rural Virginia.
What Malden doesn't expect is the owner's 17-year-old son, Jackson, who is totally to-die-for cute. But does she dare believe him when he tells her that her room at the inn may be haunted by a young woman named Emily, who died there more than 150 years ago?
Then Emily begins to communicate with Malden and she and Jackson realize they have to find a way to help Emily's ghost come back home or risk a spirit's wrath if they choose to leave her lost in the darkness forever.
Read more about Ghost Writer on Amazon .
Vala Kaye grew up in Texas as an avid reader of science fiction, history and romance. Her favorite writers ran the gamut from Robert Heinlein to Margaret Mitchell, and included side journeys with Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women" and The Hardy Boys mysteries.
After graduating from college with a double major in Communications and History, Vala now lives and writes in warm and sunny southern California. She is addicted to movies, live theater, word games, salsa dancing and adaptations of the stories of Jane Austen.
In her first published YA novella, Ghost Writer, she explores what happens when a human 'spirit' meets computer technology. Vala's newest title is book #1 of The Superhero Next Door series, Artificial Intelligence.
“Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart” ― Eleanor Roosevelt
Not all the people you meet during your teen years will become your BFFs, but if you’re very fortunate, one or two might always be with you to share the ups and downs that happen to us as we go through life.
I have two “lifetime” friends. One I met in junior high and the other in high school. One is similar to me in temperament, while the other couldn’t be more different. We’ve shared school experiences; engagements, marriages and divorces; the birth of children; and the deaths of grandparents, parents and siblings.
Those are the big things, the huge emotional highs and lows that only time and the love and caring of true friends can help see you through. But we’ve also always been there for one another through the smaller things in life, everything from movie nights and mid-terms to concerts and cooking disasters.
When I was working on my YA paranormal novella, Ghost Writer, I gave my main character, Malden, a friend named Ashley. They go to the same school and I suspect they’re truly BFF’s. When I was writing the scenes where Malden and Ashley, though physically separated by hundreds of miles, are online in their school’s student chat room, I thought about how my friends and I sound when we’re filling each other in on “the latest.” Not only do we talk about what’s happening to us and what we’re feeling, but sometimes we also pick up on what our lifetime friends aren’t saying, what they’re holding inside because they’re afraid of being embarrassed or laughed at.
Because we love them, we have to gently remind them just who they’re talking to. With a lifetime friend, they’re safe. And it’s okay to share anything.
Here is a short intro to my YA Paranormal. I hope you enjoy it.
Tech-savvy teen Malden Montgomery leaves New York City anticipating nothing but boredom when her artist-mother brings her along on a two-week vacation to a family inn in rural Virginia.What Malden doesn't expect is the owner's 17-year-old son, Jackson, who is totally to-die-for cute. But does she dare believe him when he tells her that her room at the inn may be haunted by a young woman named Emily, who died there more than 150 years ago?
Then Emily begins to communicate with Malden and she and Jackson realize they have to find a way to help Emily's ghost come back home or risk a spirit's wrath if they choose to leave her lost in the darkness forever.
Read more about Ghost Writer on Amazon .
Vala Kaye grew up in Texas as an avid reader of science fiction, history and romance. Her favorite writers ran the gamut from Robert Heinlein to Margaret Mitchell, and included side journeys with Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women" and The Hardy Boys mysteries.After graduating from college with a double major in Communications and History, Vala now lives and writes in warm and sunny southern California. She is addicted to movies, live theater, word games, salsa dancing and adaptations of the stories of Jane Austen.
In her first published YA novella, Ghost Writer, she explores what happens when a human 'spirit' meets computer technology. Vala's newest title is book #1 of The Superhero Next Door series, Artificial Intelligence.
September 8, 2015
Submissive on Display #CarnivoreClub #BDSM New Release from @LaylaTarar @DecadentPub
Guest Post by Tara Quan
It’s been an age since I’ve had a new release. Like my heroine Naomi Price, I’d allowed life to get in the way of what I love, resulting in a significant production gap since Fireworks at Midnight came out last year. Perhaps for that reason, I’ve allowed my naughty side to run amuck in Submissive On Display. Part of Decadent Publishing’s 1-Night Stand Series, my interracial BDSM romance is set in Las Vegas at the renowned Carnivore Club, a multi-author world first penned by Kate Richards. Despite my best efforts to be dark and kinky, I only succeeded at the latter. A light-hearted play on the reluctant lovers trope, my novella is a romantic comedy, replete with a Dom in distress, a reluctant submissive on a white horse, and an adorable German shepherd determined to unite the two. To celebrate my return to BDSM romance, I’m giving away a $15 gift card. To enter, leave a comment here and drop your details in the Rafflecopter widget at the bottom of this post. [or at my website: http://www.taraquan.com/submissiveondisplay ]
Submissive on Display by Tara QuanAfter a disastrous engagement and ensuing public breakup knocks him off this year’s list of Boston’s most eligible bachelors, Luka Petrovich’s confidence in women is at an all-time low. With a psycho ex-fiancé stalking him at every BDSM club, he embraces a prolonged hiatus from his social life. The last thing he expects is to fall into bed with his dog’s sexy sitter. Craving more after the first taste, he can’t wait to handcuff her to his bed. There’s one problem—she’s not a submissive. Veterinary student Naomi Price is too busy juggling part-time jobs and a full course- load to have a relationship. Though she’s crushed on her client’s gorgeous owner for close to a year, their accidental night together couldn’t have come at a worse moment. With his sexual preferences fodder for countless tabloid blogs, she knows exactly how to keep this Dominant at an arm’s length. So she tells the biggest lie of her life, turns in her notice, and escapes on a vacation to Las Vegas.At the Carnivore Club, two exhibitionists meet for a one-night stand, unaware their compatibility stretches far beyond a simple limit list. When their identities are revealed, a reluctant sub must face public spanking for her deceit, and accept several delectable wrinkles in her best-laid plans.Genre: BDSM Romance, Romantic Comedy, Interracial/Multicultural
Buy Links: Amazon | ARe | B&N | Decadent | iTunes | Kobo | GoodReads
About the AuthorGlobetrotter, lover of languages, and romance author, Tara Quan has an addiction for crafting tales with a pinch of spice and a smidgen of kink. Inspired by her travels, Tara enjoys tossing her kick-ass heroines and alpha males into exotic contemporary locales, paranormal worlds, and post-apocalyptic futures. Her characters, armed with magical powers or conventional weapons, are guaranteed a suspenseful and sensual ride, as well as their own happily ever after. Learn more at www.taraquan.comWebsite | Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | Goodreads | Pinterest | Amazon
Excerpt Her reflection stared at her, as out of place against the posh background as a mutt at a kennel club. “Why even bother? You don’t belong here.”She’d toyed with the idea of buying new clothes, but logic and frugality had triumphed over vanity. Instead, she’d spent twenty bucks on a sewing kit, double-sided tape, and craft materials. The sleeveless, square-necked, black dress she always packed for emergency parties laced in the front. It took minimal effort to replace the original ribbon with crimson satin, which lent a punch of sexiness to the otherwise nondescript gown. She’d used the same fabric to add a border along the neckline, and temporarily shortened the hem so it cut off an inch under her butt cheeks.With a crocheted red belt around her waist, the outfit approximated a corset and miniskirt. Worn with knee-high, leather boots, some might label her DIY fetish wear creative or flattering. But expensive couture, it was not. Even compared to the uniformed hotel staff, she appeared drab. She didn’t want to know what the other female patrons donned inside the club.Her nose wrinkled as she sniffed her arm and caught the fruity scent of body wash and lotion. No perfume had won over crappy perfume. Wringing her hands, she leaned forward to study her face. The lighting added a coral tinge to her dark skin and gave her tight French braid a nice shine. But she didn’t own any pricey jewelry, and her makeup kit had contained the bare minimum. Drugstore mascara and liner accentuated her eyes, though she could already detect a few smudges. She’d bought her foundation and powder in the summer. While they’d smoothed out her skin tone, the color didn’t quite match her current pallor.The door opened, the reflected flash of red prompting her to spin around. A short Asian woman who appeared about eighteen strolled in. Like the receptionist, she wore a vest over her white dress shirt, which she’d paired with ankle-length black trousers. Sleek ebony hair formed a bun at her nape. A glittering red band covered her skinny upper arm, displaying the acronym DM.“You’re the dungeon monitor?” Cute as a button, the petite teenager look-alike stood as good a chance corralling a misbehaving Dom as a Pomeranian puppy did a full-grown Rottweiler.Flashing two rows of even white teeth, the monitor winked. “I’m tougher than I look. I also carry a Taser. By the way, I’m Kim. You must be Naomi.”Their reflections aligned as she approached. Next to the newcomer’s elfin silhouette, Naomi appeared as a towering mastiff. Her shaky confidence plummeted. Throwing up her hands, she slumped on a nearby leather bench. “Okay. This seals the deal. I’m done with the place.”Kim’s eyes widened before she lowered onto the opposite seat, her skinny ass occupying next to no space. “Umm…. What did I miss?”“Nothing. I’m sorry. I should have figured this out from the website or the lobby or, hell, even the damn transparent elevators. This place isn’t my speed. Not by a long shot.”“But you haven’t entered the club. All you’ve seen is the reception area and hallway.”Naomi pointed at an elaborate floral arrangement in the center of the room. The explosion of tropical flowers included fresh orchids and lilies. “That cost more than my weekly paycheck. It’s being used to decorate a bathroom.”
During the month of September, I have a giveaway going on for a $15 gift card.a Rafflecopter giveaway
It’s been an age since I’ve had a new release. Like my heroine Naomi Price, I’d allowed life to get in the way of what I love, resulting in a significant production gap since Fireworks at Midnight came out last year. Perhaps for that reason, I’ve allowed my naughty side to run amuck in Submissive On Display. Part of Decadent Publishing’s 1-Night Stand Series, my interracial BDSM romance is set in Las Vegas at the renowned Carnivore Club, a multi-author world first penned by Kate Richards. Despite my best efforts to be dark and kinky, I only succeeded at the latter. A light-hearted play on the reluctant lovers trope, my novella is a romantic comedy, replete with a Dom in distress, a reluctant submissive on a white horse, and an adorable German shepherd determined to unite the two. To celebrate my return to BDSM romance, I’m giving away a $15 gift card. To enter, leave a comment here and drop your details in the Rafflecopter widget at the bottom of this post. [or at my website: http://www.taraquan.com/submissiveondisplay ]Submissive on Display by Tara QuanAfter a disastrous engagement and ensuing public breakup knocks him off this year’s list of Boston’s most eligible bachelors, Luka Petrovich’s confidence in women is at an all-time low. With a psycho ex-fiancé stalking him at every BDSM club, he embraces a prolonged hiatus from his social life. The last thing he expects is to fall into bed with his dog’s sexy sitter. Craving more after the first taste, he can’t wait to handcuff her to his bed. There’s one problem—she’s not a submissive. Veterinary student Naomi Price is too busy juggling part-time jobs and a full course- load to have a relationship. Though she’s crushed on her client’s gorgeous owner for close to a year, their accidental night together couldn’t have come at a worse moment. With his sexual preferences fodder for countless tabloid blogs, she knows exactly how to keep this Dominant at an arm’s length. So she tells the biggest lie of her life, turns in her notice, and escapes on a vacation to Las Vegas.At the Carnivore Club, two exhibitionists meet for a one-night stand, unaware their compatibility stretches far beyond a simple limit list. When their identities are revealed, a reluctant sub must face public spanking for her deceit, and accept several delectable wrinkles in her best-laid plans.Genre: BDSM Romance, Romantic Comedy, Interracial/Multicultural
Buy Links: Amazon | ARe | B&N | Decadent | iTunes | Kobo | GoodReads
About the AuthorGlobetrotter, lover of languages, and romance author, Tara Quan has an addiction for crafting tales with a pinch of spice and a smidgen of kink. Inspired by her travels, Tara enjoys tossing her kick-ass heroines and alpha males into exotic contemporary locales, paranormal worlds, and post-apocalyptic futures. Her characters, armed with magical powers or conventional weapons, are guaranteed a suspenseful and sensual ride, as well as their own happily ever after. Learn more at www.taraquan.comWebsite | Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | Goodreads | Pinterest | AmazonExcerpt Her reflection stared at her, as out of place against the posh background as a mutt at a kennel club. “Why even bother? You don’t belong here.”She’d toyed with the idea of buying new clothes, but logic and frugality had triumphed over vanity. Instead, she’d spent twenty bucks on a sewing kit, double-sided tape, and craft materials. The sleeveless, square-necked, black dress she always packed for emergency parties laced in the front. It took minimal effort to replace the original ribbon with crimson satin, which lent a punch of sexiness to the otherwise nondescript gown. She’d used the same fabric to add a border along the neckline, and temporarily shortened the hem so it cut off an inch under her butt cheeks.With a crocheted red belt around her waist, the outfit approximated a corset and miniskirt. Worn with knee-high, leather boots, some might label her DIY fetish wear creative or flattering. But expensive couture, it was not. Even compared to the uniformed hotel staff, she appeared drab. She didn’t want to know what the other female patrons donned inside the club.Her nose wrinkled as she sniffed her arm and caught the fruity scent of body wash and lotion. No perfume had won over crappy perfume. Wringing her hands, she leaned forward to study her face. The lighting added a coral tinge to her dark skin and gave her tight French braid a nice shine. But she didn’t own any pricey jewelry, and her makeup kit had contained the bare minimum. Drugstore mascara and liner accentuated her eyes, though she could already detect a few smudges. She’d bought her foundation and powder in the summer. While they’d smoothed out her skin tone, the color didn’t quite match her current pallor.The door opened, the reflected flash of red prompting her to spin around. A short Asian woman who appeared about eighteen strolled in. Like the receptionist, she wore a vest over her white dress shirt, which she’d paired with ankle-length black trousers. Sleek ebony hair formed a bun at her nape. A glittering red band covered her skinny upper arm, displaying the acronym DM.“You’re the dungeon monitor?” Cute as a button, the petite teenager look-alike stood as good a chance corralling a misbehaving Dom as a Pomeranian puppy did a full-grown Rottweiler.Flashing two rows of even white teeth, the monitor winked. “I’m tougher than I look. I also carry a Taser. By the way, I’m Kim. You must be Naomi.”Their reflections aligned as she approached. Next to the newcomer’s elfin silhouette, Naomi appeared as a towering mastiff. Her shaky confidence plummeted. Throwing up her hands, she slumped on a nearby leather bench. “Okay. This seals the deal. I’m done with the place.”Kim’s eyes widened before she lowered onto the opposite seat, her skinny ass occupying next to no space. “Umm…. What did I miss?”“Nothing. I’m sorry. I should have figured this out from the website or the lobby or, hell, even the damn transparent elevators. This place isn’t my speed. Not by a long shot.”“But you haven’t entered the club. All you’ve seen is the reception area and hallway.”Naomi pointed at an elaborate floral arrangement in the center of the room. The explosion of tropical flowers included fresh orchids and lilies. “That cost more than my weekly paycheck. It’s being used to decorate a bathroom.”
During the month of September, I have a giveaway going on for a $15 gift card.a Rafflecopter giveaway
September 6, 2015
The Evolution of #ScienceFiction - Guest Post by Tom Olbert
Science Fiction – An Evolving Genre
by Tom Olbert
Speaking as a writer who primarily works in science fiction, I am painfully aware that the genre holds extremely limited appeal for the public. The genre has dropped out of popularity. Most of the general public doesn’t take SF seriously. Kid stuff, they assume.
Maybe it started out that way, but the genre is evolving. The science fiction that has won current popularity in books and their big screen adaptations is the sub-genre we call post-apocalyptic science fiction (PASF). Stories that offer tortured young heroes and heroines struggling to find their purpose in dark, dystopian future worlds run by cold, duplicitous adults. And, if aimed and written properly, science fiction can be an excellent canvass for expressing such social themes and depicting characters who thrive in them, because it has no set limits or boundaries.
The writer creates the world that is needed to illustrate the point and to channel the development of the protagonist. The challenge is in making that world seem relevant to an audience that tends to be skeptical of the genre. To be taken seriously, SF has to escape the stigma of glitz and gadgetry and offer stories that are actually character-centered. The setting must frame and present the character, not just use the character to present itself.
One particularly dark and stinging PASF franchise is the CW’s “100” T.V. series, set in a post-war irradiated wilderness grown over the ruins of Washington D.C. Based on the Alloy books by Kass Morgan. A century after a nuclear war, the last survivors of humanity (or, so they think) live under harsh Draconian rule on an orbiting space colony beset by rapidly dwindling resources. They send a hundred of their incarcerated juvenile delinquents down to the surface to find out if it’s habitable. Turns out it is, but already inhabited, by two other groups of survivors. Warlike, savage tribes who live in the forests, and a technologically advanced but isolated society that’s lived inside a mountain bunker for the past 97 years.
Character development is strong and intense, weaving through dark themes of society-building, tribalism, leadership dynamic, and such timeless moral themes as justice, capital punishment, and war. It’s a raw, gritty look at human nature in its purest form, and it spares us nothing. Its strength is definitely in its lead characters. Most notably Clarke, the teenaged daughter of the space colony’s chief medical officer (a mother who betrayed Clarke’s father to execution at the hands of the regime, justifying it for the greater good.)
Thrust into circumstances beyond her control, Clarke reveals natural leadership ability and swiftly rises to power in her group. She soon has to face wrenching moral decisions that seem to echo the dark days of World War II. When the outwardly civilized, seemingly cordial mountain people start performing horrific Mengele-like experiments on the outsiders, draining their bone marrow in hopes of gaining their immunity to the radiation, Clarke must form an uneasy alliance with the savages to save her people. Clarke learns of an impending missile attack from the mountain through a spy she has on the inside, but decides not to warn her people about it, knowing it would tip off the enemy, robbing her side of the critical advantage. She must live with the guilt of her decision as dozens of her friends die a horrible fiery death while she gets herself to safety. A plot-point obviously alluding to Winston Churchill’s alleged similar decision at Coventry. When Clarke’s ally makes her own deal with the enemy, selling Clarke out to save her own people, Clarke must throw away the rule book to save her friends. She takes hostages and personally executes a prisoner just to make a point. When the enemy leader still won’t release her people, she makes the deliberate decision to commit genocide. Her hand pauses dramatically over the switch only a moment before she presses it, releasing deadly radiation into a bunker full of people, including innocent children and conscientious objectors who tried to help her people. The resulting nightmare scene of pleasant, family oriented cafeteria dining dissolving into excruciating death, bodies blistering from the radiation, women and children dying, conjures shades of Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
“I tried to be one of the good guys,” Clarke later tells her mother. “Maybe, there are no good guys, Clarke,” mom replies. It’s not that everyone is out for number one, you understand. They’re all just doing their best to save their own people. Which is, of course worse. The story is a dark mirror of the world in which we live, but the characters have more life than that. We care about them, and they bring the dark lessons to life for us because their pain and conflict and love and hate for each other are potent.
In my SF novella “Black Goddess,” I combined theoretical quantum physics with the dark yearnings of a morally conflicted Gulf War vet who has lost his faith and becomes obsessed with finding the core of darkness at the beginning of time. The story deals with the real-life agony of torture and what it does to the soul, and asks the timeless questions of whether primal evil truly exists, if life is anything but blind chance, and if there is a God. At its core is a simple yearning for love.
Quote:
“Beneath her black head scarf, her dark eyes stabbed through him with a flaming hatred. Then…nothing. Like a black abyss where a soul had been a micro-second before. A strange kind of peace. More than that, a oneness.
That look in her eyes. In his dad’s. It was the same as he’d seen in Lark’s memory…in the eyes of that kid in Uganda who’d held a knife to her throat. But, he hadn’t harmed her. Something had stopped him. When their eyes had met…something in her had pulled him back from the abyss.”
To read more on Black Goddess please click a vendor's name
Mocha Memoirs Press - Amazon
Tom Olbert lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts; cradle of the American Revolution, and home of University egg heads and kooky liberals. He loves it there. His work has most recently appeared in Musa Publishing. Previously in Mocha Memoirs Press, Eternal Press, and such anthologies as Ruthless, Fading Light: An Anthology of the Monstrous, Something Wicked Vol II, In the Bloodstream, and Torched.
When he’s not working or writing sci-fi or horror, Tom volunteers for causes he cares about. He comes from a most interesting family; his mother, Norma Olbert is currently self-publishing a biography of the life of Tom’s dad Stan Olbert, a retired MIT physicist and veteran of the Polish underground during WWII. Tom’s sister Elizabeth Olbert is an artist, art teacher, and avid lover of horses.
Learn more about Tom Olbert on his blog Other Dimensions .
by Tom Olbert
Speaking as a writer who primarily works in science fiction, I am painfully aware that the genre holds extremely limited appeal for the public. The genre has dropped out of popularity. Most of the general public doesn’t take SF seriously. Kid stuff, they assume.Maybe it started out that way, but the genre is evolving. The science fiction that has won current popularity in books and their big screen adaptations is the sub-genre we call post-apocalyptic science fiction (PASF). Stories that offer tortured young heroes and heroines struggling to find their purpose in dark, dystopian future worlds run by cold, duplicitous adults. And, if aimed and written properly, science fiction can be an excellent canvass for expressing such social themes and depicting characters who thrive in them, because it has no set limits or boundaries.
The writer creates the world that is needed to illustrate the point and to channel the development of the protagonist. The challenge is in making that world seem relevant to an audience that tends to be skeptical of the genre. To be taken seriously, SF has to escape the stigma of glitz and gadgetry and offer stories that are actually character-centered. The setting must frame and present the character, not just use the character to present itself.
One particularly dark and stinging PASF franchise is the CW’s “100” T.V. series, set in a post-war irradiated wilderness grown over the ruins of Washington D.C. Based on the Alloy books by Kass Morgan. A century after a nuclear war, the last survivors of humanity (or, so they think) live under harsh Draconian rule on an orbiting space colony beset by rapidly dwindling resources. They send a hundred of their incarcerated juvenile delinquents down to the surface to find out if it’s habitable. Turns out it is, but already inhabited, by two other groups of survivors. Warlike, savage tribes who live in the forests, and a technologically advanced but isolated society that’s lived inside a mountain bunker for the past 97 years.
Character development is strong and intense, weaving through dark themes of society-building, tribalism, leadership dynamic, and such timeless moral themes as justice, capital punishment, and war. It’s a raw, gritty look at human nature in its purest form, and it spares us nothing. Its strength is definitely in its lead characters. Most notably Clarke, the teenaged daughter of the space colony’s chief medical officer (a mother who betrayed Clarke’s father to execution at the hands of the regime, justifying it for the greater good.)
Thrust into circumstances beyond her control, Clarke reveals natural leadership ability and swiftly rises to power in her group. She soon has to face wrenching moral decisions that seem to echo the dark days of World War II. When the outwardly civilized, seemingly cordial mountain people start performing horrific Mengele-like experiments on the outsiders, draining their bone marrow in hopes of gaining their immunity to the radiation, Clarke must form an uneasy alliance with the savages to save her people. Clarke learns of an impending missile attack from the mountain through a spy she has on the inside, but decides not to warn her people about it, knowing it would tip off the enemy, robbing her side of the critical advantage. She must live with the guilt of her decision as dozens of her friends die a horrible fiery death while she gets herself to safety. A plot-point obviously alluding to Winston Churchill’s alleged similar decision at Coventry. When Clarke’s ally makes her own deal with the enemy, selling Clarke out to save her own people, Clarke must throw away the rule book to save her friends. She takes hostages and personally executes a prisoner just to make a point. When the enemy leader still won’t release her people, she makes the deliberate decision to commit genocide. Her hand pauses dramatically over the switch only a moment before she presses it, releasing deadly radiation into a bunker full of people, including innocent children and conscientious objectors who tried to help her people. The resulting nightmare scene of pleasant, family oriented cafeteria dining dissolving into excruciating death, bodies blistering from the radiation, women and children dying, conjures shades of Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
“I tried to be one of the good guys,” Clarke later tells her mother. “Maybe, there are no good guys, Clarke,” mom replies. It’s not that everyone is out for number one, you understand. They’re all just doing their best to save their own people. Which is, of course worse. The story is a dark mirror of the world in which we live, but the characters have more life than that. We care about them, and they bring the dark lessons to life for us because their pain and conflict and love and hate for each other are potent.
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In my SF novella “Black Goddess,” I combined theoretical quantum physics with the dark yearnings of a morally conflicted Gulf War vet who has lost his faith and becomes obsessed with finding the core of darkness at the beginning of time. The story deals with the real-life agony of torture and what it does to the soul, and asks the timeless questions of whether primal evil truly exists, if life is anything but blind chance, and if there is a God. At its core is a simple yearning for love.Quote:
“Beneath her black head scarf, her dark eyes stabbed through him with a flaming hatred. Then…nothing. Like a black abyss where a soul had been a micro-second before. A strange kind of peace. More than that, a oneness.
That look in her eyes. In his dad’s. It was the same as he’d seen in Lark’s memory…in the eyes of that kid in Uganda who’d held a knife to her throat. But, he hadn’t harmed her. Something had stopped him. When their eyes had met…something in her had pulled him back from the abyss.”
To read more on Black Goddess please click a vendor's name
Mocha Memoirs Press - Amazon
Tom Olbert lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts; cradle of the American Revolution, and home of University egg heads and kooky liberals. He loves it there. His work has most recently appeared in Musa Publishing. Previously in Mocha Memoirs Press, Eternal Press, and such anthologies as Ruthless, Fading Light: An Anthology of the Monstrous, Something Wicked Vol II, In the Bloodstream, and Torched.
When he’s not working or writing sci-fi or horror, Tom volunteers for causes he cares about. He comes from a most interesting family; his mother, Norma Olbert is currently self-publishing a biography of the life of Tom’s dad Stan Olbert, a retired MIT physicist and veteran of the Polish underground during WWII. Tom’s sister Elizabeth Olbert is an artist, art teacher, and avid lover of horses.
Learn more about Tom Olbert on his blog Other Dimensions .
September 3, 2015
Her Real-Life Hero #newrelease from @VickiBallante @DecadentPub #BeyondFairytales
Her Real-Life HeroByVicki BallanteA Beyond Fairytales Adaptation of “The Frog King” and “Iron Henry” Blurb:
Joanie wants to get her romances published but can't seem to succeed with her writing. She buys an antique bureau which the shopkeeper says is magic. While using her new bureau, she begins to talk to the hero in her book, asking his advice on writing, all the while thinking it's her own imagination. She promises he can live in her home, eat at her table and sleep in her bed, if he helps her with her writing. She doesn't expect him to knock on her door and insist she keep her promise.
Theo has also bought a magic chest of drawers that brings him into Joanie's life. He wants to settle down with one woman, tired of shallow relationships, and Joanie seems like the perfect candidate if it weren’t for her insistence on getting rid of him.
The magic keeps on forcing them to live together and Joanie’s not happy. This is her first year alone and she’s been craving time to herself after looking after her younger siblings and an ailing aunt. Theo’s presence in her home, although unwanted, stirs up needs she’s suppressed for years. When they start to discover things about the magic and why it’s bringing them together, will Joanie recognize another type of magic at work? Will she succumb to the charm of Theo or will her need for breathing space pull them apart?
Excerpt 1
Theo stood up and moved toward her. How could he think that coming closer to her would help? A stifled feeling choked her throat as his maleness cloaked her. Tingles ran up and down her spine and her body screamed for him to touch her shoulders, to run his hands down her arms, to cradle his body against hers. Her body betrayed all common sense. How could she be so attracted to a stalker?She turned to face the window, staring out at the leaf-covered ground. “I told you to get out.”“This isn’t me. You can believe it all you like. I don’t enjoy going around making women my wives. I’m going to take a walk home. If you think it will work, I will withdraw my wish and remove my belongings from the chest of drawers.”She shrugged again and kept her back to him, unable to look at him, to take in those magnetic features. She sensed his breath upon her neck. Sensed his hurt. Deep inside she knew he was innocent, so why did she persecute him?“Bye.” His last words echoed in the room as she heard his footsteps retreat and the kitchen door slam behind him.Slumping down on the hard kitchen chair, she tried to ease the tension in her shoulders by rubbing them with her fingers.Her life was spiraling out of control.
Buy Links:Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Her-Real-Life-Hero-Beyond-Fairytales-ebook/dp/B014FXCBXGSmashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/571955Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/her-real-life-hero-vicki-ballante/1122571465?ean=2940151122573Kobo Books: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/her-real-life-hero-2
All Romance Ebooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-herreallifehero-1874225-149.html
Author Bio:
Vicki writes erotic and fantasy romance. She loves taking her characters into an alternate world where strange and sexy things happen. She lives with her patient husband and three noisy kids in South Africa. In between being a busy stay-at-home mom who hates housework and spends half her life cooking everything from scratch, she runs several blogs, writes under another name, and buries herself in the delightful world of her characters.
Online Links for Vicki:
Blog: http://www.vballante.blogspot.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/vicki.ballanteTwitter: https://twitter.com/VickiBallantePinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/vballante/Tsu: https://www.tsu.co/VickiSugarNewsletter: http://eepurl.com/-x7RXGoodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8509044.Vicki_BallanteAmazon: http://www.amazon.com/Vicki-Ballante/e/B00NAYEKT0Authorgraph: https://www.authorgraph.com/authors/VickiBallante
August 31, 2015
VIP Room Service (Other Related Duties #1) by ZenobiaRenquist #erotica #indie
VIP Room Service (Other Related Duties #1) by Zenobia Renquist
A hotel erotica tale hot enough to set the screen on fire.
She offers satisfaction above and beyond what is requested.
Lexie's job as a maid at a five-star hotel doesn't normally include the unique and risqué form of room service that rich guest Mr. Malena has requested, nor the generous tip he's offered. Submission and exhibition and a ménage. Lexie can't resist. What should have been a one-time thing turns into an introduction into the sensual world of customer satisfaction. This is one workplace encounter that could get her fired...or will it?
NOTE: Title previously published as Wine Service (Professional Courtesy 1).
Genre: Contemporary BDSM Erotica, MFM, Exhibitionism/VoyeurismPublisher: DZRB BooksLength: Novella - 37K (approx. 83 pages)ISBN: 9781634750004 (ASIN B00V8RE64K)Price:$2.99 99¢ - On Sale! (Ends 26 Sep 2015)
** Buy Links **All Romance eBookshttps://www.allromanceebooks.com/prod...
Googlehttps://play.google.com/store/books/d...
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Kindlehttp://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V8RE64K/
Kobohttps://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebo...
Nookhttp://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books...
Smashwords (use coupon code FH44L at checkout to receive sale price)https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
** Read an Excerpt **
She drew in a long gasping breath and then choked on it as someone knocked at the door.“Room service.”She widened her eyes, and her pleasure dropped to nil.“Ah. Right on time.” Mr. Malena dialed off the vibrator, removed it, and set it aside. He called, “One moment.”“What?” Lexie asked in a frantic whisper. She clutched at the comforter, debating if she should hide in the bathroom or under the bed. Had the server heard her? Had he recognized her voice?She looked at her uniform draped over the back of the chair. He would know a housekeeper was with Mr. Malena. A housekeeper who was undressed with a wide variety of toys out in the open. No deductive reasoning was needed to figure out what was happening or who the housekeeper was.Mr. Malena patted her belly. “Shhhh.” He held his finger to his lips. “Just relax.”“I can’t relax,” Lexie whispered back. “He’ll see me.”“No, he won’t.” He grinned. “Not your face, at any rate.” He urged her to lie back before draping a towel over her head. “There.”“Wha—”“Shhhh. You don’t want him to recognize your voice, if you know him. So long as you stay still, he won’t see your face.”“What about the rest of me? What about my uniform? And the cart outside?” Lexie could see her job ending. She should have known this was too good to be true.“I’ll take care of it. Now hush.”Clothing rustled. Lexie peeked under the towel in time to see Mr. Malena fold her uniform into one of the dresser drawers and close it. He slipped on a robe and then glanced back at her. She yanked the towel back down. She wanted to roll herself in the comforter. Wanted to and didn’t at the same time.She only had to keep her face covered, and the server wouldn’t know who she was. The idea of letting a virtual stranger see her naked titillated her. Her clit throbbed and ached to be touched. She clutched at the towel and waited.Mr. Malena opened the door. “Thank you, my good man. I am famished. This way.”Lexie frowned. When had he ordered room service? Had he done it before she arrived and known it would get here while they were playing? He did seem less flustered by this turn of events than she was, as if he’d planned it.The server asked, “Where do you want— Whoa!”A long pause followed that exclamation. The server had seen her.
Want more? Read the full first chapter online at DRB1stChp Blog:http://drb1stchp.com/2015/03/vip-room...
** Buy Links **All Romance eBookshttps://www.allromanceebooks.com/prod...
Googlehttps://play.google.com/store/books/d...
iBookshttps://itunes.apple.com/book/vip-roo...
Kindlehttp://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V8RE64K/
Kobohttps://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebo...
Nookhttp://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books...
Smashwords (use coupon code FH44L at checkout to receive sale price)https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
** Bio **Zenobia Renquist is the alter-ego of D. Renee Bagby. Call her Zen or Renee, she answers to both. Air Force brat turned Air Force wife, she was born in Europe, has lived in Japan and in several states of the US, including Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, California, Maryland and Hawaii.
She moved a lot in her younger years and remembers all too well being the new kid in fish-out-of-water situations. But those experiences only made her better able to adapt, as well they gave her a love of travel, preferring road trips over flying.
Turning her favorite pastime into her career, Renee loves to build worlds and torture her characters for the enjoyment of her readers. She can’t fill everyday with writing alone, and also enjoys watching anime, reading manga, crocheting, knitting (yarn and mail), and binging shows on Netflix. She’s a Whovian (David Tennant for the win!), a trekkie (DS9 because Odo rocked), and a fan of pretty much every Marvel live action movie and DCU animated movie.
She has a wacky imagination and tends to write all over the place. In order to keep up, she only asks one thing—Leave Your Reality Behind to Discover Different and Unique Romance & Erotica.
Visit her website: http://zenobiarenquist.com
Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZenobiaRenquist
Like her Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/Author.DRBagb...
Like her Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Zenobia-Renquis...
Review her on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/zenobiarenquist
Get her Authorgraph: http://www.authorgraph.com/authors/Ze...
Sign up for her Newsletter: https://signup.ymlp.com/signup.js?id=...
A hotel erotica tale hot enough to set the screen on fire.
She offers satisfaction above and beyond what is requested.
Lexie's job as a maid at a five-star hotel doesn't normally include the unique and risqué form of room service that rich guest Mr. Malena has requested, nor the generous tip he's offered. Submission and exhibition and a ménage. Lexie can't resist. What should have been a one-time thing turns into an introduction into the sensual world of customer satisfaction. This is one workplace encounter that could get her fired...or will it?NOTE: Title previously published as Wine Service (Professional Courtesy 1).
Genre: Contemporary BDSM Erotica, MFM, Exhibitionism/VoyeurismPublisher: DZRB BooksLength: Novella - 37K (approx. 83 pages)ISBN: 9781634750004 (ASIN B00V8RE64K)Price:
** Buy Links **All Romance eBookshttps://www.allromanceebooks.com/prod...
Googlehttps://play.google.com/store/books/d...
iBookshttps://itunes.apple.com/book/vip-roo...
Kindlehttp://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V8RE64K/
Kobohttps://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebo...
Nookhttp://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books...
Smashwords (use coupon code FH44L at checkout to receive sale price)https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
** Read an Excerpt **
She drew in a long gasping breath and then choked on it as someone knocked at the door.“Room service.”She widened her eyes, and her pleasure dropped to nil.“Ah. Right on time.” Mr. Malena dialed off the vibrator, removed it, and set it aside. He called, “One moment.”“What?” Lexie asked in a frantic whisper. She clutched at the comforter, debating if she should hide in the bathroom or under the bed. Had the server heard her? Had he recognized her voice?She looked at her uniform draped over the back of the chair. He would know a housekeeper was with Mr. Malena. A housekeeper who was undressed with a wide variety of toys out in the open. No deductive reasoning was needed to figure out what was happening or who the housekeeper was.Mr. Malena patted her belly. “Shhhh.” He held his finger to his lips. “Just relax.”“I can’t relax,” Lexie whispered back. “He’ll see me.”“No, he won’t.” He grinned. “Not your face, at any rate.” He urged her to lie back before draping a towel over her head. “There.”“Wha—”“Shhhh. You don’t want him to recognize your voice, if you know him. So long as you stay still, he won’t see your face.”“What about the rest of me? What about my uniform? And the cart outside?” Lexie could see her job ending. She should have known this was too good to be true.“I’ll take care of it. Now hush.”Clothing rustled. Lexie peeked under the towel in time to see Mr. Malena fold her uniform into one of the dresser drawers and close it. He slipped on a robe and then glanced back at her. She yanked the towel back down. She wanted to roll herself in the comforter. Wanted to and didn’t at the same time.She only had to keep her face covered, and the server wouldn’t know who she was. The idea of letting a virtual stranger see her naked titillated her. Her clit throbbed and ached to be touched. She clutched at the towel and waited.Mr. Malena opened the door. “Thank you, my good man. I am famished. This way.”Lexie frowned. When had he ordered room service? Had he done it before she arrived and known it would get here while they were playing? He did seem less flustered by this turn of events than she was, as if he’d planned it.The server asked, “Where do you want— Whoa!”A long pause followed that exclamation. The server had seen her.
Want more? Read the full first chapter online at DRB1stChp Blog:http://drb1stchp.com/2015/03/vip-room...
** Buy Links **All Romance eBookshttps://www.allromanceebooks.com/prod...
Googlehttps://play.google.com/store/books/d...
iBookshttps://itunes.apple.com/book/vip-roo...
Kindlehttp://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V8RE64K/
Kobohttps://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebo...
Nookhttp://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books...
Smashwords (use coupon code FH44L at checkout to receive sale price)https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
** Bio **Zenobia Renquist is the alter-ego of D. Renee Bagby. Call her Zen or Renee, she answers to both. Air Force brat turned Air Force wife, she was born in Europe, has lived in Japan and in several states of the US, including Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, California, Maryland and Hawaii.
She moved a lot in her younger years and remembers all too well being the new kid in fish-out-of-water situations. But those experiences only made her better able to adapt, as well they gave her a love of travel, preferring road trips over flying.
Turning her favorite pastime into her career, Renee loves to build worlds and torture her characters for the enjoyment of her readers. She can’t fill everyday with writing alone, and also enjoys watching anime, reading manga, crocheting, knitting (yarn and mail), and binging shows on Netflix. She’s a Whovian (David Tennant for the win!), a trekkie (DS9 because Odo rocked), and a fan of pretty much every Marvel live action movie and DCU animated movie.
She has a wacky imagination and tends to write all over the place. In order to keep up, she only asks one thing—Leave Your Reality Behind to Discover Different and Unique Romance & Erotica.
Visit her website: http://zenobiarenquist.com
Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZenobiaRenquist
Like her Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/Author.DRBagb...
Like her Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Zenobia-Renquis...
Review her on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/zenobiarenquist
Get her Authorgraph: http://www.authorgraph.com/authors/Ze...
Sign up for her Newsletter: https://signup.ymlp.com/signup.js?id=...
