Shehanne Moore's Blog, page 43

October 4, 2013

Come reblog with me Catherine Cavendish

I’m making no apologies about reblogging this post super scary post from last year. It’s the spooky season after all, what is spookier than vampires… ?

okay…so that’s pumpkins. They might be vampire ones for that matter. That one on the end has fangs. Being the spooky season I want to do lots of spooky blogs…..

This continues

And yesterday the giveaway book WAS spooky. It was by the fabulous Ally Shields.

who landed Name Your Car Day…..we once had one called Skitter, but them it was a Skoda….

Here’s what Ally said as to why she got that day… New Guardian Witch, Arianna Calin, names her car Mini in this first book of the Guardian Witch Series.

To enter the giveaway just pop over here.

https://www.facebook.com/etopiapress

Tomorrow I have the wonderful Rena Mason here with her paranormal book The Symphony of Light and Winter.

Today to scare you I have Cat’s take on vampires. She has another fabulous scary post on her blog just now Hellens – Heart, History and Hauntings http://www.catherinecavendish.com/2013/10/hellens-heart-history-and-hauntings.html?spref=tw … all about a creepy old mansion…..

Every Generation Gets the Vampire They Deserve… …or do they? By Catherine Cavendish

How did we get from this

to this?

As most (if not all) of you know, the first picture, of Vlad the (notorious) Impaler is generally credited as being the template for Bram Stoker’s classic Dracula and, given the well documented carnage wrought by the bloodthirsty Romanian ruler, the Victorian author could hardly have chosen a more worthy model.

217 (or thereabouts) films have been made about Dracula, the father of all vampires. Countless others have drawn on vampiric traits and characteristics to create a multitude of evil, sadistic, sexy, funny, sparkly, cuddly and/or scary night dwelling bloodsuckers. There’s a vampire for every mood and every generation leaves its own mark.

A creature that sucks the lifeblood out of its victims with a kiss was bound to lead to romantic and erotic interpretations and there have been no shortage of those. Just click onto Amazon and do a universal search for ‘vampires’ and see what you get. Bet you the early pages all contain varying degrees of naughtiness! If every generation does indeed get the vampire they deserve, then this generation’s vampires have a lot of sexy fun with their daily dose of blood!

But, let’s take a quick look at how vampires have morphed during the Hollywood years.

In 1915, The Vampire, a short (38 minute) film directed by Robert G. Vignola, wasn’t even about Dracula or any of his spawn. The story concerned the antics of a fast-living (female) vamp who entices a man away from his fiancé and then proceeds to spend all his money before dumping him. Hmmm!

Mainstream Hollywood vampires really began in around 1931, when Bela Lugosi first sank his fangs into his unwary victims in the classic Dracula and set the standard for years to come. However, in Germany, Nosferatu, with Max Schreck as the frighteningly evil Count Orlok, had terrified audiences as early as 1922 and the mere sight of that creature, or his shadow, can still send chills skewering up my spine today.

Humorous vampires really began in the 1940s with films like Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein in 1948, where the two comedians meet just about every creature, from Dracula to the Wolfman. The comedy trend continues to this day, through Love At First Bite (1979) with the debonair George Hamilton to the film version of Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1992) and, of course, Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Barnabas Collins in the camp reworking of 1960s cult TV series, Dark Shadows.

In addition, since the 1960s, there have been all-Lesbian vampire movies, interracial vampire movies, sci-fi vampire movies, the wonderful not to be taken too seriously Hammer Horror vampire movies and, of course, the Twilight series. Oh, and I mustn’t forget the recent Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Enough said about that one, I think!

For me though, and I suspect many of my generation, I prefer my vampires scary. Tarantino’s From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), while undeniably bloodsoaked, is a great film to watch late at night (with a large cushion ready), as is the film of Stephen King’s classic, Salem’s Lot. As part of the Baby Boomer generation, I feel most at home with a good scarefest. Much as I love Johnny Depp, I still prefer Jonathan Frid’s TV original Barnabas Collins – but as for how many agree with me, I suspect that’s for a later generation to decide.

Whatever your generation, whichever your personal preferences, enjoy your vampires, just don’t get too close to them. They can give you a very nasty nip…

Catherine Cavendish is a horror writer with Etopia Press.

You can find details of her currently published titles here: http://www.amazon.com/Catherine-Cavendish/e/B0059GDROQ/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

You can find out more about Cat – and interact with her- here:

www.catherinecavendish.com

http://www.facebook.com/CatherineCavendish

www.goodreads.com as Catherine Cavendish

http://twitter.com/#!/cat_cavendish

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Published on October 04, 2013 03:35

October 2, 2013

‘A fine and dangerous season’

It is I suppose. Firstly His Judas bride is going on tour. And Anything involving Kara and Callm tends to be dangerous.

But there is a gift card giveaway for a randomly drawn commenter.

October 7: Books on Silver Wings

October 8: Bunny’s Review

October 9: Books to Light Your Fire

October 10: Farm Girl Books

October 11: WriterAshleyL

October 14: Susana’s Parlour

October 15: Booklover Sue

October 16: Writing Novels That Sell

October 17: The Most Happy Reader

October 18: Queen of the Night Reviews

Secondly,

blogging about the fine and dangerous time I once had trick or treating. And yes, again there’s book prizes.

Thirdly Nancy Cassidy, one of the fabulous editors at Etopia Press–no she didn’t break my arm to say that- -is hosting a Facebook fest.

Actually the idea is pretty amazing. Did you know there were so many days in October? Yes, of course there’s 31, but did you know each one is a world something or other day? I didn’t. Today is National Custodial Worker Day. (I must be nice to mine, maybe she’ll let me out) October 5th is World Teacher‘s Day. There’s even a Name Your Car Day, Bald and Free Day, a Punk for a Day day, etc, etc, etc.

Anyway what Nancy’s done is allocate a day to some of Etopia’s best books.

and authors –the fabulous Mz Mason is going to visiting here very shortly by the way….. Other fantastically talented authors include, Jianne Carlo, Ally Shields. Dani Lynn Alexander, Rhonda Laurel, many who have guested here like J.M Stewart, Katya Arnock and the fabulous Anne Lange. Also the up and coming hotly talented Nikki Dee Houston who sold her manuscript in less than a day!

Nancy then asked these authors to say why their book would fit that day. If you visit Etopia’s facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/etopiapress

you can see the answers –as we reach that day anyway. So far it is only the 2nd but already the fest is under way. If you leave a comment and share the post, then you could win that book. Some days have more than one book up for grabs. Every type of book is there too.

Contrary to expectation Fury does not have Mother-in-law Day. She has October 9th Moldy Cheese Day…..

which I imagine she will be shouting about, especially when I reveal why. But come on…I would hardly be given Cookbook Launch Day now would I?

So, I hope you can come along and join the fun of this dangerous season.

Lastly, I have nothing to do with this but if you do like scary, or write scary, the devilish Mr Emmett, who has also guested here, has just launched an amazing FREE online magazine

http://www.darkrecessesezine.com/

and he welcomes submissions… SO don’t be shy. It’s the spooky season after all……….Happy October. The month of mayhem. May you be well scared……

Filed under: blogging Tagged: Anne Lange, Catherine Cavendish, Dark Recesses Magazine, Do Something Nice Day, Erin Moore, Etopia Press, Facebook, Facebook giveaway, Fire Prevention Day, Halloween, Hermit Day, Jianne Carlo, Katya Arncok, Moldy CHeese Day,

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Published on October 02, 2013 04:56

September 27, 2013

On Loving the idea.

I was going to call this post Ewen Macgregor v Gerard Butler, or why do Pinterest keep sending me these pins they think I’ll love? I mean, do I have a picture of Ewen Macgregor anywhere on my A Girl Can Dream Board? No. And there is a very good reason for that. Namely that is because that would not be a dream. That would be a nightmare. Look at the title, it’s called that for a reason.

Just because I’m a Scot it doesn’t mean I like everything in a kilt. But there, knowing how you would kill to read that post, Ewen v Gerard and why I think Gerard is smexy and Ewen is just Sm’ewen, I’m going to keep it for a later date, though I can’t resist a poll, purely for research purposes you understand…. I need this data for that post.

Take Our Poll

Yes, titles are titles for a reason but I’ve done a post on that, on how some of the best titles in the business are just that because they sum up the book at a glance. So it is always worth taking time over your title, not to mention making sure that title isn’t already out there.

No, I’ve been busy with the Cover Art and Marketing form for my next book, which meant writing the dreaded blurb…you know who I am going to show here….that and a conversation with http://babyboomersmusings.wordpress.com/ -surprised to find yourself here Elizabeth? – got me thinking about writing, the whole process by which a book takes shape. How much of it is imagination? How much is discipline? How much of it the belief you can keep putting the next word down even when you have no idea what that word is going to be? Only that one word leads to another.

I am always nothing short of astonished to see where anything I write is going next. I mean Fury evolved from one scene, a woman walking along a corridor and seeing someone from her past. She’s a widow in need of an heir. His Judas Bride originally started out as a short with two totally different character types. Callm was done with fighting. Kara was called Rohanne. A different flash happened on that one and chapter one got torn up for something very different but Callm’s wife had still been murdered and Kara only wanted her son back.

So, Loving Lady Lazuli. Well, this was the flash….. cue jingly music

And it’s now grown into… le blurb…

Only one man in England can identify her. Unfortunately he’s living next door.

Ten years ago sixteen year old Sapphire, the greatest jewel thief England has ever known, ruined Lord Devorlane Hawley’s life. Now she’s dead and buried, all the respectable widow, Cassidy Armstrong, wants is the chance to prove who she really is.

But not only does her new neighbor believe he knows that exactly, he’s hell-bent on revenge. All he needs is the actual proof. So when he asks her to choose between being his mistress, or dangling on the end of a rope, only Sapphire can decide…

What’s left for a woman with nowhere left to go, but to stay exactly where she is?

And hope, that when it comes to neighbors, Devorlane Hawley won’t prove to be the one from hell.

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Published on September 27, 2013 05:56

September 23, 2013

The Daughters of Eve and the Temptation of the Shaman

Now that’s quite a ‘moothful’ as we say here in Scotland, a land of mists and mysterious creatures…No. Not the Scot. The selkie,

the kelpie, the wulvar… yip, you guessed it that’s a wolf, a were one. To think in my very first draft of Judas Bride, at that time a short story, the leader of the Wolves pulls Kara from the water a la Selkie style… Boy can stories change entirely…

And changing things is what my latest guest and namesake, the lovely Erin Moore, is here today to discuss. (I never twisted her arm or gave her a fiver on her opener ok.) Erin really worried about what to write. I don’t know why, cos she’s done a fabulous job with this. And, of course her new book.

Why the shapeshifter? by Erin Moore

Lovely Shehanne has asked me about why I like to write shape-shifters. Let me give a long, convoluted response to this question.

I am mildly obsessed with pre-history, Paleolithic, tribal stuff. For instance, the Paleo/Primal diet is very fascinating, from a theoretical viewpoint (because who can really give up sugar?! I mean, really?). I’m also very interested in aspects of tribal child-rearing like baby-led weaning, co-sleeping – again, more in theory than practice here. It seems that everyone is really starting to become more aware of how the ancients lived and what they might have to teach us, for instance, about natural sleep cycles (no computer screens at night, my friends!).

We also know that as people migrated from our origins in Africa eastwards and then north though Siberia before crossing over the land-bridge to the Americas, they brought with them a strong shamanistic belief system, meaning no priests or organized religion. For various reasons, this remained stronger in North America than it did in Western Europe, and gave the indigenous peoples of the US, including the Apaches, a very different world view than the one many of us grew up with.

So for me, Shamanism and all of its attendant practices like shape-shifting are just fascinating to discover and write about. It’s really a great time to be reading and writing, because others seem to be as interested in these topics now.

While I don’t explore most of these things in my writing, they are ever-present in my mind, and I hope that some of the residual learnings from our ancestors comes through in the narratives.

And now Erin’s Blurb …( Lucky clucky with that cover Erin, it’s gorgeous)

A Shaman’s temptation could be the undoing of his people…

Madeleine Greenway, perfectionist and analyst for Surety Bank, has no place in her rigidly organized life for something as unpredictable as a man, much less a Native American shaman. Sent to the White Mountain reservation to help the tribe finance its new casino, she meets Tak, a proud, beautiful Apache, and finds herself surrounded by something magical in the Arizona desert. His touch becomes a passport to otherworldly bliss, and the strange coyote she sees makes her question what’s real. But it’s the amazing sex with Tak that makes Madeleine lose sight of her goal—to guarantee that Surety Bank’s investment in the casino won’t fail.

Last in a long line of shaman shape-shifters, Tak Nah-Kah-Yen has sworn a vow of celibacy to his gods. But Madeleine’s lithe body and honeyed lips compel him to forswear his pledge, claiming her for his own. His passion for her overshadows his link to his gods at a time when he most needs their help. Desperate to find funding for the casino and lift his people out of poverty, he’d accepted start-up money from less than savory sources who are willing to kill to guarantee their profit—the profit Madeleine’s bank jeopardizes…

The Excerpt: oooooh……Erin says it’s a little x rated and to let her know if we would prefer a PG one. You know I just forgot to get back to her…

She closed her eyes and immediately felt different. Funny. She swam in a thick fog of forgetting and nothingness, letting go of Madeline the analyst, Madeleine the Perfect. She was nothing and everything, and welcomed the release of her body with a deep intensity. She lay down, her mind open to the night sky and the stars, awake yet dreaming.

The soft hiss of the fire blended with a tense excitement in the air. She became aware of another presence. She sat up to watch a creature approach on stealthy feet. A coyote, fierce and feral, hunter of the desert. It came closer, bringing the faintest scent of animal with it. She was oddly unafraid.

She stretched out her hand. The coyote was beautiful, red and brown in the moonlight. In the dream that was her reality, the coyote shifted, and the air became even more charged. He took on human features, the eyes widening, opening, pupils dilating, fur changing to deep copper skin in a curious blend of magic and dream.

She recognized this human. This was her man, Tak, his naked body taut and hard. He knelt before her and reached for her, his hands rough on her skin, pulling her body to his. She responded, opening to him. She exposed her neck, surrendering to his predator’s eyes and touch. He licked at her neck, tasting her, a deep growl in his throat. He held her neck, caressing, and then used his teeth to tear softly at her skin. She cried out in pain and excitement, her body enflamed, excited. She writhed against him, wanting to feel the length of him, the weight of him.

His breath was hot and moist against her face, ragged and quick. Madeleine twined her fingers in his hair, pulling herself toward him, hungering to feel her lips against his.

“Takshilim,” she murmured, and in the dream she thought she heard the hiss of something—it could have been the fire—or possibly a god, exhaling. The fire popped and sizzled, and she was suddenly dragged back into her own consciousness.

Buy The Shaman’s Temptation here

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

All Romance Ebooks

Kobo

Meet the lovely Erin here

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/authorErinMoore

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorErinMoore

http://www.AuthorErinMoore.com

Related articles

The Spirit of Shamanism Brings Harmony and Magic into Everyday Life (consciouslifenews.com)
In Tune with Natural and Spiritual (dragonintuitive.com)
Shamanism (thehobbitings.wordpress.com)

Filed under: blogging, Guest bloggers Tagged: Apache, Erin Moore, Ethnicity, Etopia Press, kelpies, Paleolithic, Selkies, Shamanism, Siberia, The Shaman's Temptation by Erin Moore, Western Europe, Wulvers

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Published on September 23, 2013 04:52

September 18, 2013

Come blog with me Faith Ashlin and Win a Family Award

Nothing like killing birds is there? The lovely, inspiring Anne Bell has passed me this award and today I want to pass it to my guest blogger, Faith Ashlin. Receiving it I thought of the quote from A Streetcar Named Desire about the kindness of strangers. One of the nicest things in this past year of blogging, about writing, when one of the hardest things was to put myself out there, has been the people I’ve met.

Anne Bell is one of them. Her blog, Tales Along the Way. in one word is amazing. I’m honored she follows me.

http://talesalongtheway.com/

The Creator of this award wrote:

‘This is an award for everyone who is part of the “WordPress Family” I started this award on the basis that the WordPress family has taken me in, and showed me love and a caring side only WordPress can. The way people take a second to be nice, to answer a question and not make things a competition amazes me here. I know I have been given many awards, but I wanted to leave my own legacy on here by creating my own award, as many have done before. This represents “Family” we never meet, but are there for us as family.”

Here are the rules:

1. Display the award logo on your blog (see above).

2. Link back to the person who nominated you (also see above!)

3. Nominate 10 others who have positively impacted your WordPress experience.

4. Don’t forget to let your WordPress family members know of your nomination.

5. That’s it! Just pick 10 people that have accepted you as a friend, and spread the love!

My ten are at the end. Come on! You have to read Faith’s post. Not just because it’s special release day for her. It’s a film post which puts it in my top ten! I mean here’s Russ for a start…

And I have been bemoaning the lack of a good epic for a while. A good film come to that. personally I am only sorry she missed out Ben Hur……that bit the first time I saw it where I thought his mum and sister had been turned into leopards……after staying in a leper colony….

(Ooh Ben Fur )

Bring on the epic! …..by Faith Ashlin.

My mum was a huge film fan so, when I was a kid, we would often spend Saturday afternoons curled up on the sofa together, eating homemade jam tarts, watching the old films she loved. I remember one Christmas Eve, when I was about eight or nine, we watched El Cid on TV. It’s an epic film set in medieval Spain, staring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren. It’s a romanticized, over-blown film with huge battle scenes and heroic love. The knights are brave and true, the damsels breathtakingly beautiful and I loved it.

(oooh Charlton.)

I was hooked: completely and utterly hooked.

It wasn’t only that the hero did the right thing, no matter what the cost was to himself, although that idea did grip me. It was the whole scale of the film. Big characters doing big things, for big reasons.

My love of the epic was born.

From there I went on to find others of a similar type. Kirk Douglas and Jean Simmons in Spartacus, the stunningly beautiful Julie Christie with Omar Sharif in Doctor Zhivago.

(Oooh Omar)

I wanted to be those characters; I wanted someone to love me in the way they were loved. I wanted to be strong and epic and true. I wanted to always be in soft focus, the way Jean Simmons was whenever Spartacus looked at her! I wanted to live in an epic landscape with history happening all around me.

(ooh Kirk)

My love of the epic grew and embedded its self deep inside me.

But, of course, I’m ordinary and small and I really like my creature comforts. When I get cold my nose turns red and my eyes water – unlike Julie Christie who just gets even more beautiful. I like central heating and knowing I have somewhere safe to go home to and a future to look forward to, however predictable it may be.

So I began to make up my own stories in which I – at first – and then my characters were all the things I wasn’t. I could make everyone behave just as I wanted them to, as thought they were in an epic film. Whenever things were tough at school, or even just boring, I would disappear into my head and make up wonderful stories, full of amazing things and people.

I thought that those sorts of epic films were a thing of the past, that, as the saying goes, they don’t make them like that anymore. I grew up and forgot about them. Then I saw Dances With Wolves, Gandhi and Kingdom of Heaven (a tip here: make sure you see the director’s cut of Kingdom of Heaven because the one they released in the cinema doesn’t make sense!) They hadn’t stopped making epics. I’d just been going to the wrong films.

(oooh Kevin)

Idiotically I’d had to be dragged along to see Gladiator, much against my wishes. It would be stupid, a pastiche of old ideas, and not have the heroic feel or ideas I’d loved so much. I was flabbergasted, blown away and any other cliché you could think of. I fell in love, not with Russell Crow, but with “Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North … Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife.”

(ooh and he will have his revenge…..)

Oh he was so heroic, so epic, so everything that I’d fallen for as a child. My love for the hero was back stronger than ever. I came out of the cinema with my head full of larger-than-life, valiant and courageous ideas. But those are hard to do when you’re trying to remember to put the washing on before you go to bed and you have to go to the supermarket after work the next day.

A few days later I snuck in to see the film again, all by myself.

But not even watching the whole of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (director’s cut, of course) or The Last Samurai helped. No, there was no epic in my life and I had no control over people or events. Unless… I wrote down the stories I’d been making up for years.

I’ve always had a love of writing, and wrote long, impossibly complicated and very badly spelt stories as a kid. Combining that with my love of epic stories was the start of my writing career.

Now, I don’t always write epic stories. I love small, intimate stories just as much as ones set on a grander stage. But always, at their heart, I have to have characters I care about (and can control – my passion for that has never changed) and a love that is noble and strong enough to last a lifetime.

Knights and Butterscotch, my new novel, touches on my love of the epic – and the small intimate story as well. At the heart of every epic are people, and it’s the people I love.

Knights and Butterscotch

A story of modern-day knights, paint-splattered artists and a lightning bolt of attraction that hits hard enough to make a knight think he’s going crazy. And then things get complicated.

The year is now, the place is somewhere like here but the feeling is very different. Matti Elkin is a modern-day knight and, while he may not have a horse or a suit of shining armour, he’s brave and true, has a sense of duty and honour a mile wide and a passionate belief in his king.

There’s a war on and the knights are fighting hard, but while on R&R Matti is hit hard with an overwhelming attraction for Jamie, a tall, handsome painter.

Jamie makes his head spin and his cock harden, and has him acting in ways that make him question his own sanity. But when the war takes an appalling turn, they are both thrown into a world of confusion that has them questioning everything they thought they knew.

Buy Link

http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=2320

Excerpt

Matti pushed his hair back off his face and blew out a long slow breath. Enough—he’d had enough socialising for now. There was only so much wholesome happiness a man like him could take and he’d had his fill for the time being.

It was pretty damned awesome to see Maxim so happy he glowed as he looked at his bride-to-be. To see her looking back, eyes filled with promise for the future, filled with love and possibility. Matti just hoped—no, prayed—that they could have all they deserved. That events would turn out in the right way for them and that the future…but that was for another time. Now was for the simple love between two people. One that burned bright and would be fulfilled tomorrow at their wedding.

A wedding. It was an interesting thought at a time like this. But right now he’d had enough of small talk and playing nice. After the wedding, and its formal reception, his group would gather to celebrate in their own way. That would be more Matti’s thing, one where he could really relax.

Now he needed cool air and a glass of something very cold because it was damned hot in the banqueting suite. He stepped up to the bar and asked the bartender for water and ice, smiling when it was handed over quickly. Air, and the relief from being polite, were next on his agenda. He pushed his way between the groups of chatting people and made for the glass doors out onto the big balcony overlooking the city.

The noise stopped as soon as he closed the heavy door behind him and the respite was palpable. Space and peace, cool air on his face, they all drew him forward. Then there were the shimmering lights below. All those people living, loving, dying. They called out something to him that he couldn’t understand and wasn’t sure he was ready to hear. Or maybe it was all only in his head.

He was being daft again and there was nothing else for it but to laugh at himself. The world below didn’t need him, wasn’t asking anything of him. It didn’t even know he was there.

He rested both forearms on the ledge of the curved, stone balcony edge and looked down. Max was getting married. That was enough to make anyone smile. The amazing Isobel had finally decided it was time and they were making it formal and permanent. It kind of put everything in perspective.

“Anything interesting going on out there?” a voice asked from the darkness at his side.

“Oh.” Matti turned but couldn’t see the man’s face. “I didn’t know there was anyone out here.”

“Doesn’t matter. I just thought, as you were studying it so intently, there had to be something going on in the big wide world.”

“Nothing as far as I know. I only came out for a bit of peace and to look at the pretty lights.”

“Then I should let you have your peace.” The man took a step forward and Matti saw him properly for the first time. “I’ll go.”

“No,” Matti said, louder and with more feeling than he’d expected, intended. “I don’t want you to go.” Now that was just a plain stupid thing to say to a complete stranger. “I only… I…” He stopped, knowing how foolish he sounded, feeling his cheeks flare and the skin on his face tighten.

“Are you all right?” the man asked.

Matti took a step away as the stranger came closer, and now they were both in the light.

Tall, was Matti’s first thought. Very tall with wide shoulders and thick hair and the most startled look on his face Matti had seen outside a comic book. No, not startled. Shocked and a little dazed. “I think maybe I should be asking you if you’re okay,” he said. He wasn’t quite sure how he managed to get the words out in the right order, his mind was whizzing so fast. Tall and right-looking and something else he had no intention of thinking about.

He might not be thinking about it but his blood was pulsing under his skin—he’d swear he could feel it.

“I…” It was the man’s turn to stammer, but he didn’t take his eyes from Matti’s. “I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. A big truck. One that’s going very fast and landed right on my head.”

“Trucks don’t hit you on the head, they smack into you. Falling aeroplanes or meteors hit you on the head.”

“And you’d know this because?” The man smiled and Matti wasn’t sure if he was going to be sick for all the wrong reasons.

“’Cause a meteor just smacked me on the head?” Matti couldn’t look away or breathe properly. Yeah, breathing properly—deep and slow—that was a good idea. It might stop him talking stupid crap to a perfect stranger for a start. “That bitch hurt and now I feel like I have my skin on inside out.”

“I…” The man put out a hand, not quite touching Matti but looking like he wanted to. “This is…”

“Yeah, it is,” Matti agreed, knowing just what he meant.

“Is this weird?” the man asked, his face scrunching up like something was hurting but in a good way.

“Weirdest thing I’ve ever known.” There really wasn’t anywhere else Matti wanted to look, anyone else he wanted to look at. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to stop the crazy talk.

The man took a deep breath, holding it as he stared at Matti. Then he gave a curt nod, and held his hand out properly. “Jamie. I’m Jamie or my name’s Jamie or something.”

“You think your name’s Jamie?”

“No, pretty sure it’s Jamie. I’m Jamie, who are you?”

“Matti. My name’s Matti and…” He grasped Jamie’s hand and lost the ability to speak. Jamie’s hand sat so perfectly in his, it seemed to mould itself to his palm, skin flushing and fusing and tingling as their hands settled together. And when did he think such crap? He guessed it was better than saying it out loud.

He looked up, his breathing still not working right, and Jamie didn’t look much better than he felt. Jamie’s pupils had dilated to ridiculous proportions, his face was flushed and there was a sheen of sweat across his forehead. He was trying to say something but he didn’t seem to be having any more success at forming a coherent sentence than Matti.

“I…you…” Jamie said, clutching Matti’s hand tighter.

“Yeah,” Matti agreed again, nodding furiously, although he knew it made no sense.

For the longest moment they stood like that, at the edge of the balcony, palms pressed tight in what looked like a handshake that had become frozen in time, with the rest of the world forgotten. They were so still they could have been a photograph, a moment captured forever.

———————

NOW WHERE TO FIND FAITH AND MY OTHER NINE CHOICES OF THOSE WHO HAVE INSPIRED ME AND MADE ME FEEL I AM PART OF SOMETHNG.

http://faithashlin.blogspot.co.uk/ Books by Faith http://www.facebook.com/BooksByFaithAshlin

Incy Black http://incyblack.weebly.com

Aimee Duffy http://t.co/wScJt0Sa7E

Christine Elaine Black http://t.co/0mtcFYgj53

Ellis Vidler http://t.co/aBdBygwLCX

Antonia Van Zandt http://t.co/c8lM9ewJDU

Noelle Clark http://t.co/f36t0xR1dx

Sharon Struth http://t.co/O9fnawjkJq

Anne Lange http://t.co/lXAPDLHZBo

Susan Arden http://t.co/g2wNM5Abd4

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Published on September 18, 2013 04:56

September 14, 2013

Friends……With Benefits…..

Of course friends have benefits. Just look at the lovely things mine have sent me recently. Firstly my new pardner in doodling crime Elyzabeth M. Valey, who visited here recently. Ena doodle….

Of course I rewarded her…….

Well, anyway I tried though I don’t know Elyzabeth will want to be in the doodle club with me now.

Then there were the lovely flowers from my special pal and partner in breaking into classrooms and causing mayhem for the Latin teacher mate, Lora,

Then there was this pix from my special friend and wine buddy, Irene.

So you see friends do have benefits, which is why I am delighted to introduce the fabulous Anne Lange, an Etopian buddy, who I owe big time. Especially as she and Fury have crossed swords more than once,

although this didn’t deter Anne from sharing her thoughts on the said lady yesterday…

as part of the

http://authorannelange.com/2013/09/12/the-fall-into-romance-hop/ if you want to read more. Anne has a giveaway going on of her fabulous book Worth the Risk and there are other prizes on other blogs which are part of the Hop, you just follow on from Anne’s. I was just knocked sideways to be in such amazing company as Renea, Alyssa and Jennifer, whose books were all on Anne’s fav summer reading list.

Anyway Anne also has a new book coming out. Another hottie, called, yes you’ve guessed it…Friends With Benefits. So it’s my pleasure to have her here today and of course, to be gentle with her, unlike Fury.

Shey. Anne, first tell us a little about yourself. Once you’ve stopped sobbing into that handkerchief that is.

Anne. LOL. I’ve got lots to sob about these days too! Summer is over. My babies are leaving home (well, two of the three) and heading back to school. And (sob) Flint is taken (sob, sob). Okay, I’ve got it under control now. Let’s see…I work, I write, I read, I clean the house (oh, sorry, no, I don’t really do that – I make the kids do that so I can write and read). I’m always on the search for new hotties…to write about!

Shey. Phew…glad you clarified that. You wouldn’t like to get us galz a bad name. Like we go chasing each other’s book hotties, any hottie come to that, now would you?

Anne. Absolutely not. When I’m not working, writing or reading, I love to watch TV. My favorite shows are Bones, NCIS and Criminal Minds. You’d think I’d write mysteries or thrillers, but no, I love hot, sexy stories.

Shey. Anne, thank goodness for that. Crime is good. But one needs steam. What made you want to be a writer?

Anne. For the millions of dollars I could make, of course. Oops, Sorry, I just fell off my chair. I think I bruised my butt. For all the hot, sexy hero’s I’d meet? Seriously, reading is my absolute favorite pastime – to the extent of everything else some days (just ask my family when meals didn’t get made or the house didn’t get cleaned).

Shey.(Not looking at herself either)

Anne. But about four years ago, I decided to try writing a story. I played with it for a bit and then showed my hubby. It turned him. on.

Then I gave it to a friend to read. She thought it was hot. So, I decided to take some on-line classes, figure out what I needed to know and worked on all the mistakes I’d made in that first draft, and voilà – out popped a story. But I still had/have sooo much to learn.

Shey. What kind of a time has it been for you since Worth the Risk released?

Anne. Busy. Really freakin’ busy. Promo and marketing takes a hell of a lot of time, doesn’t it!

Shey. Tell me about it.

Though seriously the upside is some of those you meet. Not being licky okay. But I do know you don’t just promote yourself. You work tirelessly for others too. You could simply have just promoted yourself yesterday but you didn’t.

Anne. (Blushes) Well….. then I had to start actually telling people what I was doing. Some were shocked. A few already knew, but I don’t think they really thought it would happen. I get the feeling they were patting me on the head and just going along with me. I’ve done some guest spots and a six-week blog tour, as well as a whole pile of blog hops. I still actively market Worth the Risk while working on other projects.

Shey. Oh, never mind those it’s okay, the poor dear thinks she’s a writer folks… So, your new release, Friends with Benefits? Are you able to tell us what these are precisely? Or do you need another hanky, this time to hide behind? I mean do you think Lady Fury Nook-club, oops Book-club, can interview you over this release?

Anne. Well, I haven’t known Lady Fury to be shy, so hell yeah, I think she can interview me. Although, perhaps it will shock her sensibilities. Hmm…maybe I’ll have to be a bit cryptic. Let’s see, what can I give away FwB is a ménage, so the benefits for the heroine are two-fold .

Shey. Oh, she’ll interview you no bother, or I will get out the splints. Can you tell us a little about your characters?

Anne. Once upon a time, there was this man and his wife, Fred and Wilma. And they invited Barney …

sorry, wrong story. (clears throat). Angela and Tyler are a happily married couple who have been talking about their sexual fantasies. After Angela confesses a few of hers, Tyler decides to do what he can to fulfil them for her. So, he enlists the support of his handsome best friend, Connor. (Gosh, you gotta love a man who’s that committed to his wife’s happiness!) Now, obviously, all is not as it seems, for any of them, and over the course of a summer, stuff happens, things unfold, and a few secrets are revealed.

Shey. Do you have anything you can share here Anne, like a …….cover.

Anne. Ah, nope. Sorry. But how about this…

Some Friendships Come With Benefits

When your best friend moves to town, you have all kinds of great ideas about how to spend your time together.

Some guys just want to get together, catch up on old times, have a few beers, maybe play some pool.

But what if you have another idea?

Maybe there’s something you’ve been thinking about for a long while, and now is the perfect opportunity to test your theory.

But while you’re discussing your suggested summer plans with your friend, your wife is waiting at home…and she’s been thinking too. She has her own plans for the summer.

Hopefully they’ll be in sync with yours.

Shey. I see you’re not sticking despite having no cover and a looming release date…. I also see that under WIPs– now that is work in progress folks ok– friends is part of a series. What’s made you make that move from stand alone because I see you have another series planned, the Legacy Series?

Anne. Ooh, you’ve been roaming my site have you?

Shey. Hon, I was stalking.

Anne. LOL. Yes, Friends with Benefits is actually the first book in a (currently) four book series. And I have another series in the works, the Legacy Series which is actually a paranormal, shifter series. In truth, FwB didn’t start out as a series. Can I tell you a secret…ssh…you’re the ONLY one who knows this Shey, so you have to promise to keep in just between you and me, okay? (Anne looks around to make sure nobody is listening) Remember, that first story I mentioned above, well, FwB is that story. It was called something different then, and had a very different ending. Okay, I sorta totally reworked it entirely, but while I was doing that I developed a piece of the story that made me realize I could turn this into a series. I do, however, plan to do a mix of both series and stand-alone stories (both full and novella length).

Shey. Ooooh. (whisper) Can you give us a favorite line from the new book?

Anne. (whisper) How about two… the very first two lines of the book.

“You want me to do, what?”

“I want you to seduce my wife.”

Shey. ‘Nuff said. You are also a great one for recipes. I actually shared one with you once, well Flint did, are you going to tell us about your favorite dish?

Anne. Did you have to mention Flint? Really? (hiccups, stifled sob). I love pasta. And of all the great pasta dishes I’ve had, I would have to say my absolute favorite is probably lasagna. For me it’s a mix of a great pasta dish as well as a comfort food. Speaking of needing comfort…

Shey. Anne, be strong. You do not need that lasagne. Certainly not all of it…give it back. You want to get into the bridesmaid dress, the nice one I made Fury choose for you, don’t you? There…that’s better…. You also had a fabulous vacation recently. Do you have a fav moment there to spill? I mean come on Anne, it was Vegas, did you win anything? Like a hottie…

Anne. Shey! Shame on you. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas! Yes, we did have a great vacation, thank you for asking. It was our 25th wedding anniversary, so we decided to leave the kids at home to fend for themselves and we lazed in the (hot) sun and I, of course, shopped. I did pick up a couple of new hand bags, a pair of shoes, and some dresses. Oh, and my husband won $40 at a slot machine in the airport on the way home.

Shey. Anne are you going to share some more of Friends with Benefits with us?

Anne. Sadly, I have nothing official to share at the moment. Though I do promise to share the cover with you when it’s available. What I will say, is that while this is a ménage, it’s not just three people getting together to have sex. It’s not erotica. It’s much more than that for all three of the main characters, as well as the other characters that are introduced. This is an erotic romance. It’s a story about three people making decisions that could affect their lives and how society views them as individuals. I really hope readers will be intrigued enough to want to read it and the other stories that follow. I’m quite excited about them.

Shey That’s it folks. Anne, all the very best on this. It is sure to be fabulous, and you better send me that cover when it’s done. Visit Milady’s Book Club too.

Friends with Benefits releases shortly from Etopia Press.

Find the fabulous Anne Lange here.

Web Page/Blog Facebook Twitter interest Amazon

Filed under: Author Interviews, heroes, heroines, writing Tagged: Alyssa Turner, Anne Lange, Anne Lange aithor of Worth The Risk, anne lange author of Worth The Risk, Elyzabeth M. Valey, Etopia Press, Fall Into Romance Hop Giveaway, Friends With Benefits, Jennifer James, Renea Mason, Worth the Risk

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Published on September 14, 2013 06:23

September 11, 2013

A chanty rassler? Me?

I’m not a chanty rassler–oh good Scots’ word, go look it up–as a rule, not charitable behalves. Indeed, in the charity stakes, knowing how many beans make five and generally not having one myself, I tend to take after this gentleman,

especially when you get these doorstep callers with their plastic grins and their We only ask that you give a hundred pounds for this set of dusters you can get out of Asda’s for 50 p, just as you’ve cleared the dead moths and the ghosts of money spent out your purse.

But today, raking through my twitter feeds I decided to bring out the drum and bang it for children like this wee lass……

mah wee Patricia, who was such a good wee pal to my own wee lass when she went to Malawi to work on building a feeding centre for the children in Patricia’s rural community there.

Quite an experience. One I must tell you tales of sometime…about chickens and brick throwing chains and things…

(No prizes for guessing what happened next but I cannot say no chickens were harmed in the making of the thank you feast for the volunteers)

Oh and bang the drum for Winnie Kapalamula, whose brainchild and dream it was to set up feeding centres for the Aids orphans, and Sylvia, an Englishwoman who, when Winnie’s dream was almost bankrupt and five pounds was left in the bank, stepped in to help raise funds.

Sylvia hasn’t just done so since that day in 1998, she’s an amazing lady who has dedicated her life to helping these children. The charity she’s at the helm of is small and tightly run, with funds going directly to help establish feeding centres, a school and the most vulnerable families in one of the worlds’ poorest nations. A country that is still known as the Warm Heart of Africa. Which is why I am squeezing this post in today, before my next guest later this week, the lovely Miss Lange and her forthcoming release, just to say, Joshua Orphan Care are holding a prize draw for a holiday and you can enter for as little as one pound.

I’m sure Anne Lange will forgive me I’m putting this out there today instead of her and I hope that unlike a certain literary gent and his workhouses, you can find your way to parting with that pound. To quote the great Mahatma Gandi,

the future depends on what we do in the present.

http://t.co/mZId6qKcBx Sponsored link.

Find out about Joshua Orphan Care here.

http://www.joshuainmalawi.org.uk/

http://twitter.com/JoshuaInMalawi

Friends of Joshua Orphan Care Here.

https://www.facebook.com/…/Friends-of-Joshua-Orphan-Care…/327083… http://www.friendsofjoshuainmalawi.org/Founding_Joshua.htm

Filed under: Malawi Orphans Tagged: Aids orphans Malawi, Friends of Joshua Orphan Care, Joshua Orphan Care, Malawi, Malawi orphans, Malawi vulnerable children, Winnie Kapalamula

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Published on September 11, 2013 05:06

September 9, 2013

I just sold my first three chapters……..

That’s Baa-Sheep by the way. Baa-sheep is here by way of celebration. Well, he’s sure not here by way of guzzling.

That’s Callm by the way , as seen today by the wonderful Sweet and Spicy Tales blog. http://t.co/WVZ4X1vSxu Nothing to do with guzzling or sheep. Just pure Kara enticing…..

That’s..

well we know who this is. . Polly. while this, this is

probably my fav image, as you must have guessed by now. Seriously this is how I was really feeling for the last three weeks.

Why? Well, I guess everyone thinks the hardest part of being a writer is getting that first book accepted. And it is. Then you think it’s getting the second. And it is. Everything is at the time till you’re there That’s the thing about life. But then….then comes the dreaded sub on the third book.

I don’t know how other authors fare with the waiting….

I prefer to keep quiet about it than let anyone know the amount of nails I’m biting because acceptance isn’t automatic, no matter how many books you have out there.

Then I can alternatively either

or just sit quietly in the corner about it.

That’s why I opened the email from my editor on Friday in fear and trepidation. Yes, even me too. Come on it’s just my characters that have nothing left to fear. Think they do anyway.

Anyway the wonderful news is that Etopia Press want my jewel thief story. Loving Lady Lazuli. Yes. So the first romance story I ever started but then abandoned after three chapters will be coming out. Why did I abandon it? Well, I was trying to make it too formulaic and it was killing my two leads, so I put it aside for Kara and the Wolf who actually sold after my second book, Fury.

I guess what I am trying to say that in addition to never giving up, you should not try to write what you can’t read, what isn’t you. What I was doing with these three chapters was fitting together a story where the main conflict was him wanting to believe this wasn’t the woman who had ruined his life and her believing he didn’t have a clue, until one day he discovers the truth. It made for really twee reading and let’s face it, are people really that stupid? I was yawning my own head off, watching it clatter round the floor with boredom. Sticking six inch pins beneath my fingernails would have been preferable had I had any six inch pins. Now from the start both know but the conflict is all about them falling for each other anyway.

It is called Loving Lady Lazuli and I believe I posted an extract last December. Here it is again. Unedited ok, from the very end of chapter one so there may be changes.

“Why shouldn’t Belle know her? Hic. We all do. Oh Devorlane, I forgot, there is just so much, so much you just don’t know. So much we really do need to catch up on—later. But you remember Barwych Hall? The house s’about a half mile from here?”

“That old dump?”

He remembered it well. Hall was perhaps an over-generous term. It did not boast above six rooms and had been uninhabited for almost, if not quite, as long as he remembered.

She shrugged. “Lady Armstrong lives there. She’s our neighbor.”

“Neighbor?”

“Yes. She lives s’lere with some serving girls, Pearl and Ruby, she brought from London. Very, very refined girls. So I’m afraid, we get no gossip. Not even a snifter. Anyway, why are you so s’interested in Lady Armstrong? Do you know her?”

Know her?

Ten years ago on Christmas Eve, the most stunning, most ethereally beautiful girl he had ever seen, accepted a lift in his coach. She kissed him. Then disappeared into thin air.

He had never forgotten it. The ice-fire of her lips. Or her. Or the gift she’d somehow slipped into his pocket, while he sprawled there, dazedly thinking if this was heaven, he’d forfeit the rest of his life now.

The Wentworth emeralds.

His father needn’t have looked that far after all.

Now, unless he was completely mistaken, that damned bitch was sitting by the library fire in respectable widow’s weeds, the coral lips parted in pretended conversation with his mother’s fawning ward, Belle.

Yup I guess the by line will be something like

She is dead and buried, he is the one man who knows she’s not.

Now for the big laugh…… This is the painting I chose to sort of sum her up…….

and this…this is from a photo of one of me done as a joke-don’t ask…I don’t want to say how many years ago…

As lady lazuli is part of a series I hope there will be more…..

Filed under: writing Tagged: Callm the Black Wolf, dealing with rejection as a writer, Etopia Press, His Judas Bride, Loving Lady Lazuli, Shehanne Moore, The Unraveling of Lady Fury, writing sub waiting

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Published on September 09, 2013 06:45

September 4, 2013

It’s the official weird club with Elyzabeth M. Valey

dorothy and alic

Yes we have seen Dorothy and Alice before. They might not rank as high as Polly Positive or Greeting Teeny but I’m thinking of adopting them as my official weird club badge. You think I don’t have one? A weird club that is, I mean I just showed you the badge. Well, I do and it is so exclusive, until now I’ve been the only member, which is why today it’s a privilege to stop being lonely. Aw…. To ask along a fellow weird author…Okay I know I am having a lot of authors WRITE now and the good news is there’s still two to go, Anne Lange and Scarlett Dawn before I can get to all these fancy blogging awards. So…let’s get on with being weird….And refusing to stick to choosing one hottie.

Q. Elyzabeth, I just love your bio, because at last I can say, a kindred spirit. Before I let you join my exclusive weird club, not to mention my doodling one, why are you defined as weird?

*Grabs a flashlight, turns off the lights and sits in the dark for a few seconds. The silence doesn’t last as Elyzabeth starts humming or outright singing the latest song to pop in her head (currently: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnILuPX76sQ ). Abruptly, she turns on the flashlight. The bright light illuminates her crazy grinning face.

“Do you hear that Shehanne? That is the sound of weird.”

Ahem, so yes, I am prone to manic grinning (especially when excited about a current WIP), singing random songs and doodling (flowers and deformed stars are my specialty). I’m quite shy when meeting people for the first time, but once confidence is established I can blurt out (or do, as the above paragraph bares testimony) the silliest things. I guess, I just don’t do what everyone else does (what fun is there in that, anyway?)

Q. Er….shy, Elyzabeth? All right…… Defo a club member. Okay, you live in Spain. Can you share a little of your life there. Like how long, why and what’s it like. I mean you have all day don’t you?

Yep, I live in Madrid and I moved here when I was about 6 because of my father’s job. That was over twenty years ago.

Living here is nice–as long as you’re okay with people being generally rude, no one speaking English, having lunch at 3 and dinner at 10pm, no job opportunities (especially now with the crisis) and the excessive summer heat (I don’t like temperatures that go over the 25ºC).

Negatives apart, Spanish food is great (chorizo, jamón Serrano, tortilla…), once you get to really know people they can be nice, Madrid has one of the best public transportation systems in the world, and it’s the sort of city you can take long walks in or sit in a summer terrace at night and chill.

I live in the outskirts of the city, so I have the best of both worlds. In the mornings, I’m at home doing chores, some odd jobs here and there, writing and playing with my dogs. In the afternoon, I commute to the city center (about an hour and a half) and work in a call center.

Q. Now then, we know you do more than that because you also write.

Have you always wanted to write? Or was there something else you wanted to be?

I’ve always wanted to write. The only other thing I wanted to be since a very young age was a journalist (and though currently unemployed as such, that dream came true last year when I finally got my degree *smiles*) and that includes writing too *g*.

Q. Silly question but I have been asking it a lot lately…Is there a favorite amongst your books? And why?

Aw, that’s a tough question! I can’t really pick one favorite.

Q I must say I like the sound of Your Mercenary tales, can you tell us a bit about them?

The Mercenary Tales is a collection of 3 books that revolve around a band of mercenaries in a fictional medieval land. There is adventure, romance, mystery and of course some hot sex. The books can be read as separate installments but I’d recommend reading them in order. The first one is The Mercenary Knight, the second The Mercenary Slave and the third The Lost Mercenary.

Q Will there be more?

To be honest, I’m not sure. When I started writing The Mercenary knight I did not intend to write the other two books, but along they came. There is a character in The Lost Mercenary for which I had a story in mind but I’m still toying with the idea.

Q Do you have a favorite hero or heroine in your books?

I like all my heroes and heroines but if I had to pick one right now because someone was threatening me I’d pick Adrian Ormonde from A Dragon’s Heart, A Demon’s Blood as my hero and Emmeline from The Lost Mercenary as my heroine. They are both resilient characters that have been through a lot and also happen to hold a secret that affects their life immensely.

Q What writers have influenced you?

I don’t think I can point to one particular author. I’ve always enjoyed reading (oh look that was another thing that defined me as weird- while everyone else hated reading I loved it) and I think a lot of books have stayed with me in one way or another. However, if I had to pull three authors out of the top of my head I’d say Raymond E. Feist, J.R..R. Tolkien and Margaret Mitchell.

conv

Q Oh a good excuse for a photo. Some big hitters there. What’s next for you?

My paranormal story Blue Horns is part of the Sinspirationally Yours anthology from Hot Ink Press which is set for release sometime in late October. I’ve also submitted a recent BDSM piece for another anthology and I’m currently doing some research for a regency novel I have in mind.

And …..Finally…..

Hot or cold? Cold

Black or white? Black

Bruce or Bowie? Bowie

Thick or thin? Thick

Fav…

Animal, Dog.

Month, December

Day, Saturday

Hottie I can only pick one? :-O Mmmm… Joe Manganiello? Chris Hemsworth? Jason Momoa? Alexander Skarsgard? Hugh Jackman?

All he ever wanted was a family and some land for farming. Instead, his dreams were ripped at the seams by a ruthless king. Choosing to become a mercenary, Gregorii has roamed the land clinging to a past he thought long gone—until Emmeline stumbled onto his path. Now, his dreams resurface and hope re-emerges. The only problem is Emmeline’s defiance.

Emmeline has a secret. An important secret. A dangerous secret. Few know her mission. Fewer know her past. When Gregorii turns up in her life, past, present and future unite and her whole world threatens to crumble.
How long will she be able to hide the truth from him? How long will her heart resist the inevitable?

Available at:

Evernight Publishing
Amazon
Amazon UK
All Romance Ebooks

You can find the amazing Elyzabeth here.

www.elyzabethmvaley.com/

http://elyzabethmvaley.weebly.com/

https://twitter.com/ ElyzabethVaLey

September 1, 2013

The September Author Interview- What’a a girl to do about Aimee Duffy

What’s the nice pic of the Scottie doing heading off today’s post? Well, on Fury’s blog now there would be ulterior motives where my friend, the lovely, talented Mz Duffy is concerned.

Aimee is like me, a Scottish lass, so of course I have to get oot the tartan. Duffy tartan at that. Then of course there’s the biz of how I sometimes mistype her name, so it’s Duggy, not Duffy. So, sorry Aimee couldn’t resist the wee dug.

Seriously it’s no mean feat for a Scot’s lass to get herself out there in the world of romance publishing. A year ago Aimee was just coming up to her first release, nervous about how it would all go.

Now, here she is, proving the answer pretty well. I’ve just read her latest and it is a cracker, but more of that later. Right now it’s time for the drumroll….

Let’s just hope when her new heroine is called Shey, there is no confusion…

Shehanne . Aimee, you first came on this blog last October to talk about your first release, Monster of Fame. Now how many is this under the belt?

Aimee. I did! Thank you for having me again. Well, there was The Monster of Fame, then Isle of Sensuality was contracted.

The Beachwalk ladies and mwah did a Christmas anthology in between. My story was called Believe in Me. This April saw the release of Never Say Never, which features another judge from the show The Monster of Fame is set on. At the beginning of May Michelle Smart and I released a fairy tale/zombie anthology called Once Upon a Twist (self-published).

That was so fun to write, and not freaky zombie love like some have expected. It’s a typical guy and girl, or Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood, fighting against the zombies with their men.

Sinfully Summer was released in June and now What’s a Girl to Do? (Indecent Proposals #1) will be released on 29th August. It’s my first full on erotic romance. Oh and A Week in Milan, another slightly erotic novella featuring Caitlyn from Isle of Sensuality’s sister, Amanda, will be released in December.

Shehanne. Pheeeeeeeeeeeeeeew! (When the girl sleeps I don’t know because she also works full time.) So, pretty whirlwind?

Aimee. I’m still dizzy!

Shehanne. What do you enjoy most about being an author?

Aimee. The lovely Susan Arden pointed out that most people think writing is an easy ‘hobby’. She was so right when she said the invisible work was a killer. But it’s very addictive. Every good review, every spike in rankings and every discussion started about a story you’ve created is AMAZING. Best feeling in the world.

Shehanne. Yes she is lovely isn’t she? Here she is to prove it and so we can all say hi to her…..

Aimee. The feeling that you’re getting nowhere fast. Some strike it lucky and become overnight bestsellers. It’s a rarity and when I see others succeeding I’m thrilled for them but also go on a bit of a downward spiral, feeling I’m not good enough! Reality is, it’s going to take time, effort and dedication. I can’t give writing up. It’s in my blood now. I can only try to not let myself ride the lows and remember the highs.

Shehanne. Absolutely. I don’t think it’s as simple as that even for the overnight bestsellers, not if you rake beneath the surface a bit. A lot of it is about building the backlist, building the readership, and you are certainly doing that. What’s more Sinfully Summer has been shooting up the charts, so get on the high girl! You deserve it, the work you do. Okay so the new release is kind of smexier… Why the change to erotic romance? Nice cover by the way.

Aimee. The Monster of Fame is the tamest book I have. It’s not that I didn’t want to write sexy (and there is some in there) it’s just I was too embarrassed. But as the market changed and my family seemed to accept the smexy – even in Never Say Never which bordered erotic – I thought why not?

Shehanne. Well Aimee, having read your new release yesterday, may I say…glad you overcame the embarrassment. Of course erotic is a pretty broad spectrum…and sometimes it can be misunderstood what can readers expect?

Aimee. The erotic spectrum is split into lots of categories. Some people expect dark, tortured and complicated characters. Maybe even a Christian Grey who crosses the line between protector and abuser (the latter is not my take, but based on reviews I’ve read). To me, the best erotic romances have an intense emotional love story at the core. That’s what I strive to write, because without it I’d feel like I was writing outside my limits and the style my readers have come to expect.

The Indecent Proposals trilogy is probably different to most erotic romances out there today. It’s fun, flirty and bursting with sexual tension – the only difference from my other stories is that the smexy times are a little more creative and detailed.

Shehanne. I er…noticed that yesterday when I read it. Straight off I loved its smarty smexy sassiness. Can you spill about your hero and heroine….called Shey, I noticed.

Aimee. Would love to! Shey Lopez (yup, pinched your nickname) is a Manhattanite living with her two best friends. Her mother raised her to believe that accidental pregnancies would ruin her life, so Shey’s always remained in control of her relationships – refusing to ever have a one night stand. Until she meets Calvin…

Calvin Jones is an enigma. I won’t spoil it , but he’s been burned bad. The sanctity of marriage is a joke to him. He thinks relationships are stupidity, but can’t ignore the way his libido fires up around Shey.

Their connection forces them to break their own rules, but it’s more than the kinky sex that drives their relationship.

Shehanne. Like you I need to see an intense love story there, something that’s more than just sex for the sake of it, and it’s one of the reasons I loved your book. Aimee all these books and the whirlwind year it’s been, what is your favorite?

Aimee. Honestly? Sinfully Summer. I have a thing for Ric and though Alexa didn’t do a bloody thing I wanted her to, it made the story fun to write.

Shehanne. Lol. Sounds familiar. Remind me to lend you one of my character mallets.

I have an array, although telling you now not one kept Fury in order, as for the Wolf… How easy do you find it to think up a new story?

Aimee. I don’t really. I figure out who my characters are, what problems they might face, then start writing. They usually end up in a different place from where I want them to, but that’s fine because it’s where they’re meant to be.

Shehanne. Okay, so I get to keep the mallets. Your new release is that part of a series, can we look to several more here?

Aimee. It is. I’m writing book 2 just now and the heroine, Georgia, is a bit like Alexa insofar as she never does what I expect! She’s giving me a hard time, but I think I’ve mostly figured her out. Max definitely has his hands full…

Shehanne. Oh good… Is this move into erotic permanent?

Aimee. Nope. I probably shouldn’t jinx it, but I’ve submitted to Mills & Boon again, the Modern Tempted line. It’s full of humour, flirting and a bit more like Sinfully Summer. Plus I still have two more to write in The Price of Fame Series, which is steamy but not straight erotic romance. I’d love to write both – full time preferably!

Shehanne So what is next in line for Aimee Duffy?

I’ve no idea! I’m so undisciplined. I need to write book 3 in The Price of Fame series, then book 3 in Indecent Proposals Trilogy. After that I have another in TPOF series and have a scrapbook full of ideas to work on – just need to find the time!

Thank you Shey for having me today!

Shehanne. My pleasure. Seriously, folks, I loved this book and I’m not just saying it cos Aimee’s a mate, writing buddies have an agreement to be honest with one another. You’re not doing yourself any favors otherwise. It’s sassy, classy, flirty, funny, with emotional depth, a hero and heroine to root for and the sex scenes are really well written.

Blurb

The first novella in a thrilling, pulse-racing new erotic romance series, Indecent Proposals. Three best friends, Shey, Eloisa and Georgia take on the most powerful and eligible men of the New York dating scene.

Single Manhattanite Shey Lopez doesn’t do one night stands, or have relationships she can’t control. Especially if giving in to playboy Calvin Jones means losing her heart in the process.

However, Mr Won’t-Take-No-For-An-Answer always gets what he wants and there’s only so many times a girl can resist such an enticing proposal…

Links: Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

Sneaky smexy peeky.

‘I suppose you agree with her idiot boyfriend?’ Shey asked the stranger.

His lips twisted up at the corners and a sultry look darkened his eyes. ‘Hell no. I can think of better ways to entertain a lady.’

Her heart rate went crazy.

Mandy gasped, but was saved by the phone ringing. Shey didn’t have the same time to compose herself. She was lost in his gaze and that fiery burn scorching through her body. For the first time since she could remember, Shey couldn’t find her tongue. Those damn eyes messed with her head and she couldn’t break free from their spell if she tried.

He stepped closer and the burn intensified. She was so hot she wanted to rip the dress off and stand in front of an open freezer to cool down. Up close she could see a dark five o’clock shadow on his sculpted jaw. His throat was thick, just like his shoulders. The slightly crooked nose suggested he’d had it broken at some point in his life, but it didn’t deter from his harsh beauty. Shey was awestruck, and so turned on she thought she might come just from looking at him.

‘What’s your name, gorgeous?’ he asked.

The disinterest on his face made it seem like he was flirting out of habit rather than because he wanted to. Even still, there seemed to be a magnetic force between them, crackling in the air and sparking. Those eyes of his had darkened, contradicting his Mr. Cool Man front. No way was Shey going to make this easy for him.

‘Seriously? That the best line you’ve got?’ She forced a laugh, but it came out husky, damn it. ‘Next you’ll call my dad a thief for stealing the stars and putting them in my eyes.’

His brows shot up, but he composed himself in a heartbeat. With a smile, he leaned forward and brushed a kiss over her cheekbone. The spicy smell of him invaded her senses and her skin sizzled with the contact. Her body went hyperactive. Hands trembling, knees weakening and oh yeah, soaked right through her lacy thong. She had to get away from him before she did something crazy, like beg for those soft lips to touch her again.

‘Sweetheart, with you I don’t need any lines.’

Anger boiled through her veins, loosening his hold on her body. She didn’t even know his name and he had her salivating, for Christ’s sake. He was a cocky bastard, so sure he had her right where he wanted her, and the worst thing? He was absolutely right. Next time those lips touched her skin she’d be putty in his long-fingered hands.

‘It’ll take more than arrogance to win me over.’ Shey left the asshole unspoken. ‘I have somewhere to be.’ Without waiting for Mandy to get off the phone or for Mr. Cool to reply, she left the reception.

His voice trailed behind her. ‘I’ll see you soon, gorgeous.’

Yeah, big shot. In your dreams.

Copyright, Aimee Duffy Harper Impulse

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