M.Q. Barber's Blog, page 11

Henry, Alice, and Jay pick their favorite Super Bowl ads

Watching the Super Bowl for the commercials, I discovered just how much the Neighborly Affection characters have taken over my brain. Did you see the commercial for the new peanut butter cup style Butterfingers?

Just in case, here it is:

So naturally, I turn to my husband and say, “Look, it’s an MMF threesome like Henry, Jay, and Alice!”

That, of course, led to a discussion of which Super Bowl ads the Neighborly Affection triad would name as their favorites. And the winners are:

Alice: Goldie Blo...

Cast your vote in the menage fans’ choice awards

It’s awards season! Forget the red carpet walks and the boring speeches and the jokes that miss more often than they land.

The awards I’m talking about are the 2014 Menage Romance Fan Awards at Mary’s Menage Whispers, a comprehensive book review site focused on — wait for it — menage romance. Mary is a tour de force in the genre, posting spoiler-free reviews of the books she devours faster than a whirlwind and focusing on the human elements that make the stories feel real.

Voting is open throug...

Do not panic. The trio will be back.

The post title’s more for me than you. The “not currently available for purchase” message on a book page can be curl-up-in-a-ball panic-inducing for authors. (Possibly just me. I haven’t done a survey or anything.)

But the reason Playing the Game (Neighborly Affection #1) isn’t available right now is a good one: it’s getting a shiny new contract with Kensington Books, which just acquired Lyrical Press. So Henry, Alice, and Jay won’t be going home with anyone new for a few weeks while the behin...

Bonus scene: What Henry Wants for Christmas

In the spirit of the season, I have a gift for you. You’ve made this year an amazing one full of emotional highs (and lots of hard work)!

So to thank all of the Neighborly Affection fans out there — especially the Henry fans (you know who you are) — I’m including a flash fiction piece in the next newsletter. It’s a bonus scene from Playing the Game and not available anywhere else.

If you recall, in Chapter 11, the trio is headed into the holiday season:

Jay wished her a merry Christmas at thei...

Play games, win prizes, chat with authors

Whether you’re done with shopping and present-wrapping or still standing in line for a few odds and ends on Sunday, Dec. 22, you deserve a round of applause and a break.

Since I can’t give you Henry — Alice and Jay would kill me — I give you instead the Love, Lust and Christmas Kisses event on Facebook. Pop over between 1 and 5 p.m. EST on Sunday and hang out with 24 authors including yours truly.

Visit the event page and click “join” to get a reminder from Facebook so you don’t miss the fun an...

Book-finishing celebration

Woo-hoo! Finished writing the last scene for a new standalone romance this morning, and I am thrilled. Book-high. It’s a powerful upper.

I know it is, because I am also super-thrilled to be celebrating by painting the basement.

Yup. Painting the basement. Mine needs a new coat of waterproofing on the cinderblocks. For any sane person, this is not a fun job. But because I am book-high, I’m all paint!! Brush!! Go-go-go!!

I swear it’s not the paint fumes talking; I haven’t cracked the can yet. I ne...

Day trip: Henry, Alice, and Jay go out to play

Since I’m such a homebody, I send Henry, Alice, and Jay out to meet new people whenever I can. Today they’re visiting with Mia Downing at her blog. Check out the post for a flash fiction / character interview and a book giveaway.

I’ll be dropping by to check on the trio, so if you have a question for Alice, Henry, or Jay, leave a comment and I’ll get them to answer.

First Frost is FREE at Amazon

Henry: “Your hopes are showing. Lust always looks so lovely on you.”

The link is live! If you’ve been waiting to grab your free copy of the First Frost anthology, wait no longer: http://www.amazon.com/First-Frost-Daisy-Banks-ebook/dp/B00GM0PHT6

You’ll get nine stories of romance by nine Lyrical Press authors, including the Neighborly Affection series short story “Three-Way Tie.” The story is set in early November just over a year after Alice starts her arrangement with Henry and Jay, so it’s th...

Spend the week with me at Sizzle and Sass

Thirteen authors have joined forces to bring you fun and romance at the Sizzle and Sass Facebook page. We’re taking hosting duties in rotation, and I’m finally at bat.

Drop by all week long starting Sunday, Nov. 10, to harass me, talk about characters and themes in the Neighborly Affection series, and join in a read along of the stories in the First Frost anthology. The anthology is completely FREE and features nine stories, including the Neighborly Affection short “Three-Way Tie.”

The official...

Crossing the Lines ARCs and cover are here!

I’m so excited to have ARCs and share the cover for Crossing the Lines (Neighborly Affection #2) with you. It’s one year to the day I submitted my first novel, Playing the Game (Neighborly Affection #1) to Lyrical Press and chewed through my fingernails waiting for the inevitable rejection slip.

What a difference a year makes. Playing the Game is out and finding an audience among readers of intelligent erotica. Next week will see the release of a FREE Neighborly Affection short story, “Three-W...