Lisa Renee Jones's Blog, page 163
August 15, 2011
A chance to win LEGEND OF MICHAEL and have you gotten your copy of HOT VAMPIRE KISS YET? V
A fun contest is kicked off today featuring my www.dangerwomenwriting.com pals HERE! So hop on over to Romance Book Craze for your chance to win lots of books including LEGEND OF MICHAEL!
And have you gotten your copy of HOT VAMPIRE KISS YET? Only 99 cents right now but that will change to 2.99 soon! So get it while its a deal!
HOT VAMPIRE KISS
Book one, Evan's story
The werewolf population is entrenched in a century long civil war, and now they are plagued by a virus that is turning wolves into killers. The Brooks brothers pursue one such rogue werewolf to Temple, Texas. It is in Temple that Evan encounters a beautiful nurse named Marissa who instantly melts the hundred years of ice running through his veins. When she is brutally attacked by the wolf, he breaks the rules of the Vampire Council and uses his blood to save her. Now, if he doesn't kill the wolf by the next full moon, Marissa will become a killer wolf, and he will be sentenced to death.
Book 2, Aiden's story — Hot Vampire Seduction — Late 2011
Book 3, Troy's story — Hot Vampire Touch — Late 2011
If you read Vampire Wardens and like it please post a review at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Good Reads! If you have a review blog and are interested in a copy for review email me at lisarenjones@gmail.com. My AOL is still bouncing!
Happy Monday! 
August 10, 2011
Excerpt from 99 cent HOT VAMPIRE KISS and Damion Cover!
Three hours later, the bar was closed, but Evan had ensured that Marissa lingered in her seat, a drink in front of her. He wasn't about to allow her to leave without him, and not just because of the wolf he was certain would have her in his sight. No – there was more to his desire to keep Marissa nearby. Plain and simple, he wanted her, and not just physically, though there was no question, she got him hot and hard. He was, after all, a male, a vampire male, with primal, sexual instincts that had him imagining all kinds of wicked ways to make her scream his name. But what really had him by the balls was not the desire she created in him, but the way she'd made him laugh when he'd have sworn it wasn't possible. The way she'd made him smile when he was certain he had no reason. The way she'd made him realize how empty a century of hunting had made him and he wanted to know why, and how, a woman he barely knew could do such things. The time for discovery, both in and out of bed, was not now though.
He wiped down the counter, working toward closing up the bar, focused on getting Marissa out of here safely. To ensure the wolf didn't target her, as he normally did the friends and acquaintances of his victims.
All but done with the façade of this night's bartender duties, he cast a quick, seductive glance at Marissa, making no attempt to tame the primal heat in his stare. She wasn't for him, he told himself silently. She was a forever kind of girl, and not the kind of forever he could give her. Nevertheless, when she smiled shyly at him, his groin tightened, cock thickening against his zipper, and he knew he wasn't walking away without fucking her every which way she'd have him.
He tossed the rag down, and rounded the bar, eliminating the counter that had separated them all night, to stand beside her, his hand on the back of her stool. She turned to face him, the scent of her teasing his nostrils, his arm creating an intimate enclosure, trapping her between the counter and his body. She was his in that moment and the idea appealed to him far more than it should. One tilt of his head and his teeth could touch that delicate, pale neck. His lips her lips. His body her body.
She glanced up at him, her long, dark lashes fluttering with a combination of uncertainty and desire, her pupils dilated with the effects of the alcohol she'd consumed.
"You really are…tall," she whispered.
"And you," he said, brushing a finger over her chin, "really are beautiful." And innocent. Too innocent and perfect for the likes of him.
She shivered. "Tall and a smooth talker, I think I should be afraid." Her palm slid down the bar. "Ouch!" She drew her hand forward, red pooling on her index finger, a splinter of wood sticking out from the red center.
Instant lust fired through Evan as he took the opportunity presented and snatched the splinter away before he drew her finger to his lips. The sweet taste of her blood exploded on his taste buds, filling him with lust, desire — fueling the sexual side of his vampire nature, when he already wanted this woman to the point of white-hot demand. His gums tingled, his recessed cuspids threatening to extend.
His eyes met hers, the scent of her arousal, the taste of her blood, seeping through him with a demand that he claim her, claim satisfaction. Somewhere in the back of the bar a door slammed shut. The sound was a jolt of reality that shook Evan just enough to calm the beast inside him threatening to take control of him, of her.
Slowly his tongue swirled around her finger, and then he released it, inspecting the area where the splinter had been.
"All better," he said.
A stunned look etched her features. "I was right," she whispered.
His brows dipped, "Rright?"
"When I said I should be afraid of you," she explained. "Because there is no way that what you just did should not bother me but it…"
He leaned close, sliding his face against hers, his lips near her ear, his mouth far too close to the vein he hungered to puncture — for his own good – most certainly for her own good. And yet, he found himself asking, "Aroused you?"
She drew a breath. "Yes."
"As it did me," he assured her, and silently wondered if perhaps it was him that should be afraid of her, for the way she stole his reserve, his caution. His control.
He leaned back, offering her his hand to help her stand. "I won't bite," he promised. "Not unless you ask me to." And damn how he wished she would, how he wanted to convince her she should.
She laughed, nervously. "I've never asked a man to bite me in my life," she said, pressing her palm against his.
He brought her fingers to his lips. "Then I could be the first."
Her eyes went wide, "To bite me?"
"In the most pleasurable of ways," he assured her.
She blushed. "I must be drunk," she said, "because I so believe you. Probably a sign I need to go home."
"I'll drive you and take a cab home," he offered. "Then you'll have your car tomorrow."
She considered him a moment. "I should say no."
"But you're going to say yes."
BUY IT HERE
OR
BUY IT HERE
And here is DAMION coming May 2012!
August 9, 2011
Hot Vampire Kiss for 99 cents — book 1 of VAMPIRE WARDENS IS OUT!
KINDLE HERE
NOOK HERE
This is the first book in a hot, erotic vampire series.
Explicit — hot!
In blood they will find destiny and the eternal bond of passion…
The Wardens series begins with a trilogy of three brothers—Evan, Aiden and Taylor Brooks are brothers (in order by human age: 34, 32, 28), who were early settlers of the town of New Braunfels, Texas, in the 1500s. When the town was haunted by a series of brutal animal attacks that left a half-dozen townsmen murdered, the Brooks brothers took things into their own hands. Armed and ready for action, they set out into the wilderness, determined to find this animal and kill it. What they found was a female vampire who decided the brothers were scrumptious morsels, worth keeping around for a lifetime. She attacked the brothers and turned them to vampires.
No sooner did she turn them, though, than another vampire appeared and killed her. This vampire declared himself a "Warden" of the Vampire Council. Wardens uphold the rules of the Vampire race, and report to the Council. Killing humans is punishable by death, and their 'Maker' had broken that rule. The brothers were then taken to the Council, where they were taught how to survive without killing, how to mingle with humans as if one of them, when to move on from a location so that they would not be suspected as vampires, and most importantly, who their enemies were and how to defeat them.
In the end the brothers were granted a financial dowry that had belonged to their Maker and given the choice of freedom, under Council rule, or an alternative—to become Wardens.
Now, the brothers travel together as Wardens, tracking outlaw vampires, killing them, and protecting innocent humans. It is their eternal duty.
HOT VAMPIRE KISS
Book one, Evan's story
The werewolf population is entrenched in a century long civil war, and now they are plagued by a virus that is turning wolves into killers. The Evans brothers pursue one such rogue werewolf to Temple, Texas. It is in Temple that Evan encounters a beautiful nurse named Marissa who instantly melts the hundred years of ice running through his veins. When she is brutally attacked by the wolf, he breaks the rules of the Vampire Council and uses his blood to save her. Now, if he doesn't kill the wolf by the next full moon, Marissa will become a killer wolf, and he will be sentenced to death.
Book 2, Aiden's story — Hot Vampire Seduction — Late 2011
Book 3, Troy's story — Hot Vampire Touch — Late 2011
August 7, 2011
My AOL email is bouncing….
And since AOL seems to want to blame everyone but themselves it can't seem to get fixed. So if you need me I'm at lisarenjones@gmail.com
August 2, 2011
August 1, 2011
New release day! Tell me or….show me?
Tell Me….
Boy I've got my eye on you
Or Show me
Find it here
Better YET BUY IT:)
Book store owner Kim Baker has a serious crush on Dr. Blake Morgan—an attraction that only gets stronger when he shows her an erotic book and invites her on a night of sensual exploration at his private club, the Society.
She's drawn to his sense of power and dominant sexuality…and can't help but fantasize about being controlled by him in every way. But as Blake teaches Kim to claim her pleasure and lose her inhibitions, he may be the one in danger of losing control….
Book three of The Masters series.
July 25, 2011
Pleasure with Purpose FREE AT NOOK and all other books on 99 cent sale!
You can download PLEASURE WITH PURPOSE FOR FREE — HERE
July 23, 2011
Why/how does the tax increase proposed hurt small biz?
It hit me today as I watched a news program that many people don't understand why this tax increase targeting the 250k income range is such a big deal to small businesses, or how it will effect job creation.
So why do I know? I owned and operated a large staffing agency, in two states, with income ranging from 8 to 16 million a year. I reinvested in growth every year and gave lots of people a chance to make great income. I wanted everyone to have opportunity and to feel they were doing well with us. We were all over Texas and in Nashville. I also got to consult with and see inside small and large companies in all industries. Dell Computer did 5 million a year with us but I also had the little Joe Moe's small shot as well that we did business with.
So here is why the 250k mark is a sensitive one for small business.
Most small businesses are S corporations. What that means is that the owners have to claim the companies income on their taxes. It breaks down like this:
–Your salary — your personal taxes — just like the employees
–Year end — any income the company makes the owner has to claim AS YOUR SALARY and pay personal taxes on it
So — lets say you paid yourself 60k for the year and the company finally made a profit of 100k. You as the S corporation owner must pay taxes on the 160k even if you left that 100k in the company. So let's say that puts you at a 40% tax break. You have 60k left for the company. If its 30% the you have 70K left for the company.
If you earned 60k and the company nets 250k the you pay taxes on 310k. At 40% then that is a pretty big number right? That's 124k.
Now why does that effect job creation or stability for the company? That small business is just like you. That business must have money in the bank to ensure they can pay salaries if the business hits a bump — maybe a large client leaves, or gas prices increase the price of some product, or whatever the case may be. Or Lord forbid they have a horrible insurance claim ( I had a few devastating ones when I owned my biz ) and insurance goes way up. So to ensure they have that cash in the bank, they cannot afford to hire staff, or grow the business. They have to sit on the money.
Now, that owner could prepay expenses to avoid the taxes, or rush to open an office to eat up the money and keep it in the biz and not in the hands or IRS — but then what happens if that cash is not in the bank and that biz hits a bump in the road and it needs that prepaid money to pay employees.
So in other words — that business that finally makes a profit (most don't for YEARS) — can't afford to use that money they have left to grow their business, to add employees, and so on. Nor do they dare use the money themselves! They are forced to sit on it. That's why that 250k number is a low threshold that impacts small business.
Census data shows that only 51% of the new businesses established in 2000 survived 5 or more years. That was in 2000 – before the economy went to crap.
According to SBA.GOV small firms:
Represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms.
Employ just over half of all private sector employees.
Pay 44 percent of total U.S. private payroll.
Have generated 64 percent of net new jobs over the past 15 years.
Create more than half of the nonfarm private gross domestic product (GDP).
Hire 40 percent of high tech workers (such as scientists, engineers, and computer programmers).
Are 52 percent home-based and 2 percent franchises.
Made up 97.3 percent of all identified exporters and produced 30.2 percent of the known export value in FY 2007.
Produce 13 times more patents per employee than large patenting firms; these patents are twice as likely as large firm patents to be among the one percent most cited.
So — the 250k mark is being screamed about because of the impact on small business. Sure — there are those just making lots of money who don't want to give it away, that are screaming. But inside that issue, is the small business issue — and it has to be taken into consideration.
The answer can't be to generically tax that income group — the S corp situation has to be taken into consideration or it will impact small business job creation.
So there you have it. The 250k tax number impacts small biz, jobs, the economy. These are not rich people sitting on big wads of cash and I think lots of people think so.
I remember the year we made 16 million GROSS. And employee said — WOW — you must be filthy rich. Actually NO. That year we had gone from 8 million in sales to 16 million and it was the hardest year of my life. We couldn't get staff trained fast enough, the workload was intense, and we had to open so many offices. That growth was low margin and profits were low. We netted a negative figure that year. NEGATIVE. NET income not GROSS is what counts. Had I not reinvested we would not have kept those clients. Heck if I'd slept that year we wouldn't have kept those clients.
I saw SO many businesses that seems HUGE and successful that were making pennies and struggling to survive. Look at BORDERS. Size does not make profit.
So that's why I worry about this tax thing. Not because I am protecting the big deep pockets. Because I'm worried about those people who are struggling to provide jobs for people and to make a better life — to strive for the dream which is the American way.
July 21, 2011
July 13, 2011
My call story
Is posted at the Sourcebooks blog today HERE
