This year I’ve been notoriously late for my blog posts, but I promise it’s with mostly good reason. Delilah was so sweet when I shared with her why I’m sending this at the last minute. I had surgery early in October—my first ever. We removed a tumor and my thyroid. Anyway, that’s not what this post is about. It’s Halloween! Time for hauntings and I wanted to share a true life horror moment with you guys—which stems from my hospital stay. I decided to make you the hero or heroine in the story, so enjoy my dark ride.

They wheel you down a long corridor, your honey is holding your hand and trying to keep his shit together, because after all, he is the hero of your dreams and has to live up to that status. You get one last moment to hug him, kiss him, and get a little grope if you’re lucky—or like me. He scolds you, “Behave. And you better make it through this so I can punish you for that.”

You are pushed into a large room with curtained stalls. There are bodies all around you. They draw the curtains so now it’s just you. The sounds around you are men and women telling others what is about to happen. You’ve been told that they’ll give you a happy drug to keep you calm during this stage, but so far nothing. A man wails about his wounded leg even though he lost it in WWII. Another man moans. A woman is weeping softly in the stall next to you while they talk about a double mastectomy. It is all too real.

A man comes in and inserts an IV. An hour passes. The time can be measured by the lovely round clock directly above your feet. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

“Okay, it’s your turn.”

You frantically grasp the side of the bed frame and swivel up to see your doctor and nurse. “Wait. I was told I would have a happy drug before this shit went down. I really want that.”

The Doctor grins at you. His skull cap has pushed thick eyebrows low over his beady eyes and he winks. “I think you can make it.”

“Well, of course I can, but I don’t really want to if I don’t have to.”

Someone shoots something in your IV and the corridor lights grow fluffy and fade. Ah, you are much happier now. There’s some conversation around you. Someone puts a mask over your face and tells you to breathe. Breathe again. Breathe some more.

Three hours later.

You hear people calling your name and they want you to wake up to the burning pain. No. It’s much nicer in the dark.

“Wake up.”

Dim lights meet you and you’re again in a room full of stalls filled with other moaning, groaning bodies. Someone sits down next to you and takes your hand. The pain is unbearable, but you don’t say anything except to answer their many questions.

“What is your name.”

You answer.

“What day is it?”

You didn’t know that going in, so you guess. They don’t like this.

“Who is the president.”

You smirk. Really?

A man is woken two stalls down and he’s big, and mad. He fights the nurse. Your crew runs to help and it takes six of them to put him back on his bed. There is moaning and groaning everywhere. But it’s okay, because they have left you to suffer through your pain in peace.

A cute male nurse leans over you. A nice distraction from the fire inside. You try to open your eyes and watch his sexy ass as he twists and turns on his stool. He has blue eyes, but they are dull and not as blue as the man waiting for you somewhere else in the hospital. You reach up toward your incision, hoping to scratch away the pain.

He takes out a syringe and lays it on the bed next to you. So close. You can almost reach it if he wasn’t holding your arm down now. He smiles and you think, yes, he’s going to end this suffering. But he doesn’t. Instead he leans over and whispers. “It’ll be about fifteen more minutes before I can give you something for the pain.”

You glance up and through the slits of your eyes see the round clock stationed directly beyond you. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Okay, so the pain goes away with morphine—who knew? But, that really is how my OR experience went and it really is a terrifying moment. Horror doesn’t always have to be ghouls and goblins. Most of the time, it’s these events in our life that we draw from when we write. And you better believe that this experience will be in a book some day—a very sexy one.  😉 I hope you all have a safe and sexy Halloween, and if you are misplaced because of Sandy, just remember, if you have your health and safety, that is the most important thing.

Psst! Remember! This Thursday is the close of the Amazon Gift Certificate Contest!
So be sure to post those comments! ~DD

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Such a crazy time for me! I’m trying to get my office straightened so the piles of books and papers don’t make me crazy. Clean desk = fresh start, for me, and I want to be ready to dive into NaNoWriMo on the first. Don’t know what that is? Imagine thousands of crazy writers, hunkering over their keyboards for a month. Family, friends and lovers told to take a rain check because, hey, we have a job to do! The goal? 50,000 words of story in one month.

I’m trying to declutter in preparation. I also have that Super Alpha collection to get out the door. My own short story isn’t finished! Bad author, me! But come Thursday morning, I’ll be ready. Even revitalized. Expectant. Something wonderful will happen. All that positive energy zinging around the web, some of it’s bound to leak through my connection and flow right over me.

Or at least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! Anyone else planning to “NaNo” all November? Want to be my buddy? My NaNo name is DelilahDevlin. I’ll be your buddy if you promise to kick my ass when I fall behind!

THE AGONY AND ECSTASY OF BEING A WRITER

For me, writing isn’t something that I do. It’s what I am. I am a writer. I love it. It’s my breath and I was put on this good Earth to do just that… to write.

There’s nothing better than carving out characters, giving them life on paper and then seeing them published for the world to enjoy.

To see them grow from a barely there idea to a fully fleshed out story, there’s something pure in it. 

Something other worldly.

I’ve had numerous short stories published over the last couple of years, and there are a few more to follow in 2013. I somehow fell into writing erotica and haven’t looked back since. I love it, and usually ramp up the tension by putting a thrilling edge running alongside the erotica.

I’ve been told I have a very forceful, almost staccato style of writing.  Perhaps it’s because I’m born on the fourth of July. I’m fiercely independent, and so is my writing.

It’s as unique as my finger print. 

That’s what I believe anyway.

I have been writing ever since I can remember, and there’s nothing in this world I’d rather do. So the goal is simple—to become a multi-published writer who earns enough money to do it full time.

That’s the ecstasy.

But at the moment, I’m in agony.

How do I know? My best friend asked me how I was feeling, and I replied, “Sad, I’m feeling sad and I don’t know why.”

“You’re sad because you’re not writing,” she said without missing a beat.

“How do you know that?”

“Because you’re spending eight hours here, at work, when you should be fulfilling your soul purpose.”

It was like a lightning bolt of realisation.

I’m sad because I’m not writing.

But I have to pay the bills. A long spell of unemployment a while back has me working the nine to five… and honestly, I don’t mind (have you ever tried to live on £120 Government Assistance every two weeks?). I want to work; I need to work.

But how do I stop feeling sad? It’s like my soul is crying out because it’s missing something.

It’s missing writing.

But how do I write? When do I write? I’m so exhausted after work, its dinner, bed, sleep, work, and repeat five days a week.

The weekends are spent catching up with the house work and simply getting my breath back.

Then Monday morning hits.

So, dear reader… have you been through this? Do you have any advice you can offer? How do you balance the world of work with the universe of your writing? How do I achieve the greatness that you know you’re supposed to achieve and pay the bills in the mean time?

I’d love to hear your thoughts, your tips for finding balance and doing what you love.

Find me at tahiraiqbal.com.
Tweet me at @tahiraiqbal

Halloween Memories

As a child Halloween was a favorite holiday, ranking right up there with Christmas and Easter. You get stuff. Santa brought gaily wrapped presents and the Easter bunny left a basket of colored eggs and chocolate bunnies.

But Halloween made your spine tingle and put an eerie spin on your imagination. I remember trick-or-treating with my older sisters. I was excited at being allowed out after dark, wearing a costume and going home with a sack full of candy. What’s not to like?

Halloween was special. Trick-or-treating had an edge, especially if the moon was full and my sisters had filled my head with chilling tales. Shadows became ghostly figures, leafless trees looked like tall skeletons, and the scraping of fallen leaves along our rural road were surely the scurrying of unseen creatures. It was exciting and scary with the possibility of witches flying and goblins lurking.

But time moves on and Halloween becomes a night to don costumes and party with friends. It’s fun, but the edge is gone. Now, I’m one of those people who open the door on All Hallows Eve and respond to the demand of trick-or-treat with a handful of candy. I love seeing the smiles of pirates, princesses and super heroes, and hearing their joyful chatter as they rush along carrying plastic pumpkins and bags of treats. I hope the costumed children are collecting memories along with the candy because the wonder of Halloween comes to an end all too soon.

I hope you’ll enjoy the blurbs of my Halloween themed books Embrace Forever and Warrior of the Light and spend All Hallows Eve with my heroines, Jastra and Dani.

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Embrace Forever

Sentenced to death Jastra is transported Draco, the vampire planet, as part of a food for protection program. Vampire warriors destroy the asteroids threatening Tariz and the condemned provide nourishment and pleasure.

As a sex slave, Jastra has known a life of opulence. Jastra’s new master, Dauthus, offers a life devoid of luxury but the pleasure is to die for.

As commander of the vampire warriors Dauthus faces many demands and confrontations, but falling in love is the ultimate challenge.

BUYLINK

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Warrior of the Light

A bright burst of light signals a new life for Dani March, but at the moment her main concern is what to do about the wolf-like dog that has jumped into the back seat of her convertible.

Dani’s inadvertent request for a big bad wolf makes for an interesting night. A dog can change into a warrior and a naked hunk with a big sword can turn interesting into extraordinary. The warrior can jump through space gates, childhood bedtime stories can be true and Dani’s earthly existence is a fantasy.

Finding out you’re an alien and falling in love? There’s only so much a girl can take.

BUY LINK  

B.J. McCall is multi-published in Ebook and print with Changeling Press, eRedSage, Cobblestone Press and Ellora’s Cave. This year, 2012, B.J. celebrates being a ‘decade author’ with Ellora’s Cave. Happier than a witch in a broom factory, B.J. is thrilled to announce the release of her latest werewolf tale. Pleasure Pact will be released by Ellora’s Cave on November 9th.

Hi Delilah. Thanks for the invitation to guest blog on your fabulous site. (Actually, *wink* I begged to get in bed with her and she took pity on me.)

I’ll cut right to the chase. *Ahem* Normally, I write erotic historical westerns. You can find me hanging around Wild and Wicked Cowboys on the 2^nd and 13^th of every month and I pretty much speak, write, and think in westernize.

But you know how ever once in awhile a streak of ornery hits ya? Well, it happened to me in February of this year. It was probably a case of being stall crazy and wanting spring to get busy and be. But for whatever cause, I jumped the tracks so to speak, and wrote outside my normal genre.

I feel like I need to whisper this next part—I wrote an erotic paranormal story, starring were-jaguar, NSA Special Forces Operative, Thomas Hunter and Bitter Creek Holler hedge-witch/healer/truth-sayer, Missouri Hess.

I created a world of werewolves, witches and strange critters living in the hills, titled the book Call Me Miz, and then I got really crazy. *blushing* I did it again—Hexual Healing, the second book in what I’ve affectionately named my Bitter Creek Holler Series, released from Ellora’s Cave on October 12^th.

Harvest the magic of Samhain and sex

Heal the beast, rebound the hex

Burn, witch, burn… 

Incantations, scryings and hexes abound when hedge witch Missouri Hess breaks out her rough magic. The autumn solstice is days away, Bitter Creek Holler is pulsing with mountain mysticism, Miz is burning up with enough sexual energy to light Fenway Park and her lover is MIA. She…is…pissed.

Nothing in his Special Forces background has prepared shape-shifter Thomas Hunter for the torture of jaguar mating heat or the wrath of a furious witch. Though he’s on a mission in DC, his beast wrests control, returning them to their mate. 

After Thomas delivers his own brand of sexual healing, it’s back to DC with Miz. There’s twisted magic at work. Someone has unleashed a snake-eyes death hex. Good thing Miz is all about hexual healing. And Thomas stands ready to take all the heat from her sexual burn.

 Now Available @ Amazon /  Ellora’s Cave /  B&N  

By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age. If you are under the age of 18, it is necessary to exit this site.

Dammit to hell!  Miz paced from one side of her living room to the other, stopping every once in a while to peer outside. The damned cat was in the tree again and Mother Nature had sent a storm. Lightning crashed and thunder rolled, making the earth shudder under the force of the ever-nearer strikes.

 I will not invite that idiot inside. A picture suddenly flashed in her mind of the wet jaguar crouching on a slippery willow limb. Tough shit! Thomas Hunter was up a tree and he could stay there. Forget him, Miz. You met in midsummer, solved a crime together, boinked like animals—which he is, sort of—you came, he came, he left. End of romance.

“Serves you right,” Miz snarled. She didn’t know whether she blamed herself or him. She knew better than counting on anyone. She looked at the storm outside where sheets of water pelted across her yard in a rolling tide. He left, he didn’t call, we’re done.

Jerking a blanket around her shoulders, she stomped to the kitchen to see if the coffee was ready. Suddenly, a wash of pleasure shivered through her as she felt the essence of Thomas penetrate her body and melt her core.

Oh. My. God. She put passion in the mental punch she landed on his metaphysical, thick skull. Stay out of my head. Read the rest of this entry »

Emotions of the Rain

The last few days have been rainy, and they made me think of a post I did on rain. I was again thinking of how rain makes me feel. There is just something about the sound, scent and overall feeling that rain that brings out so many various emotions. When I look out my window at the rain coming down I think of some of the different rains and what emotions they invoke.

All New
The misty rain brings to mind the softness of a kiss or the blush of first love.

Lost and Adrift
The soaking rain with the wind blowing you to and forth batters at you like that moment when all seems lost in a relationship you put your all into. Everything you are yet it seems as if all is lost and there is no middle ground.

Resonate in the Soul
The deluge of rain with thunder and lightning resonates in the soul just like that moment when you know that person is forever yours. They are the one for you. The tumultuous emotions makes your soul sing.

Aftermath
As the rain slows and the rainbow comes out it reminds you that you know all will be right. No matter what happens you will be stronger than yesterday.

There are so many more variations of rains I could explore. So much that the sounds of rain bring out in me. No matter what I experience I can compare it to the variety of rain. The next time wherever you are take a moment to appreciate the sound, scent and overall feel of rain. Let it wash over you with the many emotions of rain. 

Taige Crenshaw is a multi-published author with books available at Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Liquid Silver Books, Loose Id, and Total-E-Bound. Taige has been enthralled with the written word from time she picked up her first book. It wasn’t long before she started to make up her own tales of romance. With novels set in today, in alternate dimensions, or in the future she writes with adventure, fun sassy heroine’s, and sexy hero’s. Always hard at work creating new and exciting places Taige can be found curled up with a hot novel with exciting characters when she is not creating her own. Join her in the fun, frolic, interesting people and far reaches of the world in her novels. You can find out more about Taige at her website: https://www.taigecrenshaw.com or blog: https://www.taigecrenshaw.com/blog.

Hurricane — When life gives you a second chance how do you decide what to do?
Buy here at Total-E-Bound. 

I am woefully behind on mailings—something I promise to remedy this weekend. Here that, assistant? She’s grumbling, because I have a stack of things for her to prepare for mailing. All of which means, I’m reluctant to pull something cool from my promo gifts stash for a new contest. Whatever I do has to be something emailable (is that a word?!). Satisfied with my choice?

Amazon Gift Card Contest!

What can you win? One $20.00 Amazon.com gift certificate!

What do you have to do to win? Post comments on this blog from now until the contest ends! Each time you post counts as another entry!

This contest ends on November 1st!

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The Question

If you could serve on the jury for any trial in history, which one would you choose?
From the Answer Guys