Reminder! Enter to win these open contests while you can!

1. My New Hell — Office Chaos (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Puzzle-Contest & 2 Reminders! — Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Scavenger Hunt! — Win an Amazon gift card!

Valentine Puzzle!

UPDATE: The winner is…Delaine McLafferty!
*~*~*

I just looked at my blog calendar and realized I booked out every date until the 22nd! No playdates for me! 🙁

So, we’d better make the most of today’s post! While I’m gone, writing my book and clearing the junk from my office, please enjoy meeting my guests! But today: Play, and maybe you’ll win a $10 Amazon gift card!

Reminder! Enter to win these open contests while you can!

1. Flashback: Cochise (Contest–3 Winners! Plus an Excerpt!) — This one ends tomorrow night! Free story, 3 winners!
2. My New Hell — Office Chaos (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Puzzle-Contest & 2 Reminders! — Win an Amazon gift card!

Scavenger Hunt

Send answers to the following questions to me privately
via email at delilah@delilahdevlin.com!

1. Have you read any of the recent releases shown on my Home page? If so, which ones?
2. Take a look at my Upcoming/Coming Soon page and let me know which stories you would like to read!
3. On my Series page, what title is Book 13 in my Night Fall series?
4. Also on my Series page, in which series do you want to see more stories written?
5. On the Short Stories page, which cover intrigues you most?

Have fun! ~DD

UPDATE: The winner is…Ani Stubbs!
*~*~*

Contest Reminder!

Just a quick reminder that there are still two open contests running on this blog! Be sure to enter while you can!

1. Flashback: Cochise (Contest–3 Winners! Plus an Excerpt!) — Win a free book!
2. My New Hell — Office Chaos (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!

Sale Ends Soon!

And another reminder! The first book in the Danger Zone trilogy is on sale for only $0.99! If you haven’t already scored your copy, do so now! Because I’ll be setting the price back to the original one tomorrow! Click on the cover to get yours!

The Puzzle-Contest!

When my daughter peeks into my new office/craft room, she shakes her head and says,  “It’ll be Christmas before you have this all sorted! How can you stand it?”

When I quoted Einstein she wasn’t impressed. I could almost hear her thinking, “Mom, you’re no Einstein!” Pfft.

The move continues. My dd has one of the kid’s bedrooms mostly complete. There are boxes and garbage sacks full of things to unpack everywhere. My office desk isn’t cleared, but it is “sorted”. I know where shit is anyway. And I did manage to organize all my magnets on my filing cabinets. Really, that’s all I’ve accomplished so far. Oh, and I cleared a path to the coffeemaker. Priorities!

Today’s puzzle is supposed to inspire me. Ha! If only it could be this easy!!!

Contest: Solve the puzzle, then provide me another nugget of decluttering wisdom for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Jennifer Beyer!
*~*~*

Contest Reminder!

Here’s a quick reminder that there are still two open contests running on this blog! Be sure to enter while you can!

1. Story Cubes — Tell me a story (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Flashback: Cochise (Contest–3 Winners! Plus an Excerpt!) — Win a free book!

Office Chaos

So, if you’ve been paying attention to this blog, you know that we lost my mom on January 10th. Now, while we wait for probate to move along, my daughter is moving into the house.

We thought we’d have a little time for an organized move, which included me downsizing my footprint inside the house. I had three rooms—a bedroom/living room area, a large craft room (which was a hoarder’s dream filled with every art supply imaginable!), and an office. I am giving up my office (I volunteered it!) so that all of my dd’s children will have their own bedroom.

The problem? I have too much stuff. And I don’t want to give up a thing. Although, over the last weeks, I have filled trash bags to take to the donation center and the dump. Still, I have too much stuff.

We now have permission for my dd to move in. So she has shifted into high gear. Her first priority? Clearing my office so she can move her son’s things in. This is what it looks like when you cram two rooms of things into one when you don’t have time to skinny everything down first. My basement craft room is filled to the ceiling. The only spot of calm in the entire room is the picture my dd framed for me on the wall above my desk of “Satan Resting on the Mountain” from Milton’s Paradise Lost by Gustave Dore. It’s almost like he’s looking down at me and laughing.

But wait. That’s just one side of the room. It gets worse!

And I didn’t take a picture of what is behind me…

So, as you can see, I have an enormous problem. If I had a week of dedicated time and minions to do the physical work, I could get it done. Maybe. As it is, I have a book to finish, one editing job due by the 10th, more scheduled to come in the door soon, and stories to read for the next Bad Boy anthology. Work is priority #1.

I will only have an hour or two a day to dedicate to making my workspace liveable, and I’ve hired my dd’s oldest girl to be my minion (she’s saving for a car, so very willing!).

Today, my only goal is to clear my desk…

Contest

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, how about you give me suggestions or calming mantras. And no, “load it into a trash can” advice, because my dd says that every time she walks into this awful space!

UPDATE: The winner is…bn100!
*~*~*

Let’s get this party started!

I bought this little brainstorming tool years ago at some writers’ conference. I’ve used it only three times—here! “Story Cubes” is a brainstorming game. You roll the dice and whatever pictures appear, face up, are the ones you use to riff off a story.

To make this fun, I’ll offer a prize—a $5 Amazon gift card—good for purchasing one or two stories…

Have fun with this! Don’t overthink! Here’s the roll… 

UPDATE: The winners are… Delaine McLafferty, Misty Dawn Cecil, and Elaine Swinney!
*~*~*

Besides my series, I have written some very sexy standalone stories, too! I forget about them because I’m so busy trying to keep up with series, but I shouldn’t. In fact, I should go back and look at my workplan, because I deserve to write something completely fun and one-off!

If you haven’t read the books below, now’s your time to peruse, and I’m including an excerpt from one of them so you can sample some of the fun. Several of them are menage stories, so if that’s your thing, be sure to check them out!

Contest

For a chance to win your choice of one of the books below,
tell me your weekend plans!

Click on any cover to learn more about the story!

Excerpt from Handy Men…

The impulse came like a flash of lightning—hot and searing—all the way to the bone. An idea born of a need she hadn’t felt in a long, long time…and inspired by one red-hot handyman in butt-hugging jeans and a snug T-shirt.

The man fired the militant gleam in her eyes as she brushed bronzing powder across her cheeks and swiped carmine “eat me” red lip stain across her mouth.

She didn’t give herself time to rethink the decision, reaching for the phone before her usual, cautious self reasserted control. No more couch potato cry-ins for her. No more self-imposed exclusion while she figured out what to do with the rest of her life. Today, a new Pamela Dwyer was reaching for the goddamn gusto.

The anger felt good. Especially after the shock she’d received moments ago when she’d surfed the internet for the latest gossip about her ex.

One glance at Andrew’s Facebook page, and Pamela’s confusion over what the hell had happened to her life dried up. He’d blocked her from his page, but his profile picture had been changed from Andrew’s handsome, craggy face to the soft innocence of his newborn son’s.

The picture said it all. And no doubt every one of their friends here in Austin, who’d rallied around her when he’d left, would now pour out their congratulations to him, while privately agreeing he’d done the only thing he could do to be happy.

Tears had stung her eyes, but she’d refused to let them fall. Instead, she’d blinked them away, closed out the screen and glanced through the blinds at her immaculate lawn. The perfect lawn and landscaping to surround the perfectly appointed house she’d won in the divorce settlement.

But back to that lightning strike…

Across the street, a man had stood atop a ladder while he fished leaves from old Mr. Johnson’s gutters. It wasn’t the fact the old man had spent money to hire someone to do odd jobs around his place that caught her attention, although that was plenty unusual all by itself. It was the way the sunlight glinted on the younger man’s hair. Glints of gold she could see from over thirty feet away. And once her attention was snagged by that halo-like glow, her gaze couldn’t help but trail down the long, lean, buff lines of his healthy frame.

From the back, the man was perfection. Then he’d turned to the side, no doubt to say something to Mr. Johnson who hovered at the bottom of the ladder. The old skinflint would supervise the handyman to make sure he got every nickel’s worth of his money. However, not a hint of irritation showed in the handyman’s expression. His smile had been quick—a flash of white teeth against a tanned face.

Pamela had breathed deeply, enjoying the surge of heat flowing through her veins. So much better than the cold, hollow feeling in her womb. Arousal had bloomed, fresh and unexpected, washing over her, lapping away the disappointment. Leaving her…expectant. Feeling younger than her thirty-eight years.
There were times in a woman’s life when she had to grab the bull by the horns or she’d never taste passion again. Pamela decided then and there that her time was now.

Twenty minutes later, the doorbell chimed.

Christ, do I really have the guts? She’d had twenty minutes to get icy cold feet.

She held her hand in front of her face and blew against her palm then sniffed. Mouthwash still works.

Before opening her door, Pamela bent over, shook her head then straightened, giving her straight blonde hair an extra fluff. She pasted on a smile—not too wide or eager—one she’d practiced in front of the bathroom mirror to make sure it reflected just the right amount of casual interest. She didn’t want to scare him away. At least not before she had a chance to practice being a femme fatale.

However, after opening the door, her smile faltered just a bit. Up close, the repairman was more of a rangy lion than a bull, and even more attractive than her secretive glances through the blinds had revealed. Thickly muscled arms and a broad chest stretching a green Handy Men tee filled her vision.

Maybe she should have targeted someone more in her league—and at least fifteen years older. However, when she’d seen him working on the rain gutters of her neighbor’s house and watched the way he moved gracefully up and down the ladder, a plan had begun to form. One she was too invested in to back out of now.

“Your neighbor said you were havin’ trouble with a garbage disposal?”

Good Lord, his voice was deep and sinful. Her greedy glance shot up to meet his, and she noted the crinkles of amusement at the sides of his eyes. Blue eyes with golden coronas around the pupils. Yum.

Realizing her mouth hung open, she snapped her jaw closed. “Uh, yes. Trouble with the disposal. That’s why you’re here.”

It was the truth, so she didn’t stutter over it. However, she didn’t mention she’d thrown a handful of screws into the sink to make sure the old disposal seized. Her plan to lure him into her house was working like a charm. She wished her ex could see her now. Plain Pam, reliable Pam, boring, defective Pam had a few tricks left.

“I’m Jeff McCaffrey,” he said, and held out his hand.

Blowing out a little breath to release her tension, she gave him her hand and shook. “Pamela,” she said quickly.

His palms were callused and large. She slid her hand slowly from his, enjoying the scrape. Even if things didn’t work out, she’d have plenty of sensory details to savor later to go along with the lovely picture he made.

“Um…” He lifted the toolbox with a flex of impressive biceps and raised his eyebrows.

It took a second to register that he needed her to move away from the door. Feeling flustered, she stood back and waved him inside. She closed the door behind him and followed eagerly on his heels into the hallway.

He halted abruptly.

Unable to stop her forward momentum, Pamela held out her hands to brace herself—and cupped his ass.

His head swiveled to glance back at her, a slight, dazed smile curving his mouth.

She paused a second too long before removing them, but it was his own damn fault. His ass was too much temptation for her to resist a little squeeze. “Sorry about that,” she muttered, palms and face burning. Lord, she was thirty-eight, and he had her blushing like a teenager. Her flirting skills were woefully rusty.

He cleared his throat and pointed toward the door on the left. “The kitchen?”

“Yeah,” she said, sounding a little winded, but her fingers tingled and her skin felt on fire. She hadn’t wanted to come on to the younger man like a cougar in heat, but he was fine-fine-fine.

He swung open the door and walked to the counter, where he set his toolbox beside the sink. “What sort of noises was it makin’?”

“Crunchy?”

“Crunchy?” His lips twitched.

She shrugged. He was the “Mr. Fix-It”. He’d figure out soon enough what the problem was. Maybe he’d think the screws in the disposal had gotten there by accident.

He reached beneath the cabinet next to the sink and flipped the switch.

Metallic grating made her wince. The poor thing ground worse than her ex’s teeth.

Without looking back, he said, “Don’t touch the switch. I don’t have my tongs, so I’m gonna stick my hand down there to see what’s happenin’.”

In his hand went, and he turned slightly to the side, his gaze meeting hers while a frown drew his honey-brown brows together. When he pulled free, he held a screw. “Wonder how that happened?” he drawled.

She grinned brightly. “Serendipity?”

“Wha—?”

So maybe not a brain surgeon, or even much of a reader, but the calculated stare he returned told her he wasn’t stupid. He pulled out another and laid it on the countertop, and then another. “Somethin’ you wanna tell me, Pamela?”

UPDATE: The winner is…Booklady!
*~*~*

Announcements…

…or a better description: Reminders!

Still on Sale!

Enter the Danger Zone! $0.99 Sale! — This price on this super-fun story will only last another week!

Open Contests!

1. What’s still happenin’ & looking forward to a new week! (Contest) — This contest will end Sunday night! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Mutiny’s Bounty: Puzzle & a Contest — Win an Amazon gift card!

Puzzle/Contest

For a chance to win your choice of story from among my Night Fall or Beaux Rêve Coven series (both paranormal with shifters!), solve the puzzle then tell me your favorite flavor of shifter!