Thank you to Delilah Devlin for hosting me again today; I’m excited to be back.  I figured I’d share something a little different and share our upcoming release, Emerald Keep, available April 8th from Torquere Press.

So first, the little different:  the picture above is a lovely boy I found at the Milwaukee Discovery World.  They have a neat facility, including an enormous model of the Great Lakes and its weather, but what I truly loved was the aquarium.  They have the usual tanks and displays, but they’ve also got an enormous pool you can walk over!

I am tickled that my snap of the giant lionfish, Pterois.  He’s a carnivore, folks, that means he’s a terror in the tank.  He didn’t randomly eat anybody while we were there, but he prowled around the tank like he was on a mission.  I don’t have a camera that’s well-suited to taking tank pictures, but I was able to catch this.

Quick tip – turn off your flash when taking indoor pictures where there’s glass or Lucite between you and your subject.  Otherwise, the light of the flash will bloom in the picture and overwhelm your image.

What about you, Dear Reader? 

What’s your favorite photographic tip, or your favorite aquarium?

Now, for Emerald Keep.  Rachel and I are excited to share that Book 2 in the Persis Chronicles is available April 8^th.  What’s more, we’re holding a contest!  We’ll be giving away a handknit scarf, a hand-crocheted scarf, and some handmade calligraphy bookmarks.  We hope you’ll stop by; the official Rafflecopter opens April 1st but if you comment here at Chez Delilah, I’ll make sure you’re included in the drawing – just be sure to leave your email address for me (write the word “AT” instead of the @ symbol).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A. Cathering Noon
**New** SEALED BY FIRE is an All Romance eBooks Bestseller!

The Chicagoland Shifters series:
Book 1 BURNING BRIGHT
Book 2 TIGER TIGER, an All Romance eBooks Bestseller!
**Coming Soon!** Watch for Book 3, CAT’S CRADLE, out Summer 2015!

The Persis Chronicles:
Book 1 EMERALD FIRE
**Coming Soon!** Watch for Book 2, EMERALD KEEP, out April 2015!

UPDATE: The winner is…Elaine Swinney!

* * * * *

There are all kinds of ways for a man to be a hero. He can save a child’s beloved cat, save a person, save a town, save the nation.

Or … he can save a woman from self-doubt, uncertainty about her attractiveness, her sexuality. He can show her that she’s worth his time, his closest attention. That she’s worth breaking down barriers between them to worship her body and her soul the way she deserves.

Great sex is about risk. Daring to trust another person, or persons, with our deepest desires. Trusting that they not only won’t ridicule us, but that they will concentrate on fulfilling our dreams. Showing us that it’s perfectly okay to cherish that secret wish … even if it is a little kinky.

I wrote the Club 3 BDSM series to portray strong men who dare to give their all to special women struggling to break free of their pasts, and bloom into their most passionate selves. Not that these men don’t issues of their own to break free of–that’s part of being human, right? Nobody said a Dom has to be perfect. But he does have to be a hero, a sexy one.

And if he’s a cop who’s made a career out of keeping his town safe, that can’t hurt, right? Unless he must do anything to keep his public and private lives separate. Then being a Dom and being a hero may be polar opposites.

Here’s Club 3, Bk. 4, She’s Worth It All…

He’s a hometown hero with a secret. She has a broken heart only a strong man can heal. Will he risk everything to show her she’s worth it all?

Mase Barnett is a cop, a hero who nearly died to keep his small town safe. The eyes of his hometown are always on him. But he’s also a man with a dark secret—one he takes across the river to the big city. Inside the private walls of Club 3, he’s free to be what he is … a Dom. And a man who likes it hot and public.

After the highly public breakup of her marriage, Natalie Cusco is back in town, but not everyone is happy to see her. She just wants to keep her head down while she makes a new life for herself, running the bar that’s her dream. Now if her tormentors will just leave her alone …

She yearns to give this hero what he wants—her body and her submission. But will the brash, cocky cop help mend her damaged heart or break it again, this time forever?

Here’s an excerpt …

‘So here she was in the inky shadows of the back porch, with one last drink and some country singer urging her to put her party light on. Natalie grinned wryly to herself. She was lit, floating on a warm buzz. Not drunk by any means, but not completely sober.

Still leaning on the railing, Nat moved her hips to the music. She’d just give herself a minute before she rejoined the party. She’d chat and laugh like she was having the time of her life. Maybe that would make it come true. Self-fulfilling prophecy, like the pop psychology articles that her mother swore by.

And she would not think about Mase. Jeez, she really would swear she could smell his woodsy scent back here.

“Now that’s a fine sight,” drawled his raspy voice behind her.

Nat continued to move, putting a little extra shake and shimmy into it. Because he could look, but after ignoring her all evening, he sure as heck wasn’t touching.

“Nothin’ to say, Natalie?” he asked, his voice closer, and warm with amusement.

“Yeah. Bite me.” She ignored her shiver of awareness at his nearness and took another drink.

He laughed, a low, infectious sound. “Baby, I thought you’d never ask.”

His bare arms brushed hers, his skin warm and smooth as he planted his hands on either side of her on the railing and leaned over her. “Don’t stop dancin’ on my account.”

“Wasn’t going to,” she retorted, still moving as if her ass wasn’t rubbing against his jean-clad groin and thighs, hard and warm. But it was, and oh dear God, was that—?

Yup, it was. Mase was hard as a pole. The stiff shape in his pants generated heat she could feel through layers of clothing. He had a woody—for her.

Guess she’d get to tease him a little. Payback was suh-weet.

“Keep on moving. That’s good.” His voice echoed her thoughts as he leaned even closer. A thrill of sheer lust shot through her as his warm lips and sexy ‘stache brushed the shell of her ear. Thank God she’d tucked her hair back. Wait, no. That was bad. She was teasing him, not the other way around. Only he didn’t seem to get that.

“I loved watchin’ your sweet ass in motion,” he went on, in that lazy drawl. “It feels even better than it looks.”

It took her a moment to answer coherently. Mostly because he was now tracing the shape of her ear with his lips. The soft, moist caress turned her spine and her resolve into hot liquid, like warm jello pouring into shot glasses.

“You c-can’t see anything out here,” she managed. “Certainly not my ass.”

Not when he was so close behind her, and she was arching into him, pressing her jello in his mold. Every time she moved, that long hard shape pressed into the crevice of her ass. So close, so very close to where she wanted it—inside her.

“Wrong. I’ve been watching you move all night.” He nipped her ear lobe, just behind her dangle earring. “If you fuck anything like you dance, a man could die happy.”

She should be indignant that he was speaking to her this way, not smiling to herself. But somehow his words, delivered with rough honesty, were even headier than the alcohol swimming in her system. He found her attractive—very attractive.

“You have a dirty mouth,” she accused.

He flexed his hips, pressing his erection more firmly into the furrow of her ass. Natalie slipped one hand down between her legs to placate the growing ache there. A tiny, sober part of her stood off to one side, eyes wide, shaking her head. Nat ignored the prude. Lot of good behaving had done her. Two years without real sex, that was all.

Mm-mm, oh, right there. Her finger found her clit, already swollen as if it had just been waiting for Mase to show up.

“I do, baby,” he agreed, his mouth moving down to nibble on the hinge of her jaw and the side of her throat. “I have a filthy mouth. And it wants to be right … here.”

He cupped his hand over hers.’

What constitutes a hero in your booki? Leave a comment, and I’ll enter you to win a FREE copy of Club 3, Bk 1, She’s All In.

best,

Cathryn Cade
Goodreads, My Website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest,  My Blog,

And sign up for My Newsletter for a chance to win goodies!

Some of the sexiest men I know live between the covers of a romance novel, contemporary or historical.  These heroes don’t come any sexier than the men who ride rough and herd cattle and work the land.

Sometimes, these cowboys are also the hardest to get close to, because beneath their strong outer armor, they can be surprisingly vulnerable.  In my romance novels, the heroine finds what that hero needs fixin’ and offers him understanding, healing, love—all things he’ll never ask for.  All things he will never admit he needs.

What does the hero offer the heroine and us, as readers?

A man who keeps his promises, stands up for what’s right, and takes pride in what he does.  A man who is tolerant and understanding of others and is kind to his elders, children, and animals—unless of course, the animal is a bull looking to buck him.

The cowboy hero offers us a man who is tough but fair and who lives by the Golden Rule.

And of course, a cowboy—at least in my books—always offers us some great-looking eye candy, as follows (from my latest release, The Cowboy’s Little Surprise):

In one startled, reflexive sweep, she took in almost everything about Cole Slater. The light brown hair showing beneath the brim of his battered hat. The firm mouth and jaw. Broad shoulders. Narrow hips. The well-worn jeans, silver belt buckle, and scuffed boots. In the next reluctant second, she turned her gaze to the one feature she had deliberately skipped over the first time.

A pair of blue eyes that made her think instantly of her son…

Yes, this is a secret baby story, one of my favorites.

But it’s also a lot of my favorite eye candy, all wrapped up in one package.  😉

~~~

Readers, I’m happy to chat!

And I’m giving away a book.  To be entered to win a copy of one of my available backlist titles, tell me:  what’s your favorite type of hero and why? 

Note:  the winner will receive an autographed print copy of the book.  Due to postal regulations and international restrictions, the giveaway is open to entrants with US mailing addresses only.  The winner’s name will be drawn from comments left here through March 29 and will be posted in a comment here on April 1—no foolin’!  : )

~~~

Barbara White Daille lives with her husband in the sunny Southwest.  Though they love the warm winters and the lizards in their front yard, they haven’t gotten used to the scorpions in the bathroom.

Barbara’s thrilled to share news about the debut of a brand-new series, The Hitching Post Hotel, about a matchmaking grandpa determined to see his three granddaughters wed.  The series begins in April 2015 with The Cowboy’s Little Surprise, followed by A Rancher of Her Own in July and a third as-yet-untitled book in December.

Find Barbara at the following locations:

Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Newsletter ~ Blog ~ Amazon ~ Harlequin ~ Goodreads

The Cowboy’s Little Surprise – Barbara White Daille – April 2015

THE LONG WAY HOME

A guy like Cole Slater is hard to forget. Tina Sanchez should know—for years since high school she’s tried to bury the pain of Cole’s cruel betrayal. But it’s impossible to ignore the man she sees reflected in her young son’s eyes now that Cole is back in her life—and about to meet the child he never knew he had.

Returning home to New Mexico, Cole is determined to put his playboy reputation to rest. Especially now that he knows there’s a little boy looking up to him. And seeing Tina again reignites all the feelings Cole ran from as a teen. Despite his fear that he can’t be the man Tina deserves, he’s determined to try. For his son’s sake—and his own.

Excerpt:

She should have known better than to fall for Cole Slater. At the tender age of seven, she had already heard about his reputation as a sweet-talker. By junior high, he had progressed to a real player. And by senior high, he had turned love-‘em-and-leave-‘em into an art form, changing girlfriends as often as she replaced guest towels here at the Hitching Post.

Too bad she hadn’t remembered all that when he had finally turned his attention her way.

He shoved his hands into his back pockets, which pulled his shirt taut against his chest. Now, she felt herself flushing as she recalled the one and only time—

No, she wasn’t going there…

(end)

UPDATE: The winner of the free download is…Shirley Long!

* * * * *

I wondered whether it was crazy to publish short stories, really short stories. This was an experiment to see whether readers would embrace them. I began at the end of January, and I’ve published a new short every week since. I had planned to quit April 3rd—no real reason, just because. However, for me, it’s been very interesting indeed.

People are buying them. And I’m getting more emails from readers than ever before. Most simply want more stories. Some want to see the story they just read novelized. Many had never read me before, but they’ve been gobbling up the shorts, and then moving onto my longer stories. I had hoped that would happen, but I also thought there would be a point where readers thought it was enough. So far, you’ve told me to keep them coming. So, I’m adding another month’s worth of releases, one per week, through the first Friday of May. So be watching for more!

For those of you who didn’t know, Amazon has a new program called Kindle Unlimited. It’s like Netflix for books. You pay one price, $9.99 for a subscription, and then you can download as many books as you can read that month. So for KU subscribers, my short stories are free. They are $0.99 for everyone else.

Here’s information about this week’s new release, Pitch Black. Why corrections officers you might ask? Well, my daughter was one for a while, and the stories she told me tempted me to write

And keep reading below, because I have a question for you, and you might just win a prize!

Passion lights the way for an ex-marine corrections officer rescuing a female CO trapped in a prison block during a blackout…

Note: This 5000-word short story was previously published as part of the HIGH OCTANE HEROES anthology. It may be short in length, but it’s not short in passion! 

Excerpt:

Her bathroom door slammed open.

Still dressed in his uniform, his shoulders spanned the door frame. His short black hair skimmed the upper edge. His dark blue shirt, spattered with raindrops, reflected the stormy color of his eyes as he raked her with a glance. Anger simmered in the glance he gave her.

Her chin shot up. “No, hello darlin’?”

His hand shot out, grabbed her arm and yanked her against his chest. “Fight me.”

Her eyes widened. “What’s this about?”

He gave a sharp shake of his head. “Shut up. Fight me.”

She inserted her free hand between them and shoved at his chest. “Danny?”

“Think you could have fought Draper off if he’d been after you?” he said, his voice a deep, graveled growl.

She swallowed hard against a burning lump at the back of her throat. So that was what this was going to be. A lesson. Proof she wasn’t strong enough, mean enough to be on that barracks floor. “Stop this, right now.”

She pushed again, but he ducked down, shoved his shoulder against her abdomen, forcing her to crumple over him. Then he was backing out the door, striding toward her bed. He shrugged his shoulder, and she tumbled to the mattress, her towel flying open.

Before she could roll over the side to escape, he was on her, his superior weight sinking her deep into the mattress. Covered shoulder to toe by his large body, she could barely breathe. “Danny.”

He shook his head again, a grim set to his tight square jaw. “This ends, Jenn. Tomorrow, you’re gonna accept that transfer. Work in the warden’s office, guard the nurse, whatever, but you won’t be on that goddamn floor.”

“You have no right to dictate to me.”

“Don’t I? Wasn’t my ass on the line tonight?”

“I didn’t ask–”

“You didn’t have to! Dammit, I love you!”

His shout reverberated in the room and had her jaw clamping shut. Bitter tears filled her eyes.

His eyes squeezed shut. Then before she could draw the next shattered breath, he rolled off her to sit at the edge of the bed, his back to her. His shoulders were slumped. “I can’t do this again.”

Contest

I’ve published a variety of genres for these short stories. The two that have sold the most were the first, a cowboy story, One Track Cowboy, and The Pleasure in Surrender, which was a medieval knight story. If you’ve had a chance to read some of the shorties (you can peruse the carousel to sample the covers), I’d love to know what you’d like to see more of. Which story appealed the most to you? Comment for a chance to win your choice of any of my self-pubbed shorts or Wet Down.

I don’t know about you, but I love biker romances.  One of the things I love about bikers is their hot, sexy tattoos!  I love researching them to get ideas for my characters’ tattoos.  I’ve included a number of the pictures that inspired some of the tattoos for my Ready To Ride bikers.

I think my favourite is the thorn tattoo that looks like it’s piercing the skin.  This inspired the tattoo for Magic, one of my biker heroes, who has a thorny tattoo around his right wrist, where the thorns seemed to pierce his skin and bleed.  Words in script spiral up his arm within a thorny vine, then the vine coils over his shoulder and around his heart.  The thorns seem to pierce his skin and the artwork makes it look like there is a tear across his chest, revealing his heart beneath.

During FB parties, I sometimes ask my readers if they have tattoos and, if so, why they get them.  Often, a tattoo holds great meaning to the person and I love hearing why they do it.  Here are the top 5 reasons I’ve heard from fans and friends about why they’ve gotten a tattoo.

1. As a commemoration.

Often these are to commemorate a loved one who has been lost.  A dear friend of mine recently lost her mother and she and her sisters were thinking of getting a matching tattoo in remembrance of their beloved mother.  Many readers have told me about tattoos for lost children, which is especially heartbreaking.  I can see where having a tattoo, which keeps the memory of a loved one close, could bring some comfort.

2. To show a belief or goal.

Whether to show a spiritual or religious belief, or something inspirational for other reasons, these tattoos serve as reminders of something important to us.  Sometimes it’s a symbol, a few words from a poem, or even just a single word like Hope, Courage, or Imagination.  My son was inspired by a story that has shaped many of his beliefs and has given him a direction in life, encouraging him to explore a higher realm of consciousness.  He has a tattoo on his wrist of a special symbol from the story that represents many facets of this belief.

3. To celebrate a special goal achieved.

When we finally achieve a dream we have been striving for, sometimes we crave a way to bring it close to us and be reminded every day that dreams can come true.  A friend of mine who hit the New York Times bestsellers list at the same time as me, decided she wanted to get a tattoo to commemorate the event.  Believe me, if I was brave enough to get a tattoo, I would do it for that in a flash!

4. Aesthetics

Sometimes we just want something beautiful on our body.  (Haha!  Besides the fun stuff!)  I love a beautiful fairy tattoo, or a delicate curlicue, or a beautiful flower.   And stylized hearts!  And Celtic designs!

5. To show uniqueness or rebellion.

Sometimes we want something that shows our own unique style, and makes us stand out from the crowd in some way.  I like to do this by dying my hair bright pink, or purple, or crimson.  (That’s not uncommon these days, but I was doing it twenty years ago.)

What about you?  What kind of tattoos do you like?  Everyone who comments will be put in a draw to win a copy of Hot Ride! 

~~~~~

Riding Steele (Ready To Ride series)

Opal’s latest book, Riding Steele, was released  yesterday (March 17^th).  It’s on sale right now for $3.99 (down from $9.99).

In the arms of an outlaw, she found the freedom to live out her wildest fantasies.

When Laurie is kidnapped by bikers, she has no idea her life is about to change forever. From the moment she meets Steele–their sinfully sexy leader–she can’t deny their fierce attraction. Even though she’s completely at his mercy, his eyes soften when he looks at her, and the others in his gang know she’s strictly hands off. But the more time she spends with Steele, the more her body insists she wants his powerful hands all over her.

Now she’s about to discover a new life on the open road…and what it means to be part of a gang that shares everything. At first their wanton lifestyle shocks her senses–but once she’s had a taste of life on the edge, will she ever want to leave?

Excerpt:

A sound jarred Laurie from the light, fitful sleep she’d fallen into and she clutched the big fluffy comforter closer around her with her unbound hand. She was covered from head to toe, peering out from inside the cocoon.

Was the biker coming back to take her?

The door opened and the light flicked on. In the doorway stood an even bigger, tougher looking biker. He didn’t even glance her way, just closed the door behind him and stripped off his black leather jacket. He pulled something out of the pocket and tossed the garment on the dresser, then opened the doors of the armoire at the end of the bed to reveal a big TV. He turned it on, then put a disc in the player below it.

Images of naked people appeared on the screen. It was obviously lead-in credits for a porn film. He watched for a few moments, then pulled his T-shirt over his head, revealing bulging muscles and a snake tattoo coiling around his bicep then across his chest. Her heart raced as he unzipped his jeans and dropped them to the floor, then stepped out of them.

She held her breath when she saw him hook his thumbs in the elastic of his boxers, then push them down. Oh, God, he was going to get into bed with her and . . . He was going to force her to—

Her breath caught when he stood up.

God, she’d never seen a cock that big. She’d never even imagined a cock that big. Even though it was just starting to swell with need, it was gigantic. And frightening. Impressive. And intimidating.

He turned toward the bed and she sucked in a breath.

His eyes narrowed as his gaze jerked to her.

“What the hell?” He grabbed the covers and tossed them back, ripping away her only protection.

* * *

Steele stared at the woman lying in his bed. The sight of her long, shapely legs and slim, but curvy body sent blood straight to his groin. She shifted back and a chain clinked. That’s when he realized one of her wrists was handcuffed to the headboard.

Fuck, this was why Shock had suggested he turn in. Not to watch porn, but to enjoy the birthday present awaiting him in his bed!

He smiled. “Well, hello there.”

Should he slide his cock in her sweet, luscious mouth first, or glide into her hot, melting pussy?

What the fuck?  She was here for the night. He could fuck her right now, relieving his ache, then have her revive him with a blow job and start all over again.

He chuckled and climbed into bed beside her, then shifted closer. He reached for her hand to pull it to his cock, wanting to feel her soft feminine fingers wrapped around him, but as soon as he touched her, she jerked away.

“No, please . . .”  Panic flashed in her wide, blue eyes and she was practically panting in fear.

“What the fuck?”

Then he saw the sparkle of diamonds around her neck. It was the choker Craig’s sister had received as a gift from her boyfriend at the bar earlier tonight.

What the hell was going on here? Steele rolled away from her and sat up, placing his feet on the floor. He stared at the frightened woman, who was sucking in air, panic showing in her widened eyes.

He raked his hand through his hair. “How the hell did you get here?”

Someone started pounding on his door.

“Steele, it’s Wild Card.”

Then the door swung open and Wild Card burst inside. “I fell asleep on the couch. I didn’t mean to . . .”

His gaze fell on Steele’s naked form, then darted to the woman in the bed. Then he shook his head, holding up his hands, palms toward Steele, in a defensive gesture. “Steele, you gotta listen to me.”

Anger surged through Steele and he lurched to his feet. “Wild Card, what the fuck did you do?”

“I didn’t mean to—”

Steele strode toward him. “How the hell did you miss the fact that the plan was not to kidnap the woman?”

Riding Steele (Ready To Ride series)
Kindle: https://amzn.to/1sTE844
Kobo: https://bit.ly/1svi8mR
Nook: https://bit.ly/1ygrbr5
iBooks: https://bit.ly/1rsAtyt

Coming soon, the next in the Ready To Ride series:

Hard Ride (Ready To Ride series)

This is a novel in three parts

Part 1 – April 7^th
Part 2 – April 14^th
Part 3 – April 28^th

Amazon: https://amzn.to/1Dzt1Zc
BN: https://bit.ly/1FywpTq
iBooks: https://apple.co/1F17HMC
Kobo: https://bit.ly/1BOkAWE

Ways to keep in touch with Opal:
Newsletter:            https://tinyurl.com/OCNewsletter
Facebook:               https://facebook.com/OpalCarewRomanceAuthor
Twitter:                    https://twitter.com/opalcarew
Pinterest:                https://www.pinterest.com/opalcarew
Blog:                          https://opalcarewromanceauthor.wordpress.com
Website                   www.OpalCarew.com

UPDATE: The winner of this contest is Samantha Minter!

* * * * *

I’m late posting this blog, but time slipped away. I got Sm{B}itten back from my wonderful editor, and I’m reading through it, looking for any last nits I need to fix. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed this story. Hence, the passage of time…

I wrote the first version of this book back in 2003, and All Hallows Heartbreaker was quite a hit. But twelve years is a long time, and it needed a little sprucing up. So I revised it, expanding it by a few thousand words, and now I’m getting ready to republish it, complete with a new title and new series name. More of the refurbed books are coming. When I’m done repubbing these stories, I’ll be writing brand new adventures in my Night Fall world. So, are you ready to take a wild ride?

Emmy’s a mess. My absolute favorite heroine, because guess what? She’s a reflection of my young, twenty-something self. I know her. Still think like her.

Was I wrong?” she asked. The uncertainty in her voice produced a slight quaver. “I thought you wanted me, too. It’s like I conjured you. You’re everything I ever wanted, and there you were. Just for me. Just in time.”

He liked the way she talked, the cadence of her voice, her airless sentences strung one after the other. Trying to follow them made him dizzy. “What a coincidence. I thought you’d been made for me.” Dylan’s hand fisted in her hair. “I may hurt you.”

A sweet, seductive smile tilted the corners of her mouth. “I’m counting on that fact. Seriously, if what’s pushing against my belly is any indication, I think you’re going to ruin me for any other man.”

She enters the vamp world, completely clueless, but adapts. Her curiosity about things that go bump in the night, and her voracious appetite for sex with Dylan always make me smile. It’s why she makes an appearance in every book that follows. I can’t let go of her.

If you never read All Hallows Heartbreaker, or if you’d like to reacquaint yourself with the series, now’s the time. I have it up for pre-order now for only $0.99. That price won’t last long. It’s a longer story than my usual. Not quite full-novel length, but the what’s called category length. You won’t be disappointed. And more stories are following. You won’t have to wait long to continue the ride.

And don’t you love the title? I had fun with it, I’ll admit it.

And I pronounce it, Smuh-bitten. 

Release date: March 30th!

Emmy Harris knows she’s not perfect. She has a little extra padding and isn’t the brightest bulb, but you’d think she was a sexy rock star the way everyone at a certain night club treats her from the moment she walks through the door. In fact, the two sexiest men there can’t seem to keep their hands off her, until one of them sweeps her away to his private domain. A girl like her isn’t going to waste a chance like that! So he’s a little rough and likes to take a nibble or two while he pleasures her. For a girl who didn’t know she’d never experienced a full-blown orgasm before, Dylan’s eccentricities are delicious!

Dylan O’Hara only wants a night of passion to slake his lusts, but finds Emmy is a full-bodied, red-blooded siren whose innocence and humor draw this Master vampire like a moth to a red-hot flame. When Emmy attracts the attention of a serial-killing vampire, Dylan vows to protect her, but he fears he’ll lose Emmy once she discovers he’s not human.

Pre-order at Amazon | Barnes & Noble | More venues are coming!

Contest

For a chance to win a free copy of another Night Fall story, Silent is the Knight (or if you already own that, one of my latest shorty releases), let me know if Night Fall sounds like a series you can sink your teeth into!

When I moved to Vienna, Austria almost four years ago, the voices became eerily quiet. For those of you who aren’t writers, the voices we hear are frequently those of our characters or in some cases the narrator of our books. I figured it was time for me to have a break as I’d been hearing them for many, many years. Matter of fact, since I was twelve and I can’t tell you the number of times when they would be chattering in my head and I’d be answering them right back. I’d get the strange looks and blush furiously when I was younger. Then as I got older, I would either explain what was happening or I’d just smile and shrug, leaving people to figure it out themselves.

It’s a wonder that I was never told to shut up or talked to by a therapist or psychiatrist for those voices. Yes, those voices have told me they wanted to kill someone. I even had a villain do it once in my head while I was in public and I can only imagine what the expressions were on my face as I talked and wrote that one down in the local library. And it wasn’t until they stopped talking to me that I really understood the term writer’s block. But in my opinion, it wasn’t that I was blocked, it was they had stopped talking.

For the past three years, I would come into my office and sit down like I’d done every day for the past fifteen years. If I was lucky, I would clunk out five hundred to a thousand words and be happy with that even though I normally had written about five thousand words a day before my move. Those words felt forced and many were written without the characters yapping away at me. Yet, I had stories to write and worlds to build. I could not wait until I was in the mood.

Writing is what I do for a living. It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do. I’d learned more about the publishing business in the last twenty years so there wouldn’t be any surprises. I couldn’t nor wouldn’t give it up because they weren’t talking to me. I couldn’t afford to and this is a fallacy that many writers fall into, but it’s one that we all need to get over.

There are things that can be done where the characters don’t need to talk to you. Things like research, world building and blogs. Planning also falls under these auspices and so, I did those things when there was nothing else. I did things like start a group for sharing the promotions burden that every author has since I really feel each of us needs to care and nurture each other.

I listened to music, created play lists and blogs and series and did more research to the point I was almost getting hopeless. But the fact is writers write. They write when the weather is good, when it’s bad, when they feel good, when they feel bad and real writers come in and do it even when they think they can’t. Yes, it may seem forced and it may seem like you’re just going through the motions but those are the motions of being a writer.

However wrong this may seem, if you are plugging away every day, your confidence will start to build and will continue to do so. Sometimes, all that is needed for you to hear those voices is to regain your confidence. Sometimes it may just be the stress from every day living. Sometimes, it can be the stress from things you can’t control. For me, it was a little bit of everything.

I was living far away from my family. Things could go wrong. They did go wrong. And I had to realize that sometimes I couldn’t shape the world to be exactly how I wanted it to be. Sometimes, I had to accept it as it was. So, until that day, I decided I would do what I always loved to do, whether I had to force it or have an amazing moment where I would write. I needed to go through the motions and know that my time would come again.

Then one day came a drab and I wrote a little more about my characters. Then it was just a little tinkle, then it was flowing. And I knew I had a gusher the night I told my husband to go back to sleep because I was going to the office. The next morning he asked me why and I had to honestly say that they wouldn’t shut up. He gave a chuckle, knowing I was finally back and writing as much as my fingers would type daily. It had been a long time coming.

Now, I’m carrying a notebook in my purse again so I don’t overwhelm my poor little Note3 phone with all the written words for stories. I’m waking up early, falling asleep in my chair and talking with my characters in such a way that I’m sure people are going to ask if need help since I’m talking to myself a lot in public recently. I guess the trouble really comes about when I answer myself. And yes, I do have a story about that one for another time.

Until then, I’d love to hear from you about what you’d say if you saw one of your favorite authors talking to themselves. Would you ask what they were talking about? Or would you sit quietly and observe them to see if you could glean something about a new story? I can’t wait to hear from you! And to show you all some love, I’m doing a give-away today and picking one person randomly to give them a book from my back list or my upcoming April release, Night of the Blue Moon. Hope to talk to you all soon!

Night of the Blue Moon
April 1^st Pre-order at Amazon, Smashwords and more.
April 15^th Release at all eBook vendors.
This is book 4 in the Blue Moon Magic series.

Blue Moon Magic

One father.

Two mothers.

Four siblings.

One incredible story about that special night which changes them all. Forever.

All his life he felt he hadn’t belonged but it wasn’t until Clarity Langford appeared did he know the truth of it. Once that truth was revealed there was no going back for Connor Angus, only forward. He discovers he is the long thought dead son of pack Elite leader, Charles Langford. And with that knowledge comes a family full of sisters, mystery and longing for things he’s not sure he has any right to obtain and one of those things is Cordelia Sinclair.

NOTE: This is a NOVELLA with adult situations and language. It is not intended for those under 18 years of age.

Excerpt:

Who are you?

The voice was loud and clear. There was no mistaking that he had a telepathic link to this woman. More confused than ever, he shook his head. My name is Connor Logan Angus.

But you can’t be one of them.

I am a member of the Beta clan. I am the third son.

That can’t be.

And why not?

Can you link with them like you are with me?

I don’t know. I’ve never tried.

Whether you know it or not, I do.

How?

Only those of the same clan or family members can link. I’m an Elite. So what does that make you?

Connor sank back into the shadows even more. That sick feeling he had been having recently floated to the top again. That’s impossible. There’s no way I can be part of your clan. I don’t understand any of this.

That makes two of us.

Bio: Award winning author Lynn Crain has done it all in her life. From nursing to geology, her life experiences have added to her detail rich stories. She loves writing full time as she weaves contemporary, fantasy, futuristic and paranormal tales, tame to erotic, for various publishers. Her home is in the desert southwest though her latest adventure has taken her to Vienna, Austria with her husband of many years as he works his dream job. You can find her on the web at www.lynncrain.blogspot.com. She loves hearing from her readers at lynncrain@cox.net.