It’s odd that the whole time I was away (nine freaking-awesome days) I kept to my usual schedule despite the time zone change. Which was pretty cool. I rose at 5-ish and had the lake house to myself until the others began to stir.

Yet, when I returned home, my body clock went haywire. Every night since I’ve been back, I’m up past three in the morning, sleeping far too late to get the kind of start this morning girl enjoys. So ever since Wednesday, I’m fighting fatigue. Translation=terrible productivity.

However, since this is my first report card since I returned, I’m going to claim the work I accomplished on the trip! This is my blog, hear me roar.

Gah! How much coffee did I put into this pot? No amount of creamer will turn it the right shade of mud.

Anyway…the day before I left for Seattle, my new editor at Samhain accepted two new cowboy stories—Unbridled and Unforgiven. I completed the contracts and cover art sheets while I was on the lake. The first will be out in November, the second in January.

On the 5th I wrapped up MIK-7, retitled Knight of My Dreams. Ellora’s Cave has already accepted it. Now, I just have to wait for the editor to edit and to get a date for publication that I can share. Readers will be happy to know that Quentin and Darcy are back together, but of course, they have a new set of problems to contend with. I know, I’m mean that way.

I did some brainstorming with the amazing brain trust at the cottage on a story that has been giving me fits for months. It’s a Medieval fantasy and I have about thirty pages written on it, but I couldn’t get to the center of the story. Now I have a new direction and should be able to pull it out of the toilet.

I started another short story at the cottage and am about halfway through it. I added pages to a historical I’m determined to finish this year. It’s a Medieval and has Normans and Saxons and Vikings, a siege and a battle, and assorted swiving. Gots to have sex, ya know.

So lots accomplished; lots planned. I did some sightseeing with Sasha, my cousin and his partner. So plenty of fodder for new books.

In the next few days, I’m going to dive into research since I’m a little burned on writing. I ordered three books from Amazon on castles and castle-building. Was in Books-A-Million yesterday and bought a huge illustrated volume on mythology and can’t wait to dig into those stories.

Until next week… Sure hope I have progress to report!

You’ve suffered long enough. Following are the names of the winners (selected by a random number generator) of my “Flashback” novels. The winner of All Knight Long…is Jeanette Juan! The winner of Sanctuary is…Brandy!

While The Cat’s Away Countdown – Day 3…

Be sure to post a comment today to be in the running for a download of this book!

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In a post-Apocalyptic future with cities decimated by a nuclear winter, people have fled to rural areas to become the prey of criminals and werebeasts. Rancher Kate McKinnon runs “Sanctuary” — a last refuge on the western frontier. While driving her surviving wranglers and integrating refugees into their self-sufficient refuge, she escapes her responsibilities the only way she has left — via ham radio to pockets of other survivors. One man, Ty Bennett, is her confidante and she thinks she might be falling in love with him. Although they’ve never met, he seems to know her heart.

On a patrol to siphon gasoline to run the ranch’s generator, Kate and her cowboys are attacked. They are rescued by Ty and a band of his ex-military “brothers”, who are there to bring her and her refugees to a safer place. She soon discovers he and his men are another breed of monsters — vampires! And she’s brought vampires into the refuge.

Already half in love with the human woman, Ty fights his own nature and appetites while seeking redemption for his many sins. Can he overco me Kate’s prejudice and choking responsibilities to get her to trust him with their lives, even as she succumbs to his seduction?

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“How much ammo you got on you, girl?” Shep shouted from the opposite end of the church.

She patted her duster pockets. “Enough. I don’t miss much.”

“Don’t look like we need silver load.”

He was right. What surrounded them wasn’t werebeasts—it was the lowest form of human life—those who preyed on the survivors.

“Well, this will be easy pickin’s,” she murmured and steeled herself for the coming confrontation.

Kate didn’t wait to hear what they might say.

The only thing they wanted was her—women were a scarce commodity on the frontier. She took a bead down the barrel of her pistol and squeezed off a shot through the windshield of a pickup, pleased at the splash of red that exploded against the glass.
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While The Cat’s Away Countdown – Day 7…

Remember to post a comment for a chance to win this book!

All Knight Long was released in March 2004, and is the third in the My Immortal Knight series!

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From In The Library Reviews: “Author Delilah Devlin’s My Immortal Knight series is a wonderful group of books that’ll keep the readers anxiously intrigued through out all the series.”

5 Angels from Fallen Angels Reviews: “Ms. Devlin knows how to use her words to draw you into her story. She has created characters that are easy to fall in love with. When you combine her excellent characters with the great plot, this story becomes a must read.”

A member of an elite police unit sworn to hunt vampires, Joe Garcia’s life is turned upside down when he’s transformed into one. On a quest for a cure, his search brings him to New Orleans in a last ditch effort to recover his humanity.

Professor Lily Carlson, a renowned expert in vampire lore, has a “condition” of her own. Her sexual libido has been in hyper-drive for months. Her only defense is to hide behind her glasses and tweed suits and stay as far away from men as possible. However, she’s thrilled to discover vampires really do exist when Joe shows up on her balcony.

Although Joe deflects her attempts to make him a case study and confirm a few vampire statistics, he is drawn by her powerful allure. When werewolves join the chase and track her through New Orleans, Joe’s cop instincts tell him there’s a mystery to solve. Intent on protecting her, he must seek help from the last vampire on Earth he wants to ask. While his hopes for deliverance from his fate dwindle, Lily’s life is forever altered by an unexpected “inheritance”.

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The small sign in the café window read: Welcome Vampires and Sanguinarians! (No blood products provided—none permitted on premises! The Management).

Joe Garcia snorted. Every human in the place was a walking, breathing blood product—a portable soda fountain for the Fanged Ones.

He pushed through the glass door and tried to dampen the hope that rose in his chest, causing his heart to beat faster and his hands to sweat. Thusfar, he’d met only disappointment in his long search. This might be just another dead end—the last one he could afford before his cash ran out and his credit card was maxed.

Professor Carlson was his last hope.
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Released in June 2004, The Pleasure Bot was my first futuristic and one of my favorite stories to write. Maybe I loved it so much because I plotted it with the help of some of my closest friends during a weekend plotting bootcamp. We snorted and giggled through Declan’s audacity, Priss’s cluelessness, and Agnes’s grating voice. I always meant to go back and write the sequel to this story to give Agnes, the AI computer, her own happy ending.

TOP PICK! From RT BOOKreviews Magazine: “… A long weekend of debauchery with her newest sex toy, the Pleasure Bot, is just what Priss needs to scratch her itch. But when the online sex shop delivers her order, she’s in for a shock!…Hot sex, sidesplitting humor and an out-of-this-world story set this erotica apart from the rest! ”

From Romance Reviews Today: “Oh my! Talk about a story that’s hot and funny all at the same time. THE PLEASURE BOT is sprinkled with witty dialogue, very heated sex, and interesting characters.”

Priscilla Potter rents the latest sex toy, a better-than-lifelike pleasure robot, for a little weekend R&R. However, her fantasy companion isn’t quite what she expected. He’s unshaven, uncouth, and doesn’t seem to understand she’s in charge of her own pleasure. But she soon decides the on-line shop got the order just right. As the weekend draws to a close, she has to find a way to keep her robot past its return date.

Bootlegging “entrepreneur” Declan O’Hanlon needs a place to lay low until he can figure out how to liberate his crew and ship from Customs impound. The “uninhabited” house he picks for his hideout actually belongs to a sex kitten who mistakes him for her latest toy. Intrigued by the idea of being a woman’s fantasy come true, Declan does what any red-blooded man would do—he pretends to be her acquisition. But he doesn’t count on Priss being quite so irresistible. As the time to depart nears, he wonders how he can ever leave her behind.

“Aaa—gnes!” Priscilla shouted again, and then paused to kick off her heels before continuing on to her bedroom. “What’s with you? Are you still sulking about me threatening to pull your grid?”

“Of course not,” Agnes replied, in a monotone. “I’m just a hunk of cells, no real intelligence, no feelings to hurt.”

Priscilla rolled her eyes and reached for the first button at the top of her white blouse. “So when is it arriving?”

“It?”

“My Pleasure Bot.”

“Oh, about your new toy…”

“Aaa—gnes?” Her hands froze on button number three. “Don’t tell me they can’t deliver.”

“No, no.”

“Whew! You had me worried there.” She continued unbuttoning her blouse, letting her mind roam to the coming hours. Already her body was juiced at the thoughts of the wicked things she wanted to try with her lifelike, better-than-life-sized robot.

“Well, I just wanted to remind you of a few things first.”

“Like?” She hoped like hell Agnes wasn’t going to give her the list of the manufacturer’s disclaimers.

“You were promised lifelike.”

“Yeah, yeah. Down to the wet tongue and hangnails, I’m sure.” She finished with the last button and peeled off the shirt.

“Just so you know, it’s also programmed to believe it’s a real person—to enhance the experience.”

The word “enhance” was the only one her mind registered. All day long, the thought of all that “enhanced” hardware aimed at providing her the ultimate pleasure had put heat in her cheeks and a bounce in her step. Her skirt joined the heap on the floor. “All right. Is there more?”

“Um…it’s in the kitchen.”
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This week, I’m giving you an excerpt from my very first published book. POD was released in July 2004 by Ellora’s Cave and was the first in a three-book series.

Why pirates, you might ask? Geek-me had just finished reading a true story about a prison ship headed to Botany Bay in the 1800s that was captured by pirates. Female prisoners were taken by the pirates and never seen again. I like to think they enjoyed their abduction. 😉

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From Romantic Times BOOKReviews Magazine: “…First-time author Devlin truly catches the reader’s attention with this hot and sensual book. The intense passion is accentuated by the goals of Adam and his men, making it a great read.”

From Sensual Romance Reviews: “…PRISONER OF DESIRE is Delilah Devlin’s first novel. I can’t wait to see what she can come up with next. This is a very erotic adventure that you won’t want to put down…I highly recommend this novel for anyone who loves pirates and romance.”

From Just Erotic Romances: “Devlin will definitely go on my auto buy list!”

Captain Adamarik Zingh and his pirate crew have captured many a ship, pillaged their cargoes, pleasured their women, while thumbing their noses at the Dominion’s authority. But pirating is a lonely business and Adam and his men have entered a pact to set down roots, self-govern without Dominion interference, and raise families on an uninhabited planet at the edge of the known galaxy. What they need now are wives.

Evena McClure is the elected Cell Block Captain aboard a Dominion penitentiary serving her time along with nearly 400 female prisoners. When pirates overtake their ship Evena resists, mindful of her duty to protect the women. When the pirate captain offers freedom to only a hundred of the prisoners, Evena and the women form alliances to broker a deal to free more of their sisters.

The pirates and the prisoners have only a week to seduce the other side to their will.

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“Captain, pirates are boarding!”

Cold dread settled in her stomach. “Get to the security room. Arm yourselves. Sound the general alert.”

Evena raised her club and entered the room. It was overflowing with men—brightly dressed men. And more were climbing through the docking port. Four of her guards were struggling wildly to escape their captors’ arms.

“Release the women,” she shouted.

All eyes turned toward her. Evena wondered whether she should’ve waited for reinforcements as one man strode toward her. Unlike his comrades, he was dressed entirely in black. His dark, disheveled hair brushed the tops of his shoulders, and a many-days-old beard-stubbled his chin. Dark eyes swept over her in a single quick appraisal, burning her skin.

Evena’s pulse pounded loudly in her ears, and a quiver of awareness fluttered deep in her belly. He was a large man, broad-shouldered and heavily muscled, and despite his wary scowl, a handsome one.
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First note. Yesterday was a phenomenal day of writing. I finished up the latest proposal I’m aiming at a New York house, revised it, and shipped the sucker to my agent. I hope like hell he doesn’t think my idea was too far out there, because the deeper I went into that futuristic (but oddly ancient) world the more I grooved on the story. After I put that one to rest, I opened up a half-written short story, added pages to hit the needed wordcount for a recent call for submissions, and shipped that one too!

Every single goal I had for the month of July I’ve fulfilled. That doesn’t happen often. I plan my work around a large, continuously changing goal spreadsheet. I always aim high, work like a demon to hit the mark, but give myself slack to fail at the smaller, less important tasks. The short story was the small, unimportant task for the month.

Second. One of my favorite review sites, Two Lips Reviews, is having a scavenger hunt and offering up a ton of great prizes to celebrate their third anniversary of operation. I have an icon hidden somewhere on my site that you have to find! Here’s the link to check out the rules: Two Lips Contest Rules

Last. You know that I have a new release tomorrow—a Harlequin Brief, entitled Eye of the Storm. Following is an excerpt.

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When we stood outside my door in the darkened hallway, I drew a key from my jeans pocket and handed it to Marcus, ignoring Cade.

Cade hovered close behind us while Marcus turned the key in the lock. Did Cade think I’d slam the door in his face as soon as Marcus crossed my threshold? I wanted to do it—but not as much as I wanted his steady gaze on my body when I stripped for Marcus and lay down on my soft bed and opened my legs.

I wanted him hot, hard, and wanting to be Marcus as he plunged inside me.
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If you post a comment today, you’ll be in the running
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I cleaned out my book files the other day because I couldn’t find anything in the jumble. I organized them by publishers (13), and then numbered the files by release date. When I’d finished, I discovered I’ve published 53 stories since late 2003! I thought it might be fun to drag out an old story once a week and give you a snippet to remind you of something you’ve enjoyed, or entice you to go find it and add it to your collection!

Lion in the Shadows was one of the most enjoyable books I’ve written. I loved the research—who wouldn’t when you get to talk to firemen about exciting rescues! It pushed boundaries. There wasn’t a lot of interspecies sex scenes when this came out. The heroine was very flawed; the hero very much in love from the start, but frustrated because she wouldn’t let him help her. Anyway, enjoy the scene, and if you lust for more, here’s the link (forgive me for the cheesy cover!): Lion in the Shadows

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From Novelspot: “This book is a great read about accepting love and closing the past…In LION IN THE SHADOWS, Delilah Devlin will once again leave you starving for more. She creates characters that are easy to fall in love with, such as Rafe, a man that keeps his promises no matter what the circumstances.”

FRom eCataRomance: “…a wickedly erotic and chillingly spooky tale of determined love, restless souls, and supernatural possessions. Heart tuggingly romantic and eerie at the same time, it will quickly become a favorite…”

When a teen dies inside an unexplored cave, it’s Lani Kimmel’s job to bring him out. This is not a pleasant job, but one she can handle as a member of the local fire department and an expert in cave rescues. But the trek into the cave awakens a creature that will push this no-nonsense woman’s boundaries of belief and test her newly emerging love for one man.

Rafe Chavez, the new sheriff in this small Texas town, has already staked a claim on Lani. He’s a man with a goal in his sights, and he’s not letting anything get in his way—until he dreams about an Indian brave who died in that unexplored cave, savaged by a mountain lion. When his dreams cross into reality, Rafe realizes he may be possessed by the Indian’s spirit—but the spirit isn’t alone and it wants Lani.

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A noise from beside the bed woke Lani from a deep, dreamless sleep. It came from the end of her bed—a scratching sound on the hardwood floor, like the scrape of claws accompanied by muffled footfalls. She reached for Rafe lying beside her to warn him, but he wasn’t there. The bedding was cool to her touch—he’d left her some time ago.

She was alone with sunlight streaming through her curtains, and a wild creature paced at the foot of her bed. Then a purring, deep and resonant with each exhalation, rose from the floor, and before she could let out a startled cry, the creature leapt onto the bed, the mattress dipping beneath its weight.

The lion! The same one she’d faced on the ledge inside the cave—she was sure of it. It didn’t make sense. Suddenly, she understood.
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