I grew up an Air Force brat, moved around a lot, and other than my siblings, I didn’t develop any close friends. Sure, I found people to hang with, but if I moved, I forgot them.

Funny thing happened when I became a writer. Suddenly, I was among people just like me. People struggling to conquer the craft, conquer the publishing industry, and desperately searching for someone to share the exciting things going on inside their own heads.

I banded first with my sister, Myla Jackson, whom I didn’t really have that much in common with until we both started writing. We banded with Layla Chase who was seeking critique partners, and we all improved as writers together, which forged an even stronger bond between us. We banded with a group of ladies inside the San Antonio Romance Authors and formed Roses Colored Glasses, because we hoped to build an even bigger community of friends.

Along the way, I’ve added Kimberly Kaye Terry and the Allure Authors group as friends, and we’ve helped each other, produced anthologies together, and become sounding boards for story ideas, whine sessions, career strategy advice.

You can’t have too many friends. So, this weekend I’m hanging with two women from the Diamond State Romance Authors group. We’re having a writing weekend, and hopefully, I’ll pick up two more friends to add to my ever-expanding circle (if the pictures I share here don’t get me killed!).

Hot Blooded is in the can!

The draft is done. I’ll give it one more read-through before I ship, but if you’d like to see what I’ve been up to, here’s where we first see the hero and heroine together. Now, back to Texas Men.

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Hot Blooded

Sunlight broke through the clouds by mid-afternoon. Although the rain had stopped an hour before, chaos still reigned in the park. All the low water crossings were impassible. Climbers and hikers all along the trails had been stranded. When the Canyon Volunteer Fire Department called the ranch, Adam Youngblood bit back a curse.

The last place he wanted to be today was anywhere near the park and one particular little park ranger. But he headed straight for the headquarters building near the entrance of the park where the rangers had organized search parties to rescue stranded campers and hikers.

Mavis Benson who manned the information desk sidled close to him with a clipboard in her hands. “Adam,” she said hesitantly.

“What do you need, Mavis?”

“We have a situation.”

He glanced at the organized chaos around him and nodded his head. “We certainly do.”

She pulled at his shirtsleeve and tilted her clipboard toward him. “Cass–Fortress Cliff–0800,” was scribbled in purple ink. “She hasn’t checked back in.”

Adam didn’t want to care. In fact, he hated the way his belly knotted at that piece of news. “Have you sent anyone to check it out?”

“They’re still assigning teams to sections of the park. Thought you might like to take this one yourself,” she whispered, her eyebrows rising.

Adam grimaced, tempted to tell her flat out she had the wrong man for the job. She didn’t know his interest in Cass McIntyre had been obliterated the night before.

However, he didn’t want to tarnish the trust and respect shining in Mavis’s eyes whenever he entered the building. Mavis was a lifelong resident of the nearby town of Canyon and attended the same church his mother had.

Adam blew out a deep breath and nodded. “I’ll take a look around the cliff.” Read the rest of this entry »

Kensington’s Aphrodisia authors have launched a new website. Go take a look and hit the blog because that’s where I’m playing today!

Progress for Hot Blooded

Posts may get sparse for the next few weeks while I slam through the next two projects. I’m writing them rough and pushing through rather than revising as I go which is my usual M.O. I keep second-guessing myself, and that’s slowing me down. I’m finding that for now, slamming is making the dialogue a lot more real–snappy, funny. The characters I’m working with aren’t that easy to nail. They both have trust issues and only come together when they are ready to explode with lust. Which is okay. Not sure where the story’s going, but I’m trusting my muse to lead me on this one. You’d think a Native American cowboy and a park ranger would write their own story, but they are making me work.

Have to get together a short synopsis for my next Alluring Tales entry. The other ladies in the group have ideas for what they want to do, and since I’m the one cracking the whip to get them motivated to complete the submission, I guess I better get my own butt in gear.

I don’t have any trips planned for the next month and a half, so I should be able to keep my head down and write. Let’s hope it all goes well. Oh, and I’d love to carve out some time to finish up the next installment of Knight Dreams for my newsletter, but I have to shove it down the list of priorities. Sorry! 🙁

In the meantime, I’ll be swimming, writing, swimming some more, writing some more, and then maybe cleaning up the house, because it really needs it–but again, that’s pretty far down the list of priorities. Guess the dust bunnies will have time to play.

In the meantime if you’d like a peak at what’s coming up, check out Sasha White’s blog this week. She’ll be using samples from my next vampire and cowboy novels in her online workshop on voice.

Paranormal romance is a supernatural force to be reckoned with. Packed with a menagerie of werewolves, shape-shifters, and assorted demons, its undisputed king is none other than our favorite centuries-old bloodsucker—the vampire. Let the biggest and brightest names in the paranormal romance business show you the bewildering array of complex vampire codes of conduct, dark ritual, and dating practices, as they chat up the locals and engage in the most erotic encounters you will sink your teeth into this side of un-Death.

And maybe someone can confirm the title of my story!! :confused: I think I’d called it “Viper’s Bite,” but someone mentioned “Vampire’s Bite,” so I’m burning to know since I don’t have my own copy yet.

Last day—whoohoo! The break from my usual scenery and routine has been nice, but I’m ready to get home, read the mail, do my laundry, and get back to some serious work!

Have to admit, I’ll miss the 80-pound retriever. She snuggles up to my back and doesn’t move the whole night long. The border collie mix decided the floor next to me was just the right spot—almost like she was keeping guard while I slept. And the parrot!! I want one so bad now. He’s an absolute riot. When the little one was visiting, the parrot and the girl had a contest to see who chattered most. I loved the noise. When someone called they’d ask, “Is that the parrot?” I’d say, “No, that’s the girl.” A few minutes later, they’d ask, “Is that the girl?” And I’d have to laugh because it was the parrot.

Total mad house. Makes me want to get a goldfish when I get home. Something to take care of, but low maintenance. I know my current limits.

In the meantime, I received this review for the current EC Caveman anthology, Jewels of the Nile I, in the mail. Sonya at Fallen Angels Reviews gave it 5 Angels!!

She said this about my novella, Making the Madam:
“Ms. Devlin will take the readers on a ride on the wild side of the west. Merry and Nathan will have the readers in stitches as the story unfolds. The intense passion will have the readers screaming for more and grabbing lots of ice.”

About the anthology as a whole, she said:
“This anthology is a keeper to every romance reader out there that loves a variety of stories in one book. The stories are very intense and give the readers what they want and so much more. I cannot wait to see what the authors will come up with next.”

Here’s some happy news before I whine about my lack of progress today. During one of my many procrastinating surfs I found a new review of Sin’s Gift from Paranormal Romance reviewer, Sonya Harrison. Here’s a snippet. Follow the link for the full review (and of course, be sure to read the excerpt on my website!): Review for Sin’s Gift

“Delilah Devlin is her signature self with this novella. Hot love scenes and strong characters pull the reader into the story immediately. Paranormal elements are neatly woven into the story and well-timed comedic quips bring the characters to life. This novella seems to set the stage for other stories to follow as more is revealed about the body snatching demons on earth. Readers will be left begging for more and will no doubt want to read more about Sin and Jake’s on and off-duty escapades.”

Cool, huh? I especially liked the part where it said, “[DD] is her signature self,” which got me to thinking if the rest hadn’t been great someone who didn’t like me could read it to mean something very negative, like “DD is her signature self, dishing raunchy, pointless sex interlaced with ridiculous flights of fantasy,” or some such.

Whew! I survived to write another day. Which gets me back to the fact I wrote one bloody paragraph today. AND I wrote only five yesterday. What gives? I think I need to get to a printer and get my pages on paper, then take scissors to them and re-arrange the paragraphs. I just can’t visualize it without my great big screen.

So, I’m not going to beat myself up because it would only frustrate me more. Since I have two more days of my retreat I’m going to concentrate on brainstorming two more projects that are on the horizon. Those of you on my chat loop got a hint of what those two will be. Not sure yet whether one of them is a Harlequin Blaze or an Intrigue, but I suppose I will know when I start to write the opening pages whether I can dampen my enthusiasm for the sensual side of the story. *snort*