I love fall. For me it’s a magical part of the year, a passage of time that I enjoy. It’s as if nature takes a deep breath, peace slowly settles upon the land, and leaves explode with a myriad of colors.
Nor is wildlife exempt from the changes around them. Fawns lose their spot, my much-loved hummingbirds join many birds during their annual southern migration, and some animals like, Ian, the chipmunk, begin their hibernation.
The gorgeous swath of leaves throughout the forest provide an amazing backdrop to the wildlife settling in for the winter. I enjoy each day of the beautiful colors of the leaves as soon they’ll fall to the earth rest with the arrival of winter, rest beneath a blanket of snow.
I’m fascinated by the changes in the insects during this time. Bees are hurrying around gathering pollen to make honey before the flowers wither, then they remain in their hive until the warmer days of spring. As fall progresses, instead of the blue, green, and gold dragonflies of summer, dragonflies of amber and rust shades glide through the skies.
Fall flowers bloom with flourish, their vibrant colors blanketing the ground, igniting thoughts of the warm scent of apple pies, warm cider, and freshly baked cookies. Soon winter will soon be upon us, but for this special time, I enjoy the blessed bounty given to us by the fall.
What do you like best about fall?
About the Author
A retired Navy Chief, Diana Cosby is an international bestselling author of Scottish medieval romantic suspense. Books in her award-winning MacGruder Brothers series have been translated in five languages. Diana has spoken at the Library of Congress, Lady Jane’s Salon in NYC, and appeared in Woman’s Day, on USA Today’s romance blog, “Happy Ever After,” MSN.com, Atlantic County Women Magazine, and Texoma Living Magazine.
After her career in the Navy, Diana dove into her passion – writing romance novels. With 34 moves behind her, she was anxious to create characters who reflected the amazing cultures and people she’s met throughout the world. After the release of the bestselling MacGruder Brothers series, The Oath Trilogy, and the first two book of The Forbidden Series, she’s now working on book #4, Forbidden Realm, of the five-book series, which will be released August, 6th, 2019.
Diana looks forward to the years of writing ahead and meeting the amazing people who will share this journey.
Contest
***ONE winner will be drawn from everyone who posts on Delilah’s blog between 28 September 2018 – 6 October 2018. The winner will receive one of Diana’s mugs and a tote.
There are some days when I wonder why I want to be a writer. I work a full time job, and I have a family to take care of. Writing has to happen in the evenings and on weekends. There are a lot of days that I don’t get to relax and watch television or work in my garden because I have a book deadline. Writing is also a business that requires accounting and marketing, things that are not creative but absolutely necessary. I ask myself, why am I doing this? Why am I literally working two jobs and not having any down time. Then it happens, a spark of an idea comes from someplace completely unexpected, and I’m like a kid at Christmas with a bright, shiny new story. That is why I write.
Sometimes, the idea is like an explosion, and the whole story just appears in my head. Other times, it’s like trying to light a fire the old fashioned way with flint and steel. It doesn’t matter how it starts, once it begins I can’t rest until I find out how the story ends, and I’m lost in whatever world I’ve created. This is the spark that makes all the rest of it worthwhile. The bottom line is writing a new story makes me happy.
My latest story came to me while I was waiting at the doctor’s office. This office played real music in the waiting room, and while I browsed through a magazine, Billy Joel’s “An Innocent Man” started to play. The song kept playing in my head for the rest of the day. I really wanted to write a Halloween novella this year, and the song was the seed that grew the story. It’s a story about loss, fear, betrayal, finding the truth, and healing a broken heart. An Innocent Man is now available for preorder and will release on October 12th.
Happy Reading.
An Innocent Man
After being jilted at the altar, journalist Becky Hollister moves to a new city to try to put her life back together and ease the heartache. She’s surprised to find her new home is already occupied by a man who died 20 years ago. Will solving his murder help her to learn to love again?
Sheriff’s deputy, Mark Collins, is intrigued by the feisty reporter and her determination to unlock the truth behind a crime that happened when he was a kid. But every time he tries to get closer to her, she runs away like a wounded animal. If he can help her solve the cold case, can he also help heal her broken heart?
Augustina Van Hoven was born in The Netherlands and currently resides in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, two dogs and three cats. She is an avid reader of romance, science fiction and fantasy. When she’s not writing she likes to work in her garden or in the winter months crochet and knit on her knitting machines.
Zebrina, the heroine of my latest release The Cyborg’s Secret Baby, becomes a Mom during the story (this isn’t a spoiler – grins – it is right there in the title).
She becomes a Mom. She doesn’t merely become a heroine with a child.
As most Moms know, there’s a huge difference between these two roles. A Mom heroine is a Mom on every page, not merely during the scenes with her child. Her child might not be physically with her but he/she is always emotionally with her. Decisions include the child. The child is considered whenever the heroine takes action.
Being a Mom changes Zebrina’s thinking. She no longer puts her wellbeing first. Her child is now her priority. Instead of living in the moment, she has to contemplate the future. She can’t leap before she looks. She has to consider repercussions.
Zebrina isn’t a perfect, Leave It To Beaver Mom. (laughs). She’s far from that. She makes mistakes. She gets angry and frustrated with her child. She says the wrong thing and hurts her child’s feelings. But she loves her child, lives for her ‘baby’, would sacrifice any hope at a forever love to ensure her child has the best chance at happiness.
Because being a Mom heroine changes the romantic relationship. In a child-less romance, the relationship between the hero and heroine (or whatever the relationship construct is) is the MOST important relationship. Every other relationship is minor.
In a romance with a Mom heroine, her relationship with the child is as or even more important than the relationship with the hero. The hero’s relationship with the child is equally important. Most single Moms I know would never consider a love interest who couldn’t bond with their children.
Zebrina can’t merely think about who is the best love interest for her. She has to consider who is the best father figure for her child.
Who is your favorite Mom heroine? What book does she appear in?
The Cyborg’s Secret Baby
A fierce cyborg warrior and his curvy human female share a no-longer-so-little secret.
Stealth, a K Model cyborg, knows his passion for Zebrina, the commander’s human daughter, is forbidden, yet he can’t resist the curvy female. He craves her touch, cherishes her sounds of pleasure, would do anything to keep her safe.
When he’s faced with the choice of protecting his fragile human or living to see the next sunrise, he chooses her, always her, sending Zebrina halfway across the universe to safety. He doesn’t realize their stolen moments had consequences neither of them believed possible.
After hearing her warrior died in battle, Zebrina focuses on the last gift he gave her. Doing what is right for their child is her sole priority. She will put their son’s happiness first, even if that means choosing another male over the love of her life.
The Cyborg’s Secret Baby is a STAND-ALONE story loosely connected to the Cyborg Sizzle series. It is also a Second Chance Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, often-violent universe.
USA Today bestselling author Cynthia Sax writes SciFi, contemporary and paranormal erotic romances. Her stories have been featured in Star Magazine, Real Time With Bill Maher, and numerous best of erotic romance top ten lists.
Welcome to fall. It’s officially here, and with it comes the kickoff of the new television season. I know a lot of people simply go to Netflix and binge off already existing shows. Nothing wrong with that, but I still enjoy the anticipation of the weekly show.
As always happens in the previous spring, some shows were cancelled. One such casualty was Scorpion, a show about geniuses solving problems around the world while learning to navigate everyday life. It was pure fun. I could see where they were headed at the end of last season. It’s too bad they ended the show on a not-so-nice note. It does make me almost want to wait until a show runs its course before deciding to watch all the seasons at once. Maybe the folks who binge have the right idea.
Some cancelled shows were picked up by other networks. Lucifer is one that will be back on at some point. In the meantime, there are shows starting this week. Here are a few I’ll be watching.
Murdoch Mysteries—This is a purely Canadian series set in Toronto in the 1890s and early 1900s that follows Detective William Murdoch as he uses radical forensic techniques for the time, including fingerprinting and trace evidence, to solve some of the city’s most gruesome murders. This show actually handles some very sensitive political and personal subject matter.
The Big Bang Theory—This is the final season for this show, which has been my favorite comedy for the past eleven years. They’ve allowed the characters to grow and evolve, keeping it fresh all these years. They should go out with a bang. (Pun intended.)
Supernatural—Sam and Dean are back! They always manage to end a season on one heck of a cliffhanger, leaving us all wondering how they’re going to get out of their latest crisis. Can’t wait.
Blacklist—While this show has lost its way, I’m hoping it manages to find its footing again this season. I’ll be watching if only to see James Spader play Raymond (Red) Reddington, one of the most complex and interesting characters on television. You’re never sure what his real motivation is, you know he’s done terrible things, yet you have to like him.
Every new television season I always try to watch the first couple episodes of some of the new offerings to see if I might find one I like. This season I have my eye on Manifest and New Amsterdam as possible new shows to watch. I admit, I’m not big on cop or medical shows. I tend to favor pure escapism.
And there are always the shows I missed the first time around that I can catch. This summer I discovered Wynonna Earp and love it. Watching season 3 now. So you can always go back and find a show you might have missed.
And the same applies for books. If you missed my Tapestries series the first time it was published, you’re in luck. It’s being rereleased by another publisher. The first two books—Christina’s Tapestry and Bakra Bride—have already been released with Woven Dreams to follow soon.
Bakra Bride
Tapestries, Book 2
After witnessing a gruesome murder, Jane Smith has watched her life crumble around her. Her only solace is the stunning and mysterious tapestry she discovered at a thrift store. When the image stitched into the tapestry magically comes to life one night, Jane finds herself transported to a mystical Medieval world, where two massive warriors declare their intentions to cater to her every sensual desire.
Zaren and Bador are stunned to realize that the prophecy of the tapestry has come true and brought Jane to them. The brothers willingly accept their duty to indulge her in every possible form of passion. But Jane’s arrival has also attracted the attention of rival warriors, who will go to any lengths to steal her from the Bakra brothers and claim her as their own.
As Jane adjusts to this frightening but enthralling world, Zaren and Bador risk all to protect her—even as they use all their sexual skill, separately and together, to take her to unimagined sensual heights. Because the time for Jane to choose is drawing near, and the Bakra brothers must convince her to abandon her former life—and take one of them as her loving husband for all time . . .
N.J. Walters is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.
What does a coffee CEO and reggae bandleader have in common with a cup of coffee?
-Hot
-Strong
-Keeps you awake all night
-Great to wake up to
When I planted the seeds of romance for Latasha, the heroine’s best friend in Jamaican Temptation, I didn’t know which man she’d actually get with in the next book. Fast forward to the day I sat down to write this book, and I still couldn’t decide. She demanded BOTH men. I’ve learned never argue with the characters, so here is her fantasy…
Having grown up in foster care, Latasha looks forward to a stable happily-ever-after with K.C., her Jamaican boyfriend. But his band, Caribbean Climax, is flat broke. When Jonathan Lance, CEO of Third Mountain Coffee, propositions her for one paid night of ecstasy, she does it for her and K.C.’s future.
Jonathan has admired Latasha from afar since the day he met her, but his company comes first. His father, who controls part of it, would never approve of an interracial relationship. After the business transaction, however, emotional ties remain, and Latasha is torn between two men who differ in every way.
And when the unthinkable happens, will her choice be easier—or impossible?
K.C. planted a proprietary hand against the small of her back as they stood in front of him. “You the one paying,” he told Jonathan. “What you want us to do?”
“Kiss her.”
Every nerve ending in Latasha’s body sizzled as K.C.’s dark, sensual lips lowered to hers. Knowing the other man observed them made everything feel twice as erotic. The stiff hairs of her boyfriend’s moustache scraped her upper lip. Jonathan had a slight one as well. Would it feel similar?
She rested her hands on K.C.’s shoulders when he slipped his tongue into her mouth. Her nipples hardened against the thin material of the dress, making her wish she’d worn a different one, with a bra.
Gentle but persistent, his lips claimed every bit of her mouth. He hadn’t kissed her so thoroughly in a long time. She guessed he wanted to give Jonathan a good show so he could get his money’s worth. Or maybe he wanted to prove no one could pleasure her as well as he could.
Whatever his reasons, she’d enjoy the ride. This wasn’t so bad. She could think of tougher ways to earn money.
When he finished, her fingers were interlaced in his braids, practically supporting her weight because she’d gone boneless. His tongue had also gone so deep she ached to taste the rest of him.
Encircling her waist, K.C. turned toward Jonathan. “Dat suit you all right, mon?”
“Perfect.” Had the other man’s eyes grown bluer since she’d last glanced at him?
“What next?” K.C. asked.
“Take off her dress. Slowly.”
Oh crap. Things just got difficult. A deep, insistent ache filled her cunt as K.C. stood behind her, giving Jonathan a full frontal view. She shivered as her man slid one thin strap off her shoulder, then the other, and unfastened several buttons.
The tight dress clung to her hips, which luckily kept it from falling straight to the floor. But her exposed breasts pebbled with gooseflesh. The nipples, already erect, swelled into large peaks.
She didn’t even have to look because she saw her nudity mirrored in Jonathan’s eyes. Her flesh burned, feeling raw and exposed. When K.C.’s hands slid down her sides, to push the rest of the dress past her hips, she covered half her face with a palm and clapped the other across one of her breasts.
“God, your tits are so full and beautiful,” Jonathan breathed. “I knew they would be.”
She stepped out of her sandals to steady herself, but the deep beige carpet caressed her bare feet, making her feel more erotic.
“Wait! I don’t know if I can do this.”
What was wrong with her? She had to earn that check and help K.C. keep his band. Convincing him to do this shenanigan had been harder than herding elephants. It was too late to chicken out.
Both men waited, silent, as they watched her.
After taking a shaky breath, she fanned her flushed face and nodded. “Sorry. I’m okay, now.”
“You sure?” K.C. asked.
“Take your time, sweetheart,” Jonathan said. “We have all night.”
Maybe life is glamorous for other writers, but for me, it’s work, work, work, work, work… Kind of like the song Rihanna sings, but without the sexy clothes or Drake reaching for my goodies. *sigh*
Today, for instance, began with some editing. I broke around 10 AM to conduct a live chat with my plotting bootcamp, then it was back to editing. Around 4 PM, I broke again, because my dd and I had promised to meet a friend for dinner. When we returned home, we had little girls in tow, so we spent an hour in the art work room, trying to keep them out of paint and ink, while we doodled with projects. When my dd left, I went back to editing. Then I remembered, oh yeah, my blog. Gah.
And writing? Grrrrr… I have to finish this project for another author before I can even turn my attention to my own words. Don’t get me wrong, I like editing. It gets me out of my own world. I don’t have time to read for pleasure, so editing equals guilty pleasure + income, so I rarely complain. It’s just that I’m running behind schedule, and I hate being late, but there’s only one me…
So, if you’re bouncing around websites while you break, and happen to come across this post, let me know I’m not the only one work, work, work, working on a Saturday night.
A retired Navy Chief, Diana Cosby is an international bestselling author of Scottish medieval romantic suspense. Books in her award-winning MacGruder Brothers series have been translated in five languages. Diana has spoken at the Library of Congress, Lady Jane’s Salon in NYC, and appeared in Woman’s Day, on USA Today’s romance blog, “Happy Ever After,” MSN.com, Atlantic County Women Magazine, and Texoma Living Magazine.
