Just a quick thanks to everyone who bought Shattered Souls! Once you find time to read it, let me know what you thought. More of Sam and Cait is coming in June!

And now, to today’s announcement. The release date is officially next week, but I happen to know Amazon is already shipping copies of Best Lesbian Romance of 2013. I have a little ole story in the collection, entitled “Night at the Wax Museum,” which originally appeared in Girls Who Bite.

Here’s a snippet…

The first winner of the “Having an Affaire de Coeur Year” Calendar Contest
is Sharon Chalk! Sharon, congratulations! Send me an email that includes your
snail mail address, and I’ll send your prize! ~DD

* * * * *

The perfect gift, or not so much

Whoopee! We made it through the winter holidays. Just around the corner, however, is another potentially angst-ridden event, Valentine’s Day. This holiday can be fun for couples, sad if you’re alone, and downright dangerous for those who don’t know their partners as well as they think they do when it comes time to purchase a present.

Women don’t have it as tough as men when buying a gift. Pick up a six-pack of their favorite beer, prepare a nice meal, and show up in slinky lingerie and most men are pretty darn happy. Women, on the other hand, expect men to pay attention to their desires, and not just the ones in bed. If we’ve been hinting around that we really want an item, we expect them to buy it for us. They should be listening when we talk and doing everything in their power to make us happy.

Ladies, don’t count on it. Some men are good at gift buying, others really suck. If yours falls into the latter category, give him a break. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you, it just means this is one thing he doesn’t do well. Hopefully, your guy has other redeeming attributes and you can forgive him this minor shortcoming.

My suggestion? Avoid disappointment this Valentine’s day, and ask him for gift cards, so you can buy what your heart really desires.

I’d like to share a cute joke about this subject:

Young Patty approaches her mother and announces, “Sally told me where babies come from.”

Mother, not ready to have this discussion, asks with dread, “Where is that, dear?”

“Sally said her sister Molly told her, Daddy puts his thingy in your mouth, then stuff comes out, then a baby grows in your belly.”

“No, sweetie, Susie’s wrong, that’s where jewelry comes from!”

Bwa-ha-ha! So true.

What would be your perfect Valentine’s Day gift? I’d love to hear from you.

Enjoy this excerpt from my latest book, Out of the Ordinary. Thank you for having me here today, Delilah, and thank you all for reading.

* * * * * Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s guest is late getting her stuff to me, so I’m popping in quickly to share “the plan.” The list below is everything I hope to finish by April 1st. The one item in purple is the only thing I’ve finished since the start of the year. (It’s the “BDSM in the Bayou” novel I finished last week!) Yes, the list is completely ridiculous, but I need big goals so I can keep adrenaline pushing me to tackle the biggest priorities on the list. If I can slide in some of the shorter projects too, I’ll have true bragging rights. 🙂

The winner, chosen by random number generator, is commenter #12—Linda!
Congratulations, Linda! Be sure to email me to arrange for delivery of your prize! ~DD

* * * * *

This week’s theme is emotion. I love dread and fear—writing it, anyway. Enjoy the scene below. If you’d like to read more, be sure to click on the cover of the story. Have a great day. I’m taking a break from my writing today to go see Les Misérables with my dd. Since there’s not a theater in our small nearby town, we have to make a day of it. So, we’re going to eat Indian and take in a flick. Pure pleasure.

If you post a comment today, you’ll be entered to win
a free download of this book!

“…loved everything about SIN’S Gift…the way Delilah Devlin sets up her world makes it feel like nothing I’ve read before…” ~ 5 Angels and RECOMMENDED READ!, Fallen Angels

“…A turbulent relationship and sexy, spooky thrills await readers in SIN’S GIFT…This is a well written and engrossing tale with complex characters who have hidden depths.  Enter into other realms with the highly recommended SIN’S GIFT.” ~ Jennell, RRT Erotic

“…Wow, I loved this novella. It’s fabulously exciting and a fast, exhilarating read…I recommend this book to everyone that loves hot, sexy paranormal story. I love Delilah Devlin’s books and this is one of her best yet…” 5 Hearts, Abi, The Romance Studio

 

Police Officer Sinead O’Rourke returns to duty months after being shot in an incident that also claimed her partner, Danny. Despite being cleared of any negligence, Sin knows her fellow officers wonder whether she’s partially responsible for his death. One more problem is that everyone knows she claims she’s seen Danny. After months of rehabilitation and counseling, and lying like hell about the fact she’s not seeing spooks anymore, Sin’s determined to get back into the saddle. But her first day back in the patrol car, Sin sees something more horrifying than the ghost of her dead partner and enters a deadly new world. Jake doesn’t want to partner with Sin. Been there, done that—couldn’t keep his hands off her the first time around. She’s too much of a distraction and her penchant for rushing into trouble scares the hell out of him. Despite wishing she’d quit her job, he’s still deeply attracted. When an armed robbery goes down and something happens that rattles Sin to the core, he’s right there—ready to cover her back and her sweet body.

There’s no place like home.

The police substation didn’t sit at the end of the rainbow or anywhere near Kansas, but for some reason that stupid phrase ran like a mantra through Sinead O’Rourke’s head as she drew a deep breath and pushed through the double doors leading into the station house. Once inside, she kept her gaze focused straight ahead, ignoring the way conversations died away as one by one the officers on duty noticed who’d entered their midst.

So she’d been gone awhile. No doubt San Antonio’s finest whispered she looked a little different than they remembered. A few even knew she’d gone nuts for a while. But their redheaded stepchild was back.

Fuck them, anyway. Read the rest of this entry »

Reality Versus Fantasy

One of the most challenging things we can do as an author or maybe the easiest if like me, you eagerly look forward to slipping into the fantasy of a good book, is to create those special moments while dealing with the reality of life behind the scenes.

What reality you say? Well, in my case I’ve been going through a major renovation of the house my husband and I recently bought and we’ve had a lot of ups and downs. Many of the highlights include a beautiful new kitchen, a cozy and functional office and an expanded master bedroom.

Then there are the shocking and unexpected discoveries such as when you take down a cabinet in the laundry room and discover a small spot of wet wall and mold which then morphs into an entire rotted exterior wall that has to be removed and rebuilt in the middle of winter.

Now when I watch HGTV and see the homeowners near tears when more and more problems are found during the renovation process–I get it! (That is when I’m allowed to watch HGTV. My husband threatens to ban that channel every time I come up with a new “project” *grins*)

It’s during times like these where I have to dig deep and put aside the harsh reality of the disgusting bathroom we are currently tearing apart—

And begin to imagine this scene instead.

Or when the reality of the contractor who showed up to do the plumbing is nothing like the fantasy you had in my mind threatens the image in my head of the slice of near perfect alpha male perfection I want to show up in my book…

Despite the ups and downs of reality we all must go through and the challenge of writing under very uncomfortable situations to meet our deadlines, I’m eternally grateful that life is never boring. It might make me want to pull my hair out more often than I’d like, but it keeps me on my toes and hopefully strengthens my brain for the next challenge lurking around the corner.

At least when we need a break from the reality of day-to-day life, we can pick up a book and slip into a new world. What would we do without them?

Thank you so much to Delilah for hosting me today. It’s always great to come and visit.

Eliza

Eliza Gayle lives a life full of sexy shapeshifters, blood boiling vamps and a dark desire for bondage…until she steps away from her computer and has to tend to her family.

Check out Eliza’s brand new release, Purgatory Masters: Tucker’s Fall, or her many other books listed on her website at elizagayle.net.

For the next little while, you won’t see much of me here. I opened up my blog to guests—and a deluge hit. And how could I turn anyone down? Well, I couldn’t until I didn’t have any dates left. So, I’ll try to sneak in here and maybe post a note at the top of some fabulous author’s blog, just so you know the rumors of my demise are premature. 🙂 If you truly miss me, you can always find me on Facebook!

I did reserve every Saturday for Snippet Saturday, so be watching for one-day-only giveaways from me on those days. In the meantime, here’s a contest to keep you going until the next opening I have for me to chat (other than a Saturday or a guest no-show)—February 26th.

“Having an Affaire de Coeur Year” Calendar Contest

What can you win? I have a stack of Affaire de Coeur magazine’s 2013 calendars. Each is filled with romantic goodness! I’ll start giving them away this weekend! And I won’t stop until I’ve given all of them away!

What do you have to do to win? Simple. Comment on my blog. On any posting, from now thru February 26th. I’ll choose winners at random from among all the comments. Good luck!

It’s almost that time of the year again for roses, chocolate love…and handcuffs! 😉 To celebrate, Cari Silverwood, Kallypso Masters and Full Moon Bites have come together for a kinky giveaway hop! They invited a slew of authors and bloggers to join them! Read on below for the lovely intro (written by the wonderful Cari!)

When your man tells you he loves you with a gift of chocolates, roses and handcuffs, you know he’s no ordinary lover. What kink hides in your closet? Sometimes we don’t want a man who showers us with flower petals and kisses. Sometimes we want a man who will take charge and text us from work with a message such as this: Wait for me naked and kneeling in the bedroom. If this Valentines Day you get handcuffs from your partner, what message would you like to see on the gift tag?

Enter a comment on this post, and you’ll be entered to win a $25.00 gift certificate from Amazon.com to spend however you please on whatever naughty thing you want! Then take a tour to each of the websites listed below. Don’t feel overwhelmed by how many people are involved, you have until February 7th to enter! Read the rest of this entry »