NaNo Day 2:
Viking-2—1905 words
GWB-Me—518 Words

Unfairness
By Lex Valentine

Unfairness abounds in the world we live in. Despite writing romances where there is always a Happily Ever After (HEA), I sometimes let the unfairness and cruelties of the world seep into my work. In my current release, Sunstroked, one of my heroes was closeted for most of his life because his cousin, the pack Alpha, was homophobic. In my November and December releases, unfairness has a role in each story.

Rock My World, coming November 12 from Ellora’s Cave, has a stalker in it who’s filled the heroine with so much fear that she lies and pushes the hero away in order to ensure he’s not a target too. Afterburner, in the Honorable Silence anthology due out in November from MLR Press, is about two Air Force pilots who fall in love and must contend with the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy. In December, there’s Unbreak Me about a magic wielding warrior who was imprisoned unfairly, suffering rapes and torture, all because someone coveted the position her father held. Also coming in December is Christmas Wishes, another short story in my annual Christmas Cowboys series. The hero has it bad for the heroine but she’s older than him, a widow with a broken heart whose husband died in Afghanistan. Someone with a past that tragic isn’t the kind of woman you just hit on.

Another story I recently finished (whose release date I’m unsure of) is In the Light. This is a dark tale, a short story of some 6500 words, written for my friend author Patric Michael. It will be in his anthology Wishing on a Blue Star from Dreamspinner Press. In the Light features one of my signature characters, a werewolf named Weylyn Randall. The story is about bullying and doing the right thing and the sometimes high cost of both. It’s also about everlasting friendship and love. But it’s not a love story nor does it have full-blown sex in it.

For those of you who know me, you’ll know that no sex is a bit of an aberration. To date, the only other story I’ve ever written without sex is Ain’t Nuthin’ But a Hellhound, a dark tale in the Weirdly anthology at Wild Child Publishing. But In the Light has overtones from conversations Patric and I had and it’s with a sense of profound joy that I give it to him.

As unfair as life often is, my character Weylyn brings a sense of buoyancy and fun to everything I’ve ever put him in. He first debuted in a serial story where I wrote prior to being published. Then I wrote him into my Pink Chair Diaries trilogy (also before I was published.) Next, he showed up in Common Ground, Tales of the Darkworld Book 5. He pops up everywhere and he’s great fun for readers. For a taste of Weylyn, you can go to my website and click on the freebies page. There are links to the PCD stories which are free to read. Common Ground isn’t free but I hear that the Dreamspinner anthology may be a freebie.

I combat the unfairness in life the only way I know how…with laughter. Weylyn usually brings that so he’s a great read when you’re feeling down. I don’t have a link yet to Patric’s anthology, but below are links to the other works where you can read Weylyn. A few laughs won’t make unfairness in the world go away, but it makes it easier to live with. And Weylyn is a lot of hot, sexy werewolf fun!

Here’s a snippet from In the Light:

Sipping his ale, Grant shot Weylyn a wry look. “You’re trying to get me laid?”

Blinking in mock innocence, Weylyn said, “But of course! What else would a friend do?”

“Fuck the only guy in the bar I’m interested in.”

Grant made a face and Weylyn could barely contain a laugh. He loved bantering with Grant.

“You have to bring that up again? Geez, man. You are never going to let me live that down, are you?”

“No.” Grant popped a few peanuts in his mouth. “You are the only guy I know who can get laid without even trying…without even wanting to! A guy tells me he’s a power bottom and asks me if I’m interested. Before I can even reply ‘Hell yeah!’ you’ve got him topping you!”

“That only happened once,” Weylyn protested. “I didn’t know you’d already been talking to him when I met him in the men’s room.”

Weylyn felt the sting of guilt. It was true that he’d ended up with more than one guy whom Grant had had his eye on. Not that he’d meant to. Every time it had happened, he hadn’t known Grant was interested in the guy. His friend tended to be really low key about his sexuality and wasn’t a blatant prowler like Weylyn. Grant never broadcasted his sexual preferences but Weylyn knew that he gave it away fairly easily because his gaze never followed women, only men.

“I can’t believe there are Fallen Angels you haven’t fucked,” Grant grumbled and finished his drink. The bartender brought him another one instantly.

“Dude, I swear to you, I haven’t been with that many.” Weylyn tried to edge the peanuts closer to him as he watched his friend.

Grant eyed him in mock disbelief. “Still don’t believe you, but I’ll find out later. I’m not yet in the mood to go chatting up the men in here only to find they’re one in a long list of your conquests.”

“You make me sound like some kind of sexual predator.”

“You are a predator. In everything you do. It’s inherent in your nature as a shifter,” Grant conceded. “Believe me, I understand that. Add that to the whole rock star thing you have going and you get laid without even trying.”

Whew! Weylyn can certainly be a handful! If you’d like to read more Weylyn you can and some of it is free! You’ll find Weylyn here:

The Were & The Chair
I’d Fuck You

If you’re interested in reading more In the Light, I will post on my blog Sunlight Sucks and on my official website when and where you can get Wishing on a Blue Star (which contains work by several well-known M/M romance authors), just as soon as I have the information.

Many thanks to Delilah for letting me and Weylyn take over her blog today!

Lex Valentine
Lexvalentine.com ~ sunlightsucks.com ~ fivedarkrealms.com

NaNo Day 1:
Viking-2—2055 words
GWB-Me—784 words

For those of you who are still addicted to the feel of a paper book in your hands, here’s your chance to own three of my hottest stories in one volume!

These cowboys like the horses fast, and know exactly how to spur a woman toward her greatest pleasure…

Saddled
After rescuing a beautiful woman when her car slides into an icy creek during a snow storm, Bobby Blackhawk and Cale Yancey do the only thing two lonesome cowboys can—they take her to their isolated cabin and get naked.

Unbridled
Justin Cruz has waited a long time for this moment. He knows his bad-boy reputation, but since he seduced Rowe Ayers, he’s been a one-man cowboy—waiting for pretty Dani Standifer to return and become the delicious fulfillment of his and Rowe’s needs. If she’s up to the challenge.

Unforgiven
For Cutter Standifer, the pretty little redhead who opened a café in Two Mule, Texas, was “the one”. Until he caught her in a compromising position with the town’s worst womanizer. A year later, he still can’t forgive Katie Grissom. And forget? Forget, hell. He’s ready to kick his code into the nearest manure pile and take what he never had from her—full satisfaction.

Click on the novella titles to read an excerpt!

Okay, this one’s been on Amazon for a couple of weeks, but today’s the official release date!

“Passion delivers just what you would expect – super hot stories with sex that burns up the pages. Don’t miss it!”—USA Today and Essence bestselling author Kayla Perrin

“Talk about a collection of stories to make you squirm in your seat! Chilly fall night or a quick pick-me-up to get in the mood—this is the one!”—Whipped Cream Reviews

Love and sex have always been intimately intertwined, and Passion shows just how well the two can merge. This collection of steamy stories combines rich and explicit imagery with tales of classic love, letting the best writers of erotic romance bring to life tales that can be read aloud in bed. From long lost lovers reunited to love at first sight to romance rekindled, Passion’s succulent stories quicken heartbeats and appeal to everyone, from the least to the most romantic of souls.

Read an excerpt from my story, The Morning Ride:

With a schedule more predictable than the subway train she waited on, Sophie’s chest constricted as though a cinch slowly tightened around her ribs. Left breathless every morning as she waited on the platform beside the tracks, her odd affliction only intensified once she boarded. The journey never varied, beginning in Upper Manhattan and continuing southward. Her body had acquired the habit, reinforced not by some psychological disorder, but by the need for one specific miracle to occur every morning as she took her usual seat along the far wall of the car.

She sat, then rose and sat again to rearrange her skirt beneath her. She pulled at the hem, and then slid it just high enough to attract attention but not so high she looked like a slut. She ignored the low “mmm-mm” from the college-aged boy with bed-head who sat beside her.

Her attention remained focused on the stations. “125th Street.” She straightened her back and took a deeper breath, hoping to quell the heat entering her cheeks. “59th Street”. She unwrapped her fingers from around her purse straps because her knuckles were whitening. When the car slid to a stop at 42nd, she held her breath and averted her glance from the sliding doors, watching instead from the corner of her eye as passengers stepped inside, sought their seats and settled in for their morning commute.

She saw him, or at least from the knee on down. Shiny black loafers. Knife-edged creases on his charcoal trousers. Sweeping her gaze upward, but still not looking directly, she eyed his tall, lean body, embracing the quickening tattoo of her heart. Dark hair, still glossy from his shower curled close to his scalp. The scent of aftershave, spicy and fresh, followed him, and she inhaled sharply to catch it. When he took his seat along the opposite wall and two seats down, she let out the breath she’d held, the pinpricks of darkness that had narrowed her vision to a tunnel, fading back. All was right in her world again.

Never mind, she’d spent another restless night, fighting the blankets and the dreams that left her so hot and frustrated she’d retrieved the vibrator from under her bathroom sink to take off the edge. Last night had been the best, or the worst, depending on whether she wanted to sink into the dream or cry over the fact she was tired. Even now, the potency of the dream was so strong, the details so vivid, it was easy to slide back into the moment when she’d stumbled against him as they both debarked at Chambers Street and he’d slid his hand around her waist to steady her…

He’d caught her against his chest, and she’d been forced to glance up, staring into his face fully for the first time.

When he pulled away, he scooted down until he could bend to kiss her mouth. “Baby, that was so goddamn hot.”
The dream had ended there with his wet cock digging into her belly—before they’d shared names, before they’d agreed to see each other again. Not the sort of dream she’d ever had before—or at least not so long and detailed. Like a scene from a smutty romance novel, rose petals and all.

Still, she’d been left wet, aching, and the dildo hadn’t filled the empty space inside her. If only she had the courage to approach him. Maybe he’d be as sexy, well-endowed and skilled as her dream-lover—or maybe he’d be a complete dick.

Either way, she’d bring an end to this wanting.

I wish I could say I was on fire for the month of October. But if that were the case, I wouldn’t be facing Hell Month.

Sound like I have enough on my plate? Nuff said, I think.

Okay, so that was my annually resurrected Pumpkin Butt picture. Happy Halloween!

Do you sense a note of “Bah! Humbug!”? That’s because I don’t have time to go play. November’s Hell Month.

Like I’ve said before. I have three books due on December 1st. So, I have to hunker down and “get ‘er done” (*gagging* I may have lived in Texas but that phrase makes me cringe).

What am I doing to make sure I get there?

I’ve gone no mail on most of my loops because I’m getting ready to drop off the face of the earth for 30 days. Not that I won’t still be here. Blogging is so ingrained. It was a hard habit to make, but now it’s like getting up to pee first thing in the morning.

I’ve joined National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) again this year. See the blue calendar icon on the left? If ever you see red on any of those days—get on my ass!! It means, I failed to meet goal. And if you’re a writer and planning to NaNo too, here’s my profile page so you can friend me and nag me up close and personal. I’ll do the same for you. Delilah’s NaNo

I have most of the family on board with the idea that I am crawling into a hole and only coming up for air when I can’t stand the smell or need something to feed the engine. Most, I said, because I still have to contend with kids.

I have stocked up on teas and coffee. Have a box of energy drinks stored next to my fridge.

My desk and office are clean, ready for that starting gunshot…

So, you want to know how I actually plan to get 75,000 words on the page (most NaNo’ers are going for 50,000) by the end of the month? By writing 2500 words every damn day, come rain or shine. And if I knock ’em out in the morning, I can actually spend some time doing something lazy. But if I screw around, or get covered up in kids, I’ll be up late, sucking on Red Bull.

I’ll be back later tonight with my monthly wrap-up.

My guest, Sloan, is on a blog tour. Be sure to check out her blog to find out where she’s going next! ~DD

So today is my busy day. Pumpkin picking, haunted hayrides and haunted houses, oh my. Me and my daughter and three of her friends are spending the day and night doing spooky things. Then, if memory serves, something was said about burrito night and major chocolate milk shakes. Guess who will be cooking and doing that….LOL

Q: What is your favorite part of Halloween?

A: I’m not really sure I have a favorite part. I like dressing up, spooky places, all the
kids dressed up who come to my door for treats. Caramel apples, bonfires, hayrides.
There are just too many things to pick just one.

Do you have a favorite part of Halloween? Please share.

Remember, to enter to win the prize for today you must leave a comment.

TODAY’S PRIZE: A DOWNLOAD OF MY DEBUT NOVEL, HIGHLAND STONE.

SLOAN MCBRIDE
~~Love Spans All Time~~
www.sloanmcbride.com

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

From the Heavens comes a hero who will take your breath away.

Reese Whittaker dreams of falling for a man who shares her love of archeology and ancient civilizations. But being attacked by a horde of demons and rescued by a Sumerian God—a well-armed, gorgeous Sumerian God—opens up a whole new world she never knew existed. And awakens a mysterious power within her that attracts all kinds of supernatural attention.

Dagan, son of the Air-God Enlil and a Time Walker, is sworn to protect the human race in general, and one young woman in particular—Reese. He’s not the only one mysteriously attracted to her powerful life force. Underworld leader Kur craves it for the untold power it will give him to strike a blow at the deities of Dilmun.

Dagan is forbidden by law from interacting with Reese, but from the moment he sees her, the fury—an intense sexual need for bonding—blinds him to all the rules. Should the pantheon discover he has fallen for a human, the punishment could mean suffering beyond imagining for him…and death for her.

Warning: Contains language, lots of action, Sumerian Gods, gorgeous men, tough, stubborn women and some creatures from the Underworld that make life hell.

So, picture this.

My driveway’s looooong, and yesterday the UPS guy left a rather large package next to the gate, which looked long and skinny from the distance, but wasn’t, which had me saying as I walked up the drive, “I don’t need no stinkin’ hand truck.”

I get to the box. It’s big. I think, “It’s only a hundred fifty feet. I’m not gonna go all the way back for that little wagon now.”

A third of the way down the driveway, I set it on the ground huffing, gather my breath and shout for the 6-year-old whizzing by on her Tyko trike. We set the box on the trike and get maybe 20 feet, kicking the wheel all the while to keep it going straight, when the plastic body of the trike bends at the middle, suspending the wheels.

I set the damn thing on my foot. Lift foot, scoot. Lift foot, scoot. 10 feet to go and mom comes out. “How come you didn’t ask for help?”

Grumbling, I let her grab one end and between us we wrestle it to the garage. Then I lean back and stretch—and ouch!

Now, my back’s tight and achy. I took a Metha-something pain pill, laid on my couch and didn’t give a crap about anything. I think I watched three TIVO’d episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, but I can’t tell you much about what I saw, except I’m ready to bitch-slap the Asian chick. Oh, and isn’t OWEN HAWT?! She so doesn’t deserve him.

This morning, I’m moaning, not because I still hurt. The pill relaxed the pain away, but now I have a ton of catchup to do. 😐