Bestselling Author Delilah Devlin
HomeMeet Delilah
BookshelfBlogExtrasEditorial ServicesContactDelilah's Collections

Blog

Two Days to First Knight!
Monday, April 26th, 2010

To celebrate the release of FIRST KNIGHT, I’m running a contest.
Be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win a handmade ribbon-and-bead bookmark and a signed copy of the backlisted book of your choice from my Ellora’s Cave selection.

For some of y’all who may only have read my contemporary stories, you may not know that I LOVE dabbling in a medieval tale. They are my personal favorites to read, and I collect history books about the time period like my mother does hobnail glassware.

I’ve wanted to dive into the My Immortal Knight series again, but I wanted to do something different with it, so I took the story back, way back. And I thought it might be fun to tell a parallel storyline of troubles in the past, that may spill over into my knights’ present at some time. These prequel stories will have everything you loved about the MIKs—uber-alpha heroes, feisty heroines and dangers lurking nearby. This particular story develops into a very sexy threesome.

I hope you enjoy my little leap of faith. The story releases on Wednesday, and I’d love to hear your impressions and whether you will want more.

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

While hiding her true identity, Maddie must seduce the mysterious Lord Garon to cement their marriage contract to ensure she won’t be returned into her lecherous stepfather’s care.

Fresh from Crusade in Palestine, Lord Garon has a secret he must hide, a hunger that must be fed, and a dark and uncertain future. Having shed himself of a fiancée he never met, he’s home to lick his wounds. The only thing he wants is a warm-blooded meal—but the new housekeeper is strangely insistent on giving him much more.

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

Garon approached her, stopping in front of her, forcing her gaze to rise. When he was assured he had her full attention, he bent toward her. “There will be no more secrets. If you have any left for me to discover, you will tell me now.”

Maddie’s wide, wet eyes reflected regret, but the longer he hovered over her, the deeper her breaths became.

Her tongue darted out to wet her lips. “I have but one secret, husband.” She leaned close enough he caught the heady aroma of her arousal. Her cheeks flushed. “I think you know it already.”

“Are you attempting to distract me, wife?”

Her eyelashes swept down. “Am I?”

“You only delay your punishment,” he murmured, breathing in her scent and hardening.

Her belly rubbed against him, sliding over his rising cock. “You delay our pleasure.”
Garon ground his teeth. “Remove your clothes.”

The corners of her mouth twitched, but she stepped back and shed her clothing slowly. When she stood nude in front of him, he bit back a groan. Her small, round breasts quivered with each ragged inhalation.

He raised his hand, palm up. She slid hers over it. When he wrapped his fingers tightly around it, she only breathed more deeply.

“I should beat you,” he growled.

Her eyelids drifted down. Her head tilted, mouth pouting for a kiss. “Should you?”

“You endangered this keep, our people.”

Her eyes widened and she stared at his face. “I believed in you.” She licked her lips
again. “You won’t beat me.”

He firmed his jaw. “No. Never. But don’t take that as lenience.”

“I won’t. I promise. No more secrets.”

He led her to the bed, debated turning her over his knee, but his cock throbbed with need. He knew a better way to bring her to submission.
Read the rest of this entry »

Sunday Report Card
Sunday, April 25th, 2010

Just a quick rundown.

I finished Four Sworn this week and submitted it to my editor at Samhain. Just 16k, but packed with naughtiness. I started to revise another proposal that my agent liked but thought the heroine might not seem redeemable. Then I read it again, liked it just the way it was and shipped it to one of my editors to see what she thought. If she shares his opinion, I’ll listen. If you’ve read me, you know I like taking the person who seems like someone you can’t forgive and making him or her someone you want to cheer for by the end. Or at least make their sins understandable. I’ve read too many trite “mistaken” sins that weren’t really sins and I want to read the grittier, truer version of that premise. Maybe a reader or two does too.

This week, the goal is to get the openings of a couple of new stories started and finish the synopsis for the second big book. I’ve pretty much taken care of the large goals I set for myself for April, so I can slack off a bit.

Today, I’ll be covered up with family again so no writing is happening. But pool’s open! Wheeee!

A question…and a winner!
Saturday, April 24th, 2010

The winner of the Amazon.com GC is listed at the bottom of this posting!

But first, let’s review your choices for the next installment of Bad Moon Rising. The most votes were cast for Mason bringing DiDi dinner, which they will eat at the end of the dock. Then he will invite her to dance. They’ll share a romantic moment. The next scene will be with DiDi at the Stop ‘n’ Go where she will meet a woman who’ll explain what The Prowl is all about. Now, I just have to figure it out for myself. If you have any suggestions, remember, this is your story, I’m not supposed to be thinking too hard about the plot. You are!

I’m not planning on getting any writing done this weekend. It’s family time. I’ll be in Hot Springs with my daughter’s family today. I’m hoping the weather improves. Last night, I ran out into a hail storm with a thin straw hat on my head to protect me from ice missiles while I moved my car into the garage.

So, while I’m gone, here’s a question for your to ponder…

What is something that most people consider a modern convenience that you, quite frankly, consider a pain in the neck?

The winner of the Cat Tails contest (by random number generator) is…Terri! Terri, email me!

Pool adventures begin!
Friday, April 23rd, 2010

You still have time to enter to win an Amazon.com GC!
Cast your vote in yesterday’s poll!

I took the bubble wrap (thermal blanket) off the pool yesterday afternoon and went for it. 74 degrees and everything was nipple-y! But I’ll do it again today. I missed my daily water adventures (diving for live and dead critters).

Did manage to quick-plot the next big book. It’s complicated. Too many main characters. But I’ll go ahead and write the synopsis today and submit it. Once I begin writing, the focus will (hopefully) settle out. Also brainstormed a short novella with my BFF Sasha White. That one will be short and UNcomplicated. Need some of those. Then I spent the rest of the day, setting up files for May projects and getting them on my desktop so I can hop from one to the other when I get bored with work on the big thing.

Restarted my diet on Monday. After I quit smoking all those lovely curves I discovered last winter under the pudding disappeared as I packed on 15 freaking pounds. Why does the weight pack on so fast and disappear so slowly?

Cat Tails Poll: Choose what happens next
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

The winner will be announced Saturday. So, be sure to cast your vote,
then post a comment so I know who voted!

My horoscope today reads: Start something new — or do something over — this morning, and it should go quite well for you. Keep pushing through the afternoon, as you want to make things bigger, bolder and better then! Which kinda works because today I’m supposed to be revising a proposal. Looks hopeful, huh? Did I mention that I finished Lone Star Lover-3 yesterday? Yeah, and shipped it. Hope LF likes it and that it will be out quickly. Thanks, Masha, for reading it over before it went!

First, thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions about what should happen next in Cat Tails: Bad Moon Rising. If you haven’t had a chance to read the last installment, you need to do it before you vote.

Everyone who votes (and leaves a comment so I know who voted) will be entered to win a $10.00 Amazon.com eGift certificate. So, you get to choose what happens next and you get a chance to win something. There is no down side here! You can make more than one selection.

What's your pick for Best Picture?

  • Dallas Buyers Club (30%, 3 Votes)
  • Gravity (20%, 2 Votes)
  • 12 Years a Slave (20%, 2 Votes)
  • American Hustle (10%, 1 Votes)
  • Captain Phillips (10%, 1 Votes)
  • The Wolf of Wall Street (10%, 1 Votes)
  • Her (0%, 0 Votes)
  • Nebraska (0%, 0 Votes)
  • Philomena (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 10

Loading ... Loading ...

Guest Blogger: Tina Donahue
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

Remember, you have to post to win!

A note from Tina:

I’m offering a scavenger hunt at all three places and my site to celebrate the release of my newest erotic romance Lush Velvet Nights. I’ll be posting four questions throughout the day on my blog – answers found on my site – the lucky winner will get her choice of one of the following:

Adored – 4 stars Romantic Times – Second Place Winner NEC RWA contest2
Deep, Dark, Delicious – nominated for Book of the Week Whipped Cream
Reviews
Close to Perfect – 4 stars Romantic Times – “A walk on the wild side for romance readers”
Bad Boys with Red Roses – an erotic anthology with my novella “Tempt Me, Tease Me,
Thrill Me”
Take My Breath Away – 4 ½ stars Romantic Times – an RT Top Pick – Booklist wrote: “Fans of Lori Foster will enjoy Donahue’s light, sexy romp.”

So please join me today at Delilah’s, Book Junkie and at my site!!!

What makes for a satisfying sex scene?

Those who don’t read erotic romances would probably answer by saying the author should create vivid imagery. The passion should be obvious between the hero and heroine. The reader should be able to smell, feel, taste their lust.

While that’s certainly true, it’s not even the beginning of what makes for a satisfying sex scene. Before an author’s characters slip beneath the sheets there needs to be an intense build up of emotions so that the reader is sitting on the edge of her seat murmuring, ‘Now, now, now!! Dammit, now!’

You don’t reach that kind of intensity if your characters barely know each other but succumb to desire because they think their partner is hot. That’s physical attraction. And as we all know, great sex begins in the mind.

In my latest release Lush Velvet Nights, I wanted to draw out the sexual tension of each scene, to build anticipation in the minds of my fans and new readers. Just as importantly, I wanted to give the characters a bit of time to know and like each other, to be playful.

Here’s an excerpt to illustrate what I mean: In this scene, Nathan and Adriana are delaying their return to LA after a three-day erotic weekend at his mountain estate. After some heavy-duty sex scenes, I needed a fresh approach for their next encounter and came upon this. Adriana’s just hurled several snowballs at Nathan, catching him off guard and now he’s after her. . .

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

Nathan grabbed her right foot. Shrieking, Adriana kicked at him. Her boot came off in his hand thanks to Hayley having wider feet than she did. She plowed through the snow with no real direction in mind. It wasn’t as if the neighbors were going to help her. Hell, they probably stood at their windows watching, waiting for Nathan to strip her bare and fuck her out here until she turned blue from the cold.

“No!” she cried. He’d grabbed the edge of the ski pants that came above her ankles, thanks to Hayley being several inches shorter than her. Adriana kicked as hard as she could and finally hit something solid.

Nathan bellowed like a gored bull.

Oh shit. Had she hit him in the balls? Rolling onto her back, Adriana gaped at his broad grin. He’d been pretending pain? Jerk. She gave him the finger and seesawed her legs so he couldn’t grab them.

Nathan rolled his eyes and sat back on his heels, away from her flailing feet, waiting until she wore herself out. Didn’t take long. Adriana lay panting in the snow, sweating from her exertions, too weary to swear.
Read the rest of this entry »

Talkin' about Dragons
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

Between Facebook, After Midnight Fantasies and this blog, there were 46 entries in this contest. But you will have to scroll to the bottom here to see who won!

Maybe I mentioned it on Twitter, but on Sunday, I took the 5-year-old to see How to Train Your Dragon. I know it’s not just the kid in me, because the other adults in the audience (lots of guys!) were cheering and laughing too, but I LOVED it.

The whole experience was fun. My daughter and I made a date of it with little girl. We took her to a late lunch at Olive Garden where she flirted with the waiter as she ordered spaghetti for herself. We took her to the bookstore where she perused every kid’s story book in the store until she settled on a coloring book instead. Then we headed to the movie. She chose our seats. At the very front in the middle. Our seats leaned back, thank goodness, and the armrests went up so it was like sitting on the sofa together at home. We had a huge bucket of popcorn that we shared. Cokes. And those funny 3D glasses perched on our noses. I’m not sure who had more fun, but we have to do that again.

I’ve already been obsessed with collecting the dragon movie action figures. I have the black one (Toothless), the big gray monster who spits fire from his mouth, and the green one that’s sitting on its haunches. Daughter says she has the red one and the blue one Astrid rode, which she’s been saving for me. Love that name Astrid. I used it for one of my Viking characters in Beloved Captor.

Anyway, if you have a chance to see it, do! It starts off with a bang, has tons of humor and adventure. It’s now my favorite movie I’ve seen all year, but then, I haven’t seen Avatar yet… Am I the only person on the planet who hasn’t?

I am obsessed with dragons. I’ll admit it. I bought a deskset (letter opener, stapler, and cupholder) fashioned with dragons. I bought a huge satchel purse with dragons embroidered on the sides. I’m collecting those little action figures. And I sent sis money for her trip to Guam to buy me jade dragons. Maybe it’s because I had so much fun writing about sea dragons in my book. I bought that picture book, Dragonology, a couple of years ago, which sparked my imagination and now they are my favorite mythical beasts. I keep thinking I have to get back to my Desire series to write about the dragons the hero discovered in Garden of Desire. Like I don’t already have a ton of books planned for the year. Ah well.

Tomorrow, Ellora’s Cave author, Tina Donahue, visits with a scrumptious excerpt, so be sure to drop by to enjoy!

Now for that winner. The winner (by random number generator) is…Estella! Estella, send me an email with your choice of a MIK book from my backlist. Congratulations!