UPDATE:

Just back from Nick’s salon. When I walked in, he looked up and said, “What are you bitchin’ about? It’s not that bad.” Until, he actually had his fingers in my hair. Then it was, “Uh, I thought that was a cowlick.” And, “I think I’m gonna have to take some more to even it out.” Good thing is, it’ll grow back. Here are a couple of quick picks. Keep in mind, I’m way tired, my eyes are bloodshot, my glasses are crooked, and I’m wearing my oldest hoodie.

My favorite picture of me—evuh!

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Yesterday, I couldn’t find a hair stylist open that I would actually trust. Since I was already dressed, out of the house, and thinking about “improvements”, I had my toes and fingernails done. The pedicure was interesting. I sat in a massage chair (don’t they all have them now?), but this massage chair is very naughty. Not only does it have the rollers that poke and squeeze at your back, but it has a roller that comes up between your butt cheeks. I’m sure my eyes popped wide open the first time it happened.

No writing last night. I babysat the 5-year-old and 1-year-old. The five-year-old is all into Idol, which wouldn’t be so bad if she weren’t completely tone deaf and “auditioning” with Taylor Swift songs. The 1-year-old is practicing to be a Houdini. Every time I turned my eyes away from her, she reached into her onesy and pulled her diaper out her leghole. Then she’d stand gleefully peeing down one leg. Yeah, it was that kind of night.

A friend of mine is running through my big book for me, tearing it apart. She’s through chapter six and so far no huge problems. When she gets to the middle and realizes that there’s a whole lotta naughty goin’ on, she may pull back and say, where’d the story go?

Today, I continue the haircut quest, so I doubt I’ll get much writing done. 😥

But y’all wanna know who won yesterday’s contest, right? The random number generator decrees that the #6 entry is the winner, and that lucky person is…Anna Shah Hoque! Anna, email me!

If you post a comment today, you’ll be in the running
for a free download of this anthology!

I’ll be away from my computer again today. There’s always an adventure in this house and yesterday’s involved the wood-burning furnace. I was adding a couple of logs to the fire, and bent to lift one of them, when a burst of flame, like something out of the movie Backdraft, flared out. I didn’t have time to move back, and dummy me, couldn’t even blink because it was beautiful. I felt and heard little sizzling crisps tumble onto my shoulders, saw my glasses fog. I took a step back and swiped my hair and face as quick as I could and when my hands came away from my hair, I was clutching tons of crispy bits. Yup, I burned my hair, singed my eyebrows and my eyelashes. I have very strange little damaged curls at the ends of most of my hair in the front so I am going to beg my hair dresser to fit me in. He might have to cut my hair very, very short. Bright side, at least that quick burst of flame didn’t burn my skin.

I’m sure I’ll have plenty to talk about after a visit with him. He’s my age, has a long gray ponytail and wears shorts no matter the weather. Love Nick to death, but he’s going to be laughing his ass off at me.

Anyway, this book was released in March 2007 and is part of the Seasons of Seduction anthology. The winner will get a download of the entire anthology. Good luck!

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Newlywed Lady Margaret du Bary must find a way out of the marriage her king decreed. Lord Roland is far beneath the ideal knight she’s dreamed of — and she won’t have him! But how can she distract the brute from consummating their marriage until she can steal away from the keep and return to the convent that ejected her?

Lord Roland is very pleased with his mousy bride. Besides the lands and fine castle she brings, she’s pleasing to the eye and has a suitably demure demeanor. The only thorn in the ointment is he has no experience tupping a gentlewoman. Bedding his modest bride will prove a true test of this knight’s steel.

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“Another flagon of ale!” The new lord of Beckwith Keep slammed his empty cup on the wooden table. A serving wench tripped in her haste to reach him, spilling more ale onto the table than into his hammered silver chalice. He ignored her dismay and planted his elbow in the puddle, tilting back his head to take a long draw of warm ale.

“Perhaps you should curb your thirst.”

Lord Roland Du Bary cast a baleful eye at his friend, Dougal Fitzhugh. “Why ever for?”

“The wedding night is still to come. Are you not afraid your ardor will flag?”

Roland licked the foam from the hairs that curved over his upper lip. “A little ale has never impeded me in bedsport. Not once have I failed to rouse my staff when the occasion called.” He cast a glance at his bride. The shy little miss had taken a seat further down the table. Her hair, neither blonde nor brown but all the pleasing shades of a pheasant’s tail feathers, hung in a long curtain to her hips. “Besides, my wife inspires me sufficiently.”

“Aye, you are a lucky man. You’ve a fine keep and lands—and a comely wife.”

His gaze still on his young bride, Roland replied, “She seems a pleasant mouse. Although methinks she tends to overimbibe. Her cheeks are quite flushed already.”

“Why say you she is a mouse?”

“She’s so timid, she has not once looked me in the eye.”

“Perhaps she is put off by your ill looks,” Dougal said with a laugh.

Disgruntled, Roland straightened his shoulders. “My looks haven’t a thing to do with it. My sword arm and my fame as a warrior are all she’s concerned with.”

“You only met the girl today. How do you know this?”

“Why, you heard her. When she greeted us at the steps of this keep, all she could say was, ‘You are Sir Roland Du Bary? The king’s knight?’ And she looked me up and down as though she could scarce believe her good fortune.”
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It’s the last day of the month, so it’s time to reflect on all the progress I made.

I wrote chapters 7 through 15 of the big book, adding 158 pages. I began writing my third Lonestar Lovers story and a short story.

Love in Bloom and Fun with Dick and Jayne were published. First Knight sold.

This past week, I slacked off on my word count. But since I am still ahead of schedule on the big book, I’m not all that worried. Besides, it was time I took a breather and revisited everything I’d written to polish it a bit. I was loosing site of the plot in all that yummy sex. With the help of Sasha White, I did find a plot for my short story and started writing it. It’s due for submission on the 15th of March.

For March, I have to finish writing and editing the big book. I want to ship it before March 30th. I will finish Lonestar Lovers-3. I’ll finish and submit 3 short stories. And for fun, I’ll attend the NOLA chapter’s conference in Shreveport, Louisiana next weekend!

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Quick brag. I earned 5 dragons from Veiled Secrets Reviews for Knight of my Dreams. Here’s a snippet of what the reviewer had to say:

“…Quentin’s grief and attempts to save Darcy just pulled at my heart for him. The passion he and Darcy share gave him the ability to sexually satisfy the vampire witch whom he never wanted to see again. That sex was so hot I could see why she wanted to trap him again. This is a very impassioned story filled with the deep longing, powerful sex and overwhelming desire that you feel in your soul for that special person who is the other half of you…”

Nice, huh?

Okay, second quick brag. This one is 4 1/2 cherries from Whipped Cream Reviews for Unforgiven.

“…Delilah Devlin’s scorching and unforgettable story UNBRIDLED, has been followed up by the equally hot and mesmerizing UNFORGIVEN…As with any Devlin tale, the sex is so hot it should come with a burn notice. But more importantly, you get pages packed with so much emotion it chokes you. That’s the beauty of her work, and the reason I have her on my TBR author list…”

I have a close relative in the hospital. He’s elderly with massive blood clots in one leg. Sis and I are headed to Little Rock to visit with him, so I’ll be offline until tonight. In the meantime, enjoy a news article with some unbelievable pictures about an incident that happened here in Arkansas. ~DD

Cows Trash House in Pike County – See Photos!

Yeah, I didn’t do it on purpose. I scheduled my gig at the NINC blog, but Access Romance tells me when to blog at their place. The stars aligned and I have to pull double duty today.

So, for you writers out there, check out my post on productivity, something I talk about a lot, at the NINC blog.

And I’d love to hear from readers at the Access Romance blog.

Happy TGIF! ~DD

Okay, not a real award. But it’s a fun one, and one that you can share! My BFF Sasha White nominated my blog for a Prolific Blogger Award. In Sasha’s words, “this award is to help us spread the word about regular bloggers, so we can all do some surfing and hopefully find some new haunts.”

How does it work?

Every winner of the Prolific Blogger Award has to nominate at least seven other deserving prolific bloggers. Yes, kind of like a chain letter. It’s to promote traffic to sites, introduce people to new blogs they might want to come back to visit and provide you hours of entertainment surfing if you’re truly bored.

And each prolific blogger must link to the blog where he/she has received the award. So everyone I name here, must link back to my blog so folks can get to know the other winners. Easy, right?

Here are my nominees. They include my favorite places to hop, and some new bloggers I enjoy visiting. They all are frequent bloggers so you won’t be stuck for something new to read.

Genreality
Jordan Summers
Lauren Dane
Rachel Lynne
Riley Quinn
Sasha White
Shayla Kersten

Thanks to my faves for providing me a place to cruise when I need to rest the muse.

How cool is this? Several months ago, Ashlyn Chase wrote and asked me whether I would like to write a story in a series featuring magical red stilettos. The concept sounded fun, so I jumped on board. The first story is already out, and you can read an excerpt right now! Here’s the order of releases. Every story is stand-alone, but if you like reading a series, you’re in for a treat! Be sure to check out Paris Brandon’s website for more information about this author!

February 12 – Paris Brandon’s Head Over Heels
March 3 – Francesca Hawley’s Whirlwind Affair
March 17 – Ashlyn Chase’s Dear Sexy Lexie
March 24 – Delilah’s Bad, Bad Girlfriend

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Height-challenged Bella Jacienski literally falls head over magic red stilettos into sexy philanthropist’s Rhys Vincent’s arms and wonders if the legend attached to the shoes is true. Has she found her heart’s desire, a passionate, lust-crazed lover who wants only her? Always and forever?

Rhys can’t keep his big hands off the curvy shopkeeper. Her smile captivates him and her lush body has him behaving like a primitive Neanderthal. Heated glances and sizzling touches turn into a hot office interlude and wild break-the-bed sex that only make him want her more. She thinks the shoes are magic but Bella is all the magic he needs.

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Rhys Vincent ground his back teeth and took Veronica Smith–Hathaway’s elbow as they crossed the street. It was snowing and not for the first time did he wish he were wearing boots instead of dress shoes with his tux. Ronnie didn’t seem to notice the puddle that soaked her designer heels or the frigid wind that tore at the edges of her flimsy black evening coat. Neither had been designed for January in Kansas City.

Veronica—Ronnie—was his best friend Brian’s estranged wife. She had insisted she knew a shop that had the fedora they needed to complete the scavenger-hunt list—right after he’d politely refused her offer to give him the best sex of his life. Was it too much to ask for a woman who didn’t have an agenda to want to have sex with him? He’d been down the revenge-sex path years ago and it was one he didn’t want to take with a woman he’d known for twenty years.

He’d promised Brian that he’d keep an eye on her and that meant he couldn’t very well let her walk around alone in the Crossroads art district after dark.

As CEO of the Vincent Foundation, he’d put Veronica in charge of the annual event as a favor. One he was coming to regret. He was still trying to figure out why Brian was so worried about a wife he’d clearly been neglecting for the past year when Ronnie leaned over and peered into a dimly lit shop.

“There it is,” she hissed, pointing at a weathered brown fedora, jauntily perched on a torso mannequin’s head. Before he could figure out why she was hissing, he glanced through the window, started to shout and everything went into slow motion.

He saw a pair of curvy legs that ended in sexy red spike heels leaning forward and overbalancing a rickety ladder. The bell over the door jangled as he pushed it open and sprinted three full strides. He reached her before she finished screaming.

“She” was an armful of black and white fluff he grabbed and swept out of the way as the ladder fell.

Maybe he couldn’t breathe because she’d smacked him square in the chest but he didn’t think so. Although it could have been because her arms were wrapped solidly around his neck, as if she didn’t intend to let go anytime soon. Fine by him.

He didn’t know if she was shocked that he’d caught her or because she knew the shudder that rippled through her like a faint orgasm had telegraphed its way into his fingertips. She looked like a naughty fairy-tale princess with big blue eyes. A fall of silky dark hair brushed the top of her black turtleneck and her creamy cheeks were flushed as bright as an apple. She knew.