While I’m away, I let my friends come out to play. Welcome Michelle Polaris…~DD

First off, I want to thank Delilah for allowing me to kidnap her blog while she’s away and so help pursue my plan for total world domination. Oops, did I say that out loud? Sorry Delilah-faithful, I’ll have to get back to you on the particulars of my plan, as its details are still quite fuzzy. I’m such a tease. Instead, I’m here today thankful for having a chance to pimp my book, Bound Odyssey, released by Ellora’s Cave this past fall.

But before I jump into shameless self-promotion, I wanted to share a few thoughts I had about why I love erotic romance. One thing fiction does stupendously is allow readers to a place to explore or connect to emotions or ideas in a less overwhelming way. Sexuality and all its flavors is a basic component of our species, but for many it’s difficult to acknowledge. Especially its less mainstream expression. Having a place to connect to our feelings about the varieties of expression is crucial if we’re to avoid crushing our own complex identities. A story that explicitly touches on emotion, relationship and sexuality is a mother load for doing this. As a writer of BDSM romance this strikes me as particularly true.

I am also a fantasy and science fiction reader by nature. I love world building. I adore speculative fiction. They provide the chance, just like erotic romance does for issues of sexuality, to explore a lot of provocative topics without triggering our human tendency to shut down about unpleasant realities. For instance, the threat to the environment. How sexy is it to tune into the news and listen to the debate about global warming, the melting polar icecaps and rising sea levels? Not too sexy. Or to issues about bigotry and violence in our world? I don’t see Cosmo covering these topics in their features about increasing sexual satisfaction in relationships. Not sexy.

Now is about the time I circle back around to my erotic romance novel, Bound Odyssey. It is a futuristic, post-apocalyptic, Femdom, m/m/f ménage which also includes male domination elements. Okay, maybe not for everyone, although it’s getting kick-ass reviews. But what I wanted to build for my readers was a way to reflect on current issues of environmental threat and the politics of hate, while allowing them the eternal hopefulness that comes out of lovers healing each others’ emotional wounds and finding their happily ever after. Life can be painful, but painting a picture of hope alongside dark reality is what keeps folks going. I better shut up now and let you read the blurb.
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While I’m away, I let my friends come out to play. Welcome Shayla Kersten… ~DD

Imagination is such a quirky thing. Where would we be without it? Probably extinct. *cackle* Human imagination has given us inventions from rudimentary weapons of survival to spaceflight. And in the process, unleashed the written word on a world curious to know everything from vampires to alternate realities to aliens.

I’ve been in love with the idea of space since I was six years old watching the original Star Trek on an old black and white television. What an amazing thing for someone to dream of! And then there we were…humans…men from earth catapulting into space atop massive rockets, walking on the moon. I still get chills remembering that fateful July day and those words—“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. I just knew the future held the starship Enterprise, alien creatures and amazing explorations. I wanted so bad to be part of it, to explore space, to go where no man—or woman—had gone before. *le sigh*

Alas, being blind as a bat ruled out anything to do with flight. A lack of ability with real science limited my options. The closest I came to my dream was the military. I mean, the Federation was a military of sorts, although it espoused peace. After all, they used military ranks, right?

So instead of exploring outer space, I turned to the space between my ears. My head was full of ideas for all kinds of stories. I wrote stories of cops and vampires, of men loving men and happily ever after. But I hesitated when it came to scifi. I had some ideas but not a clear enough picture to explore a universe of my own creation. Until last year.

In a chat, our most adorable Delilah asked readers what stories they’d like to see from her or from me. Brandy W spoke up. She said she wanted to see something from me with vampires and angels. Hmmm… Okey dokie. My brain did a double take. I already have a vampire series—Eternity—and I still needed to finish the last book for it. But it was an interesting idea. Okay. I filed the prompt—vamps and angels—away for later. And went on with the stories I had in process.

A few months later a lot of buzz came around about space opera being big. You know the type of story, Star Trek, Star Wars, Firefly… Cowboys in space kind of thing. Okay… My brain took a left turn. Vamps, angels, space… Vamps, angels, space… And the next thing you know, ANGEL MOON is born. The first in a trilogy of stories with more to possibly come. I’m already into book two and book three is nagging me for attention. Hopefully, the words will flow as fast as the ideas are now! *cackle*

ANGEL MOON
By Shayla Kersten
Copyright © SHAYLA KERSTEN, 2010
Now available at Ellora’s Cave
For all of Shayla’s Ellora’s Cave’s book, check out her page
For more about Shayla check out her website

What the story’s all about:
Terra offers sanctuary to Angellum and Virkola. Unknown to the natives, a truce exists there. To Terrans, the two species exist as myths. One is a frail winged creature from religious texts. The other, a demon of the night, living off blood. Both are far from the truth…

Sorin thought sanctuary was the answer to their problems. Terra with its plentiful creatures, full of fresh blood and off limits to the millennia long war with the Angellum—who wouldn’t think it paradise? Except paradise comes at a high price. Claiming a bounty on a renegade angel hasn’t ended up the way he planned.

Teo loves his ship, his life in space, but he loves Sorin more. The plan seems sound but the bounty is a fraud and now the price is on him and Sorin. He’ll make the best of the rest of his life with Sorin, even if it were only a few weeks.

But when hope appears from an unexpected source, both men grab chance by the wings.

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

“You and your fucking bright ideas!” Teo dodged behind a stack of crates as heat sizzled past his leg. The acrid smell of ozone raised the hair on his neck. Popping out from behind his cover, he squeezed off a burst of return fire. Sweat matted his hair and kept trickling down his forehead and into his eyes. The thin atmosphere made every breath a chore. He rubbed his coat sleeve across his face but the water-resistant material just moved the sweat around and added grit to the mix.
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I sold the first two books of a new series to the Berkley Books Heat line (they’re part of the Penguin group)!

My dream publisher!

They publish the likes of Angela Knight, Lora Leigh, Lauren Dane, Emma Holly, Jaci Burton, Maya Banks, and my BFF-cruise-buddy, Sasha White, to name a few of my favorites! And now me! Can’t say more about the stories just yet, but be thinking about Vikings on another world. The title of the first one is tentatively called Beloved Captor.

Can you tell I’m excited? It will take a day or two to come down off the high and realize that now I have to write the books. And they are long so—ouch! You know me. Economy of words. Novellas. Short stories. I haven’t written anything full-length since last year when I turned in the last of Dark Realm books, but I can do this. The world I’m creating is richly detailed, the hero to die for. Of course, the sex will rock!

Yippee!

First, thanks to everyone who posted or sent me an email about yesterday’s release, Unforgiven. I’m thrilled you like it so much, but I did tell you Cutter would be hot as hell!

Tomorrow through next Monday, I’ll be out of town again, so I invited some ladies to entertain you while I’m gone. No fans, feathers or shiny poles, just their very wicked imaginations! Here’s the lineup:

Thursday—Shayla Kersten
Friday—Michelle Polaris
Saturday—Lexi, from Romance Writer at Night
Sunday—Ann Cory
Monday—Ari Thatcher

Be sure to drop by and check out their wares! 😉

And where will I be? The ladies in RWA’s Omaha chapter invited my sister, Elle James, and I to run a plotting bootcamp over the weekend. So we will be on high octane all weekend long, trying to corral 17 active imaginations. It’ll be a blast, and thank the stars we don’t have last weekend’s weather to contend with on the drive!

Today, I should hear some news. If it happens, I’ll be sure to come back here and let you know what it is. I swear I don’t mean to be coy, but I can’t tell until it’s wrapped up in a pretty pink bow. And I just can’t keep the excitement to myself, so I have to hint!

How does a man get over a cheating woman? Sweet revenge…

From Romance Overload: “…UNFORGIVEN is beautifully written, with sex scenes that should only be read with an air conditioner at the ready. I don’t plan on giving many five star ratings, but this one deserves it…”

From Whipped Cream Reviews: “…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…”

From Fallen Angels Reviews: “…Delilah Devlin gives a sneak peek into the head of a sexy cowboy whose old fashioned values conflict with his unrelenting desire for a woman who he feels has not lived up to his ideals. We also see a woman who is willing to bend her code for a man who does not necessarily have a big enough heart to deserve her love. Watching the two try to find a middle ground is what makes UNFORGIVEN such an entertaining read.”

From Kwips and Kritiques: “…Ms. Devlin managed to create real, compelling characters, which I don’t often find in erotic romance…The bottom line: Loved the characters and found the story absolutely believable…Go forth and buy, you won’t be disappointed.”

You won’t want to miss this one. Everything you love—a strong, stubborn alpha cowboy who learns the hard way he does have a heart—Texas—and a woman who could be anyone of us looking for a second chance. It’s out today. Get your copy!

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

How does a man get over a cheating woman? Sweet revenge…

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. To further strain his rigid code, his little sister just married the same damn bastard who shattered his world and is living in sin with him and another man.

A year later, he still can’t forgive his ex-girlfriend. And forget? Forget, hell. He’s ready kick his code into the nearest manure pile and take what he never had from her—full satisfaction.

That fateful morning, all Katie Grissom meant to do was use the bad boy’s reputation to force Cutter to piss or get off the pot where their own relationship was concerned. But she went too far—deliciously too far—giving Cutter an eyeful she lived to regret.

When Cutter offers her a no-strings affair she jumps at the chance, hoping to either break through the rigid wall he’s built around his heart…or get him out of her system for good.

Warning: When a hard-as-nails cowboy finally lets loose on the only woman he’s ever loved expect the loving to get hot enough to melt a cold, cold, heart—toys, front and slammin’ backdoor sex are only the beginning…

Today’s my first appearance at the Samhellion blog. I’d love to see some familiar, friendly faces there! I’m talking about one of my favorite subjects—cowboys! When you’re over there, click on the title, “It’s all about the cowboy” and leave a comment! Samhellion Link