This has been one helluva month.

With everything happening on the home front, I haven’t been able to get pages written, so the release of the book I promised this month, Big Sky Wedding, is delayed. So, what’s going on? Too many things, family-related, to go into, but the big thing is my dad’s deteriorating health.

If you’ve been following my blog, you know that he broke his hip last year and went through surgery and rehab. He has other health-related issues—heart disease, kidney failure, diabetes, etc.—so, any new issues are always exacerbated. While in rehab, he developed ulcers on his feet. Since November, he’s been treated by a wound doctor and has had to remain off his feet, which hasn’t helped his hip surgery recovery. My dd and I have pitched in to clean and wrap his feet daily. Everyone’s pitched in to get him to his appointments. Sometimes, he’s on a walker, sometimes in wheelchair, when we take him to dialysis or his many appointments. Well, recently, he complained that he couldn’t breathe. Yes, too much fluid in his chest and around his heart. We’re pretty sure this is it. The fact he’s lived so long—he’s in his 80’s—has been a testament to his stubbornness. Right now, he’s back in the hospital, and my mom and aunt are staying nearby (the hospital is an hour-and-a-half away). I’m holding down the fort at home and preparing for them coming back soon, we hope. Anyway, that’s where we are with all of that, which has put me in a state of flux so far as work is concerned.

I have edits due on a story I wrote for Entangled. I have edits due back on two other authors’ projects. I have that book to write and a new collection to edit now that I’ve made the selections of the stories that will go into the volume. And that’s really what I’d like to take about now…

In case you didn’t see the notice I posted on my Collections website, I am pleased to announce the final lineup of authors who will be part of the Stranded: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology! Congratulations go out to:

A.C. Dawn – The Kiss of a Stranger’s Flame
A.J. Harris – Shelter From the Storm
Ara Geller – Reviving Artemis
Delilah Devlin – Quincy Down Under
Kenzie Mathews – Hourglass
Kimberly Dean – Out of This World
Kimberly Lithe – Burning Stars
Lucrecia Christina – Switching Call
Melanie Jayne – A Change of Predicament
Michal Scott – Put It in a Book
N.J. Walters – Undercover Lover
Sam Heathers – Too Deep
Sukie Chapin – Going Down

UPDATE! My winners are…Laura, Colleen, Buttons, Debra and Sheryl!
*~*~*

I just finished laying out my release schedule through June, and I’m super excited! I have tons of pages to write, but the stories are going to be so much fun! What do you have to look forward to? These are just a few in the works!

Big Sky Wedding (Montana Bounty Hunters #8) — coming this month!
Stepbrothers Stepping Out: With His SEAL Team Part 6 — coming in March
Gilded Cage (a dark ff vampire story) — coming in March
Adventure Girls box and print set! — coming in March
Stranded (A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology) — coming in April

My wonderful cover artist (aka Elle James) has been hard at work giving me some very inspiring covers for the new stories. I can’t wait to share them all, but for now, have a look at Stranded!

I’m still making my final run through the stories some wonderful authors have submitted for this collection! I’ll be putting together my final lineup this week before announcing who made the cut! I’ll also be including a short story of my own, something related to my Montana Bounty Hunters. Someone who will get the full-size treatment very, very soon in his own story!

Stranded will be a nice, hefty compilation, filled with juicy erotic romances from some authors you know and some you’ll be excited to meet! You can preorder your copy now! Best news? The anthology sells for only $0.99! So go ahead and reserve your copy now! Get your copy here!

Contest

For a chance to win a free download of one of these previously released anthologies, tell me what you’re excited to see in the lineup or what you wish was there!

  

UPDATE: The winner is…Yolaine Clark!
*~*~*

I’m working on my next short story collection — Stranded: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology. The themes all center around a hero or heroine who is stranded, and then rescued by a bad boy. Think, a plane crashes in the jungle and you have to count on a smuggler to see you to safety; or your ship sinks and you find yourself on a deserted island where rescue comes from a man with no intentions of delivering you home anytime soon. Yeah, men taking advantage—not without our hero/heroine’s consent or pleasure, of course!

While I’m reading through the many stories some wonderful authors have sent me, my sister, Elle James, and I are kicking around the cover design. I wanted someone who looked a little scruffy, maybe a mountain man kind of guy. What do you think of these images? Vote in the poll for the one you like best, then offer comments about what you like or don’t for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

  

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STRANDED: A BOYS BEHAVING BADLY ANTHOLOGY
Editor: Delilah Devlin
Deadline: November 15, 2018

STRANDED is open to all authors.

Editor/Author Delilah Devlin (me!) is looking for stories for a romantic erotica anthology tentatively entitled STRANDED: A BOYS BEHAVING BADLY ANTHOLOGY.

Why write a short story for this collection? Well, it’s certainly not about making a lot of money, so why do it at all? I have several thoughts…

Writing a short story for a call for submissions is a chance to flex your writing muscle! It can be a chance to experiment with a genre you’ve never written. If you’ve never written a story in first person but don’t want to begin by writing an entire novel using it, start short! For myself, I’ve written stories in new genres or with fresh themes that ended up being so much fun to write they’ve spawned entire series.

You have a deadline! I don’t know about you, but I have trouble keeping my butt in the chair without one!

It’s a promotional opportunity! If selected, you’ll be joined by 12-15 other authors for the launch, sharing your audiences and, hopefully, picking up new readers along the way. Having your story in the collection is another chance to be “seen.”

And remember, you retain the rights to your story, so you can republish it for individual sale or give it away to attract subscribers to your newsletter. You might even decide there’s more story to tell and expand it into a novel!

Here’s what I’m looking for…

STRANDED: A BOYS BEHAVING BADLY ANTHOLOGY will include stories that satisfy the reader who craves stories about women who find themselves in extremely challenging circumstances—vulnerable to the elements and/or to their rescuers! But don’t create damsels in distress who don’t have an inner core of resolve to save themselves. Heroines must be strong characters, otherwise, how will they attract and capture the love of a strong alpha hero?

I’m eager to work on my next delectable anthology—this one filled with stories about women who find themselves—STRANDED. Your heroine could be a castaway on a desert island, have her car break down in the mountains, be stranded in the ocean while snorkelling, crash land in the jungle or on an uninhabited planet… Don’t limit your imagination to these ideas! Have fun with the concept.

I’m open to any subgenre of erotic romance you want to write. I’ll accept contemporary, historical, science fiction, or paranormal stories, and I won’t be picky about whether the stories are hetero, LGBT, ménage… Basically, you, the author, can go anywhere your imagination takes you so long as 1) the woman is in jeopardy, and 2) the story is a romance, and 3) you have a bad boy somewhere in the pages! Should you write that LGBT story, consider making the couple’s adversary or helpmate a roguish man—because, hey, I’m looking for men who behave badly.

The anthology will be sold at a low price—my intent is exposure for you and your writing. The more readers reached, the better! You will retain the rights to your story, so that, at a later date, you can republish your stories individually.

I’m seeking hot and inventive stories from authors with unique voices, and above all, I’m looking to be seduced by tales filled with vivid imagery and passion.

Published authors with an established world may use that setting for their original short story.

This is erotic romance, so don’t hold back on the heat. Stories can be vanilla or filled with kink, but don’t miss describing the romantic connection between strong-willed individuals learning to trust and love one another. A deep sensuality should linger in every word. Keep in mind there must be a romantic element with a happy-for-now or happy-ever-after ending. Strong plots, engaging characters, and unique twists are the ultimate goal. Please no reprints. I want original stories.

How to submit: Prepare your 2,500 to 5,500 words story in a double-spaced, Arial, 12 point, black font, Word document (.doc or .docx) OR rich text format (.rtf), with pages numbered. Indent the first line of each paragraph half an inch, and double space (regular double spacing; do not add extra lines between paragraphs or do any other irregular spacing). U.S. grammar (double quotation marks around dialogue, etc.) is required.

In your document at the top left of the first page, include your legal name (and pseudonym, if applicable), mailing address, email address, and a 50-words or less bio, written in the third person, and send to boyswhobehavebadlystranded@gmail.com. If you are using a pseudonym, please provide your real name and pseudonym and make it clear which one you’d like to be credited as. Authors may submit up to 2 stories. I will respond no later than December 30, 2018 with decisions.

Payment will be $25.00 USD ninety days after publication at the end of that month.

Who am I?

Delilah Devlin is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of erotica and erotic romance. She has published nearly two hundred stories in multiple genres and lengths, and is published by Atria/Strebor, Avon, Berkley, Black Lace, Cleis Press, Ellora’s Cave, Entangled, Grand Central, Harlequin Spice, HarperCollins: Mischief, Kensington, Kindle, Montlake, Penthouse, Running Press, and Samhain Publishing.

Her short stories have appeared in multiple Cleis Press collections, including Lesbian Cowboys, Girl Crush, Fairy Tale Lust, Lesbian Lust, Passion, Lesbian Cops, Dream Lover, Carnal Machines, Best Erotic Romance (2012), Suite Encounters, Girl Fever, Girls Who Score, Duty and Desire, Best Lesbian Romance of 2013, and On Fire. For Cleis Press, she edited Girls Who Bite, She Shifters, Cowboy Lust, Smokin’ Hot Firemen, High Octane Heroes, Cowboy Heat, Hot Highlanders and Wild Warriors and Sex Objects. She also edited Conquests: An Anthology of Smoldering Viking Romance, Rogues: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, Blue Collar: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, and Pirates: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology.

Direct any questions you have regarding your story or the submission process to me at boyswhobehavebadlystranded@gmail.com.

Readers, I hope you have lots of books on your To-Be-Read list this summer. What’s better than a book poolside, or on the beach, or even in the early morning with a good cup of coffee before the rest of the family gets up? Even in summer, though (or maybe especially in summer), time is at a premium, and that’s why I thought it would be the perfect time to put out a collection of short stories. Small Town Tease releases on all retailers in both ebook and print later this month, and I’m super excited to share the cover today. Want a peek at what’s inside?

A small town bad boy and a city girl in town for a wedding…

A teacher who’s sworn never to date a co-worker…

A high school playboy and a choir girl dreaming of her first kiss…

A stranded motorist and the hunk who stops to help her…

Enjoy all these and more in this collection of romantic short stories. From sweet to steamy, from first love to rediscovered love to heart-pounding lust. These stand-alone stories all provide the perfect happy-ever-after you’re craving. Read one in a few minutes to fill your need, or settle in and read all eight! Bonus: includes teasers to new works and never-before-seen extra scenes from my full-length novels.

Make sure you’re following me on social media or sign up for my newsletter to know when Small Town Tease is available—and to nab it at the release-week sale price before it goes up to regular retail pricing.

Happy summer and happy reading, everyone!

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One of my favorite things about my friends in the romance community, aside from their stellar writing skills, is their passionate commitment to having romance novels depict healthy, loving relationships featuring people of all orientations falling in love in varied combinations. The premise for this anthology is that indie bookstore owner Emma Davis and her best friend, college professor Rose Everheart, both owe a debt of gratitude to the literacy foundation that changed their lives. When they’re trying to come up with an idea to raise money for the foundation, they combine the viral popularity of Hot Dudes Reading with the enormous success of the Naked Rowers charity calendars and the idea for Hot Naked Guys Reading is born.

The calendar will feature men who are not only irresistibly sexy, but have been named to Top 30 Under 30 lists in their respective fields, posed in famous libraries throughout the country. The Expose Yourself to a Good Book campaign draws the attention of photographers, reporters and other professionals. People often find love where they least expect it, when they’re not looking for it, so this anthology explores the journeys of not only the models but the crew, the organizers and all the people brought together in the creation of this charity calendar. And, because in the real world there are people of all sexualities, gender identities and preferences, readers will find m/f, m/m, f/f and ménage stories, told by award-winning and bestselling authors from the romance community in this limited-release collection.

As someone who’s written both m/f and m/m romance for many years, it is my hope that the writing community—both readers and publishers—will become more open to series with mixed pairings. Many television shows have finally managed to incorporate LGBT characters into their ensemble casts and no longer just as the humorous sidekick, but as central characters depicted in relationships that viewers can cheer for—who doesn’t love Oliver and Collin on How To Get Away With Murder? I would love for the romance world to embrace this concept, and it’s starting to, but isn’t quite there yet. The publishers of my m/f books didn’t want me to give my LGBTQ secondary characters their own books even when other side characters had been allowed their own stories and my m/m publishers publish only LGBTQ characters, so my straight secondary characters couldn’t get their own books either. This anthology was a chance to take things even a step further and try to have as many different pairings as possible represented in one collection.

And, since the Naked Rowers charity calendar was part of  the inspiration for the story, I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to support their work. If you’re not familiar with them it’s a charity calendar that features artfully photographed groups of naked members of the Rowing team at the University of Warwick. Out of their student Straight/Gay Alliance they came up with the idea to raise money to combat homophobia in sports with these beautiful calendars featuring beautiful naked men. They’re really an amazing organization (and their calendars are truly beautiful—as are the sexy naked men featured in them!) so if you haven’t heard of them I highly recommend you check them out by googling Warwick Rowers. You’ll not only find their website but tons of videos, interviews and other information about the good their charity has done and how much their organization has been able to expand since they started a few years ago. Projects like this also give me hope for a more positive society where everyone is treated equally and with respect, so I support them whenever and however I can.

Links to find the Anthology, which is only 99 cents!

Amazon http://amzn.to/2C8PkWV
iBooks https://apple.co/2BR74KR
Barnes & Noble http://bit.ly/2Bln8U3
Kobo http://bit.ly/2nWp6lz

Exposed

Hot. Naked. Guys. Reading.

When the sexiest Top 30 Under 30 men agree to pose naked for the “Expose Yourself To A Good Book” charity calendar, their hot bodies aren’t the only thing that gets EXPOSED. Ten brand new romances with M/F, M/M, F/F and ménage pairings from bestselling and award winning authors, there’s something for everyone in this limited release anthology.

About the stories in the collection:

Level Up by Annabeth Albert: When Landon, a genius physicist, is picked for a charity calendar, he must deal with an inconvenient attraction to Bailey, his rising-star photographer. Can he slay enough demons from his past to ensure a future together with him?

Wishing by Karen Booth: Jobless and painfully single, Samantha agrees to drive musician Duncan to a photo shoot. He’s in town for only five days, so sexy, and she’s eager for a no-strings fling. But Duncan shoots straight for the heart, making her unsure how she’ll ever survive his goodbye.

Kate Likes Girls by Amy Jo Cousins: Garden center manager Kate Rhee is on a mission. No more hook ups with women or second-guessing her recent break up with an unavailable man. Too bad the foxy, pink-haired bar owner she meets at a naked calendar photo shoot has sworn off girlfriends. Because Kate isn’t doing casual. She can totally resist that temptation. Totally.

Ghost by Robin Covington: Oliver Burns publicly bragged he’d sign the reclusive artist “G” — creator of the First Nations graphic novel, Ghost Warriors — to his comic publishing company. But that gets tough when “G” is Gareth Rain — the man he pulled a post-one-night-stand runner on years ago and the man he’s never forgotten.

Rigged by Vanessa North: For Kaitlyn, seeing her best friend Gordon naked is no big deal—until watching Sean tie him up changes everything.

Thrown Off Track by Tamsen Parker: Teague has been License to Game’s bassist for over a decade, during which time he’s slept with almost everyone in his path. But it’s always felt like going through the motions. Until he sees his bandmate Christian naked at a charity photoshoot and suddenly, he knows what it is to want.

Natural Enemies by Roan Parrish: When buttoned-up botanist Stefan Albemarle meets freewheeling urban gardener Milo Rios, it’s hatred at first sight. But hatred quickly turns to lust as Milo shows him how exquisite it can feel to lose control. When opposites attract, love blooms in unexpected places.

The Watermark by Tiffany Reisz: Jason “Still” Waters’ life looks perfect from the outside—money, fame, and the words “World Champion Bull-Rider” after his name. But Jason has a secret, one he never planned on telling anybody…until he meets Simone. She’s the kinky girl of his dreams…and his conservative family’s worst nightmare.

Legal Briefs by Karen Stivali: When organizing a naked charity calendar puts Rose’s tenure bid in jeopardy, the last person she wants help from is Michael, the gorgeous, arrogant lawyer she butted heads with during his shoot. He’ll defend her for free, but if their secrets come out they could both pay with their hearts.

About Karen Stivali

Karen Stivali is a prolific writer, compulsive baker and chocoholic with a penchant for books, movies, and fictional British men. She’s also the multiple award-winning author of contemporary straight and LGBTQ+ romances. She writes novels about love…like real life, only hotter.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/karenstivali/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenStivaliAuthor/
Website: http://karenstivali.com/
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/karenstivali/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/KarenStivali/

When I am not writing, I bake. Quite simply, baking relaxes me and helps clear my mind. I have charted many a character’s path while separating eggs and creaming butter!

Taught to bake at the knee of my Slovak grandmother, I began taking formal cooking classes at age 10. Since then, no one and nothing has managed to keep me out of my kitchen! (If I had not begun writing at a much earlier age, I may have become a pastry chef rather than a writer.)

My two favorite recipes are turtle brownies, basically your standard fudge brownie recipe with a swirl of caramel, pecans, and mini-semi-sweet chocolate chips, and three chocolate mousse cake, which is a luscious four-layer devil’s food cake with white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate mousse in between the layers. When feeling particular ambitious, I might even encase this chocolatey confection in whipped cream!

And when I want the sweet smell of fall, I make an apple-pie-in-a-bag, a local favorite in southeast Wisconsin, or a no-knead bread, made with good old Wisconsin beer!

While I bake everything from scratch, I have learned a few short cuts over the years. For example, when pressed for time, I may substitute a box mix for the brownies or cake, and simply add the extras. And sometimes, I may even make the mousse from store-bought faux whipped cream and mix it with pudding rather than melted chocolate. And I make apple pies two at a time, so I always have one in the freezer. Of course, when I am feeling the need to cut back on the sugar and/or fat, I may utilize natural sugar substitutes or pureed fruits. (Who knew Gerber’s pureed prunes worked so well as a fat substitute in brownies?)

When I am in a reading mood, I am likely to brew some cinnamon hazelnut coffee and bake one of the most mouth-watering coffee cakes I have ever eaten. It’s a recipe passed on to me by a librarian from the Missouri Court of Appeals when I was a law clerk. She spoiled us by bringing in baked goods at least once a week, and the recipe we loved most was her Cinnamon Coffee Cake. When you have the urge to curl up with a good book and a hot cuppa, this sweet treat will provide a nice little slice of heaven!

CINNAMON COFFEE CAKE

1/2 cup margarine 1/2 cup shortening
2 cups sugar 2 eggs
1 cup sour cream 1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour, sifted 1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream margarine, shortening and eggs. Add all other ingredients and mix well. Spread it in 9 x 13 pan. In a separate bowl, mix:

1 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup margarine 2 cups chopped nuts

Layer on top of cake batter, swirl in slightly with a knife. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

KINKY BRIEFS, QUATRO

(released 2/9/18)

Take another kinky voyage through Lawyerland!

Indulge in a walk on the wild side with these sizzling short stories about lawyers in love, with a dash of kink. From painting well-hung nudes at a networking event or thwarting terrorists intent on harm to finding love despite a chronic illness or exploring kink on a train, these lawyers pursue love with a vengeance. And while affairs of the heart may come in all shapes and sizes—a law school ménage a trois, a middle-aged A.G. and a law firm associate, and a new marriage suddenly threatened by a spouse long believed dead—these relationships thrive despite the odds. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and yes, the resultant loin heating might even make you blush, but in the end, you’ll run out and buy a set of handcuffs. Because that’s the only way to defuse the sizzle created by these hot, sexy stories.

Buy Links:
Extasy Books: https://goo.gl/t6cCm8
Amazon: https://goo.gl/qtz4er
Barnes and Noble: https://goo.gl/s3svp2
Kobo: https://goo.gl/CtKrZE
Smashwords: https://goo.gl/rA8N7h