THE AGONY AND ECSTASY OF BEING A WRITER

For me, writing isn’t something that I do. It’s what I am. I am a writer. I love it. It’s my breath and I was put on this good Earth to do just that… to write.

There’s nothing better than carving out characters, giving them life on paper and then seeing them published for the world to enjoy.

To see them grow from a barely there idea to a fully fleshed out story, there’s something pure in it. 

Something other worldly.

I’ve had numerous short stories published over the last couple of years, and there are a few more to follow in 2013. I somehow fell into writing erotica and haven’t looked back since. I love it, and usually ramp up the tension by putting a thrilling edge running alongside the erotica.

I’ve been told I have a very forceful, almost staccato style of writing.  Perhaps it’s because I’m born on the fourth of July. I’m fiercely independent, and so is my writing.

It’s as unique as my finger print. 

That’s what I believe anyway.

I have been writing ever since I can remember, and there’s nothing in this world I’d rather do. So the goal is simple—to become a multi-published writer who earns enough money to do it full time.

That’s the ecstasy.

But at the moment, I’m in agony.

How do I know? My best friend asked me how I was feeling, and I replied, “Sad, I’m feeling sad and I don’t know why.”

“You’re sad because you’re not writing,” she said without missing a beat.

“How do you know that?”

“Because you’re spending eight hours here, at work, when you should be fulfilling your soul purpose.”

It was like a lightning bolt of realisation.

I’m sad because I’m not writing.

But I have to pay the bills. A long spell of unemployment a while back has me working the nine to five… and honestly, I don’t mind (have you ever tried to live on £120 Government Assistance every two weeks?). I want to work; I need to work.

But how do I stop feeling sad? It’s like my soul is crying out because it’s missing something.

It’s missing writing.

But how do I write? When do I write? I’m so exhausted after work, its dinner, bed, sleep, work, and repeat five days a week.

The weekends are spent catching up with the house work and simply getting my breath back.

Then Monday morning hits.

So, dear reader… have you been through this? Do you have any advice you can offer? How do you balance the world of work with the universe of your writing? How do I achieve the greatness that you know you’re supposed to achieve and pay the bills in the mean time?

I’d love to hear your thoughts, your tips for finding balance and doing what you love.

Find me at tahiraiqbal.com.
Tweet me at @tahiraiqbal

Halloween Memories

As a child Halloween was a favorite holiday, ranking right up there with Christmas and Easter. You get stuff. Santa brought gaily wrapped presents and the Easter bunny left a basket of colored eggs and chocolate bunnies.

But Halloween made your spine tingle and put an eerie spin on your imagination. I remember trick-or-treating with my older sisters. I was excited at being allowed out after dark, wearing a costume and going home with a sack full of candy. What’s not to like?

Halloween was special. Trick-or-treating had an edge, especially if the moon was full and my sisters had filled my head with chilling tales. Shadows became ghostly figures, leafless trees looked like tall skeletons, and the scraping of fallen leaves along our rural road were surely the scurrying of unseen creatures. It was exciting and scary with the possibility of witches flying and goblins lurking.

But time moves on and Halloween becomes a night to don costumes and party with friends. It’s fun, but the edge is gone. Now, I’m one of those people who open the door on All Hallows Eve and respond to the demand of trick-or-treat with a handful of candy. I love seeing the smiles of pirates, princesses and super heroes, and hearing their joyful chatter as they rush along carrying plastic pumpkins and bags of treats. I hope the costumed children are collecting memories along with the candy because the wonder of Halloween comes to an end all too soon.

I hope you’ll enjoy the blurbs of my Halloween themed books Embrace Forever and Warrior of the Light and spend All Hallows Eve with my heroines, Jastra and Dani.

* * * * *

Embrace Forever

Sentenced to death Jastra is transported Draco, the vampire planet, as part of a food for protection program. Vampire warriors destroy the asteroids threatening Tariz and the condemned provide nourishment and pleasure.

As a sex slave, Jastra has known a life of opulence. Jastra’s new master, Dauthus, offers a life devoid of luxury but the pleasure is to die for.

As commander of the vampire warriors Dauthus faces many demands and confrontations, but falling in love is the ultimate challenge.

BUYLINK

* * * * *

Warrior of the Light

A bright burst of light signals a new life for Dani March, but at the moment her main concern is what to do about the wolf-like dog that has jumped into the back seat of her convertible.

Dani’s inadvertent request for a big bad wolf makes for an interesting night. A dog can change into a warrior and a naked hunk with a big sword can turn interesting into extraordinary. The warrior can jump through space gates, childhood bedtime stories can be true and Dani’s earthly existence is a fantasy.

Finding out you’re an alien and falling in love? There’s only so much a girl can take.

BUY LINK  

B.J. McCall is multi-published in Ebook and print with Changeling Press, eRedSage, Cobblestone Press and Ellora’s Cave. This year, 2012, B.J. celebrates being a ‘decade author’ with Ellora’s Cave. Happier than a witch in a broom factory, B.J. is thrilled to announce the release of her latest werewolf tale. Pleasure Pact will be released by Ellora’s Cave on November 9th.

Hi Delilah. Thanks for the invitation to guest blog on your fabulous site. (Actually, *wink* I begged to get in bed with her and she took pity on me.)

I’ll cut right to the chase. *Ahem* Normally, I write erotic historical westerns. You can find me hanging around Wild and Wicked Cowboys on the 2^nd and 13^th of every month and I pretty much speak, write, and think in westernize.

But you know how ever once in awhile a streak of ornery hits ya? Well, it happened to me in February of this year. It was probably a case of being stall crazy and wanting spring to get busy and be. But for whatever cause, I jumped the tracks so to speak, and wrote outside my normal genre.

I feel like I need to whisper this next part—I wrote an erotic paranormal story, starring were-jaguar, NSA Special Forces Operative, Thomas Hunter and Bitter Creek Holler hedge-witch/healer/truth-sayer, Missouri Hess.

I created a world of werewolves, witches and strange critters living in the hills, titled the book Call Me Miz, and then I got really crazy. *blushing* I did it again—Hexual Healing, the second book in what I’ve affectionately named my Bitter Creek Holler Series, released from Ellora’s Cave on October 12^th.

Harvest the magic of Samhain and sex

Heal the beast, rebound the hex

Burn, witch, burn… 

Incantations, scryings and hexes abound when hedge witch Missouri Hess breaks out her rough magic. The autumn solstice is days away, Bitter Creek Holler is pulsing with mountain mysticism, Miz is burning up with enough sexual energy to light Fenway Park and her lover is MIA. She…is…pissed.

Nothing in his Special Forces background has prepared shape-shifter Thomas Hunter for the torture of jaguar mating heat or the wrath of a furious witch. Though he’s on a mission in DC, his beast wrests control, returning them to their mate. 

After Thomas delivers his own brand of sexual healing, it’s back to DC with Miz. There’s twisted magic at work. Someone has unleashed a snake-eyes death hex. Good thing Miz is all about hexual healing. And Thomas stands ready to take all the heat from her sexual burn.

 Now Available @ Amazon /  Ellora’s Cave /  B&N  

By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age. If you are under the age of 18, it is necessary to exit this site.

Dammit to hell!  Miz paced from one side of her living room to the other, stopping every once in a while to peer outside. The damned cat was in the tree again and Mother Nature had sent a storm. Lightning crashed and thunder rolled, making the earth shudder under the force of the ever-nearer strikes.

 I will not invite that idiot inside. A picture suddenly flashed in her mind of the wet jaguar crouching on a slippery willow limb. Tough shit! Thomas Hunter was up a tree and he could stay there. Forget him, Miz. You met in midsummer, solved a crime together, boinked like animals—which he is, sort of—you came, he came, he left. End of romance.

“Serves you right,” Miz snarled. She didn’t know whether she blamed herself or him. She knew better than counting on anyone. She looked at the storm outside where sheets of water pelted across her yard in a rolling tide. He left, he didn’t call, we’re done.

Jerking a blanket around her shoulders, she stomped to the kitchen to see if the coffee was ready. Suddenly, a wash of pleasure shivered through her as she felt the essence of Thomas penetrate her body and melt her core.

Oh. My. God. She put passion in the mental punch she landed on his metaphysical, thick skull. Stay out of my head. Read the rest of this entry »

Emotions of the Rain

The last few days have been rainy, and they made me think of a post I did on rain. I was again thinking of how rain makes me feel. There is just something about the sound, scent and overall feeling that rain that brings out so many various emotions. When I look out my window at the rain coming down I think of some of the different rains and what emotions they invoke.

All New
The misty rain brings to mind the softness of a kiss or the blush of first love.

Lost and Adrift
The soaking rain with the wind blowing you to and forth batters at you like that moment when all seems lost in a relationship you put your all into. Everything you are yet it seems as if all is lost and there is no middle ground.

Resonate in the Soul
The deluge of rain with thunder and lightning resonates in the soul just like that moment when you know that person is forever yours. They are the one for you. The tumultuous emotions makes your soul sing.

Aftermath
As the rain slows and the rainbow comes out it reminds you that you know all will be right. No matter what happens you will be stronger than yesterday.

There are so many more variations of rains I could explore. So much that the sounds of rain bring out in me. No matter what I experience I can compare it to the variety of rain. The next time wherever you are take a moment to appreciate the sound, scent and overall feel of rain. Let it wash over you with the many emotions of rain. 

Taige Crenshaw is a multi-published author with books available at Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Liquid Silver Books, Loose Id, and Total-E-Bound. Taige has been enthralled with the written word from time she picked up her first book. It wasn’t long before she started to make up her own tales of romance. With novels set in today, in alternate dimensions, or in the future she writes with adventure, fun sassy heroine’s, and sexy hero’s. Always hard at work creating new and exciting places Taige can be found curled up with a hot novel with exciting characters when she is not creating her own. Join her in the fun, frolic, interesting people and far reaches of the world in her novels. You can find out more about Taige at her website: https://www.taigecrenshaw.com or blog: https://www.taigecrenshaw.com/blog.

Hurricane — When life gives you a second chance how do you decide what to do?
Buy here at Total-E-Bound. 

Video games help me write, seriously.

I love to write but I also love to play video games. I’m very good at procrastination. My game of choice is Sims 3. It helps me work out story problems. Yes it really does. I can put my Sims in situations and see how they react (when I have free will turned on). Plus just as with characters in a book, my Sims need Lifetime Wishes (or goals). On top of their Lifetime Wishes they have daily (smaller) wishes. The daily wishes usually help them get closer to the Lifetime Wish. If your Sims (or characters) don’t want anything you’re just moving them around aimlessly, with no purpose. Where’s the fun in that? Just like in stories the characters need to want something. They need a goal they’re trying to achieve.

The Sims 3 goals aren’t that hard. Some of the Lifetime Wishes can take a while which can make the game even more exciting. Especially with aging turned on. You always have that goal to get your Sim to their Lifetime Wish before they die of old age. And with each expansion pack you get more Lifetime Wishes to choose from. If you have the Supernatural expansion pack you also have different playable life states. My vampire and witch Sims have very different wishes than my regular Sims.

The problem with playing Sims 3 is it takes away a lot of writing time. I get caught up in my Sims lives, in achieving their goals, in uncovering new things in the game. Just like when I write my stories. I get caught up in my characters lives, in them achieving their goals, in uncovering new plot points I didn’t know about. Now that I have a shiny new expansion pack that took away most of my Saturday, I have to use play time as reward for getting the writing done. After all, I want to find out what happens to my characters but I also want to know what happens to my Sims.

Short blurb of my November release, Tempting Evil:

In Satisfaction Guaranteed a wannabe succubus meets her match for her last assignment: The college boyfriend who broke her heart. ~ In Scale Deep a reporter learns more than she bargained for when she discovers that dragons are real…and they walk among us. ~ In School Bites a woman bumps into her high school crush at a reunion. Curiously, he hasn’t aged a day in 15 years. When the bodies start turning up she finds out why.

Visit me at: https://www.keirakohl.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StoriesByKeira
Follow me on Twitter:
https://www.twitter.com/KeiraKohl

Delilah, thank you for having me as a guest today.

I should be comfortable writing a blog post. I’m a writer, right, and writing is what I do. But there’s a difference between writing fiction and well, writing as if I’m sitting next to you chatting while drinking a cup of coffee.

You see I live an ordinary life. Not like the characters in one of my books. I’m from a large Italian family—my parent’s raised four daughters. I’m twelve years younger than my oldest sister and the ‘baby’ of the family. My dad’s grandparents lived next door, my mom’s grandparents in town along with numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. We always had family and friends stopping by. It was a time when invitations were never needed.

Growing up, I had strong women as role models. My mother’s advice was to make my own way in the world and not to rely on a man. And, pretty much that’s what I did. So when I started writing, I was caught by surprise when I realized my male characters were more interesting than my heroines. When I switched to male/male romance it all clicked in place for me.

But I still love a good book and movie with a strong female character.

Here are ten of my favorite heroines:

1. Elinor Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility
2. Bridget Jones from Bridget Jones Diary
3. Sally Albright from When Harry Met Sally
4. Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice
5. Scarlett O’Hara from Gone With the Wind
6. Arwen (movie version) from Lord of the Rings
7. Dorothy Gale from the Wizard of Oz
8. Princess Leia from Star Wars
9. Margo Channing from All About Eve
10. Fran Kubelik from The Apartment

Post a comment and tell me your favorite heroine and you’ll be entered into a drawing for one of my digital books – winner’s choice! You can check out my book list at https://www.vikilyn.com/books. I’ll pick a winner using a random number generator.

Current release – Lover’s Trill:
Let the musical magic of Vienna weave a second chance at love.

Rocker Leo needs a break. From the band, roadies, everything related to his present life. Wandering the streets of Vienna, he chances upon a poster that just might change his life. Andre Revele, renowned violinist, and Leo’s ex-lover, is performing in the city. It’s been years since Leo slipped out of Andre’s life, but he’s never forgotten their passionate love of music and each other.

Andre is shocked when Leo shows up backstage after his performance. He is angry, but he can’t walk away. Against his better judgment, he invites Leo to his hotel for a drink. Not sure what he wants from Leo, he knows what his body wants. A night of passionate sex leads to another, until he’s lost his heart to Leo again.

When Andre finds his trust in Leo tested, Leo must prove his loyalty by using their one common passion – music – to bind their hearts.

Excerpt and buy link

You can check out my bookshelf at https://www.vikilyn.com/books

Happy Reading!

Viki Lyn
https://www.vikilyn.com
https://www.vikilyn.com/blog
https://www.facebook.com/VikiLynRomance
https://www.twitter.com/VikiLynRomance

The End: An Author’s Mourning

I’ve been writing books since 2005 (professionally, anyway), and there’s a particular experience that I (and many of my fellow authors) go through when we finish a book. Writing ‘the end’ can (and often is) like taking a deep breath of fresh air after being in a cave. From page one to those two words, a book is a journey—not only for the reader but also for the author. We spend countless hours, days, months, even years, planning and plotting, dreaming and writing, agonizing and rewriting. All through that time, we’re not alone. Our characters become a part of us—extensions of ourselves, as close as family sometimes.

There have been many times when I’ve written ‘the end’ and felt an almost indescribable sense of emptiness. Writing a story is the literary equivalent to baring one’s soul. ‘The end’ is like saying goodbye forever to a soul mate (or mates).

Shayne and I have gone through it with our series, The Prince’s Angel. We just released the final book for Mael and Cian, the main characters, and we already miss them. Although their story is done, they may make cameos in later stories, but nothing more will ever be written specifically for them. As a solo author, my biggest “the end” moment hit hard when I finished Dragonblade, book two in my Secrets of Socendor series with Samhain Publishing. It’s not even out yet (still with my editor for a look-over, as a matter of fact), and it’s not the last book in this series, but when I wrote “the end,” I almost cried.

The Lost Son (book one in the Secrets of Socendor series) set the stage for Dragonblade, but I wasn’t prepared for the shocking twists my characters put me through in book two. By the end of the book, I was in shock—both from the unexpected plot turns and the profound sense of melancholy that hit me when it was done. Out of all the books I’ve written in the past several years, Dragonblade affected me the most. It’s only book two of a trilogy, but its impact on me surpassed anything else I’ve ever written.

Dragonblade had a lot of surprises, even for me. There were moments when I thought my men had completely lost their minds, but, of course, things worked out eventually. There were also parts that broke my heart, to the point where I had to stop writing just to breathe normally again. But trials like these are what make the characters human, and they are what make the books so memorable. We authors–like readers–get so wrapped up in our characters’ lives that when we write ‘the end,’ it can be as devastating as it is refreshing.

Mychael Black:

What do online gaming, Spongebob, cooking, writing, and an unnatural addiction to Mountain Dew all have in common?

Not a damn thing, which is what makes Mychael Black an interesting bird indeed.

Born in north Alabama, Mychael now resides on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Having run the gamut of labels in regard to gender and sexuality, Mychael now shuns society’s views on normality and embraces a poly-everything attitude. Call Mychael her or him—it doesn’t matter. Just keep reading the books.

https://www.mychaelblackbooks.com/

* * * * *

The Lost Son

One warrior, one sorcerer, and a legacy that will change their lives forever…

Secrets of Socendor, Book 1

In the world of Socendor, humans are forbidden from using magic and elves keep their distance.

Kalen Ysindroc has risen far from his humble beginnings as a blacksmith’s adopted son. Now the king’s general, he investigates reports of magic-wielding half-human, half-elven lithings sighted along the kingdom’s borders. It would be a lonely life, if not for the company of his best friend and long-time elven lover, Micheil Theirauf, the king’s sorcerer.

An attempt on Kalen’s life makes it clear to Micheil that there’s more afoot than random breaks in the land’s defenses. His lover is plagued by dreams no human should endure, and Micheil’s probe into Kalen’s subconscious reveals a past neither of them expected. And a future Kalen can’t escape.

Suddenly, everything Kalen never knew about his life is laid bare. A father possessed of terrible magical power. A half-brother who could be the family Kalen never had—or the catalyst that will rip Micheil out of his life forever…

This title was previously published but has been revised.