Tea and Romance

One of my favorite ways to relax is to sit down with a book and a cup of tea. Though I usually drink plain black tea, I enjoy different flavors as well. Some of my favorites are orange, blueberry, mint and lemon. If I’m feeling stressed and I can find the time, I’ll have a cup of tea and read a favorite book.

I remember when I first became obsessed with romance novels. I was in my late teens and I couldn’t get enough of historical romance novels–the bodice rippers. One of my favorite memories is of drinking orange tea on a Saturday afternoon in the summer while reading a romance novel set during the civil war.

Now over twenty-five years later I still love romance novels and I still love tea. Some things never change and in this case that’s a good thing. When I’m depressed or stressed a good book, whether it’s romance, horror, fantasy or sci-fi, can help lift my spirits.

My love for tea has sometimes influenced my characters. Many of them prefer tea to coffee. In my novel, Back to Haunt You, the main couple first meet in a tearoom.

What are some of your favorite ways to relax or some of your favorite pastimes? If you’re a writer, do your favorites sometimes appear in your books?

The following excerpt is from one of my older titles, Back to Haunt You. It focuses on the first time the hero and heroine cross paths. Hope you enjoy it!

Back to Haunt You
(paranormal)
Ellora’s Cave (Blush)

Morgan playfully shoved Uma’s shoulder before they left the car and headed for the tearoom’s entrance.

They walked up three steps and opened the door to the soft tinkle of bells.

“Morgan! Uma!” Deb, thin and dressed in a flowered print dress, hurried from behind a glass case filled with delicious-looking cookies and pastries. Her thick-soled leather sandals thudded on the floor before she stopped in front of the mother and daughter. “I’m so glad you finally came. It’s really quiet this morning, so for now you’ve got the room to yourselves.”

They followed her through a door to a room decorated in pastel colors. Five charming little tables were set up, three in the center of the room and two by the picture window overlooking the park in the town square. Across the room, two cushioned high-backed chairs with round end tables flanked each side of glass double doors leading to the porch.

Deb guided the mother and daughter to a window seat.

“I’ll be right back with your tea. You’ll have to excuse me for darting back and forth, but my employee called in sick this morning, so I’m on my own.”

“No problem,” Morgan said.

Several moments later, the two were enjoying tea and cookies while discussing their favorite movies, a subject that rarely incited arguments between them.

Morgan was suddenly distracted by the arrival of another patron. A man, strangely enough. Read the rest of this entry »

A Quick Note: The She Shifters Blog Tour and Fournicopia Blog Blitz continue!
Up for grab are a ton of great prizes. Be sure to hit Megan Slayer’s blog
and Seductive Musing today for yet more chances to win! ~DD

What Robs You of Your Time to Write

My intentions to stay on track are great or that’s what I like to tell myself. Time management is a balance. A precise schedule that holds everything together. But there are days when no matter what I did nothing worked out and these days would run into weeks. I had to find out what was robbing me of my time so I made a list.

What took up time in my day.

Work, eating, cleaning, feeding animals, laundry, e-mail, blogs and sleep. By the time I got home, cleaned up, ate and worked on e-mails I was exhausted. In my head I had hours during the day to write. Why wasn’t it working out in my real life?

I found an article and it talked about writing out a time log. Spend a few days and jot down everything you do.  It worked out great and showed me how I was wasting so much time.  So I decided to share.

Preparing and writing your time log

You don’t need to keep writing a time log permanently. It is sufficient to do it for 3-7 days.  When you write a time log, make sure you don’t miss even the minor activities. Don’t let your time wasters hide there. Take a sheet of paper and divide it into columns listed below.

• Time
• Activities
• Scheduled
• Interrupted
• Urgent
• People (involved)

Then continue with activities you would normally do that day. On the way, update your time log. Do it either every time you switch to a new activity or at some short time intervals, like 10-20 minutes. Add entries to your “Time” and “Activities” column, and try to put marks like “Yes” or “No” in the “Scheduled”, “Interrupted”, and “Urgent” columns. Where relevant, make short notes on what people you spend time with too.

When you have your time log written, you can move to the most important part, the analysis. Review your records and try to get answers to the following questions.

• What percentage of your time is spent in each of the      different areas of your life? How is it divided between Work, Business,      Family, Recreational, writing?
• What percentage of your activities are important?
• Are urgent?
• What people you spend more time with?
• What percentage of your activities go as planned?
• What are main interruptions?

Then think of possible adjustments and action steps. For example:

• Are there any activities you can cut back on?
• Is there anything you can delegate or simplify?
• Can you save time by grouping related tasks, like      shopping?

Once you see everything you do on paper it will amaze you on how you can add a little more time to your writing.

My time is better spent now on getting my book ready for its release.

 Rescued from the Dark

Set to be released end of 2012
Published through Black Opal Books

What if you woke up from a nightmare, trapped in a world of darkness, with no memory of how you got there? Rescued from the Dark is a passionate, gripping story about FBI agent, Jason Michaels, confronting his duty to his country, and struggling with his feelings for a woman with no memory of their love.

Undercover Agent, Jason Michaels, infiltrates the terrorist cell and risks everything, even his life, to save the FBI intern who stole his heart, then walked away. Once Mercy wakes from her coma Jason struggles with the fact that she does not remember what happened, but anguishes with the idea that she believes their unborn child belongs to her ex. Jason soon realizes the terrorists vow to get her back to claim their secrets locked in her memory, no matter what the cost.In a race against time, Jason and Mercy struggle to fight their attraction, and put their differences aside, as they launch a manhunt to save their country and each other.

 Lynda Kaye Frazier
https://lyndafrazier.blogspot.com
www.lyndakayefrazier.com
Facebook- Lynda Kaye Frazier- Author
Twitter- lynda_kaye
Writing is my passion, Reading is my Love

Fox’s Folly is a first in a couple of ways. It’s my first male-male book, though I’ve written a few m/m short stories, including one that was published as standalone ebook. It’s my first prequel. It’s the prequel Foxes’ Den (Duals and Donovans: the Different 2), which is why, though Fox’s Folly is a Duals and Donovans book, it doesn’t have a series number. And it’s the first book an editor specifically sparked me to write.

At the time my Samhain editor, the fabulous Linda Ingmanson, accepted Foxes’ Den, which is a menage involving a married male couple—witch Paul and fox shape-shifter Tag—and the kitsune they both come to love, she said she’d love to see a book about how Paul and Tag met. At the time, I wasn’t sure how they’d met, only that it had involved some element of danger and, given Tag’s character and his connection to the god Trickster, probably some element of oddness. I let the idea stew in the back of my mind for a while and then it came to me. Las Vegas! They meet in Las Vegas, where they’re both fish out of water. Donovan witches are very connected to nature and not very connected to the more materialistic aspects of mainstream human culture. Duals (my take on shape-shifters) simply don’t like cities, where their animalsides feel confined and they’re more likely to have trouble from the repressive Agency. But what if Paul and Tag had to be in Las Vegas for some good reason? Say, to catch a magical serial killer?

And so the book was born.

PS: Stop by my blog, https://www.teresanoelleroberts.com, and leave a comment on the CONTEST! Win a Copy of Fox’s Folly for—you guessed it—a chance to win a copy of the book.

What happens in Vegas lasts forever…if you’re lucky.

A Duals and Donavans story

Las Vegas is the wrong place for an inexperienced witch like Paul Donavan. But he has no choice; his family owes a debt of honor to a half-fae casino owner, whose guests have been dying under mysterious circumstances. The normy police haven’t connected the dots between the deaths, and the owner has called in his marker.

When Paul literally runs into fox dual Taggart Ross, the instant, powerful attraction between them bristles with red flags. Not only should there be no sparks between him and this “hillbilly with a tail,” the fact is a dual couldn’t have committed murder-by-magic. But until he’s got proof, caution rules.

Tag’s own suspicions are on high alert. Magic killed his favorite uncle, and Paul, who senses Tag’s dual nature way too easily, should be a prime suspect. Except Tag’s libido responds to the witch in a way that shouldn’t happen.

Whatever this thing is between them, the raw sexual energy feeds a power that becomes their best hope of drawing out the killer before he, she, or it strikes again. Until love gets involved, and things get real complicated, real fast…

“I think we’re here for the same reason. Does the name Randolph-Macon McNeil mean anything to you?”

“One of the five people who’ve died under mysterious circumstances lately at the Excalibur. Sixty-two, professional gambler, fox dual…” He spoke dispassionately, as if reciting facts from a report. Then he paused, and a look of horror crossed his face “Was he family, Tag? I’m so sorry…”

“My uncle. I’m here to find out who the fuck killed him and take him down hard.”

“No, you won’t. We will.” Paul’s voice was soft and professorial, but something in his tone made the words ring in the air with the force of an oath before the gods.

“Really? Do you mean that?” Tag tried to keep the emotion out of his voice, but that wasn’t the fox way. He was tough, tougher than most, but he’d loved his uncle.

And he hated to admit it, but he needed all the help he could get. He’d gotten into this figuring he’d find the killer and then call in reinforcements, but if Uncle Randolph was the fifth victim, and a fae had asked for help dealing with it, Tag needed magic, not just muscle. “Really?” he repeated, feebly aware he should be saying something wittier but unable to make his brain work at proper speed.

“Really. I got drafted to do this. For you, it’s personal. Hearth, heart and home fuel magic. We’ll be stronger together than we are alone. And you look like you shouldn’t be alone.”

The next thing Tag knew, Paul’s arms were around him.

Damn, Paul could kiss, and his hands, even when they weren’t touching anywhere Tag would normally consider an erogenous zone, sent heat through Tag’s body. Maybe it was magic, or maybe the guy was just that talented. At this point, Tag didn’t care. All he really cared about was seeing how long they could go without thinking about dead people and just focusing on sex, or at least the yummy preliminaries to sex.

Tag was fumbling with the buttons on Paul’s dress shirt—too formal by comparison to what everyone else seemed to wear in Las Vegas, almost silky under his hands although it was cotton—when someone knocked at the door. “Housekeeping always shows up at the worst times,” Paul muttered before throwing himself into kissing Tag so thoroughly that Tag forgot not only the persistent knock on the door but the day of the week and the reason he was in Las Vegas. He was working up to forgetting his name when the door opened, and a man walked into the room.

About men—my favorite characters in erotic romance

There’s erotic romance written for women about men, and erotica written with an eye toward attracting male readers.

What’s the difference? Somebody asked this question on a list recently and I had to think seriously about the answer.

I’ve given it a lot of thought and come up with an answer based on the fact that I write a good many of my erotic romances with male protagonists. These heroes drive the external story lines—that is, the plot is driven by what they want, why they want it and what is preventing them from reaching their original goals. In many of my books, much of the story is shown from the hero’s point of view rather than the heroine’s, even when the heroine is the protagonist.

So why don’t the hero-driven books I write fit the requirements of a line called “Erotica for Men?” One would think on the surface that male readers would gravitate toward my hero-driven books , but this isn’t necessarily true.

Why, you ask?

Because, when I write a hero-driven book, I create his character with the idea of luring my female readers to fall in love with him, and this doesn’t necessarily mean male readers will identify with this man who’s more a woman’s ideal of what her lover should be than a man’s thought about what he sees or wants to see in himself.

In contrast with erotica written for male readers, my heroes tend to be more understanding of their lovers’ emotional ups and downs. They behave, in other words, the way most women readers would like their fantasy men to act—not the way their real-life lovers likely do.

In a nutshell, erotic romance/erotica written for male readers presents male characters as men see themselves, female characters as men fantasize them to be. Books written to appeal to female readers are just the opposite—heroes the readers would love to find but don’t expect and heroines they can identify with.

That’s my take on the subject. What do you think? Like and post on my Facebook page and you may win a download of your choice of my seventy-some-odd ebooks.

Ann Jacobs
https://annjacobs.net
Like me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnJacobsAuthor
Follow me on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/authrannjacobs

LOVERS’ FEUD, book 1 of my Caden Kink series, new this month from Ellora’s Cave

The Four Year Rule

Hello! And thanks to Delilah for hosting me today!

Excuse my excessive use of exclamation points today, my book just came out this morning and I’m pretty excited. I mean, I know as an author I’m going to be excited about every book, but this is my first book in my first series, and it’s about something I really love.

Tattoos.

I know, looking at me you’d never guess I like a little ink, would you? I knew at a young age, probably around fourteen, that I wanted tattoos. Thankfully I did not share this almost certain knowledge with my parents. They’re still reeling from a very recent revelation that I have tattoos. And by recent, I mean they found out about a month ago, and I’ve had them since I was twenty-one.

There’s something about tattoos, the expression of art and personality on one’s very skin that’s always fascinated me. I knew from an early age what I wanted my first tattoo to be, but at about sixteen, I recognized that I was young and stupid and prone to making rash decisions. Somewhere in that time period I came up with a rule.

The rule.

The four year rule.

It’s simple really. I have to want a tattoo for four years before I get it. My reasoning has always been that if I can settle on an image for four years with only minor tweaking, it must be something I really want and will be happy with in the long run. A big part of this is also getting an artist who can not only execute what I want but also bring it to live on the skin.

To date I’ve gotten five (or seven depending on who you ask) tattoos. With the exception of one, the four year rule has held steady. The one that was not planned in detail was planned in spirit. I don’t suggest people get matching tattoos or names typically, but my brother and I did get matching tattoos located on our under arm. A very sensitive place!

So what tattoos do I have? I have what’s called a backpiece, one big tattoo that stretches from my hips to my shoulders. A half-sleeve, which is a single tattoo that goes from my shoulder to just above my elbow. My sibling tattoo that’s about the size of my palm. In the picture above you can see my two pair of tattoos. I have Hebrew on each shoulder, and in the hollow on each shoulder I have half of the claddagh. Each tattoo means something. I’m a fan of doing tattoos that mean something or tell a story. It’s always fun to be approached by a complete stranger interested in the stories on my skin. I guess in a way, ink was the first medium in which I published a book.

I have quite a few in the works for the future. I want to get my left half-sleeve done, and a smattering of smaller tattoos, only two of which have met the required four year rule. So who knows, maybe next year I’ll be sporting some new ink?

So what about you? Do you have tattoos? Do you like them? Do you want them?

Tell me about your tattoo dreams! One commenter will win an ebook copy of my book, Under His Skin.

Sidney Bristol

It can never be said that Sidney Bristol has had a ‘normal’ life.  She is a recovering roller derby queen, former missionary, and tattoo addict. She grew up in a motor-home on the US highways (with an occasional jaunt into Canada and Mexico), traveling the rodeo circuit with her parents. Sidney has lived abroad in both Russia and Thailand, working with children and teenagers. She now lives in Texas where she splits her time between a job she loves, writing, reading and belly dancing.

Website *~* Twitter *~* Facebook

Under His Skin, So Inked #1, Pricked Series   Ellora’s Cave | Barnes and Noble | Amazon

A woman who doesn’t believe she deserves love…

Toe-curling kisses and enough sex to fill a weekend were all Pandora wanted from a fling with her teenage crush. She’s never forgotten how he played the knight in shining armor to her damsel in distress. She’s ready to say thank you in several naughty ways, so long as she can walk away when it’s over with her heart intact.

A man moving on from tragedy…

Brian has no intention of allowing the feisty tattoo artist to leave him after one taste. He hasn’t had enough of her inked curves. The packaging might have changed, but Pandy is the woman he hasn’t been able to excise from his memory. He’s ready to put together a new life, one that includes her. But he’s not the only one vying for her attention. Someone else wants her, dead or alive.

Pandora swirled the glass of Tuaca and downed it in three gulps. The smooth brandy slid down her throat and sent warm fuzzies coursing through her body. She couldn’t get drunk fast enough.

“Hey.”

A weight settled against her waist. She squeezed her eyes shut, chanting, No, no, no! Read the rest of this entry »

So, one of the questions I, and I’m sure every author out there gets asked, is where we get our ideas from. My answer is usually “how do you make the ideas stop?” but for my latest release, Aries Revealed, there were a few specific triggers. I’ve already mentioned on the blog tour (redzworld stop) that the film Soldier with Kurt Russell laid a major seed for the Zodiac series (and, as it happens, the species idea for the Sargosians from Taming the Wildcat) but Soldier just laid the seed. It wasn’t until a friend showed me this image from Magic Mike (of course, I didn’t have a clue what it was at the time)

So, after I stopped drooling on the keyboard (this friend has a habit of sending me images like this just to see me stop what I’m doing and drool. Her favourite subjects are Alex Pettyfer and Jensen Ackles *whimpers* Both of which I am extremely susceptible to, and ceases word production immediately) I started to think about strippers in a sensible, writerly type of way. Okay, okay…AFTER I got over thinking about Channing Tatum and Alex Pettyfer taking their clothes off, I started thinking about things sensibly and just how I could use a stripper character in my cyborg series. I love convoluted storylines and new angles on things so it got me to thinking what if the stripper with the cyborg act really was a cyborg? He’s pretending to play a human who plays a cyborg? The idea was just too much fun NOT to write and thus, Aries Revealed was born!

I would like to point out that there was a second image sent to me shortly after the first, but this one just shorted out my brain so I can’t really claim it helped with the creation of Aries any. But it provided a good hours viewing pleasure 😉

So, now I’ve gone around the houses and up the garden path, let me leave you with some info on the story our lovely lads from Magic Mike inspired!

Sometimes the best place to hide, is in plain sight…

Johnny makes a living on the strip circuits. His most popular routine? The Aries 7000. Bronzed and oiled, he pretends to be the scourge of the universe, one of the deadly and outlawed zodiac cyborgs. But Johnny isn’t really a stripper playing a cyborg. He’s a cyborg playing a stripper.

Milly, a freighter captain, has had a thing for the sexy stripper for months. But when Johnny, the subject of many of her hottest fantasies, asks her out to dinner, she runs. All is not lost, however; a chance encounter yields an Aries 7000 sexbot, hers for a weekend of pleasure.

It seems too good to be true. Sex with the man of her dreams without risking her heart. But Milly’s bot has some secrets…secrets that could save her life when the past returns to haunt her.

Available from: Ellora’s Cave | Amazon | Amazon UK | ARe

Suffering the curse of eternal curiosity Mina never tires of learning new skills which has led to Aromatherapy, Corsetry, Chain-maille making, Welding, Canoeing, Shooting, and pole-dancing to name but a few.

A full time author and cover artist, Mina can usually be found hunched over a keyboard or graphics tablet, frantically trying to get the images and words in her head out and onto the screen before they drive her mad. She’s addicted to coffee and Nutella on toast.

Where to find Mina…

Twitter
Facebook

[Sorry—photos removed!]

Twice the treats! Today, you get Indie sensation Sharon Hamilton dishing out a delicious excerpt below—can’t get enough SEALs, can you? Then AFTER you’ve posted a comment here (remember the pendant contest!), head on over to Lissa Matthews’ website, where I’m her guest and giving away and stuff there too!

GIMME A HOT MAN IN A UNIFORM (OR OUT OF ONE!)

Navy SEALs have gotten a lot of press lately, and while most of this is well deserved, SEALs themselves shy away from such publicity. And perhaps that’s why we love them. They live in this super secret community of elite warriors, keeping only to themselves and their families and ducking the limelight. Part of this is because of the nature of their work. And part of this is because of who they are and how they are trained.

How can we not fall for a guy who is so physically well developed, capable of doing so many impossible things, but yet doesn’t have to boast to the whole world about it? Those strong silent types. Still waters run deep. Very deep. Just the way we like it.

We love them because they are take charge. But boy, don’t we love to see them brought to their knees by that heroine? They know everything about blowing things up and doing a high level extraction, but fall hard for a woman without scaring them off? That is a different story. I like to write them so they are way outside their comfort zone. Make them squirm. Yes, I admit it. I like to torture them.

My fictional hero in Accidental SEAL, Kyle Lansdowne, has come back from Afghanistan with a stronger desire to set down roots and perhaps find something more satisfying than the string of one-night stands he is accustomed to. But he is really not prepared for how fast the he will land right in the middle of a hot romance with Christy. Although their stormy first encounter is by accident, he soon learns she is something he wants, on purpose.

Christy Nelson embarks on her new career in Real Estate by holding her first open house. Entering the wrong house, by accident, she finds the nude sleeping body of a young man.

Navy SEAL Kyle Lansdowne, on a mission to find his AWOL Team buddy, is staying at his buddy’s home while investigating the disappearance.  When someone breaks in, he takes protective measures. He doesn’t expect to find that a beautiful young woman is responsible for his teammate’s abduction.

What starts out as a meeting by accident becomes a hot affair neither one is ready for. Kyle is conflicted about getting Christy involved in his mission, but his hand is forced when he learns the same San Diego gang responsible for his teammate’s abduction has kidnapped her.

Battling a cadre of dirty law enforcements hell-bent on getting military equipment, especially state-of-the-art firepower, Kyle is forced to admit that he would be willing to die to protect her.

This excerpt happens after lunch when Kyle asks Christy to help him find a place to buy. Christy is in the process of showing him a model home in her condo complex…

“Some of these places went for close to a million dollars when they first came up for resale,” Christy said as she let them inside the furnished model with her passkey. “My mother was one of the first to buy. She got in under a special housing density program.” They both stepped into a beautifully staged great room and kitchen. Through tall picture windows, the bay gleamed as if covered with shattered glass. Kyle opened the sliding glass door and stepped onto the balcony.

“Nice place. Doubt I could afford it.” He turned, resting his back against the black iron railing, his bulging package prominent. He cocked his head, removed his sunglasses and asked, “How much?”

“This one’s five sixty. But we could make them an offer. It’s owned by the bank. If you have some sort of down payment, this could be financed VA.”

“Not sure I have enough.” He walked past her and waited by the slider opening.

“Want to see the rest of the place? It has a nice big bedroom.” Read the rest of this entry »