UPDATE: The winner is…Mary Preston!
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Silver Solders: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology will release late tonight after midnight, so I thought it might be fun to play a game. I do love puzzles! And this one was so much fun coming up with one word to describe a particular story. Okay, three stories shared the same clue, but that’s okay. I didn’t want you searching forever. No, I want you to be intrigued and decide that Silver Soldiers is a book you can’t ignore.

So, solve the puzzle. Then let me know if any of the word clues I used in the puzzle made you wonder what the story could possibly be about. Comment below for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Stephanie!
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Silver Soldiers: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology is the 7th BBB anthology! And I think it’s the fattest, too! That’s over 81,000-words of hot goodness! The release date is May 9th—so that means, tomorrow at midnight, you can have this book in your Kindle or iPad and you can hop around to read the stories you know you’re going to love before reading the ones you didn’t know you’d love (but you will!).

Take a look at the list of stories below. There is truly something for everyone.

So, for a chance at getting a FREE copy of one of the previous BBB anthologies, tell me TWO things: 1) Have you already pre-ordered your copy of Silver Soldiers? 2) Which stories listed below are you most interested in diving into first?

Pre-Order eBook
Kindle | Nook | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play

This collection features “silver soldiers”—those salt-and-pepper hotties with crow’s feet earned through rugged training and years of combat. Former soldiers finding their footing after their first careers, or current soldiers nearing the end of their military careers. 

Table of Contents

Fight Like Cats and Wolves by A.J. Harris – After their helicopter is forced down by a rogue war machine, an Army veteran must use wits and fangs to survive with his mysterious pilot

Handfasted to the Highlander Warrior by Aurora Russell – A hardened warrior reluctantly prepares to release his vivacious bride from their handfasted union…until a sweet, sexy surprise changes everything.

SNAFU—Situation Normal, All F***ed Up by Ava Cuvay – A sidelined Army cyborg’s only joy is the dimpled smile of a curvy Pentagon admin until she offers him a proposition he should refuse

Operation Purple Sparkle Diamond by Brenda Margriet – A resolute Afghan veteran deploys on his most desperate mission yet—wooing the hesitant heart of his daughter’s kindergarten teacher

Ripples by Delilah Devlin – A former Special Forces soldier, looking forward to the peace and quiet of his new houseboat, finds his solitude shattered by the arrival of his neighbor and her kid.

SEAL in Distress by Denise De Marco – While dealing with an unwanted inheritance, a former SEAL confronts his toughest battle yet against an unexpected woman

Storm on the Bayou by Elle James – A retired Navy SEAL and a pretty parish deputy hole up in a bayou fishing shack, weathering a violent meteorological and unexpectedly passionate storm

Star Diplomacy by Kimberly Dean – With the threat of an interplanetary war looming, a hardened military negotiator must find a way to connect with the enemy’s beautiful ambassador

Take Me to the Water by Michal Scott – An unexpected dare holds the key to a second chance with the disgraced Buffalo soldier she’s never stopped loving

This Time Forever by N.J. Walters – A retired Delta Force operator thwarts a holdup, saving the life of the woman he left behind twenty-seven years ago

Weathering the Storm by Natasha Moore – During a violent storm, a stranger walks into a woman’s bar who reminds her of the lover she lost who died behind enemy lines years ago

Sarge in Charge by Reina Torres – When lowlifes threaten the curvy bar owner in his Arizona town, the president of the Broken Arrow MC proves he’s the sarge in charge

Broken Trust by Rhonda Lee Carver – A retired SEAL must protect an old flame who’s feisty and more dangerous than any criminal—and dead if he can’t earn her trust

Clear to Engage by Sukie Chapin – One struggling bookshop owner, one hot-as-hell former SEAL-turned-carpenter, one line drawn in the sand—until the job is done, they’re not clear to engage

UPDATE: The winner is…Diane Sallans!
*~*~*

Psst! This blog is doing double-duty—also appearing over on the Delilah’s Collections website! Comment in both places for a chance to win! There are two prizes! And while you’re there, be sure to check out the posts and prizes from previous days!

May is nearly here, and it’s the final stretch of the school year. Even as merely a substitute teacher, I’m feeling very much the “What’s my Name? Who am I?” brain fatigue. And it’s also lacrosse season, which takes up the rest of the waking hours for my family. All of which is really too boring to blog about (and I’m honestly not sure I could cobble a cohesive blog together on any of those topics)… but the upcoming release of the Silver Soldiers: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology *is* something to talk about!

I’m thrilled to be part of this anthology! I’ve had a short story included in the past two anthologies, and it’s a treat to be in the company of such creative, masterful writers, and to see the variety of ideas that stem from a simple phrase such as “Silver Soldier” or “First Responder.”

I recently celebrated publishing my seventh book in seven years (not including an array of short stories in various anthologies, or the three children’s books I’ve written and illustrated). It’s easy enough to look at the company I keep with the other authors in this anthology and get depressed at my own slow progress… comparison can do that to a person. But this is one of the reasons I love the Romance community: we cheer each other on and remind each other that every step forward is cause for celebration.

So, I continue my writing progress, however slow-and-steady it may be. Because I love to write. And I love to tell the stories bouncing around in my brain, which lean toward futuristic, fantastical, or in a galaxy far, far away. I’m born and bred in a small city in Indiana. We have corn and basketball and the Indy 500. None of which light my fire. But when Star Wars came to the big screen, I was seven… and it rocked my world. My impressionable years were filled with strange creatures, droids with personalities, spaceships, lightsabers, and (of course) the wonderful sexual tension between Han Solo and Princess Leia. My love of aliens and the extraordinary—and falling in love—was solidified.

The upcoming Silver Soldiers anthology hits a little different for me than the previous anthologies. The timing is perfect because I am wrapping up a seasoned-romance, slightly-futuristic cyborg series set in my neck of the woods: Central Indiana. The second in this series, Tin Toy just released in December. The third and final book in this series is Tin Soldier, scheduled to release this August, tells the story of an older-soldier-turned-cyborg, and his love interest who is dealing with breast cancer. This anthology marks the first one where my story actually ties into a full book and series. The challenge was different this time. Everything mattered this time (names, backstory, goal, etc.) because it leads into the rest of the story. Yet I wanted it to have its own decisive HEA for the reader.

Fingers crossed I’ve succeeded!

If you haven’t already pre-ordered the Silver Soldiers anthology, do so today!

Contest: For a chance at a $5 Amazon gift card, what childhood movie was most influential in your life?

About Ava

Ava Cuvay is an award-winning bestselling author of out of this world Sci-fi and Paranormal Romance featuring sassy heroines, gutsy heroes, passion, and adventure… often set in a galaxy far, far away. She resides in central Indiana with her own scruffy-looking nerfherder and kiddos who remind her daily she’s not nearly as cool as she thinks. She believes life is too short to bother with negative people, everything is better with Champagne, and Han Solo shot first. When not writing, Ava is thinking about writing. Or wine. And she’s always thinking about bacon.

Her story inside Silver Soldiers: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology was “SNAFU—Situation Normal, All F***ed Up.”

A sidelined Army cyborg’s only joy is the dimpled smile of a curvy Pentagon admin until she offers him a proposition he should refuse…

UPDATE: The winner is…Joy Boutwell!
*~*~*

Just so you know, in case you don’t frequent my Upcoming/Coming Soon page, I have three books coming out in quick succession!

1. Danger Zone releases next Tuesday, April 18th!
2. Silver Soldiers: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology releases May 9th!
3. Cold Hard Cash, the first in the We Are Dead Horse, MT, series releases May 23rd!

And that’s my Public Service Announcement for the day! If you haven’t already pre-ordered your copies, do so now! *I will pre-order. I will pre-order. I will pre-order.* Did my mesmerizing skills work? 🙂

The Saturday Puzzle-Contest

 First, solve the puzzle. Then, for a chance to win a $5 Amazon GC, tell me if this was a scene from a horror or sci-fi movie, what would happen next?
Don’t think too hard! Have fun with it! 

UPDATE: The winner is…Beverly!
*~*~*

Silver Soldiers releases in May. I have the other authors’ short stories edited and ready to plunk into the book. Now, I have to write my own story, and I don’t want to think. Or maybe I need a nudge and a hint. That’s where you come in.

I need an idea for an older ex-military or retiring-soon military dude. The only idea I’ve struck upon is a guy who yearns to go fishing and thinks living on a houseboat is his ticket to paradise. But I’d love to hear your ideas before I go down that rabbit hole. Offer a suggestion no matter how wild or silly (he doesn’t have to be of this world or this century). If you give me an idea, even one I never use, you’re entered to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

Plus, have you ever read any of the Boys Behaving Badly Anthologies? You might want to check them out here:
Delilah’s Collections

The seventh A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology is coming soon! This time the theme is mature warriors—those ex-military silver fox soldiers! The stories are short and very, very sexy!

In the coming weeks, the authors who contributed stories will be stopping in at the Delilah’s Collections website to chat about their stories and what inspired them. There will be contests! In fact, there’s one running on that website now. Go check it out! There’s a $10 GC to win!  Delilah’s Collections

Also, be sure to pre-order your copy now! This thick, juicy collection of 14 short stories will cost you only $0.99! Pre-order your copy of Silver Soldiers now!

I think every day until my splint comes off, I’m going to gripe. Today, I have a bumpy rash between my fingers. After I shower, I’m going to leave off the splint and let my hand dry with some anti-yeast cream to see if that helps. My fingers being forced together all day is likely making it humid there. *whine-whine-whine*

I pushed around a vacuum cleaner with my hip and left hand yesterday. Tried to dust, but it took too long, so I decided I’d live with the dust until I can bribe a grandkid to do it for me. I directed the cleaning of Loki’s fish tank, but my daughter was horrified by the smell of fishy water and the poop. Again, I’ll bribe another kid to help with that, too. *whine-whine-whine*

I wish I’d broken my left hand because I can’t write with my left, so I’m abandoning my planner for the time being. *whine-whine-whine*

Tonight, after I do some real work today (editing), I’ll clear my desktop which has been a gathering place for coffee mugs and mail I can’t open without ripping it to shreds. All my scissors are naturally right-handed. I’ll give the 9-year-old my letter opener and have her go to town opening all my mail and laying it on my newly cleared desktop. *whine-whine-whine*

EVERYTHING IS A FUCKING PROCESS THAT HAS TO BE PLANNED. I’ll shower today and maybe forgo underwear to make my life a little easier. Wish I had a muumuu to throw over my head so I wouldn’t have to deal with pulling up my pants. *whine-whine-whine*

You folks have been wonderfully patient reading through my whine-fest. Here’s your reward:

Download now!