Almost forgot (how could I forget?) a short little interview with yours truly at http://torquerepress.com/new/featured.html. I have a story in their new anthology Men in Uniform, and for some reason, they wanted to feature me on the website.

Romantic Times magazine, which, to quote Dayle's handy description, is "the romance trade and review magazine," gave Cat Scratch Fever four stars out of a possible 4.5. That means, in their eyes, it is "Compelling, a page turner."

"Mouette handles the sizzling sex...with a generous hand. This is a delightful, amusing, and sexy whodunit."

Wow! Just wow! Just on time for Atlanta!

In other news...

More sales--to Rachel Kramer Bussel's He's on Top and She's on Top anthologies (two stories in the latter, because there were a few holes and an idea bit me last minute.)

Speaking of ideas biting you, I was doing some reading about early medieval Arabic poetry for a completely unrelated-to-writing project. (I'm a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, a medieval re-creation group, and I have a special interest in the time period when Spain was Islamic. This led to an interest in that culture's art and poetry, and from there to offering to teach a class on Arabic poetry.) So, right before I feel asleep, I read something about how, before the rise of Islam, poetry and soothsaying were closely linked--so closely that poetry was called "lawful magic"--and poets were supposed to have a special connection with the djinn.

And then I went to bed and dreamed a plot. Sexy male djinni (despite I Dream of Jeannie, most of the djinn in Arabic tales are males). Young grad student who's working on a thesis on preIslamic poetry and the folklore of magic, unaware that it's all true--and she's a descendent of a line of goodly sorcerer poets and has the power herself. Bad Guys who want to control the djinn for political gain.

Can you say "sexy paranormal"? I thought you could! Sure, many details remain to be worked out, but that's more of a plot than I often have when I start writing.

I woke up and started writing. 6,000 words later I stopped for dinner.

I've had interruptions since then, but it's still blazing along nicely. We'll see what happens.

And now, to go do something dreadfully mundane, such as take a shower and throw in some laundry.

They like us, they really, really like us!

Coffeetimeromance.com gives Cat Scratch Fever four cups ("a keeper.") Wow! We rate four cups of coffee, which is pretty good in my book! The full review will be posted August 1, but here's a demitasse:

"...Ms. Mouette entwines erotica and mystery together wonderfully and is able to keep you entertained through the whole tale. Spicy hot, this is definitely the ideal bedtime story."

Thank you, Coffeetime. That's sweet without sugar or cream.

Just a tease

An excerpt from my story "Bastinado," featured in The Sexiest Soles, is now up on editor Rachel Kramer Bussel's wonderful blog, the Lusty Lady. (Also on Amazon.)http://lustylady.blogspot.com/2006/07/sexiest-soles-excerpt-bastinado-by.html

Check it out. Then go order the book so you can see how it ends. :-)