Monday, March 17, 2008

Easter/Vernal Equinox weekend sale at Phaze




Disclaimer: The following intends no disrespect for Easter and those who celebrate it as a solemn yet joyous Christian holiday. But since the Resurrection and erotic romance don't go hand-in-hand, even in my weird and eclectic brain, I'm focusing on the Vernal Equinox (which ties in to my novella) and the secular, bunnies-and-spring-sunshine side of the upcoming holiday.

What better way to celebrate the Vernal Equinox than to get a copy of my Equinox-themed book Lady Sun Has Risen (and any other Phaze titles that strikes your fancy) for 20% off, and a chance to win a goodie basket?

OK, I think my characters have a better way of celebrating, but since most of us don't practice religions where wild kinky sex with strangers is standard practice on the first day of spring, consider buying a few eco-friendly e-books in between eating Peeps and chocolate bunnies and if you're lucky, having wild sex (kinky or not as it suits you) with someone you love.

The Details:

For Easter weekend Phaze will have a 20% sale and a drawing. The code for the
sale will be BUNNY08 and will be good from Saturday 3/22 through Monday 3/24. The
drawing will be for a Phaze gift pack and other goodies, which will go to
a random member of our announcement list.

Go to Phaze.com, find books of your choice, and use that code to get your discount. Then you'll have plenty to read on those inevitable rainy spring days. It's even better than the half-price candy sale on Monday morning.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

The mind works in mysterious ways...

I was lying in bed last night, curled up with my beloved on one side and a cat on the other (actually I think the cat was between us, but that's not overly relevant), drifting on the edge of sleep.

And suddenly I realized what was wrong with Threshing the Grain: the sex-magic element of Jaenna and Nikos' story isn't the one I'm trying to force it to be. Suddenly all the other elements fell into place, including a new title (Rain at Midsummer) and what the deal is with Nikos' maybe/maybe-not fiancee, and who the characters need to be for the original story concept for Threshing the Grain.

Mind you, I still need to write the bloody things--two stories now, not just one. But at least I know where I'm going with them and why they were fighting me so much.

Eureka!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

National Read an e-Book Week?

Last week was National Read an e-Book Week (no one ever tells me anything!) and this site talks about various good reasons to check out e-books that I confess I hadn't thought of. Reduce your carbon footprint through choosing e-books? Hrrm, I suppose an e-book must use fewer resources to produce.

And not going into landfills? I don't generally think about books going into landfills, because when was the last time I actually threw out a book? I was about to say "never," but there were a few that White Thing, the Amazing Cat Who Peed Everywhere, irremediably damaged, and more than likely the freebie books I elected not to lug home from RWA got tossed. I suppose another advantage with e-books, though, is that if you're sure you'll never read it again, you hit delete and it's gone, rather than collecting dust in your basement or rattling around in that box in the trunk that honest, you will get to the library used book sale someday.

But when I think about the good things about e-books, I don't think of being green. I think, first and most importantly, of the fact that a lot of fun books, especially in the erotic vein, are only available in electronic format. And it's a handy format for things smutty. You can download it at 4 AM during a moment of insomniac boredom and relieve your boredom on the spot (and possibly get rid of the insomnia, if the book proves sufficiently inspirational to tire you out). You can hide it on your Palm Pilot and read it at the office during your lunch break, or on a plane, or while you're taking care of your sick mother. (Morgan Hawke and Kate Pearce got me through Mom's illness last year. Mind you, if my mother hadn't been sick, I'd have read a print erotic romance in front of her, and she might have borrowed it when I was done. But her heart was already palpitating oddly...Kinky threesomes in the Regency period might have killed her, if only because she'd have wanted to find her reference books to check the details about undergarments and she'd been strictly told to stay put) If you're easily embarrassed, it's probably far easier to download an erotic romance than to buy it in a bookstore. (I wouldn't know, not being easily embarrassed.) Gods know, there's a lot to be said for ease of storage. E-books take up no room on your shelves and not all that much on your hard drive, and they don't collect dust and cat hair.

And as my dear blind friend Randy points out, e-books are wonderful for the visually impaired book lover because blind people already have software that will read them out loud. Much cheaper than audio books, and a different selection!

I admit I prefer print books. They're tactile. Cuddly, in a way, for an English teacher's daughter. Reassuring. Even though my desk chair is by fair the most comfortable chair in the house, it doesn't encourage the kind of curling up with a cat that seems to go with novel-reading. And I confess that sometimes I'll buy an e-book and forget about it since it can't join the rest of my TBR pile in plain sight.

But I'm becoming an e-book convert, and not just because one of my publishers is primarily an e-publisher.

Try it...you might like it! Start with Lady Sun Has Risen.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Un-writing


There's writing-related content to follow, but first this news: It was 60 degrees today. In Massachusetts! I was running around in a dress and bare legs. (I hear my mother's voice scolding me and assuring me I'll get pneumonia, but I had to do it!)

My sweet husband came home tonight and I told him that, with one click of the mouse, I'd removed close to 4,000 words from Lion's Pride.

He said, "Oh my God. You have a backup, right?"

I said, "Yes, of course--but painful as it was, I meant to do it!"

I'm at that lovely stage of going through the first draft and removing stuff that obviously doesn't belong. This manuscript is a fat, wonderful mess, so I imagine I'll be doing quite a bit of this.

It's hard to kill my darlings, but I know the book will be much better for my efforts.

In other news: three short spanking stories accepted by the luscious Alison Tyler. (Read her blog. It's fascinating. I can't be that self-revelatory with my real name and face on here, but I wish I were that brave.)

A rejection on Out of the Frying Pan from Avon. Sigh. I know it'll find a home. I was accepted by not actually sold once on proposal (the editor wanted it, but the contract terms and advance weren't acceptable, and the publisher couldn't/wouldn't negotiate) and was loved by the editor at Kensington who couldn't buy it because it didn't fit their line, so I know someone will love it eventually. But still. Sigh.

*

I've got two "girls' days out" planned this weekend, with two different groups of friends. One's a combined birthday/prenuptial gathering (for my friends Lyd and Coll, who've been married in our eyes and theirs for years, but can finally become so under the law of their home state); the other is just because. The silly picture is in honor of these celebrations, which will involve much giggling and no doubt a few strange drinks.

I hardly ever do a girls' day out these days (RWA, while it has elements of a writers' girls week out, is also work!) and I'm looking forward to it.

Do my all female dance and yoga classes count? There's certainly a lot of laughter and female bonding, but it seems like it's only girls' out if there's shopping and/or silly drinks involved.

Monday, March 03, 2008

Contest!


Want to win a copy of my new novella Lady Sun Has Risen? Then hie over to Lust Bites tomorrow and comment on my post rambling about spring, sexuality, and naked pagan rites, and you'll be entered to win! COmment here, too, and you'll be entered twice!

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Spring has come! And Lady Sun Has Risen


The spring Equinox may be a few weeks away, but it's already arrived in my imaginary Soranian Empire. On this special day, Lady Sun and the Lord of Grain celebrate their springtime reunion in a sexy ritual, and mortals echo their passion with anyone who catches their eye. But is it just the energy of the season that draws together Miryea, a proper Soranian physician's apprentice with a lot of insecurities under her strong facade, and Adimir, half nomadic Kulchu and all muscle? Cultural differences and attacking slavers get in their way, but when the gods themselves are trying to tell you something, they'll find a way to make you listen.

Sex magic, spanking, and romance in a lush ancient land--what a great way to warm the last days of winter. And today, my novella Lady Sun Has Risen goes on sale at Phaze Books. Check it out!

It's funny, actually. I've had two books of poetry published, and a ton of short fiction, and of course Cat Scratch Fever. But because this is my first erotic romance long enough to stand alone, I'm squealing like a publication virgin. Whee!

Excerpt (Stop reading if you don't like sexy stuff--although if you don't, you're on the wrong blog.)

[For context, Adimir has just smacked Miryea's butt and she's not entirely sure how she feels about that.]

She took a deep breath, trying to let the cool spring air that filled her lungs cool the fire in her blood as well. “Slapping was on the list,” she snapped, putting all the indignation she knew she ought to feel into her voice, along with the bit she actually did feel. “How dare you...” She quivered in his firm grasp, half from lust, half from anger directed at least as much at herself as at Adimir.
“Same reason you dared to rub up instead of kneeing me in the ballocks,” he said. “We want each other. The Lord of Grain and Lady Sun are drawing us together as the seasons change. Makes us daring--crazy, even. Like this.”
He released her wrists. A dozen impulses flashed through her mind: fleeing; slapping Adimir’s too-handsome, too-smug face; smacking his ass and seeing how he liked it; climbing his glorious body like a tree.
What happened instead was that he pulled her close, cupped her stinging bottom with one big hand, and kissed her again, even more thoroughly than before.
It was a rough kiss, deep and hard and intense, opening her mouth and taking control of it. Thrusting with his tongue as he must want to do with his cock in her pussy. Kneading her tender ass as he kissed her, causing either pleasurable pain or painful pleasure. Each squeeze seemed to move her pussy lips together, letting her know exactly how wet and sensitized she was.
His free hand snaked into the neckline of her coats, slid down to feel the weight of her breast, toyed with a nipple. She cried out into his mouth as a bolt of pleasure shot through her.
Her knife dropped from fingers much more interested in touching him than keeping track of it.
Rolling her hips, she stretched on tiptoe to work herself against his hardness.
I’m a fool, she told herself, but she really didn’t care. Not now.
And when Adimir broke off the kiss and unbuttoned her coats--first the silk and wool outer one, then the light wool inner layer--and pushed aside the linen inner robe, she cared even less. A hot mouth suckling her nipples, first one, then the other, drawing them to peaks that felt as explosive as a volcano. A hand infiltrating the waistband of her salvar, reaching down to part her slick lips.
Adimir raised his head. “You’re like a river,” he said, “or the spring rains flooding the land. Amazing.”