The highs make you giddy, but the lows’ll bury you

I’m Michelle Moore, half of the writing team responsible for the Ylendrian Empire scifi series, and Delilah has been kind enough to let me invade her blog with a guest post today.

The past few weeks have been interesting, to say the least.  Right before Halloween, my other (and most would say better) half, Reesa Herberth, was hospitalized with pulmonary embolisms.  Actually, do you use the plural term embolisms if there are multiple blood clots in both lungs or is it always just a pulmonary embolism singular?  Funny, never thought to ask the doctor about correct terminology.  Anyway, can I say how terrifying it is to hear that someone you love was within a day of dying if she hadn’t gone to the ER?  Pretty damn scary.  You know, just in case you were wondering.

The day Reesa got out of the hospital we got the news that we’d sold our newest novel to Riptide Publishing.   We sweated blood and tears over Peripheral People, mainly because it was a real stretch for us, a mystery with a psychic serial killer (in SPACE!).  Never having written a mystery before, we had a trial-by-fire learning experience, and while we both had the utmost faith in the story, we were still worried about finding it the right home.  So talk about euphoria when Rachel Haimowitz at Riptide contacted us.

I don’t think I’m mentally equipped for extreme ups and downs.  I have a tic in my left eye, I’ve chewed my cuticles to the quick, and if I were given the opportunity to get in bed with Delilah, I’m afraid it would only be so I could pull the covers up over my head and hide!

Anyone else been on an out of control see-saw?  Comment with your gory details for a chance to win an e-book copy of The Balance of Silence or The Slipstream Con.

Michelle

Snow Bound (In All the Right Ways)

Snow. The very sight and sound of it’s descent to the earth is magical. The hushed anticipation that comes with the first few snowflakes as they drift to the ground before melting.

I know those of you who live with it knee-deep several times a year might not feel the same, but for those of us living in the southern United States, the appearance of this enchanting weather phenomenon is few and far between. My debut novella opens with the little town of Cadence experiencing the worst snowstorm the Tennessee valley has seen in a decade. While it takes several feet to confine those of you in other places to your homes, down south whole towns can be incapacitated by a few inches because we don’t have the equipment to keep roads clear and make travel safe on icy highways.

I have wonderful memories of few and far between snow days. The still silence of standing in the woods while crystallized flakes blanket the ground in a crunchy white crust. Watching the first reactions of my babies, totally unused to this freezing ground cover. My father and neighbors clearing our little rural road with their own chainsaws after waiting days for the county to move downed trees. And refusing to get on the roads because, in case you don’t know it, us southerners are dangerous on ice! Not near enough practice, in my opinion. But one particular memory stands out in my mind.

During the first year of my marriage, we had a major snowstorm that covered the state with a layer of ice underneath the white stuff, along with a week of temps that kept the slick surface from melting. And since we weren’t keen on getting run over, my hubby and I holed up in the house with a heating unit not nearly adequate enough to keep the freezing air at bay. Best defensive action? 2 bodies. 1 blanket.

I guess I don’t need to explain where that type of scenario might lead? Especially for newlyweds. SNOW BOUND’s hero and heroine are certainly tempted to heat up their nights while snowed into the heroine’s isolated farmhouse – if they can keep safe from the past determined to terrorize their cozy little nest.

What’s your favorite way to pass the time if you’re SNOW BOUND?

Today I’m giving away a cute little “snow” pack to 1 lucky commenter, including hot chocolate, a snowman cookie, fuzzy lap blanket, and a $5 Amazon gift card. My heroine would most definitely approve!

* * * * *

SNOW BOUND

Available now through Amazon and Smashwords.

The last thing Damon West wants is a trip to his bookish neighbor’s house in the midst of the worst snowstorm Cadence, TN, has seen in a decade. Still, his military instincts warn him that Miss Priss could use a little help. His arrival is met with an attack by an unknown assailant and the sight of Miss Priss in a sexy wisp of nothing-much, confidently wielding a double-barreled shotgun.

Tori Anderson carefully portrays herself as a responsible bookstore owner and capable young woman to anyone willing to look twice. But two men grappling in her backyard called for speed more than decorum. That’s how the guy she’d been secretly lusting after since he’d bought the house next door sees her in a silky robe and panties—with nothing in between. Damon’s sudden interest thrills her, but she can’t help worrying about the unknown threat scared off by her shotgun blast.

Trapped in her house under several feet of snow with no way to reach the outside world, Tori finally has the chance to indulge her wildest fantasies. But she isn’t sure which is more daunting—the abusive boyfriend back to punish her or her desire to have more than one night with the town’s most unavailable bachelor.

NaNo Day 9:
SS-2—0 words (vacation)

When It Rains, It Pours

You’ve heard the old adage, “When it rains, it pours”, right?

Well, Superstorm Sandy poured rain and wind all over me and the rest of the east coast over the weekend leading up to Halloween.

What does this have to do with writing?

To set the scene, I submitted my twelfth book with Ellora’s Cave to my editor on April 30. Got an acceptance June 15 for Mercy and Redemption with the notation to send a blurb and fill in a cover request form. I got my cover within a month and it was awesome! But edits? I was waiting and waiting and waiting…

Until, you guessed it, Sunday night, October 28, when I opened an email from my editor with “Revisions” in the subject line. This was the night before Sandy ravaged the power grid in eastern Pennsylvania. Not only that, I couldn’t upload, format and post a scary blog about sexual predators by Dr. Matthew Scrivens on my blogsite until the lights came back on late Wednesday, October 31. That’s also the day my electronic calendar reminded me I had committed to writing a guest blog for Delilah that would be due, yes, the next day.

So, it rained writing obligations that Halloween day, and it was a trick to get them all done. S’okay, I’m a procrastinator and I work well under pressure. Um, I used to, anyway.

Based on all of that, Frankenstorm Sandy gave me the subject matter for this blog, which was sent in a timely fashion to Delilah. My own blog got uploaded. The edits for Mercy and Redemption have been submitted and soon, I hope, I’ll have a release date. Meanwhile, here’s the blurb:

Searching in an old cemetery for likely gravestones to illustrate her colonial cookbook, Mercy Howe meets two hunks who are tracing their ancestry and sparks fly. Literally.

When Mercy casually touches Seth and Adam, her vividly erotic vision involving all three of them feels like a memory, not a dream, and awakens long-dormant sexual urges. Their kisses are achingly familiar, and she welcomes each in turn into her body. Then she spends a no-holds-barred weekend with both men in her bed and discovers an intimacy—and a past—that blows her mind.

As memories resurface from three hundred years ago, Mercy will have to choose whether to relive their experiences from the past or forge a new bond with either Seth or Adam. Or both.

Mercy and Redemption is a present-day sequel to Punishment and Mercy, which was set in 1694 Massachusetts. To one commenter chosen by Delilah at random, I’ll award a prize of a download to Punishment and Mercy to whet your appetite for the upcoming release.

About Cris Anson:

I write erotic romance because I firmly believe that life doesn’t stop at the bedroom door. I had a deeply romantic relationship with my husband of 22 years, and I want to celebrate his memory in my writing. After he died, it took me a long time to come out of my grief, but parts of him — his honor, courage, optimism, tenacity, and lust for life — live on in all my heroes. They’re all alpha men, as well.

And I write erotic romance because I feel you’re never too old to give or receive love. Many of my stories have older heroines who dazzle younger men (one of them was Adding Heat, a novella for the Cougar Challenge series), and I wouldn’t mind being such a heroine in real life. But that’s another story…

You can find more information about me here:

Website www.crisanson.com
Blog www.crisansonspassions.blogspot.com 
Author page at Ellora’s Cave https://www.jasminejade.com/m-14-cris-anson.aspx
Author page at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0036LJT7A

NaNo Day 8:
SS-2—0 words (vacation)

As you are reading this, I should be somewhere in Virginia farmland, not far from DC. I’ll do my best to poke my head in the door sometime today to see what fabulous answers you come up with!

If you could write yourself into the pages of one of your favorite books to experience that adventure firsthand, what story would you choose?

NaNo Day 7:
SS-2—0 words (vacation)

Psychic Sex

I believe in magic, ESP and unseen forces. I love paranormal romance, super hero movies, Harry Potter books and Tolkien. I always wanted to impress one of Anne MacCaffrey’s queen dragons, and I’m still hoping that one day I’ll wake up and have super powers.

Even with my love of lore, I’m not sure how Crystal, the heroine of Hook Up, ended up being psychic. I think she started out as a smartass know-it-all, and I decided to validate her ability to put her friends on the spot. Crystal went through hell after a one-night stand left her with empathic abilities, but her friends think it’s a nifty power to have. She always knows how people feel about her. Her gift enabled her to start a successful sensual psychic business. When things begin to go south in a relationship, she can bail before it gets messy. Sounds pretty cool, huh?

I have to admit there have been several moments in my life that would have been easier with some emotional intel. For example, I broke up with an actor when I was in my twenties. He was devastated. Riiiiight…In hindsight, I think he was enjoying playing the break up scene. I was sobbing. He was shouting. What a power trip for him! If I could have sensed his true emotions, I bet I would have played that scene differently. I would have gotten up off my knees and gone out for a celebratory drink!

And then there were all those first-times in bed when I wondered am I doing this right? Oh, to be Crystal then! I wouldn’t have had to wonder if my partner was having a good time. I’d have known! High school romance would have been easier, too. I remember the first time I got the it’s not you, it’s me spiel. If I were an empath, I would have known he was lying. I would have known it was me. The truth hurts, but it’s more humane than complicated emotional half-lies. If I remember correctly, I spent at least another year hoping I could change him. Alas, it never happened, and yes, I occasionally stalk him on Facebook! *snort*

However, you know what I really love about paranormal romances? The hot sex. When characters connect on a physical and a psychic level, the sex is off the charts. In Hook Up, the sex blew Crystal’s mind—literally. When they reconnect, it’s even hotter. I’ve been lucky enough to have moments with my husband that felt supernatural, and I fully expect our connection to get even hotter when my psychic powers come in. What about you? Have you always wanted to be a witch? A shifter? Vampire? Do you want to fly? Do you wish you could read minds? What’s your favorite super power? Or are you just in it for the psychic sex? Do you have a paranormal author who blew your mind? I’d love to have a rec for my TBR pile! Leave a comment and I’ll put your name in the sorting hat to win a Hook Up Survival Kit.

The Hook Up Kit includes:

Orchid temporary tattoo (just likeCrystal’s!)
Mini Magic 8-Ball (to check the auspices for a hook up)
E-copy of Bottoms Up, the first book in the Come Again series (because I can’t actually hook you up, but I can offer you a few hours of reading pleasure. If you already have it, you can re-gift it!)
Two STUDDED condoms (Safety first! In Hook Up, Ryan buys condoms at Come Again and discovers there is more to life than ribbed.)
Romance Trading Cards for Bottoms Up and Solo Play (because I love e-books, but I do miss actual book covers!)

A blast from the past can be hell on the heart.

“Spend the night with me, Crystal.”

One college hook-up with Ryan Anderson ripped Crystal LaRusso’s emotions wide open and hot-wired her to the world around her. After gaining control of her new abilities, she rebuilt her life and started a business as a sensual psychic. She’s bold, fearless and, admittedly, a little freaky. Black leather, exotic makeup and a reputation for only dating women keeps the world at a necessary distance—distance she can’t maintain when Ryan reappears in her life.

Ryan has spent the last ten years wondering what went wrong between them, and now that she’s back in his life,Crystalhas a lot of explaining to do. The chemistry is just as potent as it was ten years ago, so why does she keep running away? One night won’t be enough to satisfy Ryan’s need for her, but it might take the edge off. At the very least, he can ask her why she broke his heart—and this time he’s not leaving without an answer.

Product Warnings: This book contains an unforgettable one-night stand, a heroine with a taste for beautiful women, a quest that begins in a sex shop and ends in a sex club, and enough mind-blowing psychic sex to change one lucky man’s life forever.A Hook Up excerpt can be found here and Hook Up can be purchased wherever naughty books are sold!

About Miranda Baker

It makes me chuckle to think about all the romantic short stories I wrote in my rather too literary creative writing classes in college. If only one of my professors had steered me toward popular fiction! On the other hand, if I had discovered my calling back then, I wouldn’t have gone to culinary school, I wouldn’t have met my husband, we wouldn’t have had three children and I wouldn’t have turned to erotic romance to get my mojo back during all this hair-raising kid raising. To learn more about me, please visit:

My den of iniquity: https://www.mirandabaker.com
My home away from home: https://www.facebook.com/MirandaBakerfans
Or my favorite hangout: https://twitter.com/Miranda_Baker

Delilah, I know you understand the appeal of writing hot paranormals. Thanks so much for having me on your blog today! And thank YOU for stopping by—please comment to enter the Hook Up Survival Kit giveaway, and let’s talk sexy super powers!

NaNo Day 5:
SS-2—3017 words

Writing Kink 

When my editor sent out a call for submissions for kink stories, I wasn’t quite sure how kink was defined. I discussed it with her and determined that kink was turning something non-sexual into something that aroused and titillated. Think shoe fetish or foot fetish. Or Seinfeld’s George Constanza and his velvet couch. Disturbing images of a naked George Constanza on a purple velvet sofa aside, the idea of writing kink intrigued me.

As an avid watcher of HBO’s Real Sex and Billie Piper in Diary of a Call Girl, I’d seen some pretty kinky stuff. I’d also read Anne Rice’s Beauty Trilogy which turned me on more than I cared to admit. Some of those scenes still play out in my head.

I enjoy the psychology of sex. And delving into characters whose psyches had been twisted, resulting in the association of everyday events or things with sex fascinated me to no end. But as a plain vanilla bonne vivante in real life, I realized one doesn’t have to participate in kink or bdsm to enjoy reading about it. 

For my first foray into the steamy, taboo world of kink, I drew on my own memories of playing doctor with the kid next door. To this day, a sexy nurse stars in many of my fantasies. Research revealed that more people than I ever dreamed of not only fantasized about medical fetish scenarios, but acted on them!

After two failed marriages, Avery Walker is encouraged by her therapist to explore her secret obsession. She can’t get off without fantasizing about submitting to intimate examinations—performed by a hot female nurse. When she joins a medical fetish website, she expects to find a partner who’ll provide a little probing and maybe some sexual release to help Avery get in touch with her kinky side. 

Then she meets Nurse Lovette… 

The consummate professional, Darby Lovette is determined to keep her relationship with Avery one of nurse and patient—nearly impossible when the gorgeous woman is on the exam table, willingly submitting to unspeakably intimate “procedures”. The fact that she’s loved and lost helps Darby maintain her resolve; falling in love isn’t part of her treatment plan. But Avery’s determination to explore sex with a woman just might be the cure for what ails them both. 

Reader Advisory: This book employs myriad toys created especially for erotic exams, no holes barred, and, ahem…perhaps a sensual enema—or two.

Surprised by how well Nurse Lovette was received by my readers, I probed into the world of kink again after reading Adele Dubois’ She’s Furry Yiffy, in the She-Shifters anthology, and seeing an episode on a crime drama about people who enjoyed dressing up as various critters to be treated as pets. The kink is called pet play and I drew on it for Purr, a lesbian historical about Katzenhalle, sort of a home for wayward women that’s ruled by a dominatrix who requires her charges to dress as cats and do all manner of kinky things.

Having been caught kissing a servant girl, Arabella suddenly finds herself shackled and bound for Katzenhalle Villa, where she expects to be forced into servitude. Instead, she discovers the mansion is home to other young women with Sapphic penchants—and good behavior is rewarded with kittenhood. All who reside at the villa dream of donning cat ears and tails and earning status as one of the mistress’s “pets”. 

There’s one caveat. Romantic entanglements are strictly forbidden, and this poses a problem when Arabella catches the eye of a favored pet, Giselle. 

Risking discovery, the women indulge their mutual desire, heated looks escalating to thrilling touches with fingers, mouths…tongues. Until Arabella discovers things are not as purr-fect as they seem at Katzenhalle. While breaking the rules may see them punished, the treachery of falling in love may come at a fatal price. 

Reader Advisory: The kittens of Katzenhalle can’t get enough hedonistic sexual attention. They enjoy female/female sex, light BDSM, ménages, multiple partners and even the occasional sensual enema. Meow!

***CONTEST*** Share your fetish fantasy or comment about kink to be entered in a drawing to win a free download of my latest Ellora’s Cave release, Purr!

Intrigued? If you’d like to read more, visit my website at https://Paisley-Smith.com

* * * * *

About the Author

I’m Paisley Smith! I am a full time freelance writer and can usually be found in front of my computer either writing, chatting, promoting or plotting. It’s a glamorous life…working in one’s pajamas.

I attended college in the Deep South where I obtained a slew of totally useless degrees and developed an unrelenting sense of humor.

My books can be found at Ellora’s Cave , Loose Id, and Cleis Press!

I’m a member of Romance Writers of America.

NaNo Day 2:
SS-2—1574 words

You know that feeling when you finish a book and you loved the characters so much you want to immediately read it all over again? Or when you slow down toward the end (or try, anyway!) because you really, really don’t want it to end? When I love a book, I do all of the above.

So imagine how it is when you’re actually writing the book, and it’s part of a series, and you’ve come to know the characters over four books and three years. That’s what’s going on with me right now as the final book in the Receptionist series, UNLEASHING THE RECEPTIONIST, comes out. Talk about separation anxiety. I’m a basketcase! 

I still remember where I was when I wrote the first word in this series (the café at the Anchorage public library.) Of course I didn’t know it would be a series then. It was just a book written on a whim, a saucy, kinky nod to office power politics called TRAINING THE RECEPTIONIST, starring Dana Arthur and her two sexy bosses. But the characters weren’t done with me yet, and I felt called to write a sequel (RESTRAINING THE RECEPTIONIST.) And then, a wonderful reviewer wondered if I was ever going to write about the past of the two heroes, Ethan Cowell and Simon Dirk. Well, of course I was, now that she mentioned it! As soon as I read her review, I knew exactly how I wanted to reveal the secret incident that brought them together.

(If you ever wondered whether reviews influence authors, in this case it definitely happened.)

Dana, Ethan and Simon and I go way back, and saying goodbye is difficult. Those three sure know how to rock each other’s worlds, and they’ve certainly rocked mine. Here’s the blurb for the last installment in their story, as well as an R-rated excerpt. And this is me, blowing kisses to my dear departing characters.

You can tie a girl up, but you can’t keep her down…

…the Receptionist, Book 3

In the year since Dana joined Ethan and Simon’s firm, the three of them have found the perfect balance of power and pleasure in their three-way, work/play relationship. Not only that, but it’s been the firm’s most successful year financially.

Except something is missing. Her men won’t tell her anything about their past. How they met, or how they formed such an unconventional business and personal partnership. Until they start sharing their secrets, Dana fears she’ll always be the odd girl out.

Everything changes when a vengeful former partner resurfaces. Suddenly, both the business and their idyllic relationship are under siege. With a tax auditor watching their every move, the three must be on their best behavior.

Never one to back down from a challenge, Dana seizes the chance to prove herself—and finally win her sexy bosses’ full trust and confidence. Now the race is on to root the evil nemesis out of their lives once and for all—before her dream relationship cracks under the pressure. 

Product Warnings: Contains hot three-way M/F/M sex, highly inappropriate office behavior, a shocking secret, a kinky accountant and some really bad girl-on-girl porno reenactments.

 Excerpt:

On a typical workday, if I’m chained to my desk it’s with silk cords and for one purpose only—because it leads to screaming orgasms for me and my two delectable bosses, Simon and Ethan.

With one exception. Business plan time.

During business plan, I’m chained to the desk in the usual, strictly metaphorical way. You know, working. Needless to say, it’s not my favorite time of year. It’s tough to spend all day and half the night shut up inside an office with two sexy gods when neither has touched you once. But maybe that’s just me. Not every receptionist has been trained to receive pleasure as well as incoming calls.

“Dana,” said Ethan, jolting me from my sexually frustrated daze. “Can you put another pot of coffee on, luv? And then I’ll need the P&L’s again.”

I hid a sigh as I trudged to the kitchenette. “Coming up.”

At least the profit and loss statements were good. Cowell & Dirk had had a very satisfactory year. Especially if you asked the only actual employee—me. I had experienced a blissfully high level of job satisfaction since Simon had hired and trained me.

“Mu shu pork okay?” called Simon. “I’m ordering from Great Wok.”

Now that was more like it. My mood brightened as I put on the coffee and gathered up the files. I’d do anything for my bosses, we all knew that. But I certainly preferred some duties to others.

“Food’s on its way,” said Simon when I returned with the coffee pot. “If I could only tear Ethan away from that spreadsheet.” He shot me a green-eyed pirate wink. His hair was a tousled black mess, but I loved my Simon in all his moods.

I gave him a questioning glance, wanting to make sure I’d interpreted correctly. Simon and Ethan had a strange bond, one I couldn’t quite figure out even though I was closer to them than anyone. They seemed to read each other without words. Simon gave me a go-ahead tilt of his head. With his wrinkled white shirt open at the neck, he looked half-drunk, as if he’d been swilling expensive brandy all night instead of crunching numbers.

“Maybe we need to spread something else in front of him,” I suggested. I put down the files and the coffee and prowled toward Ethan, who barely looked up from his swivel chair. He wore his reading glasses, his grizzled blond head bent over the desk. I challenge you to find anyone hotter than a sexual beast like Ethan with a pair of wire rims perched on his much-broken nose.

I knew from the angle of his head that he was tracking my approach. Ethan was like a wild animal picking up scents, especially the scent of eager Dana. His nostrils flared as I came close to the desk. Read the rest of this entry »