I am in dire need of a cup of coffee. A soon-to-be three-year-old woke me because her diaper needed changing. Yeah, three-year-old! And she knew where they were, which side faced front, then adjusted hers so it fit the way she liked. Does this girl need to be using the potty, or what? She’s been very stubborn.

And why am I the one changing her? Her mommy’s sick, so I spent the night. Strange bed + kitties purring and meowing in it = no sleep. Coffee.

I’m not very verbal first thing in the morning. So I will leave you with a question.

Have you left your Christmas/Holiday shopping ’til the last minute?
If so, what do you have left to buy?

Please remember, there are three contests ongoing at the moment. Check here for details:
*Win a copy of Best Erotic Romance (ends Dec 23rd)
*Win The Baby Dragon Incense Burner Contest (ends Dec 27th)
*Win a $25.00 Amazon.com certificate (ends Dec 27th)

My friend Lisa Renee Jones has the next Alluring Tales: Night Moves story ready for you to enjoy!

A witch after his secret. A wolf after her pleasure.

Nico Moore is the leader of of The Werewolf Society’s elite Royal Guard. Aylia Richardson is the witch who calls to the beast in Nico, but destiny has also made her the keeper of a gift that threatens the very existence of his race. To destroy this gift will destroy this woman…the only one he has ever dared to call ‘mate’.

Smashwords * Kindle * All Romance eBooks

Aylia was standing outside Nico’s hotel room, willing herself to knock, when Nico opened the door and pulled her inside. Suddenly, she was against the wall, and he was pressed against her, his fingers threading through her hair, dragging her mouth to his.

“Now we talk,” he said, his breath warm on her lips.

“This isn’t talking,” she panted, telling herself to push him away, but melting into him instead.

“Foreplay to conversation,” he said, closing his mouth over hers.

Aylia moaned as his tongue stroked hers, as a year of needing him and missing him tore through her. She couldn’t fight this, didn’t even try. She wrapped her arms around his neck, arching into him, craving the feel of his hard body against hers; the sanctuary he’d always been to her.

He growled low in his throat, deepening the kiss, the taste of him – spicy, male, erotic – driving her wild.

His hands slid down her waist, one shoving her skirt up, caressing her backside and then cupping it, pulling her against the hard ridge of his erection.

She pressed her hands under his shirt, seeking skin, seeking that ultimate connection, the freedom of barriers, the escape from everything that had gone wrong between them, everything that still could. She just needed him.

Thanks so much, Delilah, for letting me take over your blog today. I’m Randi Alexander, I write cowboy erotic romances, and I’m a co-blogger with Delilah at Wild and Wicked Cowboys. We will also be published together in the Cowboy Lust anthology coming from Cleis Press in fall, 2012.

One of my readers sent me this story, and asked me to pass it along. It’s about a young man named Matt whose Christmas story gives us a picture of life on a ranch in 1881. I loved the story, and I hope you’ll enjoy it, too.

Pa never had much compassion for the lazy or those who squandered their means and then never had enough for the necessities. But for those who were genuinely in need, his heart was as big as all outdoors. It was from him that I learned the greatest joy in life comes from giving, not from receiving.

It was Christmas Eve 1881. I was fifteen years old and feeling like the world had caved in on me because there just hadn’t been enough money to buy me the rifle that I’d wanted for Christmas. We did the chores early that night for some reason. I just figured Pa wanted a little extra time so we could read in the Bible.

After supper was over I took my boots off and stretched out in front of the fireplace and waited for Pa to get down the old Bible. I was still feeling sorry for myself and, to be honest, I wasn’t in much of a mood to read Scriptures. But Pa didn’t get the Bible, instead he bundled up again and went outside. I couldn’t figure it out because we had already done all the chores. I didn’t worry about it long though, I was too busy wallowing in self-pity.

Soon Pa came back in. It was a cold clear night out and there was ice in his beard. “Come on, Matt,” he said. “Bundle up good, it’s cold out tonight.” I was really upset then. Not only wasn’t I getting the rifle for Christmas, now Pa was dragging me out in the cold, and for no earthly reason that I could see. We’d already done all the chores, and I couldn’t think of anything else that needed doing, especially not on a night like this. But I knew Pa was not very patient at one dragging one’s feet when he’d told them to do something, so I got up and put my boots back on and got my cap, coat, and mittens. Ma gave me a mysterious smile as I opened the door to leave the house. Something was up, but I didn’t know what. Read the rest of this entry »

**Just one day left to enter to win a Dragon and a Cup of Joe**

I have a brand-spanking-new Facebook Fan Page!!!! What’s that, you say? I can’t explain it, except to say that the fan page will allow me to reach more people than my personal page which is nearing capacity. I am switching to the Fan Page and will slowly wean readers from my personal page by offering bribes to make the change. I’ll be running a contest, very shortly, that only the folks who have “Liked” my page are eligible to enter. There will be a Kindle Fire and a slew of smaller prizes up for grabs!

So what do you have to do? 1) Click the Fan Page link. 2) Click the “Like” button. Simple as that.

So what’s up today? I have to start a new story today. Have to,  have to! Or rather finish the one I already have started. You’ve seen the cover:

Help me figure out what the story’s about!

Is it contemporary or medieval, or contemporary with a medieval feel? I started it in the present, where there’s a mysterious man who has reconstructed his European castle here in American. Does that work for you?

It’s a given there will be a ménage, but what flavor of ménage do you want? m/m/f or m/f/m?

My young, aspiring reporter is a virgin. How can that be?

Ready for the challenge?

Please remember, there are three contests ongoing at the moment. Check here for details: 
*Win a Dragon and a Cup of Joe (ends Dec 20th)
*Win a copy of Best Erotic Romance (ends Dec 23rd)
*Win a $25.00 Amazon.com certificate (ends Dec 27th)

The garage sale is over! For now. We made a whole whopping $150.00! Guess right before Christmas isn’t the best time to do one. We froze our butts off for two days and ransacked the closets of this new old house. Every time I went looking for things to put out, I found something I wanted, so it went into my stack. 🙂

My sis, Myla Jackson, kept me and the Red-Headed Hellion company part of the time. And since sis is still here, I better mosey on down to spend some time with her! So while I’m visiting with family, you can answer a question:

What body part are you most attracted to?

I swear my life would make the best reality show. A house full of eccentric elderly people. Pets who act like children. A Red-Headed Hellion with children who would frighten The Children of the Corn. I’m the one in the middle of all the chaos.

I’ve been trying to simplify my life. However, the older of the two little girls has some learning issues. I’m going to be helping with homeschool. I already babysit quite a bit, rush to town to help with emotional bedtimes, etc. For a year, my daughter lived in a trailer she’d bought and put in the pasture beside our house. It was to be a temporary housing solution. We hoped the house across the road would come available and be reasonable priced, but when that didn’t happen fast enough, I found a very nice, cute little house that needed a few renovations in town, five minutes away. Problem solved, or so I thought.

A week after her family moved in, the house across the road was offered to us, along with 8 acres of land. No more driving to get where I’m needed. No more worrying about the hellions escaping the front door and running into the street (the two-year old moves step stools to reach the upper latch of the front door). But the house was built in the early 80’s and was occupied by an old lady who lived alone until her family moved her into a nursing home. We pretty much have to plan to gut the bathrooms and redo them, replace the roof, the carpet, the tile…

So, I’m buying that house, along with everything still inside it, selling the other, and this weekend we are holding a massive garage sale to get rid of all the items the woman horded in her house for thirty years.

We have found some treasures. I scarfed up two lovely old blue carnival glass bowls. My daughter found a Beatle record in mint condition. My mother, aunt and grandmother swarmed the crocheted afghans and a multitude of coats and jackets the woman barely wore.

Yesterday, my grinning son-in-law walked in to present me with a Teen Wolf doll whose eyes glow red and growls when you flip the switch.

The sale starts early tomorrow morning, so be thinking about me, setting up tables to pile with clothing, toys, dishes, crocheted toilet tissue covers, a dozen bibles, statues with Jesus standing at the bottom of the sea beside a conch shell, dressers crammed with linens, picture frames with photos of smiling people who are no longer living and whose relatives didn’t care enough to save.

My daughter has a box for the photos she’s sure some long-lost grandchild might someday return to find. She’ll keep it along with the dead husband’s Mason uniform and her Mason wife’s pin. Maybe when the old woman finally passes, she’ll return and be happy about the fact we saved something she treasured. While we renovate, we’ll respect.

But she’s not getting the Teen Wolf doll back.

Psst! Remember, continue to post in order to increase your chances to win
The Dragon with a Cup of Joe Contest!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

‘Tis the Season

‘Tis the season of giving. And it’s still a season of thanksgiving, as well as a season of reflection.

I have done a few things this year outside my comfort zone. I’ve learned a lot, changed a lot, and I’ve met some wonderful people this year. One of them being Delilah. She is down to Earth, open, kind, patient.

I’d started reading her cowboy stories before the Lori Foster Readers and Authors get together in June and when I had the chance to meet her, I zoomed across the room and accosted her. I told her I loved her books and that I’d love to pick her brain some time. She was gracious and offered to sit down with me at breakfast the next morning.

That kind of willing and open kindness is something I find missing a lot in this business and in life in general. I don’t understand it. Delilah let me ask questions and never made me feel like a lesser author just because I didn’t have the right publishing credentials or didn’t know the right people. There was nothing I could do for her in return for her sitting and talking with me.

She’s professional and she’s quick with a smile. Her sister, Myla Jackson, is the same way. Both of these women are incredibly successful yet don’t treat others any different for not being quite so… They gave of their time and their lessons learned. They gave of themselves and in the spirit of giving, that’s something most reserve for the holidays, but they gave it in the middle of the year. They touched me and I know they touched others. We should all strive to be less full of ourselves and willing to talk with, spend time with, and help each other. We should all strive to talk less about ourselves and our successes, and listen more.

These two authors are not the only ones like this. I’ve met others this year who are just as quick to take a moment to talk, to offer their time, to do something that may not benefit them in any way at all but to make someone else smile or feel better.

I do a lot of reflective thinking at this time of year. What could I do better, how could I be a better friend, a better author, a better mother, daughter, wife, a better all around person? I think I know and it starts with saying thank you to Delilah and Myla for showing me the kind of author/person I want to be toward others in this business.

Throughout the holiday season this year, I’ve been emailing people I’ve met in this business to thank them for their friendship, to thank them for any help they’ve given me, to tell them I miss them, that I love their books, and in some of my guest posts I am doing it, too. Just like in this one.

What about you? Have you told those that mean something to you or that have come into your life and changed you in some way, thank you?

Of course, now, I get to plug in a bit about my upcoming Samhain Publishing release, Twisted Up. It’ll be available on December 20th for purchase, however it is available for pre-order now at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Samhain Publishing.

One rope. Three days. And two hearts on the line.

Justin has had enough. Ella, the woman who healed his broken heart, has been cancelling on him for two months straight. Sure, she’s busy with her job, which has her traveling far and wide. But that never stopped her from sharing nights of trivia, long conversations and blazing hot sex—until now. Truth to tell, he misses their easy friendship, the way her sighs fill his ear as he fills her body.

What he can’t figure out is, what’s changed?

At work, Ella finds it easy to talk to rooms full of strangers. Once back at her lonely apartment, though, she’s back to her painfully shy self—until Justin. Their chance meeting grew over the months into a year-long affair, but she can’t shake the feeling that rejection and pain are just around the corner. Best thing to do? End it now, before their intimacy digs too deep.

Suddenly he’s at her door with a length of neon-green rope and a naughty proposition, daring her to say no. Just how good could it be? There’s only one way to find out.

Product Warnings: The sheets are tangled, the hat is crumpled, and the jeans are worn low on the hips. The cowboy is hot, determined, and helpless in the face of bunny slippers. Readers may need extra batteries to get this one out of their system.

For more information, please visit my website or blog, and sign up for my newsletter. You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook.

I want to thank Delilah for having me! I wish you all a very happy holiday season.