Praise You
By Dita Parker

I’m on Delilah’s blog, I’m on Delilah’s blog… *chants* What? I think she’s a pretty fabulous author with the track record to match. What is a rookie like me to do but flaunt a little?

Speaking of which, I need to ask you all a favor. I’d like to play a game today. A really simple one and everyone’s eligible to enter. You see, I picked up a beauty magazine at the hairdresser’s the other day and instantly remembered why I gave those up sometime during the last century: they make you feel ugly. Conveniently, they also offer the remedy to all the insecurities and inferiorities of their own making on the very next page because that’s what they’re selling, both the disease and the cure.

Screw them. I think there’s nothing more beautiful than someone who is comfortable in their own skin, and it has nothing to do with what we’re being sold or told. So what I want to do today is hear you flaunt your fannies off. I don’t want to know what you’d change about yourself if you could, I want to know what you wouldn’t trade for the world. I don’t want you to compare yourself to anyone, living or dead, and say you wish you looked like so-and-so, I want you to tell me what you like about yourself. When we’re done, keep telling yourself that, with conviction, with a vengeance, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Okay? Okay.

To get you going, I’ll go first. I like my eyes, golden brown stars spreading on olive green. My nails are strong and healthy, so is my hair. Wavy, wash and go, always a plus when you don’t have the time or the inclination to spend gargantuan portions of time in front of the bathroom mirror each morning. You know what else is naturally curvy? My figure. I got hips and shoulders and I’ve got a butt, but I’ve also got a waist, a proportional hourglass I think looks pretty nice.

That wasn’t so hard. It actually felt quite good, and that’s saying a lot when you’re originally from Europe where they teach you self-aggrandizement is the eighth deadly sin. Luckily, I grew up elsewhere.

Before I forget, thank you, Delilah, for the spotlight! Now let’s turn it on you. Don’t be shy and do not be modest. Show me the pretty, the beautiful, what you love about yourselves, and shine on!

Yours truly madly deeply,
Dita Parker
http://ditaparker.blogspot.com

I’m blogging today at Everything Erotic. If you’ve never visited the site, it’s chock full of smutty delights from reviews of sex toys, informative articles about sexual mores of the past, and best of all, erotic fiction!

I’m going to be sharing the story I contributed to the Lambda award-winning anthology, Lesbian Cowboys. The first installment goes up this morning. Stop by to check out the site and be sure to say hello!

Hey there! It’s my turn to guest blog. I’m hanging out today at the Vampire Chix blog! Come on over and say hi, and be sure to enter the contest for a chance to win a free autographed book! While I’m playing hooky, I’ll be working on getting the books and gifts ready to go that have accumulated in my To Be Mailed stack. Ugh! I need an assistant.

Drop by! I’d love to see some familiar faces. ~DD 😉

Before I get to my report card, I want to express some heartfelt gratitude.

Thanks to reviewers for the following lovely comments:

From Fresh Fiction on Darkness Captured: “Another hot read of dark sensuality, riveting situations and jaw-dropping desire.”

5 Stars (Orgasmic heat) from Just Erotic Romance for Bad, Bad Girifriend: “…Ms. Devlin puts you right in the thick of things and you feel the emotion that drives their decisions. The characters are well developed and the story is satisfying to the end. Make no mistake, this short is scorching HOT! So be careful, your toys may burst into flames…”

4/5 from Book of Secrets for Pleasing Sir: “…Delilah Devlin knows how to write a scorching hot short story!…There is a wickedly delicious twist at the very end that I don’t want to give away. I’ll just say that Raelie is one lucky girl!”

And huge thanks to readers, who’ve made Pleasing Sir and Four Sworn such stellar successes!

Amazon stats for Pleasing Sir:

Amazon stats for Four Sworn:

And, back to the report card…

I’m settling into a routine. One that has me running to the keyboard every spare moment I have. I have a six-year-old and a 20-month-old underfoot during the week, and they are both darling little time-suckers. But I am making progress.

I wrapped up the next installment of my serialized free read, Bad Moon Rising. I sent it through the Rose’s critique group, and should have it back today. Then I’ll revise quickly and ship it to my webmistress for her to put up on the site. Depending on how booked up she is, you should be able to read it by Tuesday or Wednesday.

I’ve also made progress on a new short for the Cleis collection, Women in Lust. I have a woman lusting over a trucker and taking matters into her own hands.

And then there’s the Viking story. And, at last, I feel the groove. I’ve made significant progress and have the story in my head for the next few chapters, which means I will be able to whiz right through the pages. In between diaper changes.

(My T-shirt contest is still running. See last Saturday’s post for details! ~DD)

Well, I finally wrapped up the next installment of Cat Tails: Bad Moon Rising. It’s making it’s way through my critique group this weekend. Once they redline the crap out of it (I slammed it, so I’m sure I have tons of typos), I’ll ship it to my webmistress for her to format it and put a link to it on my Free Story page. So, if you haven’t already read chapters one through three, you might want to head over there now to catch up! Chapter four is sexy and all about DiDi and Mason, so those of you who were a little worried that Bobby S might turn her head…well, not this time around. 😉

Did I mention how hard it is to write a serialized story? Especially an erotic one? I have to keep my audience in mind, which means I have to figure out ways for DiDi to find herself without her clothes with some hot guy every single chapter. And except for chapter one which introduced the characters, I’ve managed it. I’ll be looking for your help to plot the next installment, like always (this is your story!), so keep the need for it to be as erotic as hell in mind when I put out the call for what happens next. If you’re new to how we’ve been working on this together, you might want to check out what the readers have helped me decide so far:
Cat Tails Plotting Posts

Here’s an unedited snippet. So forgive any typos, choppiness, whatever. Enjoy!

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

“DiDi, do you want me to kiss you?”

She rolled her eyes. “Please, or hell, I’ll just ramble on and reveal some really embarrassing things because I was just working my way up to—“

His mouth landed on hers.

She hadn’t known it, but she’d been as tight as a bow until he’d taken the initiative. Immediately, her body went boneless, relaxing as his arms surrounded her, taking responsibility for holding her upright.

His lips opened. She sighed into his mouth, then thrust her tongue inside, licking the edges of his teeth, stroking over his tongue, while his mouth suctioned, pulling her arousal into near frenzy.

She broke the kiss and rested her forehead against his. “You won’t make me wait, will you?”

“Do you know any speed but fast?”

With a choked laugh, she shook her head. “It’s your own damn fault.”

Chuckling, he laid her on the blanket. Then resting on one elbow beside her, he slid one thigh sliding over both of hers. His hand dove beneath her blouse, sliding over her ribs. Fingers tucked beneath her bra to caress her breast, pinching the tip and pulling. She felt the tug all the way to her pussy.

“Take them off,” she rasped. “My clothes. Too many.”

His mouth glided over her cheek, and he nuzzled into her hair. “Do you want to move inside the house?”

“Who’s gonna see? The cats?”

The sound he made, a near perfect, animalistic growl, should have alarmed her, but the tension in his shoulders, and the thickness of his sex rubbing against her hip, sent her own arousal soaring. “Now,” she said. “Fuck me right here.”

Mason pushed up quickly beside her. She sat and thrust up her arms for him to tug off her shirt. Then she reached behind her for the snap of her bra, watching as his fingers flew down the row of buttons on his own shirt. He tossed it to the side, rucked up his white tee, then reached for his belt.

“Not fast enough,” she breathed, eyeing his chest. She pulled off her shoes, opened her pants and wriggled on the hard wood, shoving them off her hips.

His pants were already shed, and he grabbed the ends of hers and ripped them the rest of the way off.

Panting hard, her belly tight, her pussy wet and pulsing, she opened her legs and reached for him.

He knelt between her legs, slipped his hands beneath her buttocks and tilted her to receive his first, forceful thrust.

They both groaned as he entered her. “Fuck, that’s good.” “Move, just move.”

Their voices blended. Soft, short murmurs. More praise than instruction. Already, they knew what the other liked.

“I am tough, ambitious, and I know what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay. I can throw a fit, I am a master at it.” Madonna

I promised pictures from Romanticon today, but I think I will have to wait until Saturday. I’ve been struggling to master all the changes going on in my life and make my daily page count. Monday through Friday, I’m babysitting little ones for my daughter. So, my work schedule has to be crammed into nap times. (Did I mention that my daughter and her two children moved in with me?)

Good news is, I did make progress yesterday—on both the Viking story and the next Cat Tails installment. I should have chapter four of Bad Moon Rising ready to go by the weekend. I know some of you have been eager to see what happens next to DiDi and Mason.

I chose Madonna’s quote today, because it resonates with me right now. It’s Thursday. I’ve been feeling my way through a workable writing schedule all week. I’ve had to really focus on what’s most important right now. Kids first, of course. But for those spare moments, pages! And based on what I wrote yesterday, very sexy pages. My Valkyrie girl is learning what it is to love someone and learning how to receive pleasure from a man. Yummy stuff!

Anyway, I bet you want to know who won yesterdays’ contests. I’ll have to wait to hear from Taige to see who her winner is, and I’ll make sure she posts the name in the commments on her post. My winner from the Access Romance contest is…Patricia K [horseunicornkey@aol.com]!

Back to being a bitch. Hoo-ah!

Two prizes will be awarded today!
See Taige’s prize below and be sure to post a comment here.
Then head to Access Romance for another contest and another chance to win!

Because I love it
By Taige Crenshaw

A conversation that I’ve had a few times in the past and more recently got me to thinking. A lot of blood, sweat, time, sleepless nights and tears go into anything that you love. Whether it is sewing that fabulous outfit, painting a picture, crocheting a throw or any other number of things you do. With each it takes all of what I mentioned above on my your to get to that finished point. It is the same with being a writer. Let me break it down.

Blood – I’ve typed so hard that I’ve left blood on the keyboard or gotten paper cuts while reading through pages of my manuscript. Hey paper cuts hurt something awful. (grin). I put my figurative blood into each book I write. My heart and soul are on each page.

Sweat – I’ve broken into lots of sweat as I pounded away at the keyboard trying to get a scene just right. Talked with a reader which I love to do. Since I am shy this is the hardest for me. Hush those who know me that are laughing. I am shy, just not with those I know and am comfortable with. But I digress. I’ve sweated about a variety of things. Waiting anxiously to hear back on a submission. Edits for my book. Opened a review of my book.

Time – The amount of time spent with writing the book, doing self editing, then again self editing, crit partner editing, your editing again and then off to publisher who you will have to wait for a response. And if you get that all lovely response of “yes” then even more waiting to get to the process. When in the process even more waiting to get through the process. Then after process even more waiting to actual release. Then release then more waiting to see what people think. Whew I am tired of even imagining the time. Yet each moment is worth it. So worth it all.

Sleepless night – The idea in your brain that will not understand that you are sleeping that forces you out of bed in search of paper to write it down. The book you are writing that will not let you rest until that last scene is just so or that last word is complete. The excitement of a new project. The wait for the submission that you sent. Or waiting for a note/call from your editor on something.

Tears – Oh the tears I have cried as I write a scene in a book or read a letter from a reader who actually got the story as intended. The awesome review that said that one phrase that made you smile that the story did as you intended it to do. The bad review that even though they didn’t like the story there was something constructive in it that you took away for future reference. The tears of completion that you finished the story and it was written to the best you could get it. The tears of relief for the contract that you went after or publisher you wanted that story to be with. The tears of making hard choices that will be best for your career.

I could go on and on with a list of what all the things above mean in correlation to writing. I’ve been asked many times why do I write. My quick response is “it’s in my blood, soul and heart”. The more complex one is “because the blood, sweat, time, sleepless nights and tears go into it because I love it.” I get lots of confused looks when I give the complex one so I usually give the simple explanation. With the complex response I’ve never tried to articulate what I meant until now. There are so many layers to it all. So much to say. If you think about it all those points cover many things you do in your life. I have many creative outlets that I pursue. I draw, love to sew, do crafts and cook. Each are things I love and that I want to be my best at.

No matter what you are pursuing. The things that you put your heart into – that you bleed for – figuratively and in reality. The things that bring you closer to people you would never have expected to have anything in common with. Things that may, take time away from family and friends. What you sweat over because you want it to be you upmost best and create a reaction – good or bad. The nights you cannot sleep because your thoughts are consumed with whatever project you are working on. Or the wonder when it is seen by the world and how will they react. The tears you shed to get there, between going there and as you get there. Each tear has a purpose to make you go forward. They each make you learn and grow.

In each thing you do that involves blood, sweat, time, sleepless nights and tears none of it matters because it all boils down to one thing. You do it because you love it.

CONTEST: One commenter will win a chance to choose one pdf download of any one book from my available e-book backlist.

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Taige Crenshaw is a multi-published author with books available at Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Liquid Silver Books, Loose Id, and Total-E-Bound. Taige has been enthralled with the written word from time she picked up her first book. It wasn’t long before she started to make up her own tales of romance. With novels set in today, in alternate dimensions, or in the future she writes with adventure, fun sassy heroine’s, and sexy hero’s. Always hard at work creating new and exciting places Taige can be found curled up with a hot novel with exciting characters when she is not creating her own. Join her in the fun, frolic, interesting people and far reaches of the world in her novels. You can find out more about Taige at her website: http://www.taigecrenshaw.com or blog: http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/blog.

Wilde Seduction – What happens when a woman who doesn’t know how to relax meets a man whose lust for life will change her and make all her deepest desires come to life?

Buy here at Total-E-Bound