I’m extending my contest to win that lovely calendar by one day. Tomorrow, the winner will be announced. But today, you have a second chance to enter to win. Join me at Wild & Wicked Cowboys and post a comment—and we’re having a little fun with the calendar pic…

Exhaustion hit me last night about eight P.M. I pulled too many later nighters wrapping up some February projects. The problem now is that it’s five in the morning and I’m wide awake!

Oh, and those projects? Well, one of them is my part in a four-author anthology that I will do my best to get onto Kindle this month for you. Something paranormal-ish. My story features a favorite character from the Immortal Knight series—it’s the dark and brooding Moses Brown’s happy ever after!

I also sent a quickie, one on the longish side, so you’ll have no complaints there (not that you ever grouse!), tentatively entitled Handy Men. My Ellora’s Cave editor has promised to push it through quickly, so hopefully you’ll have that one soon too.

And I know you’ll be excited to know that I have written the latest installment in our Cat Tails story—you know, the one you all have been helping me plot. Poor DiDi is about to find herself in deep doo-doo, but not just yet. Mason has her purring in this chapter.

NOW I can officially start on my March goals—another Lonestar Cowboy, a short urban fantasy, and a BDSM story. Yeah, plenty to keep me busy and burning more of that midnight oil.

In the meantime, I have something sexy to give away. A 2011 calendar chock-full of manly goodness. Post a comment today, and it could be yours!

See the bottom of this post for the name of yesterday’s winner!

Erotic Romance – Life Affirming

by Michelle Polaris

My mind is on babies and the miracle of birth. My sister, bless her soul, just had her third little boy. She has three now under the age of four. Oy! And although I’ve heard the advice to avoid the subject of children in erotic romance for the mood killer it may be, I made a decision to throw that advice out the window in my last release. In all truth, no actual babies appeared in my story, but the subject of fertility and the goal of becoming parents were explicit in the plot.

I believe the sexiest erotic romance involves deep emotional bonds between the characters, and authenticity behind the painful struggles and incredible emotional risks those characters must take together. Children and the commitment they symbolize are a loaded risk. But they provide one of the greatest sources of hope imaginable. And hope translates to a sense of future. If I want to create a story where one feels my characters standing on the precipice of their future, balancing, eagerly or fearfully reaching out despite their risk of falling, dangling a baby out there in front of them does the trick.

Throw in the fact that I write BDSM erotic romance and this may seem strange. But I firmly believe BDSM story lines are an awesome opportunity to explore honest communication and vulnerability between characters. And, hey, kinky people have children too.

Putting aside that twist, am I the only one who feels this way about the subject of babies in erotic romance? How have they worked or not worked for you as you’ve read stories touching on this issue?

Check out my newest release, Fettered Love, at Ellora’s Cave to see if I’ve managed to pull off this idea without killing the sexy, kinky, tantalizing pull between my three characters. My novella is part of the 1-800-DOM-help series new to EC—BDSM at it’s best from a group of talented Ellora’s Cave authors.

Kirk, Master to his long-time lover Evan, decides it’s time to place his permanent collar around Evan’s sexy cock. But when he proposes, he faces a surprise. Evan wants a child. So where will they find a kinky woman to help?

A mysterious card with the 1 -800-DOM-help number advertises assistance for unusual problems in the BDSM community. When Evan calls, he recognizes the voice of Sarah—Kirk’s best friend from childhood, Evan’s Mistress of several years in college. They both loved her and suffered betrayal when she walked out of their lives.

Now she proposes to be the mother of their child. No strings, just a chance to have the men she respects and loves back in her life. Evan embraces the idea while Kirk rages with mistrust.

At Evan’s request, they share one night of passion, Kirk and Sarah working together to dominate Evan in the scene of his erotic fantasies, hoping it will be enough to rekindle trust and make all their dreams come true.

Safe, sane and consensual,
Michelle Polaris

The winner of yesterday’s prize is…Sarah M! Congrats, Sarah, and be sure to send me an email to collect your prize!

February was certainly more productive than January for me.

The high points of the month were:
* I wrote and submitted two new proposals for Cleis anthologies to follow up Girls Who Bite (which releases in September).
* I wrote a novella, which will be part of an anthology that will include stories written by Sasha White, Charlene Teglia and my sis, Myla Jackson.
* I wrote the rough draft of a second novella, which will go to Ellora’s Cave as soon as I complete one last round of edits.
* I have completed 23% of a second novella headed to Ellora’s Cave that will be part of the 1-800-Dom-Help series.
* I completed copy edits of Enslaved by a Viking (releases October 2011 by Berkley).
* I completed first round edits of The Warrior’s Touch (releases May 2011 by Harlequin).

In retrospect, I shouldn’t beat myself up that I didn’t finish every blame thing I wanted in February. It was a good month.

In March, I hope to accomplish the following:
* Complete my 1-800-Dom-Help novella for Ellora’s Cave.
* Write a novella for another Kindle anthology.
* Write the sequel to True Heart for Samhain.

It’s Monday morning after a very busy night—4.8 earthquake with a 3.something aftershock—tornado watch and thunderstorms—visitors at three AM escaping the storm and slipping into my bed because I make everyone feel safe. And yet, I do feel refreshed.

It’s another week and another run at my stories. I have so much to wrap up. Wish me luck!

This week, I think I’ll do a flashback giveaway; Michelle Polaris guests on Wednesday, and I have a yummy new Jimmy Thomas calendar to give away. But more about that on Thursday.

Today’s horoscope? (Just because it’s been so much fun lately for me!)

“Career matters, or perhaps matters involving independent work which you do on your own, should move smoothly and successfully today, bringing a lot of satisfaction your way. Others are likely to admire the results of your efforts…”

Wouldn’t that be nice?

Psst! See the bottom of this post for my “Dress Elvis” winner! ~DD

It’s uncanny how accurate my horoscopes have been lately.

This was mine for Friday. Notice the part I highlighted? Traffic might be clogged… Friday, I had a doctor’s appointment in Little Rock—normally an hour and fifteen minute drive. But some poor trucker rolled his oil tanker on the freeway, which closed all lanes in both directions. Drivers were forced to take little back roads, which then clogged those roads all the hell up! It took me three and a half hours to get to Little Rock. I missed my lab appointment and then was five minutes late for the doctor appointment and had to reschedule. If only I’d believed! I shoulda stayed home.

And then there’s yesterday’s…

That’s me—“overwhelmed.” But I’ll talk about the work in a minute. Here’s today’s question:

Do you read your horoscope? Has yours ever influenced you to change something?

This week, I really wanted to be coming up on the end of the short novella and the the Cat Tails chapter, but I’m at roughly 60% on both. Friday killed me—the long drive, and then I had to wait in Little Rock for Hazmat to clear the freeway. So I brainstormed with my sister who was there to chaperone for a wrestling team. It was productive, but I didn’t get any pages done. It killed my momentum. I do however intend to finish both by Tuesday so I can wrap them up for February and start something new!

The winner (by random number generator) of my “Dress Elvis” contest is…Rachel Firasek! Congrats, Rachel, and be sure to send me your snail mail addy!

The “Dress Elvis” contest is still running! See yesterday’s blog for details. Comment to win! ~DD

Today, I’m heading to Little Rock. I have a doctor’s appointment. Sis is staying in a hotel there with the wrestling team (I promise that’s not as interesting as it sounds!). We’ll meet before noon and have a write-in at Starbucks. We don’t get together as often as we’d like because she lives over four hours away. I’m hoping to get a major word count under my belt, but we tend to brainstorm and make big plans. We’ll be talk-talk-talking away. Then Saturday, I’ll be reviewing my goals and groaning because I’ll have a ton of catch-up to do.

I want to finish two things by the first of March. A quickie for Ellora’s Cave and the next free chapter of Cat Tails. If I can keep focused, I will. HOWEVER, Sunday is hosed as well because I’ll be meeting Shayla Kersten in Little Rock for some Diamond State Romance Authors business. Sheesh. Where did February go?

I should be jazzed about the three things I’m currently writing, but I’m majorly distracted by the Girls Who Bite project. I’m really excited about the anthology. Really love the stories that will be in the volume. I have some fun things I’m planning for the launch, and the ladies, for the most part, are game to play. Remember, the book is ready for pre-order and has a reduced price. FOR NOW. So if you think you’re interested, now is the time to reserve a copy so you can take advantage of the low price. You can click on the cover in the carousel to the left and you’ll go straight to Amazon.

I hope your Friday passes quickly for you and that the weekend is spent either with someone you care about or with a very dirty book! 😉