Catch me today at Access Romance’s All-A-Blog. Leave a comment there, and you’ll be eligible for a prize!

BTW, surgery went well. I have great pain-killers, and I’m going to take one now and crawl back into bed! Later! ~DD

That sounded dramatic, didn’t it? No biggie. Having a lump removed, is all. But I won’t be here for most of the day, and when I get home I probably still won’t be all here for a while. I’ll leave you with a question so I can enjoy the answers when the painkillers wear off.

If you could wake up every morning, open your bedroom blinds, and look out a huge glass window at the perfect view, what would that view be?

For me, it would be the mountain ranges of Antartica. I’m very into Antarctica after watching Whiteout.
Later, gators! ~DD

Welcome my good friend, Cathryn Fox, as I help her celebrate her latest sexy release! ~DD

Impulsive: An Eternal Pleasure Novel
NAL Heat (May 10, 2009)
Eternal Pleasure, Book 2
ISBN-10: 0451229967
ISBN-13: 978-0451229960
Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Borders | IndieBound

“This dark paranormal novel is the latest in Fox’s Eternal Pleasure series about shapeshifters. Fox brings together two unforgettable characters, transformed after one devastating night, adds plenty of erotic tension and draws readers irresistibly into their world. It¹s all about second chances in this sexy, suspenseful and satisfying read.” — 4 Stars, RT Book Reviews

He is the hunter.

She’s fled her alpha wolf—and the entire paranormal community of Serene. Now a free woman—wolf, Sunray returns to Chicago, full of bittersweet memories. The last thing she expects to find there is her reincarnated lover, who died at her feet the night she was changed into a lycan a century ago. Still, Sunray knows they can never revive their intense passion. Because now he’s a lycan hunter—and she is his prey…

She is the hunted.

Not for a minute does Kane believe this beautiful lycan’s story, that they were once lovers. Still, he recognizes Sunray as the woman who’s been seducing him in his dreams. For now, prey and predator have forged an uneasy, temporary truce as they join forces to capture a rogue shifter. But after their work is done, will either of them be able to resist a passion that could be dangerously all-consuming?

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

Chicago: A Century Ago
October

Hurried steps carried Ray Bartlett across town; his dark clothes and the black sky masked his foolhardy presence. As he approached the train tracks, the silhouette of the old abandoned building on the other side of the railroad came into view, prompting him to reach into his pocket and pull out the heavy tin can he always brought with him—a familiar beacon in a dark, eerie night.

“Here, kitty, kitty,” he called out as he gently shook the scratched and dented container of sardines, letting the thick oil inside slosh about in an effort to herald his approach. He pitched his voice low, knowing the sound would carry in the breeze and alert the lone occupant of the building to his presence, and signal her to free the latch. His glance darted around, and he hoped like hell he’d gone undetected by any resident gangs, should they be lurking about. After all, he was a far cry from his elite Gold Coast neighborhood and was now stepping foot into Chicago’s seedy south side—a testament to his foolhardiness, for sure.

As he took note of his shaking fingers, he slid the can back into his breeches and stuffed his hands into his coat pockets to still his rather unusual jitters. His discomposure was partly because he’d snuck out of his dorm (and should he get caught, the consequences doled out by the headmaster would be most severe), and partly due to his excitement at seeing the girl waiting for him on the side of town he had no business frequenting—the side of town the folks in his social circle avoided like a diseased wharf rat. But, unlike him, they didn’t have Sunni Matthews waiting for them.

Sunni…

God, his heart raced and his body grew needy just thinking about her. She had a certain energy: a light in the darkness that filled him with a deep warmth and unearthed things he’d never felt before.

Everything from the way her golden hair framed her porcelain skin and the way her beautiful blue eyes sparkled with love and laughter to the way she trusted him completely and thoroughly with her body, heart, and soul rattled his emotions and rendered him practically senseless. Ribbons of want—no, need—worked their way through his veins because he knew he was only minutes from gathering her into his arms, pressing his mouth to hers and paying homage to her lush body until the early hours of the morning.

As he took in the shape of the slumbering structure tucked just inside the woods, a mixture of joy and sadness invaded his thoughts. He was thrilled to spend a few stolen moments with Sunni—he ached to embrace her, to feel her naked body against his skin—but it pained him to know that he’d wake up tomorrow between a set of starched white sheets, and she in a dusty cot. His heart twisted and his stomach clenched. He halted his forward momentum and fought down the feeling of helplessness, as well as the pang of loneliness that ate at his guts like a thousand hungry cockroaches.

Soon, he reminded himself. Soon they’d be together forever, and he’d make things better for her. It was a promise he’d made to her a long time ago, and a promise he intended to keep.
Read the rest of this entry »

This morning, I’m off to Little Rock for a pre-op appointment. So I’ll be offline until afternoon. But I’m guesting at Adele Dubois’s blog and would love to see some familiar faces there when I return.

See you there! Adele Dubois’s blog

Tomorrow, I’ll be back here with another Flashback contest!

Since I already talked about what I accomplished writing-wise in my April Wrap-up, I’ll talk about some other things.

Last year, I looked at my collection of writing books and realized I had wasted a lot of money because I hadn’t cracked the spine on some of them. I decided what I needed was company to work through one. I chose Donald Maass’s Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook, formed a yahoo group, and invited my writer friends at Rose’s Colored Glasses. Every week there was a reading assignment and the questions at the end of the chapter. We wrapped up the book in March. Sure some folks dropped by the wayside, but some of us kept reading. Maybe I could have finished the book a heck of a lot faster, but I the point is I actually did finish it!

So, I opened a new challenge in April. I formed a yahoo group, sent out invitations and we’ve begun working through Robert Ray’s and Bret Norris’s The Weekend Novelist. The book describes a methodical way to write a novel one weekend at a time. I have a project set aside for that effort. A novel I’ve been too intimidated to write. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Our online critique group is still going strong. And I love to hear when someone who ran a project through it sells. That happened this week. Would love to mention her name and the book, but maybe she wants to keep her resources a secret.

This next week might not be so super-productive. I have a pre-op appointment on Monday in Little Rock, which messes with the rhythm of my writing day. Have to be able to roll out of bed and start, but I will be up super early to make that appointment. Then on Thursday, I’m having a lump removed. Nothing wierd or dangerous, just something that’s causing my shoulder to hurt. So Monday and Thursday are pretty much hosed. I’ll be looking for sprinting company to keep my butt in the chair all the other days.

This week will also see the release of the print anthology Captive Souls, which includes my story Stone’s Embrace. So be looking for it!

I spent 14 years on active duty in the Army and another 7 in the Guard. I know the kind of mischief soldiers get into when they get bored. This video was made by a group of very bored soldiers in Afghanistan. Keep watching, it gets funnier. Don’t you know Lady Gaga has to be smiling too?

This is something I like to do for me. I figure if I put my accomplishments and failures out there, it will give me a kick in the butt to do better as I move forward.

Guess we’ll see how well I do. 🙄