Bestselling Author Delilah Devlin
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Guest Blogger: Jenna Ives
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012

Thanks for letting me guest blog today, Delilah!  I’m Jenna Ives, and I write contemporary erotic romance novellas.  I love novellas, because with so much technology at hand these days (texting, tweeting, e-readers, smart phones, video game players, etc) it seems everyone is developing a shorter attention span.  And novellas are the perfect way to satisfy a romance reader’s appetite for stories without having to make a long-term time commitment!

Since novellas are by definition short, I’ll share my secret for writing erotic novellas with you:  as the story opens, I immediately put my characters into a situation where they either have to have sex for a particular reason (there are many fun ways to do this, and author Leigh Court is my personal favorite for coming up with creative situations) or else create an event where your characters are forced to stay together for a certain plot reason. Voila! Instant tension! And in an erotic romance, that means the sexual sparks fly!

My new novella, Snow White And Her Seven Lovers, was inspired by both Kristen Stewart’s upcoming movie “Snow White And The Huntsman” as well as Julia Roberts’ spring release of “Mirror, Mirror.”  It looks like 2012 is definitely the year of Snow White!

Here’s the blurb for my erotic version of this classic fairy tale, which I’ve written in first-person from our heroine’s point of view:

What’s a girl to do when she wakes up poisoned in the ER and finds that she’s lost her memory, her family, and very nearly her life?

That was me. Three months ago. With no identity, no money, and nowhere to go on the day I was discharged from the hospital, I gratefully accepted my gorgeous ER doctor’s offer to move in with him and his equally gorgeous six friends – the ones who’d found me unconscious in an apple orchard. My plan was to stay only until my memory returned, and I could figure out who I was and if someone really had tried to kill me.

Together with Doc, these were an amazingly diverse bunch of guys, but there was something about each of them that attracted me powerfully enough to want to explore it. The policeman with his clever handcuffs. The cunningly linguistic librarian. The disciplinarian teacher. The virgin computer whiz who loved to play sex games. The engineer who created shotgun orgasms. The wildly imaginative baker.

Becoming intimate with these seven men completed me in ways I suspected discovering my name never would. That is, until the fateful day a man showed up claiming to be my fiancé…

Oooh… conflict and lots of steamy love scenes!  A real page-turner. But by far, my most favorite part of writing this story was coming up with jobs that realistically lent themselves to the characters – Doc is the obvious one (he’s the ER doctor who saves our heroine’s life) but if you read this story, I’d love to hear from you about my choices for the six friends’ occupations J  Grumpy? Dopey? Sleepy? Sneezy? Happy? Bashful? Are the real-life jobs I’ve chosen for these characters believable?

Snow White And Her Seven Lovers is available through amazon.com, bn.com, Smashwords.com, or at my website, www.jennaives.com

So…. which fairy tale is your favorite?? And how could we spice it up a little?

 

Winners, a New Contest, and a Question!
Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012

I have two winners to name, but you’ll have to slog through the “deets” of the new contest!

* * * * *

The Ellora’s Cave Grab Bag Contest

I have a great big bag of stuff to give away to one lucky winner.

What’s in the prize pack?
Things too numerous to mention, but which include:
A signed book by Lila DiPasqua (not an EC author, but since I had a copy of The Princess in His Bed, I thought I’d add it to spice up the pot!)
A sexy mouse pad signed by Liz Andrews
A J.K. Coi and Christine D’Abo water bottle
A multitude of trading cards, bookmarks, excerpt booklets, pens, Post-It pads, etc.

What do you have to do to win?
Post comments on this blog or on my Facebook Fan Page, from now until the contest ends! Each time you post counts as another entry!

Since I’ll be away on a trip to DC, I’m extending this contest through January 17th!

Here’s a question to start today’s conversation:

What’s the difference between innocent flirting and cheating?

 

* * * * *

So back to those winners…

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in both contests.
The winner of The Fairy Trinket Box Contest is…Linda Womack!
The winner of Cynthia D’Alba’s free download of Texas Two-Step is…Vicki Batman!
Congratulations, ladies! Thanks for playing. Be sure to send me an email
to arrange delivery of your prizes.

What films are you eager to see in 2012?
Monday, January 2nd, 2012

Remember, there is still one contest running…
The Fairy Trinket Box Contest (ends tomorrow, January 3rd!)
Yesterday’s winner is named below!

* * * * *

Here are my picks!

Vamps rule—especially, when they’re kick-ass girls!

I showed this one to you before, but it bears seeing again! I’m still waiting for it to release somewhere I can see it!

Keanu as “Neo” is forever cool!

* * * * *

The winner of the free download of Jacq’s Warlord is…Rhonda! Rhonda, congratulations! Be sure to email me to arrange delivery of your prize!

Happy New Year!
Sunday, January 1st, 2012

Here’s wishing everyone a happy new year! Thanks to my online friends who have joined me here to play—you keep me excited to seek my keyboard every morning and find out what happens when I open a new blog. Thanks to all who bought my books—you provide me the means to stay at home and live my dream of being a full-time writer. Here’s hoping you all find happiness, good health, and a little more gold in your pockets this year. Cheers! ~DD

End of Year Recap
Saturday, December 31st, 2011

The year’s a wrap! In case you missed it, these are the releases I’ve added this year:

1. 01/04/11 – RAVISHED BY A VIKING (Berkley Heat)
2. 01/04/11 – TRUE HEART (Samhain)
3. 04/01/11 – THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN, Lesbian Cops (Cleis Press)
4. 04/06/11 – HANDY MEN (Ellora’s Cave)
5. 05/01/11 – TIME RAIDERS: THE WARRIOR’S TOUCH (Harlequin Nocturne)
6. 05/01/11 – DR. MULLALEY’S CURE, Carnal Machines anthology (Cleis Press)
7. 05/01/11 – DREAMING BY THE SEA, Dream Lovers anthology (Cleis Press)
8. 05/13/11 – BEGGING FOR IT (Ellora’s Cave)
9. 05/27/11 – HER SOUL TO KEEP (Kindle/Smashwords)
10. 06/14/11 – UNDENIABLE (Samhain)
11. 08/23/11 – HOT OUT HERE, The Mammoth Book of Hot Romance (Running Press)
12. 09/13/11 – GIRLS WHO BITE (Cleis Press)
13. 09/14/11 – A FOUR-GONE CONCUSION, Lone Star Lovers sequel (Samhain)
14. 09/20/11 – B IS FOR BONDAGE (Ellora’s Cave)
15. 09/21/11 – GILDED CAGE, Bitten in the Big Easy anthology (Ellora’s Cave)
16. 10/04/11 – ENSLAVED BY A VIKING (Berkley Heat)
17. 11/22/11 – FIVE WAYS ‘TIL SUNDAY, Delta Heat series (Samhain)
18. 12/06/11 – RED HOT WINTER anthology (Samhain)
19. 12/13/11 – DRIVE ME CRAZY, Best Erotic Romance of 2012 (Cleis Press)

Snippet Saturday: Endings
Saturday, December 31st, 2011

I don’t usually hop around a book as I write it. The story unfolds for me just like it does for the reader, from start to finish. However, when my sister and I wrote Jacq’s Warlord, we only had the opening of the story done before I had the final scene complete inside my head. Endings can be as important as beginnings. I hope you enjoy the ending of our one and only time-travel novel. It always makes me cry. 🙂

“…Set in the time and in the battles fought as Henry takes the English throne, the combination of battle action and sexy romance makes this story a standout.”
5 Stars, Just Erotic Romance

“…if you are looking for a book full of action, adventure and lots of humor I recommend that you suspend your disbelief and find yourself drawn into the vibrantly portrayed world of JACQ’S WARLORD…”
4 Crystals, Erotic Escapades

With proportions that would make Xena weep, Jacqueline Frazier despairs of ever finding a lover she can’t intimidate. Until the day she ignores an itty-bitty warning regarding the use of a family heirloom, and finds herself swept off her feet by a knight in not so shining armor, back to the twelfth century. Forced to accept the protection and sexual attentions of the overbearing, beast of a man, Rufus of Rathburn, Jacq struggles to find her place in the past while searching for a way back to the future. In the meantime, she aids Rufus’s war cause with a little 21st century ingenuity. Nothing like shaking up the warlord with lessons in bomb-making, guerilla tactics, and the Joys of Sex.

At first unwilling, and downright ungrateful, Rufus begins to see merit in Jacq’s odd ways. Through Jacq’s eccentricities and willfulness, Rufus learns she is a woman to be reckoned with, not to mention she is a lusty handful in bed. Will his admiration of her cunning, strength and uninhibited sexuality grow into a love that breaks the barriers of time? And will their love be strong enough for Jacq to plot a different future in the past?

Tom Frazier moved restlessly through the rooms of the two-story house he’d shared with his daughter. The past week had been the longest of his life—even more terrible than the time he’d returned to the States to bury his wife. Jacq’s dramatic abduction and ultimate disappearance had made national news. Despite all the hype, not a single viable clue surfaced leading to her whereabouts. Worse, it was anyone’s guess whether she was still alive.

In his heart, Tom believed Jacq’s spirit was invincible. While investigators began to lose hope of finding her, Tom’s conviction grew stronger. Patience and consideration of even the tiniest lead would bring her back.

If only he hadn’t arrived late at the Faire. If only he’d been there for Jacq. The sea of emergency vehicles and news vans had been his first clue something was terribly wrong. All entrances and exits to the fairgrounds had been sealed off by the police who were interviewing as many witnesses as they could before they scattered.

Tom had been turned away, but the need to assure himself Jacq was unharmed led him around the perimeter to the workers’ entrance, an area not as closely observed. He’d slipped through the fence and run to the storyteller’s stage. Yellow crime scene tape confirmed the sick feeling growing inside him even before he heard the details from the young officer standing guard over the area.

Tom’s nightmare grew grimmer as witnesses were released to go home and the last of the forensics team packed their tools and left the grounds. Tom himself had spoken to many of Jacq’s friends, but they couldn’t shed any more light on the mystery. Everyone shared the same disbelieving horror. How could something like this happen to one of them?

How could a rider dressed in full armor, carrying a struggling woman, disappear so completely? But beyond the spectators who had watched the performance and, at first, had believed the abduction was just a part of the act, no one had seen them anywhere else within or outside the fairgrounds. Witnesses’ reports had become more exaggerated with each telling. Many claimed they had simply vanished into the fog that had suddenly enveloped the stage.

Even more odd was the ancient artifact found at the foot of the stage. Spectators said the man in armor threw down a blood-encrusted shield before whisking Jacq from the stage. It appeared to be an authentic relic from the Middle Ages. The FBI had sent it to their lab for a more analysis of its origins.

Beyond posting a reward for information leading to her return and papering Atlanta with Jacq’s picture, Tom could do little more than wait by the telephone. He wandered aimlessly into the living room and sat down on the edge of the sofa. The house was so still, almost like it too was waiting for Jacq to breeze through the door.

In his mind he saw her everywhere, and he drove himself crazy thinking that sometimes, if he just listened close enough, he could almost hear her speaking.

A wave of despair swept over him and he leaned forward unable to hold back the sobs. His body shook with the force of his grief, his eyes streaming. When he ran out of tears, he clasped his hands together and did something he thought he’d forgotten how to do. He prayed. Read the rest of this entry »

A Question…
Friday, December 30th, 2011

I’m asking a question today, not because I’m lazy, but because I love the answers you give me. As for the following question, forget about what it might cost or how impossible it might be. Have fun.

If you were asked to create the ultimate vacation destination,
where would it be located and what would it be like?