Because I set my Viking books in a galaxy far, far away, I could play with the history, play with the dangers. This scene was the most fun I’ve had writing in a long, long while. Both Dagr and Honora must conquer their fears to save one another. Dagr was captured, feared dead, but he’s leading the enemy’s soldiers on a raid of his own castle. Enjoy!
“With the intriguing meshing of the past with the future this was an engrossing read…”
Top Pick!, Night Owl Reviews
“A steamy and fascinating adventure…”
Romance Reviews Today
“Clash of cultures, clash of myths, clash of powerful personalities…how many authors can bring out on paper the excitement and more-than-willing suspension of disbelief that old fashioned adventure stories once brought us?…a wonderful, action-packed, emotional roller-coaster of a read.”
Alien Places
What a Viking wants, a Viking takes.
When his younger brother goes missing, Dagr, Viking warrior and Lord of the Wolfskin Clan, will do whatever it takes to get him back. But nothing could have prepared him for Honora—a feisty, intelligent woman who is nothing like the women of his world—women who are content to serve their men in all things. Drawn to her despite her recalcitrant nature, Dagr is determined to show her who’s boss both in bed and out.
When the two enemies-turned-lovers join forces to find Dagr’s brother they are thrown into a rousing adventure full of danger, intrigue and erotic abandon. Can their passion truly unite them or will their different worlds lead to destruction for them both?
The fierce cold wind stung her cheeks, centering her thoughts. Her eyes watered and she blinked rapidly as she stared through the snowfall to see the shadowy figures spread out on the ice, marching toward them now.
They approached as quietly as a battalion of men could, likely hoping the whistling wind and the scurry of snow on the frozen surface of the sea would leave them undetected until the last moment.
Had they chosen this route or had Dagr? Arikan, the arrogant bastard, might have thought that seeing his men spread out would have the Vikings shaking in their boots.
If Dagr were alive, he might have bleated out this route during torture to ensure his people had warning. Dagr could already be dead, likely was.
Sorrow trembled through her, but she firmed her shoulders. She could still do one last thing for him. She could witness his enemy’s defeat.
She stared at the dark figures blurred by the snow, until they neared and clearer outlines formed. Her gaze narrowed on one with a familiar proud gait. Heart racing, she leaned over the parapet, gripping the edge hard.
A hand closed around the neck of her cloak and pulled her back. “Are you trying to kill yourself? Or me?” Odvarr muttered. “Dagr will have my innards for dinner if you fall.”
She shook her head and pointed. “Look!” she hissed. “At the front of the formation. It’s him!”
Odvarr squinted then leaned over the wall. “‘Tis him all right,” he said, nodding as though he’d never had any doubt about his survival. “I hope he plans to start running soon.”
“If he runs, they’ll know he he’s betraying them and they’ll kill him.”
I attended a writing conference last Spring at Asilomar, the beautiful conference ground designed by famed architect, Julia Morgan. We’d had long walks on the beach, brainstorming sessions with other romance writers and craft classes taught by Margie Lawson.
During one of the lunch breaks, we somehow got on the subject of sex toys—vibrators, to be exact. Okay, I’ll admit, I had just published The Stimulus Package, under my erotic pen name, Angela Love. Someone asked me about it, and that set the ball in motion. Ask me about my writing and then expect me to shut up? No way. It started to bend the conversation in a very naughty direction. But hey, we were there to have fun, even if a couple of ladies at our table blushed and could hardly speak.
I’m sure the rest of the two hundred or so attendees were wondering what all the laughing was about. We told stories of things that had gone wrong, what kinds of toys we had bought and how they had been misused. One of my friends told the story about her friend, who was a sex toy sales rep, who happened to use a large purple vibrator in traffic.
This isn’t what you think. She was pleasuring herself, but not in the usual way. She extended it through the sunroof of her car at some guy who had been tailgating her for miles.
I asked for and received permission to use this idea for my third in the series, Toys for Tarts, Book 3, Road Rage. So, while this is based on a real incident, the story is entirely mine.
I like reading humorous sexual escapades because it imitates life. Not everything is the old bump and grind. Things that spice up a relationship between two consenting adults can sometimes be funny. They might even be more memorable.
I’m working on Book 4 now: Occupy Me. My lips are sealed until I get this puppy put to bed. But I am having fun with these light reads—sweet treats for me, and so fun to write.
Here’s an excerpt from Road Rage. The Teri Stanton has just left an office party and escaped an embarrassing incident with the boss’s son, Tim Benson. Her lustful thoughts about him have kept her in this low-paying job longer than she intended. So she has taken a part-time job as a sex education instructor for ESL students on path toward citizenship. She’s about to teach her last class of the semester.
I checked my watch again. I had just enough time to drop by the Health Care office before my class, to pick up the lesson plan. Tim was absorbing energy from the room of clucking hens, so I made my exit.
Sandy Morgen was the Director of the Health Education program for the county. I breezed in, sure my cheeks still hadn’t deflamed. I was shameless. It didn’t matter one whit.
“Hi Sandy, sorry to be a little late. We had a shower at the office.”
“Oh? Who did you shower with?” She smiled like a pampered palace cat, batting her green eyes. Read the rest of this entry »
First, I didn’t announce it here, but Ravished by a Viking is up for a Romance Studio CAPA award for best historical! Woot! I’m always over the moon when something I slaved over gets recognition. Especially, when I know it’s something different, and sometimes, different isn’t applauded. So, yay!
See? That was a very short brag!
So on to the meat of this post. I’m flying to DC to see my son and his family. I haven’t seen them in a long time, so I’m very excited about the trip. My ex lives there too, and I’ll be spending some time with him as well. The Red-Headed Hellion and the 7-year-old are going with me. We have a purpose, besides seeing everyone. I’m picking up the ex’s Honda Pilot and driving it back. Seems like I used to inherit his old cars when we were married, too. Hmmm… He keeps them in perfect nick, so I don’t mind so much and it gives me the perfect excuse for a road trip—we’ll be driving the car back from DC. I’ll be sure to take pictures!
While I’m away, I have guests who are coming to entertain you! Please drop by and give them some encouragement. They really are great guests! Here’s the lineup:
Friday — Sharon Hamilton
Saturday — me, I’ll pre-post a Saturday Snippet and give you a chance to win something!
Sunday — Sidney Bristol
Monday — Taige Crenshaw
Tuesday — Rachel Firasek
Wednesday — Ann Jacobs
Every time you post a comment, you are adding an entry to the Grab Bag contest.
So, enough biz-talk. Let’s share your experiences.
What is the most incredible weather event you’ve ever been through in your life? (Question from “The Question Guys”)
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?
I have two winners to name, but you’ll have to slog through the “deets” of the new contest!
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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?
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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.
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
Because I set my Viking books in a galaxy far, far away, I could play with the history, play with the dangers. This scene was the most fun I’ve had writing in a long, long while. Both Dagr and Honora must conquer their fears to save one another. Dagr was captured, feared dead, but he’s leading the enemy’s soldiers on a raid of his own castle. Enjoy!“With the intriguing meshing of the past with the future this was an engrossing read…”
During one of the lunch breaks, we somehow got on the subject of sex toys—vibrators, to be exact. Okay, I’ll admit, I had just published 
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? 
