NaNo Day 5:
Viking-2—2136 words
GWB-Me—277 words

If y’all know me, you are well aware that my characters aren’t made of mush. It takes a lot to knock the stuffing out the man or the woman. I don’t do it often because I’m not an overly sentimental girl myself. That’s not to say that you won’t find emotion, a lot of it, usually best expressed when the characters are at their most vulnerable.

In this excerpt, one of my favorite heroes, Quentin, is made especially vulnerable due to his worry for his mate. I was especially cruel to readers of this story, because while the story starts with Darcy and Quinton, it shifts to others who will join in a hunt for one of their fallen’s killer. I didn’t tell the rest of this couple’s story until book seven.

Here’s a snippet to show you what I’m talking about. It’s from Silver Bullet, the sixth book in the Immortal Knight series.

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

He met her at the water’s edge as she returned from her solitary walk, her bare feet sand-encrusted and her steps slow and measured. One hand pressed the small of her back—a disquieting gesture that caused him no small amount of alarm. The purple of dusk was reflected in the circles beneath her beautiful brown eyes.

“Darcy-love, why didn’t you wait?” Quentin Albermarle slipped his arm around his wife’s slender back, not surprised when she leaned into him to share her burden.

“You wouldn’t have enjoyed yourself.” She lifted her head to stare into his eyes, one brow arching in amusement. “I wanted to watch the sunset.”

Her teasing smile warmed his soul. How had he lived before knowing her? Now, he couldn’t remember a night that didn’t begin and end with her. “Well, you have me there,” he said softly. “Sunset’s not something I’d find the least bit pleasant.” He turned her in his arms and settled his chin on the top of her head as his hands circled her stretched-taut belly. “Still, I’d prefer it if someone accompanied you when I can’t be here. It isn’t safe,” he admonished her lazily, enjoying the breeze that lifted her dark hair to float against his chest and the pleasure of her warm body aligned with his. “It’s not like we haven’t enough hirelings to spare one for your walks.”

“I wanted a little alone time and it was light when I started.” She shrugged. “I guess I’m walking a little slow these days.”

Quentin’s jaw clenched at the familiar fear that struck him. Her ordeal wouldn’t be something he could conquer for her. And he suspected the Lamaze classes he’d endured at her insistence were as much for his benefit as hers.
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NaNo Day 4:
Viking-2—2141 words
GWB-Me—729 words

Since NaNo started on Monday, I’ve had my head down, hammering away at the keyboard. I’m making great headway on the Viking book. Finally had a few lightbulb moments which helped me figure out what was missing in that baggy, saggy middle of the story. I’m halfway through my short story, which hopefully will be included in the Girls Who Bite anthology—oh, wait! I’m choosing the stories for that book. Guess I shouldn’t sweat it.

Yesterday, I wrote all my pages then did some research on ancient Scythia for the other novella I have to start this weekend. Busy, busy me. Hope all you NaNo’ers are making great progress too. And for you readers, I love you! Thanks so much for making this an awesome year for me.

So, onto the question…

If, instead of actually writing out your name, you now had to “sign” your name with a simple drawing of something, what would you draw each time to represent who you are?

NaNo Day 3:
Viking-2—2035 words
GWB-Me—591 words

Shades of the Forbidden

by Eliza Gayle

“Subspace is my perfect paradise vacation from busy-mind… blessed be to the Dominant who can stamp my ticket there.” ~ Unknown

I find that writing stories that might fall in the realm of the taboo to be an exciting trip into the darker side of life. Reading them is even more fun. From the light and kinky spanking stories to the gritty and emotional dramas that make us stay up half the night to find out what happens between the hero and the heroine in the end. BDSM romance and erotica comes in so many flavors it’s impossible to define it in a simple box. I’ve seen more than once a book is poked at for “not” being a BDSM book. Probably what they really mean is that it’s not their BDSM.

Whether I write dark or light I often find myself questioning whether I went deep enough into the psychological aspect of a scene, but sometimes that’s not what it’s about. In a lighter story the focus is on the kink and the characters willingness to explore their sexuality with their partner. Those can sure be fun. The emotional drama of an in depth D/s relationship is an entirely different animal.

Both have their place and their fans.

Generally my contemporary stories are character driven. I only go as far to get to know my characters a little before I sit down to write. I know who they are, what they want and where they need to be. The rest is a journey of discovery as the story unfolds. My latest release, Bottoms Up, is a little more on the lighter side with some interesting forays into domestic discipline in a relationship. Versus the next release, Midnight Playground, which surprised both me and my editor with it’s intensity.

Of course after angsting for a few stories about the emotional complexities of D/s, I am sooo ready to write something different and I do the genre bounce. That’s me right now. I’m participating in nano this month (even though my daily word count is generally higher than what is needed for nano) and I’ve switched gears and headed back into the realm of my paranormals. Witches to be specific. Although I’ve managed to find a way to work in a little, okay maybe a lot, of D/s there too. *g*

Snooping is risky business…sometimes it pays off in unexpected ways.

Jenn has been in love with her best friend since college and despite their years apart she is determined to at least find out if he has any interest in her. When the opportunity opens up in the form of a job interview in his hometown, she jumps on a plane with a plan to see what happens.

Riley walked away from Jenn after college to explore and understand the dark side of him that harbored needs he knew she was too young to understand. They kept in touch and after years of exploration into his kinks, he’s decided the time for hiding the truth from the woman he loved has come to an end.

When Jenn finds a BDSM book and a flyer for a local sex club in his condo, she is both shocked and intrigued. Riley catches her red-handed snooping through his things and dares her to give him and his lifestyle a chance. Two days to explore her potential submissive side and see where it leads.

With no hesitation and barely a thought to how far he might go, she jumps at the chance to prove she’s the woman for him, even if it’s just for the weekend.

Read An Excerpt

My Website

NaNo Day 2:
Viking-2—1905 words
GWB-Me—518 Words

Unfairness
By Lex Valentine

Unfairness abounds in the world we live in. Despite writing romances where there is always a Happily Ever After (HEA), I sometimes let the unfairness and cruelties of the world seep into my work. In my current release, Sunstroked, one of my heroes was closeted for most of his life because his cousin, the pack Alpha, was homophobic. In my November and December releases, unfairness has a role in each story.

Rock My World, coming November 12 from Ellora’s Cave, has a stalker in it who’s filled the heroine with so much fear that she lies and pushes the hero away in order to ensure he’s not a target too. Afterburner, in the Honorable Silence anthology due out in November from MLR Press, is about two Air Force pilots who fall in love and must contend with the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy. In December, there’s Unbreak Me about a magic wielding warrior who was imprisoned unfairly, suffering rapes and torture, all because someone coveted the position her father held. Also coming in December is Christmas Wishes, another short story in my annual Christmas Cowboys series. The hero has it bad for the heroine but she’s older than him, a widow with a broken heart whose husband died in Afghanistan. Someone with a past that tragic isn’t the kind of woman you just hit on.

Another story I recently finished (whose release date I’m unsure of) is In the Light. This is a dark tale, a short story of some 6500 words, written for my friend author Patric Michael. It will be in his anthology Wishing on a Blue Star from Dreamspinner Press. In the Light features one of my signature characters, a werewolf named Weylyn Randall. The story is about bullying and doing the right thing and the sometimes high cost of both. It’s also about everlasting friendship and love. But it’s not a love story nor does it have full-blown sex in it.

For those of you who know me, you’ll know that no sex is a bit of an aberration. To date, the only other story I’ve ever written without sex is Ain’t Nuthin’ But a Hellhound, a dark tale in the Weirdly anthology at Wild Child Publishing. But In the Light has overtones from conversations Patric and I had and it’s with a sense of profound joy that I give it to him.

As unfair as life often is, my character Weylyn brings a sense of buoyancy and fun to everything I’ve ever put him in. He first debuted in a serial story where I wrote prior to being published. Then I wrote him into my Pink Chair Diaries trilogy (also before I was published.) Next, he showed up in Common Ground, Tales of the Darkworld Book 5. He pops up everywhere and he’s great fun for readers. For a taste of Weylyn, you can go to my website and click on the freebies page. There are links to the PCD stories which are free to read. Common Ground isn’t free but I hear that the Dreamspinner anthology may be a freebie.

I combat the unfairness in life the only way I know how…with laughter. Weylyn usually brings that so he’s a great read when you’re feeling down. I don’t have a link yet to Patric’s anthology, but below are links to the other works where you can read Weylyn. A few laughs won’t make unfairness in the world go away, but it makes it easier to live with. And Weylyn is a lot of hot, sexy werewolf fun!

Here’s a snippet from In the Light:

Sipping his ale, Grant shot Weylyn a wry look. “You’re trying to get me laid?”

Blinking in mock innocence, Weylyn said, “But of course! What else would a friend do?”

“Fuck the only guy in the bar I’m interested in.”

Grant made a face and Weylyn could barely contain a laugh. He loved bantering with Grant.

“You have to bring that up again? Geez, man. You are never going to let me live that down, are you?”

“No.” Grant popped a few peanuts in his mouth. “You are the only guy I know who can get laid without even trying…without even wanting to! A guy tells me he’s a power bottom and asks me if I’m interested. Before I can even reply ‘Hell yeah!’ you’ve got him topping you!”

“That only happened once,” Weylyn protested. “I didn’t know you’d already been talking to him when I met him in the men’s room.”

Weylyn felt the sting of guilt. It was true that he’d ended up with more than one guy whom Grant had had his eye on. Not that he’d meant to. Every time it had happened, he hadn’t known Grant was interested in the guy. His friend tended to be really low key about his sexuality and wasn’t a blatant prowler like Weylyn. Grant never broadcasted his sexual preferences but Weylyn knew that he gave it away fairly easily because his gaze never followed women, only men.

“I can’t believe there are Fallen Angels you haven’t fucked,” Grant grumbled and finished his drink. The bartender brought him another one instantly.

“Dude, I swear to you, I haven’t been with that many.” Weylyn tried to edge the peanuts closer to him as he watched his friend.

Grant eyed him in mock disbelief. “Still don’t believe you, but I’ll find out later. I’m not yet in the mood to go chatting up the men in here only to find they’re one in a long list of your conquests.”

“You make me sound like some kind of sexual predator.”

“You are a predator. In everything you do. It’s inherent in your nature as a shifter,” Grant conceded. “Believe me, I understand that. Add that to the whole rock star thing you have going and you get laid without even trying.”

Whew! Weylyn can certainly be a handful! If you’d like to read more Weylyn you can and some of it is free! You’ll find Weylyn here:

The Were & The Chair
I’d Fuck You

If you’re interested in reading more In the Light, I will post on my blog Sunlight Sucks and on my official website when and where you can get Wishing on a Blue Star (which contains work by several well-known M/M romance authors), just as soon as I have the information.

Many thanks to Delilah for letting me and Weylyn take over her blog today!

Lex Valentine
Lexvalentine.com ~ sunlightsucks.com ~ fivedarkrealms.com

NaNo Day 1:
Viking-2—2055 words
GWB-Me—784 words

For those of you who are still addicted to the feel of a paper book in your hands, here’s your chance to own three of my hottest stories in one volume!

These cowboys like the horses fast, and know exactly how to spur a woman toward her greatest pleasure…

Saddled
After rescuing a beautiful woman when her car slides into an icy creek during a snow storm, Bobby Blackhawk and Cale Yancey do the only thing two lonesome cowboys can—they take her to their isolated cabin and get naked.

Unbridled
Justin Cruz has waited a long time for this moment. He knows his bad-boy reputation, but since he seduced Rowe Ayers, he’s been a one-man cowboy—waiting for pretty Dani Standifer to return and become the delicious fulfillment of his and Rowe’s needs. If she’s up to the challenge.

Unforgiven
For Cutter Standifer, the pretty little redhead who opened a café in Two Mule, Texas, was “the one”. Until he caught her in a compromising position with the town’s worst womanizer. A year later, he still can’t forgive Katie Grissom. And forget? Forget, hell. He’s ready to kick his code into the nearest manure pile and take what he never had from her—full satisfaction.

Click on the novella titles to read an excerpt!

Okay, this one’s been on Amazon for a couple of weeks, but today’s the official release date!

“Passion delivers just what you would expect – super hot stories with sex that burns up the pages. Don’t miss it!”—USA Today and Essence bestselling author Kayla Perrin

“Talk about a collection of stories to make you squirm in your seat! Chilly fall night or a quick pick-me-up to get in the mood—this is the one!”—Whipped Cream Reviews

Love and sex have always been intimately intertwined, and Passion shows just how well the two can merge. This collection of steamy stories combines rich and explicit imagery with tales of classic love, letting the best writers of erotic romance bring to life tales that can be read aloud in bed. From long lost lovers reunited to love at first sight to romance rekindled, Passion’s succulent stories quicken heartbeats and appeal to everyone, from the least to the most romantic of souls.

Read an excerpt from my story, The Morning Ride:

With a schedule more predictable than the subway train she waited on, Sophie’s chest constricted as though a cinch slowly tightened around her ribs. Left breathless every morning as she waited on the platform beside the tracks, her odd affliction only intensified once she boarded. The journey never varied, beginning in Upper Manhattan and continuing southward. Her body had acquired the habit, reinforced not by some psychological disorder, but by the need for one specific miracle to occur every morning as she took her usual seat along the far wall of the car.

She sat, then rose and sat again to rearrange her skirt beneath her. She pulled at the hem, and then slid it just high enough to attract attention but not so high she looked like a slut. She ignored the low “mmm-mm” from the college-aged boy with bed-head who sat beside her.

Her attention remained focused on the stations. “125th Street.” She straightened her back and took a deeper breath, hoping to quell the heat entering her cheeks. “59th Street”. She unwrapped her fingers from around her purse straps because her knuckles were whitening. When the car slid to a stop at 42nd, she held her breath and averted her glance from the sliding doors, watching instead from the corner of her eye as passengers stepped inside, sought their seats and settled in for their morning commute.

She saw him, or at least from the knee on down. Shiny black loafers. Knife-edged creases on his charcoal trousers. Sweeping her gaze upward, but still not looking directly, she eyed his tall, lean body, embracing the quickening tattoo of her heart. Dark hair, still glossy from his shower curled close to his scalp. The scent of aftershave, spicy and fresh, followed him, and she inhaled sharply to catch it. When he took his seat along the opposite wall and two seats down, she let out the breath she’d held, the pinpricks of darkness that had narrowed her vision to a tunnel, fading back. All was right in her world again.

Never mind, she’d spent another restless night, fighting the blankets and the dreams that left her so hot and frustrated she’d retrieved the vibrator from under her bathroom sink to take off the edge. Last night had been the best, or the worst, depending on whether she wanted to sink into the dream or cry over the fact she was tired. Even now, the potency of the dream was so strong, the details so vivid, it was easy to slide back into the moment when she’d stumbled against him as they both debarked at Chambers Street and he’d slid his hand around her waist to steady her…

He’d caught her against his chest, and she’d been forced to glance up, staring into his face fully for the first time.

When he pulled away, he scooted down until he could bend to kiss her mouth. “Baby, that was so goddamn hot.”
The dream had ended there with his wet cock digging into her belly—before they’d shared names, before they’d agreed to see each other again. Not the sort of dream she’d ever had before—or at least not so long and detailed. Like a scene from a smutty romance novel, rose petals and all.

Still, she’d been left wet, aching, and the dildo hadn’t filled the empty space inside her. If only she had the courage to approach him. Maybe he’d be as sexy, well-endowed and skilled as her dream-lover—or maybe he’d be a complete dick.

Either way, she’d bring an end to this wanting.

I wish I could say I was on fire for the month of October. But if that were the case, I wouldn’t be facing Hell Month.

Sound like I have enough on my plate? Nuff said, I think.