If you’re looking for my “Saddled” winner, you’ll have to scroll to the bottom of this post. All posts made on Tuesday through this morning were included in the contest (48 entries total)! Thanks, everyone, for commenting!

I’m in Central Arkansas and we don’t get temperatures in the teens. In fact, the weather guy said it is the coldest it’s been in fourteen years. I guess I’ll be staying inside and running a portable heater next to my desk. It gets a little drafty in my office.

I’ve been very, very busy this past week. I finished Fun with Dick and Jayne and mailed it to my lovely EC editor. She told me it cracked her up, so yay me! I finished edits of Bad, Bad Girlfriend, and again, my EC editor sent me laughing smileys.

I wrote a short story for a Cleis anthology and shipped it. Cross your fingers they like it—or not. If it doesn’t sell, you’ll likely see it as a free read. Nothing ever goes to waste. I wrote a short story for Samhain’s Valentine free reads and shipped it yesterday. Again, a cute, hot contemporary. Today, I’m working on adding a chapter to a medieval vampire story I wrote a few years ago for a now-defunct publisher so that I can submit it either to EC or Samhain. Haven’t decided yet. And I’ll start looking hard at a proposal for a New York publisher that I slammed last month and that seems to be missing something. Have to get that one out the door.

All in all, a very good start to the new year.

Did I mention that I’ve started Chantix to help me give up the cigs once and for all? I’ve never been a heavy smoker—10 to 20 a day—but I can’t kick them on my own and I’ve tried everything. The first day on this pill, I felt sick to my stomach, but at least I wasn’t anxious about quitting because I’m allowed to keep smoking. Don’t know how my writing productivity will be affected by it. I remember reading somewhere that Stephen King’s productivity was cut in half when he quit. And I have to find another way to “dream” my stories. I like writing a few pages, then heading outside, lighting up, and letting that Nicotine open up the synapses to find the next scene. My most fun story twists were found on the back porch while I inhaled. Am I going to lose that? Scares me some. The weather should help me keep those trips to the porch to a minimum too!

Keep posted. I’ll be doing another couple of flashback contests in the next few days to celebrate the release of Unforgiven. And if you haven’t already read Unbridled, you might want to do it now, because the two are very closely tied.

So, back to that winner. By random number generator, the winner is…Sue Brandes! Congratulations! And be sure to email me to let me know what email address you want me to send that download to!

I’m going to be just plain mean. I have to play at Access Romance’s blog today and couldn’t think of anything wild or wonderful to talk about, so I’m going to bribe you into dropping by. Anyone who posts on Access Romance will get an entry in the contest for the download of SADDLED. So I won’t announce that winner until tomorrow. Cruel, cruel, I know. ~DD

Follow me here today: Access Romance blog

If you post a comment today, you’ll be in the running
for a free download of SADDLED!

In one week, the second of my Lone Star Lovers books, Unforgiven, will be released. So I thought maybe I’d remind you why you’re going to be eager to rush to Samhain to buy it.

It’s all about the cowboy. Independent and stubborn. Strong but tender. Smells of horse and sweat. Completely, lickably male.

The first of my Samhain westerns was Saddled. I had so much fun writing it that I quickly followed with Unbridled and Unforgiven. And you can bet I have something in the works right now to follow. So indulge yourself in some cowboy lust.

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

From Just Erotic Romance, 5 stars: “…I couldn’t put this story down! It was danger, betrayal, sexy and fun all rolled together into the perfect erotic romance. The plot was brilliant, and the characters unique…The sexual scenes will make you clamp your knees together and dream of a sexy cowboy or two of your own…”

From Vixen Reviews, 5 stars: “…What starts out as an innocent effort to warm Kate up turns into some of the most erotic sex I have ever read along with some of the best dialog I have seen in a book so far this year…The chemistry and interaction between the three of them is well written and keeps you chuckling and turns you on. The characters themselves are so well written you feel for them and you want them to make their alternative relationship work….Saddled is heart-stopping and fascinating!!!!!!!…”

From Romance Junkies, 4.5 stars: “…Delilah Devlin’s storylines never fail to pull readers into the story and SADDLED is no exception…Of course the sex scenes are scorching and adventurous with the perfect blend of emotional turmoil to ensure readers keep Ms. Devlin’s name at the top of their ‘must read’ list.”

When Bobby Blackhawk and Cale Yancey see a car slide off the highway and into an icy creek, they’ve got only minutes to get the beautiful driver out alive. And only one way to save her from hypothermia: take her to their isolated cabin, get naked…and hope like hell that when she wakes up, she doesn’t scream the place down.

Katherine Duvall opens her eyes in a strange bed, and the tingles flooding her body aren’t entirely due to restored circulation. She’s snuggled between two handsome men, one a gruff, gentle giant, the other a sexy, playful Native American. Having just left her fiancé romping with another woman, she’s not quite as shocked as she might have been.

In fact, these two lonesome cowboys could be the perfect bookends to satisfy her hunger for revenge and bolster her dented self esteem. It’s not long before their raging hormones are melting the snow on the cabin roof.

To their surprise, they find something else is melting, too. Their hearts…

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

Katherine Duvall awoke as sensation flooded her feet and hands—sharp prickling pinches that made her moan.

“Yeah, it’s gonna hurt. But it’s a good sign sweetheart,” a man whispered against her hair. “And there’s no frostbite. I checked.”

He’d checked? One fact penetrated her pain-filled fog. He’d done a lot more than checked. She was naked. And his bare-naked body was pressed up against her back, a penis nudging her bottom.

“Where are my clothes?” she gasped, choking on outrage and fear.

“Had to shuck ‘em. They were soaked.”

She remembered the car sliding into the water. But why wasn’t she in a hospital? “Where am I?”

“In my cabin. Couldn’t chance taking you back to Wellesley. Snow’s comin’ down too hard.”

Her fingers stung, and she pulled her hands from under the covers to peer at them in the inky darkness. “How long have I been here?”

“Maybe an hour. Was worried about you two. You both passed out.”

“Both?”
Read the rest of this entry »

Or maybe just a change of location. Yesterday, my friend Shayla Kersten asked me to meet her in Little Rock for a “Write-in”. She was having a hard time getting back into writing gear after the holiday. We settled in with our designer coffees next to a window so we could watch the weather (snow was forecast) and proceeded to slam pages of our latest Works-in-Progress. I always have my camera handy.

We set up in the far corner in the back next to an outlet.

Shayla played coy.

As always, I grimaced for the camera.

We both made terrific progress. I began a little free read for Samhain (I haven’t found the right title yet) and made it half way through the story, stopping to share snippets with Shayla when I couldn’t stop giggling.

Today, I’m back home. Kim Kaye Terry and I are supposed to sprint (slam pages as fast as you can) later this morning. I’ll do anything to make the actual work of writing more fun.

One last reminder! Sign up today!

For those who don’t know, my sister and I co-founded a website for writers called Rose’s Colored Glasses. From that site, we run a critique group and provide workshops—some free and some for pay (hey, teaching is work!). In January, we will be leading a month-long plotting bootcamp. How’s our workshop different from every other one out there? We provide feedback and brainstorming every step of the way. We are so good at it that we have many authors return again and again for help with their new Works-in-Progress.

Here’s a description of the class. January is a great time to take on a new challenge and a new book. Join us if you can!

Your DIs (Drill Instructors): Elle James and Delilah Devlin

Dates: January 4—January 30, 2010

Cost: $35.00—cheap, considering everything you get!

What you can look forward to during Plotting Bootcamp?

Learn a methodical approach to harness your creativity in order to produce an in-depth plot for your next novel! Sound scary? It is-when you’re staring at an empty page without a compass and a map to guide you through the novelistic jungle. Your DIs will lead you through four weeks of activities that will help strengthen your abilities to: capture the conflicts, the major plot line and subplots; deepen your knowledge of your characters; and conceive of and develop an in-depth, by-chapter description of your book. Elle and Delilah will accomplish this with weekly lessons, bi-weekly chats and daily online communication. Be ready for bivouac!

Interested? Follow this link to sign up: Rose’s Plotting Bootcamp

Okay, that’s the end of my promo. The bootcamp is intense and fun. And you will learn something new or reinforce knowledge you already have! Guaranteed!

Our mom drew the picture for our site, morphing my sister and I into “Rose”.

Yesterday, I wrapped up FWD&J and shipped it to my EC editor. Then I gave Bad, Bad Girlfriend one last read through and sent it to her as well. With all that spare time left, I made notes for plots for four new projects I intend to work on this month. I love it when my brain is firing on all cylinders. However, I won’t be at the computer at all today. I’m driving to Dallas and back to pick up the 6-year-old from her father. Mmmm….Tex-mex! I won’t be counting calories.

Thought you might like to sigh over the cover for an upcoming release—a collection of very naughty fairy tales that will be out July 1, 2010 but is ready for pre-order now!

This is the line-up of the stories. Look who’s right up front!

Foreword by Angela Knight, Introduction: Once Upon a Time…
The Obedient Wife by Delilah Devlin
How the Little Mermaid Got Her Tail Back by Andrea Dale
Ducking by Craig Sorensen
Three Times by Justine Elyot
Ellie and the Shoemaker by Louisa Harte
The Pub Owner’s Daughter by Alegra Verde
Sleep Tight by Janine Ashbless
Her Hair is a Net, Woven by Shanna Germain
Mind Your Peas and Qs by Allison Wonderland
Demon Muse by Kristina Wright
Gildi and the Unwieldy, Ineffectual Committee of Bears by Jeremy Edwards
Frosted Glass by Aurelia T. Evans
Gingerbread Man by Carol Hassler
All In a Day’s Work by Saskia Walker
Big Bad Wolf (An Excerpt) by Alana Noël Voth
The Kiss by Michelle Augello-Page
The Return by Charlotte Stein
The Stone Room by A.D.R. Forte

Here’s what Amazon says:
“Award-winning novelist and top erotica writer Kristina Wright goes over the river and through the woods to find the sexiest fairy tales ever written. Playfully seductive, supernaturally sensual, and darkly erotic, Fairy Tale Lust showcases clever twists to classic tales and introduces new stories inspired by the ever-popular genre. Here, a walk in the forest is likely to lead to an erotic encounter with a mysterious stranger and the silver light of a full moon might illuminate an orgy of sensual delights! Highly imaginative and downright stimulating, these stories take fairy tale erotica to the next level. Top erotica contributors deliver sizzling work, including Janine Ashbless, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Delilah Devlin, Shanna Germaine, and Saskia Walker.”

It’s funny how excited I am about this book. The payday was paltry, the story short—but I had so much fun writing it! Here’s what one of the editors at Cleis said about my story:

“…A very artful invention, partly taking off on Beauty and the Beast—it’s beautifully written, has all the fairy tale elements, has very smutty sex, and both a clever twist ending and a deeper moral.”

I was impressed she could get “smutty sex” and “deeper moral” into the same sentence.

According to my own New Year’s tradition, I spent New Year’s Eve productively. I believe in heralding in the New Year in the same way you wish the rest of the year to go. So I wrapped up the second chapter of Bad Moon Rising (the link should be up sometime later today) and a short story for a Cleis Press anthology. Then I returned to FWD&J, revised my way through chapter 6 and wrote a rough of the final chapter. A very good day for me!

I like to take the first day of the year to review what I accomplished in the previous year and state my plans for this year.

In 2009, I enjoyed seeing 19 new releases.

2 Single Title books
1) Texas Men (Kensington)
2) Darkness Burning (Avon)

10 Novellas
1) Jane’s Wild Weekend (Ellora’s Cave)
2) Obsessed (Zane)
3) Saddled (Samhain)
4) Unleashing the Tiger (Ellora’s Cave)
5) Lockdown (Ellora’s Cave)
6) Hotblooded, in Tempted by a Cowboy (Kensington)
7) Stone’s Embrace (Samhain)
8) Knight of My Dreams (Ellora’s Cave)
9) Unbridled (Samhain)
10) Raw Silk (Ellora’s Cave)

3 Short Stories
1) Eye of the Storm (Harlequin Spice)
2) The Hired Hand, in Lesbian Cowboys (Cleis Press)
3) Have Sex Will Travel, in Sexy Little Numbers (Black Lace)

4 Re-releases
1) Invite Me In, in Naughty Bits (Harlequin Spice)
2) Frannie ‘n’ the Private Dick (Ellora’s Cave)
3) Unleashing the Tiger, in Altered States (Ellora’s Cave)
4) Ride a Cowboy, in To Serve and Protest (Pocket/Ellora’s Cave)

Pretty darned impressive, I think. If I stick to my plan for this year, 2010 will look very much the same. This is what I have release dates for now but doesn’t include novellas I have in the works for Samhain and Ellora’s Cave.

1) 01/12/10 – LONE STAR LOVERS: UNFORGIVEN (Samhain)
2) 04/??/10 – MISS ADDIE’S GARDEN, New Love Stories Magazine
3) 05/01/10 – STONE’S EMBRACE, Captive Souls anthology (Samhain)
4) 06/01/10 – THE OUT-OF-TOWNER, Girl Crush anthology (Cleis Press)
5) ??/10 – THE WEEKEND, Lesbian Lust anthology (Cleis Press)
6) 07/01/10 – THE OBEDIENT WIFE, Fairy Tale Lust anthology (Cleis Press)
7) 10/1/10 – COWBOY FEVER anthology (Samhain)
8) 11/01/10 – DARKNESS CAPTURED (Avon Red)

The big push this year, besides the many novellas I will write for epublishers, will be to sell another proposal to a New York house. Cross your fingers. I have two strong proposals already making the rounds and am working on several more to get out the door in the coming months.

And that’s my look into the past and forward.

I do have some resolutions. Three are promises I will make to my readers. You’ve been so loyal to me; I have to make sure I return the favor.

* I plan to offer free chapters or stories in my newsletter at least every two months.

* I will blog every day, come rain or shine, and will do my very best to please you with the content.

* I will continue to write the sexy stories you love. And I will try, try, try to keep them romantic, although if you read me, you know I tend to add some gritty realism in my stories, because so much of what I write is what I’ve experienced, either vicariously through my friends and family or directly. I tend to write what I know, even if the hero is a vampire.

Sound fair? What are your resolutions?