Obsessed for Zane is complete!

I’ve been offline for a while. It’s very weird actually. First, my satellite/email provider did a system upgrade that crashed everything for several days (April 26)—so no way to get online, get on the web, send an email…

Then, the telephones in the house crapped out. Both lines. So, I was completely cut off.

It turned out to be exactly what I needed to plow through the final chapters of OBSESSED. I finished it on the 29th and shipped it, then waited for everything to come back up.

First, the email day before yesterday. Today, the Internet and the telephone. I caught up on plans and brushed off old projects while I was incommunicado, and to tell the truth, didn’t go as nuts as I thought I would.

So, I have lots to catch up on. Photos to upload from RT; news about a Bachelor’s Auction I attended Saturday night (I bought a judge)! But for now, I’m just glad to say hello and thanks for all the posts.

The winner of the RT prize pack of cool “stuff” is…Carol Woodruff! Congrats and send me a message at delilahdevlin@hughes.net!

My entry is short, but it’s a new venture into erotica! With my galpals Kimberly Kaye Terry and Allison Hobbs also featured in this volume, this anthology is destined to be a bestseller!

Written by women from all over the world, here is a new level of lesbian erotica, compiled by Zane, that promises the most exciting and steamy reading experience possible. These stories move beyond race, age, and all walks of life, including long-hidden passions, secret rendezvous with strangers, and May-December romances.

Obsessed for Zane

I’ve been back from the Romantic Times convention for a week, but I still feel “off.” RT was great. I got to meet with the editor I missed during my New York trip, which made the whole trip worthwhile for me. The Allure Author’s Safari Mixer was a stunning success. I have pictures and will be loading them up today to share.

I guess I’m just ready for a vacation. Coming home from my third trip in a month and a half, diving right back into Obsessed without a break, then starting the latest class for Rose’s Colored Glasses has taken a toll. I’m ready for a vacation. But guess what? I can’t do those!! And not just because I have a deadline for the current book, but because I can’t just turn off my brain.

Besides, today I get to hang with the folks at The Cave! If you’d like to join me, I’ll be hosting scavenger hunts, posting sexy excerpts…giving away prizes! But hey, I didn’t want to leave y’all out either, so I’ll award a bundle of gifts from RT to one lucky winner who posts a comment on my blog today. So stop and say hello!

In the meantime, let me brag a little. I just received 5 Stars from Just Erotic Romance for Making the Madam: Jewels of the Nile, Volume 1!

The reviewer said this in particular about my story:
“Ms. Devlin’s Making the Madam was my favorite of the anthology, with a short fun story that pushed the limits of woman owning brothels and depicts a young woman finally taking control of her sexuality. Merry had spunk and I fell in love with her instantly. Nathan balanced her out perfectly with his own unique rhythm. The sex was written perfectly and was incredibly hot with some voyeurism thrown in.”

And said this about the entire anthology!
“This has been one of my favorite books this year because in one volume you encounter a lot of characters and many different stories that leave you very content when you turn the final page.”

Thanks to everyone who came to play at the Access Romance Blog yesterday! I’ll be bringing back something cool from RT for…Dina! Don’t know what yet, but there’s sure to be a book or two in the prize pack. Be sure to send me your snail mail addy!

I’m off email and off this blog until I get back sometime Monday afternoon. I should have lots of pictures and stories to share. ‘Til next week! 🙂

Obsessed for Zane

Taking a break from the travelogue…

I’m FINALLY starting to get excited about going to the Romantic Times convention this Wednesday. Back to back trips, a killer deadline, and a 3 ½ year old have left me a little ragged, but I’m starting to feel the tingle! Must have been my online conversation with a handsome cover model today.

I’ll be bringing back books and gewgaws from RT and trying to figure out how to unload them all. So, tomorrow, I’m offering the first opportunity to win something fun. Don’t know what it will be yet, but that will be part of the surprise, right?

So, if you’ve got a moment tomorrow, be sure to visit the Access Romance Blog and answer the question I pose.

First, a brag, then on to Memphis!

A Review from Whipped Cream, and 5 Cherries:
SEDUCED BY DARKNESS is much more than a sexy read. Delilah has created a complex and enthralling world of vampires and mages, shapeshifting familiars and true love, and deep entanglements of affection, honor, and duty. The supernatural in her stories is skillfully layered atop the real world – although in this novel, reality is a somber, almost post-apocalyptic image of a flooded city…Delilah manages to convey the despair of those who remained behind, and the unshakable optimism of those who work to rebuild after a catastrophe. Delilah Devlin has demonstrated once again her skill as a storyteller…let’s not forget the suspense, the fight scenes, the appealing, well-developed characters, and the tightly woven plot. As always I have only one regret after reading SEDUCED BY DARKNESS: I have to wait too long for the next book of the series.”

Shayla and I have decided that when we get that big contract, we’re moving to Memphis and buying a building that will house a bookstore/coffee shop on the bottom floor and two separate apartments on top. Something close to Beale Street, because we are in love with the downtown area. Memphis has the look and feel of a northern New Orleans–great southern food, Blues blasting into the streets from seedy bars, voodoo shops, and the Mississippi River wending its way past the city.

We went to Memphis on Easter Weekend. Not because we had any great plans for that weekend, but because I got a wild hair and HAD to get to Memphis for research. Several emails later, Shayla was more than willing to come with. Did you know she was actually my sister’s best friend in high school? We’ve known each other forever, but only reconnected after she started writing. Sharing our trials and successes has made us better friends.

Anyway, on Sunday morning, we trudged out the hotel that is only a few blocks from Beale street, looking for breakfast. We wanted to take the trolley. We waited and waited, and then finally one lone trolley rolled down the tracks and pulled up at our stop, but running the wrong way. The driver opened the door and shouted, “Ain’t no trolleys runnin’ that way ’til ten. Holiday schedule.”

He must have noted our crushed expressions (we were very hungry), because he added, “This trolley’s headin’ to the medical center, but you can ride with me and I’ll show you Memphis.”

His trolley was completely empty, and I could see another opportunity for unplanned adventure. We hopped on.

Meet John the Trolleyman.

Progress at last! After scrapping all those pages, I made them up and more!

Okay, so I have all these pictures from my trip to Memphis. I know why I took them, but I thought it might be fun to let you see inside my head to know why these particular sights appealed to me (and let you see the wierdness that is me!).

One of the places recommended to us as providing “spookiness” by the nice folks at the Visitor’s Center was the “Metal Museum.” I wasn’t sure if it would be a bust or not, but I’m easy going, so Shayla and I headed straight there from the park (and the cop–see below!).

Approaching the museum, I told her to pull over. A number of rundown, abandoned buildings, that bordered the museum and were formerly an Army Armory, lay just off the road, with just the right amount of spookiness to call to me. We stopped to take pictures and started to banter back and forth about possible uses of a place like this in a good story.

A demon university–“Go, demons, go!”
A haunted, abandoned sanitarium for flesh-eating ghosts?
Or what a great place to stash a body or deliver a sacrifice! (Oooh! Gotta make a note)

I wished I could see it at night, imagining candle moving in windows…or a floating face!

Of course, place Shayla in front of the demolition-ready buildings, and you have inspiration for true horror! And why was she making that face? (You know she’s gonna have a comeback for this! :mrgreen:)

On to the museum, where a few pieces of art caught my imagination.

Of course, I’m thinking about the aliens in the cornfield in the movie, Signs. Maybe, not too useful for what I write, unless I have vampire aliens invading the Earth.

Here’s the stairway to nowhere…or another dimension…where demons enter and escape into their own world!

This one reminded me of an ogre attacking a chicken, until I decided he was really a Titan wrestling a vicious Gryphon. Note the size of his feet–yum! Definitely something I could use in one of my books.

Okay, so maybe they really are lame pictures, but tomorrow you’ll meet John the Trolleyman who took us on a Memphis odyssey.