An Interview with Michele Hart and Jon Paige and A Drawing for A Copy of Mind Blown!

Author Michele Hart Interviews Jon Paige, the “Resourceful” Hero of Mind-Blown

Here’s a first bite of Mind-Blown:

Jon Paige discovers his employer is developing illicit mind control techniques. He quickly learns how to hijack the system and breaks down his beautiful assistant’s persistent walls. Will Holly forgive him for sneaking into her mind, if she ever learns of it?

Holly Maddox is determined not to dip her pen in the company ink, a policy that’s served her well…until Jon comes along. He steals her mind when he’s in the room, weakens her fortitude with every flash of his flirty eyes and secretive smile. How will she keep herself from falling in love with her boss when he melts her impulse control?

When Jon and Holly decide to sabotage the brain-washing experiments, they learn they’re up against a greater power than they’d bargained for. Doing the right thing risks lives. Will the truth of their beginnings wreck their sizzling affair?
***

MICHELE: Welcome, Jon, Take a seat, get comfortable.

Jon takes a seat, bounces a little to test the virtue of the chair.

MICHELE: So, Jon, you’re the hunky and felonious hero of Mind-Blown, my spicy new Sci-Fi Romance available now at Siren-BookStrand. What was your motivation to use mind control on your assistant Holly?

JON: (smiles wildly) Have you seen her? Take a gander at our book cover. Holly was a stubborn one, wasn’t a fast fall for my smooth charms. She hid behind towering walls built around her soul over some long-ago heartbreak, and she was prepared for a prolonged assault. No matter how many times I politely knocked on those steel barricades, she dashed my efforts Even when I could see magic stirring in her pretty eyes. No matter the occasional secretive smile I provoked, she was still a willing prisoner of those walls. Her mind was set. I would not defeat her defense. It was a stroke of Fate that I divined our company’s mind-control tricks, and I was offered the chance to confirm my theory of the discovery.
And I only pulled off a few small break-ins, nothing worthy of the full-blown adjective “felonious”. (uses finger quotes) I prefer the words “resourceful” and “unique thinker”.

MICHELE: (issues a disagreeing grunt) Now, Jon. Most laws would consider the multiple penetrations of a federal medical institution felonious.

JON: (shrugs, still smiles coolly) I didn’t take much. This isn’t some kind of police trap-and-interrogation, is it? You aren’t a cop, are you? ‘Cause I haven’t admitted to anything specifically and you have no evidence against me. That’s what my kick-ass attorney will say to any guy wearing a black dress behind a judge’s bench. (taps the microphone) Is this thing on?

MICHELE: (gives up and moves on) So, you tested your theory on Holly?

JON: I actually tested it on a group of unknowing employees, but I did slip a little subliminal romantic help into Holly’s memory experiment. Just to see if I could weaken her stifling opposition against spending casual off-time with me.

MICHELE: You say the opportunity to change Holly’s mind about not dating coworkers was just too juicy to pass up?

JON: It absolutely was. I’m a weak man for a hot redhead and legs up to her chin. I blame a loss of good judgment from basking in Holly’s bewitching company five days a week.

MICHELE: Sounds very shifty in the employer-ethics corner. Even sounds bad for a friend to do to another friend.

JON: That it was, a violation, really. I’m not usually one to wish for this sort of power over another person. I’d felt very bad after I’d done it, wished to undo it, and thought to confess…until Holly kissed me and led me to her bed. I lost all interest in guilt somewhere along the way to her bedroom.. It was when I listened to the music of her panting my name in my ear that I realized there was no going back. Not that I wanted to, at that point.

MICHELE: Was it a case of desperate people doing desperate things?

JON: Yes, it was exactly that.

MICHELE: I guess you figured you’d never get caught. It didn’t end well, did it?

JON: (shakes his head, looks remorseful, a bit haunted) No. I hadn’t anticipated my little test-run of brain-washing would end like this at all. By the time it was over, I ended up in a blood-smeared bunny suit--yes, a bunny suit--and the world media and the President of the United States had become involved. Even worse, I nearly lost Holly. We’ll be in hiding for months.

Find out how badly it went.
***
Mind-Blown
by Michele Hart
BUY LINK
Available in e-Book ISBN#: 1-60601-773-X

Read reviews and hot, action-packed excerpts, watch the book trailer at:
MIND BLOWN TRAILER

Read and live an adventure.
Happy reading,

Michele Hart
Sci-Fi/Fantasy Romance Author
~Walk Another World ~ www.ILoveShapeShifters.com ~

LUMINOUS NIGHTS * coming Sep '10 * Siren-BookStrand
MIND-BLOWN * LOOKS ARE DECEIVING * Siren-BookStrand
ZERO-G * 28 Days of Heart * All Romance e-Books
NO FUNNY STUFF! * Song of the Muses * The Wild Rose Press

~LEAVE A COMMENT FOR MICHELE OR JON AND YOU'LL BE ENTERED INTO A DRAWING FOR AN EBOOK OF MICHELE HART'S NEW RELEASE, MIND BLOWN! ~

Fun in the Summer

Yesterday one of my very good friends and her husband had their annual cookout to kick off the start of summer. Since I'm a self-confessed agoraphobe, it's not very often that I leave the house unless it's to go to work or the store. (Generally, I try to stick to places I know or have been before. This makes going to conferences difficul, but I do manage to make it to them if the funds permit. But I digress.) - So, for me doing something where I just go and hang out a friend's house it is a major deal. I've been to her house before, so there wasn't really any stress involved, and I really looked forward to seeing all my friends in a nice, relaxed and joyful atmosphere.

What an awesome day!

The food rocked, the company was wonderful, the beverages flowed. Dave and I had a great time. There is nothing quite like sitting around with a bunch a friends and just enjoying a nice summer day and evening. Good music playing in the background. At one point our friend Nancy was looking at my husband's sketchbook and stopped on a cartoon drawing of one of his characters - one he's done nothing with yet - she proceded to pour forth with ideas for this character that had both Dave and I really excited to explore. It's a children's character that would also make an excellent plush toy. I'm thinking that tonight or tomorrow the hubster and I will need to sit down and start figuring out storylines for this hopeful pocket of gold. When Nancy gave Dave the idea, he and I looked at each other and he said, "There has to be something to this, it's so random a happening."

But is it random?

Maybe going to that cookout and him having that conversation with Nancy was supposed to happen. Maybe that was the cosmos finally lining up for Dave. And wouldn't that be cool?

-Kate

Week of Crazies...and Rejections

This has been one week of crazies. I've had family here, both children sick with bronchitis, running between karate, football practice and guitar lessons, while my husband was in Germany.

My book, A Kiss of Wytchblood, was rejected by an e-publisher with no reason given, just a form letter telling me it wasn't right for them and they apologized for the form letter, but didn't have time to give me a reason for the rejection. *sigh* I can live with rejection. I keep thinking this rejection should have bothered me more than it did, but I lacked the emotional disappointment that I think I should have. Not sure what that means. Maybe I wasn't as gungho about this publisher as I'd though. *shrugs* Either way, I'll resubmit the book and continue the waiting game.

My boys are at their grandparents this weekend--*does a happy jig*--so my husband and I are going to the movies tonight to see A-Team. I so, so hope it doesn't screw up the television series I watched as a kid. I took my two boys to see the remake of Karate Kid. They loved it, but I wasn't impressed. Jaden Smith is a doll, but otherwise...*yawn* Just my opinion because I know other adults that enjoyed it as much as my boys did.

I'm holding my 3rd Caribbean Giveaway over at my other blogsite. Here's the LINK if you want to leave me a comment and be entered to win. I will draw a winner next Friday, July 2nd, so there's still plenty of time to be entered to win! The photo of what I'm giving away is below. But in order to be eligible to win it, you MUST leave a comment at Moonlight, Lace & Mayhem. Comments here don't count.

Gift giving away @ Moonlight, Lace & Mayhem.

On a positive note, I received an awesome review from Seriously Reviewed for Elfin Blood. Seriously Reviewed gave me a score of 8 out of 10 and said: "SWEET! Are you a vampire lover? Do you like Lord of the Rings? I love both and really dug this book :) Hot, action packed and filled with great characters. Gracen Miller has done a really good job in telling a fantasy story that, even though was fiction and far fetched, still kept me pulled in and reading until the last page. Oh so hot and rocking :) The action didn't stop and just when you thought it might....yep it didn't. Kicken story that I will be reading again soon :)" To read the entire review, click HERE.

Okies, I'll shut up with the rambling now. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! Stay safe, keep cool and away from the blasted oil slick! *grumble, grumble*

~huggles~
Gracen

Taking on a new route

How many of you have tried writing outside your comfort zone? I think Wendy tried this, right Wendi? :D I did, too. The result was Wolf’s Soul: Midnight Howl Series Book One.

 

Writing this book was comparable to taking the back roads. Sometimes you'd see a slice of natural beauty, rugged scenery, green rolling hills, or a brown patch of land. You learn unique history and culture, end up on roads that raise concerns and make you wonder if you should have taken that route. But you keep on driving until you reach your destination with a smile on your face and a camera in your purse loaded with awesome pictures. And then you say, “That was fun.”

Yeah, with this book, I stumbled, hit rough spots, and told myself that maybe this genre was not for me. But despite the trials and many hours of sitting in front of my laptop, that warm glow I often feet when writing a story that I believe in, remained and pushed me to finish Wolf’s Soul.

 

Right now, I am waiting for the second edit. I learned that I have the 22nd of July release date so I’m happy. No cover for this book yet. Hopefully, next week I’ll be able to share it with you. But I have the blurb ready. Here it is:

 

To keep the woman he loves, he’ll do more than turn his back on his pack.

He’ll fight and kill every shapeshifter in his path.

Damn the consequences. Damn his fifth and last remaining life.

Ruthless, charismatic, and dangerously handsome shapeshifter, Callum Dyrdek abides by his clan's code - avoid humans, but protect them from their archenemy, the Blood Robbers. But he broke the rules when he meets Marisol, the passionate and kick-ass woman who possesses the powerful ancient sword that belonged to the leader who ruled his clan many centuries ago. He claims her as his. Now, the enemy demands he give up the woman and the sword or they will attack the humans. Will his clan stand behind him after what he has done?

 

Expert swordswoman, Marisol Saint James killed a shapeshifter. Now she's on the run with another named Callum who wants her sword and has taken her virginity. But until she finds the truth about herself, she must trust him. When Callum put his fifth and last life on the line in exchange for her safety, she intervenes. Callum wants her sword, but she gave him her heart—whole-souled.

 

Okay, I’m off to writing my stand-alone novel, Honey I’m Yours. Sexy Knight: Knight Brothers Series Book Three is on the works, too. Thanks to those who asked. *grinning* By the way, Wicked Persuasion received a great review from Sensual Reads. The reviewer wrote suspense for Wicked Persuasion’s genre. I thought it pretty cool.

 

“Tierney O’Malley takes the reader from laughter to tears in Wicked Persuasion. The touch of humor in this one was perfectly counterbalanced by the danger and passion.”—Elise Lyn, Sensual Reads

 

Drop me a line. I love hearing from everyone.

 

A Man Possessed

I wrote 20,000 words in two days of a story that took me and my muse by the scruff of the neck and wouldn't let go. What's more, I even did a mock-up cover and the synopsis! I have about 10,000 to write...wonder if I can finish it tomorrow *giggle* It's my first full menage story and so far I am having a blast writing it. (Off to my beta readers for this one, my pretty)

Here's the synopsis and cover I did, just to tease :-)

“A boy reaches puberty at around thirteen years of age. If he is one of the few, born with a caul, he will hit Magolescence by the time he’s considered a man. That’s when things can get really difficult.” Dr. Obenweiser’s guide to Magolescence.

Magolescence is a magical puberty, a stage in a magician's life where unexpected things can happen while the brain prepares the body for life as a magician. At eighteen, Shane has more than enough to deal with besides disapproving parents, a weird doctor and an evil magician who wants to recruit Shane and his two lovers, Joel and Will, into his coven. He is going through Magolescence, too. Lord help him!

More information to follow...

***Please note, the below is a mock-up cover and will not be used once the publishers cover has been issued***

Night Owls and Sci Fi Fantasy Blog Awards!

I was born a night owl and will always be a night owl. I think it's super cool that my daughter starts high school in the fall and will be in band and the Color Guard (the dancers who twirl flags with the marching band)and their mascot is The Owls. They call themselves the Night Owls too! I'm already stocking up on sweatshirts, water bottles, and totes with the adorable creatures!

How many other writers out there or readers...are night owls? I go to bed around 4 am, wake up around noon or so and start drinking coffee. During school, my schedule is a little bit more normal, but not much. It only changes a couple of hours. I take midnight walks. I'm like a freaking vampire. Dinner is usually my first meal. I know...jacked up, right? I've been fighting my night owl side since I was born. I detest mornings. But now it really works with my writing schedule. I almost always write after midnight. I was born at 11:45 pm. I wonder if this has anything to do with my night owl habits.

So, I want to hear from other night owls. Tell me I'm not the only one!!! Please!!!

Fantasy and Sci Fi Blog Award


Hywela Lyn just awarded me with the Fantasy and Sci Fi Blog Award! I was lucky enough to write alongside Hywela when we wrote the Muse Series. What an honor! This lady is an amazing writer!

Now I need to award the following outstanding authors for their accomplishments in writing sci fi and/or fantasy and mention some great classics too!

Winning Authors
J.A. Saare
Robyn Wren
Valerie Everhart
Jason Leary

Favorite Books
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

Hugs and Love,
Alisha Paige

(Photos courtesy of photobucket.com)

Writing Software

Generally, I like to do all my idea scratching and formulation in either easy-to-read blurbs or character sketches. These are usually done longhand or jotted down in spiral notebooks. It's just quicker and more portable that way. However, I've been doing so many series lately that have overall story arcs that I've found it's getting more difficult to find the information I'm looking for in the notebooks.

Now, over the years I've tried various software programs geared toward getting writers oganized. While the designers' hearts were in the right place, the navigation of the programs have been less than easy. Here are the ones I've trialed and things I've noticed with them.

Caution - this is not an indepth analysis of these programs since I generally got frustrated after a few sessions and quit using them.

WriteWay - Seemed like a good product when I used the free trial. There are some functions of this software that is not available in the free download, but I figured all right that makes sense as long as I know it's there when purchased. I enjoyed it enough in the idea stages of wriing to go ahead and buy the professional edition. This is where my infatuation faded to frustration.

After working on a story for a few hours. That's hours. I decided I wanted to save onto a zip disk. (remember those?) The program wouldn't let me. Say what? I could only save work to my hard drive. - That's enough to make this writer break out into a cold, cold sweat. Occasionally, I might save onto the hard drive, but I don't like it. I want to save to secondary systems and email things to myself for storage. That alone was enough to make me abandon that program and go back to my old method. Granted, this was an earlier version, maybe from '06 or '07. So, any versions since might have fixed this little foible. I don't know. I haven't tried it since.

I worked along happily with MS Word for a while (until they changed that. I hate Word '07 with a red hot passion. Why any designer would take a program that worked perfectly well and was easy to navigate and make it harder, I have no idea. Idiots!)
Anyhoo, in Romance Divas chat one night, someone mentioned working with Liquid Story Binder. I thought, whoohoo, another other with a free download I can try. Here's my experience with that tool.

Liquid Story Binder - Despite it being a beautiful program with an absolutely stunning website, the software itself is like trying to navigate the streets of New York in a blindfold. Almost impossible. Living with a graphic artist, I do know the joys of downloading free tutorials for new programs to understand how to use them to optimal effect. Well, that just wasn't happening here. Liquid is so dense with tabs and sections and sub-sections it makes it very difficult to get around in and the "how-to" is a tomb that would put War and Peace to shame. Really? How is learning this software going to save me time? It's not. I think for people who write graphic novels or screeplays, it might actually work miracles for realizing your complete story arc in both text and visuals, but for a novelist, not so much.

Again, I tried the free version of this software off their website a few years ago. Any upgrades or newer versions I'm not familiar with. All I know is that I opened the program, took a look around, and backed out slowly fearing to wake the beast.

Two years pass...

Again, sitting in Diva chat writing and a few of the divas mentioned they use yWriter for composing their ideas and writing their rough drafts. All right, I have to try this. I've come to the point in my writing career where I have sooo many series going, I really need to streamline and get a good handle on what I'm doing. I need to work more efficiently and be able to find information about characters quickly.

yWriter is a free download, but unlike the other programs mentioned, it is free to stay. There are no functions that are limited or absent until you purchase the software. What you get is a full working program that might not be as pretty as Liquid Story Binder, or as colorful as WriteWay, but it does have one major benefit that the others don't - It's easy to learn. I started my first project on it yesterday and so far it was not the hair-pulling experience I thought it would be. The tabs are all pretty self-explanatory, the information saves easily. The manual is short and to the point. (The Quickstart Guide comes bundled with the download as a PDF- I printed mine so I didn't have to switch back and forth between programs. But honestly, I read it a few days before and then just started in when I had the chance and didn't look at it at all yesterday.)

So far, so good.

My diva connections told me they save their files to thumb drives and even have versions on other computers so they can work on their projects on more than one if they need to. Bonus!

We'll see how it goes. I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, fee free to leave your comments about any writing software you've used. For novelists, that is. Screenwriting software is a different animal, and well, the only one I've ever used of that was Final Draft, which I completely love.

Until next week,

-Kate

The Nourisher

Just got word that "The Nourisher", has been accepted by eXtasy books. Vernon will live! I am so pleased. You'll all fall in love with the most adorable character ever, an 8ft hairy alien spider. I swear you will. What is the Nourisher...stay tuned to this blog. I will reveal more soon :-)

Thanks to Patty and Michele for beta reading this story. You guys rock!

Write what you know!

When I first started writing I read every craft book I could get my hands on. I read "write what you know," over and over again. This seemed like realistic advice and a great approach to a newbie writer like myself. As I became more and more experienced, I pushed myself into writing outside of the comfort zone of what I knew. Jesse's Brother takes place on a ranch in a small Oregon town. Guess what? I've never been on a ranch before and I'm a big city kind of girl so I didn't have the experience other than the occasional trip to the local petting zoo. But I learned and was able to pull it off.

I learned recently that "writing what you know" isn't the most important thing after all. One day at a book signing, some authors and I went on a short field trip to an astrology store. I love fairies and the store had a fabulous display of them. Well, later that night I found a submission request in my in-box. I got all excited over the idea that popped into my head. A fantasy romance with a matchmaking fairy! I started writing with excitement for this genre that was new to me. You see, I don't read or watch or write anything that has to do with fantasy. I wrote and wrote but then got stuck! I haven't had writer's block in so long and couldn't understand why it happened then.

After reworking scenes, trying to add stuff, and continued to be stuck I figured out the problem. It wasn't that I didn't like the story or the characters. Both had promise. The problem was that I didn't believe in the store. Even when I tried working on one of my other WIPs I continued to be stuck. I finally discarded the novel since I didn't think I was the correct person to writing that genre.

Now I believe it isn't 'write what you know' but it is 'write what you believe in!"

Talk to you soon,

Wendy Ely

New Reviewer Looking for Great Books to Review and Authors to Interview!

My friend, Barb used to review books for a major review house. She's created her own site to review books and needs some great books to review. Before I knew her, she reviewed two of my books and really knows her stuff. She reads all genres of romance, including erotica and BDSM (I think shes really loves these..*giggle*) so fill up her request box!



FYI~ Barb loves Cosmos...probably more than anyone ever in the history of the world! So send her a virtual Cosmo when you request your review! She'll get a good laugh out of it!

She also loves to do author interviews! So if you'd like Barb to review your book or if you'd like to request an author interview, send her a request via her website. The request form is at the bottom of her home page.

RISQUE REVIEWS BY BARB

Happy Writing and Reading!
~Alisha

Tin Gods: Ruins and Relics Book One

This is my first release as Kate Davison and I feel as if a new day has dawned. As a writer of all things paranormal/fantasy related or sci-fi and futuristic, I haven't always met with good results for my contemporary books. As a matter of fact I despaired of ever seeing my contemps in print (or even ebooks). Then came the idea I pulled out of the wreckage of a thousand and one story ideas file and the start of a series.

Since I tend to think in series rather than stand alones, when I pulled the prose outline for Tin Gods from the moth balls, I realized there were a lot of other stories that needed to be told about the sexy Section agents guarding ancient artifacts throughout the world. Boy do they get up to some mischief. Since Lucius Capri was my first Section agent, I figured his story and that of the Tin Gods needed to come first.

Here's a blub.

Ancient artifacts. A vengeful assassin. A beautiful woman. For Section agent, Lucius Capri it's just another day on the job.

For Romy Douglass, the abandoned daughter of Florida millionaire, Miles Douglass, the jade and emerald idol is the last in a long line of similar gifts from her father. Dubbed by Romy as the Tin Gods, the statues are daily reminders of Miles’s failure as a father and her disappointment as a daughter—that is until the night they’re stolen and her house vandalized while she’s on a date with the sexiest man alive.

Lucius Capri thought his assignment for the covert government agency titled, the Section, would be a quick snatch and grab to reclaim the priceless South American artifacts stolen by Miles Douglass. Who knew from his first contact with his mark, Romy, that nothing about the case or his feelings for her would be business as usual? With the statues missing and the infamous assassin, El Lobizon, on their trail, Lucius must decide which is more important, closing the biggest case of his career or allowing himself to fully trust the woman he’s come to love.

***

Tin Gods is available as an early-bird print special at The Wild Rose Press.


Until next week,

-Kate

I'm Back!!!

I'm back from my Caribbean vacation! My husband and I took our two sons on a Caribbean cruise. Wouldn’t it have been fun if all the Wicked, Thorn & Roses readers and bloggers could have gone too!

We traveled to Grand Cayman Islands, Honduras, Belize and Mexico. So, beginning today and continuing the next three weeks, I’m throwing a CARIBBEAN GIVEAWAY over at my other blog site Moonlight, Lace & Mayhem, BUT the giveaway is for both blog sites! It is easier to run one contest rather than two. So, if you want to be in the drawing for the giveaways, go here and leave me a comment, something as simple as “Boo!”, “Yo!”, “Hey, Mon!” OR take a stab at answering the TRIVIA QUESTION posted at the bottom of that blog and you’ll be entered to win that week’s Caribbean giveaway! Best of luck! This week’s winner will receive 1) a handmade Mahogany Belize bookmark and 2) a ceramic plaque of Ixchel, who was the jaguar goddess of medicine and midwifery in the Maya culture and was referred to as the “the goddess of making children”. (Photo below). To learn more about the goddess, Ixchel, visit Wikipedia.

Now, strap in and get ready to take a virtual trip of the first two days of our Cruise…

Miami from the ship.

The top of the ship, where my sons spent many hours dividing their time between the waterslide and eating ice cream cones.

My husband and I at the front of the ship before sailing.

Miami Marina directly across the street from the Port of Miami.

This was a beautiful sight to me and would make a beautiful postcard!

Our ship leaving port.


Sunset at Sea!

Isn't it beautiful?!?

Me the first formal night on ship.

BOTH personal photos posted against my will! My husband thought I should post them to keep my blog personal. Am I the only person that hates photos of myself? *grumbles...grumbles*

Belize Bookmark and Ixchel Plaque winner will receive!

DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE ME A COMMENT AT MLM TO BE ENTERED TO WIN THIS WEEK'S CARIBBEAN GIVEAWAY!! A WINNER WILL BE DRAWN NEXT FRIDAY, JUNE 18th.

Next week, I'll start talking about each stop and will post pictures. First up is George Town, Grand Cayman Islands. A very beautiful, clean, safe and mega rich Island.

TRIVIA QUESTION: Does anyone know what three things the Grand Cayman Islands is known for? If not, come back next week and I'll tell you!

Early Release: Time of the Soul

No, I haven't been let out of my asylum early...my next book and the next exciting chapter in the Pembroke Eve Chronicles, Time of the Soul has been!

Click here to get your copy and continue the adventure...this time there's a vampire on the loose, but not as you know them :-)

It's almost time for Cross the Line

Cross the Line is scheduled to be released July 19th and I'm soooo excited. Although my other books get graphic, this is my first actual erotica and I had a blast writing it. I hope you have just as much fun reading it.

Even though it isn't out yet, I'd thought I would offer a little teaser and plan on giving a copy away closer to the release date!

Blurb: Leslie thought she had it all, until Chris showed her the rest. Another move and a bigger paycheck are all Leslie Teague depends on. Living the ‘no strings’ attached lifestyle has always worked for her…until she arrives in Phoenix. She doesn’t like bad boy types of men, so why can’t she keep her hands off Chris Matthews, who also just happens to be her new neighbor? Content warning, this book contains a fulfilled fantasy, adult language, and a life saved.

Excerpt:

I dropped the last box on the brown tiles and worried whether I’d packed anything breakable inside. With my luck, I had. Relieved to be done moving, I was already tired of the new city I called home even though I’d only been in it for a few hours. If I didn’t find something appealing about the place soon, I would be looking into moving again like when I’d wanted to get out of Billings, Montana. Nothing had been wrong with the old place, I get bored easy and like to move around is all.

My new best friend roared to life, blowing cool air from the vents. Ignoring the open front door, I sat down on the box I’d dropped. I did my best to rub the knots out of my lower back, but with achy arms, I wasn’t doing so well. Sweat trickled down my forehead, requiring me to stop my half-attempt at a massage, grab a washcloth from a nearby bag and mop at the sweat. How did people live like this? Why I’d decided to accept the job offer in Phoenix was beyond me. But moving in the middle of the Phoenix summer? Even worse. Now I could understand why Arizona had earned the nickname “the devil’s playground.”

Playground? Not sure that would be the right word choice because I was convinced I’d arrived in hell itself.

A knock on the door made me jump up from the box, making every strain in my muscles and joints become more prominent. The pain quickly faded as a luscious vision in denim leaned against my doorframe, looking sexy as sin.

A shot of heat spread through my body. I had no idea why he instantly turned me on. I didn’t find goatees attractive, wasn’t into the whole tattoo bit, or the almost too tight t-shirt style, but it all looked perfect on this man. This man definitely had the talent to pull off the bad boy look that made women drop to their knees. Me included.

I quickly ran my fingers through my hair. It had once been in a complete ponytail, but was only partially bound by a hairband at this point. I looked like a mess and knew it. What a great way to start out meeting someone so handsome. But that’s my luck and I had accepted it long ago. To make the best of the situation, I wiped my sweaty palm down my jean shorts before holding it out to him. “Hi. My name’s Leslie Teague.”

“Chris Matthews.” He barely touched my hand before dropping it, as if scorched. He cocked his head toward the front of my apartment. “Need help with that truck out front?”

“I would’ve taken you up on your offer a little earlier, but I’m done now.” The lie floated from my lips as if the act came as a second nature to me. I never lied to people and never, ever asked anyone for help. So why did I find myself holding my hands out toward the room full of boxes as if presenting a prize? “Unless you want to assist in moving the mattress to my bedroom?” A few suggestions as to what we could do on that mattress came to mind, but I did my best to keep my mouth shut.

+++

I hope you liked it and I'll talk to you soon,

Wendy Ely

RADIO OPPORTUNITY FOR AUTHORS/SILENT AUCTION FOR EPILEPTIC BOY

I'm posting this blog right after midnight on Tuesday, June 8th. If you are an author and would like to have the opportunity to be on Rowena Cherry's Crazy Tuesday radio show TODAY FROM 2 TO 4PM EST, READ ON!

My editor needs donated books for a silent auction to benefit her 11-year-old epileptic son, Caleb Warren. He has had one surgery but is still having seizures. The
doctors want to try a new medication before doing a second surgery which
would likely cause him to lose the function of his right arm and leg.
The auction is to raise money for the new medication. Let's help this
courageous little boy.

If you donate a book, you are invited to be on the radio show today. YOU MUST HAVE A LAND LINE TO BE ON THE SHOW. The topic will be the challenges of being an editor/author with a special needs kid. All authors will have a chance to plug their book and read an excerpt and receive global exposure. Email me ASAP with your book, the excerpt and your information so I can let Rowena know. If you cannot be on the show but you still want to donate a book, we will read your book excerpt for you!

Please mail me any books you would like to donate or anything else you
think would do well at a silent auction. They are taking anything. The auction is Wednesday, June 16th.

Please email me at alishapaigewilson@yahoo.com and I will send you the address where to mail your donation.

If you would like to make a monetary contribution, I can email anyone
the flyer with all the information of where to send it. Just let me
know.

Thank you in advance for your help! ~Alisha

For Love of a Good Story

Ever have one of those weeks or months where you really try to settle into a book to read and you just can't seem to get into anything? Yep, I'm there now. I can't tell you how many books I've picked up off the shelf in both my home and at the library and about 2 chapters in (if that much) I put it down uninterested in the characters or flow or anything that's going on.

One of these was as book I'd read years ago, but it was so long I only remember the cover and not the particular story. Then there was the new one by Michael Crichton that deals with pirates in 1665 Port Royale. Now, I'm a huge MC fan. The fact he's putting out books two years after his death either says he stock-piled manuscripts like the rest of us do, or the publisher's wheels were slow to turn. I think it's the former (partly due to what I read in the book flap) but mostly because two chapters into the book and we're still at the governor's mansion getting the dude ready to go to a hanging. Defineately not the fast-paced reading I've come to expect from his books. No intrigue. No nothing. Were they afraid to edit him since he had died? I don't know. Deceased or not, not all the words he'd written were precious. Throw the ones out that didn't work. That's all I'm asking. Anyhoo, that book languishes in my workbag waiting for me to return it to the library.

There's also been numerous sci-fi by some of my favorite authors, but I started reading and I'm like...boring. Why? What is this sudden case of reader's ennui I've developed? I love to read and it's making it not so enjoyable for me at the moment.

Could part of the problem be that I'm rushing forward on my own work, trying to get as much done as possible before my surgery next month? Maybe. At the end of the day, my head is so full of my own stories, there isn't room to fill it with anyone else's work.

We'll see. Maybe during my stretch off I'll go to the library and try again. What's the worst that can happen? I don't like the books and have to return them? - *sigh*

Sign me,

Searching for an Engaging Read

PEN NAMES...

Pen names seem to be used in the writing industry as often as real names are. There are some valid reasons for pen names. Maybe your pen name is snazzier than your real name? Others use different pen names depending upon their genre.

Using an alias can be liberating too. I can let loose and give free reign to my wild side, write wicked things and none of my family and friends know it’s me so they can’t judge. This is the main reason I chose to use a pen name. I live in what’s referred to as the Bible Belt and the things I write aren’t biblically approved. At all. Heck, I have family that believes I’m going to hell for writing about vampires…forget the sex, just the vampire writing is getting me a one-way direct ticket to the pit. *rolls eyes* But, even though I don’t have a problem with folks knowing what I write, I didn’t think it fair to subject my children to the scrutiny and judgment they’d receive if certain judgmental people learned what I write. Keeping my pen name a deep dark secret is becoming more difficult, however, thanks to my eldest son. He tells everyone that’ll listen that I’m an author. He even told his principal I was a published author. At least I know he’s proud of me.

The alias Gracen Miller gives me anonymity also and none of the psychos can track me down and stalk me as easily either. Right? LOL Yeah, that might be a tad drastic, especially since a good hacker could probably still find me. But I admit I’ve met a couple of folks on the internet that make me really, really, really happy that I decided to use a pen name. I feel safer knowing that only a trusted few know my true identity. There are some crazy folks out there!

So, do you use a pen name? Why or why not? What was your reason for using one?

I’ll blog about our cruise next Saturday! I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

~huggles~
Gracen

Watch Where You Stick It!

In this modern day URL's or homepage addresses are becoming more and more common as people and companies get on the web. But please, be careful. When you place your name or your company's name into a URL address and the spaces are removed, consider what people see when looking at the page. The human eye will put the 'spaces' where the meaning may be changed. In other words, where you stick your spaces may not be where I stick mine.

Examples are:

"Big Al's Bowling Alley" with the slogan "I love big Al's" becomes "ilovebigals" when put into URL form. Some of you might like bi gals, but really, I don't think that's the intended meaning.

"Mole Station Nursery" becomes "molestationnursery" a rather unfortunate name indeed. Suffice it to say the company spent money changing the name to "molerivernursery". Much better.

A British firm of tree surgeons in France "Les Bocages" becomes "lesbocages". Yeah, keep them lesbians in those cages! LOL

An electric company in Italy called Powergen put up their URL powergenitalia.

The list goes on and on, but here's one more for fun. A bed spread company named La Drape in Britain listed www.ladrape.com.uk (and yes, this URL is still live) Now, that is just unfortunate.

Say no more :-)