Escape

You can run, you can hide, but you can't escape my new short story from Changeling Press!

Okay, apologies to Signor Ig. But look!



Some people just can’t switch off.

Take Samantha, who even on a fantasy vacation can’t help reorganising the hotel’s housekeeping department. But when she delivers room service to the rock band Vampires, she gets a little more than she bargained for. Especially when she meets Sully, the band’s sizzling hot lead guitarist. He’s gorgeous. He’s sexy. And he’s really good with his hands.

But when it comes to Vampires…that’s just a name, right?

Right?

Ooh! And!! Who subscribes to the Just Erotic Romance Reviews newsletter? And if not, why not? Because those wonderful people at JERR had the good taste to not only award my first ever book a Silver Star (their highest award for a novella), but they also requested--requested, look you--to interview me for their latest edition (it's a Yahoo group, but it's only used to send out the newsletter). Want to know what I really think about talking vibrators? Of course you do! Head on over and take a peek...

To celebrate...

...the release of my very first paperback (it's so pretty! I have one by my bed), I'm offering one lucky reader a signed copy. All ya gotta do is this: Pop over to my website, read the excerpts, and answer the question.

Contest has been open for a while, but it's about to close, so get those entries in by the end of the month!

I shall be busy this weekend, got family visiting (then next weekend it's the RNA conference, then the weekend after that I'm off to Cornwall again...busy busy busy!), but don't cry too hard, I'll be back to entertain you soon!

Good news, bad news

Sundown Inc. is ranked 83,365 on Amazon, the puppy has chewed through her headcollar (the one that's supposed to prevent her from biting) and the sink is blocked again. Ho-hum.

BUT, I did get my author copies of Sundown, Inc. today! Ska-weee! A picture of me gleefully holding up the book will appear as soon as I find someone to hold the camera. 83k is good, BTW--it started out at 400+k.

Must go, puppy is trying to eat the baby-gate. Black dog, likes biting people...remind you of anyone?

Of course, there is the good news

...about thirty seconds after I post that ranty post, the delivery guy shows up. Anyway. What I really meant to say was this:

I have a print book!

Okay, calm down. The print book is Sundown, Inc., and I know you've all been awaiting it really, really eagerly! Well, I have.

Paranormal investigations. Information, assassination, negotiation. No task too strange, no job too big.
Undead assassins are one thing, but for Masika the job turns tough when her latest target is the one man who tried to save her -- twenty-three centuries ago. For Magda, life is full enough with three small children and a job that brings new meaning to 'full time,' but being a werewolf in love makes it just that little bit harder. Con may not be the world's greatest wizard, but he's just conjured a naked pirate queen on his hearthrug. And sex faery Aura has fallen in love with her best friend-but he and his boyfriend have plans of their own for her. Sundown, Inc. Because seriously, who sleeps in a coffin these days?

Excerpt: East Side Story

Faeries and vampires hate each other. Everyone knows that. So why does Ruarc of the Unseelie have a vampire in his bed?

Maria knows she’s supposed to hate faeries, but she has no idea why. So far, Ruarc’s saved her life, fed her the most potent blood she’s ever tasted, and given her the best orgasm of her life.

But something’s after Ruarc, something dark and nasty, and it certainly isn’t going to let one fledgeling vampire stop it.



Since this excerpt is hot'n'spicy and not for general viewing, I'm linking you to the .doc format download on my website. Enjoy, and don't forget, if you want to win a free download of East Side Story, all you have to do is answer the question on my website...

Thursday Thirteen: Things about my Sundown series

Thirteen things about my Sundown series 1. When I started the first book, She Who Dares, I didn't intend it to be a series. Just a one-off story about a really snarky vampire living in London who fancied the guy she was supposed to be assassinating. 2. Then I gave her an agency (Sundown, Inc.) and a secretary who was a suit-and-pearls-wearing werewolf single mother, and just HAD to write about her. That became book two, Blue Moon. 3. I based Blue Moon's hero on Orlando Bloom, pretty much as he looks in Kingdom of Heaven. Hamana. Hamana. Hamana! 4. When I wrote What Wizards Want I spent ages researching Jamaican slang for the heroine. Then I cut most of it out, because I remembered how much I hate it when I read books about Scottish characters who say things like, "Dinnae fash yerself, lassie." I've lived in the UK all my life and never ever heard a Scottish person say any of those words. 5. Baby Sham Faery Love is the silliest book I've ever written but I was really nervous about it, because while I'd written a menage scene before, I didn't know if I could base a whole book and a whole relationship on these three people happily shacking up together. 6. The title and cover ideas for Baby Sham Faery Love came to me while listening to Gwen Stefani. I can't imagine why. 7. I've long believed that one of my biggest strengths as a writer is dialogue. I like writing it and I think it comes off well. To this end, I'm still not entirely sure what possessed me to write Never Leave Me, about a man who doesn't much like conversation and a girl with no voice. Still, it seemed to work okay; the book won an award and everything. 8. After watching too much Doctor Who and falling madly in love with David Tennant, I wanted to write about a time-traveller. But my editor told me time-travel stories sell really badly and advised me to write about werewolves some more. So I wrote Duty and the Beast, which features a werewolf heroine who doesn't believe in the paranormal, and an elf who bears a striking resemblance to a certain Timelord... 9. Writing DATB also allowed me to fantasise about ripping David Tennant's clothes off. Tough job I have. 10. Unholy Trinity was my shameless attempt at mixing in everything that seems to be popular with erotica readers in a bid to become financially solvent. Vampires? Check. Interracial? Check. Menage? Check, check, check. It was also the first time I allowed myself to write a hero called Jamie, which is one of my hands-down favourite names. 11. I still have no idea what possessed me to write a book about a siren in Las Vegas. But keen readers may note that the lion who makes a brief appearance in Maneater is a) white, b) very affectionate and c) called Spike. I should have given him a dippy sister called Sugar, but I felt I'd already rambled on about cats too much by then. 12. It took me a shamefully long time to come up with the title for East Side Story. I mean, come on. It's set in Manhattan (well, mostly), has lovers from two factions who hate each other, and the heroine is a Latina woman called Maria. And yet it took Bryan Adams's song of the same name to jolt me into the realisation that I really needed to use that title! 13. The next book will probably be about a faery changeling and an Australian werewolf called Adam. Or it might be about an incubus. I'm not really sure!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It's easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

Me-ee aa-and Widget, Widget Bones!

We got a thi-i-ing goin' o-o-on...

Um, okay. Vigilant readers may remember, way back in the dark ages, a Purple Prose Parody written by me and a certain Amelia Elias called Widget Bones's Diary. It was about, funnily enough, a Dark-Hunter named Widget Bones and was the bastard child of Amelia getting me into Sherrilyn Kenyon's books and me sending her Bridget Jones's Diary. And it was really, really silly. And it got sent to Sherrilyn. Who, instead of laughing and calling us silly twonks like a normal person would, decided she really liked it and wanted to put it in the Dark-Hunter Companion.

We thought this was amazing, but unlikely to come to pass. After all, not even the great SK gets total say over what goes into her books. But last night she emailed me to say it was definitely going ahead. Widget's going to be in the Companion!

<-- me about now

In other, completely unrelated news, I also got the new cover for the next Sundown book, East Side Story (I kept typing 'easy' there, tells you something huh?). See? Snaps to the brilliant Renee George for capturing Ruarc and Maria so perfectly!

Ohmygod ohmygod

Best Books of the Year 2006

I was looking on the RRT main site and saw all these awesome books had been awarded Best Book of the Year, and didn't think to check RRTErotic. And then I did, and I'm there. Twice. (I actually missed the second one first time around. I'm having a blond moment. No, month!) Never Leave Me won Best Erotic Novella and Almost Human won Best Erotic Fantasy Romance.

And you know what? I JUST sent out my newsletter, and then I JUST sent out an addendum because I forgot to include something, and this is the biggest news I have! D'oh!

James Marsters is mine

Y'see, when Amelia asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I said James Marsters. And bless her, she went out and got him! In full Fool For Love punk gear, too. Love that ep.

The books on the right represent part of my TBR pile. Actually I've read the Linnea Sinclair and the paperback Kinsella, they just got stacked there. Through the mirror, you can see a reflection of my computer, showing this very blog! How exciting! And yes, my shoulder as I'm standing there taking the picture. But unlike that famous eBay one, I'm actually dressed. Although I'm glad the flash obscured my face 'cos I'm wearing no make-up.

Oh yes, and in the top left you can see my first royalty cheque. Framed. Yes yes oh yea!

Okay, I'm still procrastinating. I really have to go and finish East Side Story (yes! I finally named it! Just as well as it needs to be written by the end of the month. As in, tomorrow Ack!). But look, I have a blurb for it and everything:

Faeries and vampires hate each other. Everyone knows that. So why does Ruarc of the Unseelie have a vampire in his bed?

Maria knows she’s supposed to hate faeries, but she has no idea why. So far, Ruarc’s saved her life, fed her the most potent blood she’s ever tasted, and given her the best orgasm of her life.

But something’s after Ruarc, something dark and nasty, and it certainly isn’t going to let one fledgeling vampire stop it.

With grateful thanks to Leonard Bernstein and Bryan Adams for the title inspiration...

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things about ME 1. I've never done one of these before so I had to go and visit the Thursday Thirteen site to figure out what the hell it was about. 2. In nine days it will be my birthday. On Monday it will be my cousin's birthday, and she's nine years younger than me. 3. I have a new book out today that I wasn't expecting until Friday! 4. I think smock dresses make people look pregnant. 5. I still wish my hair was curly, even though I know it's way more work than I could ever be prepared to do. 6. I haven't brushed my hair for about three years, not counting ruby weddings or funerals. 7. There's a black and white cat who thinks he lives in our house, even though someone else has put a collar on him. We named him Jess after Postman Pat's cat. 8. I eat chocolate muffins for breakfast. They're low fat and used to be really nice, but recently they changed the recipe so they're not. Now I'm wondering how many Weight Watchers points there are in the proper ones. 9. I first went to Center Parcs when I was about three and have never lost the sense of childish wonder I had then. In fact, I'm going back next week all by myself. 10. I have never read Pride and Prejudice. Or any book by Jane Austen. Does this mean I'm not allowed to be a romantic novelist any more? 11. My favourite song in the whole world is Fall At Your Feet by Crowded House, and has been since I was about fourteen. 12. I still can't remember which button makes a space, which makes punctuation, and which cycles through options when I'm writing a text message, even though I've had my phone nearly a year. 13. Even though I got a B in maths I never actually learned my times tables. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Catch-up

Wow, I left it a whole week? And I still don't have a lot to report--been busy the last week preparing for not one but two releases this week! I, Spy? is out tomorrow, and Maneater on Friday. I also suddenly realised I sort of need to get working on the next Sundown book, which doesn't quite have a title yet, but is about a fae and a vampire in New York. I think.

Also, I'm going away next week for five days, so I need to...I dunno, fiund a suitcase and some clean clothes. Given the state of chaos in which I live my daily life, this may prove timeconsuming.

Oh God, yes, and I need to get my newsletter out!

In the meantime, have a cat picture. It's been a while since we had one of Sugar. Here she is, trying to figure out how the door works.


Oh, and just for fun:

Boromir
With good intentions but misunderstood motives, you are a hardy, if somewhat unreliable, companion.
I ask only for the strength to defend my people!
Boromir is a character in the Middle-Earth universe.

New cover!

It's tough to form a meaningful relationship when you have all the dating skills of a praying mantis.

For Chloe, human interaction is an absolute disaster area, but then she is a siren. Vegetarianism is not an option when you turn into a six-foot eagle with a human head. But in the glittering lights of Las Vegas, she meets the dazzling, irresistible Alexius.

He's gorgeous. He's sexy. He's perfect in every way. And he's about to hand her over to the harem of a collector of paranormal beings.

Alexius is about to find out that when a siren says you look good enough to eat, she's really not joking…

Pretty, huh?

Cover woes

Okay, so my editor emailed last night and said I needed to send in a cover request ASAP for Maneater (I also need to send in the book, too, but that's a different dilemma).

It’s tough to form a meaningful relationship when you have all the dating skills of a praying mantis.

For Chloe, human interaction is an absolute disaster area, but then she is a siren. Vegetarianism is not an option when you can turn into a six-foot eagle with a human head. But in the glittering lights of Las Vegas, she meets the dazzling, irresistible Alexius.

He’s gorgeous. He’s sexy. He’s perfect in every way. And he’s about to hand her over to the harem of a collector of paranormal beings

Suddenly, delicious takes on a whole new meaning.

Problem is, I've no freaking clue what to put on there. Usually, I can see what I want, and I tell the cover dept. pretty clearly instead of just going, "Er, it's about vampires," which is why my covers are so pretty. And they are pretty, aren't they?

But this time...nothing. It's called Maneater because the heroine is a siren and she eats people. Try putting that on a cover. Sexy. And anyway, I'm advised that covers with women on them don't sell as well as covers with men, because the readership is largely female. Okay, but Poser men tend to look like they're having allergic reactions. And even if they turn out okay, the hero doesn't ahve any obvious paranormal qualities except for extreme hotness, so it'd be another faceless torso cover, and how many millions of them have you seen recently?

When I do a cover request I generally try to think about themes or motifs. You know, like for She Who Dares it was the stake and the tattoo and the Egyptian background. What are the themes and motifs for Maneater? Well, the heroine is a siren--so, water, rocks, wings. And it's set largely in Las Vegas--bright lights, gambling, showgirls. So...a showgirl on a rock, with wings?

Yep. That'll appear to my hererosexual female readership.

Full-size teaser here

Yepyep, I have another ad! Only a silent teaser; a full-length, bells and whistles one will be coming soon and it will--I'm sure it will--have sound! Yes! A soundtracked book trailer! How exciting is that?

Very, I'm sure you'll agree. The Sundown, Inc. paperback anthology should be with us this spring: I'll let you know the date as soon as I have it finalised. An actual paperback! That's even more exciting than a book trailer!

In the meantime, I've got my Cat Marsters hat back on and I'm working on the next in the Sundown series; actually, the final Sundown International book. But don't fret, never fear, for a new Sundown series will be forthcoming. (The reason they're split into four books apiece is quite simply so they can fit neatly into a paperback anthology).

This, the fourth Sundown International book, is called Maneater, and it's about a siren. Yes, the Greek kind who lured sailors to their deaths. Poor Chloe finds it rather hard to have a relationship with anyone when she has such an unfortunate habit of eating her lovers...

As for the next Sundown series...well, I have a few ideas, but I thought I might take this opportunity to ask what you'd like to see from the series. Are vampires your thing? Do you prefer werewolves? What about menages, or even a m/m book? Don't be shy...tell me what you like!

Shameless Self Promotion, pt 2

I'd like to introduce you to someone. He's big, he's strong, he's very sexy, and he has fangs. His name is Rafael, and he's a Master vampire. He's been alive fifteen hundred years, has killed and created, watched empires rise and fall, and taken countless women--and men--to his bed.

Unfortunately, he has a serious impulse control problem.

Being a vampire, this leads to a few unfortunate consequences. Like with Paige. Paige is smart, modern, and beautiful, and also unfortunately dead, since Rafa got a little carried away with the biting. And since Paige is the best beloved of Rafa's friend and employee, Jamie, he's got to do something about it. Or Jamie will be inviting Rafa for a cosy threesome with a wooden stake.

So what's a vampire to do? Turn her and hope Jamie can help her through it? Let her die? Or make her into a be-fanged one, and risk her turning out like him, a barely civilised barbarian who accidentally kills people when he feeds?

What's a vampire to do?

If you'd like to find out, be sure to check out Rafa, Paige and Jamie's story in Unholy Trinity, available as soon as Friday dawns!

Vote for me!

Yes, I know. I'm not even pretending it's not shameless.

The Preditors and Editors 2006 poll is up. Yours truly is listed under best author, novella (twice), and novel. All three of my publishers are listed for best publisher, and likewise my wonderful editors, Sheri Ross Fogarty, Kelli Kwiatkowski, and Jess Bimberg. If you happen to think that any of my books, publishers, or editors are the best of 2006, please go and vote--and if your favourite isn't listed (I'm talking about books here, because of course your favourite author is listed) then you can nominate it too.

Ta!

Happy New Year!

I'm going to celebrate the beginning of 2007 with three fab things: the cover for Kate's next book, I, Spy?, out in March...


...the cover for Cat's next book, Unholy Trinity, out next Friday...


...and my new crush, Richard Armitage, on whom I will surely be basing a hero soon...



Happy 2007!