LASR 5th Anniversary Celebration!!

Head over to the Long and Short Reviews 5th Anniversary Celebration!!

From August 18h to the 26th celebrate with LASR by entering cool contests and have the opportunity to win COOL prizes!

Prizes will include:
* One $100 Amazon / Barnes and Noble GC (Scavenger Hunt Grand Prize)

* Three $50 Amazon / Barnes and Noble GC (Blogfest Grand Prizes)

* Three $25 Amazon / Barnes and Noble GC (One for Scavenger Hunt, two for the Blogfest)

* Dozens of $5 Amazon / Barnes and Noble GC, Print books, eBooks, Author swag (Awarded randomly both weekends of the blogfest)

There are several ways to win! Check out the page here and get in there! What are you waiting for??

Good luck!!

Cover Reveal!

I just got back from the Authors After Dark conference in New Orleans. Can you say, pooped?? But pleasantly so. I had a wonderful time—which I will regale you with more details and pictures in my next post. Nice little tease, ain’t I? Hee-hee! Since I’m still recovering, I thought I’d reveal the covers for my two upcoming books from Ellora’s Cave Publishing! I just received them last week and I’m so excited! One is for my first paranormal ever, Under His Wings. And the second is for the first book in the Breathlessly Ever After series, Stroke of Midnight, based on the Cinderella fairy tale. I’ve included the blurbs below because…well, because I’m shamelessly pimping these two books!

Mundane and boring are seriously underrated, so sixth grade social studies teacher Tamar Ridgeway believes. After surviving a horrible plane crash and enduring years of painful therapy, she’s entitled to a couple of phobias and a normal, humdrum life. So what, she’s afraid of the dark and refuses to ever step foot into anything that flies… At long last, she’s happy—until the night she and a friend are attacked by a mythical creature out of her worst nightmares. Suddenly she’s on the hit list of a homicidal half eagle-half horse monster, and the sexy warrior with chocolate and gold wings who steps out of her dreams—literally—is vowing to save her, whether she wants his protection or not.

Nicolai Abioud, Dimios of the hippogryph, is stunned to realize that the human he saves from a vicious attack is the woman he has shared dreams with for the past six months—very erotic, hot dreams. Five hundred years ago, he failed to protect his wife and swears not to allow the same fate befall Tamar. He’s fascinated by her beauty, and mesmerized by the warrior spirit that burns bright inside her eyes. Yet he refuses to submit to the stirring in his body and heart. He’s had his one, true mate and lost her, and falling for a human—no matter how hot and demanding the desire—is foolish and doomed. Yet the choice to accept this unexpected love may be snatched out of their hands. Danger is closing in, and somehow they must find a way to conquer their fears or lose the love of a millennium.

Once upon a time, there was a young woman of beauty, grace, and good nature…

Blah. Blah. Blah.

Rowyn Jeong knows her no-nonsense, less-than-warm personality cannot compare to her stepsister Cindy's bubbly charm and beauty. Hey, everyone has their niche, right? But being the plainer, wicked stepsister has never bothered her more than when Darius Fiore reappears in her life. Darius Fiore, the man she indulged in a one-night stand with six months ago, the businessman threatening her position within her stepfather's company, and the man her sister has her eyes—and hands—on.

Rowyn has never forgotten the man who allowed her to be someone else for a few sex-filled hours. Now that Darius has turned up in her territory, will he see past the hard exterior to the woman beneath, the one hungry for love and acceptance?

So, ta-da!! Hooked up by Ellora’s Cave again!!

Play Along

Saturday I attended my RWA Southern Magic chapter meeting. We had the wonder Susannah Sandlin there for Author Q & A. If you haven’t read Redemption, the first book in her Penton Legacy than you’re missing a treat! It’s imaginative, has awesome world-building and sexy vampires! A trifecta!

One of the things she talked about was her writing process. She, like many of us, writes to music. She has a specific playlist she pulls up before she sits down at her desk. I wanted to be nosey and ask what that playlist included, but I figured it might have come across stalker-ish, so I refrained…

But it had me thinking. I, too, write with music blasting It’s a must! If I stop for the day, and I’m in the middle of a scene, when I return, I can play the songs I was listening to and recapture that mood. Not to mention, with music playing in your ears, before you know it, five hundred words have gone by! It doesn’t just block the world out but it sweeps you up and plops you straight into the book.

So I thought I’d reveal the playlist that I have for my current work-in-progress. It’s a hodge-podge of songs that have no rhyme or reason except that they work for me. Warning: If I hear any snickering, I can…well…I can do nothing… Also a disclaimer: This list shows my age!!

1 Who Let in the Rain – Cyndi Lauper
2. Save My Life – Johnny BLK
3. No Air – Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown
4. So Amazing – Luther Vandross
5. I’ll Remember – Madonna
6. Live to Tell – Madonna
7. Rain- Madonna
8. Broken Wings – Mr. Mister
9. Loves Divine – Seal
10. Songbird – Kenny G
11. Human – Human League
12. True – Spandau Ballet
13. Wasted – LP

There you have it! My “mood music”! What are some songs on your playlist? Or what music stimulates your muse?

A Love Ballad

Last week my father and I were discussing a sermon he was preparing for that coming Sunday. For the past several weeks his preaching had been fiery, hard--like sweat-popping-on-the-top-of-his-head hard. And for the upcoming Sunday, he wanted to teach softer, gentler. He said the mark of a mature preacher isn’t the Southern Baptist “…and God said, hah, when the Word, hah, was made flesh, hah…”  It’s the quiet, tender voice of the teacher that declares who he is. It testifies to the years he’s seen. How much he’s studied. How many experiences he’s endured and come through.


Daddy compared it to a ballad. A true and talented musician—whether it’s a saxophone or guitar—is determined by his ballad. With a slow, fluid, soft melody, mistakes can’t be hidden behind volume or drowned out by other instruments. Lack of skill can’t be covered by tricks or fancy runs. The ballad stands on its own merit.

That started me thinking about romance books, and I had an epiphany. A writer’s ballad is the romance. Whether we write paranormal, suspense, historical or science-fiction, the core of the book is the relationship and connection between the two main characters. The world building of a parallel universe can be outstanding. Or the mystery can be absolutely thrilling. But if the romance doesn’t leap off the page, capture our hearts and squeeze, then it’s a fast, upbeat song with riffs, a voice box and driving beat that covers the singer’s adequate voice. The ballad of a romance book is taking that trip with the characters from brokenness to healing. It’s watching two people become one healthy, happy whole. It’s the journey of learning, changing, and loving. It’s why we pick up romance instead of non-fiction. We want to experience breathless, sometimes painful, but always true, love.

That’s so awesome to me. So now when asked about what I want readers to take away from my books, I know my answer. I want them to have heard my ballad.

On this T-double E-double R-double I-double F-double I-double C-C-C Tuesday (for those of you who don't love Charlotte's Web...don't worry about it!), I'm going to do some shameless pimping! I don't indulge often but I've received back-to-back T-double-E...well, you get it...news!!

I sold my first paranormal novel to Ellora's Cave!! Yes, I hiked up my big girl panties and took the plunge into a genre I love but was soooo intimidated to write a book in! After much belly-aching, crying and episodes of dismal, masochistic self-doubt AKA whining, I wrote it, submitted and SOLD!! Okay, okay. Tucking errant strands of weave back into place... So anyway, the title is Under His Wings, and the unedited blurb is below:

Mundane and boring are seriously underrated, so sixth grade social studies teacher Tamar Ridgeway believes. After surviving a horrible plane crash and enduring years of painful therapy, she’s entitled to a couple of phobias and a normal, humdrum life.  So what, she’s afraid of the dark and refuses to ever step foot into anything that flies… At long last, she’s happy—until the night she and a friend are attacked by a mythical creature out of her worst nightmares. Suddenly she’s on the hit list of a homicidal half eagle-half horse monster, and the sexy warrior with chocolate and gold wings who steps out of her dreams—literally—is vowing to save her, whether she wants his protection or not.

 Nicolai Abioud, Dimios of the hippogryph, is stunned to realize that the human he saves from a vicious attack is the woman he has shared dreams with for the past six months—very erotic, hot dreams. Five hundred years ago, he failed to protect his wife and swears not to allow the same fate befall Tamar. He’s fascinated by her beauty, and mesmerized by the warrior spirit that burns bright inside her eyes. Yet he refuses to submit to the stirring in his body and heart. He’s had his one, true mate and lost her, and falling for a human—no matter how hot and demanding the desire—is foolish and doomed. Yet the choice to accept this unexpected love may be snatched out of their hands. Danger is closing in, and somehow they must find a way to conquer their fears or lose the love of a millennium.

Onto the second huge news! My first book, Sweet Ultimatum, is available in print!! Receiving that notification was a dream come true! I'm not going to lie...when I opened up that box and pulled out that copy, I smelled the pages! Honest to God! LOL! So, in case you forgot, the blurb for Sweet Ultimatum is below:

Caitlin has returned home after a self-imposed exile. Haunted by the erotic memories of the man she once loved and abandoned, Caitlin is unprepared to come face-to-face with Selig and the hunger resurrected under his golden gaze. Even as her body craves his touch, she denies him, realizing her reasons for terminating their relationship so long ago are as valid now as they were then.

Six years have passed since Selig left New Eden, Washington, disillusioned and bitter after Caitlin’s cold denial of him and his love. Now he’s returned, demanding retribution for her cruel rejection. The payment—her body.

And just in case you're feeling a little tingle called Impulse Buy Syndrome, here are the links for you!

http://www.jasminejade.com/p-7700-sweet-ultimatum.aspx

and...

http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Ultimatum-Elloras-Naima-Simone/dp/1419963465/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341327841&sr=1-1&keywords=sweet+ultimatum

It's been an awesome month!!

The Unforgivable Sins

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Mad-Eye Moody taught Harry and his classmates about the Unforgivable Curses. There was the Cruciatus Curse for torture, the Imperius Curse for mind control and the Killing Curse for, uh, killing. The use of these curses without proper authorization by the Ministry of Magic was strictly forbidden and the wielder could end up sentenced to Azkaban for life. Holy Dementor, Batman! Yes, they meant business.

Like Harry’s world has those Unforgivable Curses that will wreck a life, there are certain Unforgivable Sins that a hero or heroine can do in a book that seriously wrecks the entire book for me. Wreck it like a swinging, iron ball just slammed right into it. Wreck it like a backhoe came and bulldozed it down. Wreck it like red velvet cake on a Weight Watchers diet.

Unforgivable #1: I read a book where a hero slept with another woman after he’d met and bonded with the heroine. The author made a good argument why, and logically, I understood…but that romantic, fidelity-above-all-else-I-feel-you-Lorena-Bobbitt heart of mine did not. And the hero lost his integrity and even his attractiveness in my eyes. I couldn’t get past the fact that he’d given himself to another woman. He’d dirtied not just his body but his hero’s soul. And I couldn’t finish the book. I felt betrayed by him, even if the heroine apparently did not. Unforgivable.

Unforgivable #2: As I’ve mentioned before, one of my absolute favorite books is Son of the Morning by Linda Howard. One of the many reasons is the worthiness of the heroine. That sounds so chauvinistic, doesn’t it? But I can’t put it any other way. Niall was this hard, strong, sensual warrior forged in the fires of battle and betrayal. He was loyal and faithful to the core—tender yet merciless. Grace was a scholar, an archeologist academic. Yet there existed in her a tireless core of strength and justice that drove her to lengths that would have cracked most people. She didn’t have the physical power of Niall, but the heart and spirit—she was more than a match. What’s unforgivable for me is when a heroine or hero proves themselves unworthy or unredeemable. That doesn’t sound possible, right? If they weren’t redeemable, they would be the villain. But not true. I read a novel where the heroine spewed so much ignorant, bigoted rhetoric, that by half way through the book, I detested her. I understood that her views came out of a place of ignorance and hurt, but I didn’t care. Especially since the hero received a good portion of that stupidity. She was not worthy of the hero, who was sensitive, patient and kind. To me, she had a brain but didn’t use it. Had a heart but didn’t listen to it. She had a soul but didn’t recognize it in another. And by the time she did, I frankly didn’t care. Unforgivable.

Unforgivable #3: I speak of characters as if they’re real people instead of just made-up figments of imagination on a page—or eReader. Well to me, they are. And the qualities I find irritating in people, annoy the stank out of me in heroes and heroines. Weakness. It’s ironic, because a guaranteed sell for me is if a heroine is soft-spoken or kind of introverted…in the beginning of the book. I love reading about women who have suffered something that has shaken their self-confidence. Traveling that journey with them as they discover their voice again is a joy of mine. *Let me add here, that even though these women may be cowed, they’re not broken and are spiritual giants for coming through their battles!* But a heroine who just takes crap shoveled out to her by the heroine or a scorned lover, or the hero’s scorned lover is unforgivable to me. Grow a backbone! Grab some cajones quick! Weakness is not romantic. It’s not admirable. A person can be soft-spoken and still have a spine of steel. She can be quiet and possess a wealth of self-respect. If not…unforgivable!

Do you have any unpardonable sins that just makes you want to deck a hero or heroine? Share ‘em! Let’s dish!

You Got to Have a J-O-B

My six-year-old daughter came to me last Friday and asked me how old she had to be before she could get married. My first response was 65! But I caught myself at the last minute and explained that there wasn’t a specific age, but there were certain criteria she and her prospective spouse had to meet before they could marry. As I hit third gear in my dissertation she interrupted and told me she “couldn’t remember all that”. Chagrined—because there were some serious nuggets of wisdom in there!—we broke it down to four things she must have without fail before she became someone’s wife: GLEE

God
Love
Education
Employment

After I explained to her that education is what she learns in school, not a song she heard a lady sing on TV (don’t ask, I have no clue what she meant by that or where she got it), we had the acronym down. It’s a very simplified equation because, of course, there are waaaay more variables. But I figure the ones like, Check out his father and see what he will look like in twenty years, or Make sure he has good credit, or even, Have your cousin the cop run a criminal background check should wait for when she’s older.

In writing romance novels, unless it’s an inspirational, we don’t tend to have God as a central feature of the story (the screams of Oh God! Oh God! don’t count!). But the other three…most definitely. Especially employment. For me, a hero’s job factors in to whether I’ll pick up a book or not. It tells me a lot about the character without even opening the book. My personal taste runs toward alpha men, not beta. So I’ll read a book about a wounded Marine quicker than a story with a professor as the hero—unless he’s really a kick-ass Marine masquerading as a professor to infiltrate the university whose Humanities Department happens to be a stealth training ground for terrorists with evil ambitions of ruling the world! *Evil cackle* Okay…got carried away.

For instance, a multi-millionaire businessman would have to possess an element of ruthlessness along with his scary intelligence. And if he’s a bachelor—in a romance novel of course he is!—he would also be cynical and careful not to wear his heart on his sleeve because there are people and women who would use him for what he has instead of love and accept him for the man he is. Or another favorite of mine is the artist. I love a musician, a painter—or tattoo artist—or an author. They can be broody, dominant, single-minded, talented, focused. And see-xxx-yy. To be a success in such competitive fields requires determination and grit. But there’s also the innate sensitivity that makes them who they are—that enables them to create beauty. And what about the warrior. Sigh. Whether he’s wrapped in a kilt, clothed in leather or has the Molotov Cocktail of human and leopard DNA, a warrior is a J-O-B that screams confidence, sacrifice, strength, mercilessness, protective.

So those are just a few of my favorite W-2 earners…well the warrior doesn’t have one but he should! What are some of yours?