Tag Archives: writing

Homecoming Release Day Snippet

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holidayspice_smallMy Christmas story, HOMECOMING, is live on Amazon in the Holiday Spice anthology.

It is currently priced at $.99 through the rest of November. Then the price will go to $2.99. Smart money says buy now. Click on the picture of the cover to the right and it will take you to Amazon. If you’re feeling lucky, I’m doing a small, short blog hop at the end of the month in celebration of this release. A comment will give you a chance to win the book.

Anyway, the Titles page has the full Table of Contents and author list. Just scroll down, you can’t miss it. I put a blurb below, the link to another snippet here, and  a  new snippet below.

Check out the other authors in the book. I bet they have cool stuff about the anthology on their websites as well. Who knows what it could be. 😉

Anyway… enjoy!

Blurb:

Tessa’s known Nathan for most of her life. She should. He’s her younger brother’s best friend. Which means she’s also his elder by two years as well. They’re both home for the Christmas holidays. And for the first time, they’re together.

Tessa knows her brother isn’t going to react well. She doesn’t know how everyone else is going to react. What she does know is that she wants Nathan more than she’s ever wanted anything or anyone. This homecoming for the holidays could be the worst in the history of holidays, or it could be the best and the start of more yet to come.

 

Snippet:

“That’s not true,” she took a deep breath and decided to come clean. She was not a teenager any longer and falling back to her old behavior patterns was childish and not who she was now. “Nathan and I have been seeing each other.”

Her mother gave her a startled look. It turned thoughtful pretty damn quick though. Her mom’s emotions changed like the wind. Capricious came to mind.

“I always knew Nathan had a thing for you,” her mother said finally.

“What?” she wasn’t sure she’d heard what she’d heard.

“He would stare at you like you were a tall drink of water and he was parched, just out from the desert, back when you were still kids,” her mother explained.

“Really?” Tessa clearly didn’t remember that. What she remembered was Nathan and her brother teasing her about her boyfriends and generally being a nuisance. Not Nathan, mostly her brother. Her mind had just lumped them all together.

“You ignored both Nathan and Rick mostly, but I watched Nathan watching you,” her mother confirmed.

Saturday Snippet

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Got a small little snippet today. It’s from one of the pieces I’m working on right now. I debated from which work I was going to snag a snippet. But in the end, I couldn’t do Homecoming because I’m gonna do one when it releases next week. And I want to wait to do more snippets from Hat Trick until closer to its release. I’ve done several FarSeen ones already, as well as Home Run and Open Road. Soooooo, that left me with the choice between no snippet today because of the release next week, or the one I decided to put in this post.

Guess which option won out. 😉

Here’s my disclaimer: The snippet below is still  a work in progress. Little, no or substantial changes could be made to it before it sees the light of day. Also, it is unedited.

Snippet:

“You know it’s gonna be a bad day when you show up and people are dead,” she laughed. But it wasn’t really a laugh laugh. It was more like she was trying to laugh and not being very successful at it.

Bad jokes just fell from her mouth when she was stressed. It was totally an inappropriate response. She knew it. She couldn’t help it. Some people giggled inappropriately. Some people did other weird ticks or mannerisms. She told shitty jokes. She wasn’t a good joke teller in the best of times. When bad shit happened, her skill level didn’t increase by any stretch of the imagination.

Did she know when she arrived for the shoot today it was going to be a crappy day? She didn’t think so. Otherwise, she would’ve turned around and gone back home. But she hadn’t so it must’ve meant her day hadn’t been going bad up until that point.

But at some point up to and including finding one of her stunt co-workers dead in the trailer, well that would allow one to classify the rest of the day as fairly shitty. By most people’s definition of that word anyway.

Random Thoughts 10

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Today is the day after Halloween. It’s November 1st. All Saints Day. And the first day of Nanowrimo. That’s right, it’s National Writing Month. In honor of it, I added a cute little graph in the sidebar to measure my progress for this month. However, November being national writing month overshadows a larger reality. At least for me and probably several other writers out there. November isn’t the only month I track daily word counts or have a monthly target word goal. So while I put up the progress cartoon because it’s cute and I do want to support all those authors who are participating in Nanowrimo, it’s an every month kinda thing for me. And not to give you the wrong impression, I didn’t sign up at the official website either. Like I said, this is more in support of, than a try to do. My life is just like that.

Making chocolate martinis tonight. Just kinda feeling like it. In fact, I did a general shopping trip to the liquor store to stock up on the things like Kahlua, vanilla vodka and grappa. All for mixing into drinks. Like my chocolate martini. I got the grappa to make some cafe correttos after dinner. I’ve been missing them since the last time I was in Italy. Since I have an espresso machine, might as well make some for myself. If the drink turns out nice, I put up a recipe. I’ve been drinking the lemon drop recipe I put up a few months back all summer. Maybe it’s time to switch up on the drinks.

I’ve been reading or hearing about a rash of teen suicide. It makes me so sad. We are failing out kids somehow, in some fundamental way. There is nothing more tragic than a young life lost. Seriously. I am at a loss as to what to do. But I talk to my teen and I hope that somewhere along the line, mine know there are a vast array of answers to any one problem. Life isn’t like a math equation. It doesn’t just have one solution. I guess we start at home and then radiate out from there. But still, it is sad. Really fucking sad.

I want a EMP weapon that only takes out cars. I am sick of all the frickin’ people in all the cars driving here and there, zipping around like where they’re going is important. It’s not. We’re ants in a vast colony of workers. Take away the cars and we’d have to limit the distances to be traveled. How nice would it be to not have so much traffic on the roads? Bliss, I tell you. Bliss.

That is all.

Happy Halloween 2013

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Happy Halloween! It’s the spookiest day of the year. Muhahaha. lol An excuse to dress up and eat candy? Sheesh, what’s not to like? I love Halloween. I like the trick or treaters. I like the grownup costume parties. I like it all.

Halloween always signifies the start of the holiday SEASON. You know the one with the capital S. It starts the Halloween-Thanksgiving-Christmas trifecta. One right after the other toward the end of each month. And mostly having to do with food. Again, what’s not to like?

So I did the Wicked Warriors Halloween Hop to give away my book FarSeen. I gave away two last time I participated in a hop. Gonna do it again this time. The winners are sandyg265 and Krysta B. I’ll get in touch with you by email or you can go to the contact page and drop me a line with what format you want. ** as an aside- if any of you who participated in the blog hop but didn’t win and you want an epub copy in exchange for a review, please let me know by leaving a comment or using the contact form or email. I’ve got one left.**

Thank you to everyone who participated!! I had a lot of fun doing the hop and I hope you did as well!!

Just a little news. I have this on my home page, but I signed a contract for my second book, Hat Trick,  in the Name of the Game series with Rebel Ink Press. I signed to have part 2 of a 2 part prequel released next year in March/April. Night Blind will be published by TEB and is part of my OtherKind series. I also had 3 short stories accepted into anthologies. Date Night, Homecoming and Show Me will be released at various times over the next few months by some really good people. October has been a month filled with treats for me. Lovin’ the awesome.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday Season. lol

Update 10/30/13

Status

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I’ll do a larger post tomorrow. I just wanted to briefly do a small status update today. Mostly because the blog hop is closing tonight. If you want a chance to win my latest release, go the Halloween Hop post and leave me a comment. I kinda think of these hops like trick-or-treating as adults go from one blog to another gathering chances for treats. lol

I will announce the winner of my giveaway tomorrow. Probably on the home page where I do most announcements. I might do more than one giveaway. It is Halloween after all and you never know what the spirit will move me to do. 😉

I think I might do nano. Although the work I’ll be working on is longer than 50k. So maybe I will use any 50k within the 92k-ish the novel will be as the barometer of whether I win at nano. I win. lol I like the sound of that. So if I can set shit up to make that happen more often than not, well, don’t shoot me if I do it. lol I should get one of those nifty word/progress bars to put in the side bar menu to track if I’m on target. But I am not doing this as part of the big nano. It’ll be a personal one. Just for me.

Cripes. November is almost upon us. I can’t believe how fast this year has gone. Halloween tomorrow. Then All Saints Day the day after. Should be a blast. Not.

 

Snippet Saturday- Homecoming

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holidayspice_smallHere’s a little treat from my upcoming soon-to-be released short story, HOMECOMING, put together by the good folks at Foreword Literary. It’s being released in a holiday anthology called HOLIDAY SPICE. I hear plans are in the works to have this out and in your grubby little hands by early November if possible.

I’ve seen the lineup of writers listed in the table of contents for this one and it’s a goodie. Should be some hot, hot, hot stories in there to help warm you up on a cold fall-ish/winter-y night. I’m pretty sure this is their first Holiday anthology. I’m betting it won’t be their last. It would be a good thing to get in on the ground floor and get the very first one and then each one every year after to make yourself a little collection. Plus, you might discover the next up and coming hot author in one of the anthologies. If my experience with past anthologies is any indication, then several of the authors you find in current anthologies will be the next Sylvia Day or something.

Anyway, here’s my story with blurb and snippet below.

Blurb:

Tessa’s known Nathan for most of her life. She should. He’s her younger brother’s best friend. Which means she’s also his elder by two years as well. They’re both home for the Christmas holidays. And for the first time, they’re together.

Tessa knows her brother isn’t going to react well. She doesn’t know how everyone else is going to react. What she does know is that she wants Nathan more than she’s ever wanted anything or anyone. This homecoming for the holidays could be the worst in the history of holidays, or it could be the best and the start of more yet to come.

 

Snippet:

“Babe, you look beautiful,” Nathan whispered from behind her.

She hadn’t heard him come up behind her.

Hearing his voice gave her an unexpected thrill. A fluttery feeling that began in the pit of her stomach and radiated out. God, she had missed him. Which was so funny. Nathan had been around her, her brother and in their home constantly when they were all growing up. Sure, she’d noticed he was hot and growing up hotter. But he was Rick’s best friend. So while she noted him in a vague sort of way because he was her brother’s friend, she hadn’t noticed. Not really

When he’d come and stayed with her for some job interviews in DC, she hadn’t seen him for several years. They kept missing each other at holidays. Not only had he grown up but he had become beyond hot. They’d gotten a little tipsy that first night and then everything had changed. She was pretty sure they hadn’t dressed or left her apartment the entire he’d been there. Ordering food in and staying in bed when they weren’t eating or showering. Or the few times he left for an interview.

Now he was moving to DC. He wanted to move in with her. And she wanted that too. She was just unsure of how their parents would react. And she was pretty sure that Rick would go ballistic.

Rick and Nathan had been best friends since grade school. She so did not want to get in the middle of that friendship. Not at all. But she refused to give up Nathan. Which meant that this Christmas was going to get tense.

“Hey, Nate.”

“I grabbed some mistletoe. Come with me. Let’s find a secluded place so I can put it over your head and you can kiss me senseless,” he said, his lips tipping up as he teased her.

“Nathan,” she admonished. “We can’t make out in my parent’s house.”

“Yes, we can,” he disagreed. “Either come with me and find a hidey-hole or I’m going to kiss you senseless right here.”

Wicked Warriors Halloween Hop 10/23/13-10/30/13

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I figured since I just had a release a couple of days ago, I’d join this hop to give away a copy. It is a Halloween Hop and my book is part of the Wanton Witches Collection by TEB. FarSeen has witches and magic and menage. With two wicked warriors, a girl’s Halloween is all about the treat.

I don’t know about you, but Halloween is one of my all time favorite holidays. I not only like getting tons of candy, but I like the whole dress up aspect of the the festivities. There is just something about it.

The Grand Prize for this hop is 5 autographed copies of Unbound AND a Kindle Paperwhite. This rocks. I’ve been lusting after a Paperwhite for quite some time now. So I am envious of whoever is gonna win the Grand Prize. Much envy.

My prize isn’t so fancy. It’s just my ebook, FarSeen, in whatever format you specify. I put the blurb below. So if you’re interested in winning a copy, leave me a comment. Any comment will do, but I would totally get a kick out of it if you’d tell me about your most memorable Halloween. Funny, Scary, Weird. Whatever.

If you’ve got some time, check out some of the other participants in the Hop and see if they have any themed prizes as well. Just because we’re grown ups doesn’t mean we don’t deserve to have a few treats show up in our bags as well. Halloween didn’t used to be all about the kids. And it shouldn’t be all about the adults. Let the kids have the candy this year as the adults collect delicious reading treats. And maybe a new Paperwhite to read them on.

The rafflecopter and link list to other blogs is at the end of this post. Have fun. Less tricks. More treats! 🙂

 

FarSeenBlurb:

Taking a break from finding the cure for a magic sickness killing witches, Evangeline (Evie) Parker picks up Drew for a night of hot sex. One night is not enough, however. In strange twist of fate, Trent, Drew’s partner also comes into Evie’s life. One night is definitely not enough when two becomes three. As they come together, they realize while separately they are good, together they are great.

All Hallows Eve is the time when the cure to the magic sickness is predicted to make itself known. Combining magic and sex on that special night cures more than the magic sickness afflicting the witch community, it also cures three lonely hearts.

FARSEEN is hot and sweet in a small tasty bite. It is filled with sex magic, lit up chakras and hearts slowly opening up to each other.

** Snippets can be found here, here, here and here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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FarSeen Release Day & Snippet

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Today is the day that FarSeen releases at all venues. It is part 1 of a 2 part prequel leading into my OtherKind series. March/April 2014 is looking like when Part 2, Night Blind, will release.

FarSeenFarSeen had been available through TEB’s website for pre-release download. But today is the general release date. I will update buy links as I get them. Sometimes they are slow rolling in. ** Link to Amazon **

In a few days, I’ll be doing a Halloween-y Blog Hop. I’m giving away a copy of FarSeen to a lucky commenter. So stay tuned if you want to try and win a copy. Although, it’d be cool if you bought a copy and tried to win a copy. It’s like a two-fer. Who doesn’t like a two-fer? Everyone likes a two-fer. So try it, you’ll like it.

This will be my fourth and final snippet in the FarSeen snippet saga. Too much more and the whole story will be available snippet by snippet. lol Anyway, I’m sticking in the blurb again. The snippet follows the blurb. There are a few other snippets running around my blog. Both of today’s release and my other releases. You can either hit snippet in the category box or something to pull them all up. It’s small bite sized pieces of goodness.

 

Blurb:

Taking a break from finding the cure for a magic sickness killing witches, Evangeline (Evie) Parker picks up Drew for a night of hot sex. One night is not enough, however. In strange twist of fate, Trent, Drew’s partner also comes into Evie’s life. One night is definitely not enough when two becomes three. As they come together, they realize while separately they are good, together they are great.

All Hallows Eve is the time when the cure to the magic sickness is predicted to make itself known. Combining magic and sex on that special night cures more than the magic sickness afflicting the witch community, it also cures three lonely hearts.

FARSEEN is hot and sweet in a small tasty bite. It is filled with sex magic, lit up chakras and hearts slowly opening up to each other.

Snippet:

“You don’t think it’s just because you are hunting too much? Using too much magic or too often?”

“No, it’s more than that. I’ve drained my magic before. This feels off. I can’t quite describe it. Like a rapid discharge of magic instead of a slow trickle of loss. I’ve been doing my job long enough to be able to accurately estimate my capabilities and the level at which I perform. It’s off enough for me to not only notice, but it’s kinda scaring me as well. I want to sleep all the time,” Ellie said softly. “So I’m not just drained, I’m past drained. Which has never happened to me before I got this sickness. Never. Not once.”

This more than anything alarmed Evie. Ellie, for all her carefree attitude in other aspects of her life, was deadly serious about her work. Being the arm of justice for the goddess didn’t leave much room for joking. It didn’t leave much room for anything other than total dedication.

Evie fought down her alarm. Or at least, tried to prevent it from showing. If Ellie could put on a brave face, continue to do her work, it was the least Evie could do not to add to that burden by showing how upset she was.

“All right, sis, I need to get going as well. Grandma wants me to stop by before she brings in All Hallows Eve tonight,” Ellie told her.

“It was good to see you, Ellie. I’ll give you a ring tomorrow or the next day, ’kay?” Evie kissed her sister on the cheek and watched her leave.

She sighed. She needed to find a cure and save her sister.

 

 

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Mixed Bag w/a Snippet

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I’m feeling all free form today. I’ve got a lot of shit to do. Although I am ever grateful that I’ve gotten a lot of shit done. I seem to write and be productive in cycles. Whatever. i was going to do my usual snippet today seeing as it’s Saturday. But I thought I do a few different things today. So in no particular order…

1. Scrivener is working out well so far. I’ve got no cause for complaints. I think the more I get into it, the more I’ll like it.

2. Began writing the first full length book in Steel and Stilettos. It’s been kinda cool working on two different interweaving storylines. It should be fun. And it looks like I will meet my end of the year deadline for getting my writing goals finished.

3. Edits. The bane of my existence. I would rather poke my own eye out than edit. Some people are naturally handy at this skill. I am not one of them. It is excruciatingly painful for me. So of course, I am currently editing Hat Trick and still awaiting edits on Driven and Homecoming. I do not like the current edit to writing ratio. 3-1 the other way would be okay, but this way… not so much.

4. Here is a small snippet from something I am currently working on. Don’t tell anybody. Shh… keep it between us.

They both looked up, their faces only separated by inches. She couldn’t resist. Not anymore. She closed the distance between them slowly. Giving him time to move if this wasn’t what he wanted.

He didn’t move.

She licked his lower lip then took it between her teeth, gently sucking it into her mouth. He tasted divine. She could feel his breath as he exhaled softly. She licked along the seam of his mouth, asking to be allowed entrance. He opened slightly.

She could have moved her tongue in fast and hard. It was what she wanted to do. She was greedy for a more complete taste of him. But she held herself back and went gently, moving slowly in. Sipping when she wanted to gulp.

 

5. I got a new chest of drawers. And now I must rearrange my clothes. It’s a task. I’ve been assigned it. There isn’t any escape.

6. Two more blog hops planned before the end of the year. One for Halloween to support my Wanton Witches Collection story, FarSeen. The other to bump up Home Run as well as hype the next book in that series, Hat Trick.

7. Did I mention, TEB contracted Night Blind? It’s being released next year. There is a lot of excitement going on over there. It should be a fun ride. We’ll see. They are looking at two more books in that universe. Got my fingers crossed.

8. Geez, I didn’t know I had so much crap all jumbled together to make up a writing life. Who knew? If I remember more crap, I will edit it in.

 

Random Thoughts Part 9

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Why haven’t they buried all the electrical wires yet? Why are there still wires above ground where wind, trees and a variety of other dangerous conditions exist to break said wires? I don’t understand this. Doesn’t the cost of maintenance above ground outstrip the cost of putting the wires underground? Not to mention it looks better. A lot better.

Can there be two weeks of weather that doesn’t require that either the air conditioner or the heater be on? Can we do that say like twice  a year? When summer becomes fall and winter becomes spring. Or something like that. So that I could get a break on my electric bills. Seriously. Be temperate. So I can be off the juice for a few weeks. It would be greatly appreciated.

When I start writing a book it goes slow. Then I get into it and it goes fast. Then at some point, I get sick of the story, want to writ the next one and can’t wait for the story to end. So the ending comes slow as molasses as well. I think you write at mixed variable speeds due to what you are writing as well as you excitement level about writing it. It’s being able to get in 2000 word days even when you aren’t feeling the first word that distinguishes the wanna bes to the already theres.

It never fails that when you need to hear something. Like it is crucial for the continued survival of the human species, a vehicle with a loud ass siren will go by and make whatever it was you were listening to not be heard at all. Not even a whisper. And they don’t just go by in ones .No, they go by in multiples. So it’ll be a while before you can hear what you needed to hear to save the Western Civilization. Some days it just goes like that.

That is all.