HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2015!

Thank you to all who visited my little corner and who read my rants this year. I'm humbled by anyone who takes the time to drop by. I'm just a romance writer who entertains, and possibly lifts, a reader out of the doldrums when he/she picks one of my books. Thanks for being financial with me. I learned a lot this year. Let go of a lot this year. Grateful and embracing a new year, accepting all it has to offer. Will continue to be me. Everyone else is taken. Bring it on! Oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Reflection or what you need to do

I realize that not everyone is of the same religious belief, or of any at all. So my wishes for you all are to...Just reflect. Cut off the phone. Unplug from streaming anything for at least 20 minutes and reflect. Reflect on where you have been. How far you've come. Where you are now. Where you are headed. And do you have a plan for your life? 'Cuz if you don't, someone else does. And you wouldn't want that, would you? Be well.

EXTASY BOOKS CHRISTMAS CHAT! ALL WEEKEND!

Hi Everyone!

The eXtasy Christmas chat will be from 8am PST 19th December until midnight PST 21st December at http://tlk.io/extasychristmaschat2014

For those of you in different time zones thats

Start:

19-Dec 8AM PST
19-Dec 11AM EST
19-Dec 4PM GMT
19-Dec 6PM CAT
20-Dec 3AM AEDT

End:

21-Dec Midnight PST
22-Dec 3AM EST
22-Dec 8AM GMT
22-Dec 10AM CAT
22-Dec 7PM AEDT

Reader prizes from eXtasy Books will be...

*drumroll*

1st - Kindle Fire
2nd - Kindle
3rd - Kindle

And for all of you eXtasy Books and Devine Destinies authors who participate, you have the chance to win a Kindle Fire!

So come and join in :-)

__._,_.___

A Sexy Morning - @MySexy Saturday #MySexySaturday #Saturday7 #MSSAuthors

Welcome to the 72^nd week of My Sexy Saturday.

This week’s theme is A Sexy Morning. Don’t you just love it when you see characters have a snuggle down day that starts with an awesome morning? Or how about making love at dawn on a planet far away? Or watching the morning sky together for the very first time as the sun tops the ridge?  This is a theme about that special time of the day where only lovers go. Do they wake up next to each other and wonder how they got there? Or are they all over one another?

We want you to show us those very special moments of the day where there isn’t an outside world, where two lovers go to greet the day. We want to know everything about those moments. The things they say to each other, the things they whisper. Give us the details about them: are they new lovers? Old lovers reunited? Afraid they have morning breath? Or are they just afraid they’ve made the biggest mistake of their lives? These moments can be made even more exciting as they can happen anywhere: on a farm, in a space ship, in the city, on or under the water. They can happen when your characters, and sometimes you, are least expecting it. They can happen in the heat of the moment, like after a one-night-stand, or can be a planned event like when the lovers just need a little bit of a getaway.

Follow the rest of the authors on the blog hop at http://www.mysexysaturday.blogspot.com

My snippet is from UNION, THE FELIG CHRONICLES, BOOK 3 and begins with the morning after my couple has spent a night reuniting. A hungry house guest comes to knock at the bedroom door, unaware that Tina has returned.

“Well, well, well, I suppose you are the reason we all are sitting downstairs warming the dining room chairs and listening to our bellies growl. I came to collect the man of the house because he decreed that breakfast was at eight-thirty.” Evie checked her watch. “It’s about that now.”

Before Tina could respond, a nude Nate came to stand behind her. Evie kept her line of sight above his shoulders. Tina remained in place to shield his nudity.

“Hi, Evie!” Nate then announced, “She’s staying. We are engaged.” He held Tina’s left hand up. “We celebrated and overslept.” He slapped Tina on the bottom. “I’ll see ya in the shower. Don’t be longwinded.” The unexpected tap to her butt knocked Tina off balance and ended her attempt to shield his family jewels. He addressed Evie again. “We’ll see you all in about thirty minutes or so. You have my permission to fire up the pans.” He sauntered toward the bath with a side trip to push the Play button on the CD player. The Sweetest Taboo filled the air.

Tina managed a weak smile for Evie and threw up her hands. “What can I say?”

“Say you’re happy. Are you?”

“Impossibly!”

“That’s all that matters. Let me see that ring.” Evie grabbed Tina’s hand. “What taste! That man never ceases to amaze me.”

“Yeah, he does have an eye.”

“I won’t say what else he has. I’ll just say the myth about white boys doesn’t apply to him.”

The dangerous, dark, kinky romance: Folk can't get enough

I'mma set this down right here. I don't like dark romance reads. Kinky or not. Not my cuppa. But if it floateth thy boat, read on! Just like with NA, the dark, erotic read rubs me the wrong way. "Rub, eh, eh," she said all Beavis-and Butthead-like. Naw. Can't do it. The abduction themes. The hostage scenarios. The mental anguish and orgasms derived from being mind fucked and humiliated. No. I tried. No. Like I said, if you read it, or live it, more power to ya. But like anyone who truly knows theirself, I know my limits. I know romance readers, at least the hordes that descended upon the virtual romance book aisles online after the FSoG trilogy can't suck the books up quickly enough. It's as if these thirsty folks, who I am sure have NEVER read, or wanted to read, a romance before, believe en masse that all those ridiculed, syrupy, tomes are actually filthy, taboo, hot wank fests that women have been keeping to themselves for years. And now this new readership wants it. Now. All the time. But I believe there in lies the key to this appetite for "dark" romance. That new flood of readers who really AREN'T romance readers at all, that group who thinks ALL romance has some degree of BDSM (no matter how badly depicted) in it. That group. (And if a romance book doesn't contain it...Well, that writer, don't know what REAL romance is! Amirite?) The demand drives the market. I get it. The writers filling that need are doing it very well. And doing well. EXCEPT. When the fervor dies down, when the silk-ropes-and-handcuff stories with the doms and subs start to trend lower on those best-selling, alphabet book lists, when they bring in less money for publishers (traditional or self), or most importantly when the horde's appetite has been sated, what will the publishers do? What will the newly-discovered, breakout authors of newly-discovered BDSM romances do?

Well, the traditional publishers will survive. They are like cats or vampires or both. The romance industry is notorious for being a step BEHIND the next trend. By the time the Big 5 catches up, a trend has already saturated the market and is no longer "on fire." The Big 5 are not innovators. But they'll be around. Nothing sells like imitating the trend. As for the writers of BDSM romances...The real writers will survive. They know HOW to write, HOW to CRAFT a story, no matter the genre. If they have to switch genre ("switch." Another Beavis moment) to be seen, they will. But the new-kids-on-the-block? The ones who tied together every school yard term for genitalia with a verb? The ones who used a ton of synonyms for the word "wet?" The ones riding the wave who know analytics but not craft? The ones who don't know a modifying phrase from their elbow? This is my advice. Enjoy the money AND enroll in some writing courses for the next trend.

World AIDS Day: Remember

Today is World AIDS Day. I remember my dear uncle Cyril most days but on this day, I hold his memory dearer. I light a candle for him and smile. So, take a break from Cyber Monday shopping and ponder how far the research on fighting AIDS has come, how far it has to go. Remember all the lives lost and all the lives saved. Yes, there is treatment available and I'm damned sure people receiving it are thankful. But I'm also damned sure they'd prefer not to have to take it. Live your life. Love your life. Love yourself. Be safe.