Thursday, October 12, 2006
Plogging, Blogging, Life & HousecleaningSo I started "plogging" today over on Amazon.com, something I've been meaning to do for a very long time. Plogging made me think of blogging, so now I'm doing that too. Erm...plogging really IS blogging, right? Yeah...thought so.
So it's a beautifully chilly fall day. My favorite kind. I've got quite a list of things to do today. I need to take our desktop computer, just returned from the Geek Squad after two weeks of them "fixing" it, back into be "fixed" again. Grrrr. I think I have to get my bitch on this time. I hate getting my bitch on.
I need to clean my house! Well, okay, I want to clean my house and, you know, even romance writers have to scrub their toilets. It's cold outside, I have candles burning, and I'm nesting. I feel all domestic and have a yen to make chili and old fashioned chocolate cake for dinner.
Can I mention how much I love my washing machine? I can stuff our entire king-size comforter in there, which means I don't have to schlep all the way to the laundromat and be assaulted by cute children who want to rip keys off my AlphaSmart and steal my quarters (which is exactly what happened the last time I was there).
I also plan to write at least 3k on my new proposal for Berkley Sensation. This book is the sequel to Witch Fire (releasing next summer). I'm itching to get my hands on this book and there are chores standing between me and it. Somehow I think the chores need to go bye-bye.
Witch Fire is finished and turned in. It's the story of Mira, a witch with extraordinary magickal gifts. When a group of warlocks hunt her with the intent to steal her power, Jack, a fire witch, is sent in to be her bodyguard. You'll have to read the book to see the kind of heat they generate.
The next book has the bland working title of "Earth Magick". It probably won't stay Earth Magick, but I need to call it something. I adore my characters in Witch Fire and, as Thomas and Isabelle bloom in my mind, I can tell I'm going to love them too.
So, through the course of this blog I've realized the Geek Squad can HANG, the house can get messier and we're having tomato soup for dinner. My writing fingers itch. :)
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Response to Edge of SweetnessI just got a piece of spam with the subject line: leeringfkts Girlnqtz Bending Overron!!! Took me a while to figure to figure it out... Leering Girls Bending Over!!!!
Er. I guess. I'm not opening it up to find out if I was right, that's for certain.
In non-spamish news... (well, maybe this is spam. All is in the eye of the spam beholder), I've been getting fantastic feedback from readers in private emails and in reviews for Edge of Sweetness. This makes me happy because, 1.) it was my first BDSM story and 2.) it was my first EC quickie. Short stories are more difficult for me to write than long ones.
eCataromance (Sensual)
Five Stars
"This story was really fascinating, with two leading characters with whom the reader can both readily identify and sympathise. Ben and Savannah are realistic personalities, and even in this short quickie, the author delineates their deeper selves. I really appreciated the emphasis on the immediate connection of their first meeting, and then the long wait of six months until they find each other again. All in all, I highly recommend this to every reader!"
~ Annie_Kudzu
~*~*~*~
Coffetime Romance
4 cups
"I enjoy well-written tales of dominance and submission. This book is an excellent example of this exciting genre. I really like Ms. Bast’s particular writing style. She has a way with words that completely stimulates my imagination. If you like the BDSM genre, then give this sensational story a try. You will be glad you did."
~ Susan White
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Hey hey hey!Come on over to http://community.livejournal.com/mverick_authors/profile and visit us! We're going to have contests, a party, excerpts and more!
We'll be posting lots of goodies so be sure to check it out.
M
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Edge of Sweetness Reviews!I've had a lot of great reviews so far for my BDSM quickie, Edge of Sweetness. Here are a few:
Just Erotic Romance Reviews
Reviewer: Marcy Arbitman
Rating: 4 Stars
Heat level: H
"Edge of Sweetness is a book about control and equality, and also a book about self-awareness. Ben thinks that he is totally in control and prepares to teach Savannah how to release her self-control without fear. Savannah teaches Ben that he needs more in his life than control. I found the premise fascinating and Ms. Bast fulfills it admirably. The sex is an important part of the plot and is definitely hot and exciting, so much so that I was searching for a toy for use while I read. However, the relationship between the two characters (and the way it changes) pushes the story. Ms. Bast wrote an intriguing story with no need for secondary characters. I was particularly interested in the way both Ben and Savannah learned about themselves and each other. This is a wonderful story. Ms. Bast, you have done it again!"
Just Erotic Romance Reviews
Reviewer: Wendy Cable
Rating: 5 Star
Heat level: O
"Anya Bast uses her belief in love-at-first- sight to create an exciting adventure that allows two people to find what they both want from life. I found the book well written, exciting and very hot... The submission scene is very imaginative and shows the often-overlooked side of BDSM with the thoughts and feelings of both characters. ...I highly recommend this book to any woman who likes the idea of a dominating strong caring man giving a woman what she secretly wants."
Romance Junkies
Format: EBOOK
Rating: 5
"Anya Bast’s EDGE OF SWEETNESS is a thrilling BDSM story full of heart and hope. At only forty-five pages, this is a quickie that won’t keep you up all night reading but will sure help contribute to any delightfully wicked dreams you might have. I found it extremely easy to sympathize with Savannah. She’s spent years suppressing her need to be dominated because of the expectations of those around her. Ben is absolutely delectable. He’s sexy, powerful, with just a hint of vulnerability. Ms. Bast is a fabulous storyteller and I’ve learned to be on the lookout for anything written by her. This is a perfect read when you want something HOT but don’t have a whole lot of time to read."
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
DIRTY is worth a free pen!Here's a little ad. Repost it on your LJ, blog, myspace, whatever, and I'll send YOU a free pen(and probably some other goodies, too.) Drop me a line to get the code. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
M
This is what happened...  Coming January 2007 from Harlequin Spice visit www.meganhart.com for excerpts and more! or friend me on Myspace! |
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Sing Blue SilverI just wanted to point any interested parties in THIS DIRECTION:
This website, to put it bluntly, RAWKS!
I had a great time surfing around it, reliving my youth. I had a great time writing the story, too. Credit for the website goes to Jody Wallace but my fellow Silverettes, Ellie Marvel, Jacki King, Natalie Damschroder and Penny Dawn all deserve credit for making the Blue Silver Pax an awesome, incredible load of fun to be part of.
Take a look!
M
Friday, August 25, 2006
All Will Be RevealedA lot of times people ask writers about where they get their inspiration. Some authors have excellent answers that are complex and fascinating about process.
Me? Led Zeppelin. I'm not joking.
Music is a huge part of my creative process. I make jewelry listening to music, I cook listening to music and I definitely write and edit listening to music.
But as I was going through all my projects and notes, trying to put them in some sort of order of importance so I would not go insane and feel so stressed I just keeled over, I found a little three sentence word document. A kernel of a book.
And I began to think on it and the characters began to introduce themselves to me. But it wasn't until Monday when I was coming back from taking my 2 year old to her Well Baby Visit that it all clicked.
Why?
Here's where Led Zeppelin comes in. Kasmir came on the radio. Now I lurve me some Led Zeppelin. I love that bawdy mix of blues and 70's rock. I love the over the top references to the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit and I love those hokey videos/mini movies they made.
So Kasmir came on and there's that opening. Now if you haven't ever heard Kasmir, go and download it from itunes or Amazon or something. Everyone should hear it. It's a great song. Slow, methodical, it's got this great sort of eastern flair (hence Kasmir). And the lyrics start.
Oh let the sun beat down upon my face, stars to fill my dream I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been To sit with elders of the gentle race, this world has seldom seen They talk of days for which they sit and wait and all will be revealed
Talk and song from tongues of lilting grace, whose sounds caress my ear But not a word I heard could I relate, the story was quite clear
And there it was. Celtic Triangle was born, it had a title (with some wonderful help from my husband the following day) and my metastory fell into place and I finished my rough outline last night. I should thank Plant and Page in my dedication. Oh and my babysitter who first introduced me to Led Zeppelin when I was nine.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Book Signing!!Are you in the Englewood, Ohio area? Come join us on Saturday, August 26th - 12:00pm-3:00pm at the New & Olde Pages Bookstore - 856 Union Blvd, Englewood, OH 45322
Participating Authors:
Kate Steele
Gail Faulkner
Paige Cuccaro
J.C. Wilder/Dominique Adair
Charlotte Boyett-Compo
Anya Bast
Mandy M. Roth
Friday, August 18, 2006
Woo Hooo!Blood of the Damned won a Reviewer's Choice award at Ecataromance in the sensual category.
"Christian Bale" made the presentation. Hee!
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
When I first started...I've been writing for as long as I can remember. I vividly remember seeing a vampire comic book at the local card shop that sold magazines and books, and going home and writing and illustrating a story about it. Some time in elementary school I got a book out of the library that had Homecoming in it by Ray Bradbury. I loved that story so much I wanted to read it over and over, so I set out to copy it by hand (no copiers way back then) so I'd have it to read. Along the way, writing it in pencil on lined paper, I decided to change a few things here and there. The story wasn't quite the way Mr. Bradbury had intended it.
When I was in fifth grade (I think) blank books became popular and oh, how I coveted one. My parents bought one for me with a picture of a unicorn on the front. Others followed, and I wrote my first stories in there. Mostly Star Wars fan fiction. AHAHA!
When I was 12 or so I was madly in love with a boy named Donald Byrne. He volunteered at the library on Tuesdays. I went to the libray every Tuesday so he could check out my books for me. (Rumor has it he became a priest...)Anyway, it was the summer and I wanted something to read at the pool, so my parents let me read The Stand by Stephen King.
I was hooked.
At 12 I said, hey, people really make a living writing books. That's what I want to do. And that's what I've always wanted to do, ever since.
I wrote my first "novel" the summer I was 16, a story for a boyfriend who was going away for the summer. He didn't last but the story did, and it eventually became An Exaltation of Larks.
I wrote mostly short fiction for awhile, horror and SF mostly. They started getting a sexy edge to them eventually. I wanted to write romance because I loved reading sexy romances, usuaslly by Johanna Lindsay. In college I majored in journalism, wrote short stories and bad poems.
When my daughter was born and I decided to stay home, it was a good time to start really writing. I began seriously pursuing it in 1998. I have worked steadily through a pregnancy, building a house, raising two kids and the chaos that follows.
I hope I never have another job again.
M
Anya tagged me on this one so here I am.
When I got pregnant with my second child, my husband and I decided that once he was born I'd take a few years off to be at home with him, mostly likely going back to work when he got near 3 and could be in preschool part time.
So imagine my surprise when, just after he turned three, I turned up pregnant. Okay, so big surprise and even bigger surprise was that it was a pretty high risk pregnancy and I was on bedrest for most of my pregnancy in some form.
I had A LOT of time on my hands and so my husband bought a second hand laptop and I decided to give serious writing a try.
I've always written. As long as I can remember I wrote stories and poems. For many years my husband and I ran a zine and then an ezine and I've done columns in newspapers and editorials as well.
I had this idea for a book that had been brewing since I'd been in New Orleans in 2003 for a Pearl Jam show. This family of witches. Triad was that book. It was the first book I wrote and the first book ever published.
I didn't know much. Didn't know there were rules. I just wrote it and loved it and a friend I'd made online, Anya Bast, encouraged me to send it to her publisher, Ellora's Cave. So I did. I won't tell you the timeline that I heard back in, it's unusual and a fluke I think and it's nowhere near that fast now for newbies. But in any case, it was very fast and wow, I had a contract and an editor and everything.
Since then, I've had my share of rejections as well as acceptances and I've had more success than I'd ever imagined when I opened up that first laptop and told my husband, "well, I've got the time, I'm going to give this a serious go."
That was in late 2003, since then I've written seventeen books and had 13 of them contracted so far. I'm so very fortunate.
Whenever I feel frazzled and overwhelmed by three kids, I remember that if I hadn't had the surprise of number 3, I'd be working in a 9 - 5 legal job somewhere with nowhere near the fun I'm having now.
So thanks to Anya for writing Winter Pleasures, the first EC book I ever bought and also for all her support at the beginning and to now. And to Megan too, who has critted for me and supported and encouraged me and listened to me whine about never selling to NY, LOL. My husband and my incredibly supportive readers and beta readers too.
Who shall I tag? Nonny, Amelia June and Candice