Maverick Authors - We Ain't Your Mama's Romance Writers

Adopt-a-Fox

2010-09-30T07:37:00.000-07:00

I hereby nominate Joe Manganiello. He plays Alcide on HBO's True Blood.

Why?

Erm....

I think pictures speak louder than words in his case, don't you? He really looks the part of a werewolf in this picture, doesn't he?

I have to admit that I go for the scruffy look and I love the dark hair and eyes. In any case, Joe Manganiello has made a big splash on True Blood and I think it's clear why that is. Here are a couple more pictures to send you to your Hunky Guy Happy Place.

On his Wikipedia page it says that Joe's favorite TV show was True Blood before he was cast as Alcide and in order to prepare for the role, he cultivated that scruffy look and trained for five months to add muscle for the role. Hey, Joe, you're doing AWESOME!

Plogging, Blogging, Life & Housecleaning

2006-10-12T08:21:00.000-07:00

So 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. :)

Response to Edge of Sweetness

2006-09-20T09:19:00.000-07:00

I 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

Hey hey hey!

2006-09-05T19:02:00.000-07:00

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

Edge of Sweetness Reviews!

2006-09-03T15:27:00.000-07:00

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."

DIRTY is worth a free pen!

2006-08-30T07:31:00.000-07:00

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!

Sing Blue Silver

2006-08-29T06:14:00.000-07:00

I 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

All Will Be Revealed

2006-08-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

A 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.

Book Signing!!

2006-08-21T05:57:00.000-07:00

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

Woo Hooo!

2006-08-18T19:35:00.000-07:00

Blood of the Damned won a Reviewer's Choice award at Ecataromance in the sensual category.

"Christian Bale" made the presentation. Hee!

When I first started...

2006-08-16T21:08:00.000-07:00

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

When Did I Start Writing?

2006-08-16T10:27:00.000-07:00

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

When Did I First Start Writing?

2006-08-14T07:15:00.000-07:00

It's a question that I get a lot, as I'm sure most authors do.

I have wanted to be a writer since I was a little girl. The desire was born from my love of reading. I can remember going to the library and coming home with stacks and stacks of books that I would voraciously consume before going back for another stack.

One day, when I was about 8, my father asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I said, "A writer!". He told me that writers have to be very observant and be a student of human nature and of their surroundings. So I got a notebook and wrote down everything for a time, just like Harriet the Spy. At twelve or so I wrote my first "book"...well, my first attempt at a book, anyway. It was called The Barncat Chronicles and was, unsurprisingly, about the cats on my father's hobby farm.

At 22 I wrote my first full-length novel, a historical romance. It was doorstopper, weighing in at 120k, and I couldn't quuuuite keep the paranormal aspect out of it. It found an agent (miraculously), but never found a home. And rightly so, since I made just about every rookie writing mistake known to man in that book. I spent the next few years rewriting it and rewriting it...and rewriting it. That's how I learned to write the right way.

For awhile I gave up hope that I would ever succeed as a writer and put down my pen. I pursued degrees in English and Psychology and then went through a period of flirtation with several graduate degree progams, trying to find one that fit me.

In the meantime, 9/11 happened. My husband and I were in Belgium when it occurred. We were locked out of the country for a few days and were on one of the first planes allowed back into the U.S. We flew past NY, (modified route), into Dulles. Dulles was freaky and quiet. Armed guards led us through customs and to our next plane connection. There was little speaking. Do not pass go. Do not collect $100.

Ironically, on that plane ride back was when I decided to take up writing again. I still remember the conversation I had in my head about it. Can still remember gazing out the window as we passed NY while I had it. Why, I asked myself, when life was so uncertain, was I not doing the one thing I loved most? Because I was afraid to fail? Please. Life is far too short to let fear rule.

So, I wrote another book.

Just at the same time I found a graduate degree program that fit (hallelujah!), I sold my first book. Knowing I couldn't work full-time, attend grad school in the evenings AND write, I took a chance on a lifelong dream and chose writing. :)

I'm tagging my fellow Maverick Authors!! Lauren and Megan, I would love to know your stories.

Writerly Type Stuff

2006-08-11T10:40:00.000-07:00

Generally, I hate rules. I know, how messed up is that when I'm a lawyer? But I digress (not uncommon, I know). I don't buy into the "rules" about romance writing except for the HEA and basic punctuation stuff (and I am sort of a fascist about certain things like when people automatically put apostrophes in every word with an "S" at the end, WTF? There's plural and plural possessive, LEARN THE DIFFERENCE) Whooops, that was a tangent.

Okay, back on track - So essentially I write the book that comes to me how it comes to me. I didn't even know it was like some uber sin to kill off a character until I did it (and I'm not saying which book for those who haven't read it). But you know what? Readers love that book, even if I make them cry (and he had to die, I swear).

And I write in multiple POV too. I can't tell you how many other authors have clapped a hand over their hearts and gasped at me that I'll never sell a book and how much readers hate multiple POV books. And I know there are readers who don't like multiple POV books. Just as there are readers who don't like erotic romance or who don't like inspirational romance or whatever - you read what you like and that's unavoidable and frankly, if I tried to write something everyone would love, how boring would that book be?

As a reader, I have my likes and I buy accordingly, but POV isn't something I find jarring or distracting if it's done well - so if you tell me a great story in 3rd person, go on with your bad self, or first or in multiple - the key is, tell it well. Tell it organically because if you are obsessed with the rules it shows. It bogs the story down and it becomes about form instead of substance. If you hate multiple POV don't write it, if you hate to write erotic, don't do it. Write your own story your own way.

Anyway, I do my thing and it seems like I've got folks who like it and I've sold 13 books so far which seems pretty darned good in my judgment. I write what I like and I'm darned lucky that people seem to like what I write (and there are exceptions, LOL).

I don't outline unless I'm working on proposal either. I do pants it, I admit. As my mother would say, I'm a free spirit, I can't help it. A free spirited control freak, which does not make me an easy person to be married to, LOL.

But I am superstitious. I don't want to be, but I am. I have this new book I'm fleshing out, my husband and I are actually doing a bit of collaboration on the plotting and I'm really excited about it. But I won't give details until I have a title and I'm further along. I can't work until I get a title. It drives me insane!

This is all pretty pointless but I simply can't think about Jan Butler anymore and so I thought, hey, Lauren, wouldn't it be cool if you like, talked about, oh I don't know, writing?

goodies!

2006-08-09T11:06:00.000-07:00

Goodies, y'all. Postcards, bookmarks...pens. Magnets, business cards...lots of fun stuff. So here's the thing.

You want some little goodies? Some fun things with my book cover and blurb and whatnot on them?

Just send me an email to: authormATmeganhartDOTcom and tell me so. I'll make up a little bundle for you and send it out. (You have to send me your address, of course...and I hope you'll consider being on my mailing list. If not, just say NOMAIL in the email and I'll send your goodies but not put you on the list. Simple!)

The catch to get these free goodies? I'll send enough for you and a few friends. All I ask is that you spread the word around about my upcoming releases. Hand out the pens, the bookmarks, talk me up a little bit to people you know who like to read. Very simple. And I'm talking like, five people, not hundreds (though if you want to do hundreds that's okay too!)

Very simple. Want some swag? Silly stuff, really, but you might enjoy it. Send me an email with your name and address (and NOMAIL in the body of the message if you don't want to be on my mailing list.) If you want to be invited to join my yahoo newsletter, tell me in the body and I'll invite you. Send your message to: authormATmeganhartDOTcom with FREE STUFF in the subject so it doesn't go astray!

That's it!

Offer good until Sept. 30, 2006 or until supplies run out...

M

Checkin In From Vegas!

2006-08-03T15:34:00.000-07:00

Me, this morning, wet hair and no makeup, taking five thousand vitamins that my husband forces on me every day, LOL. I had two hundred emails, sigh.

We had breakfast and then walked down to the Fashion Show Mall (which in true LV fashion looks two blocks but is like five miles) but it wasn't as hot as it was yesterday and we had a lovely walk. And they had a Borders which had Touch of Fae on the shelves and I signed it and left bookmarks too. They had Annalee's book and two of Anya's which was very nice to see. Even a Samhain title and the manager told me to come back the next time I was in town to sign more. A very good trip indeed.

Couples massage yesterday? Heaven. I love the spa services here.

We had gelato yesterday and then a late lunch at Sensei and I have to say it was the most satisfying dining experience I've ever had. I had the Tai (not my spelling) red snapper with rice flakes on the outside for crunch on a bed of pad thai veggies with a green curry froth (and I was dubious about froth on food but goddamn it was good). Deeeelicious. The man had the mushroom risotto with halibut and it was to die for too. But to start we had red chili naan and lobster and shrimp rolls served on an ice block ever so minimalistically cut to hold them and keep them cold. Honestly, I can't even describe how good it was.

Then off to see Lewis Black. Excellent seats, third row although I hate the four people to a table thing they had. He was on, I laughed a lot.

Las Vegas, sigh. Seriously, I know that what happens here is supposed to stay here but can someone please tell the woman with the spandex super mini that it's not made to look like it's going to snap off and hit someone in the eye at any moment? I love that women are not self consious about their body size, that's a wonderful thing, but not every outfit is made for every woman. Mini skirts are fine, just wear one that FITS. And polyester rubbed together over and over as someone walks in this heat is bound to cause an industrial accident. Men, okay, sir, please, please either wear a belt or get smaller pants, I don't want to see your hairy ass. Nor do I think sandals with black socks and white bermuda shorts is a postive choice.

I need to corner someone later on today to have them snap a few pics of me and the dude. We got some at Benihana the other night but I don't have a scanner here. Anyway, we're having a great time! I miss everyone and hope you all are doing well and behaving!

for Piston

2006-08-03T15:06:00.000-07:00

and....gotta show this one...

Help Camille

2006-08-03T09:32:00.000-07:00

Many of us have been fortunate enough to meet and get to know author Camille Anthony over the years. Perhaps we know her as a colleague. Perhaps we've read her books.

Camille suffers Pulmonary Sarcoidosis, caused by exposure to asbestos while an employee of the State of California. Unfortunately she cannot get health insurance to help her with the costs of treating this disease because it's a preexisting condition and she's just shy of the income limits to obtain medicaid.

Camille is an intelligent, personable, lovely woman who is always ready with a helping hand.

She needs our help now.

Please visit:

BPAL

2006-07-31T21:02:00.000-07:00

I succumbed!

I have, for a long time, worn the scent of roses. I used to wear Victoria's Secret Her Majesty's Rose...but they discontinued it. Then I tried finding other rose scents, but few have pleased me. So I thought I'd give Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab a try.

These are the imps I received today:

London: Venerable Victorian Tea Rose… twisted, blackened and emboldened with wickedness.

Two, Five and Seven: A huge bouquet of squished rose petals: Bulgarian rose, Somalian rose, Turkish rose, Damascus rose, red and white rose, tea rose, wine rose, shrub roses, rose, rose, rose…
…and just an itty bitty bit of green grass.
*** This is the only one I've tried so far. For all that rose it doesn't smell "rosy" but it smelled good "on."

Rapture: Sensual ecstasy, the blinding red fire of the apex of sexual pleasure: Moroccan rose, Sumatran rose, mandarin, Egyptian myrrh, night-blooming jasmine, bergamot and neroli thrust into Arabian musk.

Ok, I'm pretty darn sure I wouldn't have ordered a scent redolent of blood, but this came along with the others:
Centzon Totochtin: The Four Hundred divine rabbits of the Aztec pantheon that preside over parties and drunkenness. Bittersweet Mexican cocoa with rum, red wine, and a scent redolent of sacrificial blood.

Marie: A blend of sinuous violet and elegant tea rose: the chosen scent of France,s Demigoddess of Debauch: Marie Antoinette.

Wicked: A paean to all the Wicked Queens, Evil Stepmothers, and other misunderstood villainesses throughout history and lore. Lends an aura of majesty, refinement, strength, and a deep, brooding malice. A sophisticated, womanly scent: rich myrrh and jasmine draped in the subtlest rose

Black Rose Exquisitely melancholy. The background scent to an ancient exequies. Heavy, dark and floral: a blend of roses, with a touch of amber and musk.

So far none of them are making me swoon. I'm going to try them all, though. What I want is a fresh tea rose scent.

M

GC Gets a Gold Star Award!

2006-07-24T16:02:00.000-07:00

I'm stunned and beyond thrilled! I was in Eastern Washington to see a concert (in 116 degree weather, man did that suck. More about the whole awful experience later) and I knew the JERR mag came out yesterday and had a review for Giving Chase in it. I saw it in the "reviews in this issue" promo they did last week. My cover was up in the promo and I said to my husband, "wouldn't be cool if it gets a great review and like a silver star," just jokingly but I knew it probably got a good review because the other time my cover was in the promo I got a five star review for Second Chances. Anyway, it came today and when I returned from the hell that is The Gorge (which I shall never return to, even if it is Pearl Jam), I went to look and WOWOWOWOW!!

KayleeMarie Walker said in part:

"When you read a Lauren Dane book, you know to expect the best and that's exactly what she delivers with Giving Chase, the first installment in the new Chase Brothers series. This wonderful erotic romantic suspense is enthralling and literally begs not to be put down once you've picked it up. The storyline is emotionally charged and the character development is evident throughout." (...)

"I'd have to say that this is one of my favorite Ms. Dane books to-date and I have no problem recommending it. Giving Chase is definitely deserving of a Gold Star Award!"

What a nice thing to come home to!

Reviews

2006-07-21T08:28:00.000-07:00

Ah, reviews. By all accounts readers don't pay much attention to reviews when making their buying decisions, but I still wait on pins and needles for the first of mine to coming rolling in. I'm always so relieved when they're good.

Of course, I've had my share of bad reviews too. Bad reviews are a part of being an author. It's a part of having your work read by so many different people who come to the book with so many different worldviews, experiences and personal squicks and hang-ups. It's important for an author develop a thick skin where this is concerned because your ego will take a few shots.

I'm human, so bad reviews hurt, but mostly I pout, eat some chocolate and carry on. I know that not everyone is going to think I'm brilliant and talented in this lifetime. *shrug* Not everyone loves me like my mom does, ya' know?

Public participation time...

If you're a writer, how do you react to a bad review? Pout? Consume massive amounts of chocolate? Track down the reviewer and demand a confrontation? Kick? Scream? I'm sure there are many ways to deal.

If you're a reader, do you pay attention to reviews when making your buying decisions?

Speaking of reviews, here are the first two for my recent release, Tempted by Two, because you have to celebrate the good ones:

From Sensual eCataromance...

"Anya Bast really knows how to write hot love scenes.... Enjoy a touch of danger? Want your own personal heat wave? Anya Bast's Tempted by Two is perfect."

- Elise Lyn

Five Blue Ribbons from Romance Junkies...

"What's a girl to do when she suddenly learns that she has fae blood, starts seeing goblins and has two men claiming that she's meant to be with both of them - forever? She fights temptation and then when the time is right, gracefully gives in...

Anya Bast pens an amazing tale full of passion, trust, pure evil, and absolute binding love. TEMPTED BY TWO draws the reader into the story and doesn't let go until you've read every word. Miranda is a wonderful character whom I loved getting to know. She's witnessed the devastating results of domestic abuse and does everything in her power to help battered women. Marco and Theo are definitely alpha males - both are dominating and possessive, but in no way are they inclined toward any form of abuse. Convincing Miranda of that fact is going to be challenging. This book is delightfully enchanting with a few unexpected twists that will keep you guessing."

- Chrissy Dionne

Coming up for air

2006-07-19T15:51:00.000-07:00

Well, I did it. I finished my third book for Spice and WELL in advance of my deadline, I might add (ever so humbly.) I've never written a book of this length in so little time. But I had no choice! My deadline for book #3 came in as August. What could I do? I had to write it or risk looking like a whiny puss pants.

Ok. So I probably did anyway, what with the hand wringing and nail biting and stomach churning. I knew it wouldn't be easy. Summer is traditionally not a good time for me a writer. My kids are home from school and vacation and family activities eat into the time I would normally spend writing. I end up staying awake far, far into the night -- 2 am seems to be my average this year, down from last year's 3 am, though I hit that few times, too. Night time is the only time I have to myself in the summer.

This summer I also had three weeks of camp. Normally I'd send the kids to camp for one week, just to get them out of my hair and give them something to do. But this year, three weeks it was and thank goodness for them. I dropped them off at camp, came home, sat in my chair and wrote...until it was time to pick them up. I hit a personal best during that time -- 32 pages of work in one day. I was brain dead and my butt was numb, but the book spewed out of me like curses from a sailor's mouth.

Now really, the idea of writing a 100,000 word novel in a couple of months shouldn't have been so daunting. It's just that I'd never done it on so tight a schedule, and wouldn't have attempted it with my kids out of school. Only determination, a contract and summer camp saved me.

I did it. Wrote, polished, edited (and had the support and help of FABULOUS readers to help me) and submitted that book to my agent five days before I'm due to leave for my summer vacation. Now I have a week at the beach without worry.

Well. I'll still worry. Worry the book sucks. That because I wrote it so fast it stinks worse than a porta-potty in August. That I suck because I can't se how much I stink. That my editor will hate the book. Hate me.

My life will be ruuuuuuuuuuuuuined!!!!

Annnnd we're back to the melodrama.

Overall, it wasn't the ideal but I can't complain. Other authors have had to do more with less. I got the work done. I put out a book I feel proud of (even if it does suck). I worked my butt off and I got it done, and I can spend the rest of my summer slacking off.

Well.

Except for that other book I started plotting. And the short stories I'm thinking about. Oh, and the sf novel I'm not sure anyone will buy but I want to write, anyway...oh! And the screenplay!...And...

So that's it. Sorry I was gone for so long. I was blog deficient. But now I'm back with plenty of blather!

M

Mavericks In The House!

2006-07-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

Anya, Megan and I will all be at Ecataromance tomorrow, July 20, so come and join us!

I'm sure it'll be the usual hijinks, prizes, excerpts, all sorts of fun.

Condoms in Contemporaries?

2006-07-18T08:03:00.000-07:00

I'm having a really interesting discussion with several authors at Romance Divas about condom use in contemporary erotic romance.

My personal belief as an author and also as a reader is that it's something that should be included in contemporaries, if not, an explanation of why not should be there.

Now you don't have to put in a big thing every sex scene, just something that lets the reader know even once at the beginning of the book, that condoms are being used is enough. In Giving Chase there's a point when Kyle and Maggie have been together for many months and they're living together and both have been tested for STDs that they stop using condoms and I mention that.

I know it's fiction but with contemporararies there are real life rules that IMO, shouldn't be ignored. I can't have my heroine swallow poison and not get sick or eat a nail either. For me, AIDS and STDs are a big enough tragedy in real life I'd feel irresponsible not to have condoms in my books.

Some folks feel like it takes away from the fantasy to use condoms and that writing in condoms is giving in to some kind of pressure to be responsible for readers' choices.

In paranormals, I'm freed of this, I can explain away STDs and pregnancy, which is why they're so much fun, but contemporaries are grounded in a certain level of reality that I find inescapable. I think this is especially the case with my erotics.

what do you all think?

Saturday And It's All Right!

2006-07-15T17:11:00.000-07:00

Taking Chase:

35,000 / 65,000
(53.8%)

So I finished writing the first big sex scene for Cassie and Shane and well, it led into another one inside the house, in front of the mirrored doors in his closet. I think sex is done for now and there's some more revelation coming up soon.

Vengeance Due is coming out August 2! The cover is up on the EC coming soon page! Yay. I love that point, it begins to feel real when your cover shows up on the site. I'm going to have a big List Mom Party on August 15 (as I'll be on vacation with my husband on the 2nd) and in the days approaching the 2nd, look for some fun contests at my loop, website and here.

My print galley for Giving Chase arrived yesterday. I need to look it over this weekend and turn it around. Chrissy is on the ball! I don't know when the woman gets any time to sleep.

Oh, and just a tad of "nanny nanny boo boo" I've been fortunate enough to have critted Megan Hart's three books for Spice. I just finished the last chapter of the last book, Perfect, yesterday. People, the women kicks ass. I've loved Megan's writing for a while now, but she really hits it out of the ball park with these books. When they hit the stores next year, be sure to run out and snap them up. The first one comes out in January - Dirty, and the cover is just gorgeous and the writing is amazing.

And more on the fabulous writing front, I've also been critting Anya Bast's, Witch Fire, her first Berkley book and boys and girls - it's amazing too. Jack, whooo! Is Jack ever hot. It's good stuff and I've only seen two chapters so far. I'm addicted. This is a summer release for 07 so don't forget. Oh, that's all right, I'll remind you.

Okay, my marvelous husband is home from a very long business trip so I'm off. Have a great Saturday!!

Tempted by Two is now available!

2006-07-12T07:44:00.000-07:00

I love this cover!

ADVANCE REVIEW:

"Anya Bast really knows how to write hot love scenes... Enjoy a touch
of danger? Want your own personal heat wave? Anya Bast's Tempted by
Two is perfect."

- Elise Lyn
eCataromance

~*~

BLURB:

Miranda has been traumatized by events in her past and shies from
emotional commitment. She does affairs, not relationships. But soon
she finds herself confronted with not one but two men who claim that
she's the one for them...forever.

Marco and Theo, two full-blooded Tylwyth Teg fae, are desperate to
make Miranda theirs. And even if they're feeling jealous of each other
and possessive of her, they know they must join forces in order to win
Miranda's heart back from her fears. In order to show Miranda that
she's in "good hands," Theo and Marco convince her to spend a weekend
in sexual submission to them.

One weekend of incredible sex with two gorgeous, strong and dominant
men? Miranda doesn't have a problem agreeing to that. Although
anything more might be problematic. Especially since there's
someone...something that intends to make sure Miranda, Theo and Marco
never get their happy ending.

Buy Tempted by Two from Ellora's Cave now

Reviews, Progress, Theft - Oh my!

2006-07-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

Yeah, Monday again. I thought I'd have more time today but Ms. M stole my driver's license and I must go and deal with a replacement, my middle kiddo has an eye infection and I had to pick up medication for my oldest who is going to his grandparents for several weeks. So I'm running around and dealing with stuff and doing laundry and not getting as much writing done as I'd like although I am consistently putting out 3K words a day, which is very nice.

I got two more excellent reviews of Sudden Desire today!

4 1/2 stars from Contessa at Romance Junkies: Lauren Dane has crafted a magnificent and highly erotic summer-time fun read with SUDDEN DESIRE. My attention was instantly absorbed from the start with Tess's explosive and much deserved actions towards Trevor. Here is a woman after my own heart. A person can only be pushed so far before she/he comes out fighting. I can certainly say that I would not have taken that much attitude for as long as Tess did. Trevor needed to be knocked down a peg or two. But, what surprised me the most was how much my attitude changed toward Trevor once he turned on his charm - no wonder he was so popular with the ladies. The sexual encounters between Tess and Trevor were scorching-hot and deliciously passionate. SUDDEN DESIRE is a great, short novel to enjoy on a hot summer night.

And 4 cups from Susan at Coffeetime Romance: Ms. Dane is one of my favorite authors and this terrific story is another example of why I enjoy her work so much. The characters are fascinating and easily believable. I like a good strong heroine and Tess is definitely that. I recommend Sudden Desire to anyone who likes a good solid story with plenty of smoking hot sex.

Not a bad way to start the week, eh?

Okay, I think I'll be done with Taking Chase by the end of the month! Yay! Then on to Battlefront, which I hope to have done by the end of August and then it's on to some stuff I'm working on for NY - a romantic suspense I'm targeting at Blaze and something I may target at the new Nocturne line. Cause I'm just gonna keep hitting until someone bites!

How was everyone's weekend?

Lauren

Yo!

2006-07-06T17:23:00.000-07:00

Let's see...Giving Chase seems to be doing really well with readers, I've had a number of wonderful reviews which have made me very happy! You can see them on my blog and soon to be up at my website too. Thanks to everyone who's written me and shared their opinions with me, it means a lot that you take the time.

Working on the next book, Taking Chase. This one is Shane's story and I'm quite happy with it so far. It's also romantic suspense.

I finished up my last edits on Tri Mates and it's off to the FLE, I'm just waiting to hear my release date. Vengeance Due is through finals and ready to go and I've finished up my first round edits for Reluctant, my quickie for the Autumn Animalia series. Soon I'll be seeing edits on Thrice Bound and after that Sword and Crown, my tarot themed novella.

I'll be participating in Samhain's Reader Appreciation Week festivities all next week at the Samhain Loop. You can sign up for the fun here if you're not already a member! I'll be there on Monday and Friday and also for a stint on Saturday. Please drop in and find yourself with some new favorites!

Monday July 10th - Suspense/Mystery/Thriller

Tuesday July 11th - Fantasy/Sci-Fi-Futuristic

Wednesday July 12th - Paranormal

Thursday July 13th - Historical/Western

Friday July 14th - Contemporary/Chick Lit/Comedy

Saturday July 15th and Sunday July 16th , Two authors every hour will share blurbs, prizes and excerpts. The party starts at 9 eastern and goes until 9pm Saturday and Sunday so be prepared for non-stop action on these days!

Have a great week!

Lauren

Monday Stuff

2006-07-03T15:33:00.000-07:00

It's Monday again! But it's not nearly as hot as yesterday which is nice. The boys are out back playing in the sprinkler and Ms. Thang is here in the house with me and my mom. My parents have been spoiling my kids totally rotten, which is fun to watch, LOL. Course it won't be fun to deal with later but that's what grandparents are for.

Went to Ben and Jerry's yesterday and had key lime pie ice cream. Oh yes I did. And it was delicious! But I only had about half of it because Moo ate the rest with a big grin on her face.

I have all these great books to read but I need to finish edits first! I'm nearly done with Reluctant edits and then I'll get to finishing up Taking Chase and then back to Battlefront. My EC editor says I'll be getting edits on Thrice Bound soon too, yay!

I just want to nap all day, sigh. Not gonna happen I don't think, LOL.

Chat!

2006-06-29T17:34:00.000-07:00

All us Mavs will be at Novel Talk at 6 pm pacific/9 pm eastern! Come and join us. It's always a good time, LOL.

A Movie and Two Books

2006-06-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

A Movie....

J and I watched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang last night. I was skeptical at first because J's recent choices have left me wondering if I shouldn't revoke his status as Netflix Master (He who decides which movies to order), but Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was pretty damn good. It's part noire detective story, part comedy, part mystery. The main character is an ex-thief turned accidental actor who ends up in L.A. and is played by Robert Downey Jr. (I'm attracted to this guy's fucked-upedness). Val Kilmer plays a gay private eye (Gay Perry) and Michelle Monahan plays the sweet yet slutty love interest who has been obsessed with a series of pulp fiction P.I. novels since she was a little girl. I loved all these characters and the acting was fantastic.

It's cheesy (esp. the ending) and cliched in places, but the dialogue was fast-placed and clever and had me laughing through the whole thing. Plus it's got that edge of dark humor that I love so much. Definitely worth a look if you like this kind of movie. I don't often talk about the movies I see, which means I really liked this one.

Two Books...

The Compass Rose, by Gail Dayton
The Barbed Rose, by Gail Dayton

These are two of the only Luna books I've been to swallow whole so far. On the surface I'd say this particular line would be right up my alley -- significant fantasy with a touch of romance. Maybe it's the books I've been selecting. *shrug* In any case, I found myself totally caught up in the "Rose" books and I'll be watching for the release date of the next book about Kallista Varyl and her ilias.

The stories center around Kallista Varyl, a Naitan with the ability to direct lightning and a commander in her country's military. When war breaks out and her people are getting the snot knocked out of them, she calls upon her God and is imbued with massive amounts of magic in return. She's also "godmarked" with the symbol of the compass rose on the back of her neck. Throughout the first book she discovers other people who are also godmarked and finds that they each carry magic in them which she has the ability to direct. Each godmarked person lends a different quality to the magic as a whole -- joy, order, creativity, ect... They all of them marry each other and form an "Ilian," a family. Together they must defeat something far more powerful than simply a neighboring country who wants to invade them.

The books are incredibly well-written and I loved the characters....and there are a lot of them. I kept waiting for Dayton to lose control of all of them, but she never did. Each character is as well-fleshed out as the next. I'm really looking forward to the next book.

Giving Chase is Now Available

2006-06-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

Woooooot!! Giving Chase is now available for sale from Samhain Publishing! I'm so thrilled, this one is my first romantic suspense as well as my first release from Samhain so I'm doubly excited!

I hope you enjoy reading about Kyle and Maggie!

Blurb: Some small towns grow really good looking men! This is the case with the four Chase brothers. The home grown hotties are on the wishlist of every single woman in town and Maggie Wright is no exception.

Maggie has finally had it with the men she’s been dating but a spilled plate of chili cheese fries drops Shane Chase right into her lap. The sheriff is hot stuff but was burned by a former fiancée and is quite happy to play the field.

After Shane’s skittishness sends him out the door, Maggie realizes that Kyle Chase has had his eye on her from the start. Now that Shane has messed up, Kyle has no intention of letting anything stop him from wooing her right into his bed.

Despite Maggie’s happiness and growing love with Kyle, a dark shadow threatens everything—she’s got a stalker and he’s not happy at all. In the end, Maggie will need her wits, strength and the love of her man to get her out alive.

Monday Update

2006-06-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

I added a new page at my website that lists my books by genre for those who may be interested! It also lists things like whether the book is a menage, if there's MM interaction, if there are vampires, etc.

I'm chatting tonight at 5 pacific/8 eastern at Writerspace for the montly Ellora's Cave Author chat. It's always a really fun hour!

And tomorrow, I'll be at Novelspotters from the 9 - 10 am hour/noon - 1 pm eastern time to talk about Giving Chase, my romantic suspense novel that releases tomorrow from Samhain!

A Whole Lotta Good News!!

2006-06-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

Is this not just a breathtaking cover? I am in total love with this cover and Syneca is just, sigh, the best. it's my new favorite with Enforcer a close second. I LOVE the fonts and the poses of the people and Holly, she's so hot!

I got a release date for Vengeance Due! August 2! I'm thrilled and I can't wait for you all to meet Kael and read his and Simone's story.

And...

I got this email yesterday but I've been rushing around today and didn't notice it until just now! Thank you Joyfully Reviewed and Melissa for making Giving Chase a Recommended Read!!

Hump Day Greetings!

2006-06-21T10:26:00.000-07:00

Hiya all! Morning campers! It's my oldest's last full day of school until September. I can't believe he's going into 3rd grade already and my middle kiddo will be in kindy (thank god!)

And don't forget that tomorrow, all day long, is the first annual Excerpt O Rama day at the EC reader board! I'm putting the finishing touches on the scavenger hunt and excerpt list today, we have some GREAT authors and great prizes so don't miss it!

Working, working, working. Wrote on Battlefront last night. For those who don't know, it's a futuristic, menage, BDSM book and I'm quite excited about it and not just because there are two very hot men in it for happy Sera to share. It's my first stab at a futuristic and I'm really loving the genre so far. Tonight I'll get to the twist that takes the characters solidly into the heart of the story. I can't wait! Hee!

How's everything this morning?

Loving the Bad Guy

2006-06-18T09:51:00.000-07:00

I know I've said it before, but I LOVE writing the villain. I don't mean a cardboard mustache-twirler though. I mean a bad guy with depth. A man (or woman, man in the story I'm writing now) who's bad and knows he's bad. A man who has the motivation to be bad, at least in his own twisted reality. He's doing malevolent, eeeevul things because he has a reason. If it's done right, the reader can maybe almost--almost--sympathize with him.

And the only thing I like more than writing the bad guy is having the bad guy reap his karma.

TGIF!

2006-06-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

Whew! This week has seemed about nine days long. Thank goodness it's nearly over.

I sent off my proposal for Taking Chase to my editor at Samhain so that's one more thing off my to do list (and as I was polishing it up last night I realized just how much I really love this series and this town!)

Then I worked on my revisions for the proposal for Goddess With a Blade for my agent and finished that up. I'm working on the last bits on the synopsis this morning so I can go into the weekend with one thing on my plate - finishing Threat of Darkness!

Course, I'm expecting the second round edits for Vengeance Due on Sunday but those should be minor and I'll deal with them right away and get them back so I can get a release date.

Father's Day is Sunday and so I'm planning a huge breakfast for my husband who's just a great dad.

It's raining here again, sigh. Last year it was 90 degrees. I love the northwest, you never quite know what you're gonna get, LOL.

How is everyone today?

Still Number one!

2006-06-13T18:43:00.000-07:00

Check it out! AFTER CLASS is still number one at Fictionwise!

FICTIONWISE EROTICA BESTSELLERS

Woot!

2006-06-11T08:04:00.000-07:00

So Sudden Desire, my contemporary quickie, released on Friday from Ellora's Cave! An excerpt can be read either by clicking the cover or heading to the Sudden Desire page at my website. This was my first "quickie" and it was a lot of fun to write and so far, people really seem to love it. The best thing about a super short (12K words) is that it's inexpensive and a fun, quick read. I have one more coming out this year, Reluctant, that will be part of the Autumn Animalia quickie series in September. I saw the cover earlier in the week for the stories in the series, growwwl!

I also saw that A Touch of Fae is now available at the EC Print Store and Amazon! Shipping is free from the EC print store, by the way.

I put up the first chapter of Triad at my website and I'll follow suit with A Touch of Fae in the fall. I also did some basic updating of my website yesterday - new reviews for Enforcer, etc.

I'm nearly done with my edits for Tri Mates. The edit is turning out really well, I'm quite pleased with it. I needed to flesh something out a bit and so I've done that, here and there as I moved through the manuscript. I love this part of editing. How small adjustments can make the entire reading experience better.

My big news for the week!

2006-06-07T20:08:00.000-07:00

I sold More Than Magick, a paranormal erotic romance, and its sequel to Berkley!

Squeee!!

A Change of Season is now in Print!!

2006-06-07T20:03:00.000-07:00

Now available at EC's eBay store and soon to be available at your local retail bookseller.

Seasons of Pleasure - A Change of Season By Anya Bast
Book 5 in the Seasons of Pleasure series.

Moira suffers from psychic attacks that bring not only pain, but also visions of a man named Dain d'Ange into her mind. Dain is the cursed thirteen lord of Aeoli, a man they say killed his wife with the chaotic and dark magick he possesses.

Desperate to find a cure for her attacks, she travels to Aeoli and its cursed thirteenth lord. The harsh winter closes in on her and she soon finds herself trapped with a man who is every degree as chilly as the season. However Moira senses that Dain isn't always cold, and she vows to discover the heat that lies under his frigid exterior. It doesn't take long for her coax the man from the monster.

When Dain's brother Killian arrives, Moira finds herself seduced to both of their beds and is soon lost in a web of carnal pleasure. She also finds herself lost to Dain because as time passes she discovers she loves him.

But as the mystery of her attacks and of Dain's history unravels, keeping him will be difficult.

A Touch of Fae

2006-06-06T15:49:00.000-07:00

It's finally in print! Yayayayayyyyy! Right now it's at the print warehouse, and NOW AT THE EC PRINT STORE!!! (click book cover for link). Soon to be at Amazon and then at Waldenbooks and Borders and those indie bookstores that carry EC books.

This is sort of funny timing because I've heard from readers and also from two bookstores that they could not get copies of Triad because it showed as out of print. I contacted Kelly at Jasmine Jade (and folks, Kelly kicks butt on several levels but she consistently returns correspondence in a timely manner and that's rare these days). Anyway, Kelly wrote me back to tell me that my first print run sold out and that they'd ordered another one. How freaking cool is it that Triad sold out its first print run? Wooot!

So anyway, I hope to see A Touch of Fae on shelves mid summer, sitting next to Triad.

I've ordered some copies for myself so I'll be doing some fun contests very soon and also mailing those copies out to people who've won in the past and have been waiting ever so patiently.

It's lovely news!

Got my edits back on Tri Mates and Giving Chase has gone to the FLE. Things are moving, yay!

Crockpot Love and Aeon Flux

2006-06-04T14:46:00.000-07:00

What did people do before crockpots I'd like to know. I love my crockpot. Okay so I'm not really that swell of a housewife. In fact I totally suck but I think my husband keeps me around because of the kids and he likes my boobs. Still, using the crockpot makes me feel so accomplished. It's the way the house smells, all savory and yummy. Like a woman who is good at this stuff lives in my house. And it's easy, I love easy. Two of my favorite things to make are beef stew, and I can make some quick bisquik biscuits to go with (bisquik is another useful thing that makes me happy) and green chile chicken which has like four ingredients and I can use frozen chicken in the recipe so I don't even need to worry about thawing anything.

I watched Aeon Flux today on DVD. I really enjoyed it. I know people panned it but I quite liked it. It wasn't as amazing as the animated show on MTV (which is where I first got my love of the character) but I thought it was well done.

Also caught Wallace and Grommit and the Curse of the Wererabbit with the kiddos. Very cute and wholesome and loads of inside adult jokes that made me laugh. My sons thought it was the ultimate in hilarity. Win Win.

Other than finishing edits and getting back to Threat of Darkness, it's been a lazy day today. Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend.

Day late and dollar short

2006-06-01T05:52:00.000-07:00

Well, some time ago we agreed to make an effort to keep up the content on this blog, with Wednesday being "my" day. It was even my suggestion! But time has a way of slipping past me, and this week was no exception.

So I want to talk about the time it takes to be a writer.

The thing about being a writer is -- well -- I'm always working. Even if I'm not sitting down at the computer, typing away, I'm still thinking about the writing. Plotting, planning, working...imagining.

I've set a daily page goal for myself so I can meet a deadline. It's not an unreasonable goal: 10 pages a day. I can do that with my hands tied, on a day I have "time." But, you might ask, don't you always have time, Sparkles?

And here's where it gets complicated.

I'm not only a writer, I'm a mother and a wife, too. And yeah, it falls to me to take care of the house and the kids and the spouse. And I'm not complaining about that, it just means I'm a working mother and there are many of them in the world with harder jobs than mine. It does mean, though, that I am never done. I'm never left alone long enough to write, except when the kids are in school. And then, if I'm home, invariably the phone rings. Laundry beckons. The internet distracts me. So, I go out to write, I kick butt, and I create, I produce, I RAWK. Summer comes, kids are home, living should be easy and where's my writing time?

I'm still here, in fact have fewer obligations to activities and events and school things where YES, I GUESS I CAN COME IN AND SUPERVISE THAT FIELD TRIP *headdesk*. We don't have to get up early, so I can stay up later. Cooking's easy, too.

So why is it so much harder to get any writing done?

Ten pages a day, five days a week. More on the days the kids are in camp and I can be a full time writer. A 400 pages book written, edited and polished before August 15.

Can I make this summer?

*dives in*

--M

Woot! Today's A Good Day To Open My Inbox!

2006-05-31T13:41:00.000-07:00

Got my first round edits on Vengeance Due! I'm working on them around kid chaos and hope to get them taken care of today.

And then I heard that Thrice Bound (Witches Knot Book 4) has been offered a contract from EC and also that Reluctant has been offered a contract and will be part of the Autumn Animalia Quickie Series!

Here's the blurb for Reluctant: Here's the blurb: Layla Warden had a ten year plan and it sure as heck didn't include a mate. She had her flashy car and her corner office and all was right with the world until Sid Rosario sat down at her table and turned her life upside down.

Sparks fly right off as the two werewolves flirt over dinner and it's no surprise to either of them when they end up back at his hotel room, naked and sweaty. But what is a surprise is that Sid is her mate and they don't figure it out until the bond is sealed.

Angry and off balance, Layla asks Sid for some time to think and he gives her a day and a half to get herself straight. Any longer than that and the lack of the anchor of the tri-bond, the stabilizing third bond for a werewolf female, will begin to take its toll on the female mate's sanity.

Layla, driven by confusion and fear, heads out of contact while a frantic Sid looks for her. What comes next helps a reluctant wolf find her way to acceptance.

I got my edits on Giving Chase back to my editor at Samhain and all is moving in the right direction there.

Once I'm done with these edits I'll complete the finishing touches on GWAB and get that to my agent and get back to Threat of Darkness and Taking Chase.

Finished!

2006-05-29T13:20:00.000-07:00

One thing I'll say for quickies is that you can write them very fast because you're essentially distilling down to one scene or a few scenes in a larger story. I just finished up two hours ago and I'm pretty pleased with where I ended up. I'm going to submit it for the "Autumn Animalia" series but I'm not sure if it's got enough focus on the werewolf aspect to be a part of it, although both characters are werewolves and the central focus is based on an integral factor in their culture. In any case, even if it's not right for that series, it'll still be a good quickie for another time of the year.

I'll go back through tonight and lengthen the first sex scene and edit and get it to my editor tomorrow. Still not sure what I'll call it. I'd like to just call it "Cascadia Wolves: Sid and Layla" but I don't know just yet. For those who've read Enforcer, we hear about Sid and Layla's bonding when Tracy goes to talk to Nina about the importance of the tri-bond. And yes, there's a threesome scene in this one, just one, and Layla is blindfolded (yeah, that bit came to me last night, I liked the different focus that a scene takes when she can't see who is doing what)

So it's set ten years ago and Layla is twenty five and so not looking for a mate when she ends up with one totally by surprise.

Anyway, she's surprised and scared and reluctant which is why I've had reluctant as part of the title from day one, but I'm not sure if that's the title or not and if so, what other word will work.

I'll talk to my editor about titles, right now it's just called Reluctant and that's probably what I'll submit it as.

I watched Kill Bill Vol I and II last night. Each time I do, I'm struck by something totally different. Still, I think I is my favorite of the two movies - the scene with the Crazy 88s in Japan kicks ass - from beginning to end. And Elle and Bea in the trailer, yeah, best line "Bitch, you ain't got a future." Daryl Hannah is crazy. I love that. "yeah, that's right, I killed your master." Beauty.

New cover squee

2006-05-26T14:26:00.000-07:00

Share my squuuuueee!

Respectability

2006-05-25T09:09:00.000-07:00

Much has been made about the "respectability" of the romance genre and how the presence of erotic or hot romance "demeans" that.

And I've been puzzling over this for a bit now because I find the perspective incomprehensible and yet fascinating. (much like someone who says they like freedom of speech but tells a moderator she should have reined people's posts in)

Romance has problems with respectability for a host of reasons, most of them occurring before erotic became the newhotthing. The truth is (and wow, if this hasn't occurred to people I don't know what to think) women are marginalized every day in just about every way.

Romance is a predominantly woman fueled genre. We write it, we read it and we edit and sell it. Our fantasies and thoughts are always demeaned as less important than those literary pursuits of men. This is not new.

Romance is viewed as silly. And you know what? A lot of it is. And who fucking cares? Seriously. Like I need to make excuses because I want a little fluff after listening to my kids snipe at each other all day? Like it's a crime to want something you don't have to work too hard on at the end of a day? And you don't think there's fluff written for men? Come on! So he's a detective instead of a bakery owner - and? Like the presence of a penis and a typewriter makes him more respectable? A small percentage of books that are written are important in the sense that they change the world. I like to read those too. But they're not the only thing I want to read.

Women's fantasies are often maligned. Should I feel bad that I write something that gives my readers a happy ending? A hero who wants to share the heroine's troubles and doesn't leave his beard hairs in the sink? If I'm supposed to, too bad. Because I don't. My romance novels are supposed to be entertaining. Yes, I do hope to make people think, my books often contain larger social issues in some form, but escapism is important too.

And women's sexual fantasies are co-opted and dismissed. Co-opted and twisted by a lot of sexually graphic material and aimed at men. And you know, I'm not dissing men, I love men and I live with three of them (okay, not like THAT, that's a great idea for a book though!). But most sexual material is created for men. So the women are often props instead of participants and very rarely the focus.

But erotic romance puts the spotlight on the woman and her fantasies. It celebrates the sexually independent woman who isn't afraid of pleasure. That is threatening on many levels. In romantica, she's the center of the action.

So of course it's maligned and dismissed. It's the "achilles heel" of romance, it's the end of the genre, it's porn, it's dragging down the respectability of the genre (which we've established already has a problem with being taken seriously so it's not a valid argument anyway). The worst thing for me is when other female romance authors make these arguments because they always strike me as specious and defensive and hostile.

We in romance are like the Mary Kay ladies. People love to make fun of the Mary Kay ladies but hello, the Mary Kay corp makes a hella big profit every year. People may make fun of romance but we dominate the market, someone's buying our books.

So you know, I'll take my royalty statements over respectability. That's just me. I'm a smart woman with lots of letters behind my name and I love to read and write romance. I'm not going to apologize for either and neither should anyone else. Regencies, Greek Tycoons, erotic romance, contemps about NASCAR - I don't care, sod respectability, let's just enjoy what we do and stop attacking each other.

Accountability, craft, art, and service industries

2006-05-24T06:08:00.000-07:00

I'm mostly reacting to this post over on Smart Bitches Love Trashy Novels, plus a couple other recent posts. I will tangent from the basic topic because I like to tangent.

I react negatively to the notion that writers work in a service industry even though (in some ways) I think it's true. The discussion on SBLTN veered off in the direction "who do I blame when I get a book I think is drek? Should I demand my money back? Ect....)

Well, here's the thing, one person's drek is another person's polished diamond. Reading is a subjective experience. When a woman picks up a book she reads it through her personal filter--all of her past experiences, everything her momma and life taught her, all the things she's ever experienced and learned. Everything is perspective. Sometimes an author's voice will not mesh with a reader's filter. That's just the way it is.

I truly dislike some books and authors out there who are wildly popular with a lot of readers. Do I think the work in question is "drek"? Yeah, maybe, but I'm not going to demand my money back for the book, or write the author or editor a nasty email. I make a judgment about whether to try that author again or not. If the trend is still drek after a second try, I just stop reading her and move on. I'm not going to play the part of the unhappy consumer. That's not really the way it should work.

Why?

Because by talking about authors and their books in a service industry context we grow dangerously close to asking writers to PANDER and that's just gross. Not to mention that we risk homogenizing novels so that they appeal to everyone (which mean they would appeal to no one). I have an image of a factory cookie-cutting novels out one after another.

As a reader you take a risk when you buy a book. Because of your personal filter you may not end up liking the story. *shrug*

I think of my writing as part art and part craft. I am a pragmatist and I do enjoy being compensated for the work I do. However I would probably still write even if I were not being compensated. Ever since I was a small child I've written. I do it because I love language. I love how the words fit together, how they sound, look and feel. I love creating worlds and people. I love telling stories. If you stopped paying me to do that, I would still do it because it's a part of me.

But, since I do want to make this a paying career, I do think about marketability when I sit down and plot a book, but I do it within the confines of my comfort area. As long as I can write a book, (and, most importantly, enjoy writing it), within a subgenre that I know will sell well, I'll do that. I do think about including elements I think the reader will like, but I won't force myself to write something I don't want to write just for money. I won't pander.

You will never see me, for example, write the very popular futuristic "capture and seduce" plot. You'll never see me write a borderline abusive alpha male character, even though they seem to be beloved by many readers. You will never see me write a stalker hero, or anything even close to rape (even in fantasy). You will see me write books like Water Crystal once in a while, even though I know they don't sell well, simply because those stories are in me and I love to write them.

So, yes, in a way I think I do work in a service industry...to a point. We aren't making widgets though, we're creating characters and worlds for people to lose themselves in and that is a very subjective ART. I craft my books within the scope of my personal likes and abilities and I will not pander.

I'm just damn lucky I love to write erotic romance because it provides a way for me to make a living doing something I enjoy. :)

Back on top!

2006-05-23T05:33:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd get started writing yesterday but, well, life intervened. And I think it was best that it did. Because this morning, as I packed lunch for number two and made toast for number one, THE SONG came on. The Song that will shape the playlist to which I'll write this book.

And then I had the location.

And then I had her name.

And his. And the other his's name, too.

Just like that.

Voila.

--M

New Release!

2006-05-20T08:08:00.000-07:00

A Perfect Fit!

Part of the
Cinco De My Oh My! AmberPax

Audrey and Joel have been study partners for a year, but when Audrey spies Joel dancing in a local all-male revue, she learns a whole lot about human sexuality never covered in class.

Joel knows he's got a reputation as a superstud, but he wants to do more than just study Audrey's curves.

Study buddies becoming more than friends? Maybe, if only Audrey can admit that in Joel she's found a perfect fit.

Saturday Greetings

2006-05-20T07:53:00.000-07:00

Closing in on the home stretch in Sword and Crown - I'm in the middle of a sex scene that is so far eight pages long and it's only just starting. I know, it's a novella and I usually keep things a bit shorter than a 20 page sex scene but this one is big and important and it may just end up being 20 pages long after all, LOL.

Oh, guilty pleasure admission three hundred and twelve - I watched the "Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search" show on CMT. It's horrifying and fascinating. It ended last week. I'd still not go into a CU bar or anything but I'll admit that dancing on a bar isn't as easy as it looks, even when you shake your boobs. Or maybe especially when you do because I'm a good dancer but not coordinated enough to avoid bottles, glasses, people's hands and still not fall off the bar.

But why do people refer to grown women in these kinds of contests as "girls?" You see it in beauty contests and in model search stuff too. It bugs me. The language de-womanizes them. And okay, so there was all this talk about how "Coyote Girls" were "real women" which bugged me a lot. Not that you can't be sexy and be a woman, you certainly can! And not that you're bad for wanting to work at CU or anything. But infantalizing women with language and then saying that is womanly? That jumps on my last nerve. Truthfully, the women, especially the ones in the last group, were smart and hardworking and pretty damned talented - especially the one that won.

The show ended up in New Orleans, the finale would take place at the grand re-opening of the bar there. Seeing New Orleans so normal in one area and still totally devastated elsewhere just breaks my heart. I'm glad to see normalcy returning in dribs and drabs but I wish it got more attention. It's such a magical place.

I think they should have RT in NOLA.

I got several really wonderful notes from readers this last week and I just want to say how much it means when someone takes time out of their day to write me or to post at my loop or come to a chat. It's really touching and I appreciate it so much. So thank you, all of you.

OH! TOMORROW'S BOOKSIGNING IS CANCELLED DUE TO SOME DISTRUBUTION ISSUES. CHARLENE TEGLIA AND I WILL RESCHEDULE FOR LATER IN THE SUMMER/EARLY FALL

baby's gone to bed

2006-05-18T20:27:00.000-07:00

It's official.

11:28 pm EST, May 18, 2006. Precious and Fragile Things has been submitted to my agent for forwarding on to the editor.

Aw, yeah, I put that baby to BED.

Thank god.

--M

Hump Day Hello!

2006-05-17T13:05:00.000-07:00

I feel accomplished today. I finished the big edits for GC last night and got them to my editor and then I turned back to Sword and Crown and got some really good work in on it as well. In fact, I plotted out the big scene where Rhea finally lets Jax back into her heart. I can't wait to write it. I have about four thousand words or so until I get there. So by the weekend I'll be ready for it.

I also got out the May issue of Vixenwriter earlier today and put up an excerpt of Sudden Desire up at my myspace and LJ page. I don't do excerpts here because there's no way to put the text behind a cut which is annoying. But it's free and we can't have everything in life can we.

Washingtonians! I'm doing a booksiging with the marvelous Charlene Teglia this Sunday, May 21 from 1 - 3 at the Waldenbooks at the Kitsap Mall in Silverdale. I'd love to meet those of you I haven't yet and say hello to those I've been lucky enough to meet before.

I'm chatting tomorrow at Novel Talk with my fellow sisters in trouble, Megan Hart and Anya Bast - also known as the Maverick Authors. 6 pm pacific/9 eastern. Come on out. Our chats are always fun. And usually sort of on the verge of chaos. But we give prizes out.

Babbling about Writing Process

2006-05-16T06:14:00.000-07:00

WBTSOYP = writing by the seat of your pants. It means sitting down and just writing, no plotting involved. I'm not advocating WBTSOYP over plotting or vice-versa in this post. Everyone has their own process and every writer has to use the process that works best for him or her.

I started out a "pantser," but it didn't work that well for me. I'd get a scene in my head and work out from there. The problem was that I would get stuck sometimes, bogged down in places where I'd written myself into a corner. Or my characters started out half-baked and I would have to go back and revise significantly. The pantser books I started out with -- Raven's Quest was one -- turned out fine...after lots of revising and rewriting.

Eventually I worked myself into a pattern of plotting because of this, but leaving space to move a little. That's how I do it now. I write the synopsis before I start the book, flesh out the middle (the hardest part of the book to keep momentum for me) and *definitely* figure out the end.

Pantsers say that they can't write the book after they've written the synopsis because they feel like they're done, the story has already been told and there's no excitement left in it, no discovery. But I don't feel that way. Writing the novel after I write the synopsis means I get to watch the story unfold. It's kind of like the synopsis is the trailer and the novel is the movie. I might pretty much know the story after I've seen the trailer, but I still want to see the movie.

Usually my story ideas start with a character. There's some type of personality I want to write, or I want to write about a person in a certain situation. I figure out how I want him or her to grow and change throughout the story and the plot develops from there. For example, with Water Crystal it started with Angelo. I wanted to write about a man who worked for the bad guy and was loyal to his employer until he became disillusioned. Bianca has her own journey and also grows and develops from page one to the end, but it was mostly Angelo's story.

Anyway, I'm just thinking and babbling about this (with really no specific point in mind) because I fleshed out the synopsis for my next EC book yesterday and then plunged right in and wrote 4k. Today I'm here at the day job, but I'm dying to be at home writing. I'm really wanting to tell this story. Good thing I'm only here three days a week. By Thursday I'll be full-speed. (Only half speed until then.)

Home stretch

2006-05-15T13:12:00.000-07:00

Holy Mother of Pearl.

This is it, people. I'm in the home stretch. And...I think...I have fixed it. The book was making my stomach sick but I think I've repaired it.

Have I mentioned that my friends KICK ASS? Because they do. Unless they are blowing sunshine up my skirt, in which case, the demons of the netherworld will be gnawing their pink places...

But my friends, honestly, are really, really grand. Thanks in particularly especially to Lauren Dane and Natalie Damschroder who read my dreck and gave me comments that helped turn Precious and Fragile Things into a much, much better book.

And now, I am back to the final stage of edits. Joe's got backstory. Sadie's not so mean. All is right in my head.

Oh, and I'm still number one!

--M

Happy Mother's Day and Other Assorted Stuff!

2006-05-14T16:06:00.000-07:00

I got to sleep in this morning and yesterday (8:30 today and 8 yesterday which seems so early but to me, these days, is a luxury). It's gorgeous outside and I wander downstairs to find chocolates, pretty undies (I lurve me some pretty panties, I'm a lingerie whore), hand made cards from each kiddo and Burt's Bees lip gloss (and uh, I'm a lip gloss whore too. Simple pleasures, that's me). Last night I got an ice cream cake. A Ben and Jerry's ice cream cake with Phish Food on one layer and vanilla on the other in a bed of crushed chocolate cookies, with chocolate ganache on top. I'm a lucky woman.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you out there reading!

I went to dinner last night with some friends and had an absolutely lovely time. We talked about writing and moving and crazy people. I also came to the conclusion that we need to have a Seattle area writerly gathering like once a month. Just meet for dinner and talk about writing. I'm going to think about it a bit and try and plan something so keep your eye out for my announcement.

I'm still editing. Revising really. But I'm liking my heroine even more this round. Fleshing her out a bit. Making her stronger and more three dimensional. Then I need to finish Sword and Crown. And then hopefully my edits for Vengeance Due will be here and I can get them finished and get a release date. And then? I don't know just yet. I have several projects I need to finish so I'll choose when I get on the other side of all this stuff that needs to be done ASAP.

I'm off, I think I want to take the kiddos on a nice walk in the gorgeous sunshine. Have a great day!

New Voice Spotlight!

2006-05-10T10:20:00.000-07:00

Well hey now, I'm a New Voice. Not so new, but I suppose in the big scheme of things I am relatively speaking new to writing. Tomorrow it'll be one year since the publication of Triad. Sniffle.

Writerly Reflections

2006-05-08T14:47:00.000-07:00

This weekend I wrote ten thousand words. I'm pretty excited by that, it's the most I've written in two weeks. The stress freeze of the whole agent pitch is like background noise now. But I started work on the follow up book to the romantic suspense one that's coming out next month from Samhain. I realized as I looked at it how far I'd come since I wrote it in late 2004/early last year. And I also thought, "fuck, if I try to edit around this it'll take me even longer than if I just pick up the threads and write it from scratch." That and I didn't so much like the heroine as I'd written her. I wanted her to be stronger.

Anyway, I got my first round of edits on Giving Chase back today. And I wrote that right around the time I wrote Triad. I'll get back to that in a moment.

Technically, my writing has really improved. And I owe that in large part to my first edits with Ellora's Cave. Now I usually do one round and a bit of follow up with word choice or small stuff. It's like 20% of what I went through with Triad. Because I can put sentences and dialog together better. My chief crime, the comma splice is almost totally gone. I think about how I'm going to give information to the reader so I don't vomit up backstory and drown the reader.

With Wolf, I tore it apart and spent so much time revising it I felt bloody at the end. It's really a different book than it was six months ago. It's better because I put so much fucking time into it. And I cut things I loved with a ruthless hand because they were unnecessary. But I'd rather write cleaner the first time out. The second book that comes after Wolf is a better book because I wrote it four months after I wrote Wolf. Just that time made the difference.

These are things I have learned through editing and writing a lot. I could not have learned this stuff from a book or a workshop. That's not how I learn. I have to do it instead of see it. Although I will say having really excellent crit helps immensely. And it becomes just one more reason why I'm glad I got my start in epublishing because I had an editor who went through nine rounds of edits with me (no shit) and now we do two. She believed in me and damn if that didn't force me to be a better writer. Now I was able to send a book to NY that was worthy because I was better prepared and let's face it, a better writer than I was a year ago.

So back to Giving Chase, which is why I had this mini ephiphany - I have SO much work to do on the damned thing because I wrote it before I learned most of this stuff.

I doubt I'll be trying to resurrect old books. Instead I'll just use the first draft as an outline and write from scratch. It's really a better use of my time I think.

NUMBER ONE IS FUN

2006-05-05T11:03:00.000-07:00

All right, so it's no secret I've been trying to hit number one on the Fictionwise Erotica Best Seller list. I made it to number two, so far, thanks to all of you fabulous folks!

Well, according to the FW website, I'm still only number two.

However, searching around the 'net, look what I found:

Filament Books, where, YES, I am number one.

And HERE, I am also number ONE!!!!

So, it seems that Filament and Wildside are...Fictionwise? Wonder how that works? All's I know is, I'm number one.

Maybe FW just hasn't updated its site yet?

Anyway! CONTEST!!!

If you can read this, you can enter. To celebrate my fantabulous topping the best seller chart (next...the New York Times Bestseller list, it can only be a matter of time), I'm going to give away a GROOVY, FUN and FABULOUS gift package!

What's in it? Oh, some autographed copies of my books, various and sundry beauty products, fun stuff like pens and candy and whatnot...and whatever else I put my hands on when I open up my prize cabinet.

All you have to do to enter is: send and email with "MEGAN HART IS NUMBER ONE" in the subject to: authorm AT meganhart.com. The contest will be over May 31 and I'll draw a name then for the grand prize gift basket. I'll draw another name to win an autographed book, too, so there will be a second prize!

Please include your mailing address so I know where to send your package. If you want to be added to my mailing list, please add YES, and you'll be added. No YES, no add, no spam from me. Also, no fun, spontaneous mailings of presents in the mail, but hey, that's up to you!

And yes, this means I'm having TWO contests this month, the NUMBER ONE contest and my regular contest (which you can always find out about by visiting: My News Page.

Thanks everyone! I seriously couldn't be number anything without you all.

--M

PS-- I want to stay up there, so pimp me out!

Friday Blog O Rama!

2006-05-05T08:31:00.000-07:00

So Stella Cameron sort of talks about the difference between erotica and literary porn at the Running With Quills blog. It is my general impression that she's knocking erotica/romantica but I'm not entirely sure and I read the darned thing three times. It sort of meanders.

But this paragraph is what gives me the perception - "And I’ll stoutly announce that while one story of pornography/erotica (Why don’t we drop “erotica” which is meant to soften the idea of pornography? Be proud of whatever skill you practice.)–anyway, I’ll argue that there will always be different levels of brilliance in any art form, but an ass is an ass . . . isn’t it?"

Uh, why don't I call my books something they aren't because you think I write porn? I am proud of the skills I practice. But creating porn isn't one of them.

As to the point of the entry, I could totally be misreading it, but I enjoy the discussion, the thinking over this stuff, nonetheless.

BUT, the comments are definitely interesting and worth a read. I know I've talked about this before (several times). But I suppose it sort of ties in with the review stuff - it's in the eye of the reader. To me, the difference between erotica and porn is quite obvious (although I have no beef with porn other than most of it being stupid, plotless and poorly made (Comstock Films being the BIG exception, their films are marvelous).

Anyway, I must say that I love Elizabeth Lowell now even more than I did before, which is hard to do because I think she's fabulous.

Oh! The new Pearl Jam is so excellent I've just been listening to it over and over and over. Seriously, now I do love this band with all my little fangirl heart but this record is the best since No Code. As a unit, everything comes together so well. I can't wait to see them live again (July 22nd, wooo!)

And the new Tool is amazing as well. Even better through headphones (as Tool always is, you miss so much through your stereo speakers). It hasn't been since Sleater Kinney's, The Woods came out that I've been so excited about new music.

I'm annoyed with Top Chef for their last cut. I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it but man, they sent the wrong person home.

I took my middle child to get kindergarten registration paperwork yesterday. All this time I've been so excited about this but I did have a bittersweet moment when I realized that he was nearly five and it felt like I just gave birth to him last week. He's so grown up. And then I got over it and thought, "Woo! Only three more years until she's ready!" because I'm mother of the year, people.

I bought hello kitty tennis shoes for my daughter yesterday too. Because I can! (bwah!). I waited through the Star Wars and Spider Man and now I finally get to Hello Kitty and I'm going to let myself wallow in it, because I can only take so much gummy worm action and booger humor.

Now Available!

2006-05-03T07:07:00.000-07:00

Seduced in Twilight is now available at Ellora's Cave!

Seduced in Twilight By Anya Bast

Olivia thinks she's finally gone off the deep end. Ghosts wake her up in the night and she sees monsters during the day. Just when she can't take it anymore, she meets two gorgeous men who claim to be immortals.

Then her life gets really strange.

Will is a powerful Tylwyth Teg fae. Mason is a half-breed drac shifter with a bad attitude. Together they form a Gaelan partnership, warriors in the centuries-old battle against the goblins. Both alpha males claim Olivia and, though conflicted, Olivia craves them both in equal measure. United in their conquest, Will and Mason throw open the doors to Olivia's repressed sexuality and show her the rich possibility of having two skilled and dominant lovers whose sole focus is her.

But mere mind-blowing sex isn't enough. Will and Mason must convince her that she's gifted, not cursed. They must also seduce her into their lives and to their love...as a partner to both of them.

~*~

Water Crystal is this week's spotlighted book!

Water Crystal By Anya Bast

Earth in 2075 is a place of chaos and struggle because the planet's water has been poisoned. Together, in a world thirsting for drinkable water, Angelo and Bianca make fire.

When Bianca Robinson steals a special crystal, Angelo, a Guardian of the Order, tracks down and arrests the thief. However, Angelo suspects that Bianca isn't a criminal, but merely a woman ready to do anything to right a wrong.

Bianca has grown jaded in her fight for survival, but every brush of Angelo's hand on her body breaks down her barriers. He alone seems to have enough heat to melt the coldness within her. He makes her want a man's touch for the first time in many years and awakens every carnal and dark erotic yearning within her.

Angelo knows that Bianca is forbidden to him, but she tempts him like no other woman. She inspires him to act out every one of his sensual desires. Angelo will break every rule in order to have her...and to keep her.

Enforcer Receives Five Angels and an RR from FAR!!

2006-04-29T12:55:00.000-07:00

I just received notice of this marvelous review at FAR from Serena today!

She says in part: "I was blown away by the world that Lauren Dane created in Cascadia Wolves: Enforcer. The characters, the hierarchy of The Pack, and the intricacy of the world itself was amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Nina Reyes was the perfect mix of moxy and insecurity. Lex Warden was absolutely too yummy to believe. He was willing to do whatever he could to ensure her happiness. `Watching' these two interact was fun and Ms. Dane's phrasing made me laugh out loud a few times. I cannot wait until the next book in her series comes out. I gladly give Cascadia Wolves: Enforcer a Recommended Read rating and two thumbs up to Ms. Dane for a fantastic book."

Thank you so much, Serena!

Help me topple Tilly!

2006-04-28T06:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, so you know my short story After Class is number two at the Fictionwise Best Sellers in Erotica list

Tilly Greene's Come Sweet Creature is still number one! (Yay, Tilly, but I'm hot on your heels!)

Help me topple Tilly, won't you?

Remember the story is only a DOLLAR. A buck for a f--um...FUN TIME, that's right. One dollar, a greenback, one hundred pennies, four quarters.

Don't forget, if I hit number one I'll be having a big contest with a bunch of fun prizes!

--M

Cover and WIP Progress!

2006-04-27T17:12:00.000-07:00

Lookie here! I just got my cover for Tri Mates this morning. I'm thrilled! It's gorgeous and fits nicely with the Enforcer cover but it's still unique (check the wolf in the background).

And onto other things:

Okay, got my work done from earlier today and send the manuscript formerly known as Witches Knot to my editor at EC. I hope she likes it. There's a bit of time between when I first wrote it and now. It's changed a bit.

I wrote it first last year. But she said it wasn't romance enough. So I put it aside. I pitched it to my now agent who was lukewarm and brought up some of the same things my editor brought up in addition to the fact that the book is so tied into the Charvez Universe that it would be nearly impossible to make it standalone. And hey, if two people whose opinions you respect say the same thing, you have to listen.

Sigh. So I put it aside and finished up several other projects and went back to it. I streamlined it a bit (too many characters) and adjusted the scenes a bit (I already changed some timeline stuff a while back). I did not take the focus from Holly and her struggle. I think it's important and she's the heart of the book. It is a romance. But it's more than that too and I hope my editor thinks the changes I've made are what she was looking for. I love this book. I want my readers to meet Holly (and Rhett and Lucas too) After this one, I think I'm nearly done with the Charvez witches (not in an ancillary way though, I'm doing a Fae series and a series about the hunters that we meet in Vengeance Due). I want to end with a final book about Lee, Alex and Aidan - Alex has some choices to make.

Tonight it's back to Goddess With A Blade. I want to polish it up and then do a proposal for it. Oh and then on to Sword and Crown which is due June 1. And THEN back to Threat of Darkness and Jayce's story. Oh, and then back to Taking Chase for Samhain. Whoo, I need a hobby (I almost said chubby, god, my mind!)

New Cover Squee!

2006-04-26T13:49:00.000-07:00

I got my cover for Giving Chase! I love it. Nice and sensual and my Kyle has a goatee and thank you, Scott for finding a cover shot with a man who has one!

Giving Chase is a contemporary romantic suspense that'll be releasing at Samhain on June 27. I love getting covers! Scott did my cover for Second Chances, too (another cover I love).

And on a totally 'nother topic, why the hell does Tom Cruise wear that leather jacket everywhere? I mean, he wears it to every interview, every press conference. I don't get it. It's not even that attractive of a jacket to begin with. Is he trying to look young and hip? If so, *BUZZZZ* you lose, Tom. You just look like a tool.

I'm reading an anthology, or I was, I think I'm done now, and it makes me think about what a friend said to me about novellas the other day - she said the ending of Sleight of Hand seemed rushed compared to my other books. Of course my other books range from 70 to 100K words and SOH was 23K or so. I love writing novellas, they're fun and as a reader, you have to approach them knowing they're not going to have the same level of detail you get with 70K words. But still, there has to be some level of detail, especially if you write a suspense plot. It's an art I think, writing very short. Some authors kick butt at it like MaryJanice Davidson and Megan Hart. Other authors? Eh, not so much.

Tuesday Blather

2006-04-25T11:37:00.000-07:00

Some days there isn't enough caffeine in the world. Still, I keep on trucking here with my lovely cup of chai. I was told at Starbucks the other day that Tazo wasn't going to make decaf chai anymore. This is seriously disturbing to me. I drink at least four cups and usually six, of chai every day. If these folks knew what I was like with too much caffeine in my body, they'd make decaf just for me.

I saw my cover for Giving Chase this morning. Hee! Scott Carpenter is amazing and I'm thrilled with it. I'll put it up when I get the official okay to do so. They nailed Maggie. Kyle looks a bit young but he has a goatee. Thank you, Scott, for finding such an awesome picture and making sure Kyle had his goatee (I do so love men with facial hair).

Oh! Sudden Desire releases on June 9. Just heard yesterday. I'm quite happy.

I'm actually going to join the RWA at the end of this week. I know, I know. But you know, change from the inside and all that? And I've heard encouraging news about the revamping of the RITAs and the GH so this is good. I suppose being a voice inside is something useful. And many people I quite like are members. We'll see.

Oh! I got a 4 star review for A Touch of Fae from RT Magazine: "The leads are well developed and come alive in this fast-paced novel. Be forewarned: The explicit sexual encounters are hot, hot, hot!" No complaints about this one!

They also said of Second Chances: "An emotional story, clever dialogue and sizzling sex make this an enjoyable story." Overall, it was a good review but they said it was "heavy" BDSM and I disagree. It's certainly moderate but not by any means heavy. I'd quite like a heavy BDSM book given the right storyline, I just didn't write one. Plus, it spoils the ending. Still, I'm not really complaining, like I said, it was a good review overall (I'm just spoiled with all the stellar 5 star reviews for it, LOL)

I finally came up with a title for a book that used to be called Witches Knot but then I named the series that and had to rename the book (book four in the series). I'm not going to say what it is though, LOL, because now I'm supersitious about it. After it's contracted I'll tell you.

Wheeee!

2006-04-25T08:49:00.000-07:00

I just found out that Water Crystal finaled in Romance Writer's Ink's More Than Magic contest!

Big congrats to fellow EC author Roxi Romano, who also finaled with Fantasies R Us!

Reading & Writing

2006-04-25T05:11:00.000-07:00

I've always been a voracious reader. When I was a child my mom used to bring me to the library and I would pick out (literally) stacks of books to take home. I would never leave any of them unread. I carried the habit into adulthood, although my time to read is more limited now because I'm writing.

I realized this morning that, while I do read in the genre I write in, I go through these huge, long spurts of reading fantasy, horror and general fiction. I guess maybe it's because when I'm reading romance I sort feel like I'm working, like I should be really paying attention in reference to my own writing. It prevents me from just relaxing and enjoying the story. Reading outside my genre is like taking a vacation.

If you're a writer, do you read outside the genre you write in? If you're not a writer, what genres do you usually favor? Do you go through spurts reading one genre over another?

Just wondering.

Fictionwise!

2006-04-21T20:48:00.000-07:00

WOW!

My super short story, After Class, is now available at: Fictionwise!

Right now, it's #3 on their best seller list...I sure wouldn't mind if it went to #1.

C'mon, folks, it's only 1.00...or .85 if you are a member of the FW club.

A buck for a smoking hot little read? How can you pass that up?

All the cool kids are doing it!

Besides, it'll be the best 20 minutes you've spent in a looooooong time....

--M

CASCADIA WOLVES: ENFORCER is out now!

2006-04-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

Nina Reyes is a just barely reformed grifter who has left her past and her criminal record behind. That is until her brother shows up on her doorstep with some rogue werewolves out to kill him.

Nina gets further drawn into the web of intrigue when Lex Warden, Cascadia Pack's Enforcer, comes to her for help and she ends up needing his protection.

There are missing viral agents, the werewolf mafia, death threats, arson and a whole lot of scorching sex and acerbic wit between them.

Welcome to the Northwest and Cascadia Pack.

Partaaay!

2006-04-18T07:57:00.000-07:00

Anya and I are rocking the Cave today! Please come and join us!

Writing Sex

2006-04-15T14:46:00.000-07:00

I've heard the opinion often enough that what we write is porn or nothing more than sex scenes strung togehter one after the other for no logical reason.

Writing sex is hard, er, difficult. It's not a matter of sitting down and typing the same intercourse scene over and over. Although I have read those books and they bore me to tears. Writing a good sex scene, one that the reader has to stop at the end of because she's tingly and a bit out of breath, is much more difficult than most other things about writing. Because sex in a book should have a purpose.

Now, sometimes that purpose is to get your heroine off. And that's okay. But the best thing about a sex scene is that sex is rife with opportunity for depth of emotion. You can have major breakthroughs for your character, big emotions communicated without a single word spoken, deep insight into the main character - a good sex scene will leave you more than tingly, it'll communicate something to you.

There's a scene in Emma Holly's, Personal Assets that is probably one of my top five favorite sex scenes ever written. Bea, the heroine of sorts, is under David's desk and someone is in his office so she has to be quiet. Okay, so you know what happens next, that's obvious of course. But Holly takes the office sex cliche (and I'm going to write about cliches later in the week) and puts a twist on it.

With David's cock in her mouth, we see how much Bea yearns for this man who appears unobtainable to her. Her yearning for him is so huge that it takes your breath away as you read. And we're in David's head and we can see how tempted he is but also how conflicted as well.

All in all, I think the depth of yearning by both characters against the backdrop of this scene where neither can speak of it for a whole host of reasons is a great example of writing good sex.

What about you all? What are some of your favorite scenes and why?

WOW! New Review!!

2006-04-14T06:57:00.000-07:00

"Five moons...The story of Keane and Marrin is told chronologically from present to past and back again to the present. The reader sees scenes from their life together, starting with the love that has grown over time, to its inception. This unusual depiction is absolutely perfect. Their story is simply beautiful, and Ms. Hart tells it without embellishment. Each vignette portrays events that happen in every day life. And yet, each vignette demonstrates a strength of character in both Keane and Marrin that intensifies their love for each other, and causes the reader to fall in love with them as well.

The true measure of an author lies in her ability to evoke emotion in her readers. Any book that can touch a reader deeply enough to elicit laughter or tears is one in which the author has proven her ability beyond any shadow of a doubt. Megan Hart is one such a talented author; I was moved to tears by this extraordinary tale.

However, not only is Ms. Hart an exceptional author, she has mastered her genre as well. While the goal of an author in general is inducing emotion, the true measure of a romance author is her ability to evoke emotion without sacrificing eroticism. Again, Ms. Hart has not only confirmed her flair for her craft with this story, she has raised the bar with her gift for harmonizing love with take-me-now lust. Desire consistently complemented Keane and Marrin’s feelings for each other, both when deeper emotions were newly burgeoning and when their devotion was already established. The combination of lust and love they shared produced hot, erotic scenes that not only aroused, but tugged at the reader’s heart.

AMIDST A CROWD OF STARS is the truly moving story of a couple who risk everything for a love that transcends racial differences and social prejudices. Have a box of tissues handy." -- Erin Brown for Mystique Books

BUY HERE

Wow. Triad Wins Romance of the Year from Ecata

2006-04-11T13:59:00.000-07:00

AND THE WINNER IS...

Winners of the Prestigious Ecataromance.com Ebook of the Year awards have been announced

Hiram, Ga - April 10, 2006 Ecataromance.com is thrilled to announce the winners of their prestigious Ebook of the Year contest for 2005. The competition this year was tough. Votes were plenty. And the selection of ebooks was fabulous. But only one book could win the title of best Romance Ebook of 2005. And the winner is:

Triad by Lauren Dane (published by Ellora's Cave)

About the Book: Lee Charvez is a witch in a family where all of the women are born with inherent gifts of power. She is a witch dreamer, she has the ability to walk in dreams and the subconscious and to work magic there. There is only one Charvez witch dreamer each generation and she's the strongest in generations.

She meets the man of her dreams, literally, when she bumps into Aidan Bell outside their apartment building in New Orleans. He's a three-hundred-year-old vampire with the face of a wicked angel, and he has no problem with claiming her as his own. As if that isn't miraculous enough there's another man, a powerful wizard, Alex Carter, who makes their partnership into a triad. Problem is, there's no time to sit back and enjoy her newfound loves because there's a demon out to destroy the source of her powers, and her entire family in the bargain.

Visit Lauren online at: http://www.laurendane.com/

Visit Ellora's Cave and buy Triad today: http://cataurl.com/JdiVq

Visit Ecataromance.com today for a complete list of winners by subgenre. Http://www.Ecataromance.com

Ecataromance.com is the premier Internet community for lovers of romance ebooks. Established in early 2004, Ecataromance.com has just celebrated it's second birthday and we're excited to be able to give readers a place to congregate and meet their favorite authors. We offer a large database of reviews, interviews, excerpts, author profiles, contests and other features of interest to ebook readers.

For more information visit: http://www.Ecataromance.com

Precious and Fragile Things

2006-04-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

As of one minute ago, I have typed the final sentence in Precious and Fragile Things. I'm done. In just a teeny bit over two months, I've written 85310 words.

I'm done, but far from finished. The book, of course, needs extensive editing. I like this part, knitting together my incoherent thoughts and making them fit. I like going back to where I was in the beginning and fixing it all up real purty, like. Adding in the parts that need to strenghthen the story and cutting the stuff that doesn't.

I like doing all that work, though I HATE adding it into the computer, line by line, sometimes letter by letter. In the end, though, it's worth it. And right now, I feel pretty good about this book. I feel like I know who this woman is, and what she wants and what she needs. She's imperfect, but grows and changes. The book's sexy, a little bit sad, and touches on issues of self-worth and self-esteem, and what people look for in life and love.

It's not a romance, not exactly, but it's about relationships.

I only hope I've pulled it off. All I know is, that when your sex scene makes you feel like pouncing your husband and your death scene makes you sob, either you're hitting the nail just right, or you're just so much in love with yourself there's no hope for you.

Dang, I hope it's the nail thing.

Ooh, there's a girl in a very cute outfit walking by. It's just like something I'd wear, a cute little t-shirt and a short denim skirt. YAY! SPRING IS HERE!!!!!!!

Spring is here, Passover starts tomorrow which means cooking and superduper cleaning, BUT BUT BUT I have finished writing my book, my....

SEVENTEENTH completed novel!!!!!!

Seventeen completed novels. One unfinished novel at 2/3 completion, one at 1/3 completion. FOUR anthologies of short fiction. Two unreleased novellas and one unreleased short story, all three due out this year.

Am I missing something?

Dang.

Precious and Fragile Things is my 17th completed novel.

If all goes well, it will be my eleventh published novel, my fourteenth published full-length book if I count the anthologies.

And I still don't feel like I have a freaking clue about what I'm doing. Not one. *flails*

Excuse me while I gnaw my nails in a frenzy of self-doubt for fifteen minutes before I dive into the first read through of this monstrosity I had the audacity to call a novel.

Catch ya when I'm on the upside, ya'll...

M

thunk

2006-04-09T16:17:00.000-07:00

Wolf

100,000 / 95,000
(105.3%)

Originally, I had 88,000. After the second major revision, I had 92K but thought it would end up at about 95 thousand. I just finished the last one and I broke 100K. Still the same book, the same major storyline and theme. Just more intensity between the characters, oh and some more secks, LOL

Holy moley, I wrote a hundred thousand words. *falls over* I need to be done with this book for a while. I still love it and the characters but I have now crossed most officially into, "please don't make me open that file again."

I need to write something now. Well, not right this moment, my brain is mush at this particular moment, but tonight when I sit down to write, I'll open up Threat of Darkness and work toward finishing it. And then Sword and Crown and then back to Taking Chase. In between all of that, I'm hoping to get edits for Giving Chase and Vengeance Due as well.

D'ja All Know I Wrote This?

2006-04-07T05:57:00.000-07:00

Raven's Quest, by my alter ego Joanna King

OMG! I did! Don't look at the Amazon.com ranking. *goes to hide under my desk*

An Early Review of Enforcer!

2006-04-06T16:51:00.000-07:00

Angel at Romance Junkies was kind enough to send me an early look at an as of yet to be published review of Enforcer. I LOVE to open my inbox and see stuff like this!

She gives it 4 1/2 ribbons and says in part:

ENFORCER is a fantastic story that readers will find hard to put down once they start it. Lex is dangerous with an intense sensuality that will make your heart stop. Nina is one tough lady who is not intimidated by Lex and his alpha attitude. This couple is a perfect match in every way and their sparks are constant both in and out of the bedroom. Love scenes are wonderfully sensual and the heat is enough to make you turn up the air. Lauren Dane knows how to weave a tale of adventure and romance that takes the reader on an emotional journey. I cant wait to see whats in store for the next book in the CASCADIA WOLVES series.

Winner #1

2006-04-06T16:22:00.000-07:00

of the Viva Las Vegas shiny shiny contest is...

Jennybrat!

Congrats, Jenny! Send me your snail mail addy to laurendane @ laurendane. com (no spaces) and I'll get it out your way.

A peek into the process

2006-04-05T07:51:00.000-07:00

Dave's been asking me to read Dirty for awhile, and I wasn't sure I had a printed copy to give him. Since the book's about 400 manuscript pages, I didn't want to have to print out a new copy, but last night I found the binder where I kept the one I already had.

This is what I do when I'm writing. I write, usually on my Alfie. I print as I write, each section. In the event of a computer crash, I'd at least have the printout. I put the pages in a three ring binder. Then, when it's time to edit, I already have a printed copy to work from.

Usually it's printed on the backs of other things. Sometimes in single, sometimes double spacing. Different sizes of fonts, different paper. It's a hodge-podge. But in the end, I have a printed copy to edit.

What I do if I need to "cut and paste" is tear the papers or rearrange the order. I also, using a colored pen, go through and make my corrections. At the end of this process, I not only have all the additional comments and fixed up things, but also pieces of the story that were out of place when written are no in place.

So I go back to the computer and input all those edits. This is a tedious, long, long process. Which I dislike. A lot. I love the editing part -- just not the inputting.

Then I print it all again. Go through it again. Then back to the computer to add the additional material.

What's interesting is viewing the differences between the first, rough draft printed copy and the second draft printed copy. I put them in the same binder. I save them all. Why? Oh, who knows. Maybe they'll be worth something. :)

What I found about Dirty was this:

The first version had nothing in it about Gavin, the teenage neighbor. The brother, Chad, was barely mentioned until toward the very end when he suddenly appeared like he'd been there all along, because when writing it, by the end I knew I was going to add him in.

So it's like Dirty was two different books. One about Elle and Dan. One about Elle and Gavin and Chad. And I just worked them together to become one! Which is how it ended up.

Something similar is happening with Cheater, aka Precious and Fragile Things...all of a sudden, three quarters of the way to the end, Katie the friend shows up.

Of course she needs to be there in the beginning, too. :) She'll get there in the edits.

--M

And still more Vegas

2006-04-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

VEGAS, VEGAS AND MORE VEGAS

Scroll all the way to the bottom to see the two random, very, very drunk guys. The one on the left fancied himself a Joaquin Phoenix clone. The one on the right later became the ananaconda swallowing a cow as he engulfed a woman's head with his mouth.

COLD SORES, people. Doesn't anyone THINK these days!?

M

Did Someone Say Newsletter?

2006-04-02T13:50:00.000-07:00

Why yes, they did! The Maverick Authors are starting a newsletter!

We'll be ready to go on April 10 so if you want the chance to win some swag and read stuff about the three of us, head on over and subscribe before April 9.

Swag you say? What sort of swag? Well Bob - there'll be three lucky winners who'll receive one of three prizes: the download of their choice from Lauren Dane's available titles, a copy of Tales From the Temple III featuring a story by the lovely Anya Bast and a signed copy of Driven by the ever so wunnerful Megan Hart.

Cool huh?

We'll never send you anything but our newsletter either.

So go, sign up!

Enforcer Release Date!

2006-04-01T09:57:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite cover of all my books! And as it happens, this is the first book in my werewolf series, Cascadia Wolves: Enforcer and it's releasing from Ellora's Cave on April 19!

Heres a blurb: Nina Reyes is a just barely reformed grifter who has left her past and her criminal record behind. That is until her brother shows up on her doorstep with some rogue werewolves out to kill him.

Nina gets drawn into the web of intrigue further when Lex Warden, Cascadia Pack’s Enforcer, comes to her for help and she ends up needing his protection.

There are missing viral agents, the werewolf mafia, death threats, arson and a whole lot of scorching sex and acerbic wit between them.

Welcome to the Northwest and Casadia Pack.

There's an excerpt up at my webpage if you'd like a sneaky peek! And I'll be hosting a List Mom day with Anya on April 18 at the EC Readerchat to celebrate so join us!

BTW, I'm having a contest to celebrate so head on over to my website to see the details!

Stuff and Junk and Stuff

2006-03-30T11:04:00.000-08:00

Curious about the submissions process with Samhain? Angie James, the EIC (and my editor) has a very detailed entry about it over at Romance Divas. Check it out!

I've got a contest up to celebrate the release date for Cascadia Wolves: Enforcer on my contest page! Check it out! I've also put up an excerpt so if you'd like a sneak peek, take one, I won't tell.

Anya and I are pooling our Vegas Swag and holding a contest that will run over the next four weeks. Each week, we'll choose someone at random from the comments here and at our reader loop and the winner will receive a fun little shiny from Las Vegas!

It's easy to enter - just chat us up! Here and there and we'll draw a winner weekly. Simple.

Now get talking!

The Mavericks and I will be hosting a chat tonight at Novel Talk at 6 pm pacific/9 eastern. Come by to hang out and possibly win something. Oh and here's a pic of us outside Studio 54 on St. Paddy's day -

This was taken by a very drunk investment banker who insisted he looked like a "young Mel Gibson." He had pretty eyes but that's where the comparison ended. He was thrilled to find out what we wrote though, LOL. And he started tossing out euphamisms.

Drunk Investment Banker Guy = "So, do you say succulent nipples?"
LD - "No."
MH - "laughs"
DIBG - "What about when they're wet! Come on, when they're wet!"
LD - "No. I'd never say that. I'd say baked chicken was succulent."

Megan cracked me up, she even convinced DIBG and his even drunker friend to pose for a picture and DIBG (who was very nice by the way) grabbed his friend's package and the other guy didn't blink. Ah, good times. Later, really drunk friend was seen to be crawling into the mouth of a woman who'd approached him to dance a minute before. Megan was horrified and wondered about cold sores for the rest of the trip, LOL. And I realize that last sentence makes it sound like Megan was involved in the kissing, not so! We just watched, openmouthed. I won't even talk about the guy in his sixties pawing the face of a woman in her early 20's. Eww.

But I digress, I'm very random today so be warned. Okay, so I'm random every day.

That's all for now, but I'm sure I'll think of something else later.

Websites

2006-03-29T09:19:00.000-08:00

It seems like everyone and their brother has a website these days. I guess I've got them on the brain because I just spent the morning creating wallpaper with my "logo" and updating my website. It's a sort of tedious process but one I enjoy.

What I'm thinking about, though, is what readers like in an author's website. Links? Contests? News? Personal info? Photo Gallery? FAQ? I have a little bit of each, but am always looking for something new.

If you're an author, what did you feel was important to put on your website?
If you're a reader, what do you look for in an author's website?

--M

OMG! SQUEE!

2006-03-28T16:29:00.000-08:00

I just found out that Triad got a 4 1/2 star review from RT! I'm so thrilled!

The relevant bit is: "Dane may be new on the scene, but she's already written a detailed story that's quite compelling. The characters are strong and the plot stays on point."

Whoo, excited and really relieved. I'm happy dancin!

Of Booksignings & Bugs

2006-03-27T06:13:00.000-08:00

Recap of my mini cross-country booksigning spree.

Elizabethtown, KY is MUCH bigger than they protrayed in that movie. Misrepresentation! We didn't have a problem finding the bookstore, but were amazed the town was as big as it is. The booksigning went well. It consisted of me, Shiloh Walker, Veronica Chadwick and Heather Grothaus.

I know Shi, but it was the first time I'd met Veronica and Heather. Veronica is extremely warm and friendly. I liked her instantly. The same with the lovely and personable Heather. All of us nattered throughout the whole booksigning. Oh, I started reading Heather's book last night and it's GOOD. I used to read historicals all the time, but stopped for some reason. Her book may herald a return. (She has a gorgeous husband, by the way.)

Three of my friends drove down for the signing and bought books. Hee. They raffled off two beautiful gift baskets crammed with books and other goodies and two of my friends won them! I swear it wasn't rigged. I didn't even pull the names.

Then my husband and I drove to Nashville. We chilled out Saturday night, went to dinner and soaked in the hotel spa. Before the signing the next day we met a writerly friend of mine, her husband and her cutie kid for lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. I think her child was *very* impressed with the animatronics and the thunderstorms. The visit was too short, though. I need to spend more time on the next visit.

Authors at the Nashville signing besides me were: Phyllis B. Williams, Lani Aames, Shiloh Walker, Veronica Chadwick and Heather Grothaus. I didn't get to talk very much with Phyllis and Lani, which was a pity.

Connie, a reader, made little gifts for some of the authors! So sweet! If you're reading this, thanks again, Connie!! I love it!!! She has a delightful and attentive husband, too. Lucky girl.

After the signing, my husband and I high-tailed it home and slept like two big fur-covered rocks (the cats, you see). This morning I wake up to find one of my cats playing with a CENTIPEDE in the hallway. *shudder* Okay, I'm not squeamish about bugs. I'm fascinated by spiders and refuse to kill them (I trap them and put them outside). I don't mind snakes. I think they're cool. But centipedes give me the heebies like nobody's business. I pounded that sucker into the floor with a shoe before it could BLLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAARRRRRGGGGG scurry away on all those little legs.

Now I'm freaked out that there could be MORE. If there's one, there must be.....*shudder*....MORE.

Urg.

The Road Here

2006-03-24T10:50:00.000-08:00

I'm working on edits for a book I'm targeting at NY. It's a werewolf book with a romantic suspense plot. This book has been with me for a while. I love this book. It did however, need to be tightened up.

It occurs to me as I'm working on it, just how much my writing has changed and you know, when people say that ebooks won't get you anywhere I have to argue. What epublishing has done for me is make me a better writer. Period.

Each time I go through a round of edits, I get better at my craft. I either learn how to argue for myself in a coherent fashion or I learn how to make the words better and more comprehensible. Each new book I finish is cleaner and takes less tweaking than the last. My worlds are stronger, my POVs are stronger (and less jumpy), my sentences tighter and more active.

I'm a long way from perfect copy, but I'm a long way from the writer I was when I hit send on Triad, too. I had no idea then what this business was like. I had a story idea and I put it down on paper but the road from there to here has been filled with new experiences and so much learning.

This is sort of a ramble but happily, I still love my book and it's better now for the excess tweaking and editing. Even better? I'm better now for the work. Not that I love editing, cause I don't. Really, I don't. But I see how necessary it is and I do it. And the end product is better for it.

Thundah From Down Undah!

2006-03-22T17:32:00.000-08:00

Forgive me while I think about Thunder From Down Under some more.

See, here's the thing.

I love strippers.

Boy strippers.

I don't have anything against female strippers -- I mean, I think the female body is beautiful and I generally enjoy looking at a beautiful body no matter its gender. But (despite claiming Lauren Dane as my girlfriend to save her from the grindage and being kissed by a "not-lesbian" in the bathroom at Nine Fine Irishmen) I mostly like to check out the boys.

I've been to see several male revues over the years -- most super duper cheesy. Some more fun than others. (The male strippers I saw last year for my birthday were THE BEST ever, not because they were better looking or had better moves but for the sheer, unexpected hands-on approach.)

This is what I liked about Thunder From Down Under.

1. They looked like they were having fun. Lots of fun. They didn't look bored, or, god forbid, scared, or even worse, grossed out. And if I were them and had to face some of the women who were there were flinging themselves bodily -- and I mean leaping over walls to get to them -- I might have been a little afraid.

2. They had a sense of humor. A good one. Okay, so I know that men in drag is a personal fetish for me, but when they danced to The Time Warp and super hot and sexy Pirate DUDE puts on a wig, skirt, thong and high heels to dance ...well, that says fun, to me. I like a guy who can laugh at himself. Also, the Emcee had a great laugh, even if his jokes were a bit cheesy. Well, what do you expect? It's a show about men taking off their clothes?

3. The music and dancing were polished. Not perfect. But polished and certainly accomplished. These guys worked hard. They did sort of silly things -- I find it interesting that the "sexy" moves men use are generally feminine when you dissect them. Bumping and grinding, etc. Though I particularly liked the one where "James Dean" crawled along the floor like some sort of raging sexbeast...yeah...hold on a minute...what was I saying? Umm...yeah, I liked that. It worked. And the pouring beer all over himself. Yeah. Ahem, that worked, too. I mean, in a purely fantasy sort of thing, because in real life I'd be all "dammit! Now you've made a mess" but...hey, this wasn't real life. Was it?

All in all, I really enjoyed it, and not only because it was some hot guys (honestly, none of them really pushed my every "hottttt" button -- they were all good looking but none of them made me want to lick them repeatedly. Wait. Let me think about that. Okay, so I might have been persuaded, had it been a matter of some national importance, to lick one of them, or several. But. In general, I like leaner angsty sort of goth boys more. Anyway.)

And this is why I love strippers. Because men taking off their clothes for women is so different than women taking off their clothes for men. It taps into some sort of odd role reversal thing where we women get to be all sexxed up and objectify men and be all prowly and demanding...and what it comes down to is this: women are used to being receptacles for lust. I'm not going into a whole sort of feminist rant because that's not really my ting or the point of my post. But men...when women turn the tables...when men shake and shimmy and take off their clothes and lick bottles and writhe and gyrate...

It's just different.

And I think why I like it is because it's a safe way of expressing interest in men who are not my husband. Let's face it, I can go to a club and find a guy and grind on him or let him grind on me, and chances are, he's gonna expect some action. And well he should, I guess, if I'm rubbing him up and down, it makes sense he'd assume I'm interested in possibly moving the dancing to a more horizontal surface. This does not mean a man has a right to try and take advantage of that, of course, but then again, if you're grinding with someone and they try to get frisky, should you be surprised? I think not.

But watching strippers? Those men don't want me. They're being paid to dance and strut and fulfill my fantasies. I can hoot and whoop and dream on about pecs and abs and bottle licking and tight hard asses that are gyrated to the beat of music, but I do not have to ACT upon those thoughts. I can totally enjoy it with no effort on my part.

Oh.

And I really dig guys. ;)

--M

Back from Las Vegas!!

2006-03-22T06:08:00.000-08:00

Damn. I've been back for a whole day now and I'm still exhausted. I LOVED spending time with Lauren Dane and Megan Hart. They're hilarious together and have an energy that can't be matched. They amuse me to no end.

We art a lot, talked a lot, partied a lot. Saw a couple shows that were awesomely cheesy. All in all, it was a GREAT trip.

Here, have a picture!

Anya Bast and Megan Hart

Megan Hart and Lauren Dane in front of Treasure Island

Whew. I'm back at the office job today, but I'm thinking about crawling under the desk and taking a nap.

Knackered

2006-03-20T19:41:00.000-08:00

I just love that word! Anyway, I'm exhausted. Spent the last four days in Las Vegas with my buddies Megan Hart and Anya Bast and Leigha Richards and we had an absolute blastI. I got a lot of great ideas for books and my picture taken with The Thunder From Down Under - Megan says she's going to scan hers and I'll be sure to post one here. If you are in Vegas, you need to go. Pirates with nipple rings and James Dean, ooooh!

Megan and I decided that Friday we'd talk in an Irish accent all day. We did not drink green beer though! We did however, go dancing at Studio 54, which was really fun.

A recharge to my creative batteries if there ever was one! I edited and sketched out plot and talked writing in the breeze in a hot tub and drinking coronas. Sang and danced, listened to great Irish music at the Nine Irishmen pub in the New York New York (what a cool place!). Saw the cheeziest show ever "Bite" which had vampire teeth, bare breasts, a "vampire lord", people hanging from ropes and magic (it was my comment that all they needed were vampire poodles jumping through flaming hoops). It was so bad it was good.

Anyway, here's a picture of Megan Hart (who just signed a three book deal with Harlequin Spice) on your left and me on the right (not bad for 2 am huh?).

And one of Anya - who was the belle of the ball and we had to beat the men off (heh, not like that!) with a stick.

Notice how she looks great even when she's goofing off? Sigh. If she wasn't so marvelous I'd hate her.

And one just before we headed out for an afternoon of serious, studious pursuits. Because we were so not drinking and going to see male strippers or anything.

From Left to right - Lauren Dane, Anya Bast, Megan Hart and Leigha Richards (a Mav in training).

There are more pictures and I definitely have more to say about Vegas and our trip in general but I have work to do for now so I'll be off and comment more later!

Hooks and Blurbs and Covers - Oh my!

2006-03-12T07:38:00.000-08:00

Let's see - I had to write a one line tagline for Giving Chase yesterday. Blurbing can be a pain in the butt, sometimes it's really hard to distill a book into a few paragraphs. But it's even harder to write a tagline! The easiest time I had was with Sleight of Hand - "With love like this, you can’t trust fate. Sometimes you have to rely on sleight of hand." But Giving Chase is a few different things, there's a straight romance and a suspense sub plot. Anyway, it's odd to go back through something and hook it in such a way as to not mislead the reader but to catch their eye as well.

It's a good reminder of all the things other than the actual writing of the story that goes into the production of a book as a product.

Then you have the longer blurb that goes on the website with the cover and then on the back cover. This is a bit easier for me although some books are more amenable to amusing blurbs than other books (Enforcer is my favorite blurb so far).

Then it's the cover, which is, in many ways, out of the hands of the author. We fill out a form, suggest themes and hope for the best. I'm lucky, I've had stunning covers like Enforcer and Touch of Fae and even when I had problems with other covers and sent the cover artist a note, they've worked with me to try and make the cover something I could be proud of. I appreciate that very much and I know not every author has that experience (I mean, look at the Smart Bitches blog every Monday if you don't believe me).

A good cover will catch the eye of a reader and give her a feel for the story and the author's voice. A bad cover has the author hoping you buy the book despite it. It's something you have to turn to your advantage and poke fun at yourself over. If not, it'll eat you alive.

Other things that go into the package? Titles. Sigh. I have 50/50 luck on titles. When I come up with one and love it, chances are, I won't be able to use it for some reason and I'll have to change it. So I've taken to asking my editor up front about titles, LOL and trying not to get attached to it as I work just in case it has to be changed. Again, a good title is magic.

What sorts of things make you pick up a book you've never heard of or if you aren't familiar with the author?

Rambling post about breasts, glitter and books

2006-03-10T13:10:00.000-08:00

I went in search of sandals and a dress/something a bit dressy to wear on my upcoming writer's retreat/trip over the weekend.

In the first place, what is up with macrame on shoes? Uh, no thanks. I love espadrilles and wanted to find a pair but they all looked like some part project my mom made in the 70's or they had sparkles or spangles or they were gold. And what is up with that? I don't want to wear gold shoes. I'm not seventy nor am I in Oz. Anyway, total and utter bust on finding shoes although I laughed out loud in one shoe store when I heard a guy say to his wife/girlfriend, "yeah, we definitely need to get you some more slutty looking shoes." I think my husband would like that guy.

Then I hunted for a dress. It's formal dance season here, I wasn't aware of that until yesterday when I had to wade through the knots of teenaged girls giggling and fighting with their mothers over taffeta and sparkles. So I didn't want taffeta or sparkles. It's slim pickens out there right now in the non sparkle category. I tried on a skirt that would best be described by my husband as "an at home entertainment skirt" I would have been a bit frightened to sit down in public, unless there was a pole.

At last I found a dress. It's quite sexy and low cut but not slutty. But the low cut thing required some creative thinking and I found a camisole to wear under it and on the rack next to the camisoles were wonder bras. Now, I've never had a wonder bra before. In a rather TMI moment, I'll confess that I have C cups and so I haven't needed one. But I thought, "I bet my husband will like this!" and I bought it. Well! I am quite seriously considering an all wonder bra all the time policy. Dude! In the low cut dress? My breasts looked spectacular (for a 38 year old) and I was left marveling at the genius of bra engineering.

All of this left me thinking about my body. More specifically, how my perceptions of it have changed over time. So over the last year and a half I've lost about sixty pounds. Yep, a full kindergardener! Anyway, I'm not sure I've worn a low cut sexy black dress in at least ten years. And it's not that I had body issues, I didn't, I've always felt sexy, no matter my size. But suddenly, I'm having to deal with my body in a different way. It's odd to me to notice men looking at me in such frankly appraising ways. I'm a pretty big flirt and now i have to be more careful about it because I'm more of a sexual being on the outside. Odd. Gah! I think too much.

Oh, one last thing, I went into Waldenbooks and Triad was there. I picked it up and turned to the woman browsing next to me, "I wrote this book!" And she was so sweet. I suddenly realized that I was standing there with a total stranger with a menage vampire/wizard/witch three way, well, more than one, in my hand. I think she bought it actually, she had it in her hand when I left the store. Even if she didn't, it was veyr nice of her to ask me all about it. Man, I'm goofy.

Booksignings!

2006-03-08T05:18:00.000-08:00

Shiloh Walker and I will be signing books at 1001 Paperbacks (7405 Fegenbush Lane Louisville, Kentucky) on Saturday, March 11th from 10am to 12pm.

If you're in the area, stop by and say hi!

Other signings coming up:

Shiloh and I, plus many other great authors, will be signing on Saturday, March 25th from 2-4 pm at the Barnes and Noble in Elizabethtown, Kentucky (1980 South Dixie Highway, Elizabethtown, Kentucky). The famous EC tour bus will be in attendance.

I'll be signing at the Barnes & Noble in Nashville, TN (515 Opry Mills Drive 37214) on Sunday, March 26th from 2-4PM with a group of as-yet-to-be-determined EC authors. The tour bus will be present for this signing too.

Guess Who Contracted A Quickie?

2006-03-07T16:53:00.000-08:00

No, not that kind of quickie, my short story, Unexpected, has been contracted by Ellora's Cave for their Fun In The Sun summer quickie theme in June! I'm really excited because this is my first short (12k words) and it was really fun to write.

But in the whole title realm, my 50/50 luck falls on the thumbs down side, sigh. Apparently someone else is using Unexpected so I have to find another title. I hate that. So I sent a list to my editor this morning (which I won't share until I hear back because I've become incredibly superstitious about the whole thing)

Anyway, I put up a short excerpt at my loop. Happy day!

Editing Revelation

2006-03-06T05:38:00.000-08:00

I've been polishing the first 60 pages of a new WIP to a glossy, high shine, (well, that's my intention, anyway,) and found a new way to catch all my stupid little errors.

All writers have these trademarks screw-ups when they write. For me it's sometimes writing "slid" when I mean "slide" and vice-versa, or writing "breath" when I mean "breathe" and vice-versa. I also skip words frequently. It's almost as if my mind is going faster than my typing fingers and I leave out words in my haste to get everything written.

One of my other writerly "quirks" is an inability to really SEE my work when I've been spending so much time with it. Normally I need to let the pages sit and cool off for a while (like a couple weeks) so I can go back and reread it with fresh eyes. This is a common technique with writers. However, I don't have that kind of time in this situation.

So I learned that if I change the way the WIP looks, I catch typos, missing words, wrong words and just general badness-that-needs-changing. If I switch the font from Courier New to Times New Roman, I catch stuff. If I take my whole WIP, copy it and drop into my email acct and read it that way, I catch stuff.

Cool, huh?

Yeah, I'm a geek, I know. It does work, though. At least, it works for me.

Off The Cuff

2006-03-04T13:42:00.000-08:00

You know, I often have no idea what to write until I open the window here and start typing. I know and here you all thought I was so organized (eye roll). But I often think of this blog as sort of a conversation with the people who read it. Many of them have blogs that I read too and comment on. It's sort of a way of keeping in touch.

Which makes me think about the concept of community in general. For instance, as an author, I'm on a few author chat loops. It's funny how each chat loop has its own personality but there are two of them that I absolutely love to participate on, I just click there I suppose. The authors are not constantly trying to one up each other and there's real celebration for the successes that people earn as well as real sympathy and great advice when folks get rejections or suffer personal setbacks.

Without community, I'd shrivel up and die I think. Without my friends there to help me and give me advice and to say, "do your research before signing that" or "don't submit there, they suck" or even "you rock" I'd live in isolation from the writing world.

And that's so easy to do as a writer. Because I live in my head a lot. And my work is solitary quite often (except for research with my husband). So being able to reach out and be heard is important because it lets me know I'm not just talking to an empty room.

And so you see, I'm totally blathering and some days it's obvious that the real meaning for "off the cuff" is "talking out of my ass" But here's another blog entry down and now I have to make lunch for my kids and clean my kitchen. Because writing is all about the glamour.

Oh! One thing though, I just read in the EC newsletter that woman on top is a dumb sexual position. I totally disagree! I also disagree that the woman does all the work. I love that position, it's a great position because it leaves all your best parts exposed to touching and kissing. Hmm, maybe I'll write about sexual positions sometime...

Women's History Month/Women of Color Day

2006-03-02T10:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday marked the beginning of Women's History Month and today is Women of Color Day.

Which is cool because I've been thinking about Octavia Butler a lot over the last days since her death. What a trailblazer Butler was. As a black woman writing in a genre that is still very male and white, she kicked down a lot of doors. Her writing is deft and clever and the weight of what's between the lines in her books is better than what a lot of people say straight out. Her death is a great loss to the creative world.

Other authors of color who've fired my imagination? Sandra Cisneros whose short novel, House on Mango Street remains a favorite some fifteen years after I read it the first time. I wish she'd get more attention, her writing is unique and beautiful.

Isabel Allende - her books, all very different but all amazing, are on my keeper shelf. I remember reading In the House of the Spirits and when I finished it, I put it down for an hour and picked it up and read it again. Daughter of Fortune is a marvelous historical covering a period of time rarely written about in fiction and nearly unheard of from the woman's perspective.

When it comes to inspiration - Audre Lorde is someone whose words have given me something to hold onto when things get bad or when I'm needing something to push me through.

The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference.

Her writing on sexual identity is insightful and revolutionary.

"We tend to think of the erotic as an easy, tantalizing sexual arousal. I speak of the erotic as the deepest life force, a force which moves us toward living in a fundamental way."

Maxine Hong Kingston's Woman Warrior is still a book I pick up and am amazed by. Part memoir, part fairy tale, part cultural history - it's something that marked my consciousness and continues to feed my imagination.

Amy Tan's narrative on family, especially mothers and daughters is beautiful and inspiring.

More women who've had a huge impact on my life and identity as a woman and a feminist: bell hooks, Rosa Parks, Sojourner Truth, Delores Huerta, Marian Wright Edelman (who inspired me to go to law school and work on behalf of abused children)

There are many more and I hestitate doing this one entry because I don't want to make it seem like it's just a one day thing. Celebrating creativity and passion should happen every day. But I thought it'd be nice to celebrate special today.

I'll be doing more over the month because I love women. I love being a woman and it's important to celebrate sisterhood when you can.

Sleight Of Hand

2006-03-01T12:45:00.000-08:00

Sleight of Hand is out! I'm quite excited, this is my first published novella and I do so love Lissie and Xander and I think in a few months I may revisit them and their universe again.

Care for an excerpt? (18 and over only PLEASE!)

SLEIGHT OF HAND BY LAUREN DANE
©Copyright LAUREN DANE, 2006.
All Rights Reserved, Whispers, Inc.

With that same feral grin he'd been wearing some minutes before, he moved back to the balls of his feet. "As you command me then, my sweet. Turn around. Hands on the bar."

She allowed herself the luxury of closing her eyes for a moment, internally celebrating the knowledge that he'd be inside her in mere moments. Turning, she gripped the bar, her body slightly bent, and her ankles hobbled by her pants.

Shivers rose as his hands stroked down her spine. Gentle and seductive, warmth spread in the wake of his touch. He continued over the curve of her ass and slipped between her legs. Those questing fingers spread her open and drew her honey through her folds. Desire slick and drunk with need, she pushed back against him with a whimper.

Chuckling, he leaned in and kissed the back of her neck. She gasped and then sighed as she felt him press the fat head of his cock against her gate and began his inexorable push into her body.

"Great god," he murmured. "Lissie, you feel so fucking good around my cock." Grunting, he pulled nearly all of the way back out, and with a flex of his hips, slamming back into her. Her reflection in the polished surface of the bar showed her biting her bottom lip. Before her eyes fluttered closed, she saw his lips curve up into a satisfied smile. "This is going to be over quick, I want you too much. I'll be more refined next time. For now, hang on."

His body caged her. Her heart belonged to him. She was his, and she was helpless to do little more than grip the bar tightly and hold on as he fucked into her in deep digs. A moan escaped her as he rolled and pinched a nipple with one hand. The other moved to her clit, flicking over it with a feather light touch. The way he knew her body was comforting and frightening all at once.

He increased his speed and hammered into her wet flesh as she writhed, trying to move, but held in place by his body and her pants. "I like you bound. We're going to have to try that more often," he said in her ear.

He loved her beyond redemption. Beyond reason. He would have done anything to have gotten her back. He realized and accepted that as her pussy sucked at him, pulling him back into her body's embrace.

He loved the way she smiled, her laugh, the fearless way she ran her business and stood up for herself. He'd been bowled over by the way she'd softened toward his brother and hadn't shown Alex any of her hesitation about having him with her in her house. He'd been afraid to admit it, but he couldn't deny it any longer. He couldn't hide behind love proxy words and phrases like he'd been falling for her or that he really enjoyed her. No. He loved her.

That realization, along with the way her pussy clutched at him, pushed him over the edge. He increased the pressure on her clit and nipple as he felt his orgasm build, rolling through his body from the tip of his toes to the top of his head. His scalp tingled and he threw back his head and whispered her name as his pleasure unleashed and poured into her body.

After the waves had crashed over him and she'd come, he bent, laying his head on her shoulder. Breathing hard, he enjoyed the feel of her pussy muscles twitching and grabbing at him. Loved the heat of her skin against his cheek and the scent of her body, of clean sweat and coconut. The scent of their sex mingled in the air.

Getting his breath back, he straightened and stood, tucking himself back into his jeans. Unable to resist, he pressed a kiss at the back of her neck.