A while back, I was talking to my co-workers and sharing my good news: Cobblestone Press had accepted Valentine, my gay erotic paranormal romance, and they were going to publish it!

Josh, the office admin, turned to me and said: “Did you just say your gay erotic romance?”

I nodded. “Yep.” I said.

You mean like a fantasy right?”

Yeah, but it’s a gay romance.”

You write romance?”

Lindsay, my other co-worker, huffed. “For goodness sake, Josh! He just told us that his gay erotic romance was accepted. So yes, he writes romance.”

But I thought you wrote fantasy stuff.” Josh said.

I sighed inwardly.

The truth is that I write a lot of different things. I have a horror/fantasy series about soap operas and zombies. I have the first book in a dark children’s trilogy out now in paperback. So, I’m more known as a fantasy author. Only I like to call it speculative fiction.

Thus far, aside from my husband, everyone has reacted the same way when I’ve told them the news about Valentine: Bemused bafflement.

One of my friends reacted in a particularly amusing way. “You wrote a romance?” My friend scoffed. “Isn’t that a little tacky?”

For whatever reason, there seems to be this stigma about romance novels or erotic romance stories. People are always leery of either admitting they read them or that they enjoy them.

I read tons of romances. Nora Roberts, Heather Graham, Diana Palmer, J.D. Robb, Carly Phillips, Caridad Piniero, Pat White, Pamela Palmer, all of them are fantastic. I don’t know what it is about romances that I love so much. Perhaps it’s because there is no greater thing on this earth than passionate love and a happy ending?

Whatever the reason, I’m proud to be in the company of such talented writers. I’m proud to be writing stories that touch the heart, pull on the emotions and evoke feelings, something I think that is lacking in literature today.

And though quite a few people might discount romances as smut, they are the only books I know of that consistently evoke a reaction: shock, envy, lust, contentment, sadness, happiness, a sense of triumph. I experience those emotions and more each time I read a romance.

I think the true power of romances is that it brings our fantasies to life and shows us its okay to dream, to hope, to want something better. They show us its okay to love. What can be more powerful than that?

Later on in the day, Josh came to my desk with a grin on his face. “What?” I asked.

Your romance.” He said sheepishly. “Can I read it?”

I grinned and shook my head. I guess some people can be lured by the power of romance after all.

For more info on Valentine, check out the blog!

www.valentineanovel.blogspot.com


And, while you’re at it, don’t forget to pick up your copy of Valentine by clicking here:
http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/books/valentinejw

Admit it. We all have addictions, dirty little secrets we keep to ourselves for the most part. Mine aren’t so secret actually lol. I’ve discussed my Diet

Coke addiction in many places. And dark chocolate. Books, of course. Reading romance was never that big a secret, but writing erotic romance is something

I’ve tried to keep kinda private. My husband hasn’t let that happen.

He’s dragged me kicking and screaming out of the erotic romance writer closet in the last few weeks. He’s recently been the object of a great deal of

attention in the police department he works for and apparently people are curious about what his wife does. So he spills it all then smirks when they ask if

he gets to be the test subject. When I called him on it, he was quick to point out my other addiction.

Tattoos.

I have three and since it’s summer, which means cute dresses and tank tops this far south, everyone sees them. Or part of them. See, they’re on my chest–two

rose vines and a hummingbird. I will admit I found it highly amusing when he informed me just as many people comment on my tats as his test subject status.

Really? I will admit they’re in a place and of a size you don’t normally see on women in as conservative area as we live in, but most of the people we know

have at least one. I just never considered them worthy of conversation that I wasn’t participating in. They’re part of me. I like them. I never considered

what anyone else would think when I got them about not only having them, but where they’re placed.

I’ve apparently earned a reputation as, well, kind of wild. You don’t even have to corner me to admit I like that lol. It’s nice that when it’s pointed out

that I’m really not part of the soccer mom crowd it’s now with more a tone of awe than confusion. Wonder if I can work this into my promo lol?

So there you have it. My most secret non-secrets. I write erotic romance and I’m addicted to tattoos. I’m grabbing onto that wildchild status with both hands

lol!

How ’bout y’all? Tattoos? Or something else?

I love books.

Last week I went to Chapters to use my Mother’s Day gift card from my kids (smart kids, a gift card from Chapters and a gift card from Starbucks, conveniently located in Chapters).

Armed with only $30, I knew I had to be very careful how I spent it. What would I choose? What was I in the mood for?

The first thing I did was wander around looking for any of my author friends and turning their books face out. My local Chapters was sadly lacking this time, but I did my best. I turned out Wild, Wicked and Wanton by Jaci Burton (weirdly located in romance instead of erotica, strange since it’s one of the hottest books I read last year – I mean smoke pouring off the pages), Unpredictable by Eileen Cook (a wonderful local author who’s doing so well and is a joy to talk to), several of the Midnight Breed series by Lara Adrian and Dark Garden by Eden Bradley.

Feeling very satisfied with myself I searched out books by Alison Kent and HelenKay Dimon, two authors who’s blogs I have been loyally reading this year. I couldn’t find either, but Chapters said they would bring them in. In fact, I wasn’t having any luck finding a lot of Brava releases (they had a 2007 release from Sylvia Day and I was looking for a new one), which I also pointed out to the clerks.

So then I went to the scan every shelf method. In the end this is what I picked up:

Well, ok, I picked up more than that, but I had to put some down didn’t I? $30 doesn’t go very far when the spines of books still show a $3-6 difference in the Canadian and US pricing (one example $13 USD, $17.95 CAD). Um, yeah, our dollar has been almost at par for some time now. According to the bookstore they bought them at the higher rate so that’s how they had to sell them. Right. So basically it’s cheaper for me to go to the US to buy my books. Point taken, but I still had that gift card that I had to use.

And yes, to get these four books with Canadian pricing meant that I actually spent $9+ of my own money, but since I couldn’t decide which one to put down I took them all.

So far I’ve only managed to read the Jane Porter book (met her at ECWC last year, she’s so interesting and I loved Flirting with Forty) because we’ve just finished moving. I can’t wait to read the rest! I love books (not that you could tell from the stack of boxes marked books, sitting beside me ).

Hello everyone! Ava Rose Johnson here, ready to take over this blog. I thought I’d share 10 facts about myself with you all today.

Please don’t judge me!

1. I can eat the whole pint of Ben and Jerry’s Cookie Dough within an hour. Shameful, I know. *grin*

2. I have a seriously addictive personality, especially when it comes to TV shows. A friend gave me the first series of Grey’s Anatomy on dvd last weekend, and I watched it before Monday rolled around. (It’s a great show!) I’m also addicted to 24, Bones, Ugly Betty, Lost, Brothers and Sisters…the list doesn’t end.

3. No matter how long I spend straightening my hair, it always kinks.

4. I love erotic movies from China. Lust/Caution and The Lover are amazing!

5. I think Britney Spears is pretty great. Even without the underwear.

6. I cannot leave a grocery store without buying a toy for my dog.

7. I like the rain. It’s romantic.

8. My MP3 player goes with me everywhere. My most-played song at the moment is ‘With or Without You’ by U2, followed closely by The Verve.

9. No matter how many notebooks I buy, I can never find one when I need it.

10. I actually prefer ebooks to print books. I spend so much time on the computer, it’s more convenient for me.

How come I feel weird right now?

Every now and again, when I mention that I write BDSM, I get funny looks. Inevitably, the next thing I hear is, “Why would anyone get into that? Who wants to be bossed around? Especially in bed?”

Which is true. We associate getting bossed around with crabby older sisters, supervisors at work, and other unpleasant folks. Not really sexy ideas there.

Fortunately, BDSM isn’t about getting bossed around. Instead, it’s about letting go of control, giving it to someone else so that you are, in a sense, free. There are no decisions to make, because someone’s making them for you. There’s no guilt, because you aren’t calling the shots. No self-consciousness, because again, someone else is making the call.

Imagine, if you will, a small tragedy. Someone got hurt, and is in the hospital. They’re going to be okay, but you’ve had an emotional wringer of a day. You just want to stumble home, but there’s so much to deal with.

Then some saint of a family member comes along. He tells you to go home. He’ll handle the paperwork, and sit with the person that got hurt. You want to protest, of course, that you should do it all, because you’ll feel guilty otherwise. But the look in his eyes stops you. Go home, he says. Go rest. I will take care of it. I’ll carry the burden. You put it down for a while.

It’s an extreme example, but it’s right at the heart of Dominance and submission. In the above situation, the guilt has a chance to go away, as does the stress. Someone else is handling it. For just a little while, even just the couple hours it takes you to go and get some food and a hot shower, you don’t have to worry.

Dominance and submission are about trust. You trust the other person not to ask, or do, anything that you wouldn’t want to. You trust that they’ll take care of you, make you feel good, and give you the chance to just let go. They aren’t bossing you around. You’re allowing them control for a short time, and you trust that they’ll give it back.

It’s called “power exchange”. It can be sweet, intense, or very emotional, depending on what’s agreed upon. And it’s found in a lot of unexpected places, from BDSM books to urban fantasy. Werewolves have a certain element of Dominance to them, as do vampires.

Power exchange is what Meghan’s Submission is about. A woman wants to let go, and trusts a man to give her what she needs. And a man wants to give her that freedom and take care of her. It’s sweet, loving, and changes both their lives for the better.

On my BFF’s 21st birthday, a large group of us went to a male strip club to celebrate (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). A very good time was had by all. We oohed. We aahed. We gave away a lot of dollar bills.

What we didn’t know was that the piece de resistance, the icing on the cake, the show stopper had yet to begin. The very last act, the one that brought down the house, rocked us to our cores. When the soundtrack to the movie An Officer and A Gentlemen began, the room went silent.

Even now, almost fifteen years later, my heart is doing back flips.

Three of the world’s finest men came strolling down the runway in military uniforms. And the women went WILD. I should say that I don’t know if the men were good looking. Heck, they could have been fugly. They could have drooled or not been capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time. It didn’t matter. They wore the uniform. They had the stance. They exuded an aura of we’re in effin’ charge around here. And we ate it up.

When I sat down to write my first novella, SOLDIER, you can believe that night at the strip club was in my mind. When my heroine Anna finds a military man naked and unconcious on her front lawn, at least she has the common sense to behave a little better than we did that night.

Well, barely.

Find out more about how one night at the club inspired this story by picking up your copy of SOLDIER from Cobblestone Press.

Hugs,
Dee

4:00 AM
Moira Reid on IM: BUZZ!!
Moira Reid: Hey girl! It’s time to get up!
Moira Reid: BUZZ!! Get up so we can write something GREAT!
Moira Reid: Where are you? Did you hit the snooze again?
Shannon: huh? whaaa? *grabs a can of diet dew from my nightstand and slam it down in an attempt to become coherent*
Moira Reid: GET UP! TIME TO WRITE
Shannon: I’m up. I’m up. *grumble* (it’s 5:30 by now. Snooze is broke.)

7:00
Shannon: Bye chick, have a great day at work! (fall back into bed and stare at ceiling for another hour.)

8:00
Dogs wake up. They are so much smarter than me. I drink another dew and let everyone out to potty while I fix them breakfast. Then we play a little ball, come back in and eat.

10:00
Everyone is settled in and the house is quiet (except for the itunes playing disturbed *loudly*) I sit down (with another dew – I don’t remember if/when I finished the last one) and check my emails and try to get caught up on what I need to do today. I keep a daily list in a file marked PROJECTS and put the important things in red.

In theory I then get started writing or editing or whatever is on my to-do list. In reality, emails usually take an hour or more if the phone doesn’t ring. If it does… there’s no telling what will take over my day.

11:00
Dogs want out again. I go with them and throw the ball, feed the fish, clean the filters, try to catch the stupid snake terroizing my main pond. Then I check the garden, weed a little, water everything that needs it. I do all this one handed while sipping another dew.

NOON
Cat reminds me that I haven’t fed him in months (liar)

12:15
I clean up the dog’s room and wash and refresh all water bowls. Then I see that Lexy is all hairy again. (how dare she grow hair when I don’t have time to give her a hair cut?) So I set up the grooming table and trim her down and give her a bath. (hair in my dew-ewwww) During which time, Damian and Justin show their stinky butts so I bath them too. (Talbot hid. I’ll get him tomorrow)

3:00
Go get the mail (if I remember) Usually nothing but bills anyhow. While I’m out I weed around the mailbox and chat with my cousin’s kids just getting off the school bus.

4:00
Dogs back out again. Justin knocked down one of my fence posts so I have to go redig and plant a new post and put the fence back up all while telling him to get his formerly clean butt out of the creek. *SIGH* Get him out of the water and retreive the 5 tennis balls he has floating down stream. (drink another dew while considering a wine cooler)

6:00
Everyone is back inside. The A/C is on and they are asleep (in their crates because Talbot got up on the table to counter surf again. He ate an apple, two bites of orange and parts of three bananas.) Time for them to go to bed and let me get something done. Sitting down I have no idea what I need to do so I open up my PROJECTS file and look at what’s in red.

6:30
Moira Reid: I’m home. You ready to write?
Shannon: I’m too tired to write.
Moira Reid: No way. Get that file open.
Shannon: k

7:00
I am on dew number what? Have I eaten anything? Oh heck. I haven’t. I tell Moira I’m writing and go and make grilled cheese sandwiches. I’m back before she misses me and then I eat while trying to figure out what I should be writing.

7:30
Oh yeah I was working on a spin off story from my Vampire Oracle: Love story. I add another 1000 or so words before the phone rings and I have to help sort out something for the local dog club or for the local writing club or for family or for friends. Not that I’m indespensible. I’m not, but I do like to be involved so I think I often get the calls because I’m willing to take them.

8:30
Take the dogs out again. Once their settled then I get back into the story. Make another chunk of headway. YAY! (some days this doesn’t happen because there are a few days that I like to spend the evening with my parents or gosh even have a date with hubby)

9:30
Moira Reid: I’m going to bed. See you at 4?
Shannon: I’ll try.
Shannon: I’ll set my alarm.
Moira Reid: NITE!

10:00
House is quiet (except for itunes playing Linkin Park *loudly*) I update my website, and then turn all my focus on the story. This is when I do my

It’s here! The Cajun’s Captive has been released by Cobblestone Press. Get your copy now.

Stormy Weather 1: The Cajun’s Captive

After centuries of solitude the stars are finally aligned just right. The handsome Deveraux brothers of Louisiana are going to meet their match this Hurricane Season.

Sebastian Deveraux is the Alpha of his pack and like all the Deveraux men, he’s sexy as pure sin. He’s waited for decades for just the right woman. For his mate. And ten years ago he’d been sure he’d found her in Amanda St. James. But she’d run from him.

Now she’s back. He’ll do anything to keep her. Even if it means chaining her to his bed.

Read an Excerpt

Buy It!

Also available today from Cobblestone Press:

Luke Finley, the eldest of four brothers, is a committed serial monogamist. He’s all for one woman at a time, but not one woman forever. He knows a lifetime of fidelity just isn’t in his genes.

But when his latest girlfriend kicks him out–of his condo–the woman he’s always thought of as “one of the guys” turns out to be the one woman who can rock his world and make him believe in forever.

Read an Excerpt

Buy it!