SCREWED AGAIN...

Releases today, and I wouldn't be an author if I didn't promote it! So here goes:

I'm so male oriented in my work, it normally carries through to the covers. I was surprised at loving a cover with females on the front, but Changeling Press wowed me with both of these. SCREWED was done by Bryan Keller and SCREWED AGAIN is from Sahara Kelly, each very talented!

Today SCREWED AGAIN releases and it's the story of PI, Purple P Rose who has two men at her beck and call. Wait is it three now...well, let's just say Purp pretty much has anything she wants.

In preparation for the release, I did a FREE READ which can be found at Changeling's Encounters. It'll help you catch up with Richard E Rection and what he's been up to. So run over, read it, then grab your copy of the new story so you'll know how it ends.

BLURB:

Purple P. Rose and Peter Hard are back in another erotic bisexual romp.

Purp’s partner, and used-to-be boyfriend, Richard E. Rection, is missing. New partner and lover Peter Hard, the local vampyre enclave’s king, believes he knows the culprit responsible. Purp and Peter are hot on the heels of the vamp that has Dick, and he may be rogue.

Searching for her old lover, Peter lets Purple live a little in his lusty world. He doesn’t want to tell her Dick may just be having the time of his life and the vampyre who wooed him away may be filling more than Dick’s nights with the delights of a lifetime.

Peter will return him -- if Purple wants him back.

EXCERPT:
Benton was flabbergasted this man could leave someone as alluring and delicious as Purple. “I suggest you hurry before they come to look for you.” He sat on the edge of the bed. “You don’t know my brother like I do. He’s up to something and it will most likely bring trouble to us all.”


“Hey, your petty squabbles are not my affair.” Dick ran his hands through his hair and stared at the door. “I’m not as acute as you guys but I think it might be a little late.”

There was a crash in the hall, and Bent sensed the queen. Aww hell.

“Fucking A, can’t your dead asses afford electricity? Where are the lights in this joint?”

The door flew open and there she was. Where the hell is Peter?

“I can fool him sometimes, Bent. You were easy to follow.”

He’d protected his thoughts, yet she read them. “Shit.” This was not good. When Peter found her here, Bent would be blamed for being careless. This situation had to be repaired quickly. “How did you leave him unknowingly?”

“The same way women have done it for years.” She laughed heartily. “A damn good blowjob. Don’t worry, he’s still knocked out.”

“Take Dick and leave. I’ll handle my brother.”

“Handle me for what, little bro?” Caldran materialized in the center of the room. “Ahh, the glorious queen.” Another flash of light and Layla appeared.

I’m fucked. “Allow her to take her lover and leave, Cal. Don’t involve them in what you know will come.”

“Hold on, Bent, maybe Dick wants to be here,” Purple said.

This was one of those times he wished he wasn’t the second-in-command. Shit was going to hit the fan. Layla was circling around Purple with her hands clasped tightly together. He hoped they’d stay that way. “Layla…”

Too late. The smile that danced on her lips meant trouble. She stopped dead in front of Purple and palmed her breast. Bent held his breath. The loud smack made him jump.

“Bitch, back off. Way, way off.” Purple’s eyes swirled red.

“Now, now,” Cal said. “No need for such language. You are our lady.”

“Only problem with that statement, buddy, is I’m no lady. She touches me again, uninvited, she’ll draw back a nub.”

Dick moved between Purple and the female vampyre. “Purp, I’m sorry… I should have contacted you.”

“Yeah, right. I can see you’ve been busy.”

“Don’t be that way. You haven’t had a lot of time for me lately.”

“Dick, you’ve damn near been with me every day. What do you want?”

Dick raised his hand to stroke her face. Bent moved to stand beside his queen. “We’re not the same anymore, babe. I’ll always love you. But things are different, you’re different. You don’t need me anymore.”

“I’ll always need you.”

“Yada, yada, yada. My lady, he’s with me now. So let it go. And shouldn’t you be home catering to our lord and master?” Cal’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

“Who. The. Fuck. Are. You? You’re on my last nerve. Dick can make his own decision.” Bent eyed her closely as Purple spun back toward her other lover. “What do you want, Dick?”

Dick never had a chance to answer...


Remember: Growl and roar-it's okay to let the beast out.-© J. Hali Steele

Of nooks, Vooks and the Changing World of Books

A few days ago, I blogged about my reading slump. I’ve been picking up a lot of newish paranormal books and some contemporaries but I’m not seeing anything really unique and new (save for my fellow PRomantics upcoming works ;-)). In talking with my mentor, I find that a lot of these are books that have been in the back burner of publisher queues (aka legacy) and is just now being released all at once. But there’s a deeper problem as well.

The sameness is safe.

A recent Publisher’s Weekly article talked about this and the comments were really telling. Thus, reading book after book gets tiring if every story seems just like the last.

At the same time, my reading hasn’t stopped. I'm addicted to publishing related news sites like Pub Weekly, Huffington Post’s publishing section, blogs like Teleread, Booksquare and my new favorite podcast On the Media. I read tons of things on the internet and some great fiction from my fellow author friends who look for crits. But pleasure reading as I used to do as a kid has changed dramatically with the new changes.

It got me thinking about the future of the book. There’s no doubt that things are changing in the industry and it seems like it all charged ahead in just the last few months. With this generation’s e-readers fast becoming the new “it” toy of this year’s Christmas rush, a new trend in reading will begin.

What else will change? As things become even faster paced, I wonder how our reading will change. It’s already been said that the next generation of e-readers will be nothing like this generation’s. Will we see readers than can double as audio books? Barnes & Noble's nook is in high demand so much that orders are on hold. Amazon's Kindle and Sony's eReader continues to be popular among ebook lovers. The Vook (yes, a portmanteau for “video” and “book”) recently launched with the iPhone and as a web version. I’m not sure I, as a reader, would jive with this because of the fact that I use different neurons for watching tv than I do for reading a book, but I’m sure an audience is out there somewhere. Netbooks, tablets (Apple, do you have something up your sleeve over there?) and the continued sophistication of cell phones are becoming strong competitors for ebook devices. All of this, along with my own current experience, makes me believe that there still are a bunch of people reading in some way or another. Just maybe not books and not in the numbers they used to, which is a bummer.

(In considering all of this, one small part of me muses over the fact that everyone is preoccupied with how the books will be read rather than trying to get more folks to focus on telling a darn good story. But I digress.)

Social networking sites like Goodreads, Shelfari and LibraryThing are bridging the gap between authors and their readers so instant feedback on newly released works are immediate along with excerpts giveaways and other reader goodies. Reading has become a community focus again. Maybe we'll see a surge of reading groups with youths. Laptops are being given to some school kids in Canadian schools and ebook readers are being handed out in others, both with the curriculum's books inside. We know how we're going to read. Maybe we can now focus on what to read and how to bring those to readers.



Bob Stein of The Institute for the Future introduces his view of how things will be once the shift occurs.





Do you see your reading habits changing in the near future? Any future e-readers on the list who have one of the gadgets on their wishlist?

Hard hat required. We're going in.

That's right. We're talking about world building.

First, let’s set the mood, shall we? What type of world do I want to play in today? If it’s sci-fi, I like hard, driving rock. Paranormal, you say? Ironically, for me it’s R & B, you know Beyonce, Gwen Stefani, etc. Historical? I like classical music or love ballads. This is just to set the mood. Once I’m in full writing mode, the music is turned off. Unfortunately, I don't quite have enough talent to sing and write at the same time. It's a messy endeavor at best.

For example’s sake, I’m going to use my upcoming release THE ART OF FANG SHUI (coming January 8th from Eirelander Publishing) as a back drop.

Everyone got pens and paper ready? Okay, let’s go.

World building can either be the bane of a writer’s existence or the greatest fun a writer can have. Now, I’m by no means an expert. Trust me on this. But I do know this: you can make or break a book with the world you set it in. The following points I'll attempt to make are what I've found to be true in my own writing. I'll stress again, the non-expertness here :-)

For Fang, I wanted an element of realism so I made sure to set the book in familiar surroundings. A national park. The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore to be exact. I’ve visited there a few times in my life and because I’m the biggest chicken you’ll ever meet in the woods after dark, it was always in the back of my mind to write a book based on that forest.

Imagination is a great thing. Sure, I know it’s just an ordinary stretch of woods but what if creatures actually lived inside that only a person receptive to the paranormal could see? That’s where the fun began for me. I started populating my world with far-fetched creatures and mythical beings. A sex-crazed forest witch, a fairy who's her own biggest fan, a ghost (which is a real legend in northern Indiana), an enchanted oil painting, a goat man and a werewolf.

Actually, there are four fairies all total, and they’re all different. But I digress. It’s a delicate balance of real and make believe—of course, who am I to say there are not such things that walk among us?

You have to be consistent in world building. If you’ve got a myth or history that is essential to creating your world, you darn well better bring it forward early on and not hit your reader with it in the back half of the book. That’s cheating and poor planning (and any good editor will nail your sorry hide to your desk because of it). If your character possesses magic, that’s fine, but there better be an explanation. There is no such thing as “because”. There must be a valid reason.

Sometimes, I have huge problems with that. LOL I want to take the easy way out but that’s cheating yourself as a writer, too.

The other major thing to remember when world building is description. Sure, don’t bore the reader with pages of description. No one cares what a council chamber is papered in and what type of upholstery is on every seat. I’m a big believer of reeling the reader in with just enough information so that they feel like they’re actually there in that room or forest. Let the reader experience what your character does. What does the place smell like? If they draw their fingers along a piece of furniture, will there be a trail of dust? Can they feel the tweed of a sofa? Does the atmosphere give your character the creeps?

These are the things I want to know when reading a book. Don’t tell me about it. Show me. Give me the chance to be your character for a few moments. Put me there.

Last thing (and like I said, I’m not an expert) are the rules. Does your world have rules? Is there a governing body in place that keeps everything on track? Let me know upfront so it doesn’t come as a shock later. If your magical beings only come into their powers when they turn 30, you’d better play it that way, especially if you have multiple stories in the same line. If your character will die at the full moon, you’d better bring in something substantial to back it up and make sense.

As a reader, you need to suspend a level of disbelief, especially just because it’s paranormal/sci-fi/fantasy, whatever. It’s not “normal” which is why we read. As a writer, it’s your responsibility to make that world as “real” as you can to keep the reader stuck inside so much so that they can ignore everyday life that goes around them, if only for 20 minutes.

Is it a tall order? You bet, but done correctly and with a fair amount of finesse and your voice and style as a writer, it can be done. Have fun with your writing in the meantime. It’ll come.

Worried? You better be. Readers are smart cookies nowadays. They’re gonna question things and call you out if something doesn’t make sense. Do your homework, get your facts right, proceed with caution and you’ll be just fine.

And remember. If you don’t believe it, neither will the reader.

Happy writing.

Love Beyond Time

Friday is a big day for me

Because Friday is the day that Love Beyond Time releases from Eirelander Publishing.

Although I have been thrilled to release two books (Her Wolf and Summer’s Wolf) prior to this and I am extremely proud of this books (extremely.) Love Beyond Time was the first book I ever wrote that I actually finished.

I was pregnant, not with the baby I just had, but three years ago with our second son and I was suddenly so incredibly anxious to write that I just had to sit down and do it. After I was done, I stepped blindly into the world of publishing and after some falls and bloody noses, I was thrilled to have it find a home at Eirelander Publishing.

So, it sort of feels like my first born is going off to college or something…

I’m more nervous than I’ve ever been about its reception. And I’m hoping it will be as positively embraced as my wolf series has been.

Let me tell you about it.

The fight for mankind’s existence begins with…two halves of a perfect whole.

Born one half of a perfect pair, Kal has spent his life believing his other half is gone. But when fate thrusts Isabelle into his arms, he will have no choice but to become the man he was destined to be. That is, if he can battle his own demons first.

Not willing to accept her heritage as an Outsider, Isabelle tries to hide from the truth. But when Kal’s life is on the line, she will have to step forward and embrace her powers or watch everything she has come to love disappear.

I hope you’ll come and check it out and let me know what you think of my ‘baby’ Love Beyond Time. It is the first in a series of books about the Outsiders and while I am writing the third one, the second one, Love Beyond Sanity, is being published by Eirelander in August of 2010.

Look for more information in the weeks to come on contests to celebrate this release.

Best to you

RR

Perspective

Happy Manic Monday! I’m cracking the whip folks. The holiday is over and it’s time to get back to writing. At least for me it is. The coffee is on, pull up a chair, and let’s discuss the nuances of first person point of view.


I can’t cover the whole spectrum of this topic in one blog but will run a series.

Why use first person?

If done properly it can draw the reader deeper into the story, almost to the point they can experience the character’s emotions first hand. This is where the writer uses the pronoun ‘I’ to serve as narrator of a story. The reader can only know what is happening in the main antagonist’s head which limits the reader to one perspective.

Or does it?

The reader sits inside the main character’s head and hears only her/his inner voice but does that mean they can’t figure out what someone else is thinking or feeling? Your life is in first person point of view. If a friend is sad can’t you tell without them expressing it? Sure you can, so can your reader if it’s described right.

If you tell your reader everything going on they won’t get to experience what it’s like to be someone else. Let them figure it, let them be your hero/heroine. It makes the story come alive.

For example:
The manila envelope lay empty on the floor and the pictures were in Rurik's hands. He examined them, holding the photos close. His temple twitched as he clenched his jaw. The concentration on his face made the fine cheekbones stand out against his lush lips, which had just finished kissing me before I escaped to the shower. They thinned out in a frown.


I felt empty. My heart dropped and I was surprised not to hear it rattle like a coin inside the hollowness.


His eyes narrowed as he noticed my entrance and nailed me with their icy coldness.


With that small snippet, can you tell what Rurik is feeling or thinking? You’re not in his head, you’re in the heroine’s but you see everything she does just like in you would in your own life.
Is he happy? Sad? No, of course not! He’s pissed at her and it’s not written once that he is and you didn’t need to get in his head to find out that something in the pictures is the cause.



Even though technically you are in one perspective, I find it a misconception. There are many ways to express what the reader needs to know and feel outside of the main character.
I love writing and reading first person stories.
What do you think of this concept? Do you have any examples you want to share?

Black Friday is Upon us! Run…

I hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that everyone is back home and safe with lots of leftovers so you don’t have to cook for the rest of the weekend! If you cooked, I hope someone did dishes for you, or at least filled the dishwasher. *grins*

We all know about the sales at all the major retailers and this year competition will be really tough with the economic conditions most of the country finds itself in. Good luck to all who brave the “black” waters. Hope you find that special something you’re looking for, and that it’s on sale.

I was unaware until I started searching for information that the term "Black Friday" was coined in Philly due to the heavy traffic on the day following Thanksgiving. Why am I not surprised? Actually it wouldn't have surprised me if it referenced any large city on the East coast, or the Midwest, or the West coast. I've lived in a major city in all three sections of the country and found traveling horrendous on this day in each. Now the phrase refers to retailers going from being in the red to turning a profit. (See more @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping)

A neighbor a few doors down had Christmas lights on already. This reminded me some are preparing for the next big holiday. My post came to mind for that reason, and it didn't hurt that my sister had soft music playing all day—Christmas music to be exact. I’ve been hearing it since the day after Halloween on my cable company’s Sounds of the Season channel. (Which happens to be right next to the Soundscapes that I couldn’t live without!)

Anyway, what I’m getting to here is there are so many Christmas, or holiday, songs to choose from. There’s rock and roll, jazz, classical, popular—so, so many. I have a few favorites (see I’m not Scrooge...at least not yet!) I thought I’d post some of those I like here.


Little Drummer Boy (David Bowie and Bing Crosby made this memorable for me)
The Coventry Carol (Alison Moyet does an excellent rendition of this classic)
Ave Maria (Dolores O’Riordan’s my fav and it's not only Christmas music)
White Christmas (Elvis Presley and Amy Grant do an awesome version)
Carol of the Bells (By anybody – just love it!)

What about you, do you have a tune you like to hear, one that heralds the beginning of special holidays or joyous times you celebrate? Share your favorite, and include a link—I’d like to share it with you.

Growl and roar-it's okay to let the beast out.-© J. Hali Steele

Thank You Readers :-)

We at Paranormal Romantics have grown from a small blog with a few followers to double digits and still growing! We'd like to take a moment to thank you all for tuning in and checking out our works. We wouldn't be anywhere without you guys! Hope you all have a safe and healthy season and stay warm!


This month is Vampire month on the Chiller channel and with it comes weekly evening marathons. Last week was Moonlight (to be repeated today all today for Thanksgiving) and all this week is Forever Knight. Dark Shadows has been on in the mornings along with Kindred: The Embraced. More vampire goodies in the form of more tv shows and movies will be added.

Although I don't celebrate holidays, I'm still extremely thankful for a lot of things that have come my way recently. Like most of everyone, we've been some financial hardships especially recently. Thanks to God, friends and family things are getting better and I've had time to stop and reflect back on how far I've come and where I'm at. Sometimes I forget about it because I'm always working hard to get to the next project, the next book, the next something. But sometimes I have to get off the train and just take a look back on the road. For that I'm thankful because without the support and opportunities I've been given, I wouldn't be anywhere!

I'll be taking it easy today, trying to catch up on my writing and other projects. For some notables, keep an eye out for the upcoming Romance Writers United (RWU) issue with some heavy duty romance news in the newsletter at the beginning of the month. If you missed the whole Harlequin Horizons (now DellArte Press) debacle, I'll do my best to break it down for you. I'm reading a fellow author friend's historical paranormal romance and you best believe I will be recommending that you guys here and on Goodreads. This is an awesome story and I know you guys are looking for more of the genre. There's also an upcoming podcast from Broad Universe featuring some great authors doing rapid fire readings from their works. I'll be reading from A Feast of Shadows.

And speaking of reading. If you want to take a moment for some downtime away from celebrating, check out my interview tonight with book lover and aspiring author Phoebe Jordan. Tune in live at 9PM to 10:30PM EST (8PM to 9:30PM CST / 6PM to 7:30PM PST) or check the full broadcast for download afterward. I'll be reading from my December release Voice of Abandon and maybe a sneak peak of Within the Shadows of Mortals. ;-)

Wherever you are and whatever you do, I hope you guys have a safe and healthy season!