Happy Book Birthday! by Diane Burton

 

We often talk about how quickly time flies, how I can't believe it's September already. Here's a better one. I can't believe my first book was published 20 years ago. Yep, 20 years--back in the day when you sent a paper manuscript to a publisher, crossed your fingers and hoped for "the call." After ten years writing, submitting, getting rejections, I finally sold a book. That book, Switched, was published 20 years ago last week. 

When I wrote Switched, I was so tired of playing by the rules, writing what I thought publishers wanted. Oh, some of them did--they'd just bought something similar. Sorry. When I was feeling down, a crazy idea zipped through my mind. (Muses tell you weird things, then dare you to write it.) The crazy idea was that aliens kidnapped a woman from Earth by mistake. They really wanted a super model.

If I'd been that woman, I would've been royally p.o.'d. She was. First, she thinks it's all a joke played by her brothers and his nerdy friends. Or that that somehow they left her at a Star Trek-type convention. How would you explain it, if you'd been beamed aboard a starship? 

That book was so much fun to write. I could be silly and smartalecky through my heroine. Now, the strict straight-laced captain made Mr. Spock look like a party guy. What a great contrast. The farther into the story I got the more fun I had. Who knew someone would like it enough to buy it? Who knew that book would lead to two more? Contrary to a program by our own Nancy Gideon, I didn't plan my series, I sort of fell into it. When I finished those three books, I was so sad to leave the characters. But when a series is done, it's done.

In the 20 years since Switched was published, I've had thirteen more novels published. It was a great beginning to a career. Switched was also my first book self-published after the publisher returned my rights. 

Blurb

Kidnapped by aliens? By mistake?

Wise-cracking mechanic Jessie Wyndom gets the surprise of her life when she's accidentally transported aboard an Alliance of Planets starship. Then, she learns an identical twin who was raised on an alien planet has taken her place on Earth. They are victims of a scientific experiment that separated Terran twins before birth. Jessie doesn't believe it. This is all a gag perpetrated by her brother and his nerdy friends.

 Years of discipline enables Captain Marcus Viator to maintain the austere, emotionless persona prized on his planet, Serenia. Until he meets the bold, impertinent Jessie. She must go back to Earth before she disrupts his well-organized life. When he tries to return his unwilling visitor, he discovers the ship has left Earth's orbit--supposedly at his command. When more sabotage crops up, Marcus and Jessie must work together to protect the crew and themselves. As their attraction grows, treachery and violence force them into decisions that could separate them forever.

Switched is available at most online retailers for 99 cents.

Amazon ~ Amazon UK ~ B&N ~ Kobo ~ iTunes ~ Smashwords

All I want for Christmas is my Destiny Calling

by Maureen L. Bonatch

Christmas is coming a little early for me this year with the release of my novel, Destiny Calling, on December 22, 2014! 

Many writers compare the process of writing, editing and publishing a story to that of having a baby. While it's true that the love a writer feels for thier book is often equivalent to that of a child, my 'pregnancy' for Destiny Calling was much longer. I'd compare it more like that of an elephant and after all the editing and rewriting the amount of paper I went through may have weighed as much.

But we all do the little extra things to make sure our 'baby' is perfect. Although instead of giving up caffeine as I did with my human children, I loaded up on caffeine to give birth to my paperback one. 

So look...here's Destiny Calling's 'baby picture' and 'birth announcement'. I may have a mother's bias, but I think she's beautiful. 

 

Hope doesn't know if the man she can touch is a dream come true, or a nightmare just beginning.

Hope only wants to find out if her ability to infuse euphoria or despair with her touch makes her the devil's spawn, or his exterminator. But when the woman who raised her is murdered by something not human, she loses the only family she knew and discovers one she might wish she hadn’t.

Drawn to the city she vowed never to return, her ability is seen as an asset to everyone but Hope, and she doesn’t know who to trust. Her family wants her to help them overcome an enemy oppressing the human population, while the man of her dreams is courting her for the Underworld. Time is running out, and Hope’s choice may be made for her, as she discovers she’s a pawn in a bigger game played by a merciless ruler who doesn’t lose.

Excerpt: 

I strained to release my arm from Griffith’s vise-like grip while scanning the surrounding trees, trying to determine which was less of a threat, the beast of a man holding me or those who might be waiting for me in the woods.

“You will come inside, now.” Griffith spoke slowly and deliberately as if I were a small child.

I batted at the hand Griffith placed on my head. “I’m not a puppy, quit petting me.”

“I will protect you.” Griffith’s warm breath caressed my ear. “If for no other reason, to find out what I’m giving up and why she wants you so badly.”

I inhaled his masculine scent, like musky earth. It washed over my face, and the tension in my jaw released. I stopped struggling. “Are you the devil?” My tongue was thick and heavy so the words came out slurred.

“Not even close.” His words soothed and comforted, like having a weighted blanket cocoon me. Each movement was an effort. It wasn’t the same as the thing in the woods. This was more like the feeling after a long massage or bubble bath.

“It’s not safe.” Griffith wrapped his arms around me, and I rested against his broad chest.

“It’s not safe.” I nodded. My muscles relaxed and my eyelids grew heavy.

“It’s cold. We’re going inside.” Griffith kept his arm supporting me as he steered me toward the house.

“We’re going inside.” I parroted and walked up the steps, leaning heavily on him.

Out of the corner of my eye, something was cautiously moving at the edge of the woods. Branches snapped as whatever was observing us crept closer.

Buy the Paperback now at Amazon

Preorder the ebook on Amazon

Buy at The Wild Rose Press

So tell me...what is Santa bringing you for Christmas this year? 

Please help me spread the word on release day with a 'social media flashmob': Click to Thunderclap it! 
(You know how moms love to brag about their kids--you don't even want to see all the things I've been yapping about it and all the pics I've already put up on my Facebook page..or maybe you do...)

Growing up with four siblings had Maureen familiar with escaping into a good book, or the recesses of her mind. She realized later in life everyone didn’t have characters telling stories in their heads, or weren’t envisioning magic and mayhem within the everyday. This, and long walks in the beautiful state of Pennsylvania spawned a love of writing.

Since her desire to become a Solid Gold Dancer was thwarted when the show was discontinued, Maureen opted to pursue other paths. Attempting to conquer new endeavors proved fruitful with her first novella, while other attempts, such as challenging a fear of heights with parasailing, were unsuccessful. Therefore she’s chased other interests, though none-the-less-daring, but closer to the ground, such as belly-dancing, becoming a self-proclaimed tequila connoisseur, fulfilling her role as biker babe to her alpha hubby and surviving motherhood to twins (so far).

Penning stories boasting laughter, light suspense and something magical in the hope of sharing her love of finding the extraordinary in the ordinary world.

Visit me: www.maureenbonatch.com

The Birth of a Story

A few years ago, as I sat in the car outside of a convenience store, an old payphone on the side of the building started to ring.  I’d been to this store a million times and hadn’t even realized a payphone was still there.

No one was around eagerly waiting for a call, and everyone walked by it, not even giving it a second glance.  No one answered it.  As it rang on, I wondered who would be calling a payphone in this day and age when everyone has a cell phone?  How would they have the number? Should I answer it?  If so, what would they say?

 Too late…the ringing stopped, unable to deliver the message it intended to deliver.  

As I mulled over this, my character introduced her story by saying, “It was about a month ago I stopped being a redhead.”

Thus, birthed my story, DESTINY CALLING. 

My story process

           

            I’m always curious where stories begin.  Wondering how the mind works, as I’ve noticed that often the writers mind appears to be wired just a little different.  Such as my immediate assumption, as I struggled to open the sticking door to our garage was that… this was how I was going to die. A murderer would break into the house and as I fumbled with my weak grip to flee from death…and failed. 

When I told my husband this he said, “It’s probably from the change in temperature.”

            True, but still a possibility that I may perish as this opportunity awaits the mass murderers that are lurking in my imagination. 

            Or when the neighbors were building the house next door and I was pretty darn sure there was a body buried in that pile of dirt and putting the house up was merely a guise to hide the corpse…

I’d like to share the 80,000-word story that was birthed from a ringing payphone.  Here’s a taste of what grew into DESTINY CALLING.

Vengeance lures 21-year-old Hope Hallows back to the outskirts of Pittsburgh, not just to the family who abandoned her, but also to the breeding ground for malevolent beings, which feed off despair. Gifted with the ability to infuse euphoria or utter desperation with her touch, Hope must face both her inner demons and the ones walking the earth. Struggling with forgiving her family, and resisting the man enticing her with the power of the Underworld, she discovers she's a pawn in a bigger game played by a merciless ruler who doesn't lose.

I don’t have a beautiful cover to post with it, yet.  It only exists in my mind right now, and you don’t want to go there.  It can be a dark, scary place. 

If you’re a reader, what interests you about the stories you read or the authors that create them?  If you’re a writer, how are your stories conceived?  Thanks for stopping by.

One year ago today...

Hello peeps! I'm loving the new look of the blog. A very special thank you to Veronica Scott!

Today, I'm celebrating the 1-year publishing anniversary of Crash Landing. This story started with a conversation with one of my editors. For those who don't know my stories, I write alien romances, and many of my aliens tend to have blue skin. In our conversation, my editor and I were discussing the proper shade of blue for my aliens. And here are ten fun facts about Crash Landing (originally shared on Kacey Hammell's blog):

1. I had no intentions of writing this story as I was working on two others at the time. 
2. It was one of my editors, Kate Richards, who suggested I write it. Well, she demanded it in her inbox that night. LOL It took me a little longer than that to write it. The story idea started with this line, “…indigo is for space aliens. Turquoise is for underwater hunks.” 
3. I submitted the story 20 days after I started writing it. 
4. All of the characters’ names are Latin based. Cael = space, Mare = water, and Tara = Earth. 
5. Cael’s home planet, Narien, came from me staring at my bookshelf, trying to think of a name. The books that caught my attention were The Chronicles of Narnia, and Gini Koch’s Alien series. Narnia + Alien = Narien 
6. Originally I thought of making this just an M/M story to take place in the water, but Tara fought her way in there and brought the story to dry land. 
7. While editing this story, I found out one of my overused words was “pain”. Well, Cael did crash land after all. I’m sure there’s going to be some pain. LOL 
8. I had to use the washroom really bad while writing one scene. I’m sure you’ll figure out which one, though I didn’t hear any thumping on my bathroom walls. 
9. There is plenty of hot alien sex in this story without needing tentacles or alien abductions.

Crash Landing

A story from The Edge

By Jessica E. Subject

Sci-Fi MMF Ménage Erotica 

ISBN: 978-1613333884

As his ship plummets toward Earth, Cael believes his life to be over. His last ditch effort to save himself ends in a fiery crash. When he wakes up, he believes he’s entered the afterlife, but his surroundings indicate otherwise. He made it to Earth. But who saved him, and what do they want with him?

Available from: 

Amazon (US/UK) | Decadent Publishing | All Romance | B&N | more

Bio:

Jessica Subject is the author of contemporary and science fiction romance, ranging from sweet to sexy. In her stories, you could meet clones, or a sexy alien or two. You may even be transported to another planet for a romantic rendezvous.

When Jessica isn't reading, writing, or doing dreaded housework, she likes to get out and walk. Fast. But she just may slow down if there is a waterfall nearby.

Jessica lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and two energetic children. And she loves to hear from her readers. You can find her at jessicasubject.com and on twitter @jsubject.

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Celebrating 1 Year of being published!

Hey everyone!

It's an exciting time for me right now, because as of July 1, 2012, I will have been published for one year. My debut novella, Celestial Seduction released last year as part of Decadent Publishing's 1Night Stand line. It was the first scifi romance in the line, and the beginning of a dream come true.

It was fellow Paranormal Romantics author, Rebecca Royce who encouraged me to write a story for this line. Her story, One Night With A Wolf had been contracted, and she thought it would be a good fit for me. And the journey began.

So, I thought I'd share with you an excerpt from Celestial Seduction:

“Remember how I said I needed an open-minded partner?” She nodded, her eyes catching a quick glance from his before returning to her stomach. Just a couple more minutes and he’d be finished. 

He prepared to hold her down should she freak out when he told her he came from space. “I’m not exactly like you and most of the people on Earth. I’m….different.”

“Like a demon or a guardian angel?”

He laughed. It sounded forced, but he needed to stay focused on healing Carrie rather than mating with her. “No, you’re thinking paranormal. Try science fiction.”

She began to squirm under him, but he didn’t need to restrain her. “A….clone? Artificial intelligence?”

He finished healing her and lay down beside her. His thumb ran across her lips, wanting to taste them again, but knowing he probably wouldn’t. “Try alien.”


Her mouth curved into a smile. “Alien. I don’t think so. You’re missing the big head and eyes, the green skin, the willowy limbs.”

He touched his fingertips to the side of her head. “Like this?” He flashed an image of the alien Earthlings always expected to arrive from space.“

Yeah, but how’d you do that?” Fear shone in her eyes.

Leaving the bed, he sat on one of the loveseats. The night was over. In a second, she’d dress as quickly as possible and rush out of the room. “I told you, I’m an alien from outer space.” Perhaps he shouldn’t have told her. He would spend the rest of the night alone.

BUY LINKS:

Decadent Publishing / Amazon / B&N / AllRomanceEbooks / more

All the best!