ARE YOU KIND?

J. Hali's away. Today's guest bloggers are Jag Arizon and Leron Wilder.

“Hello. My name is Jag.”
“Dude! Why you talking like that?”
“Shut up, Leron. J. Hali asked me to do this. I brought you along for moral support. Don’t give me no shit.” He shook his head. “I knew I should have asked my lady to come with me.”
“You sound like a freaking robot. That’s all I’m saying.”
“Can you do better?” Jag was pissed.
“Yeah, here you go: What’s up people? Glad you stopped by. See, something natural like that.”
“Oh, right, that was so much better.”
“Hey, Jag, can I tell them about my book – HOT TIN ROOF?”
“That’d be great, man. They know about me and Barbara from WITH EXTRA CREAM already. Go ahead. Cripes, what the hell, Leron…why’d you change to your beast?”
Because I can. I like this freedom. How long is J. gone for?
“Who knows. S he’s usually around. What if she doesn’t come back?”
What if she doesn’t? Hell, if she comes back she might want to be writing about Trent or something else totally. She’s always going on about those freaked out angels.
“Hey, did you lose words in the edit thingy?” Jag asked.
Leron nodded his large feline head and changed back to his vampyre form. “Yup. Not too bad though.”
“Damn, man. Cover your ass. What if someone walks in?” Jag’s brows raised and he peered at the mirrored glass around the small room.
“Who’s coming in here? It’s hardly big enough for us.”
Jag relaxed a little. “Tell us about your story.”
The smile that covered Leron’s face was pitiful. Jag laughed long and hard at his friend.
“She’s hot, Jag. Everything I want in a mate is wrapped up in that one gorgeous bundle. She’s tall as hell, too. I like that. What if she doesn’t want me?” Leron’s eyes bugged open. “Hell and damnation, I just thought about that.”
“I don’t know if the people care how she looks, dude.”
“Screw ‘em then. I’m not telling them anything if that’s the case.”
Jag’s clothes disappeared, a growl to wake the devil erupted from deep in his chest and thundered through the tiny interview space. Fur traveled up his naked torso, Rosette-spotted hair raced up his arms. Claws protruded from large paws that slammed to the floor and shook the room.
Talk or I’ll bite your ass off.
“Christ, you’re serious?”
Yeah. I promised J. I’d do this for her. I’m gonna do it right.
“Okay already. Let me see…how about I do one of those blurb things she’s always writing?”
That’ll work.
“Okay, here people, a blurb from HOT TIN ROOF coming August 28th from Changeling Press. And you’ll be sorry you didn’t let me describe my babe. She’s hot –
Shut up and post the blurb. Damn, Trent wouldn’t have been this bad.

BLURB
Leron Wilder felt like a cat on a hot tin roof.

Nothing had gone right since his best friend had mated. Not something he looked forward to. Leron loved his freedom. But his life was out of sync. He’d been stuck training a new cat who was a badass wannabe. He’d only stopped by the Coffee Swirl to catch up with his ex partner but the minute he licked the new waitress, his life went to hell.

Corinne Nelson was on the run. She found a quiet little town to settle in, had a new job and her life was looking up. It was all going swell until the hottest man she’d ever seen licked her hand. Maybe jail wouldn’t be that bad after all…

Jag had resumed his human-like appearance. “Sounds cool.”
“Yeah, she did one of those video trailers and if you folks want to see, here’s where you can find it. Hey, I’ll put yours here too, Jag.”
“Thanks.”

HOT TIN ROOF - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P91i2wsr_R8
WITH EXTRA CREAM - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA6oixiq8xQ

“Hah, now they’ll have to see Cory anyway.”
“Jeez, it’s not like she’s as good looking as Barb.”
“Huh?”
“You heard me.”

All hell broke loose. An unearthly sound traveled the halls of the small studio as the jaguars clashed together in battle. The room’s walls vibrated. A crashing sound was followed by explosive pops and smoke as electrical equipment tumbled from the racks.

Unbeknownst to the male combatants, two women watched from the other side of the glass.
“Should we break it up?”
Barbara smiled at Cory. “Let them fight it out. We get to fawn all over them afterwards.”

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

Repeat That Please!

You’ve got your story name, you know who the characters are, and you’ve even done a plot outline. You’re set. A blank document is open and you’re off to the races. Fingers glide over the keys as the story unfolds right before your eyes. Went so well, you finished a chapter in record time. Now the real fun begins. You submit it to your critique group, or a partner, a beta reader – whatever. You’ve done this a few hundred times or more. You know all the pitfalls so you’ve already self-edited the problems out. You’ve eliminated every single one of them right?

Spell checked. Check.
Grammar. Check.
Not too many ly words. Check.
You need a few of those ing words. Check
To instead of too, there for their. Check

Here’s where it gets tricky. There are a few words we all should check - was, that, right, thought, really, started. There’s had, would, just, then and when. Did I cover most of them? No! Okay lets check for as, could, all, so and and – make sure you haven’t used it too many times. Check for of, the, he or she when you could have used the character’s name or maybe you didn’t need either. I’ve seen lists of these words somewhere. I’ve checked them all.

Wait, I want to take you back a few months. I had a chapter in for a critique and I got a note via the group email that it had been critted by someone. I’m grinning – really. I’m happy someone read it and I’m going to get some great pointers or ideas on how to make it better. I open the file and immediately I see quite a few red comment boxes down the side, nothing too major. I’m not scared yet. I get to one comment that said “I know you write paranormal, but can they possibly know so much?” In 2,700+/- words, and only seven pages, I’d used ‘knew’ 28 times!

Now I’m scared because, no, they can’t know that much. Hell, even I know that much.

Moving forward to now, I’ve made all my checks and luckily my characters have learned that they don’t know too much anymore. I place my chapter in for critiquing and I happily move on to the next. Soon I see an email, and great, someone’s read my chapter. I click on the link and I open it, excited to see what someone thought about my new story and I’ll possibly get some suggestions or comments that will help me to tighten it up, make it crisper. Let me say here how lucky I am because in the past they (my critters) helped me open a door I’d left closed, yet my character walked through it. I have body parts that move on their own. Hey! I write paranormal – it’s possible. My hero walks behind the woman he’s going to fall in love with and tells us her eyes are blue. Okay, so he can’t see through her skull. Maybe he read it in her mind. Remember, I write paranormal romances. Anyway, my critters catch this kind of stuff.

Today I got a crit back and guess what? Take, took and taking all took over my damn story. I don’t know where they came from. Swear! Just then, really, I knew, as all this was happening that, and no matter when this started to happen, I thought I had checked it, I know I was going to, I even knew I did, but there it was so blatantly in my face. Who would have thought, how could it be? I checked, it shouldn’t be there! Anyway, all-in-all it wasn’t too bad. Did I get to use all my words? *ROFLMAO*

Something good came from this experience though - I have a new word to put on my list. Check.

Does this problem plague you? Do you have a list of overused or repeat words? Are you heavy on the ly or ing words? Share a few with us.

Remember: Growl and roar – it’s okay to let the beast out. J. Hali Steele.

Rae's Reading Rec: Blood Tears by Raven Dane

Hey folks!

This week I'm going to do a little something different. I love to share some great reads I've come across and my latest paranormal read was a hefty one. If you like big tomes with beautiful lyrical writing amidst historical detail (and great world building I might add), boy have I got a book for you.

Blood Tears by Raven Dane.

I have to say I really enjoyed reading this book. It is very rich in scenery, language, world-building and characters. It kind of reminded me of Vampires of the Scarlet Order in that it deals with a group of vampires throughout the centuries but there in lies the only similarity. Sort of Anne Rice's vampire world-building with the language of Gabaldon's Outlander presenting a new addition to classic gothic literature. I mention this because I love books of this kind that takes vampire lore and creates a whole world around it. A world seen through their eyes as they live parallel to humans. In the world of Blood Tears, vampires are called the Dark Kind.

It's hard to pinpoint the exact storyline. It's not a high concept one where 'a and b meet c and therefore d happens' but it's more along the lines of 'there are these characters living in this particular world and this is their life through the ages'. Azrar is the Dark Prince of a small country called Isolann and he takes in a young mind reader named Khari. The story unfolds as Khari grows into her powers and learns of the world while offering her gift to help Azrar keep one step ahead of his enemies as the threat of 20th century technology and WWII is on the horizon. I really liked the dynamic between Azrar and Khari. Although he offered her a home and somewhat raised her, she falls in love with him and I had to say I was kind of rooting for them to get together. Although the end was contrary to this, it worked as Khari ended up with someone who shared her mutual love (although the Epilogue raises some interesting questions that may deter that possibility). Another Dark Kind, Eshan, also fell in love with Azrar and tries to warn the young girl that Dark Kind don't fall in love as humans do. Once Azrar did and suffered greatly for it.

There's a certain poetry within the characters because they feel like they are living and breathing. Garan, a Dark Kind who defies Azrar and choose to live by his own rules, is ruthless, a bit arrogant and rebellious but he is likeable at the same time. Sandor is the young abused worker with whom the story opens and his kindness and love for Khari and her mother figure Ileni is infectious. There's also a few side characters that have an agenda of their own amidst the Dark Kind and Ms. Dane takes great care to explore their desires, dismay and complexities as well.

I loved that Blood Tears took place in across the centuries throughout the large world wars and big events that really tie into historical reality. Every time I cracked open the book to read just a little bit I would find myself entranced in the story and the characters. I'm definitely going to check out the rest of the series to see what happens after the events of this book.

Although this was published in 2006, this is definitely going on my best reads of 2009.

If you're looking for a little something different in the paranormal vein, definitely check out Blood Tears, the first in a trilogy of tales focusing on the Dark Kind.

Are you ready?

In case you didn’t know, SCREWED releases today from Changeling Press. I thought it would be kind of nice to have two of the main characters in for a visit. For those of you who don’t know Purple P Rose, she’s a private investigator. Her partner, Richard E Rection couldn’t be with us today. But I see Peter Hard made it.

Hi, Purple and Peter, I’d like to welcome you both to Paranormal Romantics and thank you for taking the time to talk to me. Peter, I love your suit. Black looks good on you.

Peter: Thank you. I’ve been told I’m rather extraordinary. Can we move this along? I’ve got better things to do but Purple needed an escort. Anything for my pretty.
Purple: Peter, I’ve told you not to call me that. Pisses me off royally.
Peter: I like Pretty. Oh, all right. I’ll call you Purple. But just for today.
Purple: Go to hell.
JHS: Excuse me? Can I have your attention, please? I’d like to ask you a few questions. Purp, I hope you don’t mind if I call you that, how did you and Peter meet?
Purp: This…this bloodsucker did some kind of witchy stuff to poor Dick at the Mons Venus where we were working on a case and now he’s a partner. So I’ve got to put up with his shit all night. Except when he runs off to see his followers. I’ve not met any of them yet.
Peter: Is that what bothers you? I can introduce you. One in particular can’t wait until he gets his…hands on Dick. He loves blonds. A few of them would enjoy having you too. They’re aware I’m the only one who can have your delicious blood.
Purp: No body has me that I don’t want to have me and I’ll give my blood to whomever I choose.
Peter: If I say they can have you, they can have you. If you’re not careful, you won’t feed tonight.
JHS: This isn’t going well. Uhh, do the two of you mind if I let the readers see the blurb for SCREWED and we tell them where they can get it?
Peter: Go right ahead. She’ll be fine in a minute. She gets upset when she doesn’t get her way or when she’s hungry. You hungry, Pretty? Want a bite?
Purp: Kiss my a….
JHS: Hello! Here’s the buy link at Changeling Press: www.changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=1165

Here’s the blurb:

An irreverent poke into the world of Women’s Erotica.

Purple P. Rose is a brash private investigator. Her latest case has her visiting the city’s seediest nightspot, the Mons Venus, with partner and boyfriend, Richard E. Rection. Their new case is full of surprises -- especially when Dick “discovers” he’s bisexual.

They are both unaware there’s a new and slightly sinister being in town -- Peter Hard, a vampyre who enjoys the taste of women and men alike. He’s chosen Purple to be his. Ready to claim her, he uses his powers to coerce Dick to bring him in as a partner.

Their lives will never be the same again.

We kinda doubt yours will, either.

JHS: That sounds rather interesting. Can one of you explain why this book is an irreverent poke into the world of Women’s Erotica?
Purp: I think it has to do in part with our names: Purple P Rose, Richard E Rection and Peter Hard. Also, I am colorful and have quite a way with words.
JHS: Why are you smiling?
Purp: Dick usually has an erection and Peter…
Peter: Is always hard, at least for you, baby. And Dick too. Wonder what he’s up to? If he’s hanging out at the Venus watching Boyd’s ass and daydreaming about those lips on his…umm…body parts, he won’t eat either.
Purp: We can feed ourselves you know. Except I do love the taste of…
JHS: Sheesh! Enough already. Let’s give the folks a break. Here’s a small excerpt for SCREWED:
It was the crack of dawn. Purple P. Rose woke up with a hairy one in her face -- Boyd’s ass. Shit, had she had too much to drink? She couldn’t think straight. Everything was askew -- even the view out of her ritzy loft’s window. The trees appeared to bow and wave at her as she listened to the shower run in her bathroom.
What the hell had happened last night? Something about the new guy. She looked back at Boyd, who still slept peacefully. Purp gazed across the park and tried to remember. She did have some memories intact -- the worst being her partner Dick. She thought he’d gone soft. Maybe not. She shook her head to clear the clouds of confusion.
Richard E. Rection was a real son of a bitch known as Dick to his friends. Purp found she’d rather have no one else back her up in a tight spot. He’d done that last night. Warmth crept down her thighs as she turned over the pictures in her mind of what she could remember. She’d seen a new side of Dick. Flashes came to her in living color.
They’d checked out the club Mons Venus, a cheap strip joint on the Westside, as planned. The girls there were known to go all the way with customers. So, needless to say, the place stayed full.
Every nut-sac in town turned up at Mons Venus. Purp and Dick had met there last night to interview a bartender involved in their latest case. It wasn’t their usual type of job, but she’d taken it for the money. Car repairs had left her flat broke, and it was the first of the month, which came too fast lately.
Her real problem -- so did Dick.
Now she remembered. He’d been the first to interview the bartender in question. Dick then disappeared with him to a room behind the stage.
After he’d left, Purp ordered her second gin and tonic. She’d decided to enjoy the show. The girl on stage had hair the color of a magnificent western sunset. The bush between her thighs carried the same flaming color. Red knew the pole she used intimately. Purp’s panties were soon full of morning dew. But it was nighttime and she wanted to be full of something else. A hefty dick, a sliver of tongue, it didn’t matter. Anything would do the job right now.
A tremor of premonition lanced through her. She studied the other patrons. As she looked around, her eyes lit on a dark corner table. Someone stared back at her from the table there. She could make out the outline of a body. Male. Smoke wafted around him, obscuring his face. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach, and her pussy clenched on itself. Who was he and why was he watching her? It wasn’t the first time she’d had the feeling lately. Shit, just what she needed -- the witchy stuff following her around.
Purp shook it off and felt her side for the gun holstered there. The wave of raw lust that slammed into her left her weak. Between her thighs, her cunt pulsed. She went through life horny, but what hit her now was hell.
Dick hadn’t returned, so Purp went to find him. What she found didn’t shock her. Not much did nowadays. She’d opened the door to the room where she heard thumping and bumping inside, and found him in a big wingback chair with his pants around his ankles and the bartender’s face buried between his muscular Adonis-like thighs. Purp had never seen Dick in this light. Hmm.
“Purp --”

Peter: Why’d you stop there, it was just getting good?
Purp: Peter you’re such an ass. Maybe some people don’t want to read about our colorful, sordid life.
Peter: Sordid? Who says? Purple, dinner for you tonight is going to be cold as hell.
Purp: And what’s new? Your blood is always cold.
JHS: By the way, I understand you starred in a video? Let’s tell everyone where they can see it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqyHFOW35e0.

I want to thank you both for dropping by. Maybe next time you can bring Dick along. In the meantime I’ll let everyone know where they can reach me.
You can find me at: http://www.jhalisteele.com/, http://www.sovereignkind.com/, I’m on Facebook as J Hali and I can be found here every Friday. Remember: Growl and roar-it’s okay to let the beast out.

HAPPY FRIDAY, JUNE 5TH

It’s Friday already! What a week this has been. Paranormal Romantics had a wonderful opening day and an awesome week of posts. You’ve read about dragons, vampyres (Yeah, on my day it will be spelled in the old English way with a ‘y’ plus I like how it looks) anyway, I digress. We’ve read about book addicts, sci-fi and fantasy. One thing is for sure – it’s all been about the paranormal and romance.

In my particular case, erotic paranormal romance. In their form of a cat, vampyre, angel or demon, they’ll bite you or eat you, but most of all they’ll make pure, unadulterated love to you. If you have any doubt of what I mean pick up a copy of WITH EXTRA CREAM – it’s in there. Next week you can peek inside SCREWED – it’s in there.

In the weeks to come there will be much more. We intend to fascinate you and pull you in with tidbits and big bits of information. We’ll talk about our books, of course, but also tell you about others. We’ll keep you excited and interested in everything romance.

Annie, Rebecca, Sandi and Rae – you’re a hard bunch to follow and I hope I can live up to the standards you’ve all set. Annie thank you for bringing us together. Sandi, leave a first place or good review for the rest of us – congratulations on Winner Takes All – it’s certainly living up to its name by taking the number one spot at Desert Breeze.

I hope to snag a few wonderful fellow authors to interview and I’ll be asking them to bring along their furry or fanged friend. Should they have scales or slime, that’s their problem, but I’ll deal with it. I’ll delve into the character’s psyche and his creators thought process. There will be days of good old fashioned hunks, nothing fancy, just a picture of a hot body. But who knows, I might throw in a Purple P Rose-like lady here and there. Friday is my day and I’ve also dubbed it Furday, Fireday and Freeday. Anything goes. So be prepared for some crazy fun times. I’ll be knocking on doors for hot, hot book covers. If you’ve got one, send it my way. Now, what you have been waiting for, have been dying to know…

What does gingerbread and electricity have in common?

On June 5, 1752, Benjamin Franklin harnessed electricity from lightning with a kite and a key. Since then, June 5th has been known as Fly a Kite Day in America. Still, if thunder is heard and lightning is spotted, take your butt in the house.

Gingerbread cookies, gingerbread boys and gingerbread houses may be the stuff of Christmas celebrations. Still, June 5th is Gingerbread Day. This is the day when bakers brew up sweet muffins, cakes and baked delights, filled with tangy gingery deliciousness. Scandinavian bakeries, in particular, emit the tempting aroma of Pepparkakors, the traditional Swedish gingerbread cookies.

Gingerbread Day is the ideal occasion for reading the beloved Grimm's Fairy Tale of Hansel and Gretel with children of all ages. Didn’t they try to burn that poor old lady up? Hmmm…I’ll have to read that story again.

Some other little known June 5th facts, thanks to the Brookston Almanac:

1st Vegetarian Community established (Kansas; 1856)
National Brewers College founded (1879) – I like this one LOL
Hot Air Balloon Day
Special Saints day
Sophia Loren released from prison after serving 7 days for tax evasion (1968)
Bananas 1st arrived in US
Alice Cooper’s pet boa constrictor died after its dinner of a rat bit it first (1977)
Elvis Presley gyrated his hips on the Milton Berle Show, causing his 1st scandal (1956)

To find out more visit: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/805009/june_5_holidays_and_celebrations_today.html

So you see, June 5th is a good day. I hope you found something you’ll be passionate about and may celebrate in the future on this day. And I hope you return on Fridays to see what mayhem I can cook up for you.

Thanks for stopping by and remember -

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