Dead Men Tell No Tales

Or that's the way the saying goes. Do they? Can they?

Recently I began work on a neglected story that has sat for over five years. The reason it has sat, isn't because I didn't want to finish it, or didn't know where I planned to go with it, but because of where it was going, and I, in good conscious, could not change it.

Let me explain. I'm a pantser--kind of. All my stories are plotted out in my head, every detail. It's the way I work. Sometimes I'll write the ending first, (because I don't use outlines) so that the story is always moving toward it. The novel I'm working on now is no exception. My heroine takes a swan dive off a tower that sits two hundred stories high, and I do this in the first few pages.

Wait, you don't kill off the heroine of the novel, especially a romance novel. And there is the problem. This story could have no other ending, or could it? My heroine is a sociopath, and events that lead up to the swan dive, are the reason she dies. Plan and simple, I could not justify giving this story another ending. So I put it away. Let it sit.

Flash forward five years. My editor is looking for something different. I pull out my story, thinking there is no way in hell she's going to go for this. It doesn't have the prerequisite HEA, or happily ever after. It's dark. The heroine is a sociopath. It's in first person, the only way I could get the readers in Eva's head, and on and on.

Then she comes back, can you add a sub thread, start the story with a tale by a sub-character and then we can have the needed HEA to call this romance? You know, like a post card that says, "Wish you were here--not."

Say what? Then, as I often do, I let the idea sit and simmer.

And....

Well, I've changed the first person story of Eva and Dante in a doomed society, into third. After I converted the text to third, I wove into the story a first person narrative of what was previously a sub-character, who recounts the fall of this world and the people in it. Her tale is that of a forbidden love affair, and not just of Eva and Dante, but of herself and another, where she believes all she ever had is lost, but in the end, she gets her HEA.

Bingo, I get to keep my swan dive and sociopath, and I can give my editor a different kind of love story with an unexpected ending that very much has the HEA she wanted. I'm doing a happy dance. My dead woman has told quite a tale, and I can't wait to share this with you.

But for now, meet Olivia, my narrator, who tells my dead woman's tale.

From her lips to mine, I swear this is how it happened.

I suppose before you can understand my heart, and the love I have had and lost, I must tell you the story of another. My name is Olivia Braun. I am the only surviving relative to the leaders of Europia, a legacy I am not proud of, but one I must set straight before I walk into the next life.

When I think of our society, I think of the bee. It is interesting how the restriction of one simple thing can determine whether a bee becomes a queen or a drone, and how, if the queen should be killed, a drone can take her place from the faceless ranks.

Like the bee, we all start out the same way, regardless what they tell you. It was a truth of nature many chose to ignore, and they did so at their own peril. For even a queen could be made.

I am not a child, though many would look at me and see that. Small and weak, so insignificant, they believe I’m this frail little girl. I am not. I am a survivor. I have lived through more than you can imagine, in a world where two wrongs make a right, and deciding which side of the line you stand on, is as important as taking your next breath.

For twenty years old, I now carry more weight on my shoulders than my father did before me, and I have loved deeper than he ever did, all in my short life.

So, let me tell you the story of Eva, and then I will reveal truths I have kept hidden. They will come for me up in this tower. There is no escape, but I have eluded death one too many times already. I know it is my time, and I am ready.

For I cannot continue on without him.

 Have a great weekend,

D L Jackson

IT'S COMING...

COLD! Wondering how I know this? Winding my way west along the Pennsylvania Turnpike last weekend to attend Lora Leigh's RAW presented me with a panaramic view of autumn foliage. The western PA mountainsides were filled with an angry array of fiery colors--red, orange, yellows--all sceaming fall!! Okay, everyone knows how I dislike cold weather so no need to expound on it here...again. It was beautiful and the weather was wonderful, but brrrr, I know what's coming. See the frown :( on my face? COLD is barrelling through those mountains and heading right at me and I know it!

Anyway, RAW was an awesome event. Lora Leigh (and the ever-wonderful Jo Carol) put together a great weekend full of good food, great authors, even greater readers, lots of dancing, and wonderful gifts. Lora Leigh entertains as well as she writes—and that’s hot damn good! I won a box full of Emma Holly books. WEEEEE! Love it. Now, some of those books I've read already so I want to share a few with a lucky person who visits the blog today. I also want to give away a copy of my newest print book from Ellora's Cave: Damce of Desire. It's an anthology with a few other really wonderful authors that I think you'll enjoy. My story, Rhythm of Love was first introduced in eBook but now you can hold it in your hot little hands in paper! All you have to do is be the first and third person (YUP!-2 winners) to comment below and tell me what latin ballroom dance is your favorite. That's it, easy peasy!

Dance of Desire:

Waltz me through time By Eileen Ann Brennan

Stanley Caldwell is ecstatic to finally locate his wife after losing her during a lively dance…but he’s not thrilled with what he finds!

 

She doesn’t remember the dance.

 

She doesn’t remember him.

 

She doesn’t remember she belongs in 1902…

 

Fallen By Blayne Edwards

“She just fell from the freakin’ sky!”

 

The Cherokee people don’t have a mating dance. Unfortunately for Lossiah’s clan, he’s an innovator. An innovator and perhaps a bit of a troublemaker. Of course, he never meant to bring home the flu bug that almost wiped out his entire family, and he didn’t really think the Dance would convince the Great Spirit to forgive him and send him a wife. Losi’s not a bad guy. He’s just trying to score some action. And who can blame him? Living isolated in the Smoky Mountains for all those years can be hell on a guy’s sex life. Not to mention what it can do to his two-step.

 

Sarah’s had it up tohere with being nagged about her sex life. There is no problem with her sex life. She has no sex life! How can there be a problem?

 

What do you do when something you want is just out of reach? If you want it badly enough, you reach a little farther.

 

Rhythm of Love By J. Hali Steele

Carter Gates, amateur Latin ballroom dancer, is ready to make a move on his sexy new assistant. Bree intoxicates him and her lithe body makes it hard to keep his hands to himself. But Carter has one rule—hands off the staff. His body isn’t listening.

 

Bree’s no better off. She has a taste for her new boss, one she can’t quench. Hiding the fact she’s best friends with his dance partner, she slips into a revealing outfit and his arms…just for one night of sexy, hot competition and a highly erotic tango that gives new meaning to “going up in flames”.

 

Bree’s friend has other ideas—she wants to keep Carter for herself. However, after spending a passionate evening in Carter’s arms, and his bed, Bree wants more. And she’s determined to get it.

 

Loving Eve By Helen Hardt

Belly dancer Eve Costello has a problem. She’s in love with both her roommates. Satisfied to simply worship them from afar, she’s unprepared when they drop a bomb. Jon and Brian are in love with her, too, and they want her to choose between them. Their solution? She spends one evening with each of them, allowing them to woo her before she makes her decision. Will she be able to choose one over the other? Or will she be condemned to choosing neither, leaving all three of them miserable?

 

So that's it for me, enjoy your weekend, go outside, work in your garden, rake leaves before it grows too cold, and winter is upon us, and snow is falling, and...well, before it's too cold, and remember: Growl and roar-it's okay to let the beast out.-J. Hali Steele

First Paperback Release

Please forgive me if I seem a little excited today. Why? Well, today is the official release of Ragged Edge in paperback. It's also my very first paperback!! *tosses confetti*

Ellora's Cave 

Amazon 

Barnes & Noble

And for a bonus, tomorrow is the release of the uber-sexy follow-up to the triad from Ragged Edge in Reclaiming the Edge.

To celebrate, I thought I would share a NSFW excerpt Erin gets a little more of an eyeful of Dalton and Cade together than she bargained for. Yet, when she finally looks away, she can't escape the sounds of their desperate passion for one another...

Excerpt from Ragged Edge Copyright © SARA BROOKES, 2011 All Rights Reserved,
Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.

Erin watched as Dalton shoved Cade up against the bay door. A voice in her mind screamed for her to look away. She had no business watching the two lovers kiss good night. That same voice gave a quiet sigh seconds later when Dalton’s mouth angled against Cade’s lips.

She managed to close her eyes to the sight, but it did nothing to erase the vivid, tender moment in front of her. In fact, it just made it worse. Her imagination was a wicked thing and carried her back to the night she’d first encountered them together here. Only this time she was between them. She sat on the motorcycle, Cade’s chest supporting her body as Dalton held her thighs open so he could slide the thick length of his cock inside her pussy.

A deep groan made her eyes pop just in time to watch one of Cade’s hands slide around the other man’s narrow waist. His thumb hooked through one of the belt loops just above Dalton’s ass and his other hand slid up, threading through Dalton’s mane of inky black hair.

Muscles moved under that fitted shirt and though Erin couldn’t see what Dalton was doing, Cade’s hand tightened against the back of his lover’s jeans. A soft groan split the early morning air and Cade’s head fell back against the aluminum door.

Oh dear God. He’s giving Cade a handjob.

Now aware of what took place just a few steps away, she turned and forced herself to keep her eyes forward. It didn’t help. In fact, it made it worse as it made her more acutely aware of the sounds they made. Dalton had cracked the window during the drive back to town and she clearly heard the satisfied groans the two men gave in response to each other.

Those sounds gathered and pooled in her gut, swelling with each passing second until it was hard to think straight because the throbbing need between her thighs overwhelmed her.

A Book in a Week

I wrote

Paying her Debt, my erotic, contemporary romance, in a week. Yep, a week.

It came to me in a flash of inspiration and I knew I had to get the story down as soon as possible. So I sat at my computer and I just did not stop writing. Well, okay there were food and toilet breaks but other than that the family were ignored, the house fell apart around my ears and even whilst I slept the plot invaded my dreams.

Now I’m quite a prolific writer, less than 25,000 words a week and I feel like I’ve slacked off, but this was something else altogether. If I could bottle the energy I felt in that week I’d be well...writing a book a week!

Paying her Debt has been described as an old fashioned romance with some pretty modern erotic elements and I hoped that it would be my first bestseller for Evernight (one of my two publishers). Up until then I’d had a few paranormal romances published but whilst they’d done okay they weren’t setting anything on fire. Paying her Debt did.

It sold more books than anything I’d published before combined and as I watched the sales figures tally up I couldn’t help but think that yes! I would write a book a week. Goodbye evil day job, hello full time writing.

Only it doesn’t work like that.

I’ve never again been able to create an entire, fully edited book in such a short time. I’ve come close. On one very memorable day I wrote 15,763 words. Those words were the ending for my post-apocalyptic romance, Waking up Dead (coming late 2013 from Entangled Publishing), and I was ill for days afterwards. But a book in a week – nope it has never happened. I’ve thought about this a lot and tried to work out why I can’t recreate the energy I had in that week and I’ve come to two conclusions. Firstly at that point in my career I was so desperate for something to sell well that I was spurred on to the point of madness, secondly I had a storyline come to me from nowhere - fully formed - and I sort of wanted to write it so I could read it...does that make sense? Of course these reasons don’t help me to do the whole thing over again, but it is fun to wonder! I’d love to hear from anyone else who has managed to write a book in such a short space of time. Where did you get your energy? Can you recreate the process?

And if you’d like to read the product of my week of madness it is on sale right now for just 99 cents at Amazon.com. I’d be thrilled if you’d check it out. Just imagine if I made the Amazon best seller lists with it! It might even spur me on to try for a five day book...you never know!

Happy reading,

Emma x

Ubuntu

Hello fellow ParanormalRomantics; big thanks to Rebecca for inviting me over today. J

So, a little bit about me, and why I’m here right now – my name is Zee Monodee, and I’m the Managing Editor of the brand-new Ubuntu line at Decadent Publishing. Set to launch in March 2013, Ubuntu is a line of stories set in Africa and featuring African characters, culture, mores, and locales.

Pretty limiting, you might think? Well, let me tell you that you have another think coming *wink*

I was born on the island of Mauritius (cue the geography lesson – my island is located in the southern Indian Ocean. East of Africa and Madagascar, lots more south from India) and I’ve spent most of my life here. Throughout the years I grew up, I’ve visited some of the most beautiful beaches in the world located right here, as well as deep forested areas where the sun barely peeks in. Step away from the big buildings of urban areas and taken a hike into the sprawling country villages. Along the way, you’ll probably find every free land occupied by sugar cane plantations.

Imagine my surprise when, one day, I figure out Mauritius is considered part of Africa! I’m like, hello? Where are the big Serengeti plains, the wild animals, the dry earth and red dust, the spindly trees? And as far as I know, Mauritius has people of all colors, races, cultures, and religions. So how on earth could we be part of Africa?

Well, it so turns out that not only Mauritius is in fact part of sub-Saharan Africa – Africa itself is much, much more than the stereotypical idea everyone, myself included, have of it.

Urban and rural areas; modernity and technological advancements in the time of the Internet and satellite reception everywhere; races of every color from the palest white to the darkest black; cultures originating from native black African tribes and the Arab people of the Maghreb, with throwbacks to Indian, Chinese, and European cultures mixing in for good measure – that’s the Africa of today.

And it’s this Africa that we want to showcase in the stories to come out of the Ubuntu line.

Whether you’re writing a multi-generational saga spread over many books and that layers the complexity of this continent in its words, or you have a category-type romance that touches lightly on the setting/culture of Africa, we want to see your stories set in Africa and that features characters of African origin.

And since I’m on a blog named Paranormal Romantics, I’ll add this – why not have a paranormal romance set in Africa? Did you know that Madagascar is still known as the land of Black Magic? On this backdrop, can a writer not place vampires, weres, genies, witches, and more, in this setting and world?

You can find more about the Ubuntu line (the specs sheet as well as length and heat guidelines) under the Submissions tab on the www.decadentpublishing.com website. I am also just an email away if anyone has any questions or queries, at this address zeemonodee@gmail.com

Thanks for this opportunity to tell you more about this brand-new project – we’re all terribly excited about this at Decadent Publishing. Big thank you again to Rebecca for inviting me.

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

Sins of the Undead Patriot by a.c. Mason

Here's a perfect read for the Halloween season and an electorial year! 

 

Discover new Lyrical titles on the first Monday of every month

All new books are 50% off the first week of each month

To save the President, Vaihan must trust the woman who betrayed him.

Vaihan Louchian, Ancient Zombie and Special Advisor to the President, dabbles in contracts for Homeland Security in Washington DC, the only remaining demilitarized zone. His latest mission: to seduce delectable Leera Waltz so he can take down her boyfriend Rowley, leader of the anti-zombie terrorist movement. Vaihan and the President work the Bill of Undead Rights through the Senate, but terrorist attacks rise. The futures of the living and undead are in jeopardy, and Ms. Waltz is not all she seems. Vaihan can’t help being more interested in rescuing her than in his assignment. Any human female who’s willing to put up with the complications of lovemaking with him and his bouts of OCD is worth the hassle.

Vaihan is powerful, intelligent and kind. So not what Leera expected of an undead. When she’s forced to betray Vaihan, she knows he will never understand. She must return to Rowley, and slips deeper into the city’s dark underworld. Then Vaihan’s suspected in an assassination attempt against the President, and Leera has to find the courage to do what’s right and save him, or lose not only Vaihan and the leader of the free world, but her heart and soul.

WARNING: Questionable sexual situations that will disturb some readers, such as abuse, bondage and drug use. Graphic violence and sex, including taboo play. M/F. M/F/M. M/M. And the sexiest undead civil servant you’ll ever meet.

Excerpt:

“Leera.” Vaihan breathed out her name.

She darted a look at him, eyes shimmering with tears. Wind tossed her curls in all directions. What a horrid feeling indeed, to be trapped among the living when all you wanted to be was dead. Once, he too had longed for the cycle to end, but not anymore. Not in a long time.

“Don’t come over here. My mascara has made a mess of my face.” She bent toward the side mirror of the silver SUV, her plump bottom pushed out.

“It’s going to take a lot more than smudged makeup to do that.” He cocked his head to admire the seam between her thighs. “You’re gorgeous.”

The corner of her mouth twitched upward. “You are some kind of smooth talker.” She lifted upright then spun toward him.

Admittedly, he stood too close but he itched to touch her again.

When she attempted to step back, he scooped his arm behind her, resting his fingers against the bare skin of her open-backed gown.

A breath hitched at her lips. As her heart rate accelerated, her eyes widened with fear.

“Not so fast.” He steadied her. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

She wrapped her hands around the upper part of her body, creating a barrier. Goose bumps covered her exposed arms.

He unfastened the buttons of his jacket, slipped off the garment and then rested it on her shoulders.

“You don’t have to.” Her gazed traveled from his neck to where two buttons were undone on his dress shirt.

Did she like what she saw? For now, he’d content himself with not finding disgust in her eyes. As her dark gaze rose, it met his, and her body relaxed. A run of black makeup was smeared beneath her eyes. He pressed his thumb to her skin, wiping away tears and mascara.

She reached for his hand, then pressed his flesh to hers. “You’re so hot.”

“I’ll have you know, I’m not just good looks.” He let his hand rest in the small of her back.

“I meant your skin.”

“Of course you did. I’m undead. My appearance is usually a cause for fear.” Most of his kind paid for human female companionship. He’d never needed to. Zombies had their own underground scene. Lavish nightclubs, where humans offered themselves up blindfolded, tied up and bound to the wall or ceiling in exchange for a taste of poison. These places provided a safe environment where the undead could feast on the living in a number of ways.

Not his cup of tea.

“Hmm.” She angled her head. “Given the lines of your brow, nose and lips with the structure of your jaw, I’d say you’re easy on the eyes.”

In mere moments of knowing him, she’d been able to see him as more than his scary exterior.

“Undead of my persuasion have a body temperature that is about six degrees hotter than humans.” With his index finger, he tucked a rogue curl behind her ear.

“Guess that’s why I’m not chilly anymore.” She met his stare.

“Here I thought the change was your attraction to me.” He smiled.

Born from the union of her Scottish and Belgian mother and an African American and Cherokee father, a.c.Mason’s youth was filled with dichotomies and moving from place to place. She developed a curiosity to explore through writing the seedy side of our nature and desires. Given her own diverse background, she writes stories that represent the world she grew up in. She is fluent in French and English. For the past nine years of her life, she has worked with one foot in the past spanning from 18th century, the Bering Strait theory to modern day and now late Victorian and WWII. Her stories are the place where darkness meets human desire and fairytales endings are not promised but earned. She’s a founding member of The Cultural, Interracial, and Multicultural Special Interest Chapter of Romance Writers of America.

If you’d like to learn more about a.c. Mason go to www.acmason.com.

 

When the Wolf Howls

I'd love to say I have something super exciting to blog about this month. I'd like to. But I've been in a tiny bit of a slump. Yep. A slump.

I write under two names. One is my name and the other is my pen name. What seems to happen is the ideas for one name really fly, while the other name sort of sits there. And where am I? You guessed it...languishing. Okay, not really. Megan Slayer--my alter ego--is having a great time. She's the one the wolf is talking to. Yep. If you've read Wild Flower, then you know about my wolves. They didn't intend to show up, but did. So, there they are. And the wolf is talking to me.

That's the good part. I love listening to the wolves. They are sarcastic and wry. Love 'em. But the hard part is this - as much as the wolves talk to Megan, the other characters aren't talking to Wendi.

Now to some this might not seem like a big deal. Its only characters wanting to talk. But if you're a writer, you WANT them to talk to you. When they don't, either there is something goofed up with the story or there is no story because they haven't given that to you. I'm in the second category. Megan's going gangbusters. Wendi? Stuck, stuck, stuck.

So I'm imploring you to suggest some ways to get the old muse off her buns and to make her help me. Yep. Anyone have thoughts? Because, yeah, I'm stuck and I'm listening.

And in case you're looking for a great new read, try Wild Flower.

She's the key to his destiny, if he's willing to embrace a position of power.

Ansen doesn't believe he's alpha material. He lives life on his own terms and keeps feelings out of the equation -- until a chance meeting at a Glow concert turns his world upside down.

Willow likes having all access to her favorite band. She lives in the shadows and keeps the band's fan site running without fail. But one glimpse of the dark stranger proves there's more to life than a laptop screen.

But is he too much of a gamble if her heart is the ultimate prize?

Available here!

Autumn Blues?

You may think from the title that I don't like the Fall. But the opposite is true. This is my favorite time of year.  I love the cooler temperatures, a welcome break from the humidity, the trees changing color along with the falling leaves. And pumpkins. Oh my gosh, just seeing the pumpkin stands along the side of the road gets me so excited.

Sure, there are some down sides to the Fall - the beginning of cold and flu season, having to rake leaves, and the worst, one season closer to winter. Hey, winter would be awesome if I didn't have to shovel or drive in the snow.

So, where does the color blue come in? Well, blue is one of my favorite colors. With all the beautiful colors of the fall, I wish blue was included. After all, it is the skin color I tend to give many of the aliens in my stories.

In Crash Landing, which released today, there are two blue aliens, Cael and Mare. Though they didn't come to Earth together. But what they bring to the story, and to Tara are sure to heat up the sheets.

Here's the blurb:

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?

Crash Landing is available from Decadent Publishing, Amazon, All Romance eBooks, and many other ebook retailers. More information and buy links posted here.

And an excerpt:

He rushed to the right, his rod too hard to wait. The slurping, sucking, and cries of pleasure continued as he reached the entrance behind which the action took place. The door ajar, he dared a quick glimpse into the room. With a gasp, he stepped back into the hall, but could not take his eyes off the sight in front of him.

With her rounded pink ass and swollen sex folds in full view, a woman went to work sucking off a man. The musky scent of her desire wound through his nasal passages and drew him closer. She rested on her hands and knees on a platform, while the guy kneeled in front of her. But unlike any beings he had ever seen on the vids of Earth, the guy had blue skin. Not his deep, almost indigo shade, but lighter, closer to the color of the water he’d landed in. Long blond hair flowed over his shoulders, onto his muscular chest.

The man held the woman’s shoulders with his webbed hands—yes, webbed hands—drawing her on and off his dick. “You have the mouth of an angel.” He threw his head back and thrust faster and faster between her lips.

The sight stimulated Cael. They weren’t trying to make babies; it seemed they were having sexual relations for pleasure. He yearned not only to bury his face in the wet pussy in front of him, but to taste the man’s blue dick, feel it inside of him. Back on Narien, he’d crafted his own devices made from the soft, flimsy bark of the totmos plant, to experience the pleasure both men and women felt in the stadium, why they cried out during mating, but never seemed injured. And learn he had, anxious to be ready when he reached his thirtieth year and was allowed to mate. He’d turned that age a half year ago, with no one on his ship to be his partner. Would he finally have an opportunity?

Jessica Subject started writing to encourage her daughter to read. Now she writes to keep herself grounded. Although she reads many genres, she enjoys writing Science Fiction Romance the most and believes everyone in the universe deserves a happily ever after. She lives Southwestern Ontario, Canada with her husband and two kids and loves to hear from anyone who has enjoyed her stories.

Website/Blog / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

Something scary-beautiful...

My inspirational dragon, because he's scary-beautiful...and my head on cold meds is a fruity fudge basket of fluff. Best to stay silent. ;-)

Kim

-----------------

Kim Knox brews sex, magic, darkness and technology in a little corner of North West England. She writes erotic science fiction and fantasy romance for Carina Press, Ellora’s Cave, Samhain Publishing, Cleis Press and others.

Website || Blog || Twitter || Facebook

SYNTHETIC DREAMS and BITTER HARVEST are available now from Carina Press. 

AT THE SORCERER'S COMMAND and DARK DEALINGS coming soon

RomantiCon2012... Here I come!

The last few months have been pretty jam-packed for me. I've been putting the final touches on my third Heavenly Lovers book, Embracing Eternity. I spent three weeks doing the most problematic move of my life, and I have moved a lot so that's saying something. Two major family issues and the whole going-back-to-school thing were mixed in.

Basically, I've been in a handbasket on a fast track for the past couple of months.

Thankfully, most of that is now over. EE has been turned in to Ellora's Cave and will be releasing November 2. I'm settled in my new place... well, surrounded by the boxes I haven't had time to unpack, so not fully settled, but all my stuff is here. The kids are back in school and most of the family issues are resolved.

So now, the only thing in my mind is the Ellora's Cave RomantiCon. I'm very excited. Very, very. Very.

Did I mention very?

This will be my first convention, my first official appearance as an author and my first book signing. Oh, and I'll also have my first print book for it! The first two books in the Heavenly Lovers series will be in a single print volume. Heavenly Eternity will be available for signing day. I can hardly wait to get my hands on a copy. it's a little cruel, making an author wait to touch her own book.

Isn't it beautimous?

Anyone else going to RomantiCon? Who should I be looking for?

Voirey