Friday, August 30, 2013

New Flash Fictions on Ether Books

I have two stories up on Ether Books. The first one, Kimono Dance, was up several days ago, and the other, What He Wants, was just released today as a Free Read. I'm so delighted for this. By the way, these flash fictions can be read with Apple or Android app. I heard Ether Books was going to release their stories on Kindle. I hope it will happen soon!

On to my stories...

Kimono Dance
 
Summary : Ethan watched Alec doing a kimono dance in a movie and it turned him on. 
Words: 939
Genre: M/M
Price: £0.69
 
Excerpt:
 
''Is that salsa?''
Alec's head shot up from its position lying on a pillow at the foot of the bed. ''Aw, shit,'' he muttered and this time buried his head under the pillow. Ethan was watching him dancing in kimono. Again.
''Cha-cha-cha. Cha-cha-cha. Oh, was that Cha Cha?'' Ethan's eyes were stuck to the flat, wide-screened TV. Alec almost wished those eyes would pop out now. ''I can't see your feet, Alec. Were you barefooted?''
Alec snorted. What difference would it make if he were barefooted? Ethan's attention was focused on something else anyway, wasn't it?
  
 
 
What He Wants
 
Summary : Janine is a new student and Seth is the class’ black sheep.
Words: 653
FREE READ
Genre: Young Adult
 
Excerpt:
 
thump, thump, thump 
Janine heaves a big sigh, feeling utterly annoyed. She doesn't say anything. She tries to concentrate on her math exam instead, while praying for it to stop soon. But it doesn't. The pounding on her chair begins again. 
thump, thump, thump 
"Seth!" she hisses at the boy sitting behind her. With her brief glance, she catches Seth's grin. What a naughty boy. Janine tsk-s at him angrily. "Stop it or I'll..." 
"Ms. Parkinson." Mr. Montgomery, their math teacher's voice booms in the quiet room. "Silence or I'll send you to the principal's office." 
"But it's Seth..."
"One more word and you'll go right now."
 
 
 
My first flash fic on Ether Books, The First Time, was released as a free read on June 19, 2013, and it doesn't fare too bad. It helps me become #2 in Top 25 Free Downloads for three weeks now--after two weeks in #1, and #9 in overall sales. :) 

By the way, we do get covers for our stories there but they encourage us to make our own pretty covers. :) So I made the covers above. Do you like them? :D

Oh! I just saw that What He Wants has become a best seller!


 
 

Thursday, August 29, 2013

In the Spotlight: Lynde Lakes

I have to apologize again for I promised to have it up on the 28th. But Lynde Lakes, thank you so much for the very interesting recount about you and cowboy suspense stories, and look! It's the first chapter of her newest book, Cowboy Lies.








      
            COWBOY LIES-Book I of Ryan Ranch Trilogy
                                   Romantic Suspense
                                      By Lynde Lakes
                        
Hi, I’m Lynde Lakes, author of romantic suspense, paranormal suspense, mainstream, and non-fiction.  www.lyndelakes.com.
One of the first questions I hear when I discuss the Ryan Ranch “stand alone” books is:  What inspired me to write a cowboy story?
My answer is simple.  The idea jelled from a life experience in my teens, when everything was a super big deal.  I kept a daily journal the summer I lived on a ranch and the entries helped me write COWBOY LIES, LASSO THAT COWBOY, UNDERCOVER COWBOY, and COWBOY IN MY SIGHTS.
For me, writing cowboy stories was an exciting vicarious journey to research, read and write about rough Texas men.  And when the cattleman-bull rider is a semi-retired Fed, you can count on someone getting thrown—and killed.
To set the mood to write my cowboy books, I wear a special diamond pin shaped like a boot that I purchased in Dallas Texas and wear my fringed denim vest.  While writing about folks in the Ryan Ranch territory, I played all my favorite country western and Mexican tunes and pasted up snapshots of cowboys, rodeos and pictures from a Miss Rodeo contest.
I need to add that all of my stories including my cowboy stories are romantic suspense plots.  That’s what I write romantic suspense.
I’m clarifying that because every romance genre is different with emphasis on different things.  If you haven’t sampled all the genres, you won’t know if you like romance novels. 

                                               Chapter One
Terrifying Memory Flashes of blood-splattered walls and an empty baby crib warns Molly to trust no one.  Especially, not this hot cowboy.
       Nothing felt right—nothing felt familiar—nothing jogged memories. Even her own name sounded strange to her ears, if it was her name. Molly Ryan? That mellow name didn’t fit the fire blazing in her gut and that scared the hell out of her.  Married. Was she really married?
She had begged to stay at the hospital. She’d felt safe there, and had grown to trust Dr. De La Fuente during her months of treatment. That is, until he released her to this stranger in tight blue jeans and told her to trust the guy. How could she trust a Stetson-wearing hunk of testosterone like him? God, he was pacing next to the fireplace like a fenced-in wild stallion. The initial shock of learning that she might be shackled to this hard-edged cowboy slid closer to full-fledged panic. Did he expect her to share his bedroom tonight?
Lamplight reflected and magnified his shadow on the wall, his movements feral, agitated. Did he resent that she’d been thrust on him in this bewildered condition? Would he turn that barely-contained anger on her? She shivered, fighting an urge to bolt. “I can’t be married to you. Nothing seems right!”
He paused, and his piercing gaze locked with hers—the intensity sent chills along her nerve endings. “You’re gonna have to trust me on this one, Molly,” he drawled. “We’re hitched.”
There was that trust word again. Before she could respond, he wheeled around and headed out of the room. This was unreal. The possibility that she’d ever loved this man, let alone married him, was as remote as finding the proverbial needle in a haystack.
Fighting the warning instinct twisting her insides, and using the strength of that growing fear, she chased him down the hallway, running to keep up. “Not so fast, cowboy. What did you say your name was again?”
He’d told her a number of times—she’d repeated the name Matt Ryan over and over in her mind, trying in vain to trigger anything that would indicate a past with him—but she wanted to keep him talking while she attempted to put things together in small circles, feeling her way.
He paused and gave her a hard look. “Okay, one more time,” he said in a low, tight voice. “I’m Matthew Ryan, Matt for short, is that so danged hard to remember?”
It wasn’t; so why didn’t his name trigger a memory?  With searching fingers, she touched the tender spot where the needle had gone in. The drugs the doctor had shot into her veins to keep her calm during her long helicopter ride from the private hospital somewhere along the Mexico border to this South Texas ranch had pretty much worn off, and her head was getting clearer by the minute. The doctor had diagnosed her memory loss as traumatic-amnesia, fugue state, whatever that was.
Matt turned his back on her again and continued down the hall. His tall, lean body was custom-built to wear those hip-hugging, faded blue jeans. When he reached a closed door down the hall, he opened it and entered.
Before crossing the threshold, she peeked in. Please don’t let this be his bedroom. She sighed in relief at the sight of pastel walls, a rocking chair, baby articles, and a crib. An image of an empty crib flashed in her mind. She stiffened until she saw the baby inside, kicking its feet in delight. She had an urge to gather the baby into her arms and run, but where? Why?
Her gaze flew to Matt. His shoulders and chest filled his royal blue chambray shirt in a way that made him look altogether too formidable. She shivered. Maybe she had known him before. If so, what had he done to her in the past that just looking at him gave her the urge to pound his impressive chest?
What did the flash of memory about an empty crib mean? Perhaps she could rein in her fear if she knew the basis of her anger and that fight-or-flight feeling.
      The Stetson shading his eyes increased her sense of uneasiness. When he’d picked her up at the doctor’s house, he’d worn the Stetson. She assumed he’d taken it off during the helicopter flight, but she couldn’t swear to it. She spent the trip on a cot behind the cockpit, drifting in and out of consciousness. When they left the craft, he had it on again.
To squelch her growing anxiety, she took a deep breath. Maybe she wouldn’t feel so small if she gathered her courage and cut him down to size. “Isn’t it rude to wear a hat in the house in Texas?”
Matt looked her up and down, then took off his Stetson and tossed it across the room. It hooked over one of the two protruding spiky knobs on the back of the wooden rocking chair in the corner of the nursery. He still looked dangerous. His black, wavy hair fell across his forehead in a bad-boy look and thick strands curled in a rugged line across his collar. “Better?” he asked, raising a devilish eyebrow.
“Er.  Yes. Thanks.” She swallowed to clear her constricted throat. “There’s something else you can help me with.”
He shifted his weight. “Fire away. I’ll help if I can.”
“Well, I’ve got your name down pat now, but I need to hear the other stuff again.”
He rolled his eyes toward the ceiling and shook his head. “All right, for the last time, I’m the owner of this cattle ranch. You’re my wife Molly, and this is our baby Sara Jane.” He gestured to the baby lying in the crib with her big blue eyes fixed on the tinkling zoo-mobile revolving over her head.
Molly gripped the railing of the crib. “I can accept that this is my baby—”
“Our baby,” he corrected in a deep voice that vibrated through her.
She took a breath to calm her thudding heart. “Okay, our baby. But this doesn’t feel like my home. I don’t feel safe. Why is that?”
Matt didn’t quite look her in the eye. “The doctor gave you something. Maybe your paranoia is a side effect. It’ll pass. You have nothing to fear here.”
“Paranoia? That’s not it. I have a good reason to feel the way I do.”
Sara Jane cooed and waved her little fists. With that cap of curly red hair, the baby could be hers. Suddenly, a desire to hold Sara Jane overwhelmed her.  Would it feel right? She lifted the baby into her arms and drew her close, inhaling baby powder and the sweet smell of baby oil.  She loved her, no doubt about that, but she felt sure she’d love any baby. “How old is she?”
“Three months.” Matt took the baby’s small hand in his large callused one. His gesture brought him too close for comfort, and Molly stepped back.
To avoid looking into his eyes, she looked down at her flat belly. “Shouldn’t I be more rounded if I had a baby so recently?”
Matt threw his hands up in the air. “For crying out loud! You just got out of the hospital. You’ve been ill. Remember?”
“That’s just it, I don’t remember, and you know it.”
His eyes softened. “Be patient; it’ll all come back.”
“Will it?” What if this wasn’t her life at all? “My name doesn’t even fit me.”
Matt laughed without humor. “Yeah, well. I’ll have to agree with that. With that auburn hair and spitfire tongue, you should’ve been named Blaze or Flame.”
Molly glared at him. Could she really be married to this cowboy Neanderthal? She jostled the baby, reveling in her warmth against her breast.  This was the only part of this insanity that did feel right.



Books at Amira Press
www.amirapress.com
VIRGIN WOLF I Paranormal Romantic Intrigue
ISBN; 978-1-936279-41-8
VIRGIN WOLF II, MELLIZO WOLVES
ISBN  978-1-936-279--1
DEADLY INFLUENCE--Romantic Intrigue/thriller
COWBOY LIES, Romantic suspense/thriller  ISBN # 978-1-935-348-05-4.
Four-star review Romantic Times Book Reviews
Print & E-book format
LASSO THAT COWBOY
Print & E-book formaT
Four Rose Novelspot Review
Four-Star Review-Romantic Times
UNDERCOVER C0WBOY
Available in E-book format
DEADLY INFLUENCE, romantic suspense
Print & E-Book format
.
Evernight: www.evernight publisher.com:
MURDER IN THE CLEAR ZONE Released!
POINTING LEAF- RELEASED!.
PRIMITIVE FLAME-RELEASED!
STAR FALLEN LOVER-RELEASED!
SILENT CYMBALS-RELEASED!
RUSSIAN CONNECTION RELEASED!.
SET UP FOR LOVE RELEASED!.
MIDNIGHT DESTINY RELEASED.
DEADLY REUNION RELEASED!.
Solstice Publishing
VIRGIN WOLF III RELEASED!
Wild Rose Press
BILLBOARD  COP  RELEASED!
Available in print and e-book


Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Mid Week Tease

A voice in my head told me that my first published short story, Just a Little Unwell, is a bit jealous because it has never been featured in the Mid Week Tease post. :) So here we go. The following excerpt is taken from my beloved story.

Welcome to my post, everyone. Thank you for coming by. And for this post, one lucky commented will get a copy of Just a Little Unwell that I will announce next week.









"That's awesome." Patrick rushes to his TV and VCR set and plays Cat Ballou, his absolute favorite movie. He searches for his favorite part where they dance at the party in the barn then turns to Damien.
"Can you dance? We should dance."
Damien shakes his head and hands, and he looks so panicked that Patrick laughs out loud.
"C'mon, Damien. It'll be fun."
"No, Patrick. You go ahead and dance."
Patrick ignores him and takes his hand. "It's not that hard."
Damien clearly looks uneasy, but he gets up and makes an attempt to haltingly follow Patrick's steps.
"Follow the music," Patrick says, laughing as Damien once more steps on his foot.
"I'm trying, I'm trying." Damien's laughing too.
Patrick stops abruptly, causing Damien to bump into his chest.
"What's wrong?" Damien asks.


Get Just a Little Unwell here:

Amazon - Barnes & Noble - All Romance Ebooks - BookStrand

Thank you for reading and don't forget, there is a GIVEAWAY. Please give your comment and email address.

Visit other blogs to enjoy more teasers!


Monday, August 26, 2013

I Heart Books Giveaway

Welcome to the I Heart Books Giveaway! 

Join the fun...Share the love!








Grand Prize (US only) 

-$25 Amazon gift card

-$10 BookStrand gift card

-1 signed Taylor Berke paperback (Stony Creek Cowboy)

-1 signed Jenika Snow paperback (Something Fierce)

-1 signed Jennifer Saliz paperback (Two to Please)
 

-Native American table runner (compliments of author Karen Mercury)
 

-Jenika Snow Swag bag
   *1 Two-Tone Jenika Snow canvas tote bag (14" x 14" x 3")
   *1 Jenika Snow coffee mug
   *2 Jenika Snow signed rack cards (1 design, front&back)
   *4 Jenika Snow magnets (2 different designs)
   *4 Jenika Snow stickers (2 different designs)
   *1 "I Heart Books" t-shirt (large)


-Tara Rose Swag
   *1 Seducing Carma coffee mug
   *1 Seducing Carma stress ball
   *1 Seducing Carma magnet
 

-Jennifer Salaiz Swag bag
   *1 T-shirt
   *1 notepad
   *1 mousepad
   *1 pen
   *1 keychain
   *1 bag

-eBook bundle pack
   *2 back-list eBooks by Jenika Snow (readers choice)
   *5 back-list eBooks by Sam Crescent (readers choice)
   *2 back-list eBooks by Jan Graham (readers choice)
   *3 back-list eBooks by Diane Leyne (readers choice)
   *2 eBooks by Tara Rose (Seducing Carma/Mastering Angela)
   *1 back-list eBook by Zoey Marcel (readers choice)
   *2 Taylor Berke eBooks (Stony Creek Hero/Stony Creek Cowboy)
   *2 Jess Buffett eBooks (His Silent Mate/Cowboy's Chocolate Roses) 
   *1 Tina Pollick eBook (Soul Broker) 
   *1 SJ Maylee eBook (Taking Chances)
   *1 CM Moss eBook (Wild West Promise)


First Place: 20 eBook bundle pack! (US & International)

-eBook bundle pack
   *2 Jenika Snow eBooks from back-list (readers choice)
   *1 Karen Mercury eBook from back-list (readers choice)
   *1 Jessica Jayne eBook from back-list (readers choice)
   *1 Kastile Eavenshade eBooks (The Heat of His Kiss)
   *5 Iyana Jenna short story collection (Dreamcatcher/A Granted Wish/Glowing Dim as an Ember/O Res Mirabilis/A Part of Me.)
   *1 Karen Mercury eBook from back-list (readers choice)
   *3 Hazel Gower  eBooks (Theirs/The Price of Fame/Kane's Mate)
   *2 Honor James eBooks (Royal Wolves 1&2: To the Edge and Back & Into the Fire)
   *2 Michelle Graham eBooks (Landing the Big Ones/The Art of Love)
   *1 James Cox back-list eBooks (readers choice)
   *1 Doris O'Connor back-list eBooks (readers choice)

 

Second Place: 10 eBook bundle pack! (US & International)

   *2 Jenika Snow eBooks from back-list (readers choice)
   *1 Sapphire Kande eBook (Molly's Sexual Curse)
   *1 Hazel Gower  eBook (Always and Forever)
   *1 Carlene Love Flores eBook (The Boss)
   *1 Doris O'Connor back-list eBook (readers choice)
   *2 Iyana Jenna short story collection (Release Me/Just A Little Unwell)
   *1 James Cox back-list eBook (readers choice)
   *1 Kastile Eavenshade eBook (The Heat of His Kiss/The Winter Virgin)

Those pesky rules...

The grand prize is only available to US residents. Giveaway will run from September 1-September 15, 2013.


The participating authors!



Carlene Love Flores: http://www.carlenelove.com


















Tina Pollick: http://tinapollick.com


Jenika Snow...Tales to Tantalize

http://www.JenikaSnow.com
http://www.jenikas.blogspot.com

Sunday, August 25, 2013

A Trip to Makassar

I was suddenly assigned to go to a city called Makassar, about 2.5 hour flight from Jakarta, to administer a test on Friday. What was a bit exciting was that I went back to Jakarta on the same day. So I left my house at 5 am and returned almost at midnight. Heh. Never in my life have I taken a plane two times in one day. :P

And here is the sight before we landed in Makassar. There are a lot of small islands near the main island and this is one of them. I wonder if anyone lives there. :)


Saturday, August 24, 2013

In the Spotlight: Tamsin Baker

Tamsin Baker has a new release and I got to interview her. :)

Hi Tamsin, welcome to my blog. I had you several times on my old journal. This is the first time you visited my new blog. I'm so excited! Now, I have several questions for you.

1. You said in your bio that your passion is M/M. Did you start writing in M/M or what was your very first story about?

The very first erotic book I ever wrote was a Historical (regency) female Domme story that after going through 5 rejections is finally being published this November by Escape Publishing. It's M/F.

Wow, congrats for the November release, Tamsin!

2. What made you fall in love with M/M?

I've always been very pro gay rights and my favourite show in high school was the American version of queer as folk, so when I found a submission call for 25-40k m/m stories I jumped at the challenge. It felt natural to me and its the ONLY genre I read for pleasure now.

*sighs* That's exactly how I feel about MM.

3. In a menage story, do you see it as everyone loves everyone else or just one of them loves two people?

I believe it is everyone loves everyone and that's how I always write it. I'm not sure I'd like to write or read a ménage where it wasn't equal... At least by the end of the story.

That's good to know!

4. Are your stories all adult, or is there any YA? You said you like experimenting. Will you write YA someday?

All are adult and I haven't really considered YA because I like writing graphic sex too much. I have one sweet story written in my other pen name and it was hell to write!

5. How long does it take for your story to be ready to be submitted from the first day you write it?

It totally depends on the story I am writing and the length. But as a general rule most of my 20-25k stories and written,polished and submitted in 4-6 weeks. I get impatient and want to get them in. I don't like to sit on stories too long :-)

That's awesome! Thank you so much for chatting with me, Tamsin.


Knowing Destiny by Tamsin Baker
MMF contemporary shifter book.

Blurb:
Chase, a golden eagle shifter, is destined to be the leader of his flock, the shifters of the air. But he has a few problems. He’s not ready for the responsibility, he isn’t sure who he wants as his mate and there’s the little issue of an unsolved killing to sort out.
Ben is also a golden eagle shifter, Chase’s best friend and three time lover. He wants to be his best friend’s mate, but can he be honest about his feelings?
Ariana is a young peregrine falcon shifter who has loved Chase for years. But why would he want her when he can have anyone he wants?
Three shifters, three separate problems, all fighting to find out who they are and how they can love each other.

Excerpt:

Ben showered and dressed quickly. What was he going to say?
“You’re going to be honest, just once, and then forget about it.”
Ben closed up his house and made his way to Chase’s place. He couldn’t live like this anymore, on tenterhooks every day, wondering what Chase was thinking, how he was feeling. Wanting to tell Chase he loved him, but not knowing how.
He had never felt so impotent in his life. But it was time to end that. He would finally admit all to Chase and live with the consequences. Today was the last day he was going to feel like this.
He jogged up the stairs and knocked on the door. “Hey, Chase, you home?”
His best friend opened the door, jeans on, but nothing on his gorgeous chest or feet.
“Hey, yeah. Come on in.”
Ben’s cock swelled within his jeans. His instant attraction to this man frustrated him, and he burst into Chase’s house.
“How did last night go?”
Chase pushed the door closed and frowned as he walked forward. “It went really well. What’s up, Ben?”
Ben clenched his fists tighter then opened them by force. Calm, he needed to stay focused.
“So, Ariana is it for you? You’ll mate with her?”
He began to pace, nervous energy working through his system and turning into anger. How could he have missed his chance to be with Chase?
Chase walked closer warily, approaching him how one would move towards an injured and angry bird. Chase had almost reached him now, and his brow knitted together. “Well, we’ve only had one night together, and she’s still at Uni, but yeah. I think so.”
Pain broke through Ben’s chest, making it feel like his ribs were being split open.
He stopped and gasped, putting a hand to his heart.
“Ben, seriously, what’s wrong?”
Ben growled and began pacing again. He couldn’t stay still, and if Chase touched him, he would surely scream.
“I don’t know how to tell you this. I’ve been wanting to talk to you for months, and it looks like I’ve run out of time.”
Inevitability settled into Ben’s mind, and he knew this was it.
Chase’s face was wary, his tone of voice gentle when he spoke. “What had you been wanting to tell me, Ben?”
Ben looked at him, his belly tight with worry. “I need to tell you ... that I...”
Ben stumbled over the words. How did you tell your male best friend that you were in love with him?
Chase leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms, that smug grin firmly in place. “If you’re going to tell me you want Ariana, too, then you’re going to have a fight on your hands.”
Ben clenched his fists, anger boiling up inside him. He opened his mouth and screamed at the man he had loved for a decade.
“I don’t want Ariana! I fucking want you! Don’t you get it? I don’t want to be your best friend who you fucked when you were drunk! I want to be your mate, too!”
Chase’s mouth dropped open, and his eyes widened. Then his eyes turned yellow, and he took a step forward. His huge hands reached for Ben, cupping his face and drawing it to his mouth.
Ben groaned and grabbed Chase about the waist, hauling his huge male into his body, absorbing Chase’s moan and squeezing his arse.
He pulled back and grabbed Chase’s jean-covered arse. “I want you.”
He stared at the man he wanted above all else waiting for a sign that Chase felt the same.
“I...” Chase cleared his throat. “I want you, too,” Chase said, the words gravelly.
Ben dropped to his knees and unbuttoned Chase’s jeans in a hurry. He had never done this for his lover, their previous intimacies brief with almost no foreplay. Now, he could think of no other way to brand Chase as his own. His powerful eagle was close to the surface.
He opened up Chase’s jean placket, and his cock sprang out, pointing directly to Ben’s mouth. Thick, heavy, red, and swollen.
God, it’s beautiful.
He wrapped his hand around the base and looked up at his man.
“I want to suck you so bad.”
He waited, wanting the confirmation that Chase wanted it, too.
His mate didn’t respond with words, but slid his fingers into Ben’s short hair and pulled him closer. That was all the permission he needed.
Ben smiled as he licked the tip. Yum.
“Chase ... are you here?” Ariana’s voice shocked them both, and Ben turned his head, ready to jump up.
But he was already too late. She wasn’t coming in. She was already here.

Tamsin Bio:

Tamsin Baker is an Aussie girl who just discovered erotic romance ten months ago. Before that, she would read sexy romance, skipping the plot and looking for the all the naughty bits. Since then, she has written erotic romance and erotica novels of varying length and has had fourteen published (so far!). She absolutely loves reading and writing! She has two other jobs, including kids and a hubby too – but writing is a passion that she has to indulge for fear of insanity.
M/M is a passion of hers so even when she writes ménage, there is always an M/M story. She particularly enjoys writing female dommes, but she loves experimenting in all genres. Tamsin is learning to write and read more one step at a time. Soon, she’ll have stories published in every sub-genre of erotic romance – well that’s her aim anyway!


Tamsin Links:


Buy Links:

http://www.amazon.com/Knowing-Destiny-Shifters-Land-ebook/dp/B00EP5SDLO/ref=sr_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377167649&sr=1-14&keywords=tamsin+baker