Live Chat

Tomorrow, May 5th, I have a live chat at Coffee Time Romance, starting at 9pm est or if your on the west coast like I am, 6pm. There's a prize. A mouse pad with my cover couple.


Please come and support me and have a chance to win a mouse pad.


Janice~

Interview with Tony-Paul de Vissage Author of The Shadow Lord

Today I'm interviewing Tony-Paul de Vissage. Please tell us about yourself?

Tony-Paul: My people came from France; some were Huguenot and fled to Great Britain where they anglicized their family name before coming to the colonies. The others were from Alsace-Lorraine when it was part of France. Eventually, both sections of mon famille settled in the South, so I’m a Southerner on both sides. I was born in Georgia but I consider myself a Creole and New Orleans my spiritual home.

I graduated from a private denominational college and have a degree in English, Art, and Drama. When I was in college, I was active in drama and always got the “outré” roles, such as “Death” in The Thracian Horses and assorted dead bodies and such which were important to the script but didn’t have any lines. I once spent an entire act on stage pretending to be in a coma!

Janice: Too bad about the death and comma scenes, but I guess someone had to play them? 
So do you feel close to your French roots?

Tony-Paul: Oui.


Janice: When did you start writing?


Tony-Paul: When I was in college, I handled the “theatre beat” for the campus paper, and contributed to the literary magazine. Once I got an opportunity to get a look at a novel one of the professors was working on. I thought to myself, “I can write better than that,” so I gave it a try. Immodest as it may sound, I think I was right!

Janice: Good for you.


Please tell us who was the biggest influence on your writing?

Tony-Paul: I had two college professors who made literature so exciting, I loved going to class! One taught Shakespeare and Chaucer and he made us think about what they wrote. He was always assigning me to research things, such as how to tell male devils from female devils in Dante’s Inferno and whether or not the Wife of Bath was really a black widow serial killer. Oh, want to know how to tell the devils apart? Male devils have horns and tails and females have hooves. Does that make Satan a hermaphrodite?

Janice: Lol, I guess it does.

Tony-Paul: I also had a cousin who liked to read my manuscripts. I’m now estranged from mon famille but I’ve often wondered if she sees my stories listed and thinks, “I remember reading that one.”

Janice: That's too bad, but I bet anything your cousin does wonder and I bet he/she is happy for you.


How do you go about your writing? Do your prefer pencils to pens or is it all straight computer work?

Tony-Paul: Mon Dieu, for an auteur, I have the terrible handwriting. I marvel at how beautiful people used to write when they used quills but even with a gel pen, my scribble is tantamount to a poulet scratching in the dirt looking for something to eat. After it gets cold, even I can’t read it. So I go straight to the keyboard, pound away for as long as it takes, save it, then come back later and edit, edit, edit!!!

Janice: Ah, yes I do that too.  And there is no writing without editing.


What influences you in your writing? Music, movies, reading, or straight research?

Tony-Paul: Since I write horror, I’ve been influenced very much by horror flicks, novels, and lately, TV series. I do like a good horror movie…not necessarily slash/dice/blood/gore but one with a non-run of the mill storyline, a neat twist, a couple of memorable characters. I like to take an old story and make it different somehow. As for research, I usually get the story and then do the research on it. I’m a stickler for accuracy and try to have all my facts verified if possible because I have this fear that there’s some nit-picker out there who’s just going to be looking for a mistake.

Janice: That's great, and all that attention to detail will make your writing stand out, too.


When do you write morning or evening? Or are you a late into the wee hours of the morning person?

Tony-Paul: I've always been of the opinion that the hours from 6 AM to Noon should be outlawed (and many of my characters espouse this same belief), so I’m definitely an afternoon and evening person. I’m lucky if I’m conscious before 11 AM!

Janice: Ah, a writer after my own heart, lol.


Who's in charge you or your muse?

Tony-Paul: Moi! I’m the boss! La Muse and I arm-wrestled for the title and I won. The winner and still champion. Of course, when you consider that a Muse is a delicate and temperamental little creature, that may not seem like such a victory but I have it on good authority, those little mademoiselles can be fickle if you don’t show them who’s boss upfront!

Janice: Good for you. I had to lock mine in a bird cage because she ran off so much.


Use only one word to describe your writing style? Or at least what you want your readers to take away from your writing.

Tony-Paul: That’s easy: Que fait reflechir. Sorry, I mean thought-provoking. (Are hyphens allowed?)

Janice: For you I'll make the exception.


What influenced your recent book, the one you are promoting here today?

Tony-Paul: My new book hasn’t been released yet but it’s one I’ve wanted to write for a long time. Have you ever heard of PMLE or XP? Those are two genetic diseases in which a person’s DNA can’t repair the damage to the skin done by ultraviolet light. There’s no cure for it and the afflicted can never go out in the daytime unless they’re covered from head-to-toe in many protective layers.

There was a recent episode of CSI: Miami in which the killer had PMLE and couldn’t go out in sunlight. They lured him to headquarters and the next day, he looked as if he was cooked and that was how they caught him.

 My mother had PMLE and would get second –degree burns if she was touched by the sun. I remember once, she stepped out on our back porch at 6 PM with the sun on the far side of the house and was burned by the heat radiating off the sidewalk. 

She used to joke that she was a vampire and that got me to thinking: What if the vampire legend was started back in the superstitious, ignorant past when someone suffering from PMLE or XP, someone who couldn’t walk in daylight and had to hide away, was believed to be an evil spirit cursed by God? In a minute, my imagination was up and running, and the Second Species was born.

I made my “vampires” have human characteristics. They eat food, drink wine—none of that “I neffer drink…vine” business for them—live, love, suffer jealousy, fear, and want revenge. They have a government and a religion just like everyone else but they hide themselves away because they fear the First Species—Mankind. Those who live among humans have to do it in disguise; always afraid they’ll be discovered and killed. They do have some of the characteristic of vampires and they have extended lifespans but they never make anyone like themselves because that is against their Laws and anyone who breaks the Law pays the price.
The premise behind The Shadow Lord, the first volume in the series, is that the Prince’s assassin—the one sent to punish those who break the Law—is murdered and his children kidnapped. His eldest son seeks revenge, leaving Transylvania to track the killer across 18th-century Europe.

Janice: That is too bad about your mother. But I find it interesting that you took her condition and turned it into an idea for a book. Good for you.


Okay, now that Tony-Paul has peaked your interest let's have a peek at The Shadow Lord. By the when I read this excerpt it made me shudder. *shudder*

EXCERPT:
Though the sun had been down for many hours, Elsabeta Suvoi was still abed. Her lover liked it that way, wanting his woman where she was convenient whenever his lust seized him.

Elsabeta was slavishly in love with Mircea Ravagiu; he was violent and insatiable, as cruel in bed as out of it, but she worshipped him. It had been so from the moment they'd met. With the greatest reluctance, her father had invited him to a banchet and she'd taken one look at the darkly handsome, black-eyed warrior, saw the lustful gleam in his eyes, and left with him that night against her parents' wishes, sullying the Suvoi name to become his iubita.

He never spoke aloud that he loved her, though often he praised her body for the satisfaction it gave him, said straightaway she should never expect marriage or offspring, but Elsabeta was from a family of women who were mere chattels to their males so she accepted his domination without argument. Running away with Mircea had been her one independent act.

At first horrified by the bloody orgies and attacks upon the deomi--the humans who lived on the edges of his estate--she now ignored his rapaciousness, letting his prowess in bed and his brutal little games distract her. When her lover and his soldati returned from one of their hunts, she would lock herself in her bedchamber to drown out the screams coming from below.

It was the cries of the children which cut most into her soul, and at those times, she thanked the Oracle that Ravagiu had sworn he'd never get her with child, for it came into her mind that--had it happened--her own infant might become one of those shrieking out its life in the castel banquet chamber.

To Elsabeta, Mircea Ravagiu was like one of the dreadful Ancient Gods who ate its own offspring, and she believed he wouldn't hesitate to rip out his own child's throat and drink its blood should the thought come to him, and yet--with that perversity Nature renders some--she loved the man and never thought to leave him.

She was jerked from her semi-slumber by the chamber door being kicked open, sat up to stare at the figure in the doorway...Mircea, upper body bare, wings hovering around him. They were still quivering, evidence he'd flown rapidly and had just landed. From where she sat, she could hear his harsh panting.

He held something in his arms.

"Get dressed." No words of greeting or love. Just an order.

"Why? What's the matter?" A crash of sound came through the doorway, voices crying. "What's that noise?"

"My men are disposing of the vanjosi." He answered as calmly as if he were merely announcing that the moon had risen. "Strigoi's freak is on his way here and we have to go."

"You should've expected this." She dared to remind him of what he'd done, though she knew it might jeopardize her own life. "Did you think you could slaughter his family and he wouldn't retaliate?"

She's been horrified when he returned from his brother's castel announcing they'd been executed by the Prince's Taietor, didn't believe it when he said he planned to kill the Shadow Lord and his family. She hadn't thought he could succeed and waited to be told he was dead--resigned to losing him and living the rest of her days as an outcast for the choice she'd made...and then, he'd returned, bloodily triumphant...and Janos Strigoi and his wife were dead and their children carried away, to be tortured before their blood nourished their father's enemy.

"I never thought that book-bound scholastic would have balls enough to take a sword in his hands!" He stalked into the room. The sounds from below got louder, women screaming, men shouting, voices abruptly cut off to be replaced by others just as terrified. "Get up or you'll join my servants!"

Sliding from the bed, she hastened to obey but as she reached for her chemise and overskirt, he said, "We're flying. Make certain your wings are unhampered," and the bundle he held suddenly moved.

It began to squirm, kicking itself out of the swathing blanket--a plump little leg, an arm...

...a baby, a little girl-child.

She looked so tiny and out of place in Mircea's deadly embrace.

"Dear one!" Elsabeta stopped with the garment in her hands. "W-who's that?"

A sick dread twisted inside her.

"My daughter." His answer was as short as if he'd bitten the word. "Now."

Daughter? How could he have a child? Hadn't he told her he wished no brats, that the only thing he wanted from them was their sweet, immortality-laden blood?

Shrugging her wings out of their concealing pouches, she peered at the infant who turned her head and held out her hands with a little whimper. The child was blonde and blue-eyed, not quite a year old.

This is Janos Strigoi's child.

Elsabeta's heart felt as if it had been wrung dry.

"What are you going to do with her?" Even as she asked the question, she knew she had to prevent it. If she had to risk her own life and finally brave Mircea's wrath, she couldn't let him harm this child.

"'Twill be fitting, don't you think?" His laugh was harsh. "Raising the Shadow Lord's brat as my own, teaching her how to be a Ravagiu and some day...letting the survivors know--"

"No! Please--" A woman's scream floated up to them, dying away to a bloody wail.

"Are you ready?" He thrust the child into her arms. Elsabeta cuddled it against her naked breast, holding the little body tightly. All she could think was that she was going to do her utmost to protect this baby.
If it kills me.

He held out his hand.

She placed her own in it, asking, "Where are we going?" as he led her toward the window.

"I'm fortunate my brother saw fit to have holdings in other countries and I've traveled to them." One fist struck the shutters, sending them flying. He stepped upon the sill. "We're going to Budapest. Hold tight to the brat. If you drop her, I'll kill you!"

He flung himself through the window into the air and Elsabeta followed, clutching the child.
Releasing her hand, Mircea circled and rose swiftly upward, his body completing a graceful curve as he aimed himself over the trees, Elsabeta trailing after him.

Below them, the killings continued for another hour.

(The Shadow Lord will be released by Red Rose Publishing. Date to be announced.)

Brenda Weaver's Second book in the Empowered Spirit Series

The long awaited book 2 is now available!
you can buy it now at www.thewildrosepress.com
Also check out Amazon.com and Fictionwise.com


Brenda J Weaver
Romance Novelist
Dragon Lord of Kells: Book 1 The Empowered Spirits Series available at
www.thewildrosepress.com
Ancestors of Fire: Book 2 The Empowered Spirits Series available March 2010
The Guardian: Book 3 The Empowered Spirits Series TBA

Ancestors Of Fire (paperback)
by Brenda J Weaver


Retail Price: $13.99


The Empowered Spirits, Book 2
Given to a stranger who was suppose to be her enemy by her father as he lay dying, the beautiful Lady Aeryn retreats to her home to heal her wounds and broken heart. To what purpose did her father do such a thing? It did not matter for she had vowed to protect her heart from the evil wiles of men. Though she would be bound forever to the stranger she would never let him become her true husband.

Angus had been just as shocked as the lovely Lady Aeryn had been when her dying father bound them together for life. She had angrily declared they would never be together then disappeared into thin air. As the new lord of Glendaugh Castle and all its lands, Angus was starting to come into his own powers that had been in hiding, lying dormant just beneath the surface. As much as he hated to get involved with Aeyrn, he needed her to complete the quest that was thrust upon him.

Will they over come the wall that had been built up around them and find a lasting love to surmount all time or will the Ancestors of Fire be their down fall forever?

(Pages 248) Spicy

Excerpt:

As Angus touched her lips to silence her protest, his body went up in flames.
The last time he kissed her he did not truly let himself taste her. This time was different. Her lips were soft and moist, pliant against his, burning a path to his soul that would never be the same. Once he felt her resistance dissipate, he leisurely explored their depths, drinking in the essence of her.

Angus ran his tongue along the sweet edge of her lips then dipped it into the cavern of her mouth, drinking her, devouring her with his boldness. He wanted their bodies connected in more ways than his smoke hazed mind could comprehend, yet he took his time. Even though it was growing harder for him to keep his rampant body in check. He had to keep reminding himself that she was still weak and wounded, with scars that had not healed from within.

His mouth wandered from her lips and caressed the smooth contours of her neck, leaving tiny kisses down her throat to the top of her breasts. His right hand caressed her flat stomach, bringing her closer to him.

Aeryn was lost in a maze of feelings she hadn’t known she possessed. A fire started in the pit of her belly, sending liquid fire burning deep within. How could she want this when every fiber of her being rebelled against it? She shouldn’t be enjoying this, not after the terrible things Harper had inflicted.

“Angus—no—please,” Aeryn whispered as his lips came dangerously close to a nipple. She shuddered with anticipation but knew she must make him stop before it was too late.



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Savvy Authors Boot Camp Class

\\*****Permission to Forward Granted and Encouraged*****//

SAVVY AUTHORS PRESENTS

Dialogue with Devon Ellington

FREE for ALL Members!  $10 for NON-Members

http://www.savvyauthors.com/event.cfm?EventID=219

 Remember - Every registration completed by April 9th earns an entry in our prize raffle.  We’re giving away 40 different prizes including books on craft, software, workshops and plotting tools.

Good dialogue is one of the foundations of good writing.  This week-long workshop consists of exercises and homework teaching techniques to provoke sparkling dialogue that will reveal and build character, move along plot, reveal backstory, and enhance setting.  There will be exercises and homework, each developing a different use of dialogue in overall story.  Participants will post short scenes for constructive comments from both the instructor and fellow students.   This is a participatory workshop, not a lecture.  Participants are required to create fresh material for the class, not post something out of a current or old WIP. 

Assignment #1:  Cadence

Assignment #2:  Information Dispersal/Backstory

Assignment #3:  Motion/Sense of Place

Assignment #4:  Conflicting Agendas

Assignment #5:  Multi-Tasking

Assignment #6:  Ensemble Scene

Prerequisites:  Foundation in grammar, spelling, structure, especially paragraph structure.   Positive attitude.  Willingness to take risks, work hard and stretch yourself required. 


Required Text:  STRUNK & WHITE’S ELEMENTS OF STYLE

WHEN:     Mar 22 - Apr 5
COST:     FREE for ALL Members!  $10 for NON-Members
REGISTRATION:     http://www.savvyauthors.com/event.cfm?EventID=219

WHO:  Devon Ellington publishes under a half a dozen names in both fiction and non-fiction.  Her plays are produced in New York, London, Edinburgh, and Australia.  Her work appears in publications as varied as NEW MYTHS, BOOKS FOR MONSTERS, THE ROSE AND THORN, TOASTED CHEESE, THE RANFURLY REVIEW, FEMME FAN, EMERGING WOMEN WRITERS, THE SAVVY GAL, BLESSED GARDENS, THE CRAFTY TRAVELER, THE ARMCHAIR DETECTIVE, and ELLE. 

She writes the urban fantasy Jain Lazarus Adventures, the YA horse racing mystery DIXIE DUST RUMORS as Jenny Storm, and, under the Cerridwen Iris Shea name, the pirate fantasies involving the crew of “The Merry’s Dalliance.” Work appears in anthologies including PERFECTLY PLUM, SIMPLE PLEASURES OF THE KITCHEN, GHOST STORIES OF THE MOGOLLON RIM, FULL CIRCLE, and ARDEUR. 

She writes “The Literary Athlete” for THE SCRUFFY DOG REVIEW.  She teaches in-person and online workshops all over the world, including at The Muse Online Conference, the Catholic Writers Conference Online, adult education centers, YWCAs, community colleges, and private writers’ groups. 

Visit her blog on the writing life, Ink in My Coffee:  http://devonellington.wordpress.com, and her websites www.devonellingtonwork.com,www.fearlessink.com, and www.cerridwenscottage.com.


********************
savvyauthors.com - Writers Helping Writers

Toni V. Sweeney, Author of The Serpent's Tooth

Hi, I would like to introduce my first interviewee, Toni V. Sweeney. Author of The Serpent's Tooth.



Hi Toni, Welcome. Please tell us about yourself. 

Toni: I’m a Southerner but I’ve lived on both coasts and in the Great Plains, specifically in the Buffalo Commons portion of Nebraska. I like to joke that I’ve survived hurricanes in the South, tornadoes and blizzards in the Midwest, and mudslides, earthquakes, and forest fires in California. I graduated from a well-known private college in Georgia with a Bachelors in Fine Art and also have a diploma in Graphic Art. I have a son and two grandchildren, ages 16 and 8.

Janice: My goodness you have seen a lot of natural disasters, and I'm impressed with your education, WTG. 


And when did you start writing?

Toni: ’Way back when I was in grade school, the third grade, I think, I used to write “novels” and illustrate them. I had these huge sheets of paper a med-tech friend of my mother’s gave me. They were about 18” x 24” and were used to separate the plates used in x-rays. They were tossed as each plate was used so she thought I could draw on them. I made storyboards on each sheet just like in graphic novels. In high school, I was on the school newspaper and in college, I contributed to the college literary magazine The Plucked Dulcimer, so—a long answer to a short question—I started writing shortly after I learned how to put pen to paper.


Janice: That's alright. I loved hearing about your storyboards and being on the school paper. The college magazine must have been interesting, too.


Who was the biggest influence on your writing?

Toni: Three people: My seventh-grade teacher, Lucille Comer, who encouraged her students to write and would make time in the teaching week to have us read our stories; my college professors, Wilson C. Snipes and May F. McMillan. I kept up a correspondence with them after graduation and dedicated Bloodseek, the first book in my series The Chronicles of Riven the Heretic to them. Unfortunately, Dr. Snipes didn’t live to see that, although “Dr. Mac” did. I really enjoyed their classes. Dr. Mc Millan is also a “Nessie” fan, as I am, and she spends part of each year in Scotland at Loch Ness.

Janice: How wonderful to have such inspirational teachers. Nessie is awesome. I wouldn't mind going to Loch Ness myself someday.


How do you go about your writing? Do your prefer pencils to pens or is it all straight computer work?

Toni: I used to write everything out in longhand on lined tablets,--with a ballpoint or inkgel pen--then transcribe it by typewriter. Then I’d print it out and put it in a notebook. I sure killed a lot of trees in those days. But my writing preferences have right along with ways to write: manual typewriter to electric to electronic to computer. After I got my first computer, I stopped transcribing and went straight to keyboarding. Now I keep everything in a “Safe Storage” unit.

Janice: Keeping your writing safe is the smart thing to do. I've lost some of my original manuscripts when the computer messed up and it was a hard lesson to learn.


What influences you in your writing? Music, movies, reading, or straight research?

Toni: Anything can be an influence. A memorable scene such as birds flying overhead with the sun shining through their wings, something someone says, a pun, the fact that I didn’t like the ending to a movie I’ve seen and write my own, the lyrics of a song to make a story…even a dream. Serpent’s Tooth came directly from a fragment of a dream I had. It could even be an occupation. I used to be disposal coordinator for an asbestos removal company and had to arrange waste disposal with state, local, county, and Federal agencies. That led to the idea of the Toxic Zone, a gigantic waste dump covering most of Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Colorado, and Wyoming, which became the site of a Federation prison in the Sinbad series.

Janice: Wow, so interesting. I'm impressed you took your experience with your job and turned into a book.

When do you write morning or evening? Or are you like me, a late into the wee hours of the morning person?

Toni: When I was working, I would write from the time I got home from work to about 11 PM. Now that I’m “retired” (that’s a euphemism for being unemployed), I start writing around 11 AM and do that until about 5 PM. Then I do mundane things such as cook dinner and wash dishes.

Janice: Who's in charge you or your muse?

Toni: I like to think it’s a 50/50 proposition but I think secretly the Muse is in charge. For example, I was doing just fine on my new book. Then, I wanted to change direction. Apparently the Muse didn’t for the next day, I struggled through two chapters, then deleted them because they were so awful I couldn’t stand them. Pure drivel! I went to bed really discouraged, thinking maybe I should just set the book while for a few months. Apparently, the Muse had decided I needed a little lesson and took a coffee-break --or whatever it is muses do when they aren’t being helpful--and quickly took pity on me because the next morning, the chapters were there in my head and I could hardly type fast enough.

Janice: Lucky you, your muse took pity on you, lol. 


Okay, here is a hard question; use only one word to describe your writing style? Or at least what you want your readers to take away from your writing.

Toni: Me use only one word? Can’t be done! Well, I guess…imaginative…entertaining… Wait, that’s two words. Either of the above.

Janice: Imaginative. I like that. 


What influenced your recent book, the one you are promoting here today?

Toni: That dream I was talking about. I don’t remember a thing about it, except that it involved an actor, Arthur Franz, from the 50s. He starred in a lot of TV SF dramas. I woke up with the name “Hildebrandt” in my head. Two day later, I saw an old black-and-white SF movie and Franz was in it, and there was another actor playing an admiral named Hildebrandt. BOINGGG! Shook me a little. I took that as a sign that these two events meant something, and a few days later, the story Serpent’s Tooth (under the working title The Inheritor) started forming. I began telling the story of a rock star’s climb to fame and his eventual fall. What I ended up with was a modern-day re-telling of Faust, set in Hollywood and the wilderness of the Great Plains.

Janice: That's great, seeing the movie the next day. It would shaken me up a bit too. *shudder*


Okay, now that Toni has whetted your appetite here's a tid-bit of the Serpents tooth.

SERPENT’S TOOTH:

by Toni V. Sweeney

Publisher’s link:

BLURB:

At first, it seemed like the screenplay of a romance. A famous rock star disappears…twenty-five years later, a former fan discovers he’s still alive. They fall in love and marry and he takes her to the ranch where he’s hidden for a quarter of a century but there the love story degenerates into a tale of horror. Hildebrand was famous; Travis Brandt wants anonymity and Melissa Powers’ love. What they get is something else. It’s a story of a youngster from Nebraska who became the idol of millions but wanted more; of a young man who bartered his soul in return for fame.

Hildebrand wanted it all and got it but now Travis, Melissa, and their child must pay for his sins.

EXCERPT:

(Melissa Powers, vacationing above a cruise ship, finds she has a stalker. Confronting him, she discovers Travis Brandt to be rock star Hildebrand, who has been missing for a quarter of a century. They are attracted to each other and, with some reservations, Melissa invites Travis back to her stateroom for a nightcap. She waits, he doesn’t show, she decides to go to bed. Then, there’s a knock at the door…)

Travis was leaning against the doorframe, the gray jacket thrown over one shoulder, one pocket bulging alarmingly. In his right hand, he held two tulip-shaped champagne flutes.

She had seen that pose before. One of his movies. Chico, the young gigolo in Crossfire.

“You forgot to give me your cabin number.” Only mildly accusing, not inconvenienced at all. “I had to bribe a steward.”

“Sorry.“ Secretly, she wasn’t. He actually searched for me?

He leaned forward and kissed her on the neck, just below her ear, inhaling softly.

“I shouldn’t have bothered the steward. I should've just followed the scent of your perfume. What’s it called?”

“Nuit de Paris. It was my mother’s.”

“I like it. It’s subtle. Doesn’t knock you off your feet like some of that stuff women wear,”
She stepped back to let him enter the cabin. He draped the jacket over the back of a chair and set the glasses on the table.

“Do you like champagne?”

“Not really." As usual, she told the truth. "I think it tastes flat, and sour. Does that mean I have a peasant’s palate?”

“Not a bit! I don’t like it, either--that’s why I decided to stick with that good old American favorite-- ” He fished into the jacket pocket and produced a red and white can, “--Coca-Cola!” presenting it for her inspection as if it were a bottle of fine wine. “Does Madame approve?”

He's doing it again!

It was a parody of the beginning of the seduction scene from Dark Lover.

She took the can from him, read the label, said, “I’ve never tried Vanilla Coke,” and handed it back to him.

“You’ll like it.” He popped the top without a bit of spray, expertly poured both flutes exactly half full, and handed one to her. “It’s deep and dark with an aftertaste of mellow sweetness.”

"Like you?" Melissa took a sip and lowered her glass.

That made him laugh. “There’s nothing sweet about me, kiddo!” He raised his own glass, then looked over at her. “Like your peignoir.”

“Oh! I-I was j-just finishing my bath, and--” Oh, Lord, he probably thinks I put this on especially for him! “Y-you see, I thought you weren’t--”

“You thought I was going to stand you up?” He fixed her with a pitying hazel stare. “Miss Powers! O ye of little faith!”

She didn’t answer, just stood there shaking her head.

“You look very exotic with that turban on. Like a maharani.”

Melissa put one hand to her head. She’d forgotten about the towel. Guiltily, she pulled it off, folding it. Concentrating on the blue rectangle, she was very aware of how her tousled hair must look.

He took a step toward her, one hand reaching out to touch a lock resting on her shoulder.

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair. It looks just like I thought it would.” He released the curl and touched his glass to hers. It made a high-pitched, tinkling sound. “To a very beautiful lady, the first real Southern belle I’ve ever met.”

“Thank you, Mr. Brandt.“

“Travis.”

“What?”

“Travis. If we’re going to stand here, with me in my shirtsleeves and you wearing nothing but that sexy robe--
You aren’t wearing anything else, are you?”

Melissa’s hand went to the neck of the peignoir while the other brushed down the front making certain it was closed.

“--We’d better be on a first-name basis.”

She could see the amusement in his eyes again, making lights dance there. She ran a hand down the front of her robe, making certain it was closed.

“Don’t worry, I haven’t seen anything. Yet.”

REVIEWER’S EXCERPT:

Serpent’s Tooth is an interesting mix of romance and horror. The slow and steady build-up to the terrifying conclusion of the book is a daring experiment and quite typical of Toni V. Sweeney. She’s an author who doesn’t seem afraid of anything… This is an author who is learning and developing at a speedy rate. Try Serpent’s Tooth. It’s unique and, I think, worth reading: it will surely make romance enthusiasts uncomfortable, and it will show horror fans that slice and dice just doesn’t stand up to understated and/or realistic horror.

--Clayton Bye, Horror critic for The Deepening.
http://www.thedeepening.com/horror/2010/03/05/serpents-tooth-by-toni-v-sweeney/

New e-publisher opens its doors

New e-publisher opens its doors. Keith publications. I checked them out and they only have one book in there romance section. They are that spanking new.

Their romance division is called Wicked ink press.

And their non-fiction is called D'ink well. Cute name, huh?

The best part is, they are looking for writers.

Click here for pitch session with Keith publications.

Windswept Shore by Janice Seagraves

Windswept Shores by Janice Seagraves
$3.50
Coming Soon 02/04/2010

Windswept Shores by Janice Seagraves

Cover Contest Winner erotic contemporary romance novella

(approx 25-30K)

price $3.50

Cover Art by Pink Petal Books with assistance from Winterheart Design

ISBN# to be assigned

BLURB: The sole survivor of a plane crash, Megan is alone on a deserted island in the Bahamas until she finds a nearly-drowned man washed up on shore. Another survivor, this time from a boat wreck.

With only meager survival skills between them, will they survive and can they find love?

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

Yup, this one is mine.

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I wrote it two years ago, and when I saw the cover contest at Pink Petal books I liked the second cover, and thought it would be perfect for my ms Windswept.

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So I polished it up and sent it in. I wish I could say I turned my mind to other things. But . . .

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The truth is I felt a little ill, lol.

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It was the first time I have ever sent off a full book length manuscript off. Well it wasn't just like that, I had to make up a submission package first. That's the first three chapter which have to be perfectly edited, the blurb, and the synopsis.

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But I did it.

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Then I got a request for the full manuscript, then after a two week wait I got the word . . . a contract offer on my book. I had to read the email several times just to make sure I wasn't seeing things, lol. I think a lot of writers have that same reaction.

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I have a lot of good people to thank who gave the courage to enter this contest. All the good puppies at Avoid Writer Hell yahoo group. My Mentor Faith Bicknell-Brown she calls us her puppies, and hits us with a rolled up newspaper when we're been bad. Tess McKall, her second in command.

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My writer friends Lisa Griffin, Connie Wood, and Brenda Weaver who I bugged constantly for advice. Which one reads better--one, two or three?

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My first beta reader Gaynor Lewis, who read my baby when it was just a dream and a couple of chapters.

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And the first person to read the whole thing Connie Wood.

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She Beta read the full ms, and gave me lots of great advice. You see my hero is from Australia, and so is Connie.

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I will forever be indebted to her for her encouragement, and her help with the Aussie slang. She also helped me nail down who my hero Seth is, and where he grew up. We decided that he grew up in Sidney Australia, and learned how to surf at Bondi beach.

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It was a lot of fun doing the research for my book. I did tons of web-searches, bought books on how to speak Australian, and on the Bahamas. I also bought a film made by a Bahamian featuring one of the main islands, and another with just film footage of the beaches called Waves. I like to hear the sound of the waves don't you?

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Did you know that there are something like three hundred islands that make up the Bahamas? And only about eighty are inhabited? The water is a natural teal color, and an iridescent purple at night. The sea is somewhat shallow and reefing by boats is a real hazard. That's why I had my hero's boat get reefed.

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My heroine Megan, was heading to the main vacation spot Nassau when her plane went down, she was the first one to the island and had to figure out how to stay alive.

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But life isn't easy on a deserted island, they face dangerously brittle trees, cannibal crabs, meat eating boars, unpredictable weather and even pirates.

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But will they find love?

All Romance eBooks

All Romance eBooks Offers Over 50,000 DRM Titles to Readers on the iPhone Online eBook (http://omnilit.com) retailer All Romance eBooks™ (ARe) now carries thousands of DRM titles in the eReader format making them available to iPhone and iPod Touch users of the Lexcycle Stanza app.
Palm Harbor, FL (PRWEB) Dec! ember 10, 2009 -- ARe announced today a move to include the eReader format as an option for their eBook downloads that will increase the number of titles available to Stanza users from 10,000 to over 50,000, including protected DRM files on both their All Romance and OmniLit mobile sites.
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"Many of our titles are only available in formats which include DRM (digital rights manager), a form of encryption," explains ARe's founder Lori James. "Now with the addition of the eReader format, we can offer a solution to our mobile readers who want to buy titles such as Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, Stephanie Meyer's New Moon, or Lora Leigh's Bengal's Heart."
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ARe and Lexcycle, the company behind the critically acclaimed Stanza electronic book reader, joined forces and began offering eBooks to iPhone and iPod users last November. The titles from both of ARe's sites, including fiction, non-fiction, and romance eBooks (http://allromanceebooks.com) are accessible for reading on Stanza. Stanza is available from the iTunes App Store for free.
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About Lexcycle and Stanza Lexcycle strives to bring the digital reading revolution to readers around the world. With over 2.7 million users in 75 countries, Lexcycle's Stanza is one of the most popular electronic book readers for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch. To learn more, visit http://www.lexcycle.com.
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About All Romance eBooks All Romance eBooks, LLC was founded in 2006, is privately held in partnership, and headquartered in Palm Harbor, Florida. The company owns All Romance, which specializes in the sale of romance eBooks and OmniLit, which sells both fiction and non-fiction eBooks.

Introducing Ava James's One Dark Night

For One Dark Knight
By: Ava James Other books by Ava James Categories: Historical Mainstream ROMANCE Word Count: 63,277Heat Level: SENSUAL Published By: Siren-Bookstrand, Inc.

AVAILABLE: Tuesday, September 29th

Past the suitable age for marriage, Lady Isobel longs for her life to begin. When the chance to flee the clutches of her misery arises, she sets out on a journey to her dower lands and childhood home. But no road is without its perils, and she soon finds she needs someone by her side.

Sir Robert de Gever's duties become vastly more complicated when Lady Isobel stumbles into his life in need of rescue. Questions arise and secrets run deep, leaving desire and suspicion to war within him.

Intrigue awaits the pair, and conspirators abound. Is the bond of one dark night spent together strong enough to save them from their fears?


For One Dark Knight
Available in: Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Reader, HTML, Mobipocket Price: $5.50


Excerpt:

He wished he could keep her locked away—far, far away. The woman
looked as though she were arming herself for battle. Her sweet smiles
changed the instant the last of the men quit the room.

“What is the matter?” Isobel asked with a clipped tone.

“What is the matter?” Robert began his counterattack in falsetto. “Where should I start? My men have all left their posts, and training, to come to the beck and call of the devilish temptress besieging Durham .” He watched her eyes grow wide as he spoke. How was it that even now, he could think of nothing but her lips?

“Devilish temptress? If I tempted any man, it was in no way intentional,
and in every way a result of the man’s baser interests.” Isobel took a
challenging step toward him. She accused him with her eyes and her words. "Furthermore, if it weren't for yer noble act of imprisonment, I would not be here!"

Robert stepped closer to her. Her feminine scent wafted into his
nostrils. She easily broke his train of thought. The aroma that lingered about her intoxicated his senses. Beyond doubt, she was a foul temptress! With every attempt to ignore her, he failed miserably. Each time he was in her presence she distracted him. If it was not her beauty that caught his
attention, it was her voice and words. The woman drew him in and he did
not care to be so affected by her. He needed to reign in his thoughts and
focus.

Focus, focus.

In a much calmer voice he said, “Would ye rather I left ye to be ravished
by those Saxon mercenaries?” He took another step closer to her as he spoke. He watched her gaze fall to his lips. Her pink tongue crossed her own bottom lip, and a blush came to her soft cheeks. God’s wounds, he felt too much for this lady. She drew away. “Ravished by those Saxons is not what I want.” Her voice weak, and unusually breathy, he wondered just who she’d like to be ravished by.

His own errant mind conjured up dangerous visions of her naked body slick against his own. He couldn’t help himself, so he asked just what he’d been wondering. “What do ye want?"

http://www.bookstrand.com/product-foronedarkknight-14960-330.html

Paradise Rules Contest by Beth Kery

An Announcement from Brenda Weaver

For those of you that have not yet bought Hell's Raging Fury it is available now at
https://www.createspace.com/Customer/EStore.do?id=3390218
New cover, same incredible story!
Hope you enjoy and tell all your friends!

Brenda


Brenda J Weaver
Romance Novelist
Dragon Lord of Kells: Book 1 The Empowered Spirits Series available at
www.thewildrosepress.com
Ancestors of Fire: Book 2 The Empowered Spirits Series available March 2010
The Guardian: Book 3 The Empowered Spirits Series TBA
http://brenda-weaver.tripod.com
www.myspace.com/ladydragynheart
www.brendaweaver.blogspot.com
http://romancewriterandreader.ning.com/profile/BrendaWeaver
http://fansofromance.ning.com/profile/BrendaWeaver
http://www.booksinsync.com/multibookauthors/weaverbrendaj.html

dreams are born within the imagination of our souls....let me weave the magic in yours

Two book trailers from Brenda Weaver

Two book trailers from Brenda Weaver
Dragon Lord of Kells
(If I did it right)

The second in the series:
The Empowered Spirit Series! Book #2 will be Ancestors of Fire

Brenda wants everyone to know that the Dragon Lord of Kells will be the first installment to my new The Empowered Spirit Series! Book #2 will be Ancestors of Fire and Book #3 will be The Guardian.

The Fallen Fae by Connie Wood

Its my pleasure to introduce Connie Wood a friend of mine from Australia.

This is her first book and it sounds very exciting. She's a great writer and brings a unique perspective on fallen Angels and where the Fae really come from.

Her book will soon be released from Freya's Bower .

Fallen Fae Blurb

Shae is a fallen angel seeking salvation through a woman promised to him in return for services rendered long ago.

Aleta is unaware she is the payment of a deal made between her grandfather and the Fae.

With her grandfather gone she discovers a faerie stone allowing Shae to come to her and set their destiny in motion.

Will she be his salvation, or will their love hold them both in eternal damnation?

Excerpt Fallen Fae

She closed her eyes and listened to the crickets sing their symphony outside. Their song a familiar one, it enfolded her like a warm, comfortable blanket. She started to doze.

Something else behind the cricket song, deeper than the usual sounds of the night, prevented sleep.

Low and primal, it seemed to bypass her ears and register straight to her brain. The sound pounded and seeped deep throughout her body. It found the rhythm of her heart and kept its beat as if made just for her. The heat followed it, though this burning resonated unhindered within her and pooled low in her belly. Her breath became erratic; she tried to suck the moist hot air into her starved lungs.

“Open your eyes to me, Aleta.”

She obeyed. A tall, almost naked man stood over her bed, his white-blond hair blowing in the breeze from the fan. Raw power emanated from him, and a ripple of pure lust darted through her. She should be terrified to find someone in her house, but she knew this to be a dream.

It had to be.

His familiarity proved it all the more, for this was a man she had seen before. Whom she had felt before. The memory of him spun at the edges of her mind. His voice spoke straight to her brain, just like the incessant pounding fueling her desires.

He stood there, impossibly handsome, his eyes the exact same shimmering green of the faerie stone she clutched between her tightened fingers. A loin cloth of sorts was the only thing providing his modesty—and it wasn’t really that modest. She lowered her eyes before they followed the length of his body in slow appraisal.

Bare feet stood wide apart on the dark wooden planks, his long legs bulged with taut muscles.

Aleta swallowed, and her gaze neared the light tan loin cloth. Its soft material barely covered his hardness beneath. The muscles across his rock hard stomach clenched visibly as she continued her journey upward. He crossed his heavily muscled arms against the wide strength of his chest.

His jaw set firm, the harshness diminished by those soft, kissable lips. Perfectly arched eyebrows framed shining, crystal clear green eyes.

She stifled a gasp, and her heart lurched at the burning intensity of his gaze. A shiver of excitement ran down her spine.

Celtic Lover's Magic trailer

Lisa Griffin--Celtic Lover's Magic

I want to introduce a friend of mine named Lisa Griffin.

I met Lisa on Avoid writer's hell group. The first time I read am except of her's that she tentatively posted for us to read, I knew she was a writer with talent.

Her writing speaks to you, and carries you off. Her heroes and heroines are some times tragic and lonesome, but they live and breath and touch your heart.

I'm looking forward to her published works.

Janice~


Coming Soon!
A Celtic Lover’s Magic by Lisa Griffin
http://www.freyasbower.com/


Bio:
Lisa resides in North Alabama with her husband and young daughter. A writer of contemporary romance, you can find her at http://www.lisaalexandergriffin.com/ or www.myspace.com/destinyschoice8

Blurb:
California raised, Liam Macauley inherits what he believes to be a mansion in Ireland from an uncle he’s never known. The moment he sets foot on Irish soil nothing is, as it seems.

Caileaan, descendent of the Sidhe, ancient gods of Eire, the Tuatha De Danann, longs to dig her toes into freshly turned earth, toil side by side with a husband, birth his children, know what it is to be loved and alive as one with humans. In a a battle of darkness and light, will the evil Fomhoire destroy the promise made to Caileaan and thwart Liam’s chance to attain his hearts desire?



Unedited Excerpt #1:
Liam Macauley stepped onto the dock. Waves sloshed the hull, the riverboat nudging under his weight. He gazed at the distant highlands where magical fingers of mist twined and writhed to obscure the Irish landscape of Boyne Valley.

He shouldered the small carryon bag and wheeled the larger suitcase down the wooden dock. His legs protested each stride, slowly adjusting to solid ground.

Liam tunneled a hand through his hair, scanned the deserted dockyard and spotted the lone taxi. For two days he’d traveled up river to reach this place and the whole damn trip remained a mystery: an uncle he didn’t know and an inheritance he’s never expected.

A raven screeched and flew low, almost slamming into him. Liam ducked, and unease crept up his spine as the bird cawed and settled into a nearby tree.

The raven’s golden eyes blinked as if mapping his every move. Liam locked his gaze on the bird and eased the taxi door open. The raven flapped its dark wings and took to the air as Liam slid inside. The breath rushed out of him, and he looked at the taxi’s driver.

"I assume you’ll want to go directly to Macaula Mansion?"
Liam scrutinized the man. "Yeah. How did you know?"

The cabby smiled. "Let’s just say I have my orders, sir." He shifted into gear and moved down the bumpy lane.

Unsure how to respond, Liam sat back in the seat. The countryside whizzed past. He relaxed, cranked the side window down, and breathed deeply of the fresh air and pungent pine aroma—a drastic change from the smog and congestion of Los Angeles.

The driver glanced in the rearview mirror. "Your first visit to Ireland?"
"Yes." Liam laughed. "An obvious tourist, eh?"

The cabby’s eyes glinted, and he chuckled. "Not at all." He veered the taxi down a winding lane, more rutted than the one they had left behind. The elevation rose with each turn, and the cabby slowed his speed. "Macaula Mansion straight ahead, sir," he said, and, moments later, braked to a stop.
Liam stared out the window. "God in heaven," he muttered in disbelief.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

The taxi clamored over a wooden drawbridge and through an arched stone portcullis. "Did no one inform you that the mansion’s an old keep?" The driver laughed.

Liam opened the door, fumbled for his bags and stepped out. "No…err…no, they didn’t," he stammered and dug into his pocket.

"Cab fare’s been paid. G’day, sir. Enjoy your stay." The cabby revved the engine and eased away.

Liam stared at the stone-faced monstrosity. The lawyer who’d contacted him had revealed his inheritance over the phone: a thousand acres and a mansion. Not a damned keep. No wonder this Brennan Finny declined further detail. Probably feared he’d tuck tail and run.

Liam turned full circle. Damn!



The Unexpected Gift by Lisa Griffin
COMING December 9, 2008
One Touch, One Glance
A Sweet Anthology (Sweet Romance is Back!)
http://www.freyasbower.com/



Bio:
Lisa resides in North Alabama with her husband and young daughter. A writer of contemporary romance, you can find her at http://www.lisaalexandergriffin.com/ or www.myspace.com/destinyschoice8

Blurb:

Elise, a widowed mother, finds attraction in the most unbelievable of forms—a toy store Santa with twinkling blue eyes. Cade, drawn to mother and child, wars with inner demons from his past. Is his instant and emotional attachment due to the loss of his wife and child? Will a Christmastime miracle heal Elise and Cade’s wounded souls, allowing them a second chance at love?



Elise wrung her hands, stared at the phone, and willed it to ring. She’d gone to the doctor just that morning to find out why she felt so fatigued, so nauseous.

The mesmeric twinkle of lights drew her gaze to the window. Christmas Eve. She should be happy, but she wasn’t. Her chest tightened into a painful knot. Her husband’s face, his love of life, surfaced in her mind. James had been gone for only two weeks, but a long and bleak future stretched ahead of her. An eternity.

She coughed, fighting the urge to gag. Food made her queasy. Like clockwork, she’d vomited every morning. What’s wrong with me?
The phone rang shrilly, shattering the silence. Her nerves already shot, she jerked. I should have died with him.

Elise took a deep breath and reached for the phone.

"Hello," she said, cringing at the quiver in her voice.

"Elise," Dr Mansfield said. "Is that you? You sound strange." His voice faltered, and a chuckle rumbled through the phone. "I have what I hope is wonderful news. It seems that James has left you a miraculous Christmas gift. You, Elise, are going to be a mother."

Elise stared at the receiver. Her eyes blurred. Even in death, James knows what I need and takes care of me from beyond the grave.

She smiled for the first time in weeks. Proof of their love would live on long after she was gone. Although she couldn’t share that joy with her husband, this baby would give her strength to endure the holidays.

Elise released a thankful sigh. "Thank you, Dr. Mansfield. I’ll get back with you—when I’ve had a chance to digest this unexpected, but wonderful news."

"You’ve been under a lot of stress lately. I’d like you to call for an appointment, soon."

"I will." She hung up the phone. Her hand fell to her stomach.
The baby was an answered prayer, a gift from God. Somehow she’d manage. The will to live surged inside her. She glimpsed light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.

Bowing her head, she wept.



--~Lisa~ Coming Dec 9th '08 from Freya's Bower: One Touch, One Glance, A Sweet Anthology Step into my world... where dreams come true...and dreams are shattered... But happily ever after still happens...
http://www.lisaalexandergriffin.com/

Dragon Lord of Kells: Book 1 The Empowered Spirits Series

This is a first for me I get to blog a book for a new friend of mine. Meet Brenda Dream Weaver aka Lady dragon with a heart.

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Well, its actually Brenda J. Weaver, er um, I just got carried away.

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Brenda lives here in California and in the central valley just like I do.

Not only is she a writer but a artist too, and she creative wonderful things with just a needle and thread. She's also, I think, adventurous wrapping herself around her hubby on the back of their motorcycle and off they'll go into the mountains seeking adventure.

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One of her favorite things that she shares with me is the love of dragons.
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Yes me hearties there be dragons a plenty here, so strap on your broadsword and armour as she take you on an adventure.

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This is the first book in her on going series;

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Dragon Lord of Kells: Book 1 The Empowered Spirits Series

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.The year is 1092 Ireland .

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A time when magic and myths should only be legends of the ancestors, yet down in the angry mists of the dark forest of Muir, Rowan of Locks Glen stumbles into a trap.

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He is the last of his kind.

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A fierce and mighty Dragon Lord that time has seemed to have forgotten. As Rowan is fighting for his very life, thoughts of his life flash before him, making him even more aware that he should have taken a wife to ensure the lineage of his blood. As a throng of arrows whip through his body, he is unable to forgive himself that error as all goes black.
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Kira, a healer from an ancient clan of elves stumbles across Rowan’s prone body. She is shocked to recognize him as the protector of her people. She finds him barely alive, hides him, starts to heal him and takes him to her cottage where, she hoped, he would be safe.

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While there, Rowan thinks she would make him a good wife and asks her to be his life mate. She at first refuses for she feels unworthy, but, she was born to protect this mighty Dragon Lord. What better way to protect him than to be constantly by his side.
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Will this marriage of convenience find a way to bring two lonely hearts together as one? Or will the evil of man and wizard alike, pull them apart forever.
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Excerpt:
Bringing her thoughts back to the present, Kira was about to give up hope of finding any one alive when she heard a faint moan from behind her. She hurried over to the man. He was lying on his stomach, blood splattered everywhere on his armor. She felt his neck for a pulse. It was barely there below the surface, but it was there none the less.

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She stood and looked down at the man. He was a very large man. It would take all her strength and cunning to be able to move his massive body. Well, there was no help for it. She needed to turn him over and remove his armor so she could tend to his wounds.

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With steady fingers she grabbed the taut leather strips that held the armor together along the sides. There were five all together, on either side, tied snugly to keep the armor from slipping. Once they were removed it was by far a much easier task slipping the armor off from the backside first. She knew as soon as she was able to turn him over onto his back, the rest of the armor would fall away. But then there was the task of removing the chain mail jerkin that he wore just beneath the armor. He was such a large man that she knew the jerkin would be too heavy for her to remove by herself. She would have to have him in a sitting position or all would be for naught.

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As gently as she could, she started pushing him over onto his back. He was unconscious so his weight was that of a dead man. He moaned softly, but didn’t move. She had examined his backside and had found no wounds save for the arrow that protruded from his left shoulder and the nasty gash that bled from the back of his dark head, probably done when he had fallen from his horse, his helm coming loose and landing several feet from where he lay. She hoped she would be able to save him. Finally, with one last shove, over onto his back he went. She gasped in sudden recognition as she fell backward onto her backside.

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“You!” she breathed in a whisper. The shock that gripped her also had knocked the breath from her chest. The same man that had haunted her dreams last eventide now lay before her! The man that had haunted her dreams for as far back as she could remember, lay within arms reach. She took in life sustaining air as she looked at him. Mentally shaking herself and gathering her senses, she quickly took a piece of cloth from her bag and wet it with the skin of water that she’d carried with her.

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Gently she started cleaning the blood and dirt from his ruggedly handsome face. His dark hair stood out like a beacon against the paleness of his skin. She remembered the arrow in his shoulder and then spied another lodged in his upper thigh. Both had been broken off into the flesh, evidently when he had fallen from his horse that lay only a few feet from him. From the carnage that surrounded them, she could not believe how little damage was done to him in this battle. She mentally thanked the Goddess for looking after him.

Brenda Weaver's website
Find Brenda on myspace
Dragon Lord of Kells at Wild Rose press
Dragon Lord of Kells at Fictionwise ebooks
Dragon Lord of Kells at Amazon; it's a paperback book

Tara S. Nichols Secrets of Summer

Things aren't always as they seem. Convinced she was the ugly duckling in a gaggle of swans, Pyper discovers that her childhood crush has had some fantasies of his own. Amidst the threat of losing everything she holds dear she learns that sometimes a crush can become a reality.

Secrets of Summer

by Tara S Nichols

Coming soon to http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/a...htm

It has been years since Pyper has seen any sign of Liam Patterson so she is surprised when he reappears outside his old stomping grounds. More surprising is when he addresses her by her name. By the looks of Liam very little had changed about the beach loving playboy. He was just as handsome and just as flirtatious, although it never was her he had been flirting with, until now. As their secrets unravel both summer residents are faced with the thought of never returning to Victoria Beach, the place where their fantasies began.

Available April 18th from Cobblestone-press!

Two New Books by Aislinn Kerry

Romance Diva Aislinn Kerry asked those of us with blogs to blog this;

Psyche, by Aislinn Kerry
Available April 22nd from Loose ID

After months of text messaging, Psyche has fallen in love with a man she's never even met, so when she finally gets the chance to see him face-to-face, she leaps at it. However, their meeting doesn't turn out quite the way she expected. E hides in the dark and refuses to let her turn on the lights. Psyche's startled at first, but willing to overlook a few idiosyncrasies while they get to know each other in person. Their relationship flourishes--until the night Psyche's curiosity gets the better of her.

Light reveals that E is Eros, the Greek god of love and desire, and he is furious that she broke her word. She begs for forgiveness, but he won't give it. In breaking her word, she broke his trust. She must seek help from a goddess and brave the dangers of the underworld in order to prove herself and win back the man she loves.

Read an excerpt!


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All that Glitters, by Aislinn Kerry
Availale April 22nd from Samhain Publishing

Kynan Pritchard has come to Paris to start a new life, one free from the gruesome nightmares--and the accusations of insanity--that have plagued him from childhood. He's used to a hard-luck existence, but when a stranger comes to his aid, he thinks maybe that luck is changing. Aneirin is strong and brave, everything that Kynan wants to be. And Kynan falls for him. Hard.

But Kynan's nightmares are about to become reality, and not even Aneirin can protect him from the monster who's stalked him across the continent. The gwrach-y-rhibyn threatens everything--Kynan's life, his sanity, even his love for Aneirin.

To defeat her, Kynan will have to risk becoming the very creature he hates.

Read an excerpt!