The Dynamic Trio - Blog

Sorry I’ve been so absent of late. I’m in the writing cave finishing up my polish on No Reservations - mine and Megan’s next joint project. I should finish with it today in fact and then it’s on to Fallen, or what was Fallen but is not notFallen and we’re in the process of finding a new title.

notFallen is set in the same world as Undercover but isn’t a sequel. It’s a push/pull sort of story with major opposites so the scenes should be hella fun to write.

No Reservations takes up six months after Taking Care of Business and features the same two couples. Only this time Leah and Kate go to Las Vegas only to be followed by Brandon and Dix. Megan and I have been plotting the story and I think this one is going to be as fun as TCOB to write.

Anyway, I’ve got to get back to it. Plus, hello ANTS! They got in through a side wall, I’m not sure how, but I have to deal with them now. I cleaned up this morning (they love to invade when it’s not quite raining outside, gah!) And then back to Dix and Kate, currently in bed. heh.

Oh and I made my Sven target this weekend! This was the hardest challenge of the three for me but I did it so yay!

This week has been crazy! I finished Cascadia Wolves: Fated last night! Wheeee! What Happens in Vegas has now released and has been sighted in stores and reviews are starting to show up online. Check my blog for a few contests!

Okay in the days following the release here are some reviews:

and  Tez  thought Stripped was too romancy and didn’t like my characters but she did like Kit and Anya’s story. (Yes, it is romance, fyi in case anyone wonders!) 

So Vegas is now shipping from both Barnes and Noble and Amazon! I’ve also received reports that it’s on the “new fiction” table in some Barnes and Noble stores! I’m all atingle.

Behind closed doors, the real games begin…

Winning it big.

That’s the name of the game at Las Vegas’s Liege Hotel and Casino, where the hottest fantasies hinge on a roll of the dice…and the tantalizing knowledge that anything could happen before sunrise.

Cocktail waitress Carinna wants a man to tie her up, not tie her down. Little does she know that her most willing partner yet has something else planned for this fiery Latina bombshell.

Dahlia is a burlesque dancer with a brain for business and a bod for sin. Her latest admirer may be a sweet-talking Casanova, but despite what he thinks she’s not giving anything away free.

Meanwhile, Amy has the perfect plan to rob the Liege Casino blind…until the intimidating owner catches her red-handed. Now she knows she’s going to pay… with both pleasure and pain.

Professional shill Cassidy is ready to experience a breathless rendezvous with her “friend with benefits.” But when he proposes five delicious nights of sexy blackjack, the stakes have never been so high.

My story is Stripped. I came up with the idea while, not so surprisingly, I was on a trip with my husband to Las Vegas and we went to Ivan Kane’s Forty Deuce - a fabulous old style burlesque show/lounge in the Mandalay Bay. I came back, ready to write the book and my agent called and asked if I’d be interested in being part of a Vegas themed anthology pitch. I think for me, it was meant to happen and I’m glad it did.

Anyway - an excerpt of Stripped exists right behind the cut!

Read the rest of this entry �

Heard back from our editor at Black Lace today and he said he really enjoyed TCOB. His comments made me quite happy and I’m looking forward to plotting out the next book with Megan next week!

Early today I’m off to Anya’s and then on Sunday we’re off to Megan’s! Then we have a photo shoot with the uber fabulous Scott Church on Monday the 14th. Later that evening a book signing at the Waldenbooks in the Lebanon Valley Mall from 6 - 8 pm so if you’re in the area, please do come by to say hello!

And then on Tuesday we’re off again to Pittsburgh for the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention. I’m all atizzy with prep today. The washing machine is going. I’m nearly totally packed but there are always last minute things and I realized Wednesday that I’ll need to take along another small suitcase for extra promotion stuff because we have 68 people and not 50 sign up for our reader party. I’ll also be able to bring back books in it so I suppose that’s a good thing too.

I have not written as much as I wanted to this last week, which sucks. But I’m still good and hopefully I’ll come back as energized to work this time as I did last year.

Cascadia Wolves: Fated

Just wrote a very emotional scene last night but I think it came out well because I cried as I wrote so apparently it translated, or it did to me anyway.

Bookwise I haven’t read much although I did get an early look at Beth Kery’s Wicked Burn and I have to tell you all, this book is freaking amazing. Dark and sharp, totally sexy with an alpha hero who reminded me a lot of Linda Howard’s early heroes. Speaking of La Linda - I read Now You See Her last week and I have to reiterate how much I love her books. I LOVE HER. I’m reading The Ruins now which is uber creepy and I don’t think I’ll be taking it with me on this trip. I did get Karen Chance’s new one and also Meredith Duran’s Duke of Shadows so we’ll see which one I pick for the plane. I may actually do some plotting out of an idea I have as well. I don’t often have large blocks of time that are solely my own so I have a plethora of choices.

So much cool stuff this week!!! First of all, Cascadia Wolves: Standoff is now available from Samhain!

Blurby Bit: For most of his life, Cade Warden has put the needs of his Pack first, setting aside everything else—even the emptiness he feels from having no mate. But Warren Pellini and his thugs have a biological weapon, threatening everything Cade holds dear.

Into his intensely focused, lonely life walks the woman he’s been waiting for.

Packless for many years, Grace Pellini has edged back into the good graces of her evil brother, walking a dangerous line to gather information to aid the Nationally Allied Packs. Cade is everything she could have hoped for in a man and a mate, even if he can be pushy and overprotective.

In the midst of their rising passion and desperate search for the key to disabling the weapon, Pellini raises the stakes by calling an ancient Challenge.

Now it’s Grace’s turn to put her protective instincts aside and stand by, Cade’s life in her hands, as her mate risks everything for his people.

And then…I sold another book to Berkley Heat!!! Here’s the official announcment in Publisher’s Marketplace: Lauren Dane’s OUTSHINED, about a cop returning home to rekindle romance with the free-spirited rocker who awakened his desires ten years before, again to Leis Pederson at Berkley Heat, in a nice deal, by Laura Bradford at Bradford Literary Agency.

I’m so thrilled! This one is a contemporary erotic romance and I’m hoping to see it out in late 09/early 10!

And then, I got my cover for Undercover!!

I have to sigh every time I see this cover. It’s so beautiful it makes me smile.

All in all, I’m liking my week a whole lot. Enough to overcome the wretched experience of cleaning the boys’ bathroom and to almost smile when I gave them the “GET IT IN THE TOILET!” lecture. Gah!

Have a great Saturday everyone!!!

For more than one reason.

First off - HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY! Make it an awesome day with that someone special. And if you don’t have a someone special (like me) just take a second look. We single gals might not have a bed warmer, but we do have friends and family that love us and we love in turn. Make them your Valentine. My kids don’t know it yet, but they’re going to be my Valentine’s, complete with goodies and lots of chocolate.

AND

Today at the Romance Studio’s blog, the big CAPA announcement party is happening! I’m shaking in my boots with nervous excitement because Carinian’s Seeker, Vampire Council of Ethics Book 1, has been nominated for Best Paranormal Erotic Romance of 2007. *TJ dancing around the room badly*

I’m so honored to be in the running with such awesome writers as our very own Lauren Dane (Fire and Rain), Jory Strong (Sophie’s Dragon), Cindy Spencer Pape (Curses), Devyn Quinn (Flesh and the Devil) and Isabella Jordan (Taking Julia).

Some come by sometime today, chat on the blog with all of the CAPA nominated folks, and see what’s going on!

I will kill the internet if it erases this post…

Okay let’s see if I can remember everything I wrote because you know I like to blather on and on!

BTW, 70 Days of Sweat will begin round three on March 1 and end in May, giving an extra week for RT for those who’ll be attending. It’s no secret just how much I love this challenge. I think it’s effective and a great way to give your writing focus in your life. You can head over to the Sven blog to sign up!

I’m an author sponsor again this round so I’ll poke at you and celebrate with you as well if you sign up. It’s not just me - Diana Peterfreund, HelenKay Dimon, Jaci Burton, Larissa Ione, Portia Da Costa, and Shiloh Walker are back for another round as well!

Standoff is out in three weeks! Yay! I’m so thrilled. This is the last book in the story arc but not the last in the series. The next one, Unexpected, comes out in August of this year from Samhain and will be about Megan Warden.

And I just got my cover for my next Witches Knot book - Celebration for the Dead! You can see it and a blurb and read an excerpt at my website.

Speaking of covers - they finally uploaded the cover for What Happens in Vegas to Amazon.com AND it’s on sale! Even happier news is that it’ll be available for the RT convention book signing in April.

And speaking of RT - I’m doing a reader party on Friday morning of RT:

READER: IT’S THE LOVE SHACK
Friday, 10 - 11am: Ann, Anya, Lauren and Megan are your hostesses with the most(esses) for karaoke, trivia, music and fun! Come dressed as your favorite pop star or come as you are, but be prepared to dance, laugh and chat and play with these five top-selling authors of erotic fiction and romance. We’ll have prizes and giveaways as well as some delicious snacks.
Hosted by: Anne Aguirre, Anya Bast, Lauren Dane, and Megan Hart

So if you’ll be there, please come by and say hello.

I finished up Taking Care of Business and it’s all ready to be sent to our editor at Black Lace. I can’t wait to see the cover! I’ve really been liking the Black Lace covers of late. Totally gorgeous.

And now I’m working on Sensual Magic, which is the next Spice novella for the second Vegas anthology coming out in May of 2009. I’m at 3K and humming along. Nell, my heroine likes buttrock, who knew? I love getting to know a character, it’s one of the most fun parts of writing a book.

I think that’s it. Oh wait, I waxed on about wallpaper historicals at my blog in case anyone cares.

Happy Valentine’s Day - XOXOXO!

I’ve got three things on my mind: Sex…and other stuff. I’m just kidding! Actually, there’s a lot of going on these days and I’ll tell you about it all once things calm down. In the meantime there are a couple of topics on my mind this morning. Warning: It’s barely past 8:30am here on Sunday and I haven’t had a cup of coffee yet.

First, are there words in erotic novels these days that just flat out turn you off? I love, love, LUV reading erotic romance, especially paranormals. I recently read a contemporary with a bit of a paranormal twist that was an excellent short read. And in it, I ran across something I see often that just frosts my cookies (for those who aren’t sure what I mean, it means that it irks me ;D). The author actually used the word ’squealch’ to describe the sound of the couple having sex. And all I could think was, ‘EWW!’ I actually expected the guy to fart next or something.

Then they described the natural lubrication that secretes from a man’s ‘organ’ *snark* during foreplay as white. In most normal men, it’s CLEAR, not white. But I swear I see that reference to white pre-fluid all over the place in erotic romance. Here’s another one - “He felt his orgasm begin at the base of his spine…” - er, when I asked my ex-husband and several other males who didnt’ mind answering the question, they all said their orgasms are mainly focused in their genitals, not in their backs/spines. Again, you see it all over the place (sorry, I was a nurse’s daughter and the anatomically and psysiologically correct side of my brain just gets going sometimes - just smack me).

Any words that make you squirm when you read ‘em? I’m wondering if it’s just me.

Okay, second topic - what’s TOO close in regard to story lines? For example, Lauren has an awesome book (haven’t read it yet, but hey, it’s Lauren so you know it’ll be good) coming out where a contracts lawyer is having an affair with another lawyer. Without knowing anything about her book, I finished a novella and sent if off to my editor back in November that has the heroine as an executive at an international shipping company who’s having an affair with a contracts lawyer. So we’ve got two contracts lawyers here. While I could bet you real money the plots are way different, is the contracts lawyer thing too close in plot, in your opinion? And do you think it’s weird that both of us came up with contracts lawyers without either of the other knowing about it?

Maybe we’re linked by some sort of a psychic…nah. If that were the case I’d be writing faster ’cause ya’ll know that Lauren can really crank ‘em out!

Third topic - I reached level 27 in WarCraft the other day! Squeeee! Not bad for a newbie! My son is having a fit ’cause I’ve passed him up. Tee hee!

Happy Sunday, ya’ll! Be good to yourself!

TJ

I just finished two books that BLEW MY SOCKS OFF! Of course, Lauren’s WOLF UNBOUND rocked my world! Now, let’s be real - I don’t typically do books with domination in them. But this book has changed my mind! It was so tastefully done, and in terms and words that, while I’ve never actually heard them before, made it clear that the couple was SO totally knowledgeable, comfortable and into what they were doing. No humiliation, no jacked up behaviour. It was fabulous. Okay, now I’m rambling…sorry ’bout that. Then throw in all the suspense and BAMMO! You’ve got a hell of a book! It wrapped up nicely and left the door open for the next one…which I’m already dying to read.

And finally, I had a chance to read NJ Walter’s DALAKIS PASSION: ETERNAL BROTHERS. Just like with Lauren’s Cascadia Wolves series, I’ve read every single one of NJ’s DALAKIS books. Now, THIS book took me for a frickin’ ride! All the characters from the previous books make an appearance and brought some twists and turns with them that flipped me out. I totally didn’t see ‘em coming.

I was so NOT motivated to write anything over the holiday break, so I read to clear my head. And I’m glad I did! It was a blast.

I can now announce all the details! Wheee!

Okay so Megan Hart and I just sold our jointly authored contemporary erotic romance, Taking Care of Business (formerly Risky Business) to Black Lace! It’ll release in the UK in October 08 and here in the US two months later.

This is the story of two women, Leah and Katherine, who are friends attending a conference together - each woman’s story will be told in alternating chapters. Originally we’d planned it as two separate novellas but it’ll be a single novel now.

Working with Megan is hilarious and also, we work well together. We have very different voices and our stories are also VERY different, but we share the same attitudes about writing and work so it’s just like the rest of our frienship, only with a book. Our editor, Adam Nevill really gets the stories, and erotica in general, which is fabulous so I’m so looking forward to this.

It emphasizes to me how much a part of my every day life the creative process should be. This idea was born at the RT convention. I mean here I am in a line of about two hundred people and I’m there with my friends and Megan and I just started riffing off each other. If it hadn’t been for my fabulous agent who I sat next to at that party (the wild west vampire one) who listened to me chatter on and on about the idea and my character, I don’t know if it would have gone the next step. Then we came back from RT and in our daily IM, Megan and I started talking about the idea more in depth and then you know, partials are written, my agent pitched the idea last month and bingo. BTW, it’s not always this easy, the book was first pitched back in May and then months later we realized it wasn’t going anywhere and tried a new tack and bingo, that one worked.

Writing can be really solitary. Writers live in their heads a lot but we need other people too. I’d never considered co-authoring a project before, not seriously but this book was so organic and so much fun, it just worked out that way.

I’m just so thankful for the people in my life who share my passion for writing and creating!