The Dynamic Trio - Blog

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OUTSHINED

I’m very happy with my progress! I hope to keep chipping away at that wordcount so the book is done by the end of August. We shall see.

In booktalk land - I read Patricia Briggs’ Cry Wolf this last week and I absolutely adored it. I think Patricia Briggs is one of the best world builders writing today and so I wasn’t surprised at all to discover just how much I loved Cry Wolf.

Some romance, some action, some suspense - all combined into a really quick, engrossing read.

Another winner from Briggs that has me excited to see what’s next for Charles and Anna. The little tidbit at the end of CW for the next Mercy book looks very good too.

And Emma Holly’s All You Can Eat now available in mass market. This was a solid 3 1/2 - 4 star read for me. Amusing, sexy, hot sex scenes. I think Personal Assets remains my favorite contemporary along with Velvet Glove and I was disappointed that we didn’t get to see more of Jack’s “darker” sexual side but there’s something in All You Can Eat for just about all tastes!

OK, back to work for me!

I was on the radio last night with Mandy Roth and Michelle Pillow on the Raven Vampire Radio Show last night. It was a hoot! Gia Dawn (she writes cool books for Samhain) was on, too. Get the four of us together in the same room and we just take over the world!

I did spend some time talking about the release of Hatsept Heat (which came out on Tuesday. (To purchase, Visit Samhain Publishing ), but we spent more time cracking up and being bad than anything else. Geesh, no surprise there ;D

To listen to the show, click HERE –> BlogTalk Raven Radio.

Meanwhile, I’m at work sitting in a training class. I’ve been teaching all week and asked another staff member to come in and touch on a subject that she’s an expert at. So, I’m sitting here listening to her talk to my students while I write this blog. Class is over this afternoon - I have to give the students an exam first.

And when the day is over, I’m gonna count down to FRIDAY!!!!

I’ve been getting back to the next Vampire Council of Ethics story - it’s Alaina Bixler and Shale Krulm’s tale. But I just can’t think of a name for it. So, I’m just going to forget about it for now, and get on with the story. I’ve been jumping back and forth between working on the outline and actually writing. There’s this song by India.Arie called ‘Brown Skin’ that just makes me all hot and bothered. You can bet I’ll be listening to it as I write the steamy lovin’.

O, and in case you don’t remember, Shale Krulm almost got his butt kicked by Bix in Carinian’s Seeker when he spoke to Carin out of turn. But it’s years later and now…HE’S FREAKING HOT!!!

Talk later!

And don’t forget that HATSEPT HEAT came out on Tuesday! Woo!

TJ

It’s out everybody! Oh my God, I couldn’t be more thrilled that Hatsept Heat, the 3rd book in the Vampire Council of Ethics hit the cyber shelves yesterday from Samhain!

To purchase, Visit Samhain Publishing

They chatted amicably but Kenoe didn’t miss the occasional frown whenever he let his guard down long enough for his anxiety, though slight, to creep down the bond. Bottom line—he had no desire to see the you’re-crazy-as-a-loon skepticism in her eyes when he told her what he was. God knew she wouldn’t believe him.

And he was less than enthusiastic about her reaction to the fact that he, Mr. Law Enforcement, as she called him, was investigating her closest relative for something that had nothing to do with honest vamps, and everything to do with Dr. Jekyll humans.

Not to mention the possibility of her flat-out rejecting him.

Ruthlessly squashing down all concern, he filled his mind with lighter thoughts. Actually just thinking on what a fabulous dinner she’d prepared for him, what a kind and considerate woman she was, a woman so sweet yet with an edge sharp enough to cut himself on. The perfect alpha. His perfect alpha.

And she’d prepared a dessert of strawberries covered with brown sugar syrup, laced with lemon zest. Oh yeah, she was a keeper. He only hoped she would feel the same when he told her…
When had she moved from her chair?

Shinju grinned and pushed his empty dishes off to the side. She held her hand out to him.

“What?”

“Up, handsome.”

Wondering what she was on about, he didn’t move but cocked his head to the side and waited instead.

“Naoru. Get. Up.” Her tone was stern, but not bitchy. He stood and allowed himself to be positioned to her liking. Mischief danced along their developing link and tickled the nerve endings at the base of his skull.

All of a piece, Shinju pushed her desires down the bond with such force they slammed into his brain and streaked clear down to his nuts. He reached to unbutton his shirt. A playful slap to his fingers caught him so off-guard, he froze for a second.

A snarled “mine” made it crystal clear that she was the only one getting to touch tonight. Or at least for the time being. Dropping his hands to his side, his spitfire female popped open each button slowly, deliberately, then peeled the garment off his shoulders. All the while she whispered what she wanted to do to him and let those wickedly talented fingers of hers run over the exposed skin, raising chill bumps along the way.

“God, Naoru, you’re so studly gorgeous.”

“Studly? Is that a typical Japanese word?”

“Remember I’m not a typical Japanese female. I’ve got a bit of sistah in me and I just have to let her out to play every now and then.” This was said as her fingernails scraped gently over the planes of his stomach and dipped into the hollows and ridges of his quaking abs. It made him tingle from the roots of his hair to his toes. Dayum!

“Amazing. I love your skin, so fair, smooth. Perfect. Like fresh cream. And that dusting of platinum silver hair on your chest. I missed that the last time I had you nearly naked. Is the hair around your cock the same beautiful shade?” she teased.

Holy shit! Kenoe balled his trembling hands into fists to keep from ripping her clothes off and taking her to the floor right then.

Instead, he said, “You’re being awfully naughty, but I’m all yours, lovely, so go ahead and find out.”

“I can’t wait to see what your fabulous cock looks like sliding into my pussy. I missed you so much. Dreamed about you each night until I was so hot and bothered. Kinda like I am now.”

“Shinju, you take too much longer to touch me and I’m going to have to do something about that. Sssss!” Her touch had moved down his chest, past his waist and down to the swelling ridge in his pants. Then she pushed him backwards until his ass hit the edge of the table.
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I finished all but one of the Brenda Joyce Deadly books and loved them all. I have to say books 4 and 5 have been my favorites with seven the least favorite so far because I thought Calder acted like an ass for much of it (although redeeming himself at the end). I’m saving the last book as a bit of a treat for when I hit 30K on Outshined.

In the mean time I’m reading Judith Ivory’s The Proposition and really liking it.

I’m hitting a good spot in Outshined and really liking my characters a lot. Erin (used to be Grace) is revealing herself to me and I’m getting to know Todd better too. It’s a contemporary so the worldbuilding aspect I had with Relentless isn’t there. It’s a different sort of writing experience and I’m glad to switch it up a bit.

Oh, Fated has been pushed up a week for release to August 19 from the 12th. Not a big deal but I just thought I’d say so. I’ve adjusted my book page here to reflect that.

That’s about it really. I’m working this weekend, writing writing writing and doing some crit for Megan’s Spice book, Switch (wheee! neeener neener!)

With Hatsept Heat coming on Tuesday, needless to say I went to sleep thinking about it. And after waking from the most delicious and decadent dream of me and a vamp right out of the pages of one of my Vampire Council of Ethics books, I rolled over in appreciation of air conditioning and thought…what the hell was I thinking to book a vacation in Florida in July? My god, it’s so freakin’ hot here I swear I’m tempted to put ice down my drawers just to cool off a bit.

Unfortunately my daughter got sick yesterday. We think it’s something she ate the day before, but he poor thing was throwing up and had a high fever. I’m glad she’s cool this morning because last night she was so hot I was concerned we’d have to take her to a hospital, which is no fun when you’re AT home, let alone AWAY from home in a city you’re not familiar with.

I’m getting ready to run to the airport to pick up a friend of mine I haven’t seen in years. She’s lives on this coast in South Carolina so she’s flying down to hang out with us for a couple of days. My kids are WAY excited to see her again. If I can talk her into taking some picture I’ll put them up when I get home. Oh, and want to hear the dumbest thing ever? We’re on vacation and NONE of us brought a camera, so we’re reduced to using the ones on our phones. LOL!

See you later,

TJ

PS - Thank you to all of you who sent me notes after reading the TJ On A Tangent newsletter. This has been a really challenging half-a-year for me. I’m looking forward to the second half with some serious renewed hope ;D

You haven’t seen an issue of TJ On A Tangent in quite a while, but it’s coming on July 15th with new articles, sneak peeks into the new novel I’ve just contracted with Ellora’s Cave, news on the new Vampire Council of Ethics books coming next month, a cool summer recipe and something very catty.

Get in on the fun by subscribing. And we will never, ever give out your e-mail addy so be assured you’ll get no spamming from this quarter (grrrr, I hate spammers!)

Happy Wednesday!

TJ

First of all, I finished Relentless this morning! The song above, Pearl Jam’s cover of The Who’s Love Reign O’er Me was my theme song for yesterday and this morning as I wrapped up. Yay! I’ll start editing it tomorrow. I’m super happy with it right now. We’ll see how I am once I do the entire read through though. Each book is like a mini lifetime. This book gave me some fits but I think it turned out really well and I’m beginning to realize sometimes it’s the hardest books to write that I end up liking the most.

And secondly, Megan Hart and I sold the follow up to Taking Care of Business to Black Lace! This one is called No Reservations and it follows Leah and Kate to Las Vegas with Brandon and Dix on their heels. It’ll be out in the UK in September of 09 and the US in November of 09.

All sorts of flotsam today! Firstly I hit nearly 68K in Relentless last night! Wheeee! And I cried pretty much the whole time as I wrote. Big, emotional stuff, even the sex scene made me cry. I’m really pleased with this transition.

Secondly, I know there are some problems with Making Chase and folks trying to order it - apparently there was a problem in the system and they corrected it. It *should* be showing up soon and I’m told by tomorrow, end of day it’ll be available. So thanks to everyone who’s e-mailed me to ask about it. If you get impatient, you can always pop over to My Bookstore and more and order it directly from there.

Thirdly, the fantastic Samantha Hunter is guest blogging at Maverick Authors today! There’s a contest too. Go over and say hey.

FIRST - TODAY IS RELEASE DAY FOR MAKING CHASE!!!! Wheeee! Those of you who’ve been waiting for the paperback release can now finish the series with Tate and Matt and their HEA.

You can get Making Chase at Amazon (although it’s saying it’s temporarily not available but I think it’s a glitch), and My Bookstore and More as well as your local Borders and Barnes and Noble.

And secondly - I’m going to be chatting at Jacquelyn Frank’s place this coming Saturday from 2 - eastern/11- 12 pacific. There will be huge prizes given out all day by all her guests as well as from Jackie herself so come by and say hello. I’ll be giving away a Vegas themed bag with a copy of What Happens In Vegas. A list of all the authors attending is here.