Where will the girls be this Saturday night?

At The Spotty Dog Books & Ale!

From 5-7:00pm this unique book shop and pub will be rocking for the ladies. Besides a chocolatier, masseuse, and music, there'll be Stella Price, Cat Johnson, Allie Boniface, CH Admirand, Tara Nina and Tilly Greene talking and signing books!

Come on out and enjoy the fun! By the way, we've come up with one spectacular basket to giveaway...have to be there to win it though.

I hear you...where is The Spotty Dog located? 440 Warner Street, Hudson, NY.

Hope to see you all there!

What's been cut?

I'm being ruthless as I go through "Come, Now" for submission and thought I'd share a snippet of what's been cut.

May 1896 – Petrovsky Palace, Moscow, Russia

In two hours he’d be sitting in a fabulously ornate carriage, with his beautiful wife, Alexandra Fedornova, sitting at his side. They’d be driving toward the Cathedral of the Assumption in the Kremlin where he would be crowned Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias. Their people would be pleased to see him officially don the crown.

How stupid, he thought, here he stood a few hours before the grand procession would take him to the Assumption Cathedral for his coronation, waiting to ask a man he’d never met or heard of, for his support.

When asked, Witte, his advisor, had been able to fill him in on the Ivanovich family. Without question or needing to do research which had surprised him because he believed he already knew everyone who was important in Russia. Apparently they were an old, extremely successful family based up in Novgorod. The people of the area respected the entire clan and never questioned when their word was given.
A set of footsteps echoed down the hallway toward him. Not sure how this meeting was to be conducted he decided the best route would be to ensure this man knew he, Nicholas II, was the person in charge not some man from the wild northern territories.

Just a snippet of what's out but there's also a hint in there of what's to come :-)

A great way to celebrate a defeat!

Yup, that's right celebrate a defeat. Go here to see how it's done...I'm still laughing at this one :-) Thank you to the boys at OhLaLa Magazine.

Thursday 13 #34!

On Monday of this week I had two books released: The Gilded Cage and Hot Couture. In celebration and because it's on my mind, I'm going to tell you some things you may or may not know about these books using my TT.

The Gilded Cage
1. The Gilded Cage is the third book in the "A Passion for Fashion' series.

2. The heroine is a jeweler about to be offered the show of a lifetime.

3. The hero has an interesting set of piercings.

4. The heroine lives and works in London.

5. The hero lives and works in York, but is opening a satellite office in London.

6. The Gilded Cage in the story has a special water bottle as an attachment.


Hot Couture
7. Hot Couture is a collection of my 'A Passion for Fashion' series.

8. The Leather Bride, Taming Marie Antoinette and The Gilded Cage are the three stories in Hot Couture.

9. New York City, Paris and London are the fashion capitals these three stories take place in.

10. The Leather Bride was extended for Hot Couture.

11. The heroes in these stories all have a career somewhere in an environmentally friendly arena.

12. I traveled to all of these locations and brought something I did into each of the stories.


The Series
13. The fourth story will be His High Stepper and takes place in Milan.

Tagged!

Okay, Selena Illyria just tagged me, but she sent me hot chocolate so no complaints from me :-)

The rules:

Tell seven random and/or interesting things about myself. Get five blog buddies to play, too and link to their blogs. Don’t forget to post the rules!

1. It was sunny today although I stayed inside and worked.

2. Because the sun was out, the thongs were on my feet.

3. I'm wearing a t-shirt, shorts and a big sweatshirt.

4. It's actually about 60 degrees outside, cold but the sun is out.

5. The cutie is away tonight,

6. So I'll be sleeping with the t-shirt he wore to mow the yard last week.

7. This tricks my mind into thinking he's there with me.

I can't think of who to tag right now so all my victims are free to go about their merry little way.

The Gilded Cage and Hot Couture are OUT!

Phrew, what a day - let me tell you about my two new releases :-)

My 'A Passion for Fashion' series is all about women with some place in the fashion world who experience a once in a lifetime opportunity in the field they love. The first three tales have been brought together to form "Hot Couture" [available in both paperback and ebook].




Who are these women? Well, there's a muse who makes an unusual walk down the runway in "The Leather Bride" [New York], a graduate student hosts her dissertation project...a Haute Couture exhibition...in "Taming Marie Antoinette" [Paris] and a jeweler is offered a place in an world-renowned museum in "The Gilded Cage" [London].



Did I mention they're each located in a different fashion capital? They are and this takes the reader on a trip.

Now, the one thing I have mentioned as yet is the men in these women's lives. They are gorgeous, successful, and have a passion for their lovers that is unmatched. Oh, I almost forgot [not likely :-)]. These couples have a varied taste when it comes to sex...they play!

Thursday 13 #33!

My trek over the past couple of weeks culminated in the 25th Annual Romantic Times BOOKlovers Convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Wow, was it a wild experience. So, let me share with you some of what I happened and a few people I met.

1. We arrived at the hotel on Wednesday around 12:30 and were told our room wasn't ready. Uh-oh, I was supposed to help stuff goodie bags for Ellora's Cave and now I was standing in the lobby with a couple of big boxes and luggage. No problem, the cutie saved the day and got us in only the group had already finished up and cleared out. No problem, it gave me a couple of hours to set up on promo alley for Stella and Audra Price and myself before heading in for the eBook Expo.

2. Ahhh, the eBook Expo was fabulous. The ballroom was filled with long rows of tables with authors ready to sign either books they wouldn't have on Saturday. Before it started I met up with Cat Johnson, a fellow East Coast Author and booksigning partner. She had her new book Model Soldier. Brenda Williamson and Rayne Forrest stopped by the say "hi" before the doors opened as well. They are both at a couple of my publishing houses so we cross emails often and it was lovely to put a face to the name.

3. I was sat between the lovely Bronwyn Green and Treva Harte [the latter went up to sit at another table to sign an anthology]. Bronwyn was such a sweetheart, a beautiful soul inside and out. We chatted in between people stopping by and had a blast.

4. Suzanne, Lisa, Susan [of West of Mars fame] and her friend Ann, all did the social thing. Susan was a crack up! First thing out of her mouth after a hug was "You look nothing like what I thought you'd look like." So yes, I had to ask what she thought I'd look like. This is fabulous, "Curly hair, like out to here." With her hands far from the side of her head, I laughed because that is not me at all. Of course I asked what it was about my emails and online chatter that said that...can't remember the answer because I'm still laughing over the image she had of me. I also had a chance to meet Joy of Joyfully Reviewed...this woman is gorgeous!

5. After the eBook Expo finished I went upstairs and stuffed bags with the Samhain gang. What a spectacular group of ladies and included Jennifer, one of the two Asheligh Raine authors, D. Renee Bagby, Beth Williamson, Bianca D'Arc, Cindy Szolyga and a couple others I'm drawing a blank on right now - forgive me]. Crissy, Amanda and Marty were the magic on the ground and all were there throughout the convention whenever a question arised. But more on that later. There were maybe seven or eight of us and no one brought the same promo item for the bag...what are the odds of that!

6. After this I went back to the ballroom for the Ellora's Cave Fantasy Party. All I remembered was I was in group 5...had no idea what it meant, but I was going with five. It was dark but I found a lovely group of authors and sat myself down to wait for the walk across the stage. There was Anny Cook and her husband, Kelly Kirch, JL Wilson, and Tiffany Bryan [I think :-)] along with her friend. I wasn't pleased in walking and hope the video of that never sees the light of day. All I can say is thank goodness I didn't trip.

7. By ten I was upstairs in the room watching hockey with the cutie. He was such a sweetie in coming with me. We'd been on the road for long enough that the lure of the same bed a few nights in a row was too good to pass up.

8. Thursday I was up and at Club RT for 9:00am. Along with other authors, I helped man the table to answer any and all questions about Samhain, what they had to offer readers and writers as well as encourage people to sign up for the scrumptious gift bags that would be drawn for at the final function on Sunday.

9. I made my way over to the Phaze table for the same thing and met up with Alessia Brio, Will Belegon, Sammie Jo Moresco, Brenna Lyons and Sapphire Phelan. Alessia had a giveaway that was the treasure of the convention...a small bottle of chocolate and cherry flavored lubricant.

10. After attending a session on Promoting through Emerging Technologies, it was back to the Samhain table in the afternoon where I had a chance to meet up with Amy T. and Laura K....both are great ladies. Laura is a reviewer who handed me the June RT BOOKreviews which had Zandia inside...she was thrilled to see her name in lights as well as I quoted one of her reviews for the print copy. The cutie and I went for a walk around the city [it was gorgeous] before heading back up for more ice hockey.

11. Friday started out at a breakfast hosted by Jacqueline Frank with Lisa and Suzanne having saved me a place. After this I spent a little time at both Samhain and Phaze tables in Club RT before heading over to listen and eventually pitch ideas to both St. Martin's Press and Kensington [thank you Susan :-)]...now I need to get those both pulled together and sent off [panic time]. See not all fun and games, there was some business going on as well. And, I went to the awards lunch. We had a great table. Susan, Lisa and Suzanne, a mother from Texas [she has a ms waiting for an acceptance from Dorchester] and her daughter who now lives in Wisconsin. Then there was an EC author from Wisconsin [who unfortunately I don't remember her name but she was so sweet] and a reader from upstate New York. See, what a mix. After this it was over to the Phaze table at Club RT and then to a course on Writing a Marketing Plan [fabulous ideas came from this one] and then back to close out the Samhain Club RT and then the cutie and I walked over to the Original Oyster House. No, I don't eat fish but the beer and fries were lovely.

12. Ahhh, Saturday, the Giant Book Fair. I was set up in the ballroom and sat down by 10:30. Before the doors opened I revisted with many authors I'd met up with throughout the week and then the nerves set in. Yup, I was nervous but also very excited. This was a fun event. It ended with the last five minutes or so in darkness. Interesting and disorienting. As I promised the cutie, little chatting as I made my way out the door with Selena Illyria...we gave her a ride back home. She is such a sweetheart...gave me chocolates :-)

13. It was the cuties birthday on Sunday and one of his pressies was to buy me a fabulous new laptop! Why me the laptop and not him? Apparently not having to listen to my old one's fan is pressie enough :-) Actually after we dropped off Selena I took him to a friends house where he indulged in beer and burgers. In case you're wondering, he survived the convention by spending very little time downstairs amongst the chaos. The next morning I dashed out and picked up a copy of Harlan Coben's latest and a new game for the Xbox...he's very happy :-)

I met with so many other people that I didn't mention and while I'm not a name dropper or anything like that, a couple that stuck out for being genuinely nice people were Jade Lee and Barry Eisler. In the end, all of them so nice and friendly. It was a great book event so if it ever comes to your neck of the woods - GO. Will I be attending next years in Orlando...most likely, if it fits in the calendar. Whenever I get a chance to talk books with readers, authors and everyone else, it's a great time.

And Sparky Duck, if you're reading this...I met up with your favorite author and had a picture of you and the Mrs in my mind :-)

Two things...or is it three?

First, I'm going to be on the Samhain Blog later today...I was feeling motivated to talk about women :-)

And secondly, with the Earth Day having come and gone without a word from me about eBooks, well, Fictionwise is carrying the torch and having a sale. That's right, a dicount on eBooks...tap your finger on over there and see what you can find to read - the sale ends April 28th.

Tomorrow's Thursday 13 I'm going to finally try and get my thoughts settled about the RT BOOKlovers Convention so see you then.

AHHH! Did you hear that scream?

It was me!

This past week at the RT BOOKlovers Convention the fabulous Laura found a June copy of the BOOKreviews and Zandia was in there! It received a **** [4 star] review from Keitha Hart! Woohoo! Here's a snippet:

"This wildly entertaining story incorporates romance, hot, talk-dirty-to-me love scenes and commentary on women's role in society. It's fascinating to watch the protagonists develop a lasting relationship."

When I get my head stops spinning I'll tell you why the event was such a blast, but for now, trust me when I say the eBook Expo and Giant Book Fair were both WILD!