Sunday, December 23, 2012

Holiday yumminess

Well, it's that time of year again.... time for way too many rich holiday treats. I personally love to see a table laden with desserts, but maybe that's just me. In any case, allow me to present to you the recipe I'll be making today and bringing over to my parents' house tonight.

Apple Cobbler with Nilla Wafer Crust

8 cups granny smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar, divided
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
1/3 cup old fashioned oats or 1/3 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup cold margarine
25 nilla wafers, crushed (about 1 cup)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Toss apples with 1/4 cup of the brown sugar and 1 tsp of the cinnamon. Spoon into 8- or 9- inch baking dish. 

Combine oats, the remaining brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon in medium bowl. Cut in margarine with pastry blender or two knives, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add wafer crumbs, mix well. Spread crumb mixture evenly over apples. 

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until apples are tender. Serve warm or cooled. Top with whipped topping.

Trust me, with the Nilla Wafers? Delish. Happy baking!


Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The Brain of Morbius


Congrats to anyone who recognized that as the title of a Doctor Who episode from the Tom Baker era. You win many, many geek points and a fangirl high-five from me. Doctor Who doesn't have anything to do with my post, but when I was thinking about a title to go with my evil brain theme, that's what my geek brain came up with.

Yes, my brain is evil. Sadistically cruel. It wants me to suffer. You see, I've been writing this fun series set in Baltimore. The third book comes out in April and I love it to pieces. (For those of you wondering it's about Quinn's friend Jamie. If anyone was worried, Peter isn't in it.) But to return to my evil brain issues, while I was writing Bad Attitude, my story brain birthed an awesome plot bunny for the fourth book...or so I thought. (Cue melodramatic incidental music.)

Basically, number four, which has the working title of Bad Habit (no, no nuns, and no Peter. He doesn't deserve an HEA.), is about Silver, Eli's tall blond friend. Apparently, my brain decided that I'd been having way too much fun with the previous three books and decided to give me a conflict that would be a almost impossible to resolve. I came up with an idea for a reunion romance and let me tell you, there's a serious reason it didn't work the first time. Wrongs on both sides. It sounded awesome. Just the kind of thing to use as a carrot to urge me to finish Bad Attitude. Delighted, I dove in to book number four.

And found out someone drained all the water from the pool.

Ow ow ow.

Sadistic brain. It's up there laughing at me while I am bleeding on the bottom of the drained pool.

Damn. Great idea in theory but this sucker is hard to write. Like Regularly Scheduled Life hard. But just like with that book, when I try to put it aside to focus on something else that might come out a little faster than a sentence every hour, my brain goes right back to that idea. It won't let it go. And that's why I say it's evil. I mean, don't I give it a happy playground full of imaginary friends? How could it do this to me? Why does it want me to suffer?

Maybe I should take a cue from another Fourth Doctor episode, be reduced to virus size and injected into my brain so that I can tame the evil lurking in my head that wants to make me tell this story. Or at least force it to tell it faster.

And for the Whovians who stayed with me, yes, that one is The Invisible Enemy. And if you know which companion was introduced in that episode, you win all the geek points and why aren't we friends already?


Tuesday, December 18, 2012

In the holiday spirit

It's actually beginning to feel festive around my house these days. Last year, we visited family overseas so there was no decorating done at home. This year, we're here, so I put away the autumnal decorations and pulled out some of the ol' red-and-green. We even got a tree yesterday, which we haven't done in about four years. I LOVE IT! Pretty multi-coloured lights and a moose puppet as a topper. (Hey, you have your traditions, and I have mine.) I plan to get more accoutrements out later today to continue festive-ing up the place. :-D

And since it is almost Solstice, I think you should go check out my old holiday freebie short story with Jimothy and Ricky (stars of my first novel The Ballad of Jimothy Redwing). It's called Wand'ring Home and if you click that title, it'll take you straight to the pdf. (Ignore the cover art. It's fine, but it's generic, and the only thing it has to do with the story is that boys kiss each other. I've been so busy I've not gotten around to updating it.)

Happy Holidays!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

False Dawn Re-release

Good news! I re-released my space opera novella False Dawn this past weekend! I'm quite proud of the cover I put together. I loved the original one so much that I did my best to honour the original image. I hope you like it!


Here's an excerpt, too, and it's not the one I usually use for this book. It's a bit steamier than that. ;-)

***
"Hi!" Galen barely got the greeting out before Dayan was through the doorway and on him.

Dayan grasped him by his broad shoulders and pulled him into a searing kiss. Startled but willing, Galen opened his mouth to Dayan's searching tongue, and Dayan took full advantage. He swept his tongue along Galen's teeth and tickled the roof of Galen’s mouth, reveling in the taste and feeling, the warmth and the wetness.

When at last they came up for breath, both men were panting. Galen's brown eyes were nearly all pupil, and Dayan was more than ready to fall into them. He'd waited all damned day to show his lover just how proud he was of that promotion.

"Congratulations, Detective," he said, his voice a husky purr of desire.

"I take it you don't want to go out to celebrate." Galen's expression and tone were wry.

Dayan returned the look with a lascivious, one-sided grin. "What do you think?" He pressed his hard, aching cock against Galen's thigh, just below the hip joint, and rolled a little from one side to the other. Galen groaned and leaned in for another devouring kiss. Dayan happily obliged.

Again, they only parted when they had to stop for air. Gasping, Galen smiled broadly. Dayan loved that wide mouth, those straight, white teeth, and dove in for more before either of them properly caught their breath. His head felt light, but whether from lack of oxygen or overload of lust, he didn't know. Didn't care.

Dayan pushed against his lover until they were brought up short by the couch that stood against the outer bulkhead. Dayan released him again and gave him enough of a shove that Galen lost his balance and sat heavily. Without a pause, Dayan straddled him where he sat and began to undo the buttons on his new dress shirt--as much an indication of his new rank as the badge that glinted at Dayan from his belt.

The release of each button was followed by a kiss, a nip, a bite, of Galen's dark, smooth, muscled chest. When Dayan reached the waistband of Galen's tailored black trousers, he tugged the shirt tails up and out, found the last button, and, bent double over his lover's lap, placed a kiss over Galen's navel. He alternately circled it with the tip of his tongue, flicking at the little indentation, and sucked a mouthful of flesh around it. Galen squirmed and shook, just as Dayan knew he would.

Dayan sat up straight, one hand on the clasp of Galen's belt, the other fondling his lover's balls through the taut fabric of his slacks. The outline of his erection was hard pressed just to the left of the fly, but Dayan held off from grasping it. He's been anticipating this all day; he had to take a little revenge and make his lover wait a bit, too.

He leaned in and whispered in Galen's ear. "Is there anything you particularly want tonight?" A gentle squeeze on his sac that made Galen gasp and groan.

"Any...requests?" A tender nibble at the shell of his ear. "Or do you trust me..." Nip. "...to make you..." Nuzzle. "...scream?"

Galen's breath came in short gasps, and Dayan knew he had him. They'd played this game many times, and Galen had never once turned down that particular offer. He looked up into Dayan's gaze and grinned, equal parts defiance and fervor.

"Dare you."

***

You can buy it now from Amazon or for your B&N Nook!

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Excerpt, Man Whore


It’s been a whole month already? Damn…

November was spent with my head in the Day Job. Between the year-end rush of client calls and wrapping up a project started when I had more time available, I’ve been flat out busy with the Job That Pays the Bills. Despite this, I’ve managed a little more work on the still untitled sequel to Man Whore. It’s almost finished. Well, no, it’s almost ready to query. Then the work will start all over again. I know.

Anyway, because my functional non-day-job time is scare, I’m going to keep this short and sweet so I can really query that manuscript this year. Instead of listening to me ramble today, enjoy an excerpt from Man Whore, and then hold me to querying its sequel by year end.

~*~

Morgan Desrosier slipped through the heavy black door sporting the name HIM in two-inch, white chipped letters above the handle: the only identifier that anything existed beyond its walls. As he strutted up to the bar, the bartender wrapped up his conversation with current customers and poured a glass of whiskey, leaving it in front of Morgan as his gaze circled the crowd.


"Slow for a Thursday," the bartender said.

"Very," Morgan agreed. Men mixed and milled about, sure, but none of the bodies elicited interest from his. Several men looked him over. Morgan discounted their hungry stares. He dressed to draw attention— fishnet crawled down his arms peeking out from beneath the elbow-length sleeves of his charcoal tee, black jeans with green-stitched seams, sized snug enough to leave little to the imagination, black plastic hoops in his ears matched the impressions under his shirt of little circles piercing his nipples. To complete the look, his chestnut brown hair sported random black and green tips. He lined his eyes the same, black smudges hugging crisp, green lines, colored around emerald eyes openly judging any man bold enough to meet them.

After draining his drink, Morgan wove through the bodies on the dance floor, avoiding groping hands until he reached his intended marks. Yes, plural. The twins turned in unison, beaming wide smiles of perfect white teeth at him.

"Our favorite slut," said Cayne. Or, maybe, that was Layne.

"Looking for company?" asked Layne. Or maybe Cayne.

They preferred the mystery and Morgan couldn't be bothered to unravel it. To him, they were one. To him, they were The Twins. He didn't bother trying to guess which one was Layne and which was Cayne because, when he did, he inevitably guessed wrong. His hips swung as he approached, dancing himself between them. Their hands welcomed him, one twin wrapping his arms around Morgan's waist while the other draped fingers around the back of his neck, tickling and teasing.

"You know I'm always looking for company," Morgan said.

Exactly the same, he didn't care if the lips pressing to the back of his neck belonged to Layne or Cayne. Each had thick, sandy brown hair that fell over his face as if playing a game of hide-and-seek, and the most unusual amber eyes with outer edges of muted green. They dressed anywhere from conservative and casual to seductive to purely flamboyant. Tonight, they wore ripped Levi's and maroon shirts with the buttons separated to their navels. Morgan, with one arm around the shoulders in front of him, slipped his free hand down a bare, smooth chest.

The twin tilted his head, his hair falling over his eyes as they reflected mischief hidden in his thoughts. With a smile he said, "Take us home, M."

"You know my rule."

"And you know ours." The whispered words eddied around his ear and then dove down to his balls.

"Once," Morgan said.

"Once," they agreed in unison.

"And you won't be weird about it later."

The twins chuckled. The one behind him pressed his hips to Morgan's ass while his brother grinded against him from the front. "We promise," said Cayne. Or maybe Layne. "It won't ruin our friendship."

"Just play," said the other. "Just pleasure. Just once."

"Unless you request more."

Morgan laughed. "Cocky fuckers."

"Yes," purred Layne. Or maybe Cayne.

"We know what you like, and we know what we like." The other gave him a faux coy wink.

"And that," said the first, "is dancing with you, M."

"And teasing me," Morgan added.

"No teasing." The tongue wet his ear before continuing with words. "Promises."

Morgan dropped his hands to the waist in front of him and yanked the man closer. His response was clear and firm in his pants. The twin nodded. On Morgan's shoulder, he felt the other nod in reply. "Oh boy, what did I just agree to?" Morgan asked.

"Every man's wet dream," answered the tongue in his ear. "Twins in his bed."

~*~

Available in ebook or print format from Silver Publishing, or your favorite 3rd party distributor.


Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Historic Deals!

Loose Id has come down with Historical Hysteria! From Cyber Monday (11/26) through Friday (11/30), selected LI historicals are only $0.99 in the Kindle Store -- including The Station, my tale of forbidden love on a prison ship and later in the Australian outback.

Here's a full list of the books on sale. Happy shopping!
 
Hollis Boys 1: Outlaws of Love, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0076H3FX4
Hollis Boys 2: Trail of Lust, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008H4VX3O
Hollis Boys 3: Wild, Wild Hearts, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0095PNIAU
Key Party: Band of Gold, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008KFBBYQ
Key Party: Brown Sugar, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009954E9K
Key Party: Some Kind of Wonderful, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A2V2LV8
Reader, I Married Him, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003N3V5RI
The Flapper and the Fellow, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003XNTZAC 
The Gentleman and the Rogue, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003MAK320
The Nobleman and the Spy, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004HFRKM0
The Reaper's Seduction, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003E35ZQO
The Rosas of Spanish Harlem, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0073V04I2 
The Spy Who Spanked Me, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ZDP298
The Wanderer, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004BLK7SO

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Firemen!

I was recently informed by my publisher that an anthology that contained a story of mine was going out of print, and would I like to publish that story with them as a stand-alone novella? WHY YES, I replied, that would be lovely. Especially since it's a Chance and Tucker story, and they featured in my very first novel with Torquere Press.

Here's a little sample:

***


They battled flames for nine hours, stopping only briefly to gulp bottles of water or wolf down the sandwiches that magically appeared from some of the neighboring restaurants. Chance was drenched in sweat inside his turnouts before noon and wished desperately for a dry t-shirt, but there was no time to change before he found himself back on the roof, holding a hose line.

The only truly frightening part of the day occurred when the captain at Station Four got caught under one of the falling rafters inside a building. Chance hadn’t been anywhere near the incident at the time; he’d been in the cab of his engine, on the radio with Station Two’s engineer. There had been shouts and the sound of running feet and Chance looked up in time to see the captain being carried out and loaded into the back of a medic van.

The guy had been brought not to one of their local hospitals, but one that was farther away because of their excellent burn unit, and all the men on scene had grown quiet when they’d found out. Being transported to a burn unit only meant one thing: pain.

It was nearing six o’clock before one of the chiefs finally dismissed Chance’s engine. Two other companies stayed to assess damage and cool hotspots, but Chance’s crew climbed wearily onto their rig and rolled out. They discussed the fire on their short trip back to the station, and Chance complimented all of them on doing what they'd been trained to do.

C shift greeted them when they returned, grumbling about how they’d missed the call by only twenty minutes. Chance was just considering grabbing a fast shower before heading home to Tucker when Jim nudged him.

“Your boy’s here.”

His head whipped around, shower forgotten. It had been dark when they’d pulled in; he must have missed Tucker’s truck in the lot. “Where?”

“Your office.”

Chance headed down the hallway to the small office he shared with the other two captains, eager to see Tucker and tell him about their day. The adrenaline still flowed through him and he realized he was hard inside his shorts, same as he’d been since they’d arrived on scene that morning. Fire had that effect on him.

Tucker sat in Chance’s chair behind the desk, his expression serious. He rose when Chance stopped in the doorway and came around the desk to stand in front of him, studying Chance’s face. “You didn’t call.”

Chance raised a brow. “You think I had time to call?”

“You could’ve,” Tucker insisted, a furrow appearing on his forehead. “You always have your cell. You coulda called when you stopped to eat.”

Chance stared at him. This wasn’t typical; Tucker knew better than anyone what it was like when things were too busy to even take a piss, much less find time to call home. “Didn’t C shift tell you where we were?”

Tucker studied his fingernails. “I called. They said – they said a captain went down and they didn’t know who. Called both hospitals and they wouldn’t tell me.”

Oh. Chance had nearly forgotten. “It was Sheridan. Not me.”

“Well, I didn’t fuckin’ know, now did I.”

Chance reached out a hand and curved it briefly around Tucker’s jaw. “It wasn’t me,” he said again. “I wasn’t even in the building.”

Tucker leaned into the touch briefly before pulling away. “Yeah. I got that. M’outta here, I’ll see you at home.” He pushed past Chance and took off down the hall, heading toward the back door and the parking lot.



***

A little bit of tension between firemen makes for a really good (hot) story. This will be available in March 2013, so stick around for updates!

Happy Sunday, everyone.



Thursday, November 22, 2012

Come join the fun at Literary Nymphs

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LiteraryNymphsChat/

We're chatting away all weekend.

____


It's that time of year again! Literary Nymphs is hosting their Thanksgiving
Weekend M/M Chat and here is a brief list of authors who will be attending,
circumstances allowing: Kathryn Scannell, Jules Jones, KC Kendricks,
Michael Barnette, KC Burn, Christiane France, James Buchanan, Josh Lanyon,
Andrea Speed, Rowan McBride, Pat Brown, Jessica Freely, Lissa Matthews,
Berengaria Brown, Sarah Madison, Ariel Tachna, Megan Slayer, K. Z. Snow,
Renee George, DC Juris.


The chat will start on Thursday morning and continue through to Sunday
night. The location is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LiteraryNymphsChat/ ,
the Literary Nymphs Chat Group so stop in and join us next weekend.



See you there

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Getting my thanks on

It's almost Thanksgiving here in the US. A lot of friends of mine have been doing a thanks-a-day sort of thing over on Facebook. I'm not so organized. I'm thankful for a lot of things in my life, but I'm not conditioned to ponder upon and list these things. Everything that comes to mind sounds fine in my head, but put out there in print just looks trite to me. Other people's thankful posts don't bug me; only my own do. I know. Cynical much? I'm going to try hard now to set aside my deep and abiding cynicism and produce a list of things for which I am genuinely thankful. Let's see how well I do.

  • My family and friends (That's sort of a given, isn't it? --See? I already feel silly and predictable.)
  • My home and my kitties (Again, that's obvious, right? --Shut up, inner monologue! You aren't helping.)
  • Creativity (This encompasses so many things: writing; theatre; cooking/baking; dancing... --Okay. I think I'm getting a little better at this.)
  • eBooks (My publishers and editors; self-publishing options; readers (both the electronic and the human kind); my beta readers; my critique partner; friends who help me decipher the insanity that is Photoshop...)
  • First-world problems (There's a light out under my microwave; The organic bananas at the store are much too green; My car needs a new headlight...)

You know what? For someone who pretty much only makes lists for grocery shopping, I think I did okay.
 
Is there anything you're especially thankful for that you'd like to share? Please post it in the comments. And Happy Thanksgiving! Even if you're not celebrating an official holiday. :-D

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Gay TV Kisses From Around the World

You know how it is when you start clicking around on YouTube on a Sunday morning and then you fall down the rabbit hole and hours have passed? Recently on one such morning, I came across this compilation of gay kisses and thought I'd share. Enjoy!


Sunday, November 11, 2012

Hello, readers. Sunday already? Wow. I know that the US and Canada have a 3-day weekend, which is always delightful to me on Sunday night when I know I don't have to work in the morning.

How's that Halloween candy stash coming along? Still got your mini Butterfingers and Twix and Reese's cups? I do, along with Tootsie Rolls, and I don't mind telling you that the pile is slowly diminishing. Hey, it's brain food for when I'm writing.

And speaking of brain food, the hubs and I discovered American Horror Story a few weeks ago and have been marathoning it ever since. We finally finished Season One last night. Season Two has already started and is waiting on the DVR for us. That's a pretty twisted show. Love it!

Hope your Sunday is filled with candy, like mine probably will be.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

You Show Me Yours....


People who get their Christmas shopping done early really piss me off. Not because they then can lord it over stupid idiots like me who are still remembering who they forgot to buy for on December 26, but because it means that every year that dreaded question starts earlier and earlier.

“So,” someone pins me with a look sometime before freaking Halloween, “Christmas list time. What do you want?”

It’s not that I don’t like presents because I totally do, and the idea that I can make a list of stuff I want and have some expectation of receiving has been pretty damned cool ever since I first picked up crayon and put it to paper to clue Santa in on my deepest desires.

Errr, sometimes being an erotica author has unintended consequences requiring brain bleach.

Okay, where was I? Yeah, so around this time of year, people start asking other people all that same question. I decided to have a little fun with the deepest desires part of making lists, and wrote a novella called Wish List which is coming out from Carina Press on December 3 as part of the Red Hot Holiday anthology. In it, my hero Jonah finds a really unexpected gift that send him scrambling to find out what he really wants from his boyfriend Evan. It’s me, so I don’t think I’ll be ruining the surprise to say that much kinky sex ensues as a result of Jonah’s list.

But that’s not the only thing I wanted to tell you about. I am nothing if not a shameless briber—um generous giver of gifts. There’s a 12 Days of Christmas Blog going on at the USA Today Happy Ever After Blog where you can win some awesome prizes from me or one of eleven other authors with holiday romances hitting or heating up your ereaders, like Jill Shalvis and Molly O’Keefe and Leah Braemel and Anne Calhoun. My blog and prize will be going up this Friday, November 9. Then after that, you can enter to win my corresponding gift (five golden rings equals $50 in gift cards at an e retailer) at my website. The contest runs through November 25 so keep stopping by to check out the other writers who are participating.

So...what’s on your Wish List? 

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Peeking out from under the covers

I'm spending as little time as possible online today. I'm also avoiding any television more taxing than Disney Channel. I hate election season, and this year I fear election day. I haven't been this scared since '88, and that year I watched "Apocalypse Now" because it was less frightening than watching election returns. I do not want to have to bust out my "America is scary." t-shirt tomorrow, but I will if I have to. It's been in figurative mothballs for four years, and I'd like to keep it that way, thanks. If you're in the US, for the love of freedom, GO VOTE! NOW!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Trick or Treat


I started to blog about the storm’s effect on sports, but then realized it’d turn out just as snarky as the talking heads of media who condemned NY for not cancelling the marathon right away and then celebrated the football and basketball teams when they chose to play.

Here, along the northern edge of Mother Nature’s fury, the kids in my town are trick or treating tonight. I’ve never been a fan of celebrating this holiday before or after Halloween just to have it on a weekend. I even asked the realtor, before making an offer on the house, when the town celebrated. She assured me it was always on the evening of the actual holiday. None of that daylight/weekend trick or treating for me, thank you. When 40% of the town was still in the dark on Halloween, I certainly didn’t complain about trick or treating being postponed earlier this week.

We have power back now. When it’s all said and done Mother Nature will always find a way to scratch the itch humanity creates in her tender ecology; we have to adjust our lives around it as best as we can. I’m handing out candy to little kids who understand no more than they didn’t have to go to school for two days, and that, dear readers, is the beauty of it all: rosy cheeks, polite and awed thank yous, and happy giggles.

No matter where you are, and how the storm affected you, you have smiles ahead of you. You have life.

Happy Halloween, dear Readers. I’ll leave some extra candy out for you.

~Pia

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Countdown to Halloween

Halloween is by far my favourite holiday. I mean, okay, yes, I'm an actor and, therefore, I get to dress up in costumes a lot. But it's not the same as Halloween! Halloween is the day when everyone gets to be whoever they want to be for (at least) one day. How fun is that? We can be so mired in the day-to-day, wake-work-sleep routine that the opportunity for such blatant frivolity and living fiction is almost necessary to keep a mind sane. ... Or is that just my mind? ;-)

My costume is essentially done already. Of course, I chose not to pull from my stock this year. (What? Doesn't everyone have a personal stock of costumes?) I just had to build a new one. *rollseyes* Fortunately this one wasn't too tough and a friend of mine generously came over to help. It looks pretty damned cool, if I say so myself. I'm just waiting on the one item I had to order, and I'll be good to go! Good thing, too, since I have two parties to attend this weekend. (Making up for not going to any for the past several years.) If I get a good picture, I'll post it to Facebook.

I love October!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Tuesday is the New Hump Day

Here's a little something to get you through the week. :D

Tyler Hoechlin from the surprisingly awesome show Teen Wolf.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Busy month...few months.

Busy month ahead. Well a few of them. These last few months have been busy with releases and lots of writing.  I’ve been working hard and plan to keep continuing. Love when I have lots to work on. I can’t believe it is October and in few months the year will be over. Now I’m off to get some more work done.

Before I go I wanted to mention I have 2 releases this month. :) This month Wicked Alliance ( Bonds of Justice #2) will be released to cyber shelves at Total E Bound on October 8, 2012 and The Law of Desire (Encounters#1) will be released to cyber shelves at Dreamspinner Press on October 17, 2012.

Very busy month. :)

Talia Carmichael
http://taliacarmichael.com/
Fill Your Cravings
Blog: http://taliacarmichael.com/blog Newsletter:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/taliacarmichael

Buy After the Fall here

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Just in case you missed Keira's post on Tuesday.... you can download a FREE cookbook from All Romance eBooks!!


Just click HERE for your free copy, featuring recipes from today's hottest romance authors!

Food and love have had a long association, for Passionate Cooks: Free Recipes From Today’s Hottest Romance Authors, over 150 authors of the genre have put their pens and computers aside to don aprons, get down and dirty in the kitchen, and share their love of food.
Much like romance novels themselves, the dishes range from spicy to sweet. There is something for every taste and every level of culinary expertise. The cookbook includes New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Mari Carr’s “Wild Irish” Cream of Crab Soup recipe. Western GBLT author BA Tortuga contributes a dish as spicy and colorful as the straight-shooting author herself with Ranch Hands—a blend of Tabasco, salsa, onions and cumin, added to pinto beans, eggs, Canadian bacon and cheddar cheese and served in a tortilla. And for those of you who are feeling extra creative and sexy, there’s the Avocado Dip that doubles as body paint from mystery writer Marcia James.

Some recipes are simple, such as Down Home Mac & Cheese, while some are more exotic, such as Spicy Shrimp Risotto. There are even some gluten-free selections, like the Sweet and Spicy Gluten-Free Lo Mein-ish Noodles from erotica author Sommer Marsden. And a few are perfectly timed for a Halloween, such as Tracey H. Kitt’s Gamberi del Diavolo or Shrimp of the Devil.


CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY! 

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Quivering with An-tis-ci-paaaaaaaa.....tion

Okay, so Frankenfurter quotes don't translate well to written word.

But I am getting excited for Desire in the Desert...GayRomLit in Albuquerque. I start road tripping it on Wed. next week. I have a new cowboy hat and everything. New one is leather b/c the straw hat is starting to fray around the edges.

Elisa Rolle is running a finishing contest on her blog: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1763641.html You can win 100 eBooks or one of two DVDs.

I'll see y'all there!

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

To NaNo or Not to NaNo?

It's almost that time again. November is coming and that means NaNoWriMo. I'm seriously considering not signing up this year. Oh, I think I'll still buckle down on the writing in November, but I'm not feeling the call of the meaningless, self-imposed, arbitrary deadline. That may change. There's a steampunk western knocking around in the back of my brain. If it finds its way to the front, then perhaps. Still, I've done six NaNos in a row, and that's not bad. I could take a year off. Maybe this is the new 7-year itch. We'll see.

Anyone else on the fence this year? I'd love to hear your thoughts, pro or con, on taking a year off NaNo.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Ring Drop


Slash & Burn
A little over a week ago, I had some free time one work day afternoon. I wrote my Slash & Burn post then, very excited to get it finished ahead of time. With football season in full swing, and me in another writing slump, it felt good to be ahead of schedule, even if only for blog posts.

Today, being my day of the month to post here at Slash & Burn, I went into my Dropbox folder to grab the file and … it’s not there. I don’t blame Dropbox. I love that app. Before Dropbox, I’d wash flash drives on a regular basis. I lived in constant fear that I’d drown one completely, and lose a bunch of work. Ah, but that’s a tangent for another day. Where did that blog post go?

I don’t know…

Now I’m thinking maybe I just wrote the post in my head. Sound weird? Yeah, I know it does. During the work week, I walk around the office building on a regular basis. It helps my back and neck survive the horrors of sitting at a desk all day. When I’m walking, I think and plan. I come up with new scenes for characters that I’m struggling with, or I map out blog post ideas, or I plot out timelines for what I’d like to accomplish in the coming months. I’m sure I sketched out the idea for today’s post in my head on one of these walks, and this morning, I also would’ve sworn that I returned to my desk after that walk and added my thoughts to a Word document.

Except I can’t find that Word doc I thought I titled “Rings”.

Sure, there have been several walks were I created what I thought were great ideas, and promptly forget them by the time I sat down at the computer again, but today might be the first time I thought I wrote something down when I didn’t. I blame the Muse. She’s been elusive lately, so maybe I’m daydreaming about actually accomplishing my goals instead of simply letting cute twink boys run wild in my head for the sheer pleasure of it. Anything is possible.

As for the Rings, perhaps I really will write that one for my next Slash & Burn visit. Or, maybe it’d be better to write it on my blog this week. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll just think about it some more, because apparently thinking makes me feel extra productive. And the rings themselves? They were cock rings. Public cock rings. More… later.

Ciao,
Pia Veleno

PS Haven’t tried Dropbox yet? Free back up storage and syncing between storage and multiple computers… why not? Free here: http://db.tt/nUvSipK

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Passionate Cooks: Free Cookbook!

All Romance Ebooks has outdone themselves with this new cookbook featuring more than 150 recipes from today's hottest romance authors -- and I feel very fortunate to be counted in that group!
Passionate Cooks
Much like romance novels themselves, the dishes range from spicy to sweet. There is something for every taste and every level of culinary expertise. The cookbook includes New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Mari Carr’s “Wild Irish” Cream of Crab Soup recipe. Western GBLT author BA Tortuga contributes a dish as spicy and colorful as the straight-shooting author herself with Ranch Hands—a blend of Tabasco, salsa, onions and cumin, added to pinto beans, eggs, Canadian bacon and cheddar cheese and served in a tortilla. And for those of you who are feeling extra creative and sexy, there’s the Avocado Dip that doubles as body paint from mystery writer Marcia James.
I'm excited to try out the recipes from my fellow authors, and you'll find something sweet and simple in there from me. Download your free copy today!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Clogged Filters


In one of my favorite movie’s Desk Set, Katherine Hepburn’s Bunny is given an “intelligence test” by Spencer Tracy’s Richard Sumner. One of the questions is “Often when we meet a person something in particular strikes us: hands, eyes and so on. What do you notice?” With the perfect touch of suggesting that it’s a stupid question, Bunny answers “Whether the person is male or female.”

Throughout the rest of the test, Bunny’s flexible thinking, that she “associates many things with many things” surprises the analytic Sumner. As a film about the early days of computers, it’s a bit dated, but as a character study? As a way of examining how two very smart people can have a great deal of difficulty communicating, it’s a work of art.

When I’m working with characters, like the ones that are giving me fits at the moment, I try to keep make sure that their lack of effective communication is due to their own filters for the world and not just plain stupidity. (Though a character’s stubbornness can definitely make his filter look like stupidity, I must say.)

Those filters affect everything about my stories, including the level of convincing the character will need to make their happy ending work. In the end of Desk Set the computer that created their conflict allows Sumner finally away to make his feelings clear to Bunny. I hope the ending I’ve come up with for Gavin and Jamie will be equally satisfying. 

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Almost Available!

I know, I know. That's not nearly as exciting as "Now Available!", but I'll take it! Client Privileges will very shortly be available again from Amazon Kindle! Here's the official art work:

It's a little different from the draft I posted previously, but I like it even better. :-D

And here's a little reminder of what this book is about:

On the surface, Jonas Vaneau's life is ordinary: days working at the law courts; evenings relaxing at home with his cat; and countless Sabbath dinners with his parents and an endless string of potential brides. But his routine life cannot provide what he most desires--at least not as long as he must continue to pretend to be the person his overbearing parents want him to be.

An unusual encounter with a seemingly ordinary brothel client causes Micah Hartshorn considerable consternation. When Jonas inexplicably bursts past his emotional defenses, Micah finds himself involved in a drama that is far beyond anything for which his professional skills have prepared him.

Their mutual attraction grows with each encounter, but, foreseeing too many obstacles, both hide their true feelings. Jonas must face his parents before he can find happiness. Micah cannot imagine that Jonas could love him and at the same time accept his profession. As the men grow closer, all personal problems are swept up in political unrest when new laws threaten both men's livelihoods. When even greater troubles send Jonas's world spinning beyond his control, it's up to Micah to save him from his downward spiral--if he can.

 **

I can't tell you how excited I am to have this book back out in the wild after a year of hibernation. Now it's just that last (hopefully short) wait for it to go live on amazon.com. I'll be back to post a link as soon as I have one.  In the meantime, I'm happy dancing! Whee!

**

ETA: Client Privileges NOW AVAILABLE at amazon.com  Click here!

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Now Available!

Sparks: A Tinder Story is now available from Torquere Press! I've been waiting for a chance to tell Morgan's side of the story, or at least part of it, so here it is.

Official blurb:

Chris and Morgan are back!

In this third installment to Tory Temple’s popular Tinder series, Morgan Daniels finally gets his turn to talk about what life is really like with a fireman. Chris and Morgan are still together and still happy, but Morgan’s underlying dislike for firefighters in general is threatening their relationship. When there is a bad accident involving Chris’ crew, Morgan’s deepest-buried fears are brought to the surface. Every negative thing he thinks is true of firemen has been illustrated… or has it? Help and support for Morgan comes from truly unexpected places, but the damage may have already been done. The truth may be realized too late.

Get your copy of Sparks: A Tinder Story to read about Morgan’s side of the story!

I was pleased with how this story turned out. I hope you guys can give it a try and let me know what you think. Happy Sunday!


Sunday, September 16, 2012

Five things no one knows about me...

I thought I'd make a list of five things no one knows about me (except my characters.)

1. As soon as I dreamed up the character Nigel Gasp, I couldn't rest until I found someone who loved him like he deserves to be loved. I worry about things like that. Really. It keeps me awake at night.



2. The entire time I was writing the first draft of Stirring Up Trouble, I probably didn't cook at all. It was an entire book about Chefs and all I did was drive through fast food joints for an entire month. I wrote it quickly though, and worked on polishing it later. By then I felt I could leave the computer long enough to feed my family something other than junk food.



3. I speak enough Spanish that I might have attempted to write the Spanish dialogue in The Pharaoh's Concubine, but after careful consideration, I asked my pal Anna to help me, because I was likely to impart that school Spanish ambiance to the book. The really good cursing is me telling Anna what I wanted to say in English, and her calling her police academy student son to ask how to say it. LOL!



4. Crossing Borders was not the first book I ever wrote, but it was the first to be published. The first I ever wrote was a very vanilla story of two high school violinists in love, set across the backdrop of their high school orchestra. My mother was able to read it, and she said, "Wow. I read that. It's almost like a real book!" 

The Long Way Home was next, then Drawn Together, then Crossing Borders. By that time I was so punch drunk in love with writing, I was spending all my free time with my computer. I had an email address but no link to anything but LiveJournal. No social networking. No phone, no lights, no cable cars. I didn't watch television or Netflix films. I think of that year as the "time I spent in the glow of my desktop monitor, keeping the door shut against my family responsibilities." Writing was my Drug Of Choice. After that, I floated gently back to earth... Now my family takes the front seat, but it was "an affair to remember." :D



5. I have written a number of holiday stories, I Heard Him Exclaim, What Child Is This, Secret Light and A Picture Perfect Holiday. I think my favorite of those is Secret Light. I've said many times that I took positively shocking liberties with my father in that book. 

Everything about the character is my dad, everything he does, everything he says, how he thinks and feels about family and faith and friendship. The only difference is to my knowledge my father was not gay. I loved Rafe Coleman so much. I wanted to give him the happiest of happy endings. I wanted to tuck him in on that final page with enough love to last an eternity.

Even though it was the fifties, and he had to live with his lover in secret, I believe in their happily ever after and I know it only got better over the years. Good night, sweet prince. RIP.







Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Please Allow Me to Introduce Mr. Gavin Prescott Montgomery


Update: I have a release date for the next Bad in Baltimore book. It's called Bad Attitude and is scheduled to hit the digital shelves on April 23. 

It features Jamie who was introduced in Bad Boyfriend, In fact, Quinn and Eli might just owe their happiness (and awesome sex lives) to Jamie’s suggestion that Quinn select an outrageous date for the baby’s baptism. It might be fairly easy to connect the title to Jamie, to whom Eli referred as “ginger and short” and who told Quinn, “to ball his brains out” with Eli “but leave love and marriage to the hets.”

So you might be wondering who would put up with Mr. Attitude? Someone with an attitude of his own. On the surface, Gavin might seem to be a poor little rich kid—


Gavin: Excuse me?
KA: You know you have issues with your family and—
Gavin: “Kid”? I’m thirty-five.
KA: *lowers voice* You do still live at home, hon.
Gavin: I’ve been working on that. I was about to buy that condo when—you know I’m the only one who will make sure Lily gets enough rest. I can’t just leave now.
KA:  And focusing your attention on your step-mother and her pregnancy is not at all about how utterly empty your life feels.
Gavin: *mocking smile* I find ways to console myself. Really, my dear, four straight chapters of sex? Who is overcompensating here?
KA: You guys were due. I do have to have some erotica in my erotica, you know.
Gavin: Whatever you say, of course. It didn't exactly happen the way you or the intense Mr. Donnigan thought it would, did it?

So, see what I mean? I’m not exactly sure who has the titular attitude.

Gavin Titular? You love having a character with my vocabulary. Slide in an obfuscatory. Go on. Antedeluvian. You’ve been dying to do it.
KA: Go back there and wait for me. And don’t keep wandering off my synopsis.

I’ve got my hands full y’all. I’d better get back to them.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Rerelease cover art!

I'm working hard to get my novel, Client Privileges, back on the ebookshelves. Towards that end, I've been working on new cover art with a friend of mine. Here's what we have so far.


I'm no graphic artist, but I think it's pretty. What do you think?

Okay. Back to the grind. I'm re-reading the manuscript since it's been a while and I want it to be perfect for everyone. Such a rough life. ;-)

Sunday, September 9, 2012

It's Torquere Press's ninth anniversary!

Anyone know what the ninth anniversary gift traditionally is?  

Leather, something near and dear to the hearts over there at Torquere Press.
To celebrate their 9th birthday, they're having gift basket prizes, blog posts from some of your favorite authors, and the grand prize, a brand-new Kindle Fire to say thank you for all your support over the years and to highlight the wonderful authors who bring us such amazing stories.

Check their blog,  http://glbtromance.blogspot.com/ where they'll be hosting a new author every day. They'll post excerpts, hang out to chat, and talk about their books. In addition to the grand prize of the Kindle Fire, they're giving away gift baskets every week! Some are silly, some are smutty, and all are fun.

What do you need to do to win? Just visit their site HERE, fill out the online form, and they'll randomly choose a winner for the Kindle Fire from all of the entries. Plus, during the month, multiple readers will have the chance to win a Torquere gift certificate and a gift basket.

I'm proud to be an author at Torquere and so thrilled they're publishing the third installment of Tinder later this month. Go check out the anniversary happenings and see what you can win!

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Are You Ready?


The nights have been cooler, even chilly, but the days still strive for 80s or more. Preseason football games have showed us a bunch of guys who will probably end up on the practice squad, the bench, or back at their day jobs. The biting, dive-bombing, ear and mouth loving bugs are dying off. And I have a week off from work.

I love the fall. Sure, according to the calendar, it’s not fall yet, and we’re still due another hot and humid heat wave, if not two, but to me fall starts with the football season.  Football is the only sport I truly enjoy watching. It’s not just for the easy jokes about tight ends, penetration, and going long either. I enjoy the competition, the rough hits, the incredible catches, and the choreographed plays on both sides of the ball.

I also love this time of year for the hiking. Yesterday it was brutally hot, but today, the thermometer has barely moved since the sun rose. There are no Patriot games until next Sunday, but there’s a cool, crisp day out there inviting me on a lazy hike through the woods behind the high school where it’s easy to forget there’s a highway and a city nearby.

Labor Day heralds in the changing of the seasons for me, and a change to a season that returns me to my mental and spiritual home: Mother Nature. Now if only we had a game this weekend, it’d be the perfect start to vacation.

Are you ready for some football? 

Yes. Yes, I am.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Join Me In Vegas!

At the Get Booked Booth at Las Vegas Pride! THIS Saturday, September 8, 2012, 5:00pm until 6:30pm

500 S. Grand Central Parkway, Las Vegas, NV.  ManLove Press authors James Buchannan, the insanely handsome J.P. Bowie, and the Sauveur sophisticated Marshall Thornton will read from their work and sign books at the Get Booked Booth at Las Vegas Pride on Saturday, September 8, 2012 from 5:00 to 6:30 pm.

A FREE Shuttle will run throughout the day of the festival between the Gold Parking Lot at the World Market Center and the PRIDE Festival Main Entrance at the Clark County Government Center.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Off the Clock




As I mentioned in June, I quit ye olde teaching job in favor of not being beat up and getting to write stories of cute guys fucking all day. Props to me. But as Labor Day stares me in the face, I'm getting an odd feeling of being out of time and place. Labor Day has meant the start of a new year to me for a tidy few decades, much more so than January 1. Fall has always been new beginnings, new chances, new clothes and new school supplies. At The Most Awesome Job Ever, all Labor Day means this year is that a book came out, a book is in edits, I have print galleys due and another book due while a trying to keep new characters from trying to escape and take over. All of that is fun (except the print galleys), but they don't have that special connection to this time of year. Still not complaining because, see above, getting to write about guys meeting, fucking and falling in love is absolutely The Most Awesome Job Ever, but it's hard fighting the urge to buy new clothes or a pencil case.

We humans have been coming up with ways to tell time (Stonehenge, New Grange) almost as soon as we could count, so it seems like a pretty basic need to find a rhythm in the cycle of the year. That led me to thinking about finding a similar rhythm in my writing schedule. Does it matter when a book comes out? It seems to me that my books that release in March/April or December/January seem to sell best. May/June is okay. The slowest month for me for new releases seems to be August. Anyone have thoughts on that? Should I beg, borrow and steal to get books to come out December, April...and a month not August to get into a pattern? And how often is good for releases? Every four months? Every six? At what point do readers say, "I forgot she was still writing"?

I may not have semesters to tick off the time for me anymore, but as long as I have the rhythm of write, edit, release, I think I'll be happy living off the clock.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Research Mode

When you write fantasy, one of the most important elements of your universe is reality. ... Wait, what? Let me put it this way: For a fantastical universe to be believable, it must be grounded in real world facts, even if the facts don't play a direct part in the story itself. Where is all this leading, you might ask? Well, I'm working on the origin story for Rhys and Isaac from my short story Play Music, Play Magic. Isaac is a fisherman so what d'you think I'm doing lately? Researching long line fishing practices. I'm also digging up date on storms at sea. (It's been so long since I read A Perfect Storm, there's none of it left in my memory.) I'm guesstimating that about 10% of what I learn will play directly into the story, but that's okay. You don't have to see the roots to enjoy the tree, right? Hmm...I should have a nautical analogy. Let me think... I got nothin'. Better do some more research. ;-)

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Happy Sunday, Slashers! Here we are at the tail end of August and I'm left once again wondering where the summer has gone. That one commercial where the dad is gleefully throwing school supplies into the cart while the kids try to set him on fire with their eyes makes me laugh. And not because of the dad, it's totally because of the kids. They're the ones I'm identifying with.
Every year when summer ends, I make a promise to myself to try and read more during the fall and winter months. Usually this promise falls by the wayside in favor of staring at the television, but not this year. I have an iPad, which will make it exceptionally easy to finish one book and download another one immediately. So that's my back to school resolution. (Another one is to stop buying every pair of cute fuzzy pajamas I see.) In athletically related news, I finished my first draft of Morgan's story from Tinder, so now I can concentrate on training this week for the Disneyland Half Marathon next Sunday. Let's hope edits don't come back until after I cross the finish line.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Vegas Baby!

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