November Contest Winner

Wow! There were a ton of entrants for this contest. But the lucky winner, the 66th entrant (my daughter picked the number) is Tammy Garcia.

Thanks to all who participated, and look to December for a new and final 2008 contest.

New Pax Cover

I have to admit to having very little patience. As soon as I saw this, I had to share. This is the cover for the Amber Pax Collection of vampire stories coming out in January. My story, Emergence, will be a part of the anthology, and will have its own cover as I get closer to the release date. Amber Paxes are unique in that you can buy the whole collection of stories OR you can buy each one separately. I like that, as sometimes you want one story but not the whole. So enjoy the cover with me, and happy Friday.

Marie

Update...

As you can clearly see from my picture to the right, I'm finishing my current WIP. It's been both a blessing and a lesson in frustration hosting relatives for the holiday. I love my mom, and was more than happy to see her since she lives so far away...on the west coast while I'm on the east coast. She's gearing for a trip to New Zealand and returns to Seattle only to fly out again next week. But her leaving frees up my much-loved desktop.

The laptop which I had thought crashed actually hadn't. I reformatted the hard drive and restored Windows XP--I've been told by countless users (hello, Teri), not to go with Vista--and the laptop is up and running again, but much more slowly than my old faithful computer in the study.

Bottom line, I'm working like a dog, or in the case of the above picture, a monkey :) , and look forward to turning in my story, which now has a title, to Amber Quill! Emergence will hit the publisher Saturday and, if the schedule follows, be available in mid-January 2008. Yippee Skippee.

Oh, and don't forget. Only one more day to enter my November Contest. Contest ends Friday, so if you haven't already, enter for a chance to win one of my print titles.

Marie

New Contest, Ends Nov 30th

NOVEMBER CONTEST

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! In the spirit of giving thanks, I'd like to show my appreciation for all the readers out there who love romance. Simply send an email to marie_harte@yahoo.com with November Contest in the subject line to be entered to win a print copy of Illicit Pursuits.
**You must include your physical address in your email if you want to be entered in the contest, winner drawn randomly, not dependent upon location.**

Contest will run from Nov 26th through Nov 30th, winners announced Friday at 10PM EST. Thanks, and good luck!

Finally, I'm BAAACCKKK

Hi! Sorry to have been so absent lately. I had family visit for the holidays (Mom's still here, in fact) and haven't had access to my computer since the computer room doubles as a guest room. I rarely get to see my parents, so I've made the effort to spend more time with them and less time working. So now I have MAJOR deadline anxiety. Oh, and did I mention that my laptop crapped out? Any work I might have been doing when everyone was fast asleep this past week was a nonplayer. Yikes.

So far this morning, I finished my second set of line edits for Saturnalia, coming soon from Loose Id. Just received my cover. Take a look on your left...

Now I just have to finish up my vampire story for AQP, part of the Bite Me Pax. And then I'll hit some more Storm Lords edits before submitting.

I've updated my website with a new contest and plan to work on my newsletter later this week. Considering I only have five more days of November, I'd better get cracking, eh?

Well, happy Monday. Here's hoping you all had a very nice holiday (Thanksgiving for those of us in the states) and that your week looks much less stressed than mine.

Marie

The Alpha's Appeal

Alpha Males are hot. They're arrogant, strong, sexually domineering and very, very popular in the world of romance. The days of the loving beta seem to have disappeared, replaced by uber-strong hero with just a touch of emotional vulnerability that lends to his likability.

Honestly, though, could any of us really live with a real alpha? Imagine a partner who constantly bossed you around, never let you make a decision and always thought he was right? To hear my husband tell it, that would be like living with me. A nightmare even I wouldn't be able to handle. haha But though many of us like the thought of a strong partner with such confidence, I don't think we'd be able to live with him.

Yet in fiction, the alpha is not only sexier than hell, but a roll model for most heroes. Though he's often tortured in some way, he normally has to overcome his own aversion to accepting help to become whole. And what's more appealing than a strong man who's broken in some way, prodding in us that need to fix him?

I like the werewolf, in particular, as an example of the ultimate alpha because I've read some really great werewolf stories lately and I've studied them to see what grabbed me. A few hot-ticket items I noticed in the stories:

1. Hot, sexually magnetic, if not handsome, heroes
2. Strong heroes who protect what they love
3. Mates, the one and only female they can truly love
4. Sexy, take-charge in the bedroom types
5. And come on, wolves are beautiful

So okay. The alpha male, as a werewolf, is sexy. But why is he so charming? It's that mate thing, the ultimate hero taken down a peg by the vulnerable (physically at least) woman he loves. There's nothing quite like a strong man who's putty in his woman's hands. That dichotomy of strength and weakness, power and vulnerability that interests me as both a reader and writer.

Whether my heroes shift form or are completely human, they all share that same, powerful trait. Because what woman doesn't secretly want someone to lean on when times get tough? Someone who will remain strong no matter what? And to know that person will remain loyal and faithful 'til the end?

Some alpha stories to enjoy: A Wolf at The Door by Christine Warren (and all of her Other series), Christine Feehan's Dark Magic (Carpathians) , Lora Leigh's Hidden Agendas (Tempting Seals series), Shannon McKenna's Behind Closed Doors.

Smiles and happy Monday.

Marie **(wolf picture by feebleminds.com)

The Nox Liberi

Feeding Time!

Work on my latest MS, Nox Liberi, is going smoothly. Vampires can be a fun trend, if for no other reason than to try a whole new approach to something that's been done nearly to death. :) No pun intended.

My working title is still up in the air, but in the world of the Nox Liberi, the Night Children, a select group of humans have been chosen to protect the human populace. But what's not so clear is who the populace really needs protection from.

Hope Bradley and Deacon Cain will have to come to some type of compromise if they're going to destroy an enemy too big to take down alone. Because when the truth is something no one wants to face, exposing it can have dire consequences on all sides.

A paranormal-suspense-romance that is growing from a single title into the beginning of something bigger. Just wondering if I can contain the Nox Squad in a few short volumes..

There's Deacon Cain, Oscar "Oz" Williams, Flynn, Ghost, and a few others who keep pulling at my fingers to throw them in the story. But for now, Deacon takes center stage with his best friend Oz in the wings. And they have their sites set on Hope, and for more than she can bring to the table, but for what she brings to the bedroom as well.

Chapter Five...Finished!!

I've been remiss in my blogging lately, but it's all been for a good cause. The story that's been dogging my heels for a freakin' year--Guardian's Redemption-- is D O N E!!!! Say it with me, DONE. Or I should say, almost done. The run-through and nitnoid 2nd, 3rd and 4th edits have yet to be attempted, but the actual story is finished.

I am so relieved, words just can't express how great I'm feeling. Though my celebratory hazelnut latte and pumpkin cheesecake should give you hint.) Don't get me wrong. I love what I've been writing. But I've felt a lot of pressure to make the story right not just for the characters, but for the readers and heck, myself as well. I've invested a lot in the storyline, my first "grand" scale series that arcs from the very beginning, when Tanselm is under attack by the evil 'Sin Garu and the Storm Lords are thrust from their homeworld, through each Storm Lord's quest to find his affai, his bride, and ending with Arim, the Guardian of Storm, and the fate of Light Bringers and Darklings alike.

The last story is a whopper, topping 80000 words, and there's more story to this one (obviously) as it ties up a lot of loose ends. But I was striving to make this also a stand-alone, so if you hadn't read the other Storm Lords books, you could still read this one and not only enjoy it, but understand it. :) Not sure if I've done that or not. We'll see...

Next on the agenda, finishing up my vampire romance for Amber Quill. And then a short break, because man, do I need one!

Chow!

Marie

STORM LORDS: The Fire WIthin

The Fire Within is the first book in my Storm Lords series. It was published in November 2005, and I'm currently finishing up Guardian's Redemption, the fifth and (so far) final book in the series.

A few years ago, I'd been writing futuristics for NCP and wanted to do something a little different. I liked reading series books about interesting families, particularly hunky brothers, and from that inspiration struck and the Storm Lords was created. An alternate world. Four identical quadruplets with the power of the elements. Light versus Dark. A great concept, I thought, and my return to the paranormal after my first romance for NCP in 2004, a vampire paranormal.

The Storm Lords is a cross between the paranormal and fantasy romance, since much of the action takes place not on earth, but in Tanselm, a parallel world.

A Fictionwise Bestseller -- To save his homeworld from destruction, the Prince of Fire must find a suitable bride in a parallel world without magic, and finds instead a woman who lights his fire both inside and out.

The land of Tanselm will fall to evil if the Tetrarch, four identical princes wielding elemental powers, do not find their intended brides. Thrust into the parallel realm of earth to escape death and insure a future for their world, they have one mission and one mission only--to find their destined mates... Darius Storm, the Prince of Fire, is impatient and frustrated to be so far from his home, so marriage is the last thing on his mind. The women of the foreign world into which he's been thrust lack the inner power and strength to truly connect with him, and his job at a local nightclub only brings him into contact with more unsuitable prospects. Until he meets Samantha Brooks, a beauty with the fiery passion to meet Darius head-on, and a special magic all her own.

To read an excerpt, click here.

New Cover for ENJOYING THE SHOW

ENJOYING THE SHOW

Check out the gorgeous cover for my upcoming release from Samhain, Enjoying the Show. Scott Carpenter is the talented artist who created the cover, and I cannot thank him enough.

Now, I'm not sure if you saw the old cover I posted, thinking it was the final cover. But the one below and to the right is the one that was considered... At the time I was really in love with it, and still really like it. But having a choice between the guy on the left and the guy on the right, I have to go with the guy on the left. (Hold on while I wipe the drool off my mouth.)

The countdown is ticking. December 4th is right around the corner. I can't wait!

The Big Day

Well, today is the big day. The celebration to end all celebrations. Yep, you guessed it. My birthday. I had a great day. No cooking, cleaning or thinking about cooking and cleaning, a night out at the Columbia County Fair with the family, and a great new idea for a story. Nope, can't take a night off from storytelling. Not like I don't have a dozen other ideas pending, but this one really struck me as special. Demons, possession, hot sex... can't wait to write it.

As far as the birthday goes, I pretty much got everything I asked for. And like the dweeb I am, I was drooling with glee over my new dictionary and writer's thesaurus. Hey, I've been using the same dictionary (American Heritage) since 1989. Time I updated my resources, eh? :) Oh, and I also received two DVD sets, a box of Godiva chocolates (that my hips really don't need), a Starbucks travel mug and coffee, and one of the funniest books I've ever seen but didn't ask for: The Contemporary Dictionary of Sexual Euphemisms by Jordan Tate. Not only does the book list a bunch of sexual phrases--some I've heard of, others I has no clue--but it explores how these phrases came about. Now, I write erotic romance, but a lot of these euphemisms floored me. I won't go into detail, but did you know that a "rusty trombone," "jazz in the park" and a "pearl necklace" have OTHER meanings than those you and I might commonly give them. What a funny, funny gift from my husband.

Well, a bit of writing to wind down the night and some cheesecake, and then I'm off to bed, a year older.

Marie