One More Day...

One more day to the Celebrate Romance conference in Columbia, South Carolina! And I'm nowhere near ready to go. *sigh*

I have to pack, print up some bookmarks, I'm still not sure I'm book signing or not, and I need to print up my directions.

But I'm looking forward to talking with fellow romance lovers. Now time to start getting ready... can you say, PROCRASTINATE?

ack. Marie

New Release: Satyr's Myst from Loose Id

Woohoo! Today, Satyr's Myst releases from Loose Id. Click here for a sneak peak....

Lilah Tanner thought she'd finagled time on a private island for her own purposes -- to take a break from her dull, complacent life. She's a hard worker, a physical therapist, with a successful career but an unhappy love life. Not sure if it's due to her plain features or take-charge personality, she nevertheless wants more out of life than she has. So she does her cousin a favor and agrees to keep some rich playboy out of trouble on a tropical island. How hard can that be?

The danger around Rick Hastings is far more than she bargained for.

There's a stalker her cousin failed to mention, the threat of real harm from a hidden, outside source. But more than that, Lilah's bombarded with the reality of Rick Hastings and Trevor Reaper, two men too sexual for her own good. Because it isn't long before Lilah is tempted, seduced, and in love. And it will take all her courage to face her own insecurities and help Trevor and Rick face theirs in order to keep the men who've won her heart.

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Anal play/intercourse, bondage (mild), domination/submission, homoerotic sex m/m, ménage (m/f/m with homoerotic content).

I Finished the BOOK!!

I'm happy to say The Perfect Creation is now finished. It's also 85% edited. I just have to let the last few chapters sit a few days before revisiting it for errors/content.

Hurray!! I'm so happy I feel like I won the lottery. :) See, there it is. That ooo--aaahhh moment.

Marie

Nearly Finished...

I've got that aaahhhh feeling, and I love it. That satisfaction you get when a book is near completion, only to be outdone by the ooo-ahhhh feeling of actually finishing the book. haha

I worked my tail off (unfortunately, not a literal expression) and am one short chapter from finishing The Perfect Creation, a futuristic romance starring one of the Mardu brothers, a group of special men from my first futuristic books. This is not part of a series, however, but a book set in the same universe as some of my others.

In The Perfect Creation, peacemaker Rafe of Mardu is concerned about his brother, Gar. In an attempt to force his stubborn brother to talk to him and under orders from his oldest brother to fix Gar's problems, Rafe is inadvertently mistaken for a world-class criminal. In no time at all, he's kidnapped by a beautiful woman with alien eyes and an agenda that sets his world on end.
Erin can't believe a criminal like Cheltam would take Blue Rim Laboratory's lucrative reward for her capture without even hearing her out. Supposedly a criminal who hates the law, Cheltam should have given her the benefit of the doubt. When he doesn't, Erin decides to persuade him to help her--by any means necessary. But she doesn't count on her fierce attraction for the warrior-like male, or her need to please him, a fact which really troubles her. Because Erin's lived a slave's life for too long, and she has no desire to serve anyone ever again... except Cheltam isn't just anyone. He's the man who awakens her heart and soul, and shows her the freedom that could be hers if she's strong enough to reach out and take it.

Coming soon to an electronic publisher near you. :) Yep, just one more chapter to go.. My bet, it'll be finished today. Crossing fingers...

Procrastinating....

Man, I really want to slap myself. Today the husband took the kids with him to see the oldest performing with the Carolina Crown, a drum and bugle corps in North Carolina. Taking the little ones was the husband's way of seeing to it that I had writing time, God bless him, since I had little of it this past week due to a school holiday that had all the young ones at home.

HELLLOO??? It's nearly two in the afternoon and I've yet to write. Why? I think I'm trying to make myself perform under pressure, oddly enough when I do my best work. I'm just a few chapters from finishing my book, and had hoped to complete it today. I still intend to do so. But I just had to blog first, didn't I?

Sigh. So now, back to The Perfect Creation, where Rafe of Mardu meets his match in a woman strong enough to handle the Xema warrior in any and every sinful, sensual way.

Chow!! Marie

Welcome to Cougar Falls

Last year, Samhain put out an open call submission for a feline shifter anthology. I wasn't going to write anything for it because nothing came to mind and I was busy with a bunch of other projects. But one night an idea hit, and I'm still not sure where it came from. From that, the town of Cougar Falls was born, a small town in Montana full of the Ac-taw, a special group of people with the ability to shapeshift into animal forms. With the help of a mystical totem, the town stays under the radar from the general human populace. But when the totem goes missing and its guardian dies, all hell breaks loose.

Here's the story (what might be the first of a series depending upon how well the book is received and how many other projects take up my time) of the Ac-taw, coming to Samhain April 15th. Read a short blurb below...

Cougar Falls is much more than a small town, and to Rachel Penny, it might very well provide a new beginning to a life she’s happy to leave behind. Recovering from an ugly divorce, Rachel has no intention of falling for a “pretty face” ever again, so her attraction to a rude Adonis in the local diner makes no sense. But then, nothing has made sense since she’s stepped foot in Cougar Falls. Having just arrived for a reading of her aunt’s will, Rachel quickly finds herself embroiled with brawling mountain men that seem more animal than man, orgasmic from a scorching sexual encounter with the rude stranger from the diner, and up to her eyeballs in town mysticism and tales of the Ac-taw, Shifters—people with the ability to transform into animals. But the Ac-taw aren’t just legend, they’re real. And Rachel soon finds she’s inherited much more from her aunt than some property, but a destiny to protect her newfound home, and a love she’s been waiting for her entire life.

Happy Friday!

You Have to Read This Book!

I love books. Some more than others. I can always tell a good book when I'm drawn into the story, so much so that everything around me fades in the background. Last night I started Sabrina Jeffries's latest historical romance, Let Sleeping Rogues Lie. Oh my gosh!! I LOVED IT! I read for three hours straight, ignoring my husband, kids, my life. But I finished the book. WOW.

Since it's been a while since I've been wowed, I wanted to share my excitement. The book is part of her The School for Heiresses series, but the only thing consistent throughout the series is the school and Mrs. Harris, the proprietress. So you don't have to read them in order at all to understand anything. The setting is Regency, or Victorian, I can never remember the difference between the two. But there are parties, the Ton, and governesses and rogues aplenty.

What a wonderful romance between a strong hero and an equally strong heroine. And Ms. Jeffries peppers plenty of sensuality and well-written bedroom scenes that will have you fanning your collar from the sheer heat of her characters' passion.

Sabrina Jeffries is on my auto-buy list, and I have to say I've never been disappointed by any of her romances. So if you need something good to read, complete with that warm feeling you get once you put down a satisfying book, I can't recommend Let Sleeping Rogues Lie enough.

Guest Blogging at Rose Marie's

Today I'm guest blogging at Rose Marie Wolf's blog. Come on by and check it out!!
The topic is Single Title versus Series.

Revision Monday

Ack. Not starting out the week right, I can tell you that.

Last night I received revisions due back today. And they weren't normal revisions, they were painful line edits that had my eyes crossing. Good attention to detail, but man, I had thought my work would be cleaner after the fifth round of edits! But hey, I'm not complaining, not really. Because the editor STILL caught stuff I'd missed.

So this morning, after little sleep and awakened by screeching children waayyy too early, I finished my edits. But those edits reminded me that I had some final line edits pending for another story. So I jumped on those. So far, so good. Now if only I could go back to bed and get some sleep. Because I won't be writing much today through Wednesday. The @@##$#$ schools are having a winter/teacher break through Wednesday, so all four of the kids are home. A better mother would be jumping for joy, but I have two teenagers and two little ones. I miss my routine!!!

SIGH. Needing coffee now.....

The February Newsletter is Live

Happy Friday!! My February newsletter is out, and I thought I'd clue everyone in on some key points to entice you to join if you haven't already.

• I'm running a new, kick-*ss contest with a grand gift basket for a prize. The basket will include chocolates, books, candles, and other goodies to make your bundle a treat. Contest ends March 15th, so enter now. Go to my website for more details.
  
• I announced the next two winners of my monthly drawing, selecting two of my newsletter subscribers at random for free downloads from some great Samhain authors.
  
• My agent is traveling next week pitching stories, so here's hoping someone up there takes a gander and mine and says, "Remarkable! Just what we've been looking for!!" with not one, but TWO exclamation points.
• Enjoying the Show is now a Fictionwise Bestseller. So that makes ARe, MBaM and now Fictionwise where my contemporary romance has scored well. Go Show!!
• And I posted a short though steamy teaser for my upcoming romance Satyr's Myst, arriving from Loose Id in just two short weeks on Feb 26th!
  

My good news for the day. Hope you all have a nice weekend! And now back to my current WIP...

Happy Valentine's Day

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day with the ones you love.

Thanks!!

I just wanted to thank everyone for posting on yesterday's topic, and if you haven't yet, please do. Whether you agree with me or not, I encourage responses. I find language fascinating, and profanity, specifically, seems to generate all types of responses in authors and readers alike. Feel free to express yourself, just watch your language.
hahaha
(Well, I don't want to be banned for being offensive on Blogger.)