I'm thrilled to announce I've sold Dangerous Love, the sequel to Love Bites. If you've enjoyed learning about the main creep, Ladislav Husek, then watch for this book this fall from Noble Romance. I'm still writing it and I figure I have to crank out about 1500 words a day to finish by mid-September or earlier. So, make sure you've read Love Bites by then so you know all the back story! I'd love to know what you think will happen in Dangerous Love. You could have an impact on the story if I like your idea!

My naughty novella, Wet, will be out August 16, also from Noble Romance. It'll only be available as an Ebook. If you enjoy erotic romance - I recommend Wet. Here's the blurb:

Noah and Reagan may be divorced but their passion is far from over. For the sake of their children, they end up living together until the Navy determines Noah's next assignment. When the rain falls one night, they get wet in more ways than one.

 

(M/F erotic, bondage, anal play)

Thanks to everyone who stopped by this week. I had a blast hearing from all of you. 1RomanceEbook's anniversary celebration continues through July 31 so if you haven't signed up for the free blog tour, go to 1RomanceEbooks to sign up. Click on the anniversary banner and you're good to go. There are awesome goodies, including a Sony E Reader, gift cards, scads of books and more. It's a fun, easy way to meet lots of us authors and learn about some really amazing books.

I hope you're having a great summer. I can't believe August is peeking in the window. How's your summer? I'd love to get ot know you better. Leave a comment or ask a question.

Until the next time,
Margie

 

Welcome to Romance With SASS—stop #11 on the 1RomanceEbook Anniversary blog tour! I hope you are having fun and are discovering some terrific authors and books! I think I see a shadow following you from Charisma Knight's party (http://charismaknight.blogspot.com/). What a fantastic blog she has for paranormal fans and her books look great!

 

Since you've already got some shivers up your spine, let's talk about channeling your inner creep.

All of my books have a strong suspense element to them driven by powerful, dark characters. I like to think of myself as a nice Catholic girl, but in reality, I turn that off to successfully write characters that you loathe or fear. I read the news, police cases, and sometimes talk to my sister the shrink to get ideas about how twisted humans can be. And then I push it.

I need to understand that character as if we were best buds. Yeah, shake off the creepy feeling that gives you. My current bad ass is a 300 year-old vampire who hates humans who have happy endings. He wants to kill them all. The average vampire thinks Ladislav Husek is something like a bookkeeper for the dead but they could be really wrong. I have thought about him so much I can describe how his long, coal-black hair feels. He ties it back on the crown of his head. When he's angry, I can hear the huff of his breath and see his lips curl back in a snarl. I have a strong sense of how he sounds, moves, and what his body feels like. The pain that drives him makes him incredibly dangerous. Yet, there's another element to him that makes him weak and lose control in a much different way.

When I started "writing" Ladislav, I approached him a bit timidly and that really frustrated my muse. In fact, I started dreaming about this character because I think I was denying who he really is. When I stopped censoring myself (because he is so twisted) the story became a lot of fun to write. I let out my inner creep and the story took off!

As part of this cool blog tour, I'm giving away a set of my first two books available at 1RomanceEbooks – Awakening Allaire and Avenging Allaire. These erotic suspense novels are full of criminals of the human kind. Kidnapping, corporate crime, murder, drugs, adultery, manipulation, and deception all woven around an erotic love story. You'll wonder how Devon and Allaire will survive. Tell me which character traits give you the shivers and whether you enjoy mostly men or mostly women as antagonists. You could win both books. Don't forget to leave your participant code with your comment.

From here, please visit the lovely and talented Kate Richards – another good Catholic girl who's working hard to "get over it!" LOL http://katerichards.wordpress.com She's stop #12.

Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you'll subscribe and come back soon.

Until the next time.

Margie

This was a terrific surprise! I hope you'll take time to stop in at Half Past Midnight to read Love Bites' first review and learn more about Half Past Midnight. Pretty darn terrific if I say so myself! Thanks, K.B.! 

Pam is the lucky winner of Love Bites from my Interview with a Vampire blog entry. congratulations, Pam, and thanks for coming by! I hope you enjoy the book and please let me know what you think! I'

ll be guest blogging at Quackers and Tease today and next week over at 1RomanceEbooks . You'll have a chance to win a copy of all my books between these two blogs!

I also wanted to share that Awakening Allaire and Avenging Allaire will be soon available for Kindle at Amazon. They are "in review" right now - which is Amazon code for we're getting things organized. So, if you prefer to shop at Amazon, you can by the Allaire arc there or at 1Romance. Love Bites will be available at Amazon eventually too.

Over the weekend I got about 1500 words written on Dangerous Love. I'm finally getting in the groove for writing this book. My muse always takes awhile to stop fretting about plot points and research. So far, this book is deliciously evil. It has plot twists in it unlike any I've written. I admit it took me awhile to "shake it off" and just write the twists and turns the characters asked for. It definitely  has all the suspense, angst and seductive sizzle I just love. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for coming by and I hope you'll subscribe to my blog and leave a comment! I'd love to get to know you better!

Until the next time.
The Churchlady

    


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Buy Love Bites or any of the other fabulous titles at Noble. There's something for everyone and you won't be disappointed!     

 

The other night I was rudely awakened by the guy in the pic. Ladislav Husek is one of the evil vampires in Love Bites. The Ancient One, as he's known among vamps, wanted to blog. 

Now, if Ladislav was a nicer kind of guy, I don't think I'd have hesitated, but he's not. Oozing with machismo, Ladislav can charm whatever he wants off whomever he wants. I didn't want to fall victim to his tactics, so it took me a few days to organize my defenses before I could meet with him.

[LH] Margie, that's not a very nice introduction.

[MC] Hello, Laddy. You're charming as ever.

[LH] I love your pet name for me. It shows you care.

[MC] I think I'm just too lazy to write Ladislav every time.

[LH] I always enjoy these little mental games with you.

[MC] Speaking of mental games, the rule for this interview is you have to stay out of my head. No telepathy or I press delete and you're back in Brno, Czech Republic before the screen goes blank. Am I clear?

[LH] I can see where Jui gets her spunk. I suppose that head-blocking talent of hers was your idea. Judging by the smirk on your face I was right.

[MC] Anyway…moving on. This was your idea, so tell me why you had to wake me up in the middle of the night to chat.

[LH] I wanted to say I got a bum rap in Love Bites.

[MC] Bum rap?

[LH] You made me out to be quite an evil dude.

[MC] You nearly made Wade's head explode and you promised to turn Jui into your toy. And what about the little games you had the Prophets play with Wade? Laddy, you aint nice at all.

[LH] And you're judgmental. The Prophets are my friends. Even vampires need some kind of police action every now and then.

[MC] Those shape shifters seem to have fewer morals than earthworms.

[LH] In our world, morals are useless. And if you were turned into a vampire or a Prophet, you might be pretty pissed off about it. Some of us deal with it better than others.

[MC] And for those who don't, that's where you and the Prophets come in?

[LH] My primary job is to ensure the safety of our vampire nation. Most of us are peaceful creatures and those who aren't are exterminated. The Prophets are handy for that kind of work.

[MC] What's it like being friends with Master Prophet Dirk?  Did I just see you bristle?

[LH] We have an alliance. It's necessary.

[MC] Suddenly it's chilly in here. Did I hit a vein?

[LH] Sad vamp humor, Margie. Don't quit your day job.

[MC] Well?

[LH] He does my bidding. I can't help it if he has earthworm morals and I don't give a rat's ass.

[MC] I heard he can become any living shape he wants.

[LH] True.

[MC] Do you have a favorite shape, Ladislav? I get the impression there's more than just a "business arrangement" between you and Dirk.

[LH] If you weren't wearing all that copper jewelry, I'd show you exactly what kind of arrangement Dirk and I have. You'd be wearing only a grin - afterward.

[MC] Play nice, Laddy. I have my finger on the delete key.

[LH] I think you might enjoy a well-seasoned lover.

[MC] If you mean well-seasoned is over 300 years-old—

[LH] Your wit stings but I'd never hurt you.

[MC] Like you didn’t' hurt Tori?

[LH] I admit I turned her. Eternal life has a lot of pleasures and treasures to enjoy. How the hell was I to know she preferred catching the flu, getting wrinkles, and dying?

[MC] So she wasn't very happy about being turned into a vampire. How's your relationship now?

[LH] You're quite irritating. You know damn well that Tori considers me an eternal enemy. I know where she is but she usually keeps a continent or two between us. I think she's a bitch for holding a grudge this long.

[MC] What are you going to do about her?

[LH] She'll come around eventually. Right now my focus is on finding out where that bastard Wade Kairos hid Jui Fabrice.

[MC] My lips are sealed.

[LH] Why am I not surprised? Anyway, Kairos will pay for defying me, for chasing after a human. I'm not through with him or his lover, Jui.

[MC] In the next book – Dangerous Love, we'll learn all about your obsession with Tori and your relationship with Master Prophet Dirk. You two boys are pretty twisted.

[LH] Suit yourself. Maybe I am as evil as you hinted in Love Bites.

[MC] I think there's more to it. Much more.



Leave a comment with your e-mail address and you could win a free Ebook copy of Love Bites, my newest release from Noble Romance Publishing. Read the first chapter on my website and adults can read a steamy excerpt here.

Until the next time.
Margie

      

Man alive, I'm jacked about all the neat stuff happening with my writing career this week. I'm in the home stretch for Love Bites. It's coming out a week from today. If you want autographed copies of Love Bites, please email me  Margie_church@yahoo.com. I don't have pricing yet and I believe availability will be sometime in late July or early August.

In the meantime, I got a lot of work done on the sequel, Dangerous Love. I've got the characters well-defined and I finally came up with a name for the Master Prophet: Dirk. I don't know why I was having so much trouble with his name and I was asking everyone on Facebook to chime in and then, wham, it came to me. Dirk became a shape shifter when he was killed as a pirate in the 1800s. He's a nasty creature with fewer morals than an earthworm. Between him and that crazy vampire, Ladislov Husek, there's going to be a serious contest for the Sick and Twisted crown. In the middle of all their evil shenanigans will be lovers Jui and Wade, who are desperately trying to keep Jui from being turned into a vampire. A new vamp in stiletto heels, Tori, has a thirst for blood and blackmail. Poor Wade has his hands full. Subscribe to my blog to get progress reports on Dangerous Love.

Also yesterday, I got the illustrations for my children's book. Now I don't have a problem yacking about that on this blog but you better believe I won't be talking about my adult books on my new website for children's books. First Spring will debut on my new website and I'll post the link as soon as it's up.

What else!!? I organized a fan fiction challenge. Ten writers have thrown their pens in the ring to write 10k words minimum. It's all for fun and I'm having a blast with this. I love writing fan fiction between more serious work. Frees my mind. Stories are due August 1.

Driving in this morning, I came up with a YA (Young Adult) story. Noble Romance is starting a YA line and maybe this will work well for them.If you're an author, click on  the Noble badge to learn more. Did I tell you writing fan fics gets my muse out of the box? LOL

Lastly, I picked up a slug of magazine features this afternoon. I adore feature writing. These are for my favorite New Orleans commercial contractor – McDonnel Construction. What a great company and great group of people they have. My clients always inspire me to reach higher goals.

Looking over this list I add a marketing plan. I'm a writing fool and never happier.

Happy belated Father's Day to all you dads, dads to be, and dad wanna bees. My memory is pretty foggy when it comes to my dad. It is what it is. It ended well between us.

Until the next time.

Margie

 

Sometimes life presents opportunities. You ever get one of those – where you've sat there drooling or sweating over the chance of a lifetime…you're paralyzed by the idea of taking a step, opening your mind, expressing your opinion, taking a chance? I've had a few of these in the past few weeks. I found myself positively giddy at times and at others, filled with dread – fear like sawdust filled my mouth.

The Internet is a great place to hide. You can create an identity defined by your own words. Pick an avatar of somebody better looking than you. Fill your profiles full of bull pucky. And then one day reality stares you in the face and all those people you've been talking to online are going to get a chance to look you in the eye and figure out whether you've been honest. The experience was unnerving, invigorating, and freeing. I stood toe to toe with a man who makes my heart pound like a wild stallion every time I've seen him. I met someone I think is so beautiful and marvelous. She was so gracious to me-exactly how I'd always thought she'd be. I introduced myself to a writer I really admire and he looked at me over his glasses, through his bushy eyebrows and beatnik hair and said, thank you, and walked away. I embraced the friendship strangers offered.  Afterward, I was shaking like a leaf and awestruck but really proud of myself for getting through it with a smile and with grace.

My porridge, oftentimes Redneck, Midwest upbringing can leave me slack-jawed sometimes. It's not every day I leave a pool party and come face to face with cross-dressing men but I think I managed a pleasant hello and moved on. However, the unsupervised youngsters in the hotel lobby had me wondering, where are your mothers? I guess some old habits die hard.

I volunteered to do two things I've been dying to try but sat back for all the wrong reasons, for far too long. And now my signature is on the dotted line and I'll give these new adventures a whirl. I bet it'll be fine just because there'll be a lot of others there who, like me, think "I could never do that."

I blogged at Michele 'n Jeff's Blogspot this week. Check it out. It's the most in-depth interview I've ever done and it took me hours to formulate the answers to their questions. They also reviewed Awakening Allaire – my debut novel. It was pretty happy with their rating but really happy with the review. It said I accomplished what I wanted to with that book.

My point really is that carpe diem has never meant more to me. My life has been filled with downturns, disappointments, and drama. I've struggled to find my place and now I wonder why. Because I'm thinking I've been here all along and just didn't accept it. Life is challenging when your personality or life circumstances don't make you part of the "regular" crowd. Finally, when my life is more than half over, I'm fine with who I am and I'm through wasting time on people, ideas, and things that try to force this square block in a round hole. I cherish the paths we walked on together but I put my comfy leather loafers away. Will you?



Until the next time.
Margie

Navy Lieutenant Noah Landry and Reagan may be divorced but the passion they feel is far from over. Their young kids present the perfect reason for Noah to temporarily move in after an extended tour in Korea. Things heat up when the rain falls one night and they get wet in more ways than one.

That's the dreaded "blurb." I hate that description almost as much as writing them! The bulk of the story really is about their passionate night, however you’ll learn about their failed relationship and what their intentions are/were. I didn’t junk things up with long, weepy or angry dialog but I built empathy and understanding for the emotional connection the characters share. The story is only 14,000 words long yet I think you get a very good sense of what kind of people Noah and Reagan are. Since their kids brought them together, 3-year-old Gregory brings some comic relief for parents who have been “busted” by their kids the morning after.

Wet is the hottest piece I’ve written so far. Is it porn? No. The difference between a romance and porn is porn is sex for the sake of sex. In a romance, the leading characters have a relationship beyond swapping spit. What they do between the sheets (or other places) is their business and that’s really where erotica thrives. Pushing the kink envelope is the rigor du jour and Wet is tame compared with much of what is available on the market AND the story is between a man and a woman. The hottest genres include M/M and ménage. I need to understand more about what those kinds of relationships are like before I test the waters, so to speak, and write one of my own.

An author makes many personal decisions about the words on the page. Some of us never go beyond hinting what is going on between buttoned-up collars and closed doors. Others explore scenarios some readers have never imagined. I really find those opportunities to express myself as an author very exciting. I don’t know if I’d ever feel confident writing about a hot Dom and his submissive male partner but there are those who can and do. There’s a market for their work and like it or not, I think it’s great.

There’s a built-in stigma with a last name like mine. That’s a good reason to remember what I do is not who I am.

Until the next time.
Margie

   Social media is a double-edged sword, especially Twitter. It's fast, easy, and oh so accessible. On one hand, you're encouraged to be your authentic self on Twitter—let people get to know you and what you're up to. Okay, I get that, but social media has few real boundaries and sometimes people get a little too authentic and it ends up costing them big time.

Recently an author ruptured his spleen in a rant to me that could only be described as vicious and irrational. (I deleted it by the way instead of making his life even more miserable by forwarding the missle to his publisher.) I get that he felt entitled to set me straight or at least his version of straight. It was even nicer that I didn't have to waste any time replying since he said he blocked my e-mail address and I believed him. LOL

Another friend recently Tweeted about his nameless manager at his nameless company and is now suffering from corporate freeze-out. That happened to me once when I was gossiping about my manager via e-mail and accidently SENT IT TO HER. I wrote something like, "She's like a cold I can't shake, or elbows poking me in the ribs in a too-crowded elevator." Hardly offensive. Not very respectful. The e-mail incident sounds funny now, but it wasn't when she dragged me on the carpet and smirked, "Now I know how you really feel." And she made me pay dearly for the misaddressed missive every day after that. An author asked for advice to editing frustrations in a writing forum. No names were given. He didn't use derogatory phrases or anything but the publisher got wind of it, took offense, and his contract.

   Sometimes we want to rant. We need to. And geez, isn't an fiery e-mail or a couple of nasty Tweets just what the doctor ordered? How about a cleverly-worded post on our Facebook wall? We've all read about the folly of living large on the Internet but we think we'll never get nabbed for doing it. Social media allows us to move ghostlike in the world, pretending to be or become anyone we want. Conscience is our only guide. I'm not saying we should write whatever we like but it bugs me that I could lose my job or get in a really awkward situation over a remark taken out of context. I guess these recent incidents reminded me not to be too authentic and more importantly, remember if I wouldn't say it, DON'T write it.

Until the next time,

The Churchlady

  
Don't pretend you aren't interested in the subject. Any romance publisher will tell you erotica sells faster than any other genre. Fellow Noble Romance author, Keta Diablo, joins me today to discuss why Sex Sells.

 

MC: The growing trend to no-holds-barred books that freely explore all kinds of relationships, especially man love and ménage - yep kinky orgy scenes - are popping up in books like crazy and selling even faster. The acceptance for GLBT stories is skyrocketing. I included a ménage in Love Bites but I'm not ready to write man love stories yet and I don't know if I ever will. I think an author has to have an affinity to your subject matter to write it successfully.

KD: It's just crazy how it's [erotica] taken off in the market. I have readers who are hard core and wouldn't read any other genre, and then there's the mixed readers who read a wide variety, GLBT included, and then we have the curious readers. I can't tell you how many times readers (mostly women) have said, "I'm so curious about man love; I really want to try reading it." I read the other day that women make up a large share of the readers in the genre, and it doesn't surprise me. Many women have an innate sense of curiosity when it comes to how men make love, whether that's with a woman or another man.

I don't see the trends in this area phasing out anytime soon. If anything, the genre has expanded into steampunk, sci-fi, historical, horror, mystery, etc., and isn't limited to the standard contemporary man love.

 

MC: Some people ask me if I'm writing about my own sexual experiences or fantasies in my books. Many authors do. Even if I do, I'd never admit it. I will say however, that I do spend time searching out sexy lingerie, toys, locations, trends, and of course reading and watching erotica. Not to burst your salacious bubble, but I spend time researching everything I write about.

KD: I could give you my standard cop-out answer, "Authors have very creative imaginations." LOL And that would be only partly true. No matter what genre I write, I have to really be attached to it. For instance, I don't read chick-lit so I wouldn't attempt to write it. Nor could I write comedy in any genre. Number one, I've read gay fiction for a long time and I think that's crucial, as with any genre you write. Number two, I genuinely like reading and writing about male relationships.

Remember the book Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus? The title alone insinuates a deep chasm exists when it comes to how women view life versus men. But with gay fiction or lesbian, we don't have opposite sex relationships, and this is what fascinates me. The differences don't stem from gender, but rather personalities or backgrounds. Most definitely, two men in a relationship (or two women) react entirely different than one man/one woman when it comes to how they communicate, deal with emotion or relate to one another within that union. And that's where the creative imagination part kicks in. I also write heterosexual erotic romance and have to really stop and think about how these dynamics change when I switch to male/male.
 

I hear a lot of rumble now about lesbian fiction. It's always existed, of course, but hasn't attained the popularity that male/male has. I think we'll see this market expand and also the paranormal is still huge. Writing about vampires will continue, but not as heavily as before. I see books about ghosts, clairvoyants, mythological beasts, and any number of paranormal subjects on the horizon. The list is really endless when you think about. Again, people are curious about the "unknown" or the "what-ifs" in life. They seem to like to read about anything other than the normal and mundane.

MC:  I'm glad there's more acceptance for what used to be known as risky subject matter. The opportunities for authors are really amazing and readers will enjoy the results as well. Thanks for sharing your insights and experience, Keta. It's a pleasure to have you as a friend and mentor.

Please leave a comment with your e-mail address to be eligible to win a copy of either The Devil's Heel or Hot and Sticky, Keta Diablo's newest releases. You also have a chance to win one of my books - Awakening Allaire or Avenging Allaire. Please tell me which book interests you!

    The Devil’s Heel , Gay Fiction (historical), Noble Romance  

Five years ago Drew Hibbard dismissed Rogan Brockport from his life. Now, they meet again at the Governor’s Ball and Rogan will know the reason for the abrupt, unexplained cut. After Rogan saves Drew’s life during a pirate raid, he kidnaps him and the perfect opportunity to extract answers from Drew is finally at hand. Betrayal. Retribution. Undying Love. The Devil’s Heel.

 

 Hot and Sticky,  Gay Fiction (contemporary), Amber Quill Press
  

It’s been extremely difficult for Hugh Landon, an up-and-coming lawyer in Washington, D.C., to control his sexual fantasies about his paralegal, Milan Vassar.

 

When his career hangs in the balance over a missing file, Hugh must call Milan at the midnight hour and plead for assistance. Hugh’s determination not to mix business with pleasure disintegrates when Milan arrives at the office not only to help him, but to confess he’s held the same secret desires for his boss.

 

Keta writes for Noble Romance, Phaze Publishing, Amber Quill Press and Ravenous Romance. Visit Keta's Haunt, http://www.ketadiablo.com  or Keta's Keep Blog http://ketaskeep.blogspot.com.

Until the next time,

Margie