Can’t Fight It

Am I the only person on the planet who has not read Twilight? I got hit with that question again today. I feel like lived read it because there’s no escaping the media blitz for the latest film or any of its predecessors. I can’t argue with Stephenie Meyers’ success, though. In less than five years, nearly 100 million copies of the "Twilight Saga" teen-vampire books have been sold in nearly 50 countries.

My respect for her was complete after watching an interview with her on CBS Sunday Morning. Meyer, who had never aspired to write or be a writer, said the idea for the book came from a dream about first love. She said, “It was this boy and a girl in a meadow. And they were having this conversation that I was eavesdropping on in my dream. And it was about how compelled they were to be with each other and yet how hard it was for him not to kill her every second they were together.”

And when she awoke, she wanted to know the rest of the story….so she WROTE it. And the rest is history. And the woman is still making it with book after book. She said, "One day I'm just staying up writing a story for fun. And the next day I have a career."

But what really got me was when she acknowledged that she never had started out to become a writer and that she realized what a fluke this whole Twilight phenomenon was. She said she never takes for granted the success that her books have become because she knows that so many other writers – talent ones who work hard at their craft day after day – never get the opportunity she has gotten. As a result, she appreciates her position every day. Stephenie Meyers won me over then and there. I give her props, and I hear the books are good, too.

Look out, friends. I may the joining the Twilight craze soon – a little late, but bloodthirsty for a good read just the same.

Tina Donahue - Lush Velvet Nights

 
Lush Velvet Nights

Tina Donahue

When wanton desires & love demand all…

During the day, Adriana’s a lonely corporate heiress, helming a supermarket empire. At night, she hires escorts, scripting provocative fantasies of kidnapping, lust, submission and endless longing. It’s all she has to excite her until she meets Nathan Wynn.

Tall, blond and muscular—like a modern-day Viking—Nathan’s a labor relations attorney representing Adriana’s union employees. His imposing presence intensifies her basest desires. When he protects her from an escort he believes is an attacker, she knows he’s wonderfully dominant and unrestrained. Fascinated by Adriana’s underlying sensuality, Nathan brings her to his secluded mountain estate, determined she submit fully to his hunger. At a gentleman’s club, he makes certain she denies him nothing.

Engaging in a seductive sexual journey, Nathan’s caught off-guard by his stunning need for Adriana. An attraction he fears because of past events in his life. A growing emotional connection she will not let him deny.

Wet Glamour released July 1st

On July 1st Extasy Books will release the third in the Immortal Council series: Wet Glamour.

Check out the contest my author has set up on her blog to celebrate. www.courtneybreazile.com/blog

After running out on Rina, his declared mate, Lucas shows up years later with an invitation to The Council of Immortals. He needs her to represent the mermaid species on the council, for very personal reasons.

Rina never wanted to see Lucas again. He chose his sister and his clan over her. She definitely doesn't have any interest in being on a council of any kind with him, and she is more than happy to shoot him down, while showing off her love free self, even if it has to be gained through magical persuasion.

When her sister is kidnapped by a psychotic wizard creating a deadly scavenger hunt, pitting all immortal species against one another, she knows her best chance of saving her is with The Council of Immortals's help.

Can she keep her love hidden from Lucas long enough to save her sister? Or will the song of love that she has been hiding burst forth and ruin everything?

Read an excerpt at www.courtneybreazile.com

Reader appreciation day...

Time for a change?

I have heard many comments that "bloggers" do little to entertain or amuse their audiences. Well, here it is...reader appreciation day.
It's your turn to let us know what you want, what you like and what you'd like to see more or even, less of.

Don't be afraid to share your thoughts or suggetions, I promise, we can handle whatever you throw at us. Never let it be said that we naughty little vamps, don't value you or your comments.

Have at it...tell us what you want. More whips? Chains? More brunt honesty about the world you live in? More hot, steamy passionate sex?

Or-

Do you just want to bitch about something? Someone under your skin? Lay it on us, we won't tell.

April Ash – Strip Poker for Two

 
CONTEST:
In one week: Seduce a man, steal a pair of his underwear, and get him to write a detailed note about your sexual adventures
together. Best entry wins.


PRIZE:
A one-week, all expenses paid vacation at a condo in Hawaii.

MELISSA FOSTER, now recovered from a bad relationship, is ready for fun, no ties. As an ex-military brat, she wants no part of military life. The other two contestants, coworkers, select a man for her.

Career Army Captain JASON MOLINA, a childhood friend and now living in the area, is Melissa's target. He too is looking for fun and no ties after having dealt with a betraying ex-fiancée.

To capture his undivided attention, Melissa devises different versions of strip poker...but they find it very hard to finish each new game before lust prevails. Looking, touching, tasting, all take a part in their games...and so does cannoli cream!

They fall in love, but the strength and depth of that newly-found bond is soon tested. Contest? Underwear? Note? Military Life? Trust? Can they resolve their differences and the ensuing confusion over the contest revelation in time to save their relationship?


April Ash

Happy Father's Day

I don't like to celebrate human holidays, unfortunately my mate and daughter don't agree. So it was father's day and my wonderful daughter decided she must come home for the weekend and lavish attention on her daddy. As if I don't know how to take proper care of him.

I am used to it, she always gets into the holidays, very family oriented. She gets that from her father's species. So I stepped back, as usual, and let her have her celebration. She cooked, she hovered and she complimented. It was nice to have her home.

It was even nicer to have her picked up by her not so happy mate on Sunday night and taken away. Apparently her idea of them spending father's day apart with their respective parent's was not completely agreed upon.

Oh well, she will learn that keeping her mate happy through compromise is sometimes the best thing. I learned that early on, otherwise I would be a mated vampire living alone.

And in the spirit of this human celebration I was inspired to contact my own parents. Realizing it had been nearly a hundred years since any words had been exchanged between us. Not that it was an odd occurrence among vampires. I was delighted to find they were registered with the V-net (vampire network) and I sent them off an email message to say a quick hello and let them know I was mated and had a child.

I feel good about it, lets just hope my lapse into human celebration isn't regretted.

Candle magik

Do I believe in magic? Of course! Now, if you were to ask me if I believed in candle magic, I’d have a more complex answer for you.

Recently, Izzy has taken to teach a few humans, basic candle magic. That’s fine with me. Light your wicks and do the hokey pokey if you want to, but don’t involve me!

By now, most of you know that Izzy’s magic runs a 50% of success. Or shall I say, a 50% chance that it won’t backfire and catch me in its crosshairs. So, I’m a little skeptical about her doing magic at all, but this? This is just begging for trouble!

Last week was the first of their lessons. As I promised Izzy not to interfere, I left the estate in their capable hands for the evening. After tying up lose ends and tending to my clans needs, I returned to find that they had burned one of the oldest tapestries I possessed, called forth every horny dog within the city and I would be denied entry into my own home.

Apparently, a misspoken word from one of the “beginners” had placed a protective spell around the grounds, keeping not only myself, but several of my vampiric guards out.

Izzy, spent hours using her unstable magic to reverse the candle spell. I ended up naked, another vampire a statue and yet another one turned into a leech.

Silly humans, even simple candle magic is too complicated for them to master. You should not play with things that are out of your realm of understanding.

Ah, and to think I must endure this again next month…

Where have they gone?

Hello everyone, it's just me, Annie. Tamara's human writer. I thought I'd sneak in for a bit while Tamara is sleeping.

The other day, someone who shall remain nameless, primarily because she is Matriarch and Enforcer of the East coast and could easily kill me if she wanted to, asked me if I really watched vampire shows. She said and I quote, "You know that a real vampire would never be on a television series, right? Anyway, the only one with true value and worth watching was Willow."

Oh, duh.

Wait a minute! Willow? As in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Willow? Well, well. Mistress Tamara watched Buffy and liked the Witchy Witch Willow. Why doesn't that surprise me? I bet she liked Evil Willow, too!

So, it got me thinking...I know that's a dangerous thing right? But I thought about some of the good, old shows and movies that we never see or hear of anymore.

Buffy

Underworld

Angel

Charmed

Witches of Eastwich (Okay, not old, but it was pretty good until they cancelled it without the decency to finish the season)

OMG! What was the name of the show with Samantha Stevens, the good witch who married the dorky human guy?
 
Help a girl out here, what can you add to the list?

A HOT New Read for Our NLV Friends!

Release dates are always fun, but they're even more exciting when you find out by surprise. Some months back, I wrote a short little scorcher for a special promo eXtasy Books was doing. Never heard anything once it was accepted so I sort of forgot about it. Lo and behold, I awoke to an email this morning from our awesome editor-in-chief, Jay Austin. An anthology, Sexathon, released and was now available. My scorcher was in it. She had attached my copy of the e-book in the message. I opened it and WOW! what a cover! I scrolled down the pdf and reveled in the collection of hot story after hot story. This book is going to be FUN! My fungers were on fire just skimming it, and I can't wait to sit down and start reading tonight! Won't you join me?

Check out the Sexathon anthology at Extasy Books, out today! Including stories by Annie Alvarez, Courtney Breazile, Valerie Long, myself, and a handful of other talented eXtasy Books writers. http://www.extasybooks.com/ebjmsite/index.php?page=shop.product_details&category_id=41&flypage=ebook_flypage&product_id=8499&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=50

And now for the real fun: tonight's winner of a book by the wonderful Christine Gordon and a book my little ol' me is Redding, CA's own Stacey Smith. Stacey, please email me at deloradaye@gmail.com so I can send you my novella, Unscripted, and pass your information along to Christine!

Join the Sexathon, fellow readers! Don't let us beat you to the finish line!

Savanna Kougar – Black Cat Beauty

BLACK CAT BEAUTY

A private Halloween party in a gothic mansion hidden in the Hollywood Hills. Add one party crasher, Sable Kiki, a naughty black cat with a sexy wild human side.

Her covert assignment from her devious, always-cunning father: use her seductive wiles to find out the truth from Devon Zant, a movie star on the rise to super stardom.

Posing as the superhero actor, Devon Zant, D’Torr has arrived on Earth seeking revenge for the capture of his younger brother, and to assist in stopping a powerful enemy.
The leviathan warfleet of the Altirrux wants rule of all intergalactic trade routes to Earth, endangering the survival of D’Torr’s race, and all the inhabitants of the rare blue jewel, Earth.

Savanna Kougar

Stupid Sunshine

The sun is ruining my life, and I don't even go out in it!

So I have told you all a few times how I love the author I found to write our stories. She is wonderful, just the perfect type of person to put our stories into the written form.

I just don't understand her obsession with the sun! I mean seriously she has been avoiding me all weekend because the weather is nice. She says she has to soak up the sun while she can?! What is that all about? I think of her as my perfect match, for this project, but she forsakes me for the sun!

I tried getting her to appreciate the moon, it is really a very wonderful thing to bask under. She didn't "get it" she said, WHATEVER! She complained about the cool air and started shivering in no time at all, stupid frail humans and their need for the warm sun.

The sunshine is doing more than just take my author from me. It has brought my annoying neighbor out of hiding. She seems to like it as well and spends her days traipsing around her yard in short shorts and tank tops that the young weres of the pack seem to appreciate way too much. Tarquin thinks its funny, I think its going to lead to me killing the weres or the woman, not sure which, I just need my peace and quiet during the day. Not the revolving door the young weres make of my kitchen.

I don't know what has made them suddenly less afraid of me, but I don't like it! Something must be done, soon.

The technological age of sissy’s!

First and foremost, let me congratulate Lindseye and Wookie’s Girl. You were chosen as our daily winners. Contact me at: Naughtylittlevamp@gmail.com for your free NLV bookmark.

  Now, I understand that this issue has come to the forefront many times before, but I feel the need to bring it up, once again.

Here’s the truth…I am tired of hearing authors such as my human one, complain about their works being pirated.

Uploading a book or two onto the internet may not seem like a big deal to you, but for someone who tries to make a living at it, it is more than just uploading a book, it is stealing money right out of their pockets.

Why does this issue bother me? Apart from constantly hearing about it? Because, it shows me the decline of human morality.

I remember the days when bartering was considered a way of life. When stealing from someone was done face-to-face (granted, they typically wore a bandana to cover their faces), but it was done on a personal level.

Now-a-days, everything is on the sly. Hidden behind usernames and websites that help promote this type of cowardness and I have no respect for cowards.

If you insist on stealing someone’s work, grow a backbone and show yourself. Put your real name and address out there for everyone to see.

If you cannot do that, then perhaps, you shouldn’t steal from them.

Take it or leave it, there’s my two cents about how this technological generation has created cowards.

Have I missed something?

Perhaps, my age is catching up with me. Perhaps, the meaning of art has changed and I neglected to receive the memo. Perhaps, some things are just meant to be strange.

Strange. Yes, that is a word I associate with Lady Gaga. I find her strangely attractive and entertaining.

I am drawn to many of her songs, especially “Bad Romance”, as well as, others that this Gaga has recorded. Every once in a while, when I am alone, I allow the rhythm to move me. Do not laugh!

I would never subject the world to my dancing, although, for me it is not so much dancing as it is foreplay. The sensual moves of the hips slowly thrusting, enticing the sexual appetite to hunger for more. The clouding of all reasonable thoughts as passion starts to consume you and desire crashes into – forgive me.  I have said enough.

Oh, yes. Back to this Lady Gaga. I believe I have completely missed the meaning behind her newest video.

"The gay community...has been the most enormous blessing of my life, that I have them and their support and the way that they truly understand me and support me," Gaga told King. "My admiration for the gay community comes from an incredibly steadfast and joyful courage and very bravery that they have for one another, for their community. To be gay and to live openly in this society is something that requires a tremendous amount of strength and steadfastness....I celebrate their culture and their union and who they are, in my music, and in my fashion, and in my work, every day. And I will forever." 

I admire her work, and bravery for being different, yet, I do not understand. Has she implied that lesbians are not part of the gay community? How does this video honor the gay community and I am using the word community as a "whole" when she was the only female in the video?

If anyone feels so inclined as to, how shall I put this? Educate me, I would be most grateful.

The video is from Lady Gaga’s website: http://www.ladygaga.com/

We got our fangs in Kevin Springer

My name is Kevin Springer, and my love story with Elizabeth Winters (I call her Elle) can be found in Winters’ Thaw, book 3 in the Cougar Challenge Series over at Ellora’s Cave. Check it out: buy link

Kevin, what makes you special?
Am I special? I am who I am, and I’m good in my own skin, you know? If that makes me special in Elle’s eyes, I’m a happy man.

What differentiates you from your kind? Do you have special abilities?
I’m good in bed. It matters to me if the woman is enjoying herself. Hell, if she’s merely enjoying herself, I’m not putting in enough effort.

Tell us about your most current adventure.
Oh, man, the adventure didn’t start out as being mine, it was Elle’s. She belongs to this online group of friends who challenged each other to go out and find a younger man. I’m pretty sure you can check the whole thing out from the beginning at www.TempttheCougar.blogspot.com. Not that I’ve been cruising there to find out more about it all or anything. If you believe that, I’ll bet you own swamp land in FL, too. That’s how Elle found me. She is 41 to my 30, but other than how we met, age was never an issue.

Here’s my take:

Christ! Something about this woman set Kevin on fire. Ten minutes and he was on her couch with his tongue in her mouth, trying to keep his hands from wandering. Not that she was protesting.

There was a hesitation in her, though. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it but he felt it when they spoke and for a split second when he brushed his hand over her breast. It was why he didn’t linger there or push for more right then.

He couldn’t blame her. This was fast, even for him. Yeah, she’d made it clear what she wanted from him and hell yeah, he wanted that too. But the more they’d corresponded during the week, the more intrigued he’d become with her.

Finding out she hadn’t been with a man in at least a couple of years added to the mix big time. It had been about a year for him and he was ready to explode. Maybe he shouldn’t have let his desire build all week without jerking off but it was too late now.

God, she tasted sweet. If he came right away, he knew he’d only have to kiss her to start over again with round two. He figured he might be ready to let her rest by round five. If she let him stay that long.

Hot damn if not being able to read her wasn’t half the excitement. She didn’t need him, she wanted him. He was the one with the desire bordering on need.

Still, he could be a gentleman and wait longer than ten freakin’ minutes in her presence before jumping her bones.

Pulling back was hard, hard being the operative word when he tried to sit up. He couldn’t quite hold back a wince and was glad for it when she responded with a slow, sexy smile.
Oh man. He swallowed hard. Would fifteen minutes be gentlemanly enough?

He was giving that serious consideration when the takeout menus caught his eye. Dinner first would be good. They’d both need the fuel.

He leaned forward and grabbed the one right on top. “Ozzie’s sounds good to me.”
She sat up straighter. “Sure. You know the place?”

“Yeah. My apartment is a couple of towns over. A little closer to the city but a lot lighter on the wallet.”

He’d felt a bit intimidated when he’d driven up to her building. Elle lived in a luxury condo complex, complete with guest parking. His place was twenty minutes down the road but his one-bedroom, cookie-cutter apartment was an entire universe away in class and style.
Thankfully, that feeling had disappeared the second she’d opened the door. The clothes, makeup, hair, condo, it all fit her and she wore it easily. He liked that a lot.

“It’s a perk of selling off a house with equity and working longer at my career. Does it bother you?” she asked.

Man, he got off on how straightforward she was. “Nope. By the way, you’re buying.” He handed her the menu, pleased when she laughed. He hoped to hear that a lot. If she asked him to stay.

Maybe that was part of the key to reading her too. She’d probably appreciate it if he were as forthcoming as she’d been with what she felt and wanted. Shit. Did that mean he wasn’t usually that way? Funny, until he met her he hadn’t really thought too much about his role in the dating game. Just because he sat back and let the drama queens dictate which game was played didn’t excuse him. He still played the game. Worse, he kept dating young drama queens.

“Is something wrong?” Elle interrupted his thoughts and he realized he was frowning.

He shook his head and went for it. “Why don’t we go get the sandwiches instead of having them delivered? It would give us a chance to talk a bit and I can grab my bag from my car.” He paused to gauge her reaction. One raised eyebrow. He did that himself when he was surprised but still listening, which wasn’t a bad thing.

“I know you didn’t invite me to stay the night,” he continued, “but if it works out for both of us, that’s what I’d like to do and I’ll be prepared. Hell, if it’s as good as I think it will be, I’ll stick around as long as you want. Either way my bag and I are both out of here at the first word, no questions asked, no emotional outburst. Okay?”

She studied him for a moment, that perfect brow still raised as her intelligent, deep brown eyes assessed him. “Okay,” she finally said. “Thanks for the honesty.”

He wanted to kiss her again but he knew he wouldn’t stop this time and he was determined to get to know her better. He sure as hell liked what he knew so far.

Kevin, if you could offer advice to your author, what would it be?
Try not to be such a control freak. If it’s not working, it’s not right, no matter how much you want it to happen. That applies to everything from eye color to sexual positions. And bone up on the math, would you? Or at least ask someone to help you out. Oh, and no purple prose. Ever. One throbbing tumescence or one-eyed love wand and your heroes are leaving. Forever.

Are you happy with the way people perceive you?
I’ve never thought about how people perceive me. I’m just me. If you don’t like me, go looking for a friend somewhere else. I had enough drama in my childhood to put up with that crap now.

Is humor important?
Humor is one of the most important things in life to have. Period.

Is expressing love difficult for you? Why?
Oh man, getting out the psych couch, huh? Yeah, I do have a bit of a commitment problem. My parents had a great marriage, but my mom, she died when I was twelve. My stepmother came into the picture a year later, and that’s when the drama started. Dad is still married to her, but I don’t think he’s happy. He’s just alone, you know? I want more for myself.

It wasn’t until Elle and I hooked up that I began to feel like I may actually have a shot at this forever thing. She has her own issues, and we’re taking it nice and slow to make sure we can get it right.

If you could pull your author into your world, what do you think would happen to them?
They’d have really good sex. Constantly.

What is your most favorite thing to do?
Elle.
And play bass on stage with my band. (grins)

What was the best sexual experience you’ve had?
Holy shit, when Elle went down on me that first night I thought I was going to swallow my tongue. I mean, I’ve been given head before, and she’s done it since then and it’s fucking sweet, but that first time was just everything at once; sweet, hot, unexpected… Christ, just thinking about it still gets me hard. She literally blew both me and my mind.


www.DaltonDiaz.com

Christine Gordon – The First Full Moon

 
The First Full Moon

Yaoi, M/M Paranormal Historical Romance
© Christie Gordon

All rights reserved, eXtasy Books
ISBN: 978-1-55487-348-7

Adam Ross doesn’t believe in demons.  After a house fire killed his family at the tender age of twelve, he’s not even sure he believes in God.  But that is about to change.  Under the light of the full moon, in 1930, rumrunners wash ashore dead on the Northern California coast amidst carnage, slashed and drained of blood.  Rumors and local Indian lore tell of the existence of creatures out at sea, demons.  Among a second rash of dead bootleggers, Adam finds Necalli, a stunning young man with strange physical anomalies and amnesia, who arouses him beyond belief.  Adam becomes determined to help Necalli and solve the mystery lurking in his broken memories.  Will he fall under Necalli’s spell and save himself in the process?

Christie Gordon
Yaoi, M/M Romance Author and Artist

www.christiegordon.com
www.twitter.com/ChristieGordon,
www.myspace.com/author_christie_gordon
www.facebook.com/ChristieGordon

A Summer Without Rain
The First Full Moon
The Obsession

A winner and a release date

This is coming from Zyra's author today, having found she isn't the type to bother with little things like picking winners. I have stolen her day to make sure things are done properly, and nicely too! I even dressed properly for the occasion, couldn't have Zyra disappointed by the way her author was representing herself. This is similar to something I have seen her in a time or two so....

A Winner

The first week of the June Extravaganza is over and although there hasn't been a huge turnout it was fun and I expect to see lots more as the weeks go by.

Remember that each day Tamara is picking one winner for a small prize and each week a winner is picked from that weeks post comments for a bigger prize. This week was Zyra's turn to pull a winner who can choose any of my books, a full list at my website at http://www.courtneybreazile.com/ to receive.

The random winner is Stacey who commented on June 1st. So shoot an email to comments@courtneybreazile.com and pick your free e-book just for you!

Its easy to win and next week another will be chosen from this weeks post comments so make sure and visit and comment often!

A Release Date

I also wanted to announce that Wet Glamour will be released on July 1st at http://www.extasybooks.com/ This is the third book in the Immortal Council Series and focuses on Lucas, an Animal Elf, and Marina, a Mermaid.

"The only thing worse than spending time with the elf who betrayed her, is having him find out she never stopped loving him."

More human problems!

Well, here we are again. Almost a full week has passed and not many people have taken advantage of the June EXTRAVAGANZA. What is a vampire to do, to get more active readers and participants? Should I visit you at home, while you sleep and implant the idea into your minds? Oh well, it is your loss after all, not mine. Fickle humans.

This past week has been rather frustrating for me. My human author had been busy doing other things. What may I ask is more important than writing my story? Does she not realize the opportunity I have given her? No! Instead, she allots time for the blessed Carly Bright. I knew I was going to have problems with Bright, but that story is for another day.

There are bigger problems to contend with right now. I have kept a watchful eye on the Gulf Oil Spill and even as a vampire, I must say it is disheartening. Human lives are measured by a mere fraction of time. It is our race that will continue long after those responsible for this tragedy are gone, and what will you have left us?

A crippled, unsustainable planet to exist on. I have yet to hear how those responsible for this have been brought to justice instead, they are the same ones who have been left in charge to fix it. I have seen this before, they are also the one’s that will be herald as the heroes for stopping it.

For humans, that makes sense…oh, they saved the oceans and stopped the oil spill. Hip, hip hooray, our heroes! But for those of us who are more advanced, that is complete and utter stupidity.

In my world, justice would have all ready been served and more capable people would have been working to stop this disaster.

Perhaps, it is time that we take back the world. Although, we do not tend to have much regards for humans, we do respect the planet we live on.

Just food for thought.

Editors, editors, editors!

Tamara politely asked me if I'd be willing to blog today. I'm honored to share space with a group of vampires and their sweet human, Delora.

Tamara gives me a lot of credit for writing her stories, but the truth is that I give my editors kudos for making it better. Every writer gets in a groove and when we do, the words freely flow uninterrupted from our fingertips to our keyboards. We tend to forget or overlook where proper punctuation fits, and whether or not our sentence structure makes sense, but there's more to it than that. In trying to make a point, some of us are notorious for long sentences or even worse, the dreaded run-on sentences. Then we have the issue of repetitiveness, and misspellings. Oh, the list goes on.

I believe that all too often our editors go unnoticed, while we tend to get all the credit for our stories. Our editors sit behind a desk meticulously going through all the manuscripts making our stories sparkle, not asking for a thing in return.

I wouldn't dare lie to you and say ALL editors are great. No, some should be banned from the profession! For that matter, some authors should be banned from writing, too! However, this blog isn't for them. It's for the editors that took our stories and made them even better.

I am published with eXtasy Books and what a pleasure it has been to be a part of the eXtasy family. I found encouragement and support from everyone there. Even the very busy owner, Tina Haveman finds the time to keep in touch with me, but I have also found the best editors anyone could have, Jay Austin EIC and Tex (sorry to bring you into this, I know you're shy).

My point in all this? Behind every writer, stands an unsung hero, and I wanted to say thank you. Thank you for being there for me, for helping me learn, for having patience even when I don't, for encouraging me when I want to give up and supporting me when the reviews kick my ass. LOL

You're the best!

Musing About Author Websites

What do you as a reader look for in an author website? I’m currently in the process of designing mine. Fortunately I have a talented graduate student/html whiz/graphic artist working with me since I can’t afford the higher cost, popular designers of romance author websites. Perhaps some day….

Since I have only two titles up at present, a novella and a short, I can’t justify spending what some of those designers charge, although their designs are lovely. My gal Jennifer has created an attractive site with home page, bio, books, links, and contact pages. Pretty straightforward. I’ll have another short out on August 1st and I’m writing a holiday novella scheduled for December 2010. But right now, I only have two products to showcase. We must start somewhere, right?

I can’t see doing a log right now even though everyone says “Blog! Blog! Blog!” and I know a couple of authors who blog daily on their sights. All I know is, I have time to contribute to the Naughty Little Vamp blog every other week with my extraordinary eXtasy Books friends and I have time to write. There’s little time left to create daily blog posts on my own sight. And the authors I know who have their own blogs are posting recipes, recommending other people's books and pictures of hunky men. Every Day! Hmmm. seems like a waste of time of me. When are they writing books?

As a copywriter in my day life, I’ve written scores of client websites, but promoting oneself (like writing about oneself) is always challenging. I’m interested to know what turns you on in a website. I’ll have more content once I have more product, but I’m speaking generally here. With the goal in mind to inform and generate interest in books, what do you think makes an author website effective?

Starting the NLV Extravaganza are Courtney Breazile and April Ash

As we start our June Extravaganza remember that everyday we will pick one daily winner to receive a Naughty Little Vamp Book Mark and at the end of the week, we'll have more prizes to give away. Remember, you Must leave a comment to be entered in the drawing.

This week Courtney Breazile promises to give away a free ebook and April Ash is giving away a free XL tee-shirt and some "extras" as a prize!

If costumes and role-playing to spice up a romance sounds intriguing, you'll enjoy contemporary erotic romance "Sexy Games", by April Ash, from Ellora's Cave.

*/Naughty Games Company Invitation: Test new games. Consenting adults. Male-female. Company penthouse. One week. Associates of NGC only./*

Invitee employee Stacy Newman accepts. Betrayed by a past ex-fiancé, her goal is to concentrate on her career, sell a game idea to NGC, and open her own store. Invitee Sloane Hoffman, son of NGC’s CEO, accepts. He knows his dad wants him to take over the company. He’s been hurt and used by past lovers only after his money and what he could do for them.

Months earlier, they shared a night of passion but a panicked Sloane left without a word when Stacy inspired thoughts of “commitment” and “settling down”. His disappearance left her heartsick.

As game partners they’ll test games that require role-playing and sex. Undeniable lust and mutual desire quickly resurfaces, and they agree to a business-only venture. They choose games called “Hot Sands” (sheik and bride-to-be), “Teach Me” (nerdy professor and stripper/lap dancer) and “Royal Romps” (Lady and butler).

Spending time together offers chances to learn more about each other, fall in love, and share passionate sexual adventures. But, two misunderstandings occur, threatening to pull them apart once again, this time forever.