2009 August | Brava Authors | Sensual Romance Fiction

Archive for August 2009

A favorite vamp?

By Cynthia Eden · Comments (3)

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

Do you have a favorite vampire character? I do. For the longest time (okay, since I saw him on Buffy), the vampire Spike has reigned supreme for me. Oh, Spike, you are a favorite for me.

But, even before the days (well, technically nights since he is a vampire) of Spike, I was a vampire fan. I grew up watching the old black-and-white vamp horror shows. You know the ones–they always featured the vampire who asked you to look, “Deep, deep into my eyes.”

Yes, my vampire addiction is long running. And, thanks to my wonderful editor at Kensington, I recently had the chance to write another vampire story of my own. “In the Dark” is my contribution to the BELONG TO THE NIGHT anthology, and it features my bad boy vamp, Liam. Here’s the blurb for my story:

FBI agent and leopard shifter Sadie James’ undead ex, Liam, still arouses her deepest desires, distracting her from tracking the brutal rogue shifter who is terrorizing Miami. By teaming up with Liam, Sadie has a better chance of solving the case, but as passion consumes them, she stands to lose more than just her heart.

The anthology also features two wonderful stories–one from Shelly Laurenston and one from Sherrill Quinn. Here are the blurbs for their stories:

“The Wolf, The Witch, and Her Lack of Wardrobe” by Shelly Laurenston:

Jamie Meacham has enough trouble controlling her supernatural abilities. There’s no time for lust, or for Tully Smith, even with his smoldering amber eyes. But Tully’s grappling with his own animal instincts as a powerful shifter-wolf, trying to protect all his territory-including a certain sassy witch-from vicious rivals.

“City of the Dead” by Sherrill Quinn:

Dori Falcon is a witch with a plan: get to New Orleans, locate her missing brother, and recover the Eye of Bastet, a mysterious and powerful amulet. Her plan never included falling for sexy Cajun copy Jake Boudreau; but without his help, she may never find the demon who has her brother, and the key to her family’s survival.

Ah, paranormal fun!!!

Now tell me…do you have a favorite vamp?

Thanks!

Cynthia Eden
www.cynthiaeden.com

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Categories : Cynthia Eden

My First Brava is Coming Soon!

By Terri Brisbin · Comments (6)

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

A Storm of Passion - smaller

Okay, I know I’m biased, but isn’t it pretty? I have had the cover for a little while but I just received some full-color advanced review copies of it and, wow!, it’s prettier in person!

I wanted to stop in and say hello and introduce myself to everyone since my first BRAVA romance is coming out soon…just three or so months away – wooohooo! I’ve written about 20 historical and time travel romance novels, novellas and short stories for Berkley Jove and Harlequin Historicals.

With Brava, I’m taking my love of paranormals and love of history and blending it into a trilogy of stories set in medieval Scotland when magic still glimmered in the Highlands and on the Islands. These stories are set when the Vikings still ruled much of Scotland and involve a gift and a curse of the Sidh (or Fae as they’re called elsewhere). These stories will be emotional and sexy and a bit different in voice and tone than my Harlequin Historicals. The first one — A STORM OF PASSION – is scheduled as a December 2009 release, with the second, A STORM OF PLEASURE, being tentatively scheduled to come out in October 2010.

I’ll be blogging on the third Thursdays of the month, chatting about books and writing and lots of other stuff, sharing some pictures and asking for opinions. I hope you’ll all jump in and get involved…and I hope you’ll give my first Brava a try….

Terri is a wife to one, mom to three and dental hygienist to hundreds in Southern New Jersey when she is not living the glamorous life of a romance author. She admits to having a weakness for men in kilts and/or with Scottish accents (or named Gerard Butler or Adrian Paul) whether contemporary or historical, real people or characters in her books (or others!). Readers can visit her website – www.terribrisbin.com — for more info about her and her books and upcoming events and contests — a special Viking-themed contest with special prizes is being planned to celebrate her first Brava, A STORM OF PASSION.

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Categories : Terri Brisbin

Tags : A Storm of Passion, historical, paranormal, Scotland

Our National Parks…have you been?

By Dianne Castell · Comments (13)

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

my daughters, my birthday

This was my first trip to “the middle.” I say the middle because I’ve been west to LA and Alaska but never to the middle. This year I took the fam to Yellowstone and the Tetons.

WOW!

Then don’t grow mountains like that back in Cincinnati! Or do we have waterfalls like these or have snow in August nor do the bison cause traffic jams because all the nutty tourists are ape-shit parking their cars in the middle of the road to get pictures and simply marvel. No, this is Yellowstone! This is the West! I spent my b-day on the Snake River! I hiked ten mile trails. Gads, I’m pooped!

The scenery is spectacular but to me the real story is the people. Everyone’s as blown away as I am over the raw beauty around every corner. It’s great to see Old Faithful, but the real marvel is the crowds gathered every ninety minutes to see it blow up! Everyone awestruck at the thought of living on top of a volcano.

I’ve been to other National Parks. Smoky Mountain National Park is five hours from here and is incredible. And I’ve done whitewater rafting in the New River Gorge. This is an incredible country, if you don’t think so take a trip to a National Park!

So, have you been? Which ones and what was the most memorable sight you saw, the neatest thing you did. I’m hooked on National Parks and intend to go again and you can tell me where to go! 

I’ll give away a Hot and Irresistible T-shirt from the chats.

Hugs,
Dianne Castell
DianneCastell@hotmail.com
DianneCastell.com

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Categories : Dianne Castell

Saving the best for last

By Emma Lang · Comments (4)

Monday, August 17th, 2009

I’m right in the throes of my first Emma Lang book (my new pen name for Kensington beginning in June 2010) and I find myself following along in the same habit I’ve done for many books – saving the sex for last. Don’t panic! I don’t mean one sex scene at the end of the book. God forbid ’cause that would be a boring book, right?

No, what I mean is, I get right up to the point where the characters are going to have sex, then I stop and write MORE and move on. Before you ask why, let me ‘splain.

Sex between the main characters is an expression of their relationship, sometimes it’s hard and rough, other times gentle and sweet. Since much of what I write can be in the “panster” mode (as in write by the seat of my pants) even with a full synopsis, I don’t want to write the sex until the end of the book.

Then I go back and look for MORE (snicker) and write each sex scene at the end. That’s a lot of sex, you might be thinking. Well, yeah, it can be, but at that point I know the entire story from page 1 through page 400. That gives me the perspective to know exactly where the character’s heads (and bodies) are at during each intimate moment.

I don’t mean kisses or petting or accident boob brushing though. I definitely write those in because that’s what leads the characters to be intimate, heightens the anticipation if you will.

Does anybody find that odd? I’m hoping the answer is yes, but now that you’ve ‘splained, I get it. Any other authors do something similar? Or am I the lone wacko in a sea of MORE sex? *blush*

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Categories : Beth Williamson

It’s Been How Long???

By Karen Kelley · Comments (18)

Monday, August 10th, 2009

Wow, Karl and I will be married 40 years this month! Aug 23, to be exact. Do you know what that means to me? Well, I’ll tell you……

PARTAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!

We’re going to New Orleans and stroll the French Quarter, go down Bourbon street, eat beignets at Cafe Do Monde. We’re going to absorb all the flavors this wonderful city has to offer. We might even have a hurricane at Pat O’Brian’s.

What does it mean to be married for 40 years? It means he can actually pick up his dirty clothes and put them in the hamper, he can fill a dishwasher and unload it, he’ll wipe his feet before he comes into the house, and he actually stopped and asked for directions once.

What does it mean for him? He still has to put gas in my car because it stays on empty, he still has to get the oil changed. He still has to open the jar lids, he still has to put up with wild mood swings and tears over a sappy movie.

Life is good

May your husband always be your very best friend, your knight in shining armour………and trainable
Karen Kelley

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Categories : Karen Kelley