The Brava Authors have donated a couple “baskets” to Brenda Novak’s wonderful 4th Annual On-line Auction for Diabetes Research.

For the Brava Authors basket #1:

Passionate, provocative, intense, edgy…romantic. Brava novels have them all. Here is your chance to see for yourself with 22 titles straight from the Brava Authors (www.BravaAuthors.com) Remember there is a second Brava basket available for bidding. Here are the titles included in this one:

-DON’T TEMPT ME by Sylvia Day

-THE BLACK SHEEP AND THE HIDDEN BEAUTY by Donna Kauffman

-HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT by Cynthia Eden

-DOUBLE DANCING WITH DEAD by Karen Kelley

-TEMPERATURE”S RISING by Karen Kelley

-WITHOUT A WORD by E.C. Sheedy

-EXPLOSIVE by Charlotte Mede

-RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW by HelenKay Dimon

-DEAL WITH THIS by Lucy Monroe

-THE NORTHERN DEVIL by Diane Whiteside

-THE IRISH DEVIL (mass market) by Diane Whiteside

THE MANE EVENT by Shelly Laurenston

-SUN, SAND AND SEX antho by Linda Lael MIller, Jennifer Apodaca

-EXTREMELY HOT by Jennifer Apodaca

-WHO WANTS TO BE A SEX GODDESS by Gemma Bruce

-PERFECT WEAPON by Amy Fetzer

-YOU DON’T KNOW JACK by Erin McCarthy

-THE MATCHMAKER by Jamie Denton

-TEXAS BAD BOYS antho by Rosemary Laurey, Karen Kelley and Dianne Castell

-THE BANE AFFAIR by Alison Kent

-BEYOND A SHADOW by Alison Kent

-THE EDGE OF MIDNIGHT by Shannon McKenna

If you’d like to support this great cause by bidding on this basket, you can do so here.

For the Brava Authors basket #2:

Passionate, provocative, intense, edgy…romantic. Brava novels have them all. Here is your chance to see for yourself with 22 titles straight from the Brava Authors (www.BravaAuthors.com) Remember there is another Brava basket (Brava Basket #1) available for bidding. Here are the titles included in this one:

-ASK FOR IT by Sylvia Day

-THE BLACK SHEEP AND THE PRINCESS by Donna Kauffman

-HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT by Cynthia Eden

-HELL ON WHEELS by Karen Kelley

-TEMPERATURE’S RISING by Karen Kelley

-KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE by E.C. Sheedy

-EXPLOSIVE by Charlotte Mede

-RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW by HelenKay Dimon

-SATISFACTION GUARANTEED by Lucy Monroe

-THE NORTHERN DEVIL by Diane Whiteside

-THE IRISH DEVIL (mass market) by Diane Whiteside

THE MANE EVENT by Shelly Laurenston

-SUN, SAND AND SEX antho by Linda Lael MIller, Jennifer Apodaca

-EXTREMELY HOT by Jennifer Apodaca

-WHO WANTS TO BE A SEX GODDESS by Gemma Bruce

-HOT HARD by Amy Fetzer

-MOUTH TO MOUTH (mass market) by Erin McCarthy

-REMAIN SILENT by Jamie Denton

-TEXAS BAD BOYS antho by Rosemary Laurey, Karen Kelley and Dianne Castell

-THE PERFECT STRANGER by Alison Kent

-DEEP BREATH by Alison Kent

-OUT OF CONTROL by Shannon McKenna

If you’d like to support this great cause by bidding on this basket, you can do so here.

And a super cool auction for the inveterate Brava lover:

One year of Kensington BRAVA books and six months of Kensington BRAVA Advanced Reading Copies. Kensington doesn’t publish a set amount of these books every month, but you’ll get whatever they do publish. Because they’re trade paperback releases, they sell for $14 – $15 each. Together with the ARCs, that’s a big value!! Thank you, Editorial Director Kate Duffy!

If you’d like to support this great cause by bidding on this basket, you can do so here.

And I’ve donated a personal basket, too:

For my basket:

The winner of this auction will receive a tote bag filled with Godiva chocolate and a collection of Georgian Romances, autographed, from author Sylvia Day.

Titles in tote:

An autographed collection of her Georgian Series — ASK FOR IT, PASSION FOR THE GAME (hardcover), A PASSION FOR HIM, and DON’T TEMPT ME.

If you’d like to support this great cause by bidding on my donation, you can do so here.

Thank you!

How To Enter

Snap a photo of yourself holding the mass market version of ASK FOR IT. (sorry, but the trade version doesn’t qualify for this contest!) and send it to the email address listed on the contest page. Please include your name and mailing address in your email to expedite the mailing of prizes.

Have fun with the pics and feel free to be creative!! (but please, no photos too racy for a general audience.)

Bonus Entry:
Put the “Picture You with AFI” contest graphic on your blog/MySpace/site/etc. and receive an additional contest entry. Simply include the link to the webpage where you’re displaying the graphic in your entry email.

Image link
(copy and paste the code below)

<a href="http://www.sylviaday.com/contest/" target="_blank">
<img src="http://www.sylviaday.com/blog/wp-content/AFI_contest.gif" width="140" height="225" border="0" /></a>

The Rules

For contest prizes, dates, and the fine print, check the contest page!

Good luck!

It’s almost here! Yay! I am very excited.

So… I’m sharing an excerpt. Hope you enjoy!

Excerpt

Simon stood in the entryway of his home and pulled of his gloves one fingertip at a time, his movements deliberate and evenly paced. The action was meant to calm him, but it was taking too long. His breath heaved with his anger and his neck ached with tension.

Edward James had been visiting Lysette while she was “indisposed.” The man had stood in the window sans coat and waistcoat as if he were at home, his posture both defensive and possessive.

Simon had played this game before, coming to a head with a man over a desirable female. It was a diverting activity and Simon rarely had a true stake in the outcome. If he won the lady’s regard, the sex was wild and hot. If he lost it, he conceded with a smile and caught another.

This time, he was incensed. He would like to think it was only his pride that was bruised, but the truth was more disturbing than that. He had been happy those brief, passionate moments in the library. Not merely content or distracted but happy. To know that it had been nothing noteworthy to Lysette was a bitter realization to reach.

And then there was the feeling that he was losing his mind. He had disliked Lysette until last night. Now, suddenly, he felt murderous over the thought of her with another man.

Right now.

He growled and bounded up the stairs to his room, determined to change from his riding clothes to something more suitable for a night of bawdy delights. A hard fuck would get her out of his blood. Tomorrow he would be clear headed and ready to deal with her as he must.

“Mr. Quinn, you have a caller.”

Simon paused in the act of removing his cravat. He met his butler’s gaze in the mirror attached to the inside of his armoire door. “Who is it?”

“She would not give me her name, sir.”

Tensing at the news that his caller was female, he asked, “Would she happen to be blonde and beautiful?”

The butler’s mouth twitched. “Yes, sir.”

All of Simon’s simmering anger and frustration reheated to boiling. He yanked off the loosened linen and tossed it on the floor. She must have come haring directly after him in order to reach him so soon. Perhaps she realized how James’s show of propriety had ruined her plans for him, whatever they were.

For a moment, he debated sending her away without seeing her just to aggravate her in kind, but the thought of Eddington’s hold over him stayed his tongue. The sooner he knew what she was up to, the sooner he could be rid of her and away from the damnable lot of mischief makers.

“Where is his lordship?” he asked.

“Out for the evening, sir.”

With a long, rapid stride, Simon quit his chambers and descended to the lower floor. He was vaguely aware of his butler scrambling after him, but he paid the man no mind. He would not be needing tea or refreshments. If anything, he needed a stiff drink.

He paused on the threshold of the receiving parlor and found Lysette seated delicately on the edge of his yellow brocade settee. She was dressed in a bold burgundy gown, another color choice he would not have anticipated her to select but one he found potently alluring against her creamy skin. An elaborately decorated hat rested on the carved wooden side table and she twisted the strings of a matching reticule in her lap.

She was the picture of elegance and gentility…

…until she looked at him with the blue eyes that had lured him across a ballroom and into her arms.

Something akin to lightning raced across his skin. Burning. Tingling. Making him perspire. His heart rate picked up its pace and his chest lifted and fell unevenly.

As he entered, her expression of hesitation and wariness was swiftly replaced with heated feminine appreciation. Her gaze lowered to his bared throat and her tongue darted out to caress her lush lower lip.

When her eyes met his again, the raw, carnal hunger he saw in the crystalline depths hardened every muscle in his body, tightening his frame with coiling lust. A quarter of an hour ago he had wanted to strangle her. Now, he wanted nothing more than to lift her skirts and ride her to a screaming climax.

Again and again.

He growled and snapped, “Bah! You are not worth the trouble.”

Pivoting, he left the room.

Releasing Tuesday, March 25!

So… did you give away any books for the holidays? Did you receive any?

I didn’t technically get any books for presents, but just before Christmas I had a few friends send me ARCs of their upcoming books, which rocks, of course.

I gave my sister some books on how to Feng Shui her home. About a year ago, I used Feng Shui design in my office and I’ve been happy with it. I’ve been trying to get the rest of my family on board ever since. I did give away some coverflats of my upcoming January 8th fantasy release, but that’s not the same thing as a book, I know. I’ve been running a blog contest all month with daily book prizes, but again, not the same thing as a present. So non-fiction Feng Shui was the sum total of my book gifts this year.

Did you manage to be a better book giver than me?

I was sleepy all day today, not sure why. Still, I got some stuff done. Multiple loads of dishes and laundry (hubby made homemade lasagna on Sunday and boy! is he a messy cook. But a good one. Yum.). Still got lots more to do to get my house back from the deadline monster, but we’re getting there.

Some of you might now that I like to be geeky with web stuff. I’m no designer by any means and I can’t create a graphic to save my life, but I can tweak and play with css and html fairly well. Handcoded since I don’t have any design software besides a really old version of FrontPage. I recently put together my S.J. Day site/forum and moved/reskinned my message board. Today, I put up Shelley Bradley/Shayla Black’s Doomsday Brethren site. Naughty Nikki made the graphics. I enjoy messing with stuff like that. Wish I were good enough at it to do my own stuff, but I lack the graphic knowledge and design aesthetic. I just don’t have the eye.

I talked to a dear friend of mine today, a gal I’ve known for decades. She’s coming down on Thursday and we’re all (dad included) heading to Universal Studios for the weekend. It’s been almost 8 years since our last visit and it’s the first time for my daughter (might be the first time for my dad, too, I’ll have to double-check.) Anyway, should be fun!

Tomorrow is more puttering around the house for me. My dad is wiped out after a day spent in planes. He flew from Pisa, to Milan, to London (I think he said London), to NY, to San Diego. Yikes! So he’ll be recharging and chilling out while I do my thang.

I hope you all have a great Tuesday!

Oh, and if you subscribe to RT magazine, you can read another excerpt from A PASSION FOR HIM here. (there’s also an excerpt posted on the message board. You can find the link if you scroll down two posts here on my blog.)

I felt pretty good this weekend.

I’m caught up on my deadlines (finally!) and I’m getting caught up on the delayed housework, etc. I finagled my hubby into working for me this weekend. Here’s what I posted on my chat loop:

So…

Today, I’m standing on the threshold of the master bedroom trying to pinpoint the source of my clutter. It is immediately clear that the piles of books everywhere are causing the ruckus in my peaceful retreat. Books, books, and more books. Everywhere.

I walk into my walk-in closet (which is solely mine. Hubby has to use the one downstairs, because I need the whole space), and try to find some place to put my books. (Hubby has his own bookshelves in the “man cave” — AKA the finished garage with pool table, TV, sofa, etc.) I note that there is a 3 foot gap between the top shelf of my closet and its ceiling. I think, “Hmm… could put shelves up there.”

As if on cue, hubby comes upstairs and asks for LOVER UNBOUND.

I reply, “Must work for books.”

He rumbles, “Syl…” (in his “I am the man, hear me roar” voice.)

I smile. “You build me shelves, I give you book.”

He grumbles, “Syl…” (in his “I’m not going to win this one, but damned if I won’t keep trying” voice.)

Suffice it to say that the table saw is now buzzing merrily outside and I am sending a silent thank-you to J.R. for my new bookshelves. *g*

So today, I ran around and collected all the various piles of books that had been accumulating and put them in my new bookshelves. Hubby came in and went, “Damn. That’s a lot of books.” So true. I need to get rid of some. Ones either given to me that I don’t care to read, or ones I’ve read that aren’t keepers. I must figure out what to do with them.

I got a large part of my room tidied up today, tomorrow I’ll work on my office. So nice to get things organized again. Makes me happy.

My dad arrives Monday night, so the kids are going crazy. Both of my in-laws died over the last couple of years due to lung cancer (and hubby still smokes, drives me nuts. I quit years ago.), so my parents are all my kids have in the way of grandparents. My dad lives in Pisa, Italy so we see him only every few years.

Also, I’m going to try something different writing-wise from here-on-out. I’m going to take weekends off and evenings. Just write during the day while the munchkins are in school. I’m hoping that will keep my energy high and the creative well filled. As it is, I’ve been writing all day, every day for years now and it started to wear me out until I wrote my last Brava. (Simon Quinn’s story DON’T TEMPT ME.) I had so much fun writing that book! I struggled with the beginning, but once I hit half-way it was a blast to write.

Of course, this led me to worry that I’d simply lost my mind and the book sucked. But my editor said it was good, so I’m very happy. (HUGE thanks to my critique partner who was critiquing a chapter a day once I hit my stride. Bless her.)

Now, if I can just get back in the habit of going to the gym…

From A PASSION FOR HIM – Oct. 30

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