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THURSDAY TEASER - Nicole Murphy

Not all of us are looking for that perfect man. Taylor Wilson certainly isn’t. Her job is everything to her. But this is a romance and that means Taylor’s world is about to be turned upside down.

The Right Connection is my self-published fantasy romance novella. It’s a story that’s been with me for a long time, and I’m really happy to finally give Taylor and Roden their moment in the sun.

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The Right Connection – blurb

Time after time, the missions to retrieve the stolen children have failed. This time, rules will be broken in a last-ditch attempt.

Taylor Wilson is a respected soldier in the Land Corps with a terrible past that has scarred her. When she’s offered the opportunity to work on the mission to save the children taken by the socolapede, Taylor’s ready to jump at the chance until she finds it means she has to connect with a man.

At first, Roden is everything she feared—brash, overbearing, uncompromising. But as she comes to learn of his honour and strength, Taylor not only loses the fight against connection, she loses her heart too.

Can she form a connection with Roden strong enough to save the children? And if they succeed, do the two of them have a future together?

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Excerpt

The room was plainly furnished, but not with anything professional—instead what sat before her was a steel table, with two padded chairs on a brown rug. Two servings of a hearty meal of meat and potato sat on the table—real food, not the Land Corps rations that was served in the cafeteria.

“All for us. Special, aren’t we?”

Taylor spun around and could barely see a figure standing in the shadows. Whoever it was, they had the advantage over her for they could see her clearly.

“Buttering us up. Nice.” The man moved from the shadows into the dancing light provided by the candles.

Taylor hoped her face remained expressionless. This must be Roden. He was huge; a head taller than any man Taylor had ever known and heavily muscled. There was not an ounce of fat on him, as evidenced by the leanness of his cheeks. His face with its pointed nose and grey eyes reminded her of a wolf; strong and unwavering in his confidence. His head was bare of hair and the skin of his scalp was criss-crossed with scars. Looking over his uncovered arms, she saw more scars. He had not survived his fights unscathed.

Taylor was suddenly aware that his success as a fighter owed as much to his physical intimidation as to his skills. She looked again into his eyes and saw the determination there, and also a certain aloofness. She was supposed to control this man? Better luck controlling the stars.

“What do you mean?”

A small crease appeared between Roden’s eyes. “The meal.” He gestured to the table and she turned to look at it. “Trying to get us on side early, so we won’t automatically reject each other.”

“What?” Not incredibly intelligent, but Taylor couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“As they’re seemingly so concerned about this, let’s get a few things straight right now.” As Roden spoke, he crossed his arms across his chest.

Taylor was flummoxed by his easy confidence. “What things?”

“About how this is going to work. Particularly as you’ve never connected with a man since the—let’s call it the incident, shall we?”

Taylor wasn’t sure what shocked her more—that he knew about it or that he called it what she did.

Roden took advantage of her speechlessness to continue. “I’m sure that means that you really don’t trust men when it comes to connections and you’re intending to control me like a puppet, while you keep yourself to yourself.”

How had he known what she was thinking?

Roden wasn’t finished talking. “Now I want to tell you how things will really be. I need you to complete the mission but you will never control me. Be prepared to work with me as a partner and we’ll get through this. Try to be my boss and I’ll do it by myself.”

Taylor blinked several times to assure herself that she really was awake and that she had in fact heard the words just spoken. “And how do you as a fighter plan to go ahead in a mission without a soldier?”

His next words had her wishing she had studied him as thoroughly as he had her. “I trained as a soldier, went to within a month of graduating. I may not be as good as you, but I can send my mind if I need to. I can get by without you. I can just do it better with you, which is why I agreed to this connection. So that’s the way it’s going to be, soldier. We’ll develop a close enough connection to do this, but it will be on my terms or it won’t happen at all.”

Without waiting for Taylor’s reply, he sat down and began to eat. Taylor stared at the back of his head. She could not believe a fighter had spoken to a soldier like that. She could not believe a fighter had gone within a month of graduation as a soldier. She could not believe she would not be the one in control of this connection.
She wondered what to do, how to handle the situation. Training had never taught them how to deal with a fighter that wasn’t open to connection. It just wasn’t thought possible.

Taylor marched around the table so she was looking at Roden, but did not sit down. “I don’t believe you.”

Buy from SMASHWORDS
Buy from AMAZON

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You can win a free copy of The Right Connection (your choice of electronic format) by commenting below. Best of luck!


Nicole Murphy has been a primary school teacher, bookstore owner, journalist and checkout chick. She grew up reading Tolkien, Lewis and Le Guin; spent her twenties discovering Quick, Lindsey and Deveraux and lives her love of science fiction and fantasy through her involvement with the Conflux science fiction conventions. Her urban fantasy trilogy Dream of Asarlai is published in Australia/NZ by HarperVoyager. She’s just commenced a new venture, In fabula-divinos which is aimed at mentoring up-and-coming writers. She lives with her husband in Queanbeyan, NSW. Visit her website 

Where can you win a copy of Nicole's new book? You can win a free copy of The Right Connection (your choice of electronic format) by commenting below. Best of luck!

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Thanks so much for dropping by today Nicole! I love the sound of your new book..congratulations!

MONDAY MAGIC - Cari Z - When is enough really enough?

When Is Enough Really Enough?

By Cari Z

I grew up with a house full of boy scouts, and from an early age I was taught that the golden rule wasn’t “Do unto others,” it was, “Be prepared.”  Be prepared for anything, from a blizzard to a heat wave, and I have dutifully followed suit.  My car has everything from chemical handwarmers to iodine tablets in the trunk.  Rest assured, if I’m ever kidnapped and dropped in the middle of nowhere with my car, I’ll be ready.  Without the car… um… I’ll have a pocket knife.  And possibly a mirror and some lipstick, depending on the day.  But regardless, I like to be prepared, and I like to prepare other people too.  It’s an impulse I have to fight in my writing.

There’s a continual risk for an author of over-explaining things to your readers.  You want them to understand, you want them to see it the way you do, and how better to ensure that than by telling them all about it?  I’ve found that when writing speculative fiction, that urge goes up immensely.  There’s more than just a character’s work or relationships to explain, there’s an entirely new world that readers need to be clued into.  It doesn’t matter if it’s high fantasy, science fiction or paranormal romance, I always get into a mental beatdown with my inner teacher over how much to give away. 

I’d probably be an abysmal mystery writer (omg, the butler!  Look at the butler!).

In May I’ve got several new releases coming out, and one of them is the m/m science fiction novel Changing Worlds, based off of a short story I wrote for the anthology Wild Passions.  It’s set far in the future and delves into the complicated relationship between my human narrator and his alien consort.  You can imagine just how much detail I wanted to give you: what is life like for humans in this era?  What about the alien world they live on?  What about their language?  What are the trials of adapting to an entirely new culture?  Is love the same thing for humans as it is for the Perel, the aliens that I describe?  The novel delves into all of this and a lot more, and was originally an extra ten thousand words or so long, mostly me telling you things that you didn’t really need to be walked through.  Thankfully that’s what editors are for, to keep their authors in check and up to snuff, and luckily I have the best and most ruthless editor ever to grace the page.

This is my first ever novel, and it turns out it’s a lot harder to stay consistently good over seventy thousand words than it is over a short story, but I’m thrilled with how the book has turned out.  My publisher at Storm Moon Press has been awesome enough to include the short story the novel is based on as a preface to the book, for free.  This way new readers will be able to get Jason and Ferran’s full story, while faithful readers will be able to get to the new stuff in short order.  I want my audience to walk away from this story thrilled by the romance and satisfied with the plot.  If you like new and exciting places, life-or-death suspense and steamy sex, then Changing Worlds is right up your alley.  If you don’t like those things… maybe we should stage an intervention.  Reach out!  I’m here for you!

Changing Worlds is available for preorder from Storm Moon Press, and will be released on May 18th.

Huge thanks to Maggie for hosting me, and thanks to you guys for visiting and reading!

Bio:  Cari Z. is a Colorado girl who loves snow and sunshine. She is back from Africa at long last, and loves it despite having to relearn how to drive a car and work a touchscreen. Writing consumes the free time that isn't spent on the mat or playing with her husband, or both (wonderful when interests coincide like that), and she hopes you enjoy what she writes as much as she enjoys writing it.
Blog: carizerotica.blogspot.com, website: cari-z.net.

Buy Link:  http://www.stormmoonpress.com/books/Changing-Worlds.aspx

Blurb:

In this sequel to Cari Z's Opening Worlds, former starship captain Jason Kim travels to Perelan, the homeworld of his lover, Ferran, to start a life together. The ruling council of the Perels have allowed this unconventional union to continue in the hopes of strengthening relations between themselves and the humans. And while Ferran's family welcome Jason with open arms, not all of the other major families are as pleased. The arrival of an outsider to their insular, subterranean world challenges the traditions of centuries.

Tensions soar as old rivalries are rekindled in the wake of Jason and Ferran's relationship. Inevitably, something snaps. Jason and Ferran soon find themselves literally fighting for their lives when xenophobic anger pushes things beyond the breaking point. Only their devotion to one another can see them through, but a ghost from Jason's past threatens even that. With Perelan on the brink of civil war, Jason and Ferran must find a way to stand together in the face of chaos and to change the world on their own terms before it tears itself apart.


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Thanks for being my guest today Cari! I have to agree with you there...it's so hard to get the balance right between how much you tell and how much is weaved into the story through description, and the five senses.  Great post!

The book looks pretty cool too!

MONDAY MAGIC - AB Gayle - Familiar with a Twist

Familiar with a Twist.

Many thanks to Maggie for inviting me to her blog.

A while ago, Nell Dixon, did a guest spot here entitled “Write What You Don’t Know” as a twist on the old adage “Write what you Know. Nell made some very good points about how, with adequate research, we can write about any subject. Because, let’s face it, as readers, we want to be taken out of our everyday humdrum world and vicariously meet those hunky alpha males who are so scarce in real life or be transported to another time and place. We want to experience the unfamiliar, and for a while walk in someone else’s shoes like Daniel’s in my novella “Caught” who has been known to don red stilettos when the occasion demanded it.

But today I’m going to talk about writing what you do know, the mundane and the familiar, and seeing how it can be incorporated into a story by giving it a twist.

My latest release “Isolation” is a sci-fi/futuristic romance set in 2050. It tells the story of what happens when Earth makes first contact with aliens who invite a contingent to return with them to their home planet, Saa’ar. For the Australian doctor, Dana Sinclair, and the disabled war veteran Ethan O’Reilly and the other representatives from nearly every country in the world, this will be a one way journey.

Sounds totally improbable, right? Far out of the reach of the familiar.

But let’s add in something more familiar – at least for those of us who have teenage or older children who spend most of their time in their bedrooms either with social networking or in my case playing computer games.

Sure, some parents put their foot down and forbid this sort of behaviour, seeing it as anti-social, but as someone who has played her fair share of RPGs (role playing games), I would be a hypocrite to do so.

I actually think it is preferable to them sitting in front of television being fed Virtual Valium. At least this way they are actually interacting with other human beings. Interestingly, my daughter met her current partner through “Guild Wars”.

These multiple player online games are set up so that no matter where you are in the world you can form teams and chat to each other while playing. She assumed this guy she got on well with lived in Canada or America as he had an accent. He certainly didn’t sound like an Aussie. After a while of meeting up and playing together, she discovered he was actually an Aussie who had spent a number of years in Canada but now lived in a nearby suburb. It was months before they plucked up enough courage to see if their online friendship would survive meeting in person, but it did and they are still together after four years.

At her encouragement, I also had a go and although I didn’t use the microphone for voice contact, I did “chat” via the text box with fellow players in different parts of the world and found the whole process fascinating. By the way, any exponents of the game will be amused to see that I achieved the “impossible”: getting to maximum level during the tutorial. Lol. 

 

Facebook and other online social networking provides similar benefits. What to some people may seem a very closeted existence can actually be the opposite. It also allows those who have formerly been housebound to get “out” and meet people. I’ve met a few people online who have some disability or other health condition that precludes them from  meeting people in real life.

One aspect that intrigued me was that conversations within the game environment are not easily monitored. So whereas there is always this “Big Brother is Watching You” fear with telephones and emails, for the most part this is a “secure” communication channel.

This aspect inspired a crucial plot element in “Isolation”. The twist.

In my stories, I’ve also used more mundane things that I’ve experienced. For example, becoming hopelessly entangled when a loose thread in my T-shirt wound itself around the screw of my glasses triggered a short scene in my upcoming release with Dreamspinner Press, the contemporary m/m romance “Red+Blue”.

What real life aspects have you as writers incorporated in your books or for the readers out there, what in your life would you use if you ever took the plunge to become a writer? Or maybe there are other RPG addicts who are happy to come out of the closet.

A copy of “Isolation” is up for grabs for one lucky respondent.

Or you’re welcome to buy it from the publishers Total Ebound: http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=1568

Visit www.abgayle.com for more information about Alison and her books. 

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Thanks so much for being my guest today AB! 

And folks...DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT for a chance to win a copy of ISOLATION by AB Gayle!

Why do I love BDSM romance?

You know 10 years ago I would never ever have dreamed of writing about BDSM, let alone writing BDSM stories. Not knowing anything about it other than what I'd heard in whispers over the years, I thought (and I'm sure a lot of people still do) that it was all about being beaten up and tortured. I couldn't even imagine a time when a person would want to be put through what I saw as an unnecessary and painful ordeal. I thought these people must have some type of psychiatric disorder and they desperately needed help.

At the same time as I was thinking these bad things about a philosophy and a lifestyle I knew next to nothing about, I was finding myself fantasizing about all sorts of situations that made me feel very confused and conflicted. On the one hand I condemned BDSM through misunderstanding and misinterpretation, and on the other I found myself drawn to movies and stories where the heroine was completely at the mercy of another person. And not necessarily a hero either.

As an impressionable adolescent I watched as Robert Redford held a gun to Katherine Ross while insisting she take her clothes off. I got so hot that I still dream about that scene.  Worse, I remember watching a movie about a serial killer where he tied his victims to a bed and touched them all over while watching on fully clothed, and I wished it was me. Of course my fantasy turned him into a handsome lover who eventually let me go, but at the time I thought I was quite disturbed!  Heck, it's amazing that my strict Catholic upbringing didn't send me to the loony bin even thinking about it. Okay, maybe I still think I was disturbed!

Later, when I discovered fumbling sex with my boyfriend and we made out in alleys and on the beach, the thought of being seen by others turned me on at the same time as it horrified me! I watched the movie EMMANUELLE which gave me years of scenes to fantasize about but I thought I was being really really naughty! Boy did that make me feel weird, but I never really made the connection to BDSM. Not until years later.

I was already reading and writing erotic romance when I bought a book to support a fellow new author and read it in one sitting. The book was NO ONE BUT MADISON by Doreen Orsini. I had no idea it was BDSM until I read it. I couldn't put it down, and to this day I revisit it over and over again. In fact I have probably read it more than 20 times since it first came out in 2006. Thank you Doreen for starting me on my journey of discovery!

It all began to make sense. All those pent up feelings and fantasies were not just me. Others had them too. Others even lived their life by them. How exciting! What a relief!

I spent the next few years reading as many BDSM romance books as I could, finding wonderful authors such as Joey Hill, J W McKenna, Delilah Devlin and more recently my fan girl crush is on Cherise Sinclair. But I still had no idea what attracted me to this genre and this lifestyle.

In the middle of this I decided that if I was going to fantasize, I needed to write it all down, but before that I had better do my research. I spent months looming on BDSM sites, reading non-fiction books on the subject, speaking to practicing subs (since quite frankly, I'd decided that was more me!) before I started my first book on it.

THE MASTERS PRIZE was the result, and even though I don't think I got it completely right, I did manage to get a lot of my pent up feelings out and down on the paper. I finally found a way to express what I had been feeling all of my life. It was incredibly freeing for me and I hope others have been able to see that in the book. Of course it isn't a real depiction of BDSM as I do not live the lifestyle, but I have spent a lot of time living in the headspace of a sub, and researching it all was so much fun :-) I know a few who read it loved it, so that's the main thing!

So back to the topic. Why do I love BDSM romance?

Remember these are my own opinions, and many of you may disagree with me and that's okay. This is all about what I feel personally.

It took me a long time to sort out why I was attracted to this fantasy, but I think I have a handle on it now.

There four parts to my answer:

1. It's about letting go without losing yourself. The characters in BDSM are courageous enough to let go of their lives, their fears, anxieties, and yes, even their orgasms and place themselves in the hands of another. What an incredible gift to give another human being! And how freeing for an individual to be able to do it, allowing another to make decisions on what your body will have or not have.

2. It's about trust. There is no way you can give over of yourself to another if you don't trust them to allow you to be the one with the ultimate control. You gift them with yourself, but know that they can't do it without your consent and willingness. Being in a relationship where you trust another person to be responsible for what happens to you is, as I said, an amazing gift, and without trust it's not going to happen. How wonderful to be able to trust someone this much!

3. It's about heightening sensations. Being unable to control what happens to you makes you hyper aware of every inch of your body. It's an amazing feeling and very addictive :-) We've all heard that old adage "There's a fine line between pleasure and pain". Being taken to another plane with sensations given in a loving way can only heighten the pleasure and take it to even greater heights. (great song too!).

4. It's about being sane (knowing what you're doing at all times), safe (using caution and safety in all that is done) and consensual (knowing that both sides agree at all times and that it's okay to change your mind and stop).

As you can see, most of my reasons for loving BDSM romance involve the dynamics of the exchange of power. The deep emotions, the great sex and the amazing sensations are the results of this and can't exist without them. Plus I guess I'm just a tad kinky :-)

So give me a sassy sub who willingly gives control over to a loving Dom and I'm happy. If he gives her amazing experiences by pushing her limits, and pushing mine as the reader, all the better!

And before you ask - yes, I have tried a lot of what I researched :-) Not telling which bits though :-) My plan is one day to be brave enough to visit a club or even to a BDSM retreat for a weekend escape...so one day you never know! All in the name of research of course!

These days I have plenty of authors I enjoy reading who write BDSM the way I like it. As I mentioned, I love Cherise Sinclair, plus there's also Nichelle Gregory, Desiree Holt, Ann Jacobs, Katherine Kingston, Mackenzie McKade, Sindra Von Yissel, Qwillia Rain, Reese Gabriel, Lisabet Sarai, Lily Harlem -  and the list goes on. Some of these lovely authors live the life, some of them, like me -  fantasize and research....but boy do I enjoy reading them as I am sure they love writing them.  Reading these books is like joining a secret women's business society!

My guilty pleasure. *Bliss*

My second BDSM book is available now. It's called ILLUMINATIONS.  It's set in Victorian England and is related to a full length novel I am writing. Victorian England as a setting puts an entirely new spin on it for me but the emotions are the same.

So for a chance to win a copy of ILLUMINATIONS, tell me why YOU like BDSM romance? What good BDSM books have you read lately? Or just say hi!  Don't forget to leave your email address in your comment so I can contact you if you win.

I'll choose the winner randomly from all the comments and you have until Wednesday night (Aussie time) to post.




Don't forget to come back on Thursday because I have Aussie BDSM/Steampunk author Cari Silverwood dropping by with a peak at her latest release!

Lucky 7 and a short excerpt

Tagged by the lovely Dawn Montgomery  and now by the beautiful and funny Ashlyn Chase! Muah! Love you guys!

Lucky Seven:
1. Go to page 77 (or 7th) of your current ms
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy down the next 7 lines - sentences or paragraphs - and post them as they're written. No cheating.
4. Tag 7 other authors. No cheating.

Here are my lines: From my current WIP (a sekrit writing project!) #amwriting

She turned back to find him smiling. Oh sure. He’s laughing at me now. “Great. Now we’ve got that sorted, I’m heading to bed.”
His eyebrows lifted. “Sounds like fun.”
Bloody men. Always thinking with a certain part of their anatomy. At least now she knew what sort of guy he was. “Not really. I sleep alone and when my head hits that pillow and I’m out like a light.”
His smile brightened. “I’ll keep that in mind.”


If you read this, how about clicking on the Karma box on the right of my blog! Thanks!