Saturday, December 28, 2013

Midnight kiss blog hop

I'm thrilled to be part of Gemini Girls midnight kiss blog hop. http://www.GeminiGirls.com/hop
There are prizes galore to be had including the grand prize - a $25 book voucher from Liquid Silver Books!













What could be better than a midnight kiss?
Er... chocolate, a mojito, diamonds - oops - distracted there. Of course a midnight kiss beats everything hands down. No, not hands down there!

One thing that I feel is very important when I'm writing is to make that first kiss perfect and I'd like to share the first kiss in Strangers - my most popular and probably my favourite book!

                                        * * * * * * * * * *

His hands moved to her hips, pulling her against him. When Charlie buried his face in her neck and felt her soft, warm lips on his shoulder, he was swept away in a flash flood of desire. He slid his hands up the sides of her body, curved them around her neck, tipped up her chin and kissed her.
Charlie’s first kisses were always the same, the oft-practiced light brushing of lips, allowing him to taste a woman, letting her taste him.
Not this time.
He was as tormented with desire as if he’d been a schoolboy offered his first chance to snog a girl. He hovered on the verge of implosion, explosion, complete bloody destruction.
Too hungry for slow, too desperate for gentle, he kissed Kate as if it were the last thing he’d ever do. If she’d shown the slightest resistance, he thought he might have cried, but he knew she felt the same. Their tongues invaded each other’s mouths, twisting together, surging, discovering. His mind reeled with the scent of her, the taste of her, the feel of her, and Charlie growled deep in his throat like some sort of animal. It bloody scared him, but he couldn’t help it. Neither of them breathed.
When their lips slid apart, their eyes wide, they gasped simultaneously and rested their heads side by side, ear to ear, panting in unison.
“Fuck, fuck. Are you okay?” Charlie whispered.
“No.”
“Me neither.” He was in imminent danger of coming in his pants. His balls had drawn up to the base of his cock and had started their telltale tingle. Shit, from a kiss? Women didn’t know how lucky they were. If they came fast, everyone was happy. If men came too soon, everyone was disappointed.
He pressed his forehead against hers and they stood for several moments not doing anything other than holding each other while they dragged their breathing back under control. This was different. She was different.
“What are you thinking?” he asked. Had he ever asked a woman that? Not something he needed to do because he always knew what they were thinking.
Not with Kate.
“That I’ve never been kissed before,” she whispered.
Charlie pulled back and gave her a bemused look. “I’m the first guy to kiss you? What was Dickhead playing at?”

“No, you’re the first guy to kiss me.” 




And a couple of kissy pictures!




This is grandson learning how to kiss - he has a way to go!


This is daughter just after boyfriend asked her to marry him!


For one lucky or unlucky commentator depending how you look at it, I'd like to offer an ecopy of Strangers or any other book from my back list. Please include your email address in your comment! That's how the blog organisers will be notifying the winners.

For more chances to win ebooks and the Liquid Silver voucher - please visit

http://www.GeminiGirls.com/hop







Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Merry Christmas!

Or Happy Holidays! Some pictures to celebrate the season!

This is the roof of our orangery! A visit from Jack Frost.


And again - it was so pretty!


A tree in Highlands Park - in Dallas


I wish this was my house - this is also in Highlands Park.


The lights were stunning.


Son's apartment in Dallas - Charlotte and Winnie ready for Santa!


Thank you to all my readers! Thank you to all my reviewers - even if you didn't like my books - I appreciate your comments (most of them!) and a huge thank you to my beta readers - Arlene, Pam, Rita, Laurie, Dawn, Bob, Paul. I hope I've not missed anyone out! 

Friday, December 13, 2013

Competitions, contests and me

I don't enter my books into contests, competitions etc because I hate to lose. Oh no, rewind that, I didn't mean to say that, but actually, when I think about it, I DO hate to lose. Damn that competitive spirit. But I do have an issue with books, covers etc in competitions. Unlike a maths exam where you rise and fall on your own merits against a fixed outcome, that can never be true with any artistic endeavour. Because of course, it's all subjective. A cover one will love, another will hate. A painting adored by one will be decried by another. A story one finds compelling, another will find boring. So when you enter your pride and joy in a contest you're already up against it.





So who judges? Readers? A team of reviewers? Fellow authors? Artists? Probably all of those. I have entered a few contests in the past. One for BRAVA - just a start to a story and got nowhere, though I did get that story published soon after. I also entered a contest on All Romance ebooks - where I wrote a short story that went into a voting system and gradually numbers of entries were whittled down by the number of votes they got in their section. Maybe in another section, a story could have got through. Who knows? I read some super stories that didn't make it through and some poor ones that did. It turned so quickly into - how many friends do I have that I can convince to vote for me? Once I'd implored my friends in the ARe contest, I swore never to do it again and I never have.

I noticed that I have a few books and a cover in a GR readers' poll. I looked by chance and saw them. I haven't put them forward myself, some kind reader - readers did. Thank you so much if you are reading this. It means something special to me when others put my work forward, rather than me. And although I won't solicit votes, I would of course be delighted to win. But that's not going to happen - purely because I won't plead with every person I know to vote for me. Oops - now it looks like I'm saying that the one that wins will be the one with the most friends and not necessarily the one with the best book. Doesn't matter. There IS no best book. There can't be. It's impossible to judge fairly no matter what level of competition. Even the Booker Prize causes controversy because the judges have different views.

So - no competitions for me. I think my dislike of them goes back to my childhood. My mother was very pushy and wanted me to do well in everything. Puts a lot of pressure on a child. She made me learn the piano but I refused to do exams in that. She made me take elocution lessons and I was forced to do exams in that. Add all the revising for school exams and I began to rebel against the very idea of  competition because to me - there are too many losers. Life is competitive enough.



Sunday, December 1, 2013

Holiday reader ebook giveaway!!!!





From the first to the 15th December - you have a chance to win a whole load of holiday books. The more times you enter, the better chance you have to win. Jessica Subject will be selecting the winner on the 16th and then each author will send their copy to the winner. 




These are the books you can win!

Her Deviant Lord by Layna Pimentel (PDF, EPUB, or MOBI)
A Ghost for Christmas and 69 Mustang by Kacey Hammell (winner's choice)
Keir by Pippa Jay (winner's choice)
The Princess and the Prepper by Barbara Elsborg (winner's choice)
Hide & Seek by Valerie Mann (PDF)
I'll Be Mated for Christmas by Rebecca Royce (PDF)
The Copper and the Madam by Karyn Gerrard (EPUB)
Fool's Gold by Cassandra Dean (EPUB, PRC, or PDF)
The Pilot by Diane Burton (Smashwords coupon)
Santa's Sleeping Beauty by Lisa Fox (winner's choice)
A Knight Before Christmas by Alicia Dean (Amazon or B&N)
Marry Christmas, Baby by Jane Kent (PDF)
Sex Boot Camp by Paisley Brown (ARe)