Come join in my New Year's Day Party!

It's time to clear out my excess SWAG items...

Which include 13-month wall calendars, shopping totes, glossy notebooks, coffee mugs, key chains, print books, T-shirts, and much more!  Come on over to my blog on January 1, 2012, and read the contest rules.  Then enter to win dozens of prizes.  Everyone who enters and follows the rules will win something!

The New Year is a time of cleaning out the old and starting the new...and I really need the space in my closet, since I have stacks of boxes filled with SWAG!  Please help me out!

I sincerely hope that your New Year will be healthy, happy, and prosperous...and filled with love and enjoyment.

Hugs!

Fran Lee

http://franleesromanceblog.blogspot.com

Review for Seduced by Blood

Taylor Tryst has crafted a story that hits the ground running and never lets up. Seduced by Blood is intense, exciting and extremely hot! Taylor has a unique vision of vampires, who they are and what makes them ‘tick’, which I found to be fresh and intriguing.

The h/h, Nevada and Gunner, are well-developed, believable characters who I immediately understood, liked, and rooted for. A key third character, Braden, is also fascinating – and I have it on good authority that he will have his own story soon!!!

I highly recommend Seduced by Blood. It will definitely warm you up a cold winter day! Check it out on Amazon.com.

Wishing everyone a healthy, happy, prosperous and peaceful 2012~

 Tessie

www.tessiebradford.com

Happy Almost New Year!

I love the week after Christmas it’s such a peaceful time to look back on the year and think ahead to the new one. I don’t really make New Year’s resolutions but I do set goals— realistic goals I can honor. One of those goals is to get a few of my WIPs out the door and published and I’m almost ready to do that.

I also plan to take another pen name for a few short novels I’ve written in another genre. I’m really looking forward to branching out and trying something a little different. I also hope to do more collaborative projects with other authors because I’m finding it a great way to work.

By the way the new Ellora’s Cave anthology “Something Wicked This Way Comes Volume 1” is available today. I can’t wait to buy it and read it! I have a short story in Volume 2. I don’t yet have a release date for V2 but I’m sure it will be soon.

Its a certainty that 2012 will be the year you see and hear about the Mayan calendar so often you might wish for the world to end… but don’t. The picture above is not the Mayan calendar its the Aztec calendar. It’s a whole different culture separated from the classical Mayan dynasty by several hundred years. The confusion about the calendars says it all-most people don’t know what they’re looking at much less worrying about.

Note to everyone: This is not the end of the world.

The good news is December 21, 2012 marks the end of the 13^th bak’tun --that’s all. No doubt the end of a 26,000-year cycle is a big event but it’s not the end of the world. It’s the end of the Mayan long count cycle and the cycle starts again. The Mayans did abandon scrolls that mark time beyond the 13th bak’tun, so clearly they expected the world to continue past December 21, 2012, but they didn’t have the opportunity, perhaps due to war, famine or cultural collapse, to carve those dates in stone. Had things been easier for the Mayans, they might have left us a longer calendar.

So let’s embrace 2012 as the year we got back on our feet and not the year we dreaded the end of the world.

I wish everyone a very Happy New Year.

XXOO Kat

I Wanna Sext U Up

Today I'm celebrating my 3rd release with Loose Id. I'm also holding a few giveaways. You can enter to win a copy of I Wanna Sext U Up here:

Bronwyn Green's Blog

Sweet n Sexy Divas

Tina Donahue's Blog

Blurb:


Tool belt…check. Rope…check. Lube…check. Violet Wand…Check.

Beckett Manning, the host of Room Makeovers is ready to give Riley Anderson more than a remodeled kitchen. He’s about to bring her to the edge of ecstasy and back. Whether it’s hot sex in the bathtub or Riley hog-tied to the bed, he’s determined to show this brazen beauty how sexually desired she is.

A simple text leads to a case of mistaken communication and before long Riley finds herself tied to her bed and being driven to distraction. Beckett knows how to tease and torture every inch of her skin. He also knows his way around an orgasm, which keeps Riley wanting more.

Excerpt:

It’s over, Riley. U r just no good in bed. Boring in fact. I moved my things out earlier.

Riley Anderson read the text for the hundredth time. She’d kept it to remind her of the asshole she’d spent too many years with. The words served as a reminder of her anger and resentment for the jerk who hadn’t had the decency to break up with her face-to-face. No, he had to do it over text.

“Aaargh!” Riley raised the sledgehammer again. She brought the hammer down on the kitchen cabinet with every ounce of strength her arms possessed. “This is for you, dirtbag.” She sent the iron head crashing into another wooden door. “Not good in bed? Why, because I didn’t get off on choking you until you almost passed out?”

Aside from the last year of their relationship when Terry wanted to explore darker sexual activities, Riley had believed they had a great thing going. She thought for sure he would be the man she’d marry. When she’d bought the house, it was with the intention that someday Terry would be her husband and they’d fill the spare bedrooms with children. How wrong she’d been.

The hammer smashed into the wood door of the overhead cabinet.

“Because passing out wasn’t fun? Fuck you, Terry.”

She repeatedly pounded away at the cabinets until she’d destroyed them all. “That’ll fix your ass, Terry.”

She stood back and assessed the damage. She’d managed to tear apart the kitchen in less than an hour. Her arms were sore from the weight of the tiny wrecking ball, but that didn’t matter. She’d accomplished something her ex had only promised her for the last year of their relationship. She’d started the renovation of the kitchen.

Now that Terry had been gone for nine months, she’d do it on her own. She didn’t need him to remodel. Riley was a smart woman. They’d watched the home-improvement channels so much during their relationship, she felt secure enough to do the job alone. She’d be her own fix-it handywoman.

“Guess I’d better go to the home-improvement store and get a move on this.” She leaned the wooden handle of the hammer against the cracked wood of the cabinet and wiped her hands together.

Satisfaction filled her soul.

Riley retrieved her purse and keys from the Formica countertop and headed out the door, one destination in mind. The local chain home repair store.

The ride to the store was a blur. Her only thoughts were what steps she’d need to take to get the work done. She’d have to put in new cabinets. She wanted new appliances. Stainless steel. Granite countertops were a must. Those Formica ones just wouldn’t cut it any longer.

She pulled into a parking spot and turned off the car.

“Time to buy a new kitchen.”

Confidence radiated from her as she stepped into the large store. She felt proud. She had a project to do while she was on vacation. It’d likely take her longer than the week, but it would be a start.

“Excuse me.”

Riley turned to see if the man behind the sexy baritone was talking to her. She was surprised to see a gorgeous man holding a microphone walking toward her, a cameraman following closely behind him.

“Yes,” she whispered. Dear God, please don’t be from the news. The last thing I need is to be on the local news looking disheveled.

“Hi, I’m Beckett Manning. I’m from Room Makeovers. Are you remodeling any rooms in your house today?”

Holy shit! Riley’s jaw must have fallen to the floor. She’d seen the show a couple of times. Beckett looked ten times hotter in person. When she decided it was time to change the eighties-style kitchen, she’d begun watching all those makeover shows on the cable channel. Terry had watched with her, promising they’d do the kitchen soon. Soon never came. The only thing Terry had managed to do was cheat on her with some bimbo. Years of promises vanished out the window along with Terry’s things.

Holiday Pick-me-Ups! Got any?

My fave~The Coca Cola Version!

Santa get the drop on you?
Today, we're done, right? Done in...or just DONE.
In this hectic time each year, I try to put in a few things for moi that include time to R&R.
(And btw, did I tell you that within a 20 day period at our house, we have Christmas, Wedding Anniversary, New Year's, Birthday 1 and yes, Birthday 2?)
We NEED to chill.
My fave way?
A massage. Okay, so the $$$ is tight, but half an hour of an upper body rub is just my style and my budget.
Another is...SOUP.
Home made vegetable. Easy. Buy it all. Good stock. Saute the garlic and onions, chop up all stuff, throw it in the pot. Good for getting the love handles to feel less globular.
A trip to the gym. One. Twenty minutes. No hour long circuit, thanks. Just the good stuff. Once is enuf, cuz I'm already pooped.
And for the house?
No dusting. Just clean the kitchen, yeah, floors, too. All that other stuff can WAIT.
In January, I'll have my wind back. Plus it may snow, right? (okay, so. not so much in Texas. But I can dream, can't it? Use the excuse.)
How are you good to yourself during this season?

Merry Christmas!

Have Yourself A Very Merry Christmas...

May All Your Days Be Bright...

Don't forget that I will be drawing the winner(s) of my new release contest tonight at midnight...so if you have not yet entered, do so now.

May you enjoy the holiday and  have a marvelous day!

Blessings to you and yours...

Fran Lee

Focusing on the Positive!

I apologize for being awol recently. A ton of stuff has been going on in my world; some wonderful, some God-awful. I now choose to focus on the wonderful!

My family has been blessed with a new addition. In early November, our Animal Control Officer asked for my family's help with a starving, beaten, terrified Chihuahua mix who even the rescues thought was most likely beyond saving. We met him and knew he was meant to be with us. My hubby, daughter and I spent every moment we could working with him at the shelter.
Butch, 16 pounds of lovey goodness, came home the night before Thanksgiving. We are big dog people. Our Maggie and Rex are 85 and 65 pounds and they were a bit confused as to what the hell we'd brought into the house, but within a couple of days, everyone was getting along just fine!
We think Butch's mix is part cat (he sits on the front windowsill to look outside), part squirrel (he sits up on his back feet with his nose in the air), part gerbil (he nibbles on anything fabric), and part jumping bean (he leaps from the floor to our shoulders when he wants to be held)!!
His physical wounds are healed and his fear reactions are diminishing every day. He is a true character who makes us all smile and laugh and we know how incredibly lucky we are to have him in our life.

I'm very excited to announce that Getting Down To Business releases March 14, 2012!

Emily's Destiny received a 5/5 star review!
http://www.mizlovelovesbooks.com/2011/12/emilys-destiny-by-tessie-bradford.html


I wish everyone a very, very Merry Christmas!

Tessie
www.tessiebradford.com

Happy Holidays!

This is the original Saint Nicholas.

Today marks the Winter Solstice. The longest night of the year has past and we are now heading back into the light. (Hurray!) Last night was the beginning of Hanukkah and the festival of lights. I’m not Jewish, but I have a lot of Jewish friends and extended family and when Hanukkah comes around I hang around waiting for some kind soul to toss me a piping hot, homemade, delicious, crispy, golden-brown potato latke. Potato latkes and a visit with loved ones on a cold night is something wonderful.

This Christmas week, I want to share some of my favorite Christmas lore with you. Much of this is already familiar but I love thinking about it this time of year.

Did you know the custom of ornately decorating Christmas trees is fairly new? It was an old German custom that really took off in Victorian times when Queen Victoria married the German Prince Albert and starting decorating Christmas trees for him.

The first Victorian Christmas trees were fairly simple. Candles, glass balls and tinsel prevailed. Back then tinsel was a luxury reserved only for families who could afford to decorate with and dispose of precious metal. Later, foil-wrapped nuts, candied fruits, small toys and angel or star shaped cookies crept onto the trees. Soon after that Victorian ladies were creating highly embellished tasseled and beaded needlepoint ornaments for their family Christmas trees.

Do you know why we kiss under the mistletoe? I’m sure you do, but I’ll risk repeating myself. It’s a legend connected to an old Scandinavian myth. The beautiful hero-god Balder was killed by an arrow made of mistletoe. His mother the Norse Goddess Frigga was so distraught, she wept over the mistletoe until it bloomed with white berries in the heart of winter-a miracle. Her love and compassion brought Balder back to life. In gratitude for this miracle she promised to kiss and bless all who stood under the mistletoe.

Did you know the original Saint Nicholas was a wealthy, Turkish, only child orphaned by the plague in 300 AD? He became a priest at the very young age of 17, and began to give his wealth away to the poor, especially children. He was rumored to surprise people by tossing bags of gold coins down the chimney or lobbing coins through open windows hoping they would fall in the stocking hung in front of the fireplace to dry… Sound familiar?

He later became a Catholic Bishop and also a saint. This is why some early artwork depicts Saint Nicholas dressed in flowing Papal robes and miter. He was also strongly associated with the Catholic Church and when the Protestant Reformation came to England “Saint Nic” went underground. A new “Gift-Giver” and Father Christmas figure arose, but this Gift-Giver wore a suit of breeches and tunic not unlike the long beloved “Green-Man” of Celtic mythology.

The Green Man went from this...

To this.

The familiar name “Santa Claus” is actually an American corruption of the Dutch name for Father Christmas, which was “Sinterklaas”.

This season, no matter what faith you are, and regardless of how you may or may not celebrate the winter holidays, be conscious of the fact we are passing through history together and adding to the richness of the human story. The harshness of winter is a wonderful time to share our love and light with each other.

Merry Christmas and happy winter holidays to all.

XXOO Kat

Uncertainly Yours released yesterday...

Thanks to those of you who went over to purchase yesterday...I do appreciate your enjoyment of my books.  The contest to win a free copy will run over at my blog through midnight Christmas Eve.

I know that I do not always jump into the blog and leave comments, but I do visit, and buy books that sound luscious to me.  I am certain that I don't do my fair share of leaving comments, but I just purchased and downloaded two dozen marvelous books from your posts...so rest assured that I see and heed your posts, dear friends.  :)

It has been a very stressful month...lots of stuff happening and loads of things that had to be done.  So forgive me for not coming around more often...and I wish everyone a wonderful weekend.  Don't spend too much money on shopping...

Hugs!

 

Fran Lee

 

Parade of Lights, wall of sound.

Harbor Parade of Lights

There are only ten more days until Christmas Eve and only six until Hanukah starts. Kwanza begins December 26^th and so does Boxing Day… December is going fast!

I live near a harbor and a favorite holiday tradition in our town that often travels up the coastline, is the “Parade of Lights”. 

Boat owners of all types decorate their sea-going vessels and themselves with lights and Santa costumes, and circle the harbor after dark. 

It’s really beautiful and always draws a large crowd both on the shore and on the water.

There’s always a flotilla of kayakers who brave the cold and decorate their kayaks with hundreds of colored glow sticks and wear wetsuits and Santa hats.

There are fishing trawlers polished clean and covered in colored lights, tug boats, harbor patrol boats, an old-fashioned paddle wheel riverboat, sailboats, a few luxury yachts and lots of little electric boats that look like a miniature versions of the boat in the Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn classic “The African Queen”.

That’s the sort of boat my brother in law has. He loads it with LED lights so the bigger boats will see us at night and not run us over. We cruise around the harbor shouting and waving at everyone else that is shouting and waving at us. It’s always cold on the water but good food, wine and music is involved and it’s so much fun.

Of course lots of people prefer to watch the parade from the warmth of a restaurant or seaside duplex but I love being on the water. The boat is small so we all take turns. This year I got lucky and went last with my stepbrother who is an excellent songwriter and a friend who is a sound engineer.

The subject of box sets and remastered albums came up and I was in heaven. I love classic rock and wish I had a little musical talent, but I don’t. I can only listen in awe.

This Christmas if you have a rock’n rolla in your life and a little extra cash here are a few suggestions.

U2 Achtung Baby 20^th anniversary box set edition. First of all, I can’t believe twenty years have past! Second this is still one of my favorite albums of all time. I recently listened to it all the way through and it’s still moody, dark and gorgeous. In my opinion its U2’s masterpiece.

Second, The Rolling Stones classic “Some Girls” is turning thirty and enjoying a box set released that includes lots of pervious unreleased material and many new takes on the songs you know. The “cover girls” on the front have been redesigned and but are still hilarious.

Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” 5 disc box set of unreleased material. Wow.

Peter Gabriel’s amazingly iconic album of the 1980’s “So” is turning 25! It too will enjoy a special re-release early in 2012.

Last but not least, this is the gossip I heard on the boat… Bob Dylan is very busy, expect more from him later this year, and a box set of The Doors LA Woman recordings and unreleased material will be available in January.

I love the Doors and I can’t wait for this one. I heard there’s a recording of Jim’s voice saying, “Why don’t we try a thunder (sound) effect at the beginning of “Riders on the Storm”? 

(Why not indeed! What a good idea Jimbo…)

XXOO Kat

Celebrate the Holiday with a Christmas Spanking

I have a Christmas special up on Kindle and B&N – Get Unwrapped for only .99!


I have to thank Jackman for this beautiful cover! :o)

Blurb:

Meg Trainor has one wish for Christmas every year: Two men who will fulfill all her fantasies.

Santa's in a giving mood this year.

Brothers and co-owners of Turquoise Toys, Brad and Shane Griffin will give her a Christmas she'll never forget.

Research! My SANTA, CUTIE heroine made my day!

The most fun I have ever had researching a book was for SANTA, CUTIE's heroine, Susanna Corrigan.  Yes. I had to travel. Ouuie. I had to party, dine, gamble, stay in fab.u.lous suite and ask questions of people.

What does Susanna do?

She is a costume designer for a Shakespearean Festival, but she was first a warder for the mimes at a Las Vegas resort. 

For her new job at the Festival, she must be artful in rendering vibrant clothing which can be discarded quickly for changes, yet be accurate to time, place AND conflict and character for The Bard's plays.

I came across her in...of all places...Las Vegas where I knew she initially served as the warder for mimes in a famous resort hotel in Sin City. Perhaps you recognize these places?

What does a costume designer do?

She creates the entire look, feel, drama, and accurate look that the director wishes to convey for the play.  And a head costume designer for a Shakespearean production company must understand not only how to sew, how to measure and fit, but how to create the aura of what the director sees for the play and each character.  The costume designer is in this case, also a bit of a historian, if in fact, the director is producing the play in the Elizabethan era attire.

The designer usually has all the costumes finished on paper by October for a summer season run. THEN, the job of the draper and the seamstresses commences. The draper is the one who measures the actors for their wardrobes and he/she has as her assistants, the seamstresses, milliners, armorers and yes, wigmakers, as their helpers.

A huge production.

I loved every minute of this research.  And while, I get to tell the most of it here, and not in the story, I am tickled to pass along a bit of what I learned.

My kids call these stories: Mom's Useless Facts or, now that they are older and more appreciative of such  facts, Mom's Dinner Conversation!

THANKS to all who have put SANTA, CUTIE on ARe's bestseller list at #2!

Uncertainly Yours will be released December 16, 2011

Uncertainly Yours

Fran Lee

I am running a contest to win a free copy of my new release over at my blog, so feel free to enter.  The rules for the contest are simple...simply leave a comment on my blog telling me which Fran Lee book is your favorite, (or if you have never read one of my books, tell me that LOL) and make sure you leave at least your first name and your e-mail address (unless we have a long term friendship and I know you well) because on December 24th, at midnight, my grandson will draw the winning name from all entries...and if your name and e-mail aren't readily visible, your entry may end up being replaced by another entry with all the info requested.

Sigh.

Please don't assume that your Google or Yahoo profile has enough info about you to let me know the needed stuff.  Many of you make those profiles private, and your winning entry is then gently tipped into the "going going gone" bin, and another lucky winner is drawn.  Also, some of my dear pals have changed e-mail addresses or have altered their Google/Yahoo screen names, and I don't recognize them. So if you have already entered, but didn't give the correct info to receive your prize (since everyone who enters will win a prize of some kind) please go back on over and correct your entry.  (Don't worry Amber...even though your AOL profile is hidden when I clicked your profile, you were wise enough to sign your name on the comment!) Thanks for that!

So I hope everyone goes over to enter now, because I absolutely will NOT spam all my loops and groups and blogs with continuous reminders.  One notice is all you get, so don't delay.  As I mentioned, every entrant wins something.  (If you have already received a pdf copy of A Christmas Carol from me in past Christmas contests, let me know so I can send you a classic adventure instead.)

So go for it...enjoy...and I will see you next Saturday with my special Christmas post. 

Hugs!

Fran Lee

http://www.franleeromance.com

I'm off visiting today!!

Come on over to www.amberskyze.blogspot.com

Have a fantastic weekend~

Tessie
www.tessiebradford.com

The last word on NaNo 2011

I cannot believe the first week of December just zipped past! Where did it go?

Last month’s NaNo project went great. I enjoyed the experience very much. I was aiming for a mini-NaNo of 30k, but the story I was working on ran away with me. My WIP is currently at 45k and I’m going to wrap it up at 50k in a couple of days.

It’s true I didn’t follow the actual NaNo format, nor did I work as hard as some of you did, but this is lightening fast progress for a slowpoke writer like me. It was good for me to just write without judgment and constant going backward to make endless revisions, which I tend to bog me down…

I couldn’t do that with NaNo. I had to just keep pushing the basic plot forward. Added to all this, November had daily challenges and many distractions from the day job that had to be juggled into the mix. It was good for me to know that despite what was going on during the day, I could sit down and write something of significance that quickly built into a story, if I would just get out of my own way and allow it to happen.

In fact NaNo was such a positive experience I’d recommend it to any aspiring writer. I wish I’d done it sooner. NaNo may have taught me some habits and skills that I hope will carry forward and become a regular part of my writer’s toolkit. It was well worth it if only for that. The other plus is, I was doing this project with Amber Skyze and soon we get to swap WIPs and enjoy what the other wrote. That will be the icing on the cake for me.

XXOO Kat

PS. It’s my baby brother’s birthday today. Happy birthday Mark, I love you! Mark’s retired Navy, served mostly in the Asian Pacific and it’s ironic his birthday is also the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Mutli-Author Book Signing!

I'm so excited to be joining two wonderful authors!

Multi-author book signing 12/11 with free basket and wrap!

12 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Well Read Books (next to Subway): Route 125, Plaistow, NH

603-819-5116

Come and Meet: Amber Skyze, Dalton Diaz, & Ashlyn Chase

SANTA, CUTIE, I want a MAN in my stocking!

Tomorrow, my newest little bit of holiday cheer appears! SANTA, CUTIE comes from my love of the song, SANTA, BABY, an earthy tidbit of fun that leaves me smiling.
One lyric that zips in my head?
"Think of all the fun I've missed,
Think of all the fellas that I haven't kissed..."
Of course, the singer is talking about loving Santa and making a lush long list of goodies she'd like to have from him.
In SANTA, CUTIE, I give my heroine her present from Santa–a man in her stocking. Snort.
As Gil Santana, the hero, says to her, "Not just in your stocking, babe!"
Tomorrow!
From Decadent Publishing!
And if you'd like MORE MORE MORE, do buy the entire holiday antho, MADAME EVE's 1NIGHT STAND HOLIDAY ANTHOLOGY.
gorgeous cover, oui?

We have a special guest today! Please help me welcome Taylor Tryst!

Seduced by Blood

By Taylor Tryst

Blurb:

Nevada Ortiz was an up-and-coming Los Angeles Police Officer until a chance encounter with a would-be carjacker changes the course of her life. The six and a half foot assailant is dripping with weapons, his preternatural blue eyes drilling into hers, his bite changing everything. Her body’s reaction to his blood, a seduction within itself, goes hand and hand with raw, animalistic sex.

Nothing is as it seems, and everything is in peril, including her life.

Gunner Slade is a vampire with secrets of his own, a soldier who can walk in the sun, a dose of Sangre allowing he and vampires like himself to blend in among humans, until he puts everything on the line for a woman he can no longer exist without.

Nevada is the first human with immunity to a vampire bite, and requires the blood of two vampires to sustain her.

Not in his nature to share, Gunner Slade might be immortal, but he’s in hell just the same.

Excerpt:

Nevada was pinned beneath the weight of his massive body, and gasped for air, unable to do anything but stare into the night sky. The world spun wildly around her, time slowed, skewing and jarring and then stopping altogether, as if everything and everyone but the two of them had ceased to exist.

His mouth was locked onto her neck, the warmth of his lips and quick sweep of his tongue erotic, the feel of her body being crushed between his muscular frame and the hard ground beneath her making her writhe against him.

He was ravenous in his hunger, and her blood spilled into his eager mouth like water gushing from an open tap. There was neither fear nor pain, the immediate agony of his bite replaced by mind-melding pleasure so intense it was visceral.

Nevada closed her eyes, the suction from his mouth pulling against her vein and sending heat pulsing through her core, working her pussy like probing fingers that delved deep and soaked her panties with wet heat. She reached up to break contact, to push him away, but her body was responding on a level she couldn’t control. Instead of shoving against him, she pressed her flattened palms against his powerful back and pulled him closer, hooking one leg around his thigh.

She couldn’t get close enough.

His body was magnificent and she gasped, tears filling her eyes and spilling over, running down her cheeks. This physical desire was so desperate, so out of sync with her mind she couldn’t comprehend it.

She wanted him to split her apart as he entered the tight vault of her pussy, plunging deeper and deeper with each thrust of his tight, round ass. Her empty vagina clenched like a fist at the mere thought of fucking him.

“Yes,” Nevada moaned, meaning to scream out the word but managing only a throaty whisper. She held on and buried her face against his shoulder, reveling in his wild scent, a mixture of wind and salt from the ocean air and an earthy spice that melded together to create a powerful aphrodisiac.

Her body craved more.

She craved more.

She licked her lips, thinking that he tasted…delicious. She groaned and pulled his torn leather jacket aside, wanting desperately to run her mouth over his bare flesh.

*****

Thanks for having me as a blog guest, Tessie. It’s exhilarating to step back into the publishing world after such a long hiatus. After the death of my sister, and an incredibly long episode of writers block, I had to wonder if I would walk away from writing all together.

But, I learned a lot about myself during those many months.

I cave under pressure, my muse abandoning me. Or hell, maybe she’s just a stubborn bitch, I don’t know, but she needs the freedom to be creative and obviously has intimacy issues. lol

Seriously, though, a dear friend and fellow author, Barbara Huffert had me ask myself the most basic and simple question. When had writing stopped being fun?

She reminded me to write for myself. To please myself and not worry about all the other stuff that comes with writing. She reminded me to focus on the characters and telling the story. To let it happen, and damn it, to have fun.

I worked on Seduced by Blood for two years, as well as many smaller projects. I just kept jumping from WIP to WIP. Seduced was a huge, 70,000 words plus novel and I’d still be editing it to this day if I allowed myself. lol

I wrote a Christmas story that was ultimately rejected by Ellora’s Cave, but I always knew in the back of my mind that I wanted to go “Indie” with Seduced. I felt that if I was ever going to take that chance of going out on my own, it had to be with my vamp book.

Honestly, it’s relatively terrifying. Stepping out there without a publisher standing in front of you is as scary as hell, but as frightening as it is, it’s also exhilarating.

It’s not for the weak of heart, however.

The best part, however, is seeing your royalties and sales or lack thereof, in real time and not having to wait for a royalty statement in the mail, a month after the fact. Setting your own price, putting your books on sale, having much more creative control over your covers, it’s extremely empowering. Addicting, really.

Of course, I found an editor. I’m not conceited enough to think my work is anywhere near perfect enough for me to just write it and toss it out there. Seduced was such a huge project and I’d worked on it so long that I pretty much lost all perspective. I definitely needed the extra set of eyes and the editorial hand.

The story itself came from my deep love of all things vampire.

Nevada Ortiz, an LAPD officer is my favorite heroine. She’s fearless yet vulnerable. She was a blast to write. Gunner Slade, my hero, is of course the man/vampire of my dreams! lol

The second the two meet, everything that happens after that point is inevitable. Gunner is placed in a situation where he has to make a decision in either letting Nevada die or turning her, except nothing is as easy as it seems.

I’m beginning Braden’s story. He’s Gunner’s commander and his blood is needed to help keep Nevada alive. He’s in agony, walking on the skirts of their relationship, wanting something he’d never known he’d needed.

If you’d like to win Seduced by Blood, please leave a question or comment and the winner will win either Seduced by Blood or something from my backlist.

Thank you very much for allowing me to guest on your blog, Tessie.

Taylor

Thanks for being here, Taylor! 

Tessie

www.tessiebradford.com