Lots of News to Share

I’m back! Sorry for not posting last week, but frankly the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010 was a whirlwind. I’m still trying to piece together all the things that happened in a ten day span.
BUT, through all the unhappiness there has been some good news in my life that I want to share with all my friends, fans and readers of SSS.
1. My editor at Noble Romance gave me an extension on the January 1st deadline for the Valentine’s Day submission. I’m happy to say that I finally submitted it yesterday. It’s an M/M short called Naughty Cupid.
2. I received my first contract of the New Year from Aspen Mountain Press, along with the edits!!! Wild Lickins is the first M/M I wrote about a year ago. It’s tentatively scheduled for a February 19th release.
3. I also received my first non-fiction assignment for 2010. An article on Car Surfing for a teen magazine I write for. She also hinted that a few of my other ideas might be assigned in the coming weeks.
4. Body Shots received its first review from NOR. Ms. Skyze has written an interesting page-turner that has intelligent, believable characters and a plot that holds your attention from beginning to end. To read the review in full visit this link! http://www.nightowlreviews.com/nightowlromance/reviews/Review.aspx?daoid=5468
So, needless to say I’m keeping busy and thankful for the distractions. I have enough work to get me thru the month of January. Now if only I could do some actual writing! I have a ton of story ideas brewing, but can’t seem to get them on paper. I guess that’s for another day.

Feel Sexy

TEN  things to do/buy/wear for sagging self-images and to make you feel sexy:

1. Buy fancy lingerie...and wear whatever you buy! Don't keep these items hidden in a drawer. Wear them everyday to confirm that "I am sexy" feeling!

2. Buy dresses, top, sweaters, that cling to show off your curves...lower cuts show off your cleavage! Stand tall and strut your stuff!

3. Wear high-heeled shoes to give you that long-legged look to capture a man's attention as your hips wiggle with your confident, feminine walk.

                                                     
 4.Hair styles. Treat yourself to a session at a hair salon. Try a new look; maybe wear your hair long, presenting that "Hollywood" celebrity sexy look, creating a alluring image.

5. Use make-up. Emphasize your best facial feature...perhaps your eyes or full lips.

 6. Polish your nails. Toenails, too, can make you feel feminine.

7. Use sweet, wonderful smelling perfumes. Find a scent that you like and mixes well with your body temperature to give off that wonderful aroma a man will recognize as yours.

8.  Use satin sheets. That wonderful feeling of satin running along your skin will tingle and spark your sensitive areas.

9. Get all dressed up and have some professional photos taken.

10. Love yourself, believe that you're sexy and attractive, light candles, sprinkle rose petals on those satin sheets, and tease or flirt outrageously with the man of your dreams! Your ultimate goal: a passionately satisfying rendezvous/relationship that affirms your sexual charisma.

Sometimes women in romance books question their sexual attractiveness. In "Gone to the Dogs" by Marianne Stephens, Katie had been dumped by her ex-boyfriend, and that was a blow to her sexual confidence level. In "Anything You Can Do", also by Marianne Stephens, Allison had been betrayed by a man she thought she loved, and never made to feel sexually attractive. Both women gained strength in their new relationships with men whose passion flamed their own desires. Ultimately, they found true love.

Photos: Photostream, Flickr: p22earl, Tiago Riberio, gabriel.georgina, indiewench, Kylie Balough, and Mariano Kamp

"Gone to the Dogs" is available in ebook and print versions at:
http://www.jasminejade.com/m-310-marianne-stephens.aspx
"Anything You Can Do" will be available 19 February as an ebook at: http://www.breathlesspress.com
For more information about my books, visit:
http://www.mariannestephens.net
http://www.aprilash.net

Saturday's Scribe is waaaaay late...

Hi...

I don't mean to steal anybody's day...I just saw that Cerise hasn't posted yet, so I figured I would post until she comes online. Sort of a half-day post. LOL! Or you could call it a half-assed post.

I wanted everyone to get a glimpse of my new cover trailer, too! Not that I'm excited or anything...Whooo hoooo! Squeeeeeeeeeee!

Okay...all better now. Please check out the video below. Let me know what YOU think...

Double Your Pleasure

Alert! Alert! Captured, Adult Excerpt!

Happy New Year! Enjoy!

Captured

by Julia Rachel Barrett

Siren Publishing:

“Yeah…yeah…yeah…” Mari teased, wiping the tears from her face. “Your hearing is better. Your eyesight is better. Your sense of smell is better. You are stronger and faster and oh-so-much larger in certain places than the average human male. I get it, Ekkatt. Now bring all those marvelous qualities here, and make love to me like you mean it.”

Ekkatt grinned at her. “That will make you feel better?”

“Oh yes, fucking you will make it very much better.” Mari grinned right back.

“Ah, if you feel that way, then there is something I would like to try.”

“Really? What?” Mari asked.

“Yes, a position that is of significance to my people, but I have been concerned about your size in comparison to mine.”

“Sounds intriguing…”

“That is what I appreciate most about you and fucking, little human, you are so eager, so primitive.”

“Oh yes, big Attun,” Mari laughed. “When it comes to fucking, we humans take pride in our primitive behavior.” She let out a shriek as Ekkatt grabbed her by the ankles and pulled her from beneath the blankets. He flipped her onto her stomach.

“I want to watch this dragon mark while I fuck you. The day I saw you in the hot spring, you made me hard. Like now.” He pressed his swollen cock against her thigh. “I find this portion of your anatomy appealing.” He squeezed her bottom. “It is round and smooth, and I like the way your waist meets your hips, with this curve.” His hand stroked her hip. “I can see a hint of pink, here.” He ran a finger through the wet folds between her legs.

“Oh…Ekkatt…”

“Stretch your arms above your head, Mari, so I can watch the dragon move.”

Mari did as she was told. She felt a long finger slip inside her, then two. She heard herself whimper.

“You are wet for me, human, so wet, and I have barely touched you.”

“Touch me more then…”

Ekkatt growled and pulled her up onto her hands and knees. He lay on his back, slid between her legs, and brought her to his mouth. His tongue lapped at her; his teeth nipped. Mari cried out at the pleasure. It was almost too much. She tried to move away, but Ekkatt kept a firm grip on her hips and held her in place. He licked wherever he wished. His tongue slid inside her as she came, and Mari heard him growl. She felt the fierce vibrations from his throat as his tongue lapped at her.

Ekkatt pushed her back up onto her hands and knees, moving behind her. Both desire and fear pooled in Mari’s stomach. Ekkatt was big. He was so big that she didn’t know if she could take him.

“In my world,” his voice sounded low, deep, “the first mating is always like this. With the man behind. I want you this way, Mari. I will take care not to hurt you, but I want you this way. I have wanted to fuck you like this from the moment I saw you in the spring.”

Mari sobbed at his words. She wanted him this way just as much as he wanted her, but he was so thick, so long, and so very hard. He pressed against her as she gasped at the sensation and the pressure. “I will take care, little human,” Ekkatt repeated. He trailed kisses from the back of her neck down to her bottom. “Be at ease, I will not hurt you.”

Captured, by Julia Rachel Barrett, an erotic science fiction romance, coming January 6, 2010, with Siren Publishing.

A Cure for Writer's Block?

Throat Infection – an author’s best friend??

I’ve been ordered not to speak at all if possible, but definitely not above a whisper, for seven to ten days. Are you f*cking kidding me?? I live to talk. I have a husband, children, two dogs and a cat who I’m certain cannot survive even an hour without my verbal input. What about my mother-in-law, my cousin, my brothers and sisters-in-law, my best bud and my co-workers? Besides my fondness for face to face communication, it is a running joke that the telephone is a natural extension of my body! Add the fact that I’m not allowed to go back to my office for days?

Oh, the horrors! (Sorry, channeled Dr. Smith from Lost in Space for just a second).

Now something wonderful is happening! Apparently, not being distracted by my own incessant babbling is allowing me to hear the creative ideas bouncing around in my brain. I think I have figured out the problem in my vampire WIP and I have some very interesting notes down about a new scifi story.

I guess silence is truly golden!

Tessie
www.tessiebradford.com

"Captured" is captivating.

Captured
by Julia Barrett

Hello everyone! To get 2010 off to a sizzling hot start I am proud to announce Julia Barret’s new release from Siren Press- “Captured.”

The blurb speaks for itself.

“Mari never expects to find herself caged in a cargo hold on a spaceship. She learns from her captors she's headed to the meat market. When they try to return her to stasis, she resists. The male in charge, Ekkatt, allows her to remain awake. Mari realizes her survival depends upon connecting with Ekkatt. She must make him see her as a sentient being or she will end up dinner.

Ekkatt has never spoken to any human. Humans are beasts. They are valued for one thing, the money they bring at auction. The Attun are vegetarians, but other species prize human flesh and Ekkatt makes good money trapping. Then the female with red hair awakens. She speaks to him and forces him to admit she has a name. Mari throws Ekkatt's entire life into question, the biggest question... Can he watch her sold to the highest bidder?”

KL: What makes your hero so sexy?

JB: First of all, pardon my French, but Ekkatt is just fucking sexy! He's other, a man from another world. He's big, he's strong, he's courageous, and he's honorable yet conflicted. All his life he's been taught to think of humans as insentient beings, been told they have no souls. On his world, harboring a human or participating in any relationship with a human is punishable by death, yet he risks everything to save one human woman who has forced him to see her as his equal. He finds himself willing to do whatever he has to do to keep her alive

KL: What's is Mari’s biggest challenge to trusting him?

JB: Simple. Ekkatt is her kidnapper. He's stolen Mari from Earth, along with a cargo hold full of other women, in order to drop her at a warehouse on his planet where she will be auctioned off at the meat market. This is how he earns his living. He's a tracker and a trapper. Mari doesn't trust Ekkatt, but she believes her only chance of survival is to somehow get under his skin, to communicate with him and make him see her as a conscious being instead of an animal. She forces him to acknowledge that she has a name and she is not livestock to be sold to the highest bidder.

KL: Tell me your favorite thing about this story.

JB: For me, the most beautiful and the sexiest thing about the story is the trust and the respect that grows between two people from quite literally different worlds. They are both filled with guilt. Ekkatt because of the life he's led prior to meeting Mari and because of the fact that he took her in the first place. Mari because she has attached herself to her captor in order to stay alive. The hero suffers great remorse and the heroine suffers from survivor guilt. Both manage to come to terms with what they've done and what they haven't done and they fall in love

KL: I know you love Sci-fi and this is your first book in this genre. Who are your greatest influences in the Sci-fi genre?

JB: My current favorite science fiction writer is George R.R. Martin and his series, A Game of Thrones - it's very intense, loaded with complex characters and multiple storylines. So many authors have influenced me - Robert Heinlen with his classic, Stranger in a Strange Land, Larry Niven, the author of Ring World. Frank Herbert and Dune. Ursula LeGuin and The Left Hand of Darkness. I love Tad Williams, author of The Dragonbone Chair series and I adore Anne McCaffrey and her Pern books. I'm a huge Battlestar Galactica and Firefly/Serenity fan. Plus I love the original StarTrek and I'm a big fan of the Borg! I'm not a huge fan of sci fi on film because my standards are high, but The Terminator nailed time travel and I thought Avatar was pretty amazing - both films were written and directed by James Cameron.

KL: Tell me a bit about the dream that inspired “Captured.”

JB: Ah...the dream that wrote the book. Well, here's the true story that precedes the dream. When I was seventeen, I lived in Israel for a year. I worked in the l'ul, the chicken farm, on a kibbutz. On Shabbat, on Saturdays, only two of us worked and we took turns. On my Saturday, I overslept. Instead of getting up at 4:30 a.m., I woke up at 7, and I freaked out because the guy I was scheduled to work with was eighty-four years old! I threw on my clothes, rushed over to the chicken coops and began collecting eggs at the opposite end of the l'ul. That was the last thing I remember until the moment I found myself standing outside the twelfth house, with Noodleman, the older man, asking me how in the hell I collected twelve houses in an hour. I had no idea. I looked around and I had collected all the eggs, stacked them neatly in the cart, and I had absolutely no memory of what had happened in that hour. I didn't even remember spacing out or daydreaming. Nothing. I drew a complete blank. My memory of that day is still vivid and so is that one hour hole in my memory. Around the kibbutz, this became known as the Miracle of the Eggs. Normally, it would take at least six hours to collect that many eggs.

Last August, I dreamed the story of Mari and Ekkatt from start to finish - it was apparently my subconscious' version of what happened to me during that lost hour. Mari is kidnapped while she is collecting eggs from her sister's chicken coop. I could not get their story out of my head, so I stopped the book I was working on and wrote nonstop. Three weeks later, with minimal editing, I sent it off to Siren and as they say, the rest is history!

KL: I wish my workday went that easily. “Captured” is one hot, exciting story and Seven Sexy Scribes is going to post an excerpt of “Captured” on Friday. Trust me, you don’t want to miss it!

XXOO Kat

The "Forever" Best Friend

All of us have one special person in our lives that we've known for a long or short time, but is someone who's become a keepsake in our hearts. I call this person my "forever" best friend. I'm not talking about a spouse or significant other, but a friend who'll always occupy a place in your heart.

Mine is someone I've known since Kindergarten and who I've remained close to through decades of our lives. We've shared the good and bad times, and treat each other as close family. She's someone I can eat dessert with, and ignore the calories. We went swimming together, took archery lessons together, and sold Girl Scout Cookies together. Margaret and I share so many memories, it's hard to think of a time in my life when she wasn't around.

Marriages and moves didn't end our bond; it just meant we had to reach out a little further in order to communicate or visit each other. Growing up, we lived within two blocks of each other. After so many moves (overseas and to different states), we found ourselves living in the same Middle America city near Kansas City, within two blocks of each other...just as we had when our friendship started.

What makes someone a "forever" best friend? Love, understanding, a shoulder to cry on, and knowing I can always count on her help, as she can always rely on mine. We've laughed together, cried together, and helped when chaos invaded our lives. I never hesitate when asked who my best friend is...it's Margaret, and always will be...forever.

The first picture is what we SHOULD have looked like in our younger days; the last picture shows how we'll probably end up...two old ladies, still "forever" best friends, wearing purple and using matching walkers.    Photos: neomimanalang'sphotostream, Flickr

Who's your "forever" best friend? Do you use characteristics of this person when writing your stories, or do you seek out books that give you the feeling that the heroine resembles your best friend?

www.aprilash.net
www.mariannestephens.net
Now available in print: "Gone to the Dogs" by Marianne Stephens, at:
http://www.jasminejade.com/m-310-marianne-stephens.aspx
Coming soon: "Anything You Can Do" by Marianne Stephens, at: http://www.breathlesspress.com