Derek Adam's Blog

October is my favorite month – not because it’s my birthday, or because I have multiple kids with birthdays this month (we can guess what Derek likes to do to break mid-winter boredom), but because it’s HOLLA-HALLOWEEN.

Fuck everything else, it’s time to get spoo-kay! At least, it should be. That’s how it USED to be before we were graced with the blessing of parenthood.

“Aw, but Halloween is so much better when you have kids!”

Shut up, Susan, you don’t know my life.

I wanted to share with you my realistic Halloween timeline:

August 1 – Hallowait

When you start getting super excited for Halloween.

August 25 – Hallowhat

When you decide on your costume for this year.

September 15 – Hallowon’t

When you decide you’re not gonna be home to pass out candy because EPIC PARTIES and you’re not missing out this year.

September 20 – Hallowoot

Stores are stocking up for Halloween. You start buying decorations but vow to hold off on candy to avoid eating it all.

September 21 – Hallowillpowergone

You bought it all anyway.

September 27 – Hallowhen

You’re questioning if it’s too early to buy all those decorations but screw judgy neighbors and to hell with cheap spiderwebs. The kids can go to community college.

October 10 – HalloWTF

Christmas decorations show up in stores and your inner monster rages and you passive-aggressively snub anyone who celebrates it by not commenting or clicking like on their Christmas posts because those people are MONSTERS… but not the cool Halloween kind. They’re the snowy, fire-place snuggly, brightly lit lovey kind who have no place in your darkness.

 

October 17 – Hallowhatever

Your costume was too ambitious. You pick through the leftovers at the Spirit Halloween now occupying the decaying shell of your childhood Toys R Us but all you find is a lot of body paint.

October 27 – Hallowherethehell

Furiously searching online to find all the best places to trick or treat with your kids including raiding all the local trunk or treat events to help your kids amass the best haul on the big day.

October 31 – Halloween

YAY…. wait, why the fuck is it raining? Why is it SNOWING?! It wasn’t this cold when you were a kid. Everyone put on your winter gear and cover up 90% of the costumes you spent too much time/money on.

November – Hallowhocares

Decorations are still up, you’re begrudgingly picking through the last scraps of the candy no one wants. Fuck your elf on the shelf, Susan. No one cares.

December through August – Hallowait

Title: Beyond the Veil (Veil of Darkness Series – Book 3)

Author: Derek Adam 

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Release Date: September 29th, 2018

Availability: Paperback, eBook, Free on Kindle Unlimited

Blurb

Is it possible to eradicate evil when it threads the heart and soul of every man?

As hell and chaos pour into their world, and with nowhere safe to turn, Emma must decide between the lesser of all evils in hopes of saving those she has come to love…

But her efforts may be too little, too late.

Luca is trapped, left alone to confront his demons without the assistance of his companions. When he discovers the truth of his origins he’ll be faced with making the ultimate sacrifice.

Will love be a strong enough anchor to guide him?

Truths have been unearthed testing the limits of relationships new and old. The very fabric of the Veil comes crashing down along with their understanding of what lies beyond.

Experience the explosive conclusion with familiar faces and unlikely allies in the final book of the Veil series from author Derek Adam

 

What Readers Are Saying About Veil of Darkness

“OMG Veil of Darkness is amazing. It’s not just that Derek was thinking outside the box on this book. He was thinking outside the universe.” – Misti Long

“I love paranormal and this one was so damn good that I can’t wait to see what books 2 and 3 are about.” – Tianna McPherson

“This was my first read of Derek Adam, and it for sure won’t be my last. I loved this story! I am a big paranormal fan, but when a story line is this unique, and the characters this dynamic, I can’t get enough!” – Shelly Reynolds

“I loved the story, I loved the pace of it, and the entire book is amazing with quirky humour mixed with demons and other unworldly beings.” – Stacey

“It is one of the best paranormal romance stories I have ever read! There are so many nuances to the storyline! So many things to love!” – Deb

“Holy motherloving shitballs, I knew this book wouldn’t disappoint! I KNEW it!” – Jenn Wood

“Derek Adam shows his versatility with this start to a new paranormal series! I love a great paranormal story, and Veil of Darkness has me hooked!” – Book Lovin Mama

“Not sure what words can explain how much I enjoyed this book. Wickedly freaking awesome!” – Arien/Sloan

“I need to state that I don’t usually read paranormal, as in almost never. But this book was amazing and had me turning pages as quickly as I could read them. Derek Adam knocked it Out of the park with this one.” – Katie Sedan

“Derek always does an amazing job mixing action, humor and romance to keep you on the edge of your seat. I truly look forward to the rest of this series.” – Andi Smith

I’ve been asked a few times in author Q&As if there was anything I had on like a sexual bucket list that I’ve always wanted to try but have never done. I always answer “Nope” because I’ve done pretty much everything I’ve wanted – and at one time that was a long list.

Yup. I’m a slut.

But it wasn’t always so. I used to be a good kid (kinda) making it easy to trace my sexual deviance back to a historical event in my development. One that triggered my epic spiral into *oontz oontz oontz*

To do that we go back to 1996 – my junior year of high school. I had a lead role in 12 Angry Men. Naturally, it was adapted for politically correct co-ed public school, so the performance became 12 Angry Jurors. I had the role of Juror #8 (Henry Fonda’s role from the original movie).

If you’ve never seen it, I highly suggest the movie and certainly the stage performance if you can see it. It’s clever and thoughtful writing with a great fucking plot. The entire thing takes place in the deliberation room where a jury is trying to decide the fate of a kid. Initially all of them believe he is guilty… except for my character. My character then spends the duration of the play trying to convince them all this kid is innocent by picking apart facts and removing emotion from the equation. It was such a great fucking story you should take some time to see it.

Anyhow; my character (Juror #8) was at odds with another member of the jury who is absolutely certain the kid is guilty. This results in a lot of back-and-forth heated dialogue. That other juror was played by a female student that I knew pretty well. We had lots of classes together over the years but we weren’t friends outside of school. Pretty girl, kind of curvy, taller than most girls. She was almost 6′ tall so we practically stood eye to eye.

If I recall around midway through the script/movie there’s a physical altercation where my character gets punched. This was changed to a slap for the co-ed school play. Our drama teacher is trying to teach her how to stage slap and she’s practicing on me.

In case you don’t know, there’s a couple ways to stage slap. The method we were trying was a means of positioning your hand in just the right way to cup it so that you when you slap someone you barely make contact but the cupping and position of your hand make a resounding slap sound – so it only SOUNDS like you just got knocked the fuck out.

We had some struggles getting the stage slap to sound right and make it believable. I REALLY wanted to sell this performance because it was my first lead role in anything. So, I told the drama teacher that I wanted her to “just go ahead and slap me!” I thought it would be more believable. She was fine with it and the other students in the play thought it would be awesome (I think they just wanted to see me get slapped) but the drama teacher didn’t like the idea. He was like “you’re gonna get slapped during every rehearsal and then the show runs for a week. You’ll get straight slapped every night for a week.”

Tough, manly 16-year-old-me was like “I can take it.“

Heh.

So, he let us try it once to see if I still felt the same way after getting jacked up once.

We run the scene. She’s supposed to slap me right after my character takes a dig at her character.

Guys. She nailed it. She got me right as the words finished leaving my mouth. It was seriously the most naturally-appearing angry response. Acting was on point. She fucking blasted me. Even though I knew it was going to happen she still managed to catch me off guard. She slapped me so hard I spun on my feet and my glasses went flying. I’d been knocked around in fights and been cuffed by my parents before but this girl drilled me to the fucking floor. I was dizzy and saw stars and tracers from that hit.

and then…

That’s when I made the startling discovery: I loved getting my ass beat by women.

Every rehearsal after that was bliss. I couldn’t wait to get slapped in the fucking face. She never let me down, either. Every time we rehearsed she sold it like it was opening night. She’d leave a hand print on my face, a sting that lasted for a while, and a throbbing hard on so intense I’d have to immediately go to my room after rehearsal so I could badger the witness.

It was even more exciting when the play opened… because now I had an audience. For a week straight I felt like they were watching me at my (then) most depraved. It was amazing.

At the end of it all, during the cast party, I realized she’d never hit me again and that was depressing. I sat and counted, and between rehearsals and then the live performances she rocked my world with her wicked swing like 46 times. So many of my friends tried to comfort me because the end of any play where people get close is an emotional time. I’ve cried at almost every cast party after the final performance of the plays I’ve done over the years. In this case, I was just depressed because I’d never again be on the receiving end of one of her swings.

I never really developed any feelings for that girl in school, which is amazing considering how easy it is for teens to start crushing on someone. You’d think I would have wanted to date her or something but that never really crossed my mind. I wasn’t really attracted to her like that. We were just friends from drama class and co-stars in a play.

…although sometimes, when we were chatting in class, in the back of my mind I’d be like:

I’ll tell you what, no one has ever hit me like that first time she blasted me in the face. Ladies over the years have made a valiant effort, but never came close.

Now I’m pushing 40, love BDSM, am a published romance/erotica author, and few things get me riled up like taking a heavy-handed slap to the face.

If you’re out there, lady, you rang my bell and I’ll never forget you.

 

This morning I decided to delay the release of Beyond the Veil. I had the option of pushing the pre-order window by 30 days or cancelling it completely and opted to cancel the pre-order release.

There’s a fair bit left to write and while I’ve been able to complete some of my previous books in short windows, Beyond the Veil is one I feel deserves more time and treatment to wrap the story up properly without rushing it.

I also need to give significant time and energy to our housing situation. We’re staying with family in an effort to work toward purchasing a home since we’re tired of throwing money away renting property and if you’ve ever done it you know it’s  not easy squeezing two families into a single home.

I’m a laid back chum and it takes a lot to ruffle me, but my little ones I think are losing their tolerance for limited space. So, it’s important to me to continue driving toward that goal. That means the book has to take a back seat for a while longer.

That does not mean it won’t be finished. Work will progress on the book. I’m simply pushing the publish date. I can’t provide a firm date at this time but I will say that my intention is to have Beyond the Veil available for Rebels and Readers in November.

This focus on client work and the goal of purchasing a home has been the primary cause for my reduced presence online including a hold on takeovers, lives, and other general engagement. I’m working on my schedule to find a nice balance between the two since I don’t want to leave readers hanging without any updates or interactions. I recently mentioned I’d be reintroducing some live feeds, especially in the Romance and Erotica Author Fraternity Group, and I’m still committed to that.

The best way to follow new updates for upcoming releases is to sign up for my newsletter and follow my official Facebook page.

I hope you’re all having a great summer and have found some terrific books and new authors. I’ll be sure to share more updated as they come!

I’ve had a pretty varied work background. I’ve done a lot of things, partly because I like variety and learning new stuff but also because it took me a while to figure out what it was I wanted to do with my life. In some cases, it was just a matter of taking whatever job was available because bills needed to be paid and family had to be fed.

Serious variety, too.  I’m talking:

Farm hand
Pizza (crew member, manager, district manager)
Fast food
Oil change tech
Bagger/cashier
Technical support supervisor (internet service provider)
Sit down restaurant manager
Line worker at an assembly plant
Night stock for big box retail store
General labor at construction sites
Trim carpenter
Residential painter
On-site maintenance for non-profit women’s shelter
Over the road truck driver
Emergency medical technician

Yeah, it’s varied and that’s not even all of it.

When I was younger I wanted to do something acting or to be a teacher but I never chased that one. I wound up going to college to study psychology because deep down inside I knew I wanted to help people.

I would up switching my major while I was deep in it and jumped on the emergency medicine thing.

Deep inside though was this desire to write and to create.

Sure, I wanted to write a book most of my adult life but that was stalled and I wasn’t actively pursuing it for years. I didn’t put serious effort into it.

After working for several years in EMS I finally had the opportunity to start freelancing with my writing. That began a pretty challenging and fun road of learning the ins and outs of marketing from digital to traditional marketing.

I fell in love with marketing and it kind of fed into my want to help other people. I got to help small business owners grow and saw companies thrive from my writing and my work. That was cool.

I considered going back to college to get my marketing degree mainly because I had my sights set on landing a really cushy corporate job in marketing. You climb that corporate ladder and you’re looking at a 6 figure salary easy plus all the benefits -and- I’d get to be creative, write, challenge my colorful brain on a daily basis and I’m ‘helping’.

After going back and forth on college I decided I didn’t want to accrue some huge amount of debt again – I’d already paid off the first round of student loans I had. I decided I’d teach myself what I needed to know.  So many corporate gigs had in their requirements a “bachelors degree or equivalent work experience.”

So, I’d push hard in freelance and educate myself, work with clients, and get that equivalent work experience.

Over the last decade I did just that. A few times I got recruited by corporations to work in their marketing departments, like the nationwide resort company that put me in charge of the marketing for a few dozen resorts.  And the start up that I moved across the country to join where I was the director of marketing – I helped them go from having their product in a dozen local shops generating barely 6 figures in revenue the first year (there was just me and the two owners back then) to over 1500 stores globally, multi-million dollar annual revenue, and over 20 employees when I exited the company 3 years later.  That was all cool, it padded the resume and solidified my love for writing and being involved in marketing.

When I left I went back to freelancing to continue to grow my knowledge, work with more business and industry types, and enjoy that freedom. I still kind of had my sets on the big score – that big corporate gig that would set me up for life.

Then last year I wrote my first book. It turned me on to a whole new world that I didn’t know I’d been missing in my life. While I still love my freelance work I knew that writing these stories was what I really wanted to do. It felt right.

Since then I’ve continued to balance my freelance work for generating income with writing books to pursue that new passion and dream.

And then it happened.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a recruiter for one of the largest mortgage lenders in the U.S.

They wanted to know if I was interested in a senior marketing position.

I immediately said yes, because holy hell that was something I’d been building toward for the last 10+ years, right?  We went through a few rounds of phone interviews and assessments, and I spoke with a few different senior people with the company. When they asked me about compensation I’ll be honest… I went for the throat. I wasn’t hurting for income with my freelance work and book sales. I didn’t need the job. They wanted me.

If they wanted me, they could pay for me.

I gave them a number that was more than I’d ever come close to making before and the rolled with it. The next step was to bring me in to the offices here in my area to sit down and finalize everything.

That was supposed to happen yesterday.

As that day drew closer I realized that what had once been my absolute dream job… wasn’t.

I wasn’t willing to walk away from pushing toward writing my books full time. I also found that I enjoyed the freedom of my freelance work too much to let go. Not everyone gets to earn a living spending every day at home around their family.

I walked away from it with zero regret and absolute certainty that as varied as my history has been with work I’ve finally found home.

I can write and create freely, and I can help people find solace and an escape within my stories.

My goal has shifted to full time fiction writing. I haven’t set a timeline for that yet but I’m energized by the final realization that this is where I want to be.

And this is where I belong.

 

There’s a certain amount of pride that comes with building something with your own two hands.

I don’t think it’s necessarily that we strive for pride on completion – that’s not the driving force behind creating things. Still, it seems ingrained in us to create, build, and manifest the things we want through our own labor.

There’s something about that process that offers a reward you just can’t get anywhere else.

Peek at history and it’s always been this way. The reasons always vary but since the dawn of dudes and ladies we were making things to experience a better life.

Tools were made to make daily tasks easier.

We built things to bring efficiency to our lives, eliminate burdens, and make room for what made us happy.

In our earliest history the need to create and build had a very real and tangible impact on survival. It was necessary.

Build yourself a place to sleep or your ass got eaten (and not in a good way.)

Time evolved not only what we build on but why we build – but the reward never changes. Absolute bliss at taking things provided by the universe and transforming it into something.

We also tend to value things more when we put in a significant amount of work

Some recent psychological studies call this the IKEA effect.

The act of building something, putting your own blood and sweat (and if we’re being honest, plenty of fucking swearing) into a physical object, seems to imbue it with additional value above and beyond its inherent quality.

In the study, participants built a simple IKEA storage box on their own. After they were done they found they were to pay much more for the box than another group of participants who merely inspected a fully built box.

But it’s not just about effort – it’s about completion. And that can be really personal to each individual.

Participants in another study who constructed their own origami frogs and cranes valued them roughly five times as much as another group of participants thought they were worth.

It’s worth noting that participants in these studies were not allowed to personalize their projects; they were working on totally generic projects that offered virtually no room for customization. While it might not be a surprise that people who go out and find materials to put together a one-of-a-kind table or bookshelf would relish something made just to their liking, the act of putting it all together oneself provides no small part of the resulting satisfaction.

Here’s what’s so beautiful about the human condition: people have a propensity to problem solve.

We look at the final product, then at all the parts, and say “Shit, assembling this IKEA box is hard. These instructions are fucked. How do I do this?!”

There are people who won’t and instead just buy a box.

But there are so many more people who will start to pick through the problem to find and manufacture a solution. They dig into the meat of the hardware and think “I have these parts… how can I MacGyver this to fix this fucking problem?”

Neither of those choices is necessarily wrong, but one provides a significantly higher level of pride in the accomplishment and leads to more value and ownership in the solution.

If someone else puts that shit together and you put in nothing, or just go buy something already assembled, the elation for a task completed is short lived. It’s quickly forgotten, and the value you placed on the work dissipates because once the you have the box… nothing really changed.

This post has nothing to do with construction and working with your hands…

My readers who know me know that I’m all thumbs and I will straight burn shit to the ground if I try to use tools.

Even if there’s no source of combustion.

This is really about the value of effort.

What we see all around us, flashing in media headlines and on our Facebook feeds, is dramatic fame and achievement with seemingly minimum effort.  It’s infiltrated our approach to just about everything – from quick fix diets to overnight success businesses.

Especially relationships.

This type of achievement is slippery, usually intangible, or at best, very fragile.  Unless our progress and achievements are built on a solid foundation of effort, it can crack and crumble with the mere hint of doubt. Without the foundation of effort, the flimsiest cause can break what we have built and just …fuck up everything we had planned.

After Scott Hildreth met my wife and I at the Romance & Erotica Author Fraternity signing in Gettysburg, put on by Rebels and Readers, he made it a point to share with many of our mutual followers that he could tell my wife and I had a kind of very rare and very real relationship which he compared to his marriage with Jess.

That has continued to stir in my thoughts in the weeks after the signing.

Mainly because as readers and followers have come to know my wife and see our interactions, they swoon and hold up what we have as #RelationshipGoals.

It stirs concern in me because it’s the “finished product” that’s being examined, much like an IKEA box by someone who didn’t assemble it, and thereby the value of it is reduced.

It’s still a beautiful thing to them, but less valuable.

What concerns me about that is that most often when it comes to our lives and relationships, and seeing the glowing relationships of others, the root of our feelings, thoughts, and truths is: How can I get the best results, or the same results, with the least amount of effort?

Roughly translated: “I want that.”

But the end result is not where I want people to focus when they look at relationships like mine. I don’t want people to buy the IKEA box.

I want people to do it themselves; to ask what went into creating the thing, to put the work in, and thereby understand the value as well as the reward that comes from that.

Because I’ll tell you that this IKEA box we’ve built took some serious effort. There were no instructions. I didn’t have the right tools. It was hard fucking work. I couldn’t put a value to it.

It’s fucking priceless.

I have lost count of the number of readers who came to me after reading Scott’s true-life romance, Lover Come Back, asking me to tell my story with Alicia. If you read Scott’s story you know it’s not all sunshine and rainbows.

It was no different for Alicia and I. While she has expressed that she doesn’t want to tell our story I can express in some succinct “milestone keywords” why what we’ve built is priceless, and hard won:

Deceit
Poverty
Eviction
Child Support
Divorce
Selfishness
Depression
Death
Drugs
Betrayal

The reality is that the effort we put in mattered a LOT. There is reward in working hard for something. In this moment. Today.

Everyday.

Nothing changes if we take the easiest solution.

Nothing changes if we let someone else do the work for us.

What we get out of our experience of life is often a direct reflection of the type of effort we put into it. Of course, challenges will come. It’s those challenges that test our devotion to the project in front of us. As difficulty increases you will inevitably ask “Is this even fucking worth it? I fucking HATE this!”

But the question comes back to us: what effort are we willing to give to learn, grow, evolve, practice and overcome?

What effort are we willing to give when we see something, a desired end result, and we say, “I want that.”

I can tell you first hand from the shit we’ve gone through that it is incredibly easy to become overwhelmed with the commitment to your effort, especially if you’re constantly exposed to outside influence (and internal negativity) that makes you believe your effort isn’t going to be enough.

I know. I was married before Alicia.

My prior marriage was a very short, chaotic, and unhappy 3 years. I have two children with my ex-wife. I spent much of that time marveling at the healthy relationships of others, comparing their ‘haves’ to my ‘have not’ all while thinking “I want that.”

Ideas, desires, fantasies, and shortcuts are so fucking easy, and it’s so fucking easy to get lost in them.

My first marriage spiraled because the effort simply wasn’t there.

That’s on me. That was on us.

It can be challenging to recognize why the choices we make on a day-to-day basis matter when we are pummeled from every direction with messages that plant doubt about whether our efforts are all for nothing.

But it’s not about getting it right the first time. Not all effort gains traction and leads to success.

Rather than be overwhelmed by the thought of having to do everything perfectly in order to achieve that one thing you want, like #relationshipgoals, instead commit to the effort.

Because effort matters.

There’s value in effort.

Not all of the effort Alicia and I put in over the last decade produced results. There were plenty of stalls, failures, and fights as a result of effort.

But the effort moved us.

We proved to one another that we were invested, and we valued the work that we were putting in.

As we built this thing together, the perceived value continued to grow. Pride in our accomplishments together grew.

Most importantly, every bit of traction we gained through effort made things just a little easier going forward.

The milestone keywords I shared might shock some, but it should be no surprise that every relationship has hardships.

Here’s how I and Alicia “showed up” in our marriage to be present, make an effort, and build this together.

We say what we feel without gloss or sugarcoating – we’re genuine
We “show up when we say we will” meaning we’re true to our word
We are authentically us
We emphatically and enthusiastically let go of the small stuff
We make plans together often
We surprise one another
We curb annoying behavior – even if the other person lets small stuff go, we show respect by not pushing buttons
We don’t make ultimatums
We are present when shit gets tough and life is tense – we listen, observe, talk, ask questions, and we care
We explore how to be helpful without being asked
We consciously create time for one another
We always strive to do better
We never keep score and we share all responsibilities
We’re encouraging and supportive
We have each other’s backs, even if we might not agree
We never take a “day off” from our commitment

If you stop practicing love with your partner for one day, and that one day turns to two and then three and then weeks and months, what level of effort is needed to undo the effects?

You can walk away from assembling the box, and nothing changes.

You can have someone else do it for you, but you don’t grow from that.

Or you can go all in on effort even without the knowledge of what the fuck you’re doing, MacGyver the shit out of it, and take pride in what you’ve done.

There’s a certain amount of pride that comes with building something with your own two hands.

Your effort matters.

 

 

 

Title: Veil of Blood (Veil of Darkness Series Book 2)

Author: Derek Adam 

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Release Date: April 10, 2018

Availability: Paperback, eBook, Free on Kindle Unlimited

Blurb

They’ve awoken something they don’t understand. secrets they’re not ready to share.

But they share far more than they realize.

Luca and Emma travel to Detroit seeking answers to recent events, unaware they’ve triggered events along the way that could release the most terrifying of nightmares from across the veil.

What started as the simplest paranormal investigation escalates into an assault from multiple fronts as Emma’s organization questions her loyalty, the Ahnenerbe presses to finish what it started, watchful eyes wait for the perfect moment to strike, and as the veil is lifted Luca must come to terms with who he is… and what he must become.

Travel with Luca, Emma, Sutter, Virgil, Bella, and Hitch in Veil of Blood, book 2 in the Veil of Darkness series, a gripping and suspenseful paranormal romance from author Derek Adam.

Links

Add on GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39293808-veil-of-blood

 

Book 1 – Veil of Darkness Purchase Links

Amazon: http://a.co/heZngZl 

 

Launch Trailer Video Link: https://youtu.be/SrgBqv8HoSM

What Readers Are Saying About Veil of Darkness

“OMG Veil of Darkness is amazing. It’s not just that Derek was thinking outside the box on this book. He was thinking outside the universe.” – Misti Long

“I love paranormal and this one was so damn good that I can’t wait to see what books 2 and 3 are about.” – Tianna McPherson

“This was my first read of Derek Adam, and it for sure won’t be my last. I loved this story! I am a big paranormal fan, but when a story line is this unique, and the characters this dynamic, I can’t get enough!” – Shelly Reynolds

“I loved the story, I loved the pace of it, and the entire book is amazing with quirky humour mixed with demons and other unworldly beings.” – Stacey

“It is one of the best paranormal romance stories I have ever read! There are so many nuances to the storyline! So many things to love!” – Deb

“Holy motherloving shitballs, I knew this book wouldn’t disappoint! I KNEW it!” – Jenn Wood

“Derek Adam shows his versatility with this start to a new paranormal series! I love a great paranormal story, and Veil of Darkness has me hooked!” – Book Lovin Mama

“Not sure what words can explain how much I enjoyed this book. Wickedly freaking awesome!” – Arien/Sloan

“I need to state that I don’t usually read paranormal, as in almost never. But this book was amazing and had me turning pages as quickly as I could read them. Derek Adam knocked it Out of the park with this one.” – Katie Sedan

“Derek always does an amazing job mixing action, humor and romance to keep you on the edge of your seat. I truly look forward to the rest of this series.” – Andi Smith

You’d think sex would be easy. That sex doesn’t need to have unspoken rules, or even rules clearly printed like an instruction manual. After all, a few episodes of wilderness documentaries and it’s clear that sex isn’t really that complex between animals.

Humans are the problem. We always have to complicate shit.

Thus, the need for communication is born, ensuring that we don’t fuck up on more thing in this awesome world. Especially something that isn’t supposed to be complicated.

It’s a good idea for even new partners to lay some ground rules and have those obvious limits and rules spelled out. That’s good communication. It makes it safer to explore.

But there are also unspoken rules to sex that must be followed – or at the very least acknowledged.

I bring you the 2018 version of 20 unwritten rules of sex that you should start committing to memory.

1. If it slips out…

If it slips out while you’re in the throws of passion, then it needs to go back in. That responsibility falls squarely on the person on top. Or, depending on your position, the person who is doing the driving.

2. Don’t use weird stuff as lube

Just because it feels slick, or feels like it might make a good lube, doesn’t mean it will. I had a buddy who tried using toothpaste once. That turned out to be a nightmare for him AND her. Avoid anything that “tingles” or “cools.” Don’t use anything with sugars or cleaners that can change the pH of the hoohoo – that can lead to dryness as well as yeast infections. (ow fuck that.)

And don’t spit on the cock or vajayjay unless they specifically ask, or have given prior consent. That’s nasty.

3. Be prepared

Come prepared to cum prepared… bring protection and use it. That goes for everyone involved. Don’t assume it’s the responsibility of the other person.

4. Hygiene, yo

Wash your hands before sexy times, especially if you had spicy foods. Wash your junk, too. Keep everything clean if you’re expecting sexy fun times. If it’s spontaneous, just excuse yourself and go freshen up.

5. Drive responsibly

If you’re driving, ladies, don’t go so crazy that you start catching air. Nothing creates more boner-killing tension than praying frantically you don’t slip and bend or snap it. That shit HURTS

6. Crossing the finish line

If your partner has trouble finishing:

Don’t apologize
Don’t verbalize feeling bad for them
Don’t use the same helpful tone you’d use with someone feeling sick
Don’t stop helping them get there
Don’t rush them

7. Sound the alarms… just once.

If a guy is receiving a BJ, he’s only obligated to give a single warning that he’s getting close. However, it’s good form to give three warnings. “I’m getting close”, “Oh my god, I’m gonna come.” “I’m gonna come” Three warnings provides sufficient opportunity for the one giving the BJ to decide how they’re going to handle the finish. If they’re indecisive, they get whatever happens when it happens and it’s on them (literally) or in their mouth.

8. Fucking pay attention!

Harder does not mean faster, and faster does not mean harder. “Keep doing that” or “omg that feels amazing” is not a cue to mix it up and try something else. If your partner is clearly enjoying what you’re doing, fight the urge to get creative. Stick with what you’re doing for at least a little while.

9. Give and thou shall receive

Reciprocate oral – if the other person does it, be willing to return the favor, BUT be willing to give it freely. Don’t give it with the expectation of getting in return. Focus only on giving, so that what you give is that much better.

10. Get schooled before you get kinky

Don’t insist on trying something on someone that you wouldn’t be willing to have done to you (especially true of anything pertaining to BDSM)

11. I repeat…

Clean yo’self. Wash yo shit. Make your dangle bits shiny and your naughty purse sparkle. Your taint should be so squeaky clean Travolta could Saturday Night Fever across it.

12. Respect em’, don’t heck em’

If someone says something is making them uncomfortable, respect that they had the courage to speak up and stop doing whatever it is you wanted to initiate. Move on and don’t push the issue. That is not the time to discuss it, question them, beg them, pressure them, or try convince them. Talk about it at a later time to better understand their decision, otherwise you’re pressuring them into it in the moment regardless of the angle you take.

13. No words are sometimes the best words

If you can’t think of anything to say, just grunt. You don’t want to make it awkward if she says “your dick feels amazing” by saying “oh god yours too”.

Unless you both have dicks. In that case, you’re good, and good on your for giving one another positive affirmations.

14. There’s a difference between “Alpha” and “asshole”

Never tease anyone about anything – even if a fart slips! Laugh together, but never laugh at them or tease. If someone does negging, or making disparaging comments – even playfully – kick that motherfucker to the curb or put your spouse in their place.

15. Tingly peter needs a breather

Unless you know for a fact that he’s down for round two, don’t grab his junk and start handling it immediately after he climaxes – there’s a good chance that shit is sensitive. Even if he IS down for round two, give him  a minute to regroup because there’s a good chance that shit is sensitive! Like trying to walk on a foot that fell asleep sensitive.

16. Settle down, overachiever

Be gentle… for starters – then test limits. Going in too freaky, too fast, too hard, to crazy, too horny, and too off-expectations can ruin everything. Tease the warm up, and THEN go harder, better, faster, stronger.

17. Verify the dump zone

Don’t assume it’s okay to blow your load wherever you want – and ladies, speak up. Let guys know ahead of time – BEFORE they’re handling a loaded cock pointed at you –  where you like it or don’t like it.

18. If you’re not sure, ask.

19. Tie a string to remember

Don’t insert anything anywhere without a clear exit strategy, including the ability to retrieve it.

20. It WILL go into an official report

Don’t do anything you aren’t fully prepared to explain to paramedics, nurses, and your physician.

You know what I like about people?

They’re kinky.

The people who loudly proclaim their innocence? Those people are especially kinky. Those are the people not afraid of whips, chains, and putting things up their butts.

One survey showed that 85% of people have willingly engaged in some form of BDSM.

Some cultures are more kinky than others, but by-and-large the global population on this good Earth just generally likes to put stuff inside other people’s stuff.

Or their own stuff.

And it’s wonderful. I love it because from my experience in EMS it’s the kind of thing that keeps money flowing into the healthcare system and keeps medics gainfully employed.

Like when a patient had to be transported from a nursing home and she was found inserting her small handheld call light button into her who-hah (Yes the call light was going off because of it.)

“Things you can’t unsee” make for great stories to share with your kids, but they’re also fantastic inspiration for fucked up situations in the books I write.

And don’t think for one second that it doesn’t happen often enough.

When I said our world was full of people who use their orifices for things other than the manufacturer’s intended purpose, I wasn’t joking.

2017 alone was a banner year for people putting things up their butts, as well as other places.

That’s right, this is one of those “Look back at 2017” lists, but with a slightly grosser slant, because enough people have already reported on the sickly sweet shit that happened as well as dumpster-fire worthy events.

The secretly perverse individuals who make up our magnificent, sexually deviant society deserve their time in the spotlight.

Truthfully these list items aren’t all kinky. Some of them are purely “WTF?” Butt it still doesn’t disappoint.

This list is based on emergency room visits as recorded by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. (Objects have been sorted by orifice to match your personal preferences. Stuff inserted in the butt is at the bottom… naturally.)

Ear

BOBBY PIN
SMALL RED TOY
“WAS RUNNING WITH A STICK IN EAR; FELL STRIKING WALL”
BREAD
BATTERY
“FELL ASLEEP WITH A PENCIL POKED IN HIS RIGHT EAR, PENCIL LEAD IN EAR CANAL”
BROOM STRAW
SLIM METAL ROD
“STUFFED PAPER TOWEL IN EARS TO ACT AS EAR PLUGS BECAUSE ROOMMATE WAS SNORING, UNABLE TO GET IT OUT OF EAR”
PUTTY
A BEAN
“GASOLINE IN LEFT EAR WHILE CHANGING FUEL FILTER”
PENCIL SHAVINGS
STEM OF A PLASTIC FLOWER
RAIN WATER
TWO STICKERS STUCK TOGETHER
“GOOGLY EYE INSIDE HIS RIGHT EAR, AND ANOTHER THROUGH NOSE”

Nose

CANDY WRAPPER
FUZZY ARTS AND CRAFTS BALL
“SHOVED PLASTIC TOY UP IN BOTH NOSTRILS”
GUM
PINK BALLOON
WAD OF HAIR
“HOLDING A BOX OF JUICY JUICE AND THE STRAW WENT UP NOSTRIL”
HEART-SHAPED NECKLACE PENDANT
“PLAYING WITH A DIME ABOVE HEAD AND LOOKED UP WITH COIN FALLING INTO NOSE”
“STUCK HAIRPIN INTO NOSTRIL TRYING TO CLEAR BLOOD CLOT FROM NOSEBLEED”
FISHTANK GRAVEL
FISHING LURE
BABY BOTTLE NIPPLE
ONE MAGNET IN EACH NOSTRIL

Throat

OPEN SAFETY PIN
CIGARETTE
“A COUPLE PIECES OF DECORATIVE GLASS FROM A VASE”
DIARY KEY
EASTER EGG
“SWALLOWED STAPLES BECAUSE ‘ALIENS TOLD HER TO’”
AQUARIUM THERMOMETER
“SWALLOWED EARRING IN HER SLEEP THAT WAS IN MOUTH WHENSHE FELL ASLEEP”
SEWING NEEDLE
“SWALLOWED A PEN BECAUSE NO ONE PAID ATTENTION TO HIM”
ANGEL’S TRUMPET SEED PODS
GRITS
“A GOLDEN SHINY PENNY”
“WAS DOING A MAGIC TRICK AND ACCIDENTALLY SWALLOWED A QUARTER”
GROW CAPSULE
CONFETTI
“FOUND AFTER SWALLOWING 1/2 PACK OF GUM IN ROOM AT HOME, EMPTY WRAPPERS EVERYWHERE”
HOT SAUCE PACKET
“INJURED AFTER EATING CHARGING END OF CELL PHONE”
EARWIG
“SWALLOWED 3 PLASTIC PUSH-PINS IN A DARE AT SCHOOL, WON $15″

Penis

A LITTLE SCREW
A SHARP TOY
FOUR INCH LONG METAL SEX TOY
PLASTIC SPOON
PIECE OF DOMINO
PIECE OF PLASTIC SHAMPOO BOTTLE
“PUT PAPERCLIP THROUGH URETHRA AND PUNCTURED THROUGH THE SHAFT OF PENIS”
COAXIAL CABLE

Vagina

SCENTED SOAP
DEODORANT LID
“WAS CLEANING SELF IN SHOWER WHEN FOUND A TAMPON IN VAGINA. CONCERNED THAT THERE IS ANOTHER TAMPON IN VAGINA”
BOTTLECAP
PENIS RING WITH SPIKES ON IT
A PIECE OF RUSTY METAL
SILICON BALLS. PATIENT STATES IS FOR “YOU KNOW, FOR WHEN YOUR HUSBAND LEAVES TOWN”
A BALL
BIKE REFLECTOR
“ON PERIOD, INSERTED NON-BIRTH CONTROL SPONGE IN VAGINA SO SHE COULD SWIM”
HEADPHONES
HOT TOWEL
“WAS HAVING SEXUAL INTERCOURSE WITH BOYFRIEND WHEN HE PUT PHONE AND MONEY IN VAGINA”
CLAY
CANDLESTICK
LOLLIPOP
“USING MASSAGING URETHRAL VAGINAL STONE BALLS & THE STRING HOLDING 15 BALLS TOGETHER DISSOLVED, CAN ONLY FIND 14 BALLS”
TOY MAGIC WAND

Da Butt

GOLF BALL
PEANUT BUTTER JAR
SPRAY BOTTLE
CURTAIN ROD
“STUCK A TOY UP HIS RECTUM BECAUSE HE THOUGHT HE WAS CONSTIPATED”
TOOTHBRUSH
TOOTHBRUSH HOLDER
FLOSS CONTAINER
MOUTHWASH BOTTLE
“AT A PARTY HAVING FUN WITH HIS MALE FRIENDS WHEN ONE PUT A SHOT GLASS UP HIS RECTUM”
SMALL WOODEN KNICK-KNACK
SCREWDRIVER
PLASTIC FORK
TOY MISSILE
PLASTIC VIBRATING DILDO, CAN NOT TURN OFF
“ATTEMPTED TO DISLODGE A DILDO FROM HIS ANUS USING A LETTER OPENER”
CIGAR TUBE TO RELIEVE HEMORRHOIDS
“FEELING LONELY, USED A MASCARA CONTAINER IN PLASTIC BAG, PUT IN RECTUM”
TIN CUP
HAIR BRUSH
“WAS DRINKING WITH FRIENDS AND ‘GOT TO EXPERIMENTING,’ AIR FRESHENER CONTAINER STUCK IN ANUS”
MARBLES
A LARGE BOTTLE OF SHAMPOO
“SAT IN BATHTUB AND FELT SOMETHING GO INTO HER ANUS”
CAT FOOD CAN
BAG OF ORAL TOBACCO
“WATER BOTTLE IN RECTUM, DOES THIS TO REDUCE ANXIETY”
3 AA BATTERIES
2 AAA BATTERIES
D BATTERY
“PATIENT SAID I HAVE A COIN IN MY ASS FROM A MONTH AGO”

Seriously people… it’s okay to enjoy your kink and get your freak on but if there’s one lesson to be learned from 2017 it’s that you should make sure that what you’re inserting has a flared base.

 

Digging Deep with Derek Adam

When I initially decided to do author interviews I knew I wanted to do a few things different.

Unique questions specific to each individual (not duplicated)
Fun and engaging questions that readers would love to know
Thoughtful questions that get into the meat of the person

But then Kayla interviewed me and put me in the hot seat with some steamy questions so I thought it was only appropriate to ask her some legit stuff while also turning the tables. Here you go, folks. KD In all her hotness, exposed.

KD RobichauxHot Stuff Smut AuthorKD Robichaux wanted to be a romance author since the first time she picked up her mom’s Sandra Brown books at the ripe old age of twelve. She went to college to become a writer, but then married and had babies. Putting her dream job on hold to raise her family as a stay at home mom, who read entirely too much, she created a blog where she could keep her family and friends up-to-date on all the hottest reads. From there, by word of mouth, her blog took off and she began using her hard-earned degree as a Senior Editor for Hot Tree Editing. When her kids started school, and with the encouragement from her many author friends, she finally sat down and started working on her first series, The Blogger Diaries, her very own real life romance. 

Derek: You just recently shared your experience being on the other side of the table from your favorite authors, but I’m curious – what spurred you to make the switch and start writing? What made you hop the table?

KD: I’ve wanted to be a romance author since I ran off with my mom’s Sandra Brown books when I was 12. I started out as a blogger while I was in college, and then became a professional editor for Hot Tree Editing. Finally, after telling a few of my author friends how my husband Jason and I met, they told me I should write it as a trilogy. So that’s when I sat down and finally wrote The Blogger Diaries Trilogy. From there, I’ve written several entirely fictional stories, from Rom-Coms to Dark BDSM.

 

Derek: What was it about your hot hubster that made you latch on and wanna keep him?

KD: I have so many inappropriate answers for this question… and they’d all be true. Know that saying about everything being bigger in Texas? (*wiggles eyebrows) LOL! But for real, I believe in soul mates, and something just told me we were put on this earth to be together. And if y’all have the chance to read our true story, The Blogger Diaries Trilogy, it’ll make a believer out of you too!

 

Derek: What’s your trick for getting his attention when you want to man handle his mango crop?

KD: BWAHAHAHA! #dead

We are on month 25 of baby makin’. When we realized one year in that it wasn’t going to be easy like our other daughters were, we made a promise that we wouldn’t let it become a chore, we’d keep it fun and enjoy it. We’ve got a toy collection that would rival Christian Grey’s (or Seven’s, if you’ve read my Club Alias series *wink) and it’s hard to keep our hands off each other to begin with. Also, boobs.

 

Derek: You’ve got a couple books out, and I’m working on getting into No Trespassing (and it’s fucking great so far), but which book was your absolute favorite to write? Where are the fondest author memories for you?

KD: No Trespassing! That’s the reason I suggested that one for you to read. Even though I have eight book babies now, NT is still my favorite. It was my very first venture into writing something that was completely fictional, coming out of my imagination instead of the reality of Jason’s and my story. I got to set it in my favorite city in the entire world, New Orleans, and it was inspired by my favorite TV crush, documentary host Don Wildman. I love adventure movies, like National Treasure and anything Marvel, and I’ve always enjoyed a good enemies-to-lovers story, so I combined all that with a slight obsession with Egyptian and French history. Making up the clues Emmy and Dean find while trapped in the catacombs beneath NOLA, it was an absolute blast blurring the line between documented truth and my imagination, until they find the mind-blowing buried treasure.

 

Derek: Do you read through your books after you publish them – like the printed copy?  If so, were they just one romp in the text or do you dig into your books more than once?

KD: I love going back and reading my Blogger Diaries just to reminisce. It’s fun reminding Jason of stuff from the past he might’ve forgotten about. But I also go back and read The Confession Duet and Seven, because I’m working on my Club Alias series now and I like going back to remember things about the side characters who are now getting their own books.

 

Derek: What’s a storyline that you’ve always wanted to write but haven’t yet… and what’s stopping you?

KD: Doc. Doc is the very first character who popped into my head from the Club Alias series. But he wasn’t ready for his story yet. He is a bad ass therapist who got tired of hearing victims’ stories of their sexual assaults and not being able to do anything about it, so he formed a mercenary team who find the guys who escaped justice and “take care” of them, all while making it look like an accident. Doc is everyone’s favorite. He’s the leader, the head honcho, and every scene I write with him in it, I catch myself smiling because I just love him so much. He’s definitely my favorite voice in my head haha! But he had work to do before he found the love of his life. So I started with his team members first. I wrote Corbin and Vi’s story (The Confession Duet). And then Seth and Twyla’s (Seven). Next will come a couple of novellas starring Brian in some Kindle Worlds, and then Doc will finally get his happily ever after. Brian will get his story last, but only because his girl is playing hard to get.

 

Derek: Gimme your favorite type of book boyfriend and an example – where can others find this sexy bastard?

KD: My favorite type of book boyfriend is definitely an antihero alpha who won’t take no for an answer… even if it means stealing her against her will. I’m a sucker for a captive romance. Have been since I was 10 and Beauty and the Beast came out. Hence why I have a Belle half-sleeve tattoo. If you love super dark romances, my favorite is CJ Roberts’s Dark Duet. Caleb is the ultimate antihero.

 

Derek: Gimmie a weird food you eat that makes your friends/family look at you like you’re nucking futz (mine is totally mac and cheese with a little ketchup on it).

KD: Chocolate milk and pickles. The sweet of the milk with the salty of the pickles. OMG. Perfect combo!

 

Derek: If you could do anything for the rest of your life as a career, other than be an author, what would you be really passionate about?

KD: I’m also a full-time editor for Hot Tree Editing. I love it so much! Getting in there and tweaking and perfecting, leaving suggestions and finding little things the author might not have thought about… it’s exhilarating. Plus, I get to read ladyporn all day and get paid for it. It’s pretty amazing!

 

Derek: What was your most exciting “fuck yes!” moment from 2017?

KD: When Susan Stoker gave my Seven five stars! I had no idea she was even reading my book, but she messaged me to tell me she loved it and I about died. At Shameless Book Con, she even stood by my table and told people to buy the paperbacks. It was pretty surreal haha!

 

Derek: We’re creeping up on the end of the year and holiday season is hitting us, I want to know…

What’s your Halloween costume this year: Loki
What’s your favorite Thanksgiving dish: Sweet potato casserole
If you could have just one thing for Christmas, what would it be: Two pink lines (*wink)
New Year’s… what’s the resolution: My resolution every year is to drink more water. That’s how bad I suck at it! LOL!

 

Derek: Hit me with your absolute favorite food you love making at home (link a recipe if you got one!)

KD: Pork chop biscuits. I’m from NC, land of Bojangle’s. And living in TX, I miss their biscuit sandwiches SO bad! Lightly bread thin-cut boneless pork chops with flour and Tony Chachere seasoning and fry those babies up on the stove. Slap them in a Grand’s Flaky Layers Butter Tastin’ biscuit with some mustard, and then try not to eat too many. I dare ya.

 

Derek: Guilty/not-so-guilty indulgence:

KD: Hubs and I are addicted to Desperate Housewives LOL!

 

Derek: Self-gratification – speedy little bullet or Hulk dildo?

KD: The Whisper. Amazon that shit. Trust me.

 

Derek: As a reviewer, reader, and super hottie what’s the one factor that you look at most often when deciding whether or not to read a book?

KD: BWAHAHA!

 

Derek: Author question time – what’s a writing habit or author habit you have that you can’t break that just drives you nuts when you do it.

KD: I was an editor first. I envy those authors who can just put their fingers to the keys and bust out tens of thousands of words a day because they don’t self-edit as they go. I literally edit after each paragraph. It’s so annoying. I wish I could just close my eyes and let the words flow, but I can’t. I write a bit, and then go back and tweak, then write a bit, and go back and tweak. *eye twitch   Also, I’m a pantser. I wish I could outline, but I completely suck at it.

 

Derek: What are you most excited for or looking forward to in 2018?

KD: The books I have planned to write and the signings I’ll be at! Coming in 2018 will be 4 novellas in various Kindle Worlds, featuring Brian from my Club Alias series. Steal You, a super dark, twisted novel I’m co-writing with my author bestie CC Monroe. Doc’s book. And Brian’s novel at the end of my series. So far, I’ll be at Bella Nola in February, Books are Bigger in Texas and Booking in Biloxi in March, Naughty at the Beach in June, and Shameless Book Con in October!

 

Derek: Do you have a hot sister you could hook me up with?

KD: Sorry, I only have three big brothers. Unless you’re into that. #nojudgement

 

Derek: Tell the readers about your most memorable sexy-time!

KD: Excerpt from Wished for You, book 1 in my Blogger Diaries Trilogy:

I can’t tell if I’m actually moving or if I’m just mentally floating until my back makes contact with the wall next to Jason’s bed. I’m pinned between it and his solid body, barricaded in by his rock-hard biceps, cocooning me in until I am aware of nothing but him. His denim-clad knee moves between my bare legs, and he presses his thigh upward until he rubs against my white linen shorts-covered center, making me whimper as his tongue thrusts against my own. He’s devouring me, making my heart pound with both excitement and maybe a little bit of fear at his intensity. There is nothing tentative about his touch, nothing like the normal first time of being with a new lover. He doesn’t bother gauging my reactions with cautious caresses. He knows just what to do to send me reeling, and he doesn’t worry about asking permission to do it. He is in complete control of my body, playing it like a savant, already aware I would never tell him no. I give myself over to him, putting my trust into his capable hands, believing he’ll do what he says he will and make me feel the way I’ve never felt before, feel the things I’ve never felt before. His hands leave where they were pressed on either side of my head against the wall, and they come to rest at my throat. My heart thuds with alarm for a second, never having been touched in such a dominant way before, until the gentle stroke of his thumbs along my jaw soothes it away.

The stroke moves lower, tickling down my neck, over my collarbone, separating to travel around the outsides of my breasts, sending a shiver up my spine, making me moan into his mouth. My skin breaks out in gooseflesh and his caress moves down my sides until he finally stops to grip the bottom of my pink V-neck T-shirt. Somehow, even in the hypnotic state he’s put me in, my self-consciousness breaks through. My hands land on his, gripping them tightly to keep him from pulling my shirt up. I usually keep my top on, which guys don’t seem to care when I let them skip over second base and head straight to third. He stops kissing me, and I move forward to retrieve the connection we lost, but he stands up to his full height, bringing his knee out from between my thighs. I feel cold from the sudden distance. “Let go,” Jason demands.

“I…I just want to keep it on,” I tell him, unable to meet his eyes.

“Let…go.” His tone leaves no room for disobedience, and I lighten my grip on his fisted hands. “Good girl, now put your hands above your head and don’t move them.”

 

Derek: It’s the zombie apocalypse, you’re hungry, you finally stumble across a little town in the middle of nowhere and break into a house to find food. What’s a treat you’re hoping to find?

KD: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

 

Derek: What is one of your biggest challenges you face (or have faced and overcome) as an author?

KD: I have severe ADD. Like, medicated for it and everything. But when I take my meds, the voices stop talking. So it’s a battle to get myself in the right setting, in the right mindset, to sit down and write my stories. What I’ve found that works: Sitting at Dunn Brothers Coffee in a booth while listening to Two Steps from Hell through my headphones.

 

Derek: Name one or more apps that you use all the time (not social media apps) that you can’t live without or absolutely love having?

KD: Amazon Music and YouCam Makeup. I like tricking people into thinking I’m good-looking (*wicked grin)

 

Derek: Have any of your stories or characters ever been inspired by a real person?

KD: Yes! Several, actually. Emmy in No Trespassing was based a lot on my bestie Laura. Erin in the same book is based on Erin Noelle, and so is Calvin and Ricky McWells (I adore them and want to be their best friend in real life, so I live vicariously through my characters LOL!) Sierra Burrell plays the bff in Before the Lie. Seven is based on Justin James Cadwell, who is on the cover. He inspired his entire character. I could go on…

 

Derek: As a reader (when you actually get time to read) what’s something that will instantly turn you off and make you close a book?

KD: I don’t like a bitchy heroine. She doesn’t necessarily have to be a sweet damsel in distress, but I like a heroine I would want to be friends with in real life.

 

Derek: What’s the next book you’re working on right now that everyone should know about?

KD: Steal You, by KD Robichaux (that’s me!) and the awesome CC Monroe.

So back up a few months, to the night before Jason’s semen analysis before I got on my fertility meds. I was in the tub, and he was sitting on the floor of the bathroom like he always does (stalker

But then my breath caught, and I looked at him, probably looking like a psychopath. “That would be a fucking crazy book,” I told him. And then my mind started spinning. “But what if… what if I told it from the doctor’s perspective? An anti-heroine. She’s fucking crazy, but the reader roots for her, wanting her to win.”

And with wild eyes, right there in the tub, I FaceTimed CC like we always do (being naked just makes us want to chat for some reason) and told her the story, and I told her I wanted her to write it with me, because who would better understand the emotional roller coaster of infertility than my CC, who is going through the same crap I am? Who better to let our crazy “out of the box” with and write a completely psycho heroine who everyone will love?

So look for Steal You, coming out (hopefully) February 2018!

 

Derek: Last question: If someone new to the romance genre came to you asking you to recommend three really good authors/books, who (and which books) besides your own would you tell them to grab to introduce them to the lovey sexy-times we write about?

KD: Oh jeez. Pressure!

I’m going to stick with Indies, because if I go into my love of PNR, it’ll take up an entire page. In no particular order:

Aurora Rose Reynolds’s Until Series
Erin Noelle’s When the Sun Goes Down and As the Dawn Breaks
Red Phoenix’s Brie Series

Wanna Check out KD’s books? Here’s the deets!

The Blogger Diaries Trilogy

This is the real life story of how Jason and I met. Every. Single. Word of it is true, right down to explicit love scenes. I know, wtf was I thinking? I have no shame.

Here are the Universal links for the boxed set:

Amazon US:

http://amzn.to/2wMPTmr

Amazon International:

myBook.to/BloggerDiariesBox

Everywhere else:

books2read.com/u/4jKg8D

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/…/32885306-the-blogger-diaries-tr…

 

The Confession Duet:

(FREE on KU)

It was love at first sight. Not just for Vivian, but for Corbin as well. Their eyes locked across the room, and that was all she wrote. But they didn’t rush things. They wanted to do it right. After all, they would spend the rest of their lives together.

The love of each other’s life. Soul mates. He was the intense and fiercely protective soldier, and she was his doting and faithful lover.

They found their happily ever after. This was their story… until it wasn’t.

Ten years after Corbin divorced Vivian, after her confession while he was deployed, he still hasn’t spoken to the girl who brought him to life only to stab him in the heart, sending him into an even darker state than where he was before he met her.

Ten years, he’s been watching her from afar, keeping tabs. After an honorable discharge from the Army, he’s now part of a group of mercenaries who carry out justice. Criminals who hide behind their fancy lawyers and power—they take care of them and make it all look like karma. And with intel from their founder, Dr. Walker, a therapist with a long list of predators whose victims were too scared to turn them in, work is plenty and fulfilling.

Until Vi begins her sessions and Corbin discovers the reality he’s lived the past ten years was nothing but a lie, when the truth is revealed.

*Triggers may lie within this book*

Amazon US:

http://amzn.to/2yr8yGK

Amazon International:

myBook.to/ConfessionDuet

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/…/sh…/35286449-the-confession-duet

 

No Trespassing

(My personal favorite of all my books)

If you like the movie National Treasure, you will love this book!

Being the daughter of world-renowned archaeologists, it’s in Emmy’s blood to want entry into the many off-limits historical places around the United States. Having graduated with her degrees in history and archaeology, you’d think she could just waltz right in wherever she wanted, right?

Wrong.

Dean Savageman, host of The Adventure Channel’s No Trespassing, is the rock star of documentaries, and is always called first to explore the most forgotten, dangerous, and inaccessible places around the country. No one gets dibs before him—certainly not the huffy wanna-be archeologist who keeps showing up at the most obscure undocumented locations, no matter how beautiful she is.

After years of run-ins—and unwanted fantasies—with her self-proclaimed mortal enemy and having given up on gaining entry to one of her dream sites the legal way, Emmy sneaks into the NOLA Catacombs, having no idea Dean is in their depths.

What happens when these two get trapped together, alone, twenty-five feet under the streets of New Orleans is one for the history books, or at least an episode of… No Trespassing.

Amazon US:

http://amzn.to/2ys713h

Amazon International:

myBook.to/NoTrespassingKDR

Everywhere else:

books2read.com/u/bpGqyz

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32938947-no-trespassing

 

Seven

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2wHUHK9

Amazon International: http://mybook.to/SevenClubAlias

Everywhere Else: books2read.com/u/brgNdW

Add him to your TBR here:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35168321-seven

Seth Owens, co-owner of Club Alias, has always taken full-advantage of the endless supply of willing submissives who frequent his high-end establishment. But he’s never trusted anyone enough to let them get to know the man beneath the leather mask.

Twyla Quill has always been the good girl, the responsible one, which has left her no time to indulge in the many pleasures of life—much less a relationship.

When Twyla finally convinces her sister to leave her abusive boyfriend, they have no choice but to move across the country and hide out, away from the monster determined to get her sister back. With their savings quickly running out, Twyla takes a position at the local sex shop—where she meets Seth, a man who is all too willing to show her what she’s been missing out on.

What happens when the witty Dom meets the sweet new girl in town? Sparks fly and a whirlwind romance neither ever saw coming begins. But will Seth be able to protect the woman he considers his?

 

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