Emma Petersen's Blog

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The newly chartered special interest chapter CIMRWA (Cultural, Interracial, and Multicultural) is hosting its inaugural contest for Published and Unpublished authors, The Abalone Awards. The deadline has been extended to February 17th 2013 by midnight PST, which means there’s still 72 hours left to get those entries in.

ANYONE can enter the Abalone Awards regardless of race, religion, color, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or species. Okay, so the species part isn’t exactly true. I know it’s a rather separatist attitude but at this time we can only accept entries from human beings. Any human being, who has written an Ethno-Cultural romance, published or unpublished, that meets the entry requirements is encouraged to enter.

What is Ethno-Cultural romance, you ask? An Ethno-Cultural romance are stories that focus primarily on the romantic relationship and revolve around Cultural, Interracial, or Multicultural character(s), location(s) or theme(s).

Need some examples of Ethno-Cultural romance?

Mari Carr’s red hot Because It’s True.
Maisey Yate’s groundbreaking The Highest Price to Pay.
Jeannie Lin’s tantalizing My Fair Concubine.
Phyllis Bourne’s mouthwatering Taste For Temptation.
Rebekah Weatherspoon’s delicious Blacker Than Blue.
Sandra Marton’s passionate Sheikh Without a Heart.

Got your book or manuscript in hand and ready to enter? You can find out how and more info on the Abalone Awards by visiting the chapter’s website, www.cimrwa.org. Just click on the Abalone Awards tab. Please feel free to email the Contest Coordinator, Emma Petersen, at abaloneawards @ cimrwa . org (no spaces) if you have any questions, comments or would like to be a judge.

Emma Petersen
Vice President and Contest Coordinator
CIMRWA Special Interest Chapter


(Want to lend a chapter a hand? Please RT, reblog and forward. We greatly appreciate it.)

Morning Loverlies,

Yes, it's that time again! Snippet Saturday! Which is hosted by the absolutely and totally kick sass Lauren Dane. (Thanks Lauren! You rock. Seriously, she does!) Today's theme is the "Talk Me Down".

Today's Snippet is from Make Me Remember can be found at Elloracave.com, and if you're interested in reading more snippets, you can find some

Hannah Bryant has always been different.

Since she was a child, she's had vivid dreams of dreams of death and loss. It's years later and Hannah is now a successful doctor. In a flash everything she has worked so hard is in danger when the dreams return with a vengeance.

Only the dreams haunting Hannah's sleep now are nothing like the ones that plagued her as a child. There is no blood, no death and no loss. Just a man who solicits a reaction from Hannah's body that's strangely familiar and startlingly brand new at the same time.

I walked toward the door and stopped a few feet away from it. I flinched when the knock sounded again and the dream replayed in my mind.

"Sunshine, I know you're there."

A shiver ran through me and I fought my body, which begged for me to open the door and let Gabe alleviate the need plaguing it. I stepped closer and rested my forehead against it as my body waged a silent war with my mind.

My mind finally won out as I remembered how far I'd come. I couldn't let my lust for Gabe destroy the life I had worked so hard to create. The dreams weren't real and, just like my lust for Gabe, they'd eventually fade and disappear. I wouldn't let them or Gabe control me. I took a deep, shuddering breath and stepped back from the door.

"I know you're scared." He hesitated before he whispered, "I'm scared too. But whether you open the door or not, Sunshine, this isn't the end of it."

Ignoring the truth and warning in Gabe's words and the ache in my chest, I walked away and made my way from the darkened living room to my bedroom. I didn't undress before I pulled the covers back and lay down. I hugged my pillow and fought the need to close my eyes.

Even after my eyes adjusted to the blackness of the room, the pain in my chest hadn't lessened.

Staring into the darkness of the room, my eyes blurred. Tears slowly turned to sobs as I allowed myself to mourn for all that couldn't be and would never be. I cried until my stomach was a mass of knots and my chest was tight and then I cried some more.

When I woke the next morning, my eyes were red and swollen. I couldn't remember if I dreamt last night.

After I took a shower, I decided to call my mother. Our relationship had never been close, but the little girl in me still sought her comfort and approval. Plus, things were different now. I was an adult and there wasn't any reason I shouldn't be able to discuss my feelings with my mother.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this week's Saturday Snippet! You can read more Snippets below.

Eliza Gayle

Helen Kay Dimon

Lauren Dane

Lissa Matthews

Mari Carr

McKenna Jeffries

Taige Crenshaw

Helen Kay Dimon

TJ Michaels

Morning Loverlies,

Yes, it's that time again! Snippet Saturday! Which is hosted by the absolutely and totally kick ass Lauren Dane. Today's theme is the "Humour!" Today's snippet is from one my favorite and first novellas, Seducing St. Nic. I wrote Seducing St. Nic in less than forty-eight hours, it's was as if I tapped a vein and the story just came pouring out.

Seducing St. Nic can be found at Elloracave.com and Amazon. Also, if you're interested in reading some more excerpts you can find them .

Barbara Jean Ruiz's life has never been what anyone would call glamorous. She lives in an okay apartment, in an okay neighborhood and has an okay job with less than okay wages. Her life is…okay.

Then her luck starts to change. She wins a gorgeous fur coat. She gets promoted and her new boss is none other than the super-sexy St. Nic. Cypriano San Nicolo is everything a woman could want. He's tall, dark, handsome, rich, successful and, oh yeah, the evil undead.

After nearly a century of self-imposed sleep, St. Nic has only two uses for humans—blood and sex. Until he meets Barbara Jean, his irreverent, wisecracking assistant. If he shows up at her apartment just before dawn, she'll have to take him in, right? Into her bed, if everything goes as planned.

"Is there anything else you need, Mr. San Nicolo?" I stood outside his office door with my coat on and purse in hand, hoping he would take the hint. The one or two hours I'd planned on staying had mysteriously turned into four and, if I didn't hurry, I'd be late getting to my older brother's house.

"Si, as a matter of fact, Miss Ruiz, I wondered if you could teach me to use the facsimile machine before you leave. Just in case I need to use it while you are gone."

My eye twitched and a scene from Buffy the Vampire Slayer ran through my mind. Not from the series with the uber-hot James Marsters, but the original movie edition with Kristy Swanson and Paul Reubens. Only I was the Kristy Swanson character and St. Nic was a less-greasy version of Paul Rubens.

Taking a deep breath, I automatically reached up to stroke my coat and went to my happy place. The last thing I wanted or needed was a repeat of earlier. Miraculously, my body had cooled down. For a while after he left my office, I actually considered going to the ladies' room and making myself come.

Only the tiny remainder of my pride had stopped me. It wasn't the first time someone or something had gotten my engine running and I hadn't been taken out for a ride. I had survived then and I would survive now, without resorting to public masturbation.

An image of me and St. Nic in a tiny lavatory stall, his fingers buried between my legs, crept insidiously into mind. I stomped on it like the creepy crawly thing it was.

Just show him how to work the fax machine and get your ass out of here.

I didn't point out that since darkness had fallen, the building now crawled with a dozen or more vamps, all no doubt born within this century, including two or more vampettes who'd be oh-so-willing to show the big boss how to work the fax machine, among other things.

Forcing a smile, I said, "Of course, Mr. San Nicolo. Do you have time now?"

He nodded, reminding me of a king granting a peasant a small boon.

Move it, your Majesty. Or the turkey won't be the only thing that'll get something stuck up its keister tonight.

Removing my gloves, I set them and my purse on the small table near the door for quick retrieval.

"Okay, this is your average fax machine. I figure for your next lesson I can teach you how to send faxes from your computer." I looked up to see if less-than-jolly-old-but-super-hot St. Nic was still with me, only to find him watching me with an intensity I really didn't care for. I'd seen that kind of look before. It came right before Duchess ripped the wings off a fly she had cornered.

Gulping, I tried to steady my hand. St. Nic's eyes looked different and a little less focused than they had earlier.

Quick. Think, Barbara Jean. Had I accidentally flashed him a glimpse of neck or wrist? Surreptitiously as possible with a shaking hand, I reached up to make sure the mink was still wrapped around my neck.

It was. Breathing a sigh of relief, I snapped my fingers in front of St. Nic's face. "Uh, Mr. San Nicolo? Are you okay?" I asked loudly, enunciating carefully.

No need to talk louder, I realized. He's hungry, not losing his hearing.

Modulating my voice to normal, I continued. "I saw on my way in today that the vending machine had been restocked with Vita-Sangre. O negative. Yum. Yum." I rambled now, but I didn't care. The mention of the synthetic blood seemed to make the hunger I saw in his eyes recede.

"You can go now," he said, his voice hoarse and a little less than friendly. As if he fought some great battle and I was a saucy wench in a village he'd just sacked.

I opened my mouth and I could have sworn that Bad Barbara Jean slapped me upside my head. Muy bien, chica. Tu y tu pinche prejuntas. Correle pendeja!

Bad BJ often channeled my dad's Cuban mother when she was scared and, at the moment, she urged me to run. Okay, more like, Shut up with the fucking questions and run, idiot. But Good Barbara Jean kind of thought St. Nic looked hot all broody and intense and didn't want to leave him in such obvious pain.

Mira puta— Stopping Bad BJ mid-Spanish insult, before my two Sybils could start brawling, I swallowed nervous laughter and eased around him toward the door.

It took me more than one attempt to pick up my purse in my nerveless fingers, not once taking my eyes off St. Nic.

"Well, good night, Satan—uh, St. Nic—uh, Mr. San Nicolo. Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year."

I nearly tripped in my haste to get out of the media center and to the nearest elevator.

Safely ensconced in the elevator, I once again reevaluated my chosen career path.

Near sweatshop-like wages. Check.

Mediocre benefits. Check.

Murdering, blood-craving psycho but still really hot boss. Check.

Did the murdering, blood-craving psycho boss automatically cancel out the benefits? If he tore out my throat, at least I'd be able to go to the hospital to get it repaired.

Yeah. Way to look on the bright side, Barbara Jean!

Releasing the breath I didn't know I held, I pulled out my cell phone and dialed a cab. If I hurried, I could get to my brother's house before Cin put the twins to sleep.

Cin, short for Cindy, was my older brother Joaquin's wife and mother to my adorable twin niece and nephew, Paloma and Sky.

I wanted to make sure I got to their house as soon as possible, not only to say goodnight to the twins, but also to make sure everything else was ready for tomorrow night's dinner. Not that Cin couldn't cook or anything, it was just that she was working on my third niece or nephew and was ready to pop at any moment.

As I waited in the lobby for my cab, I couldn't help but notice my heartbeat hadn't slowed, and what I thought was fear didn't feel like the kind I would have experienced normally. What was it about St. Nic that made me need to do stupid things?

What's so stupid about wanting to be with him?

Besides the fact that a lot of predators played with their food before they killed it?

I was getting myself worked up for nothing. St. Nic didn't want me.

Then why did it feel as if he were the one in control of my body? And why didn't I mind more?

I had almost been killed—okay, maybe a slight exaggeration—and it turned me on. A lot of girls liked a little pain with their pleasure, but wasn't this crossing the line?

Watching the cab pull up, I tried to put St. Nic out of my mind as I walked out to meet it.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this week's Saturday Snippet! You can read more Snippets below.

Jody Wallace

Leah Braemel

Lissa Matthews

Mari Carr

McKenna Jeffries

Selena Blake

Taige Crenshaw

Delilah Devlin

Lauren Dane

Shelli Stevens

T.J. Michaels

Helen Kay Dimon<

Morning Loverlies,

Yes, it's that time again! Snippet Saturday! Which is hosted by the absolutely and totally kick ass Lauren Dane. Today's theme is the "Worldbuiding!" Today's entry is from my first paranormal series with Ellora's Cave, Seducing St. Nic. I am not only an author of paranormal romance but I am also a great lover and huge fan. It is one of my very favorite sub-genres. So when I first wrote Seducing St. Nic getting the opportunity to create my own world was one of the best things I got to do.

Seducing St. Nic can be found at Elloracave.com and Amazon. Also, if you're interested in reading some more excerpts you can find them .

Barbara Jean Ruiz's life has never been what anyone would call glamorous. She lives in an okay apartment, in an okay neighborhood and has an okay job with less than okay wages. Her life is…okay.

Then her luck starts to change. She wins a gorgeous fur coat. She gets promoted and her new boss is none other than the super-sexy St. Nic. Cypriano San Nicolo is everything a woman could want. He's tall, dark, handsome, rich, successful and, oh yeah, the evil undead.

After nearly a century of self-imposed sleep, St. Nic has only two uses for humans—blood and sex. Until he meets Barbara Jean, his irreverent, wisecracking assistant. If he shows up at her apartment just before dawn, she'll have to take him in, right? Into her bed, if everything goes as planned.

"Where to, lady?"

"The San Nicolo building on Regents Street, please."

The cab jerked into the street and sped toward the end of the block.

Sitting back, I burrowed deeper into the soft fur of my coat. It was the most luxurious thing I've ever owned and I forgave Mr. San Nicolo just a tad because his ordering me to work on my day off gave me a reason to wear it.

Sighing, I thought of the enigmatic Cypriano San Nicolo. There wasn't much I knew about him, other than he was rich, gorgeous and a vampire. And, from what I'd heard, a rather old one.

I had been working for San Nicolo International for two years when my previous boss retired. Well, actually, he'd met the business end of a stake. Thankfully, instead of letting me go as I had expected, Nonhuman Resources called me a couple days later and offered me a promotion as the new executive assistant to Mr. San Nicolo. At first the news excited me because it meant a pay increase and I wouldn't have to look for a new position.

But then I found out I'd be working for the Mr. San Nicolo. The same man who had founded the company in 1807. It wasn't his age or the fact that he was the evil undead that bothered me. Hell, more than half of the company was the evil undead. San Nicolo International prided itself on being an equal-opportunity employer and having more Vampire American employees than any other company since vamps had come out of the coffin nearly three decades ago.

No, the fact that Mr. San Nicolo, or St. Nic as I secretly called him, was a blood-sucking fiend didn't really bother me. What had bothered me was that he hadn't sucked in a while. He had gone to ground about a hundred years ago, which in itself wasn't unusual for older vamps. And who could blame them? Hell, even I got bored eating pizza once a week, so the thought of living century after century with only one meal on the menu was beyond my comprehension.

You know what they say—a hungry vampire is a dangerous vampire. I'd seen news footage of what happened to vamps when they came out of long periods of sleep. Even the old ones like St. Nic had only two things on their minds—feeding and fucking. And from what I'd heard, they weren't particular about which need they satisfied first.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this week's Saturday Snippet! You can read more Snippets below.

Jody Wallace

Leah Braemel

Lissa Matthews

McKenna Jeffries

Selena Blake

Taige Crenshaw

Delilah Devlin

Lauren Dane

Shelli Stevens

T.J. Michaels

Morning Loverlies,

It's a beautiful morning here at Casa Chez Emma's and surprisingly enough, I've revived Emma Does Authors. Let's be honest, I'm lazy and a tad bit of a commitphobe so instead of being ridiculously over ambitious and driving myself crazy doing authors twice a week, I'm only going to be doing them once a week. YAY! Most of the time the Emma Does Authors interviews will be posted on either a Tuesday or Thursday but occassionally there'll be posted on another day of the week.

This morning we have the incredibly awesome Delphine Dryden. Del writes erotic romance for Ellora's Cave just recently released her seventh book with them. So we're gonna help Del celebrate!

Del's giving away an ebook copy of her most recent release. All you have to do is leave a comment and you'll be entered to win a ebook copy of Roses and Chains. Please note: This contest is open to all participants 18 or older. Contest is open until 11:59 pm Tuesday, April 13th and winner will be announced, Wednesday, April 14th.

Emma Petersen: Welcome Ms. Dryden, How are you doing this marvelous day? Wonderful, I hope.

Delphine Dryden: Fan-freakin'-tastic is definitely good! Awwe. Good puppy. So last Friday was the release of your title, Roses & Chains, which is part of the 1-800-Dom-Help series.

Emma Petersen: Congrats! Here at Casa Chez Emma's we do what we call a Release Day Boogie! It's required so get ready. What song would you like to boogie to?

Delphine Dryden: Well, since our esteemed mutual editor tweeted "That's The Way, Uh-huh Uh-huh, I Like It" earlier, that's in my head. I guess it's either that or some sissy bounce music.

Probably the former is a wiser choice since my kids are home.

Emma Petersen: LOL That'll work. Will it be the Gold Member version or KC And the Sunshine Band version?

Delphine Dryden: KC and the Sunshine Band, dude! Let's kick it old school!

Emma Petersen: Old school it is!

Emma Petersen: Okay, now that you know what we do around here for release days, tell us, what do you do to celebrate a new release?

Delphine Dryden: Rescue assorted household goods from the dog, drink an extra glass of merlot, tweet like a madwoman…and special for this release, I went to a book festival/signing thing on Saturday!

Houston Indie Book Fest. A good time was had by all.

Except the poets and the communists, sitting at adjacent tables…they didn't seem to be having fun at all.

Emma Petersen: LOL Do poets or communists ever have fun? (Please note: I meant absolutely no offense to communists, poets or poetic communists. I'm sure they all know how to party with the best of them.)

Delphine Dryden: These ones appeared to be forming some sort of vortex of doom over their booths. Then a communist came over to the TX Authors of Romance Fiction table, where I was along with my fellow Texan smutketeers, and she tried to convince us to join her revolution. I think she needed some lessons in judging her audience.

Emma Petersen: Hehe. Just a little. So tell us about your latest release, Roses & Chains?

Delphine Dryden: It's a festival of kink! Nothing fetish-y, just the good old bdsm sorta kink. D/s, bondage, whipping and so forth. The classics, you know. Oh, and it's my first menage.Which always looks, to me, like "My First Menage" which would be a hilarious book title.

Emma Petersen: Yes, the classics. Gotta stick with the classics. And it's girl/girl/boy, right? Which I personally love but we don't often find in the world of erotic romance.

Delphine Dryden: It is Boy/girl/girl, yes. So many arms and legs and other sundry body parts to organize and choreograph! But it's fun. In a new twist for me, I actually start this book off with a sex scene (one of the heroines, Mara, is being flogged to orgasm on a St. Andrew's cross in the public room of a bondage club). I think my editor was shocked, as it usually takes me a good third of the book to get to the bow-chicka-wow-wow parts.

Emma Petersen: Love it! And I definitely love bow-chicka-wow-wow. What's one thing you'd like readers old and new to know about Roses & Chains?

Delphine Dryden: Aw frig I hate questions like that! Roses and Chains is really a story about embracing new possibilities. Daniel, the hero, is just learning that he isn't only a service Top. Delia, his wife, is coming to recognize that topping from the bottom hasn't been giving her what she needed, but that there is another way. And Mara – who seems like the most unconventional character at the start – really has to cast off her preconceived notions about long-term relationships.

So at its heart, it's about personal growth. And, you know…sex. Lots of kinky sex.

Emma Petersen: Roses and Chains, has elements of BDSM. Do all of your books have the same?

Delphine Dryden: Not all of them. My first book, Snow Job, has an alpha male and some spanking, but not really a D/s vibe. The Truth and Lies series was originally going to be my attempt at "straight" contemporaries…but somehow I started out with cybersex in How to Tell a Lie, moved to some tying-up and a little spanking in Art of the Lie…and now the third book that's sitting with my editor is just pretty much all about the shibari. I did throw Naked Truth in, which is plain vanilla. But I think I may end up with full-on D/s for the final book in the series.



On the other hand I'm including NO bdsm in the more mainstream romances I'm working on, so we'll see how that turns out. I've just started submitting things to places.

Emma Petersen: Which, if any, do you find easier to write? Your titles with BDSM elements or the mainstream romances?

Delphine Dryden: Gosh. The BDSM stuff, actually. Short and kinky, like me! But I'm really enjoying the much longer mainstream steampunk project I've got going on. The research and everything is a lot of fun, and I was a fan of steampunk before most people ever heard of it, so I'm hoping to get that out there before the craze is over.

Emma Petersen: You know I've never really got down what steampunk is, it's like Will Smith's Wild Wild West and the new Sherlock Holmes?

Delphine Dryden: I haven't seen the new Sherlock Holmes! But yes, it's like that. Like League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, like Meljean Brook's Iron Duke or anything by Gail Carriger, like Jules Verne and H.G. Wells and that sort of thing. I did a post about it on my blog.

Oh, also The Prestige, for steampunky things.

Emma Petersen: Oh awesome. Thank you for the link. So tell us, have long have you been writing? Did you always want to be a writer?

Delphine Dryden: I have been writing since before I can remember. I really started writing stories when I was twelve or thereabouts.

Emma Petersen: And had you always wanted to write romance or did that come later?

Delphine Dryden: Oh no. I didn't even read romance between about age fourteen or so and the time I picked it up again a few years ago. I'd written this book, you see, and I had no idea what it was so I needed to read to find out. So I'd know what publishers to send it to.

The genre had undergone considerable changes since the eighties, by the way.

Emma Petersen: Definitely.

Delphine Dryden: Although the books of that time left an indelible impression on me, I think. I do still love me some alpha males.

And I'd really love to be able to write historicals. I'm working on it. I love the dialogue, but I don't know if I have the concentration. You know I am a huge fan fic writer, yeah? Well, was…that was what really got me started in writing romance. Well, erotica.

Emma Petersen: I definitely have a soft spot for alpha males and I would love to see a historical from you. I think that would be made of so much awesome it would hurt. In a good way. You're a fan fic writer? Awesome. I think quite a bit of authors got their start that way.

Delphine Dryden: Yeah, one of my favorite fan fic friends is a wildly successful multipublished author w/ Berkley, she just recently got on Twitter. And two of our other friends from back in our fan fic days now have their own literary magazine and are just about to kick off a small press.

Emma Petersen: Wow, awesome congrats to your friends and here's wishing the greastest sucesses on all of their ventures. Being a writer can be stressful, there's so much to deal with, often a good majority of it being out of your control, so what do you do to destress?

Delphine Dryden: Really the writing part is the de-stressing activity for me.

Emma Petersen: So at Casa Chez Emma's we're all family. We keep each others' secrets and we'd like to keep yours. Tell us your deepest darkest secret. And let me just warn you in advance, THERE IS A WRONG ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION! Just ask Alisha Rai. So tread carefully.

Delphine Dryden: Dayum. What did Alisha Rai say?

Emma Petersen: She said she didn't like Angel from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Worst she called him a whiner.

Delphine Dryden: So I suppose it isn't enough that I recently re-bought a big stack of Laurie McBain's books (see our earlier conversation about early-eighties historicals w/ alpha males) and have them on a sooper sekrit shelf in my closet? For research purposes.

Emma Petersen: That's not a dark or shameful secret and it's much awesomer and safer than evil Alisha Rai's secret! So before we conclude this interview we're going to do a little exercise. I'm going to give you a word or phrase and you say the first thing that pops into your mind.

Delphine Dryden: K.

Emma Petersen: First word is water.

Delphine Dryden: -based lubricant.

Emma Petersen: ROFL! Awesome answer!

Delphine Dryden: I dig Giles, by the way. Total closet Dom. Sorry, continue.

Emma Petersen: Oooh loved him more as Ripper. I have such a soft spot for bad guys. No worrys. Next word is golden.

Delphine Dryden: Ewww!

Emma Petersen: ROFL! Why Ewww? Everyone takes my innocent word and turns it dirty.

Delphine Dryden: Next word?

Emma Petersen: LOL "Ewww" was the response? LOL Totally acceptable. Next word is werewolf.

Delphine Dryden: Space Opera

Emma Petersen: LOL Buffy

Delphine Dryden: Giles

Emma Petersen: Shoes

Delphine Dryden: Yes!

Emma Petersen: Juice.

Delphine Dryden: Box

Emma Petersen: Zombie

Delphine Dryden: Apocalypse

Emma Petersen: Drag

Queen

Emma Petersen: Communist

Delphine Dryden: Party

Emma Petersen: Flogger

Delphine Dryden: Yes, please.

Emma Petersen: Twitter

Delphine Dryden: Ate My SOUL

Emma Petersen: Hehehehe. And that concludes are interview with the incredibly witty and totally kick ass Delphine Dryden. Dont forget to comment and you'll be entered to win a copy of Roses and Chains. Also you can find more information about Ms. Dryden, Roses and Chains and her work at her website @ http://www.delphinedryden.com.

Delphine Dryden: Thanks so much hon.

Emma Petersen: You're welcome and thanks for much for the interview! There you go! Don't forgot to comment for a chance to win Del's book!

Things I have not done in a year:

1. Written a book.

2. Submitted a book.

3. Completed a book.

I have not written, submitted or completed a book in I don't know how long. I haven't admitted that out loud. Not to myself, not to my friends, my CPs or anyone else. Why? Because I'm a writer and if I don't write what am I? A loser?

Le sigh. It might not be nice and even if you weren't thinking it, I was. And no, not in a bad way. Well, in a bad way but not in a Lifetime Movie of the week my life is over kind of way, more of a self deprecating kind of way.

A writer who can't write. It sorta reminds me of a painter who can't paint or a sculptor who can't sculpt. Are they no longer a painter or sculptor because they may have a wee little block?

I know many people don't believe in blocks and maybe I shouldn't either. Maybe I should write (hehe get it, write instead of right) through it and keep going…

There was something my therapist said, (*rolls eyes* Don't pretend you're shocked I'm in therapy.) it was something along the lines of maybe I needed a reset or rebalance. And I can totally understand that. I think like many of us, I have setbacks and the doubt crows (coined by our very own Mrs. Maisey Yates! Hi Maisey! ) swoop in for the kill. *shrugs*

I'm finally getting to the point where I'm okay. I know I hold back a lot, I know I have a million and one issues (remember, therapy?) that makes it hard to write but time and time again I come back to it because it is what and who I am. So it's okay that I get writer's block, it's okay that I haven't written or finished anything in a year. It doesn't make me less than. This is my journey and I can't compare it to anyone's else because that's just stupid. And seriously, when you're driving if you allow yourself to be distracted there's always that possiblity of getting lost and veering into a ditch.

So…I gotta keep my eyes on my own road/journey. I may stop. I may stop at a rest stop or two but as long as I get back in that seat and behind that wheel everything will be just fine.

Morning Loverlies,

Yes, it's that time again! Snippet Saturday! Which is hosted by the absolutely and totally kick ass Lauren Dane. Today's theme is the "Author's Choice!" Today's entry is from my reincarnation story, Make Me Remember.

Make Me Remember can be found at Elloracave.com, and if you're interested in reading another excerpt you can find one here. Today's snippet is the original epilogue that you can't find anywhere else! Enjoy! And please make sure to stop by and visit the other Saturday Snippet Authors.

Hannah Bryant has always been different.

Since she was a child, she's had vivid dreams of dreams of death and loss. It's years later and Hannah is now a successful doctor. In a flash everything she has worked so hard is in danger when the dreams return with a vengeance.

Only the dreams haunting Hannah's sleep now are nothing like the ones that plagued her as a child. There is no blood, no death and no loss. Just a man who solicits a reaction from Hannah's body that's strangely familiar and startlingly brand new at the same time.

Epilogue

"Dad, oh my God! What are you doing here?"

"Hey, Hannah girl. Can I come in?"

I stepped back from the door, still in shock. Not only because of my father's impromptu visit, but also because of his use of the pet name he had called me on rare occasions while I was growing up. "Come in, come in. We were right about to have dinner. Are you hungry, Dad?"

I felt Gabe come up behind me, my body recognizing his presence and strength before I knew he was there.

"Good evening, Dr. Bryant," he said as he wrapped his arm around my swollen waistline. The gesture was protective, and my father didn't miss it—nor did he miss the less than enthusiastic tone of my husband's voice. It wasn't that Gabe didn't like my father. What he didn't like was how my father had been too busy to protect me from my mother.

"Good evening, Gabe. I can't stay long, Hannah. I just felt it was better to tell you the news I have in person."

Gabe's arm tensed around my waist, as if to shield me from what my father had to say.

I leaned back into Gabe's embrace and rubbed his arm to reassure him. It didn't matter what my father had to say; it didn't matter if his visit lasted five minutes or five days.

As long as I had my man, we'd survive anything that came at us.

The baby moved, and I couldn't help but smile as I waited for my father to speak.

"I just wanted to apologize."

Puzzled, I asked, "Apologize for what, Dad?"

My father took a deep breath, "For so many things, Hannah girl. For not being a daddy, for not being there when you needed me, for not protecting you from your mother's venom." His eyes got glassy, and he cleared his throat. "I've left your mother." He held up a hand when I tried to speak. "She didn't love me, Hannah. I don't think she ever loved anything but the image of me. The security and name I could give her. I'm not innocent in this, but I'm tired of living in an empty marriage."

"Oh, Daddy. I'm so sorry."

Gabe dropped his arm so I could take a step forward. Taking my father's hand in my own, I squeezed it.

"It's my fault as well as hers, Hannah. I don't know how I could have built a marriage when I spent more time at the office than I did at home. The sad part is I love your mother." He squeezed my hand and, for the first time since I was a little girl, he hugged me.

I hugged him back, and the baby kicked.

My father gasped and stepped back to look at my stomach, then at me.

"Can I?" he asked. I nodded, and he laid his hand against my stomach. The baby kicked again, and my father gave a startled laugh. "Wow! That little fella has quite a kick there." He sobered almost immediately. "I don't know how you turned out so well with two idiots for parents, Hannah girl." Looking at Gabe, he continued, "Thank you for taking care of my baby girl."

He hugged me again and shook Gabe's hand. "I have to go. I took a position running a medical facility in Nepal, and my flight leaves tonight. I'll still have access to my email, so keep in touch. I love you, Hannah girl."

"I love you too, Daddy." I closed the door behind him and stood staring at it for a minute or two. I didn't know how I felt about my parents' divorce. In a way, I felt sorry for my mother. All this time, she thought it was passion and lust that would make her end up by herself when it was just the opposite.

Gabe wrapped his arm about me again. "You okay?"

I leaned back against him and nodded. "Yes, I am. I feel sorry for them, and I hope they both finally find happiness, like I've finally found mine." I turned and looked at him.

"Thank you for not giving up on me. Thank you for loving me enough to wait for me to come to myself." Rising on my tiptoes, I kissed his mouth.

He bent down, leaning into the kiss. Pulling back, he grabbed me and held me tight to him as he whispered against my lips. "How could I not? Remember what I said?"

I nodded. "Not even death will separate us."

Well, I hope you enjoyed this week's Saturday Snippet! You can read more Snippets below.

Jody Wallace

Leah Braemel

TJ Michaels

Shelli Stevens

Lauren Dane

Helen Kay Dimon

Eliza Gayle

Delilah Devlin

Taige Crenshaw

McKenna Jeffries

Mari Carr

Lissa Matthews

Selena Blake

Morning Loverlies,

Yes, it's that time again! Snippet Saturday! Which is hosted by the absolutely and totally kick sass Lauren Dane. (Thanks Lauren! You rock. Seriously, she does!) Today's theme is the "Springtime".

Let me be honest, I never appreciated Springtime until I started living in a place that had more than one season. Where I grew up, there was hot and hotter but here you actually have seasons and come to really, REALLY appreciate the thaw and spring coming after the long and sometimes harsh winter months.

Today's Snippet is from Make Me Remember can be found at Elloracave.com, and if you're interested in reading another excerpt you can find one here. Enjoy! And please make sure to stop by and visit the other Saturday Snippet Authors.

Hannah Bryant has always been different.

Since she was a child, she's had vivid dreams of dreams of death and loss. It's years later and Hannah is now a successful doctor. In a flash everything she has worked so hard is in danger when the dreams return with a vengeance.

Only the dreams haunting Hannah's sleep now are nothing like the ones that plagued her as a child. There is no blood, no death and no loss. Just a man who solicits a reaction from Hannah's body that's strangely familiar and startlingly brand new at the same time.

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER THREE

*please note* There was a bit of a translation issue when Make Me Remember was published. Some kind of way, by accident a couple of Lakota words were replaced with words I'm not familiar with. So this is the original the way I wrote it.

I was at the back of the village near Mahpiya's aunt's tipila when I heard a commotion toward the front. Heart in my throat, I ran as soon as I saw the dust and heard the dogs yapping. My feet barely touched the ground as I flew toward the noise. I heard someone call my name. It might have been Mahpiya's mother or his sister, but I paid no attention. I rounded the second-to-last lodge at the front of the camp and cried out when I saw the raiding party had returned.

Wives embraced husbands. Mothers their sons, children their fathers. Warriors laughed and slapped each other on the back as they bragged about the coup they had counted and ponies they had stolen from the Absaroke. I searched the face of every person in the crowd, praying to see my beloved. I didn't hear any weeping, so I could only assume everyone who went had also returned. But I didn't see my man anywhere.

Tears welled in my eyes and the only thing that kept me going was hope. I got to the outskirts of the revelers and still didn't see him. Grief nearly buckled my knees and my stomach felt as if I'd been kicked. I wrapped my arms around myself and I turned to walk back toward the village when someone tapped my shoulder.

"Looking for someone, Sunshine?"

I froze, praying his voice wasn't a figment of my imagination. I turned and the world stood still. The noise from the celebration receded and so did everyone around us until it was as if we two were the last beings on earth.

My man stood heads above the other men, sweaty, grungy and grinning. Crying out, I threw myself at him, shivering as he caught me. The feel of his hands on my bare skin sent joy skittering through my body. Covering his face with kisses, I held him and cried.

"Mahpiya! Oh, God. You were gone so long. I thought something happened to you." Shame wasn't a word I knew as I babbled and peppered his face with kisses.

"Omašte, ceye šni yo." Don't cry, Sunshine. He squeezed me tighter and I cried harder. They were tears of relief and tears of pain. Relief because he had returned, pain because the thought of drawing another breath without him nearly broke my heart. And knowing the life we lived, this would not be the last time we would be apart for a significant amount of time.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this week's Saturday Snippet! You can read more Snippets below.

Eliza Gayle

Helen Kay Dimon

Lauren Dane

Lissa Matthews

Mari Carr

McKenna Jeffries

Taige Crenshaw

TJ Michaels

Morning Loverlies!

It's a beautiful Wednesday(?) morning here in my fluffy fluffy office (I turned my bed into an office that way I never have to leave it. Yes, I know. I scare me too sometimes.) Anywho, today I'm over at the awesome Ms. Pixie's blog interviewing YA Author Extraordinaire Gwen Hayes and giving away two copies of her debut YA release Falling Under! I had it Ms. Pixie's blog so the kiddos looking for the contest wouldn't run into anything that is less than appropriate for their age on my blo because we all know that sexy sexy Amish hand holding gets kind wild!

You can find the interview and contest HERE!

So go loverlies! Go and enter the contest! Good luck!

Morning Loverlies,

Yes, it's that time again! Snippet Saturday! Which is hosted by the absolutely and totally kick sass Lauren Dane. (Thanks Lauren! You rock. Seriously, she does!) Today's theme is the "The Female Protagonist".

Just like Male Protags, Female Protags also come in a variety of flavors. From the sweet and tangy to bitter and sour and every flavor in between. I love all of my heroines. I love that where they come from and the way they grew up can determine who they are and how they will interact with the hero.

Today's Snippet is from The Beast In Me, which was originally published by Cobblestone Press in 2007 as Danielo's Undoing. It's got a snazzy new cover and has been revised slightly from its original content but it's still the same story we both loved!

The Beast In Me will be available for download from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Smashwords in the beginning of April, in the mean while please enjoy this snippet and introduction to our heroine, Katie. And don't forget to visit all the other Saturday Snippets authors. Have an awesome weekend and enjoy!

[image error] After a chaotic childhood, Katherine Bailey isn't one to take risks. Stability and security are all she wants and needs…until she meets Daniel.

Werewolf Daniel Acevedo had it all, until a chance meeting with a vampire turned his world upside down. Now another chance meeting with Katie may do the same, if he's brave enough to let it.

A woman who thought stability was her salvation and a man alienated from the two worlds that spawned him. Lust is one thing but are they willing to risk everything for a possible chance at love?

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER ONE

All Rights Reserved. Coming April 2011

It didn't help that Brad was a pushover as well. Not once during our relationship had he taken charge. If I wanted Chinese, we had Chinese. If I wanted to see the latest chick flick, we saw it. And while stability was the one major thing that attracted me to him, secretly a big part of me wanted him to take over, to show some initiative.

My chaotic childhood left me craving the dependability that I saw in Brad and the life he led. His parents had lived in the same house for the past thirty years, ate the same roast beef dinner every Sunday after attending five o'clock mass, and I loved being part of that.

It was comforting to know I'd never wake up to find him gone as I had my father. I knew he'd always pay his part of the rent on our shared apartment, and there'd never come a time when I'd have to sleep on the beach in a sleeping bag as I had so many times as a kid.

That's what I had loved about Brad. Not him but what he represented. I'll never know how I found the courage to walk away when he asked me to marry him. But I had, not only for myself but for him as well. I knew I'd never truly love him so I had said no, moved out of the only steady home I'd ever had, and struck out on my own.

For a long time after, I was convinced I'd made a mistake. It took me a long time to realize that just because I left didn't mean I was like my mother. That leaving the only steady place I'd ever lived, and a steady relationship, didn't mean it would set the pattern for the rest of my life. I wouldn't bounce from relationship to relationship and place to place. And I hadn't.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this week's Saturday Snippet! You can read more Snippets below.

Delilah Devlin

Eliza Gayle

Helen Kay Dimon

Jody Wallace

Lauren Dane

Leah Braemel

Lissa Matthews

Mari Carr

McKenna Jeffries

Selena Blake

Taige Crenshaw

TJ Michaels