Excerpt, Guest Post & Giveaway: Dangerous Proposition by Jessica Lauryn

Dangerous Proposition
By: Jessica Lauryn
Publisher: Siren Publishing
Published: June 25, 2013
Genre: Romantic Suspense

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When Julia Dyson learns her father has been abducted, she believes his hidden profession may be to blame. But when she discovers a man’s name in her dad's caller history, a man suspected of shady business activity and also her teenage crush, she decides to take matters into her own hands. She confronts her father's presumed abductor, resulting in an unforgettable kiss.

In the course of one disastrous evening, diamond smuggling kingpin Colin Westwood learns that his best recruit is missing in action, and that the man has been keeping a secret for years—he has a twenty-six-year-old daughter. Determined to protect his identity, Colin vows to find the young woman, and keep her silent at any cost. Later intrigued to learn that she is actually the attractive woman he kissed, he makes Julia an offer. Come to New York City with him to search for her missing father…as his mistress.

Keeping Julia firmly within the groove of his arm, Colin stepped inside the hotel room and flicked on the light switch. After shutting the door, he double-bolted it behind them.

Short of a pale complexion, Julia didn’t appear to be injured. At least, it didn’t look as though she had any bruises. But he knew he wouldn’t feel better until he saw this for himself. Though it was completely unethical, he had half a mind to give her a physical. And if he actually believed he could perform one on her and control himself, he would do just that.

He led a trembling Julia to the bed. Looking into her tearful eyes, he knelt beside her, cupping her cheek. It killed him seeing her like this, killed him even more knowing that he was completely to blame.

Speaking as gently as he could manage, he said, “You’re safe now. It’s all right, sweetheart. You’re safe. I’m right here—no one’s coming after us. No one’s going to hurt you ever again.”

Julia nodded, but she said nothing, causing him to have a horrifying realization. Maybe something had happened between her and Dylan Rossler in that room. She’d been dressed when he found her, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t put her clothes back on afterward, or that Rossler had bothered to remove them at all.

Feeling as though he were on the brink of an explosion, Colin said, “Did that guy—I mean—Dylan Rossler didn’t…you and he didn’t—”

“Of course not! Holy crap, Westwood. What kind of girl do you think I am?”

“One who clearly has a death wish,” Colin muttered under his breath.

“Me?” Julia exclaimed. “I went over there to save your ass. Not the other way around.”

“Which you were obviously doing a phenomenal job with while you were locked inside that bedroom.”

Her chin squared. “You may have been the one to kick the door down, but I would have gotten out of that room with or without your help.”

“If you really believe that, Julia, then you really are naïve. Do you realize what Dylan Rossler would have done if I hadn’t gotten there when I did? Allow me to clue you in, since you’re obviously not aware. Because it’s the same thing every other red-blooded bastard at that party wanted to do to you!”

“You mean”—she bit her lip—“that he—”

“Was planning on having sex with you? Of course, Julia. Of course those guys thought you were sexy, of course Dylan Rossler wanted to have sex with you! I’m not blind. I can see what’s right in front of me. Any man at that party who didn’t want you was either gay or in a drunken coma!”

Her blue eyes narrowed, and Colin bit his tongue. He hadn’t intended to say all that out loud. Hadn’t intended to say any of it, in fact. But he was glad it had happened because he was done holding back.

There was something between him and Julia. A need that ran deep and had been building since that night in his bed. Sometimes it seemed as if it had been longer, particularly at moments such as this when he wanted nothing more than to toss her onto the bed, rip off that damned cocktail dress she was wearing, and sample every last inch of her skin.

He’d wanted to keep his desires to himself, wanted to keep things simple between them. The complications they were risking were great, and God knew he hated the idea that he might be taking advantage of Julia when her father was missing. But right now, he couldn’t seem to think about those things. And after everything they’d been through tonight, he was no longer sure that holding back was going to be possible.

“Does ‘every other red-blooded bastard’ include you?” Julia asked, blinking her blue eyes furiously.

Colin took a staggered breath. Narrowing his gaze, he approached her with two hastened steps. “If you didn’t want me to behave like a red-blooded bastard, Julia,” he whispered, “then, you shouldn’t have worn this dress.”

A great book can do wonders for the soul. It’s there for you when you need a friend, or a distraction. It can serve as an escape, or a fantasy in which to indulge. Books comfort us, and they take us to places and times we’d otherwise never know. There’s only one thing I love more than a great book. That is, a great series.

When I was an adolescent, I loved reading Francine Pascal’s Sweet Valley High. Twin sisters Jessica and Elizabeth served as the perfect contrast to one another. One is introverted, smart, and studious, while the other is the life of the party. At the age of 12, I had no idea why I was so drawn to the duo, other than the obvious fact that I wanted to be living the life of a teenage girl myself. But looking back, I realize the draw actually stemmed from something much deeper than that.

Series writing can take on a life of its own. In a romance series, the author creates her very own world. She starts with a setting: a time, a place in which her characters will exist in. Then, she gets to work building. Hero and heroine’s story is told in book 1. And in book 2, a new couple typically takes center stage. I think the most exciting part of doing this, for me, the author, is figuring out how I will connect the characters from one book to the next. They don’t necessarily need to know one another, but I’ve found it can be a lot more fun when they do. Writing a series is very different from writing a stand-along book because you have a lot more time and space to play around with. You (the reader) get to see how a family, a group of friends, maybe even an entire town affects the lives of the people around them, possibly for years to come.

My debut series, The Pinnacles of Power, was never supposed to be a series. While I was writing what eventually became my second release, Dangerous Proposal, I was creating what I intended to be the one and only book of its kind. I was, as writers do, spending hours inside the characters’ heads, trying to get to know them. Something I wasn’t expecting struck me while I was doing this. That was, there were several characters in the story besides my hero and heroine who had a story to tell. I already had a setting I loved (several settings, actually), and I had characters who had the potential to become couples, lovers, and soul-mates. They were screaming for me to tell their stories, and so I began doing just that. Barely realizing what I was doing, a series was soon born.

Reading book 1 in a series may not feel much different than reading a stand-alone novel. Doing so, you’ll discover a plot, characters, conflict, and, as is the way with romance novels, a happily ever after. The real fun (at least, for me) comes in book 2, when you already know something about the authors’ world. In books 3 and 4, you know even more, and you’re likely to recognize the main characters as well. You may feel as though you sort-of know them as people, and the setting and time have become all-too familiar to you. This is when your imagination can really take over, because you can completely immerse yourself in the author’s fantasy world—the greatest thing a reader can experience!

I love books. But given the choice, I prefer that they be part of a series. The imagination is one of the greatest things in existence. And I find it easier to put that machine to use when there is a world of stories and characters crafted and bound for my reading enjoyment! 

 An author of Contemporary Romantic Suspense, Jessica Lauryn is most intrigued by dark heroes, who have many demons to conquer…but little trouble enticing female companions into their beds! She feels that the best romances are those where the hero is already seducing the heroine from that first point of contact. 

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Guest Post with A.K. Mills, Author of The Parts I Remember

The Parts I Remember
By: A.K. Mills
Publisher: Self-Published
Published: March 1, 2013
Genre: New Adult

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Act first. Think never. Remember nothing.

Welcome to Kelly Rockport’s existence at Haysville University, where responsibility is just an elective. After all, fake IDs, alter egos, and one-night stands are all part of the college experience, right? So what if she blacks out from time to time? Memory is overrated.

When freshman year lasts about as long as a one-night stand and is quickly followed by the Year of the Blackout, Kelly projects junior year to be nothing shy of amazing. But as shots, beer, cocaine and men mesh together in an intoxicating haze, Kelly’s reckless ways get her into serious trouble. The only problem is, she can't remember what happened.

As she hovers along the edge of consciousness, Kelly forces herself to think past her pain to piece together the shards of her life. This is her story, told in her words: The Parts I Remember.

The Evolution of a Cover

To be perfectly honest, I have never been one who puts much stock in book covers. Sure they can be pretty, eye-catching, and unique. But what usually persuades me to buy a book is the summary or reviews. I have learned in life that the nicest looking things may not be the best, and conversely that things you may not look twice at may be worth more than you know. So when I decided to publish The Parts I Remember, I didn’t think that much about the cover at first. I had an idea of what I wanted and figured that it would fall into place when I landed my dream agent who would set me up with the biggest publisher and their creative team. Sadly, this was not the case.

When I decided to publish independently, I had one of two options. I could create the cover on my own or I could pay to have it done. After contacting a number of cover designers and obtaining estimates, my husband convinced me that with my background in web design, I had the ability to do it myself and should try. While I wasn’t sure in the beginning, I am thankful now that he encouraged me to believe in myself. It took five design attempts and many hours of thought, second-guessing, and frustration before landing on the image that currently graces the cover of The Parts I Remember.

The first attempt was better in concept than reality. I prefer simple design over busy and wanted to create a pattern that could be followed for future releases. My favorite book covers are those by Emily Giffin. They are all simple, clean, and easily identifiable. So I took an image of a shot glass on a white background, centered it on the page and called it a day. I played around with the fonts for the wording and when I found the one I liked, I placed it around the image and sent it out. The feedback was quick and uniform. Everyone thought it was boring and didn’t come close to encapsulating the emotion and strength of the story.

For my second attempt, I searched the web for shot glass images. This time I came across a product image of three florescent shot glasses of different colors on a black background. I contacted the company that sold the shot glasses and after some back and forth correspondence, they gave me permission to use the image. So I sat down at my computer, created a cracked effect on one of the shot glasses and rotated it to give the illusion that it had tipped on its side and was spilling out. I got a little more creative with the font, even blurring the word “Remember” in the title. I loved the neon colors against the black background and thought it was eye-catching. Happily, I sent it out to my reading group. Again, they weren’t feeling it. Enter frustration and self-doubt.

I found another image of a single silver shot glass against a white and black gradient. The cover I created using this image was my favorite. However, it quickly got kyboshed because it was too “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

After taking a brief hiatus to clear my mind, I decided to start fresh and wipe everything out. I did a brand new image search of stock photos. For some reason, I couldn’t get away from the fluorescent colors. However, I continued searching until I found two images that I really liked. I couldn’t decide which I liked more so I decided to create two covers and put them up for a vote.

Option one was almost the one I went with. I loved the colors and the fact that the shot glass was tipped over and spilling out. I kept the blurred part of the title and tried to get fancy with the author placement. This time the feedback was mixed. Those who liked it really liked it and the people who didn’t, really didn’t. When someone told me that it looked amateurish, I decided to go with the other cover. I put everything I had into producing the story. The last thing I wanted was for the cover to take away from it.

At first the final cover was just the image of the liquor pouring over the glasses. But it was missing something. When my husband suggested overlaying a bar scene, I was so exhausted that I told him that it was beyond the scope of my capabilities and that I was going to contact a cover designer. He told me that it wasn’t. So again, I searched stock photos for a bar scene. It pretty much all came together after that. This time, everyone agreed that it looked like an authentic book cover.

Designing the cover for The Parts I Remember was an extremely valuable learning experience for me. First, I realized that people still do judge books by their covers and that they expect them to make sense. They want the cover to elicit the feelings of the story. More importantly, however, I realized that publishing a book requires much more than writing a good story. I am so thankful for my supportive reading group who put up with the numerous emails and polls about the covers and the placement of the wording until it was complete. And of course if it wasn’t for my husband, who pushed me not to give up, I wouldn’t have endured and created something that I was so proud of.

Which cover do you like the best? Do you judge books by their covers? Drop me a line at byakmills(at)gmail(dot)com and let me know. I’d love to hear from you.

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” – Henry David Thoreau

 Reading has always been a passion of mine. I remember as a child getting lost in Nancy Drew mysteries late at night with a flashlight long after bedtime, unable to sleep until the story was done. Summer vacations didn't properly start without first visiting the bookstore and selecting a fresh story.

I recently opened a time capsule that was buried in 1999 and my hope for the year 2010 was to have published my first novel. Three years later, that dream is coming to fruition as The Parts I Remember will be published on March 1, 2013.

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Guest Post with Ava Zavora, author of Rosethorn

In my childhood, I used to ride water buffaloes and wade in swamps. When I discovered books, I would go adventuring with Anne of Green Gables, the Pevensies, Bilbo Baggins, or Alanna of Trebond. I incurred my mother's displeasure for reading too many romance novels, so I learned to hide them and read underneath covers with a flashlight late at night. Nowadays, I travel and write dark fairy tales and romantic novels about adventurous women. And I still stay up too late reading, even though I don't get in trouble for it anymore.

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I seized the chance offered by the wonderful Kristin of Book Sniffers Anonymous so I can share with you three behind-the-scenes secrets of Rosethorn, a breathtaking new contemporary romance of love lost and found again that culminates in stunning end you won't soon forget.

1. I only thought of the title Rosethorn three weeks before publication. I had a list of possible titles but nothing seemed right, either too long and forgettable (A Distant and Imagined Hour) or already taken (Time after Time). Finding the perfect title was like falling in love - I just knew Rosethorn was the one.

2. There is a so-far unsubstantiated rumor going around that I devoured massive amounts of chocolate while writing Rosethorn. Well, as an exclusive to Book Sniffers Anonymous, I am here to state unequivocally that rumor is....absolutely correct.

3. The cover for Rosethorn went through a dizzying number of incarnations. At first I wanted tons of roses to echo the title but that particular cover ended up looking like a nursery catalog. It got better from there, until I arrived at one that I adored - it had Sera, the necklace, and Rosethorn in the background. Then I had a daydream at work and so the cover changed again to its final state today. Below is the almost final cover. The same elements, but different colors and typography, which give it a very different mood, don't you think?

Which cover do you prefer? (Who knows, I might change my mind, yet again!)

Rosethorn
By: Ava Zavora
Published: May 1, 2013
Genre: Romance

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Rosethorn is a breathtaking debut novel of love lost and found again that culminates in a stunning end you won't soon forget.

"I know I could be happy with someone else . . . But it was decided a long time ago. It was always going to be you."

From Morocco to Paris, Sera has traveled the world over but she never forgot Rosethorn, the beautiful, abandoned mansion where she and Andrew used to meet for trysts. Until the day Sera found her mother's diary. Sera's obsession with the shocking secrets it contained tore them apart and sent Sera fleeing to New York with a devastated heart.

10 years later, Sera revisits Rosethorn, only to run into Andrew, all grown up and handsomer than ever. Politeness gives way to a heated confrontation over their painful past. Yet unable to resist each other's lure, both surrender to the undying power of first love.

Fate has brought them together once again, but will an old tragedy destroy Sera and Andrew's second chance - forever?

Guest Post: Libby Mercer, author of The Karmic Connection

Born and raised in the Midwest, Libby Mercer’s adventurous spirit kicked in after graduating from high school, and she’s since lived in Boston, NYC and London. For several years, Libby worked in fashion – first as a journalist and then as a shopkeeper, and for a while she dabbled in design. Libby has been a writer for as long as she can remember. She penned her first book at age seven – a picture book entitled BIG and small. Countless numbers of stories later, her first book, Fashioning a Romance, was published in May 2012, followed by Unmasking Maya and The Karmic Connection. Libby lives in San Francisco.

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The Name Game

I have the most difficult time coming up with titles for my books. (In fact, I’m currently holding a contest on my blog, asking people to suggest a title for my next release, but more on that in a bit.) Naming my characters, however, has never been a problem.

When I first started thinking up the plot for The Karmic Connection, I had my heroine’s name in mind almost immediately. I knew I wanted to call her Lorraine. My dad had a hippie friend named Lorraine, and even though I haven’t seen her since I was probably eight years old, her name seemed perfect for this character – a yoga and Pilates instructor at a wellness center in the Vermont mountains.

My hero’s name didn’t come to me immediately. Although I often name my secondary characters after people I know in real life, I prefer to give my primary characters names that I don’t associate with any actual people – or not people I’ve been in contact with for a long time, anyway. In the end, I chose Adam Stowe. What’s significant about this is his last name. Stowe is a family name – my great-grandmother was Lucy Stowe.

The Karmic Connection is a little different from your standard romance in that I have a large cast of supporting characters, and I had fun with naming them all. There’s Celeste, the woman who runs the wellness center. As a New Age guru-type, I knew this was the one and only possible name for her. In addition to Adam, the guests at the wellness center are Naomi, Joel, Frank, Serena, David, Mandy and Jessica.

For Naomi, I wanted a somewhat unusual name. In high school, I had a lovely, soft-spoken friend called Naomi with whom I’ve since lost touch. In my mind, she shares certain traits with my character, and so that one fit right away. For Joel, it wasn’t quite so easy. I actually used an Internet name search site and looked at hundreds of options before it brought up Joel. Now, I had a friend in college called Joel, and he is nothing like the character in my book. The character is actually a bit more like my ex-boyfriend from back in the day, given that they both had blond dreadlocks. What can I say? I was young. And he had a bit of a Kurt Cobain look about him… But I digress. Even though the real Joel had nothing in common with my character, the name felt right, so I ran with it.

I know I’ve met Franks before, but none that jump out from my memories. And this is the reason I chose Frank for the name of this particular character. I wanted something serious and classic, but also something that could sort of fade into the background. He’s that type of character. As for David, well… when I named this character, it was a subtle shout-out to my dad. Although he’s not what you’d call a “crazy hippie weirdo”, my dad has always identified with the counter culture. It seemed only fitting that I named this particular character after him.

I’ve never known a Serena in real life, but her name came to me almost immediately. A gentle, elderly lady, she’s been into the New Age movement for decades, just like Celeste has. And so I wanted to give her a Celeste-like name. Serena was perfect for her. As for Mandy, don’t laugh but… I named her after one of my dolls from childhood. I don’t know what possessed me to do this, but it hit me and there was no turning back. And finally there’s Jessica. Naturally, I’ve met loads of Jessicas during my lifetime, and in a way this is the point. She’s sort of an everywoman (or an every young woman – she’s only eighteen).

I don’t know what the term is for secondary-secondary characters. What I mean are the characters whose parts are very, very small. In film, they’d be called walk-on roles. For whatever reason, I love assigning these characters names of people that I’m not so far removed with, but having a little fun with it. I’ll explain. In The Karmic Connection, for example, there are two characters called Jamie and Leroy. Provincial family men from rural Vermont (lumberjack types) they’re farmers by trade, as well as volunteer EMT workers. I specifically named them after my friends who I’m still in touch with – a fabulous young gay couple I know from London who are quite possibly Lady Gaga’s biggest fans.

In this way, I get to amuse myself by infusing my fiction with real life associations. And then there’s that little Hitchcockian thing I do. Libby Mercer is a pseudonym. My real name is Anna, and every Libby Mercer book has an extremely minor character called Anna in it. It’s just sort of my way of laying claim to my work, I think. In The Karmic Connection, Anna is Lorraine’s sister. And for the record, she’s nothing like me. She’s a bit of a mess. Not that I have it all together or anything, but I don’t have the fictional Anna’s problems, thank goodness.

So there you have it – a little glimpse at why I chose the names I did for my characters in this book. If you get a chance, I’d love it if you would pop over to my blog and offer any suggestions for titles. I’ve got a rather fun prize for the winner, I think. Thanks so much for having me here today, Kristin!

The Karmic Connection 
By: Libby Mercer
Genre: Chick Lit

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What is the universe up to?

Guilty of nothing more than working too much - or so they say - Adam Stowe is dumped at a "wellness center" in the middle of nowhere by a couple of concerned colleagues. When he meets Lorraine, the beautiful and bewitching yoga instructor, his spirits start to lift, but once he discovers what a flighty fruitcake she is, they drop back down to subterranean levels.

For Lorraine Jameson, Luna Wellness Center was a beacon of solace when her life was falling apart, and she can't stand the way Adam's toxic energy is poisoning the peace. He embodies everything negative about the life she discarded eighteen months ago. Despite being fiercely attracted to the arrogant man, she's determined not to let Adam Stowe anywhere near her heart.

Adam and Lorraine couldn't be more unsuitable as a potential couple... so why is the universe so dead set on uniting these two?

Guest Post & Giveaway: Hugh Centerville author of Lottie Barrett Lives (Again)

Lottie Barrett Lives (Again)
By: Hugh Centerville
Publisher: Self-published
Published: Aug. 1, 2012
Genre: Paranormal

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It’s Halloween night, 1966. 13 year old Lottie has been dead a 100 years and the kids go up to the graveyard with the book of spells Charlene Pendergrass swiped from Miss Robespierre. The kids are going to have some fun scaring themselves, bringing Lottie back, but it turns out Miss Robespierre isn’t the faker everyone says she is and there’s nothing fake about her book either and now there’s a ghost-girl walking the streets of Hope Mountain and what to do with her?
Maybe nothing.
Lottie’s no zombie ax-murderer. She’s just a peculiar kid who wants to be a teenager, something she missed the first time. What else she wants is Bobby Clyde, cutest boy in the freshman class and how can Bobby resist? Lottie is cute and sweet and funny, or are those things illusory, a witch’s spell on Bobby? And what’s Bobby going to do when it’s time for Lottie to go back up onto the hill? Bobby is determined to go with her. Lottie doesn’t think he should go but she doesn’t think she could live (or die,) without him. Only Bobby’s mom and big sister can save him and before they can save him, they have to convince themselves it really is true, and there isn’t much time.

Rambling on Grammar

Some things I like about grammar, some things I don’t.

Don’t let bloggers or indie writers or anyone else tell you grammar doesn’t matter. It does. If you think it doesn’t, spend some time on the internet. (Or on the Internet, because there’s only one Internet, which means we’re talking about one specific Internet, which makes it a proper noun.)

I was disturbed when I came across some websites dedicated to banishing the apostrophe. Why banish the little dude and where’s he supposed to go, if he’s exiled? Elba? There are a few reasons given for doing it and mostly it comes down to apostrophes not being worth the effort. Huh? One little slash can say a lot, depending on where it’s located and they’re not really so difficult to do correctly. I mean, if you’re going to banish something because it’s difficult, banish commas. Apostrophes at least have sense enough to follow their own rules.

Fear not, apostrophe-lovers. Apostrophes aren’t going anywhere. Nothing is ever banished in grammar. Things do go away but it takes a while (not awhile) for them to go. Language doesn’t banish, it evolves and besides, there are more important grammar things to worry about.

Like T-shirts. Why do we have to capitalize T-shirts? One reason I’ve seen is because T-shirts are shaped like Ts. Come again? What’s shaped like a T? The T-shirt? So what. And aren’t all shirts shaped the same, more or less? Contoured to fit a torso? Or maybe we capitalize it because any letter standing alone on the opposite side of a dash from the rest of itself deserves to get capitalized, you know, like e-mail and e-book. Compensating the single letter for its isolation from the rest of itself I could maybe buy. It makes more sense than just being shaped like a shirt.

I may not like capitalizing my T-shirts but you can see I’m doing it, otherwise folks might think I don’t know any better.

Maybe we capitalize T-shirt because consistency matters (it does,) and we capitalize X-ray and G-clef, except we don’t capitalize g-clef unless we feel like it. One of my books was about kids spending a summer on a lake and there were plenty of T-shirts. Nineteen of them, as I recall, and none of them initially earned a big T and finally and after a few revisions and after hearing from folks who could only shake their heads at my ignorance, I went back and begrudgingly capitalized all nineteen of my T-shirts.

And can someone please tell me why I have to capitalize TV? This one really bugs me. I mean, it’s not like I have a choice, like I do with OK, or, I should say, choices with OK – O.K., OK, o.k., ok, okay already! (Not to be confused with all ready.) OK comes in a lot of styles but TV is TV. Period. Must be an abbreviation for the proper noun, television.

Why are some words words and some aren’t? Like ahold. It seems to me there’s a real need for the word ahold, but check your dictionary, it’s either not there or if it’s listed, it’s with a caveat – non-standard, which means it’s not a real word but you’re going to use it, so just you go ahead and flaunt your social inferiority. Well, I’m sorry, all you educated people, but it seems to me we have a need for ahold, in fiction, anyway, especially in dialogue.

Say you’re writing a story about a schoolyard bully. A kid stands up to the bully and the bully runs away and the kid shakes his fist at the fleeing bully and says what kids say in the schoolyard: Just you wait until I get ahold…eh, just you wait until I clasp, embrace, enfold, press, squeeze, clinch, bosom, clip, embosom you…

Which might lead one to ask, if there’s a glaring need for a particular word, why does the word have to settle for junior status? Ahold is considered informal, which is a kind of incubator for words. They put you in the deep freeze until they figure you’re old enough or whatever to be a real word and they release you. Poor ahold has been waiting four hundred years. Maybe they put it in there and forgot about it.

Same for alright. Non-standard, socially inferior, but acceptable as an evolved form of all right. Somebody (or someone, your choice,) asks how are you doing and you say alright, not all right. It’s an inflection thing, a nuance, like yes, sir, or, and if you’re in the army, yessir!

There’s one word battle that snooty grammarians will never lose and I’m with them on this one – the most horrific four letter word in the English language, the ultimate outcast in the world of words – ain’t. You very well know, “ain’t ain’t proper language.” Most dictionaries don’t include it and those that do have that notation and talk about socially inferior. Say ain’t and the venom drips.

Ain’t is a contraction although it’s hard to figure out exactly what two words ain’t is contracting, which is the rule of contractions, combine two words by taking out a letter or two and replacing them with an apostrophe, for example - won’t.

Ain’t, like most four letter words, has a cringe association. And speaking of cringe factors, how about a word that has a cringe factor or not, depending on how it’s used - like crick, for creek. I can have a crick in my neck but I can’t have one running through my backyard.

And what about French fries? Yes, French fries, not french fries. In another of my books I had a girl who was obsessed with French fries and since her dad had Popeye arms and drank Scotch whiskey and the girl’s mom was a Shakespearean actress (or are actresses all just actors now,) I figured it was OK for the girl to eat French fries. Want to know why folks say don’t capitalize the French in French fries? Because French fries were invented in Belgium. Seriously. OK, it’s because of common usage. Eat enough French fries and they’re not special anymore. I figure I’ll keep on calling them French fries until they change English muffins into english muffins, or until Belgium waffles become just plain waffles. Or until I get enough grief over it.

WJ Smith, aka Hugh Centerville lives in New York State’s Hudson Valley. He is the author of the sword and sorcery, Christian fantasy epic, The Denouement, and is the author of two paranormal boomer fiction books, Bobby Slater’s World and Lottie Barrett Lives (Again). Hugh likes, in no particular order, baseball, dogs (especially beagles,) tall spreading sycamores and old Indian stuff.

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Guest Post & Giveaway: Paloma Beck author of The Seven Sin Sisters series

Lustful Cravings
(The Seven Sin Sisters, #1)
By: Paloma Beck
Publisher: Secret Cravings Publishing
Published: Aug 6, 2012
Genre: Erotic Paranormal Romance

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Seven sisters are entwined in a legacy bigger than anyone ever expected. One by one, they will find their mates from the immortal Valendite breeds and secure their place in history. Each sister embodies one of the seven deadly sins only to be cast aside once claimed. But claiming comes at the price of separation, causing a weakening of their combined powers, which none want to happen... until Layla, holding the sin of lust within her body, locks eyes with Madden. Madden is one of the strongest of the Valendite Breed, a group of near-immortal men originating from the Italian Wars in the 1500s. Today, the Valendite Breed serve as the Terrorist Elimination Unit (TEU), an invisible arm of the CIA. Their only weakness is their need for a mate to carry on the Breed. So now that Madden has found Layla, he will never let her go. With forces mounting up against the Breed, Madden and Layla will need to rely on all of their powers combined to get them to their Pronouncement.

Seven Sisters. Seven Sins. And Seven Mates to Redeem them.

Lust | Envy | Greed | Pride | Anger | Sloth | Gluttony

The seven deadly sins are transgressions that hinder spiritual growth. Essentially, to be owned fully by one of the seven deadly sins means to not be able to grow into one’s own potential. This is the very thing that intrigued me. I wanted each sister to carry one of the sins and then began the concept of linking men to their salvation from their sins. How better to tie the two mates together than to have the male be the one who truly rescues her from herself? Is there any greater way to become a hero than this?

But then I read – and read – and read – and there are so many ways the deadly sins can manifest themselves within a person. I didn’t want to take the obvious road so some of the women cope with their sins in a unique way. In Holiday Gem, for example, Gemma carries the soul sin of greed. However, she’s a historical researcher and her greed plays out through a hunger for knowledge. She throws herself into her work and is so hungry for knowledge that the lack of it puts her into panic attacks.

I admit though to being a bit obvious when it came to lust. It was just too good to pass up. In Lustful Cravings, Layla has never experienced lust until she meets her mate. Then he has to work to keep up with her needs. So why not give him a little help, add in another man, and make it a ménage? After all, a woman experiencing lust for the first time has needs. *wink * wink*

There are definite benefits and pitfalls to each of the deadly sins but it’s CONFESSION TIME… tell me which is your favorite and why. When you comment, you also can enter to win one of the first three books in the Seven Sin Sisters series.

Paloma Beck is an erotic romance writer in both the Contemporary and Paranormal realms. Happily married and living a life of total contradiction, Paloma runs carpool service for her three sons, volunteers in PTA and teaches religious education.

Then in the moments when her characters talk to her, she journals their stories - and they are anything but PG. As a natural introvert, quiet time with her characters is necessary to keep sane while writing is the perfect outlet for her creativity.

Paloma believes a daily dose of coffee and a good book make any day better.

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Guest Post & Giveaway: Aviva Orr author of The Mist of Bronte Moor

The Mist on Bronte Moor
By: Aviva Orr
Publisher: WiDO Publishing
Published: Jan. 8, 2013
Genre: YA

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When fifteen-year-old Heather Jane Bell is diagnosed with alopecia and her hair starts falling out in clumps, she wants nothing more than to escape her home in London and disappear off the face of the earth.

Heather gets her wish when her concerned parents send her to stay with a great-aunt in West Yorkshire. But shortly after she arrives, Heather becomes lost on the moors and is swept through the mist back to the year 1833. There she encounters fifteen-year-old Emily Brontë and is given refuge in the Brontë Parsonage.

Unaware of her host family’s genius and future fame, Heather struggles to cope with alopecia amongst strangers in a world foreign to her. While Heather finds comfort and strength in her growing friendship with Emily and in the embrace of the close-knit Brontë family, her emotions are stretched to the limit when she falls for Emily’s brilliant but troubled brother, Branwell.

Will Heather return to the comforts and conveniences of the twenty-first century? Or will she choose love and remain in the harsh world of nineteenth-century Haworth?

Writing Tips from the Brontë Sisters:

Writing the Mist on Brontë Moor involved plenty of research and gave me an even greater respect for the Brontë family and their work. The Brontës may have been geniuses with an inherent talent for storytelling, but they were also hard working authors who devoted their lives to their craft. Here are some tips from the world’s most beloved novelists:

They read—a lot:

Patrick Brontë taught his children to value reading at an early age. As a family, they devoured the classics (Milton, Bunyan, Coleridge, Byron, Wordsworth, Scott, and Shelley, to name a few). In addition, they subscribed to magazines and read several newspapers on a daily basis.

They wrote consistently:

Starting during childhood, the Brontës filled hundreds of tiny homemade books with tales of their imaginary kingdoms: Glass Town, Angria, and Gondal. They also wrote poetry, kept diaries, and corresponded via letters regularly.

Although Charlotte, Emily, and Anne died prematurely, they left behind a large volume of poems and seven completed novels between them.

They wrote with passion:

The Brontës were passionate about many things (nature, politics, literature, art, and the plight of women in nineteenth-century England). They channeled these passions into their writing and, in doing so, created strong, memorable heroines and timeless tales.

They persevered:

In 1837, Robert Southey (then poet laureate of England) advised a young and ambitious Charlotte Brontë to put down her pen and pick up her apron (I’m paraphrasing, of course). Thankfully, she didn’t heed his advice.

Nine years later, Charlotte’s first novel, The Professor, was rejected several times. While it was being rejected, her sisters’ first novels, Agnes Grey and Wuthering Heights, were picked up for publication. In response, Charlotte shelved The Professor and went on to write Jane Eyre. And the rest is, well, you know…

 Originally from South Africa, Aviva now lives in Southern California with her husband, two daughters, and two Yorkie terriers (Lucy and Branwell).

Aviva holds a master's degree in English and has a keen interest in early British literature. The Mist on Brontë Moor is her first novel and will be released by WiDo Publishing on January 8, 2013. 

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Guest Post & Giveaway: Laury Falter, author of Fallen

Fallen
(Guardian Trilogy, #1)
Published: April 1, 2009
Genre: YA

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Maggie is unaware of the terrifying fate that awaits her. It isn’t until she lands in New Orleans for a full year at a private high school and her unknown enemies find her does she realize that her life is in danger.

As a mystifying stranger repeatedly intervenes and blocks the attempts on her life, she begins to learn that there is more to him than his need to protect her and that he may be the key to understanding why her enemies have just now arrived.

Readers won't find this in any of the books, but it gives great insight into Eran's mindset about Magdalene, his true love.

Eran's account of the first time he met Magdalene:

"It was explosive. She fought me, hard...and well," he paused to chuckle while shaking his head in amazement at the memory. "I'd watched her fight before, but I wasn't ready for her strength. That part of her originates from her stubbornness. One of my favorite characteristics and it happens to be the core of her personality. It's what drives her to help others, to put her life on the line for strangers. That's Magdalene…my Magdalene."

He smirked.

"She didn't know it, but I had seen her around. I heard about this girl training others like her to survive our enemies. That was impressive. We have powerful enemies." His gaze fell to the floor in deep reflection. "I found her training," he laughed through his nose, "of course. And I was enthralled, completely and absolutely void of any reasonable thought after laying eyes on her. The way her brown hair swung around, catching the wind from her speed, the blaze in her eyes, and those wings. I'd never, and haven't to this day, seen whiter appendages. She was stunning. So much fury and love was wrapped up in that little frame of hers that I was completely taken from that very second on."

Slowly, he nodded with certainty. "At that point, I knew. I knew that I'd be her guardian. That beauty, that innocence needed protection, and I was going to see that she got it. Nothing," he insisted, "would stop me from it. What I didn't count on was her rejection. I-" One side of his lips lifted in a confident grin. "I'm fairly capable of influencing women. But not her. Magdalene took time, several centuries, in fact. It took countless arguments, coddling of her sensitive ego - don't tell her I said that - and an incredible amount of patience. The fight, I tell you, is in her blood."

He drew in a deep breath, as if to let the feeling of her settle over him, while a smile played across his lips.

"I sensed all this on that first sighting. So I kept my distance, looking for a way in to dissolve that stubbornness." He shrugged. "That was pointless. When we finally did meet, I had a good understanding of who she was, so again I wasn't surprised by the fight she gave me. What surprised me…," his eyes turned warm, remembering. "What I'll never forget, what will stay with me forever, was the passion in her eyes…because it was aimed directly at me."

 Laury Falter is the bestselling author of the Guardian Trilogy (Fallen, Eternity, & Reckoning). When she isn't writing, she likes to take her two stray dogs for walks and enjoy date nights with her husband.

Laury's debut novel, Fallen, hit Amazon's Top 100 list in three genres and the remaining two books in the trilogy made showings in the Top 100 of the same genres as well. With a new series available, Residue, about a teenage girl who learns she is a witch and falls in love with a boy from a feuding family, her reader following continues to grow rapidly.

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Release Day Party & Giveaway: A Private Duel with Agent Gunn by Jillian Stone

Today we have author Jillian Stone joining us to celebrate the release of her latest book, A Private Duel which features the gentlemen of Scotland Yard. She's also offering a bunch of lucky readers the chance to win a copy of her latest book.

A Private Duel with Agent Gunn
(The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard, #3)
Genre: Historical Romance

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Cunning, reclusive Yard man Phineas Gunn is as skilled at capturing surly criminals as he is at charming beautiful women. But the dashing agent’s latest assignment is really testing his mettle. Officially, he’s investigating beguiling prima ballerina Catriona de Dovia Willoughby, a suspected anarchist. Unofficially, his attraction to his devilish former flame is hotter than ever.

Unsure whether to trust the enigmatic lover who betrayed her once, Cate nevertheless enlists Finn’s help to recover some priceless family jewels. Their pursuit erupts into a cross-continental adventure that begins with a double cross and crackles with secrets, lies, and sexual tension. The crime is clear—breaking and entering each other’s hearts—but as the clock ticks down, who will be the first to surrender? 

I’m very excited to be here today at Book Sniffers Anonymous to celebrate the recent release of A Private Duel with Agent Gunn. Thanks for inviting me!

For those of you who aren’t familiar with The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard, let me give you a bit of background on the series. Several years ago, I got to thinking about Scotland Yard detectives. It seemed to me that Yard men were always portrayed as bumbling inspectors, five moves behind Sherlock Holmes. So I thought, what if there was an elite group of detectives? I began to do some research and found out that there was a division of Scotland Yard created in the 1882 called Special Branch. I added a dash–as in dashing–of James Bond gadgetry and that was the start of the Gentlemen of Scotland Yard. The series is romantic suspense, but incorporates subtle elements of steampunk, as well.

Each novel features a new love story and crime to solve, so a reader can pick up the series anywhere. As for my latest release? Cate and Finn's adventure begins with a double cross and crackles with secrets, lies and sexual tension. The crime is clear, breaking and entering each other's hearts, but as the clock ticks down, who will be the first to surrender?

Here’s a blurb for the just released, A Private Duel with Agent Gunn:

Prima ballerina Catriona de Dovia lives the glamorous life of a starlet, filled with glittering jewels, sumptuous dinners, and admiring suitors. She’s grown up considerably since losing her heart to Hugh Curzon once upon a time, no longer wasting her emotions on the empty promises of charming gentlemen. On her own since the untimely death of her parents, she will do anything for the only family she has left: her brother, a notorious anarchist.

Scotland Yard Agent Phineas Gunn–sometimes known as Hugh Curzon–receives his new assignment reluctantly. He’s up for something a little more strenuous than playing nanny to a ballerina, until he sees who his charge is. Then, it’s a completely different story, because he’d been unable to forget the trusting, beautiful Cate since he had to leave her behind in Barcelona. And he suspects Cate is more than a ballet girl––in fact, she just might be a jewel thief, or even more arousing––a clever undercover operative.

Finn is determined to find out as the two race across the Continent–by land, by sea, even through the air by zephyr–it becomes uncertain who is keeping tabs on whom, and Finn and Cate must battle the sexual tension that snaps and sizzles between them every step of the way.

Let’s face it, detectives are daring and dashing and full of awesome sauce! The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard work for Special Branch, which is the Victorian era MI-5 (FBI) or Homeland Security. James Bond works for MI–6 (CIA). What is it about British detectives and undercover operatives that is so attractive? I suspect it has something to do with a brilliantly sexy mind, and that custom tailored Savile Row suit.

Jillian’s first book in The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard series, An Affair with Mr. Kennedy, won the 2010 Golden Heart for Romantic Suspense. The latest novel, fourth in the series for Pocket Books is A Private Duel with Agent Gunn. She also writes the Phaeton Black, Paranormal Investigator series for Kensington Brava.

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