And the winner of a download of Snowfire: Chrysalis is Books Forever 123! Unfortunately, I don't have an email address for you, so please contact me at belinda@belindamcbride.com with your email addie.
Thanks for participating!
Belinda
www.belindamcbride.com
Monday, May 4, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Don't Kill the Pumpkins! By Lex Valentine
What do you do when work at a cemetery, you write about vampires in your stories, and your birthday is on Halloween? If you’re me, you thank your lucky stars that you weren’t born on Easter because you know what happens to the wild bunnies at the cemetery? Oh, yeah. Hawks. *wince*
I’ve had the Halloween birthday my whole life so I’m pretty much used to the jokes and the people who gush about how cool it is. Truthfully, any birthday that falls on a holiday is a short-changed birthday. People are always busy with plans and other stuff. Your birthday is never the priority, the holiday is. It pretty much sucks.
Once I had a boyfriend who was born on Valentine’s Day. People would gape when we told when our birthdays were. “Really?” was the inevitable question. Uh, yeah. Why the heck would we lie about it? It got to the point that when people asked us that we’d both reach for our driver’s licenses. And the jokes! OMG the jokes! Are you gonna get engaged on St. Patrick’s Day and married on Christmas? Oy vey.
Working for a cemetery has certainly garnered a few odd questions besides the requisite “Have you seen a dead body?” and “Eww. How can you stand it?” I usually explain that I’m the IT geek there and people simmer down, realizing I don’t have anything to do with the deceased. Once they realize that, the question tends to be, “Have you seen a ghost?” (No, I haven’t. I don’t believe in them.)
Writing stories about vampires seems to be the thing that people focus on the least when I suppose it’s really the thing I’d prefer that they focus on. Of course, when or if (some people are just not interested) they ask about my characters, I explain that in the Darkworld, vampires are NOT the undead. There is no rising from the dead factor to deal with. Their reflections show in mirrors. They can walk in the sun (although they do have a sensitivity to it), eat garlic, aren’t squicked out by holy relics, holy water, or crosses, have heartbeats, and don’t sleep in coffins… They do, however, drink blood and have razor sharp fangs. In fact, in my novella The Pixie Prince which was just contracted by Cobblestone Press, the heroine shreds a king sized pillow with her fangs during sex. The hero was mightily amused by this. I am too, truth be told.
In the Tales of the Darkworld, my vampire family the Granvilles own a cemetery. They’re a very prominent family in the death care industry. Even immortals in the Darkworld can be killed or can die. That being the case, their services are needed. Two of the three siblings that own the cemetery have their books out already. Shifting Winds is the story of Elysia Granville, a woman scorned and dumped in front of all of her peers. She meets a dragon shifter at a Halloween ball and falls in love. And yeah, she’s dressed as Elvira, he’s dressed as the Grim Reaper, and they do have sex in a mausoleum. You wanna read this now, dontcha?
In the second book, Hot Water, you meet Elysia’s brother Colin who goes to a vampire themed club called Carpe Noctem and meets a hot dragon shifter woman. He falls for her, of course. It IS a romance after all. You knew how it was going to end without me even mentioning it, right?
Working in my industry has given a lot of realism to my characters when it comes to their work and that part of the Darkworld stories that deal with death. In terms of Halloween, well, let’s just day that I used cliché costumes for a reason. I just don’t get into all the fancy stuff that has to do with the holiday. I have one concession to my Halloween birthday… I collect pumpkins and jack o’ lanterns. On some of the message boards I belong to, I have a little graphic that says “I love pumpkins” and beneath it I have the tagline “Noooooo! Don’t kill the pumpkins for pie!” I don’t like pumpkin pie so it works for me.
I guess the holiday has its moments for me. At my age, you sorta stop having birthdays anyway. I’ve shifted over from having my birthday to celebrating Halloween and now that there is no conflict, I’m a happy camper and can enjoy the decorations and fun. I have tons of cool Halloween graphics for websites and stuff. And I really do like the pumpkins. I’d much rather look at them than eat them.
If you’re interested in buying my Tales of the Darkworld books, they are available at Pink Petal Books (http://www.pinkpetalbooks.com/). My other release, The Wise Guy, is a story about a mage who was born on the Sabbath. That book is available at Noble Romance. (http://www.nobleromance.com/). If you’re really interested in the story where the vampire shreds the king size pillow, keep an eye out for it in the Coming Soon section at Cobblestone Press (http://cobblestone-press.com/). It’s a Twisted Tale which means it’s a twisted take on the Princess and the Pea fairy tale.
If you leave a comment between now and May 8 and tell me what your favorite jack o’ lantern carving is, I will have my black cat Rambo (yes the one in The Wise Guy book and trailer!) draw a name to win one your choice of my releases. Make sure you check back here on May 8 to see if you have won. If your name is drawn, you’ll need to email me and tell me which book you’d like.
For those of you already familiar with my Tales of the Darkworld series, stop by my website (http://www.lexvalentine.com/) and vote in the poll to choose who will star in my free Christmas book! Many thanks to Belinda for letting me come by and talk about my birthday, my work, and my books! Have yourself a wonderful half-way to Halloween holiday!
I’ve had the Halloween birthday my whole life so I’m pretty much used to the jokes and the people who gush about how cool it is. Truthfully, any birthday that falls on a holiday is a short-changed birthday. People are always busy with plans and other stuff. Your birthday is never the priority, the holiday is. It pretty much sucks.
Once I had a boyfriend who was born on Valentine’s Day. People would gape when we told when our birthdays were. “Really?” was the inevitable question. Uh, yeah. Why the heck would we lie about it? It got to the point that when people asked us that we’d both reach for our driver’s licenses. And the jokes! OMG the jokes! Are you gonna get engaged on St. Patrick’s Day and married on Christmas? Oy vey.
Working for a cemetery has certainly garnered a few odd questions besides the requisite “Have you seen a dead body?” and “Eww. How can you stand it?” I usually explain that I’m the IT geek there and people simmer down, realizing I don’t have anything to do with the deceased. Once they realize that, the question tends to be, “Have you seen a ghost?” (No, I haven’t. I don’t believe in them.)
Writing stories about vampires seems to be the thing that people focus on the least when I suppose it’s really the thing I’d prefer that they focus on. Of course, when or if (some people are just not interested) they ask about my characters, I explain that in the Darkworld, vampires are NOT the undead. There is no rising from the dead factor to deal with. Their reflections show in mirrors. They can walk in the sun (although they do have a sensitivity to it), eat garlic, aren’t squicked out by holy relics, holy water, or crosses, have heartbeats, and don’t sleep in coffins… They do, however, drink blood and have razor sharp fangs. In fact, in my novella The Pixie Prince which was just contracted by Cobblestone Press, the heroine shreds a king sized pillow with her fangs during sex. The hero was mightily amused by this. I am too, truth be told.
In the Tales of the Darkworld, my vampire family the Granvilles own a cemetery. They’re a very prominent family in the death care industry. Even immortals in the Darkworld can be killed or can die. That being the case, their services are needed. Two of the three siblings that own the cemetery have their books out already. Shifting Winds is the story of Elysia Granville, a woman scorned and dumped in front of all of her peers. She meets a dragon shifter at a Halloween ball and falls in love. And yeah, she’s dressed as Elvira, he’s dressed as the Grim Reaper, and they do have sex in a mausoleum. You wanna read this now, dontcha?
In the second book, Hot Water, you meet Elysia’s brother Colin who goes to a vampire themed club called Carpe Noctem and meets a hot dragon shifter woman. He falls for her, of course. It IS a romance after all. You knew how it was going to end without me even mentioning it, right?
Working in my industry has given a lot of realism to my characters when it comes to their work and that part of the Darkworld stories that deal with death. In terms of Halloween, well, let’s just day that I used cliché costumes for a reason. I just don’t get into all the fancy stuff that has to do with the holiday. I have one concession to my Halloween birthday… I collect pumpkins and jack o’ lanterns. On some of the message boards I belong to, I have a little graphic that says “I love pumpkins” and beneath it I have the tagline “Noooooo! Don’t kill the pumpkins for pie!” I don’t like pumpkin pie so it works for me.
I guess the holiday has its moments for me. At my age, you sorta stop having birthdays anyway. I’ve shifted over from having my birthday to celebrating Halloween and now that there is no conflict, I’m a happy camper and can enjoy the decorations and fun. I have tons of cool Halloween graphics for websites and stuff. And I really do like the pumpkins. I’d much rather look at them than eat them.
If you’re interested in buying my Tales of the Darkworld books, they are available at Pink Petal Books (http://www.pinkpetalbooks.com/). My other release, The Wise Guy, is a story about a mage who was born on the Sabbath. That book is available at Noble Romance. (http://www.nobleromance.com/). If you’re really interested in the story where the vampire shreds the king size pillow, keep an eye out for it in the Coming Soon section at Cobblestone Press (http://cobblestone-press.com/). It’s a Twisted Tale which means it’s a twisted take on the Princess and the Pea fairy tale.
If you leave a comment between now and May 8 and tell me what your favorite jack o’ lantern carving is, I will have my black cat Rambo (yes the one in The Wise Guy book and trailer!) draw a name to win one your choice of my releases. Make sure you check back here on May 8 to see if you have won. If your name is drawn, you’ll need to email me and tell me which book you’d like.
For those of you already familiar with my Tales of the Darkworld series, stop by my website (http://www.lexvalentine.com/) and vote in the poll to choose who will star in my free Christmas book! Many thanks to Belinda for letting me come by and talk about my birthday, my work, and my books! Have yourself a wonderful half-way to Halloween holiday!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
My Favorite Holiday by Lisabet Sarai
Ever since I was a kid, Halloween has been my favorite holiday. Not because of the candy – I’ve never been that enthusiastic about sweets. - but because of the magic. On Halloween I could become someone else, someone glamorous and powerful, and claim some of the magic that was floating around on that wonderful night. A witch, a goddess, a ghost, a fairy princess – my costumes always involved some kind of supernatural or extra-human capabilities, though sometimes I 
wasn’t always as gorgeous as I might have liked!
I still believe in magic. So I love reading paranormal stories that recapture that sense of wonder, the escape from the constraints of the everyday world. I adored The Lord of the Rings. I was an avid reader of Anne Rice’s vampire chronicles and even more, her Mayfair witches saga. I completely understand the appeal of the tortured vampire soul (especially if wrapped in a sexy hunk’s body), the lure of the wild embodied by a shape shifter. Strength. Power. Infinite and seductive possibility.
Given my affinity for magic in all its forms, it’s rather surprising that I didn’t begin to write paranormal stories myself until fairly recently. I have been publishing erotica and erotic romance for more than a decade, but my first full-length paranormal romance is going to be released in a few days (May 4th, to be specific!). Serpent’s Kiss has a shape shifter premise, but it’s quite different from the typical work in this genre. The novel is set in Guatemala and is based on ancient Mayan mythology.
From the first, Dr. Elena Navarro senses that the wounded man she discovers outside the gates of her rural clinic is not an ordinary mortal. With his chest ripped open, Jorge Pélikal still demonstrates unnatural strength and power.Elena is irresistibly attracted to Jorge, although he warns her their coupling could open the gates of chaos. She and Jorge fall in love, despite his dire predictions.Gradually Elena comes to understand that Jorge is a supernatural player in a cosmic drama that will determine the fate of the earth and of mankind - and that even if he triumphs in his apocalyptic struggle with his nemesis, she may lose him forever.
You can read an excerpt at http://www.lisabetsarai.com/serpentskissex.html and buy your very own copy at: http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=461
In addition to Serpent’s Kiss, I have several other shorter paranormal works currently available. Rendezvous (http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?s=ts4owj555671&strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=175) is my Halloween tale, about a woman who is forced by her disabled car to spend Halloween night is a seedy hotel room inhabited by a virile ghost. Tomorrow’s Gifts (http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?s=55ta3u587850&strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=393) is a M/M BDSM Christmas story very loosely based on Charles Dickens’ ghost of Christmas future. My vampire romance “Vampires Limited” appeared in Black Lace’s Lust at First Bite, and I have another vampire tale called “Fourth World” in D.L. King’s anthology The Sweetest Kiss, due out in July. If you like vampires, you might also check out “Prey”, a free erotic vampire tale available at
http://www.lisabetsarai.com/prey.html.
Now that I’ve started to write paranormal, I think that I might be hooked. I’ve just started work on a new M/M paranormal novel called Necessary Madness. Nineteen year old Kyle sees visions of disasters, visions that tear his world apart. Everyone assumes that he is schizophrenic, but Rob, the cop who picks him up off the street, knows better. Rob’s own experience has taught him that psychic powers are real, and potentially devastating. Since his telepathic sister’s murder, Rob wants nothing to do with “gifted” individuals like Kyle. Yet he can’t deny his attraction to the beautiful, tortured young man – an attraction that appears to be mutual.
I’m only a few chapters into the book so far, but I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be intense.
Since we’re celebrating Halloween, I’ll offer you a little treat. Leave me a comment describing your favorite Halloween costume ever. I’ll randomly choose one person to receive a free copy of Rendezvous. Check back on Belinda’s blog on Wednesday May 6th to find out who is the lucky winner. (Be sure that you don’t comment anonymously, or we won’t be able to find you!)
wasn’t always as gorgeous as I might have liked!I still believe in magic. So I love reading paranormal stories that recapture that sense of wonder, the escape from the constraints of the everyday world. I adored The Lord of the Rings. I was an avid reader of Anne Rice’s vampire chronicles and even more, her Mayfair witches saga. I completely understand the appeal of the tortured vampire soul (especially if wrapped in a sexy hunk’s body), the lure of the wild embodied by a shape shifter. Strength. Power. Infinite and seductive possibility.
Given my affinity for magic in all its forms, it’s rather surprising that I didn’t begin to write paranormal stories myself until fairly recently. I have been publishing erotica and erotic romance for more than a decade, but my first full-length paranormal romance is going to be released in a few days (May 4th, to be specific!). Serpent’s Kiss has a shape shifter premise, but it’s quite different from the typical work in this genre. The novel is set in Guatemala and is based on ancient Mayan mythology.
From the first, Dr. Elena Navarro senses that the wounded man she discovers outside the gates of her rural clinic is not an ordinary mortal. With his chest ripped open, Jorge Pélikal still demonstrates unnatural strength and power.Elena is irresistibly attracted to Jorge, although he warns her their coupling could open the gates of chaos. She and Jorge fall in love, despite his dire predictions.Gradually Elena comes to understand that Jorge is a supernatural player in a cosmic drama that will determine the fate of the earth and of mankind - and that even if he triumphs in his apocalyptic struggle with his nemesis, she may lose him forever.
You can read an excerpt at http://www.lisabetsarai.com/serpentskissex.html and buy your very own copy at: http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=461
In addition to Serpent’s Kiss, I have several other shorter paranormal works currently available. Rendezvous (http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?s=ts4owj555671&strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=175) is my Halloween tale, about a woman who is forced by her disabled car to spend Halloween night is a seedy hotel room inhabited by a virile ghost. Tomorrow’s Gifts (http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?s=55ta3u587850&strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=393) is a M/M BDSM Christmas story very loosely based on Charles Dickens’ ghost of Christmas future. My vampire romance “Vampires Limited” appeared in Black Lace’s Lust at First Bite, and I have another vampire tale called “Fourth World” in D.L. King’s anthology The Sweetest Kiss, due out in July. If you like vampires, you might also check out “Prey”, a free erotic vampire tale available at
http://www.lisabetsarai.com/prey.html.
Now that I’ve started to write paranormal, I think that I might be hooked. I’ve just started work on a new M/M paranormal novel called Necessary Madness. Nineteen year old Kyle sees visions of disasters, visions that tear his world apart. Everyone assumes that he is schizophrenic, but Rob, the cop who picks him up off the street, knows better. Rob’s own experience has taught him that psychic powers are real, and potentially devastating. Since his telepathic sister’s murder, Rob wants nothing to do with “gifted” individuals like Kyle. Yet he can’t deny his attraction to the beautiful, tortured young man – an attraction that appears to be mutual.
I’m only a few chapters into the book so far, but I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be intense.
Since we’re celebrating Halloween, I’ll offer you a little treat. Leave me a comment describing your favorite Halloween costume ever. I’ll randomly choose one person to receive a free copy of Rendezvous. Check back on Belinda’s blog on Wednesday May 6th to find out who is the lucky winner. (Be sure that you don’t comment anonymously, or we won’t be able to find you!)
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