Happy Dance!

One of my older books, Drake's Rules is available in print on February 20th!  I'm extremely happy about that because I adore that book.  I reread it when I found out it was being released and there was so much I had forgotten.  Cool stuff that I don't remember writing!  I truly enjoyed the story as I read.  How awesome is that!

Although this is an erotic book there is a little girl in the story who steal just about every scene she is in.  The group of minor characters are great and the book ends with a happy sigh.  The rules of couplehood that Drake comes up with throughout the book are pretty nifty too.  Yeah, they are some of what I don't recall creating.

If you haven't read it yet, you really should!  Click here to find it.  I'd love to hear what you think!

Blurb ~

Megan Lewis has been alone ever since a bad experience in college left her afraid to trust her instincts about men. When she comes home from her morning bike ride to find her neighbor’s young daughter alone in the hallway, the last thing she expects is overwhelming surge of desire she feels the moment her panicked neighbor joins them.

When Professor Drake Edwards loses his wife and son in a horrible accident he moves his daughter to a new town for a fresh start. He has no intention of getting involved with anyone. But when he finds his neighbor, Megan, watching over his daughter, his body has plans of its own. Can his heart and mind overcome the guilt he feels?

A few of Drake's Rules ~

Rule number one of couplehood. Never let the other person deal with a situation alone when you were both responsible for creating it.”

Rule number two of couplehood. Nothing terrible will happen if you both give yourselves permission to put all your concerns on hold and take a break for a few hours to enjoy what’s right in front of you.”

Plus ten more!

Drake's Rules

I’m not sure why but I was thinking about an older book of mine this past weekend. Drake’s Rules. One thing led to another and I ended up reading it which turned out to be a semi-weird experience.

You see, there were entire sections I didn’t remember writing. I was sitting there, happily reading along and I’d get lost in the story. Then I’d hit a part that I do recall and be reminded that I was reading one of my books.

Do you ever do that? Read something years later, whether it be a book or a journal entry or a poem and hit a blank wall about it? It’s odd and a little unsettling though not in a bad way. I figure those are the spots when the characters took over and wrote whatever they wanted.

Like the rules Drake kept coming up with throughout the book. Rules of couplehood. Um, yeah. I’m not someone I’d recommend coming to for relationship advice to I’m fairly certain Drake himself wrote them.

I've Been Kindled!

I was playing on Amazon yesterday and stopped by my page to make sure it was still there only to discover it grew. Deal of a Lifetime and Drake’s Rules are now available as Kindle editions. I knew they were coming, just not when. How cool is that!

Deal of a Lifetime blurb –

Annette thought she had the perfect solution to prevent what was meant to be a pleasant anniversary celebration from deteriorating into a never-ending lecture from her older sister on the sub-standard status of her entire life. Inventing a fictitious boyfriend, reportedly detained in an unavoidable, albeit imaginary business meeting, seemed like a harmless fib if telling it would ensure a festive evening. She even had a plan to cover his exit from her life later on.

Rich’s estranged wife had gone too far this time and he’d had enough. He had no clue what setting him up as another woman’s date for an evening of drinks, dinner, and theater with the woman’s family was supposed to accomplish but he was determined to find out. When his new better half didn’t so much as blink at his unexpected arrival he decided right then and there that he wasn’t letting her out of his sight. He’d play his role of escort to the hilt to get to the bottom of it even if he had to tie her to the bed and seduce the answers out of her once the other couple said goodnight.

Drake’s Rules blurb –

Megan Lewis has been alone ever since a bad experience in college left her afraid to trust her instincts about men. When she comes home from her morning bike ride to find her neighbor’s young daughter alone in the hallway, the last thing she expects is overwhelming surge of desire she feels the moment her panicked neighbor joins them.

When Professor Drake Edwards loses his wife and son in a horrible accident he moves his daughter to a new town for a fresh start. He has no intention of getting involved with anyone. But when he finds his neighbor, Megan, watching over his daughter, his body has plans of its own. Can his heart and mind overcome the guilt he feels?

Explanation?

But first, Drake’s Rules received a most excellent review from Brenda Talley at the Romance Studio. Click here to take a peek.

I was involved in a ponderance the other day. The topic? Tub mats. Why do they now slip around instead of staying put like they used to? Even the non-slip ones. The suction cuppy type, not the use adhesive to glue them down type. Have you noticed it too or is it just us?

We had a great debate on design. With the several we have and tried combined, none seem to make a difference. Many small suction cups, a lesser amount of large ones, one piece molded construction, suction cups of differing materials attached to the mat surface. They all slide. Maybe environmental constraints make the polymers less suctiony?

Then we wondered if it were perhaps something that has been altered with current soaps, shampoos, cleaning products. Since they’re less harsh now, do you think that makes them slipperier? None of us have new tubs so we know that’s not it. Nor do we have water softeners although we do have city water so maybe it’s something in the treatment of that.

Any insights on the matter?

Hey, Guess What!

I have a book releasing today! Drake's Rules at Cerridwen Press. Pretty darn cool, huh? I have to tell you there are parts in this one that will make you sigh, it's that sweet.

Blurb:

Megan Lewis has been alone ever since a bad experience in college left her afraid to trust her instincts about men. When she comes home from her morning bike ride to find her neighbor's young daughter alone in her hallway, the last thing she expects is the overwhelming surge of desire she feels the moment she meets the girl's panicked father.

When Professor Drake Edwards loses his wife and son in a horrible accident, he moves his daughter to a new town for a fresh start. He has no intention of getting involved with anyone. But when he finds his neighbor, Megan, watching over his daughter, his body has plans of its own. Can his heart and mind overcome the guilt he feels?

Reader Advisory: Includes explicit sex scenes.

Click here to read the excerpt.

Okay, back to edits on Questing. Happy reading!

Coming Next Spring

From Cerridwen Press

Drake’s Rules - Blurb:

Megan Lewis has been alone ever since a bad experience in college left her afraid to trust her instincts about men. When she comes home from her morning bike ride to find her neighbor’s young daughter alone in the hallway, the last thing she expects is overwhelming surge of desire she feels the moment her panicked neighbor joins them.

When Professor Drake Edwards loses his wife and son in a horrible accident he moves his daughter to a new town for a fresh start. He has no intention of getting involved with anyone. But when he finds his neighbor, Megan, watching over his daughter, his body has plans of its own. Can his heart and mind overcome the guilt he feels?

Drake's Rules - Excerpt:

“Daddy, the bread’s gone. Can we get ice cream now?” Christy bounced on her toes in front of them.
“Megan?” Drake deferred to her since it was meant to be a thank you for her kindness.
“Fine by me.” She hopped off the bench. “Lead the way. And for future reference, I consider ice cream to be a staple, consumable any time, day or night.”
“What’s that mean?” Christy chose to hold Megan’s hand instead of Drake’s.
“That means,” Drake responded as he clasped Megan’s other hand, “That we’re going to keep an eye on her so she isn’t a bad influence on you.”
“Daddy,” Christy sighed. “Talk kid English.”
“It means that I don’t always eat the way I should, honey.” Megan caught his amused expression and looked relieved that she hadn’t offended him. “I eat sweets instead of real food sometimes even though I know I shouldn’t.”
“Ooh, that’s bad.” Christy’s eyes were huge. “Daddy says we have to eat all sorts of stuff so we don’t get sick.”
“Your daddy is right,” Megan assured her.
At the small ice cream parlor, they sat at one of the tables outside while Christy devoured her cone. Drake was having trouble not staring at Megan’s tongue as she licked the chocolate sprinkles from her ice cream until Christy stopped eating, mid-cone.
“Daddy said about Mommy and Jimmy,” she stated to Megan.
“Yes,” Megan confirmed.
“He gets sad when he says about them. Uncle Adam says it’s ’kay ’cause they can’t be with us ever now and Daddy misses them. Uncle Adam says they had to go be angels ’cause they’re very special. He says that Mommy and Jimmy are in my heart forever and if I get scared or lonesome I can talk to them there and they’ll help me,” she paused to study Megan. “Did Mommy make you find me? I was talking to her in my heart and then you came.”
“I don’t know,” Megan answered truthfully.
“But Uncle Adam said she’d take care of me from where angels are.”
Drake had to swallow several times before he could speak. “Christy, there’s no way to know if Mommy sent Megan or not. Angels help without letting us know. But even Uncle Adam will tell you that sometimes things just happen the way they do without involving angels. Do you believe Mommy sent Megan to keep you company?”
She chewed on her lip before nodding. “Yeah. I think Mommy sent her to make you happy too, like when I was little.”
Drake ignored the ice cream smeared on her cheeks and hugged Christy tightly. “Maybe she did,” he whispered, his voice unsteady as he watched Megan’s reaction over her head. “I love you, Christy.”
“I love you, Daddy. Always and forever.”
“Yep, always and forever.”

Pretty!

Look what I got yesterday! Isn't it incredible? I described a scene to the cover gurus and they duplicated it perfectly.

Drake's Rules doesn't release until sometime next spring so I haven't even started on the blurb yet. Truthfully I'm avoiding it. I really, really hate writing those things. They are second only to summaries. What I will tell you now though is that this book is so darn sweet you won't believe it. There's a little girl in this story, Christy, who is going to steal your heart. And yes, there is still a very yummy romance mixed in with all that sweetness.

In other writing news, are you ready for this because I still can't quite believe it, I was offered a contract for Linked! What's that? Well, Linked is a very dark, very twisted, extremely violent horror story with a hot and heavy romance woven throughout. I submitted it with tremendous reservations because it is seriously off and I thought there was no way it would ever be accepted. I'm not kidding here. I wrote it and even I have to wonder. So I have the offer and I'm thrilled but I don't think it'll sink in completely until after I receive my confirmation back from the main office.

I know what you're thinking. One extreme to the other, right? Yes, that's true but isn't that life?

Good So Far

Today has started out very well indeed. The Bound Brits Anthology is finally available at Amazon US. I was so pleased I ordered copies to be sent to both my great aunt and my mother. I'm not telling them. I prefer to leave it a surprise. My aunt will be thrilled...my mom, your guess is as good as mine.

Also, in even bigger news, my goddess of an editor accepted my new book, Drake's Rules, for Cerridwen Press. How awesome is that! I haven't written the blurb yet but I'll post it once I do. This is just the sweetest book. It made me sigh repeatedly as I was writing it. It also made me chuckle because there's a scene-stealing six-year-old who says exactly what she's thinking.

Last night, I was chatting with Anny Cook and her Frog Friends on the Ellora's Cave yahoo group and the excerpts I posted seemed well-received. Want to see the sweet one? I'll take that as a yes. Keep in mind this is unedited.

“Daddy, the bread’s gone. Can we get ice cream now?” Christy bounced on her toes in front of them.
“Megan?” Drake deferred to her since it was meant to be a thank you for her kindness.
“Fine by me.” She hopped off the bench. “Lead the way. And for future reference, I consider ice cream to be a staple, consumable any time, day or night.”
“What’s that mean?” Christy chose to hold Megan’s hand instead of Drake’s.
“That means,” Drake responded as he clasped Megan’s other hand, “That we’re going to keep an eye on her so she isn’t a bad influence on you.”
“Daddy,” Christy sighed. “Talk kid English.”
“It means that I don’t always eat the way I should, honey.” Megan caught his amused expression and looked relieved that she hadn’t offended him. “I eat sweets instead of real food sometimes even though I know I shouldn’t.”
“Ooh, that’s bad.” Christy’s eyes were huge. “Daddy says we have to eat all sorts of stuff so we don’t get sick.”
“Your daddy is right,” Megan assured her.
At the small ice cream parlor, they sat at one of the tables outside while Christy devoured her cone. Drake was having trouble not staring at Megan’s tongue as she licked the chocolate sprinkles from her ice cream until Christy stopped eating, mid-cone.
“Daddy said about Mommy and Jimmy,” she stated to Megan.
“Yes,” Megan confirmed.
“He gets sad when he says about them. Uncle Adam says it’s ‘kay ‘cause they can’t be with us ever now and Daddy misses them. Uncle Adam says they had to go be angels ‘cause they’re very special. He says that Mommy and Jimmy are in my heart forever and if I get scared or lonesome I can talk to them there and they’ll help me,” she paused to ponder Megan. “Did Mommy make you find me? I was talking to her in my heart and then you came.”
“I don’t know,” Megan answered truthfully.
“But Uncle Adam said she’d take care of me from where angels are.”
Drake had to swallow several times before he could speak. “Christy, there’s no way to know if Mommy sent Megan or not. Angels help without letting us know. But even Uncle Adam will tell you that sometimes things just happen the way they do without involving angels. Do you believe Mommy sent Megan to keep you company?”
She chewed on her lip before nodding. “Yeah. I think Mommy sent her to make you happy too, like when I was little.”
Drake ignored the ice cream smeared on her cheeks and hugged Christy tightly. “Maybe she did,” he whispered, his voice unsteady as he watched Megan’s reaction over her head. “I love you, Christy.”
“I love you, Daddy. Always and forever.”
“Yep, always and forever.”

I told you it was sweet!

Hm, what else? Oh I know. A few weeks back you may remember I was feeling nostalgic and wrote a letter. The end result of that was an email today from a friend I used to hang out with at the music festivals I went to in high school. Last time I heard from him was at least 15 years ago so now I'm sitting here smiling.

Soon I'm off to a picnic for Neeley's sister's birthday. And, believe it or not, I'm taking a guest. I haven't warned them I'm bringing him so they're not going to have the inquisition planned out. I'm sure it'll occur anyway. I must admit I feel slightly guilty, springing my friends on him our first outing but not too much since he didn't hesitate one bit when I invited him. Hm, a courageous man, how about that!

Tour de France Update -

Winner Stage 14, July 19 - Freire, Spain

Overall Leader - Cadel Evans, Australia