Happy Thanksgiving!!!

One of the things that I love about Thanksgiving (other than the fact that it's the kickoff to the holiday season, which is my favorite time of year) is that it reminds people to think about all the good things they have in their lives.  Especially in this age of instant gratification, when people tend to be grouchy and whiny over conveniences, seeing any delay as a major inconvenience, I think that it's especially important.  Travel can be pretty crazy at this time of year and it always amazes me how much people bitch about the drive or the situation at the airport... umm, we have CARS and PLANES.  We are traveling hundreds of miles to spend time with loved ones - something that wouldn't have been possible only 100 years ago.  Like... DUDE.  I never get tired of the miracle of flight.  We're freaking flying, through the air... that's fucking amazing.  I don't care how long the line at security is.

Anyway.  Enough of my preachiness over why other people should be grateful =)

This year I am grateful for SO much.

#1 on my list is probably that hubby and I moved into a house this year.  I would say bought our first house, but with the amount of money we owe the bank, I'm not sure I can really say that LOL.  It's definitely still the bank's house hahahaha.  But it's amazing being in a house and having a guest bedroom for the first time EVER and being able to entertain large groups of people without feeling claustrophobic =)

I'm also incredibly grateful for all my fans... you guys really make all the work that goes into writing worth it.  I can't express how amazing it is for me when I look at the my reviews and see that people have actually written some!  LOL.  I've had other self-published authors ask me how I get so many and my response is - I just ask.  The fact that I can ask and receive is really something special.  I'm also extremely thankful that the vast majority are good reviews!  I'm still amazed that I managed to get over 100 likes on Facebook this year and over 300 followers on Twitter.  That's amazing.  I'd love to one day be able to quit my day job and be a full time writer - that's not going to happen anytime soon, so I judge my success by things like reviews and followers.  Having dedicated followers is pretty amazing and I'm really thankful that people have been into the giveaways and stuff so that I can give back a little.

Several people, over my time writing, have ended up as volunteer services for me - my beta readers and my editor - and I am SO thankful for their willing help.  As a self-published author, it's not an easy thing to get quality help and, it's taken a while, but I now have a really great team that is both dedicated and on top of things.  I think my past couple books have been getting better and better thanks to their feedback, it's made a huge difference and I'm so thankful for their giving natures!  I'm also super thankful for RaineyCloud9, who has started making all those gorgeous covers for me, not to mention the promotional ads =)  WOOT!  I love looking at my covers now, instead of sighing and wishing they could be better lol.  She does them so much better than I ever could.

Anyway.  Moral of the story... I have a lot to be thankful for, even just in the little realm of the writing world.  I'm loving being able to write books and share them with you, loving the fans on Literotica and BooksieSilk for the free stories, and loving that people actually follow and read this blog.  I have a lot to appreciate for this year, and I'm really looking forward to the coming year and all the cool stuff that I have planned for it!

Christmas Giveaway - TEN Books!

So, one of my fellow Yellow Silk Dreams authors, Blak Rayne is doing a Christmas Giveaway, which quite a few authors have contributed their works for.  The first list came out today and it's ten books long!  Including Stronghold, which was my contribution =)  All you have to do is go to Blak's blog and leave her a comment about the best Christmas gift you've ever gotten, along with your contact info, and you'll be entered in this first giveaway round.  Winners will be announced right before Christmas =)

Gotta love the holidays and the giveaways!

On my own front... the next chapter of From Terra is on hold cuz I'm on a MAJOR roll for Mastering Lexie (I know, I'm sorry, but I've got a deadline... just because Lord Plath has returned, that hasn't changed!).  I'm doing my best to finish as quickly as possible so that I can still do the pre-order thing, but I honestly don't know if it's going to happen.  The release date won't change, it's still December 20th, I just don't know if the book will be available for pre-order or not.  I'm doing my best to make it so.  At the moment I've only got 4-5 chapters left (I think) but since it's Thanksgiving weekend, I have no idea if I'll get it all done in time to have it edited and submitted by December 10, which is what I would need to do to make it available for pre-order.

Things are going pretty crazy in the book right now... if you've been following my twitter then you've been getting little hints and if you've been following my Facebook then you've been getting the tiny teasers.  I'll probably have one more teaser for the book, next week, posted on the blog.  I'm really loving it.  Hopefully I'll stay on my roll and get this thing cranked out in time to be able to put it up for pre-order!

I Ramble As I Wander

It feels like time for another ramble post... and I am constantly surprised by how many people tell me they enjoy reading them LOL.

I'm freaking COLD.  Which is inhibiting my writing because it makes me feel like just curling up under a blanket and reading.  For hours.  Which is what happened last night.  I did get some writing done before that and Mastering Lexie is now at 60k words (yay!) but I didn't get as much done as I wanted to.  *sigh*  On the other hand, I've been reading some good books lately... but I've also been paying more for them than usual.  Normally I try to keep my book purchases under $5 unless it's an author that I know is worth more, but then I discovered Cynthia Eden who has a freaking MILLION books and I got into most of her series, and then Lauren Dohnner's New Species series... and the next thing I know I'm reading instead of writing and spending way too much money on it.  again - *sigh*

The good news is, I'm really liking what I've got going on with Mastering Lexie =)  Even if I wish I was writing it faster.  Definitely going to try to get some serious work done on it today.  The other day I ended up re-writing the outline for the book - again.  I haven't done it quite as often as I did with Stronghold, but the end of the book is def going to be very different from the way I'd originally thought.  I think it's much better though.  One of my beta readers made a couple of points that have really helped me develop the characters further than I initially had, and that's making me really happy.  I was fighting some of the usual "big brother's best friend" tropes so hard that I went a little too far in the opposite direction and was taking out my frustration with other people's books on Patrick.  Poor guy.  Now I'm more balanced and I think it's a lot better that way... Lexie's got some good points to make about his attitude, but at the same time, she's also got some growing up to do.  Sucks being the youngest in the group.

Some other things I'm really enjoying about this book... I'm getting to know Leigh, Andrew and Jared a lot better, which is fun.  There's a seriously hot scene with Master Michael, which I thoroughly enjoyed and is making me look forward to his book.  Off to the side characters like Ellie, Will and Gina are getting small mentions through the book - and Will and Gina have their own short story which will be part of the YellowSilkDreams' holiday 'magazine.'  I'll let you all know when that's available.  I'm also finally getting to know Jake, which I've been looking forward to for a long time!  Not that he gets to show up much, so far, but it's still exciting.  He's kind of a hottie.  Rick basically has Maria locked up in his apartment doing naughty things, so we don't get to see too much of them, but he does let her out every now and then.

So yeah.  That's a lot of fun right now.

I'm also really enjoying working on From Terra.  I should be finishing Chapter 16 and submitting it today, and it's a HUGE turning point in the story, which will change completely after this chapter.  Definitely looking forward to it.  I love Chryssa.

I've also been thinking a lot about what I want to write next... I've got a ton of re-writing to do to make Marriage Training into a book (and, fun announcement, I might be finally making a break into traditional publishing with that one!  I've got a writing agent who's interested!) and I'm working on the beginning of a fetish novella, but I don't know what my next series will be.  I'm on a huge sci-fi romance kick when it comes to reading right now and it's kind of making me want to try my hand at writing one myself.  On the other hand, I also really enjoy doing the Victorian time period, so I'm kind of torn.  I keep coming up with all sorts of story ideas for both.  Aliens or earls... aliens or earls... such a dilemma. LOL.

Before I end this, I just want to say... thank you to my fans.  You guys.  I read every comment, I try to write back, I notice who follows me on Facebook and Twitter and who contacts me.  I love getting emails and feedback.  It doesn't just keep me motivated, it makes me feel really good about what I'm doing.  There is nothing more rewarding than having the same names pop up over and over again throughout the week in response to the stuff I post, whether it's here, facebook or twitter.  One day, if I'm lucky, I might be swamped with fans on all my sites, but there are certain names that are always going to stand out, and it's because you've been the ones who have stuck with me the longest and who are going out of your way to let me know that you're there.  I can't express how much I appreciate that.

Mastering Lexie Teaser

Okay... so, the pre-order thing.  I'm working on it, but it's not ready yet.  It seems that a book has to be finished (so basically, done, but unedited) and uploaded in order for it to be available for pre-order so that Amazon can look it over and make sure they're okay with it.  I'm not sure if I could get away with putting up a manuscript that's half done.  Soooo the pre-order thing probably isn't going to be ready for a while.  *sigh*  But I'm still aiming to have the book out December 20, and I am still going to TRY to make it available for pre-order, once the manuscript is finished and before I start editing.  

So that's what's up with that. 

In the meantime... if you're on Facebook then you've already seen me asking whose POV the next teaser should be from.  The answer was, overwhelmingly, Patrick.   It's unedited, as usual.

Enjoy:

The second he entered the main floor of the club, Patrick's eyes darted around.  He was used to taking in the big picture and focusing on whatever was out of place, but right now, it wasn't hard to figure out what the problem was.  The Lounge area where unattached subs congregated was almost empty, and those that were still kneeling there were watching the bar with the same interest as the few couples who were on the dance floor.  Some of them weren't even dancing, they were just swaying slightly, their attention too caught by the drama at the bar. 

That's where most of the people in the room were, the majority of them clustered at the center of the bar.  

Possessive fury flamed sudden and hot inside Patrick's chest as he focused on the combatants in the center of the stare down.  Andrew had his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at Michael Waverly, who had one hand on the back of Lexie's neck.  Her short black hair was clipped back from her face, so that he could clearly see her mulish expression as she glared up at Andrew, who didn't take his focus from Michael.  The short black skirt and bright blue bustier she was wearing screamed "Ready to Play," to any Dom who observed her.  

The other subs were ranged around her.  Not just Angel, Hilary, Jessica and Maria, but also others that she'd befriended during her time working at the front desk.  Ellie, who was Andrew's most frequent play partner, had positioned herself at Lexie's side - although she was also shooting little looks at Michael.  In his distraction, Patrick couldn't quite interpret what those little looks meant, but she was the only sub whose focus wasn't entirely on Andrew.  He looked like he was holding back an army of rebelling submissives.  

Off to the side, perched on a bar stool, sat Olivia, looking like Queen Bee.  The fiery-haired Domme was stunning in all black leather that clung to her like a second skin.  Her legs were crossed and the look of amusement on her face was completely out of place with everyone else's expressions.  

Dammit.

Patrick knew exactly who she was going to side with.  Every step he took towards the group felt like he was actually being pushed, down into a pit that would be impossible to escape, and yet he couldn't do anything else.  Lexie was here, with another man.

Probably the only man who would have dared to do this.  Master Michael didn't come to the club very often, he'd been too busy, but he'd had a membership for a long time.  It had lapsed when he'd moved away and then been reinstated on his return.  A decision that Patrick was definitely regretting now.  Like Andrew and Chris, Michael was a bit of a prankster with a penchant for trouble.  Unlike them, he didn't have a history that would make him feel protective, like a brother, towards Lexie.

"Move Andrew, you're being ridiculous," Lexie said, biting out the words.  Patrick could see the tension along her slender shoulders.  With her arms crossed under her breasts, the small mounds were pushed even further up than they had been by the bustier. 

As if sensing his approach, Angel turned her head and saw him, her eyes widening.  She reached out to her side and grabbed Jessica's hand, alerting her.  Not that they looked any less rebellious.  If anything, they looked more defiant than ever.  Probably because they knew their asses were going to be grass once their Doms found out what they'd been up to.  They shouldn't be at the club by themselves, period, much less involved in a mass revolt.  Their awareness of him passed through to the others next to them.  Both Hilary and Maria were avoiding his gaze, but then, Hilary was extremely submissive and Maria didn’t know him that well.  Not that it made either of them step back of course.  Even the other little subbies who would normally fear his wrath were bracing themselves.  Dammit.  It didn’t look like anyone was going to be backing down any time soon.

"What's going on?" he asked, pitching his voice to carry.  Not that he needed to be very loud.  Conversation around the club had completely stopped, so, other than the music, there was no sound for him to compete against. 

Lexie stiffened, but didn't turn her head.  He felt like growling as he saw Michael's fingers stroke her neck soothingly before he turned to face Patrick. 

"Your bartender is keeping us from going downstairs," he said, mildly, although his hazel eyes flashed with amusement that didn't quite go with the neutral expression on his face.  Andrew bristled.  Not too surprisingly, since he and Michael had actually become pretty good friends.  The other Dom would see this as a kind of betrayal.

"Lexie's not allowed downstairs."

He kept his gaze on Michael's face as Lexie opened her mouth, her eyes blazing, but Michael's grip on her neck tightened just a bit and she pressed her lips together in a straight line.  Letting Michael continue to speak for her.  It fucking killed Patrick to see her responding to another Dom.  The inside of his chest felt like it was tightening around his lungs. 

"I was informed that Lexie no longer works for you," Michael said coolly.  A murmur of agreement went through the subs surrounding them, a few of them crossing their arms over their chests and nodding.  "Therefore, you have no authority over her in the capacity of an employee.  My membership has been approved to allow me to bring in a submissive, of my choice, to scene with for the evening.  I have chosen Lexie."

Patrick's jaw clenched, his mind racing as he fought for control over his emotions.  The determined, defiant jerk of Lexie's chin made him want to spank her ass again.  Anger swirled, along with a sense of loss.  He was on the verge of telling Michael that his membership was canceled and to get the fuck out, when Olivia hopped up from her perch. 

"It's clearly written out in your rules, Patrick," she said, her voice hard.  Those dazzling grey eyes of her were as unyielding as slate.  A small smile grew on her face, but it didn't reach those stony eyes.  "The only right you would have to deny them a scene would be if someone else claimed Lexie as his or her submissive."

From the emphasis she put on 'someone else,' Olivia made it clear that she meant him.  Beside Lexie, Michael stood waiting, looking entirely nonchalant, as if it didn't matter to him what Patrick's decision was.  But the stillness in the other submissives standing there, and the Doms hovering on the outskirts, said that they were all waiting to see what Patrick would do.  If he denied Michael, it would undermine all of their trust in him.  He made the rules, if he didn't follow him, then why should they?

His fists clenched.  Goddamn it all to fucking hell.  

They'd planned every last detail of this.  He didn't believe for one second that Lexie had come up with this on her own, and his quick appraisal of her friends confirmed that.  Angel might look as defiant as Lexie, but she also looked nervous.  Out of all Patrick's friends, Adam was probably the strictest and he was not going to be happy with her.  Especially because she'd involved Michael.  Adam and Michael got along fairly well now, but he still struggled with the fact that Angel had a bunch of very close guy friends and that her friendship with Michael had always been flirtatious.  Liam rarely punished his fiance, Hilary, but Patrick doubted she was going to get away with a light spanking for showing up at Stronghold without him there, not to mention in support of Lexie getting into the downstairs portion of the club.  Maria looked like she was ready to bolt, but she was also the newest member of their little group and probably felt in over her head.  Privately, Patrick was surprised that Jessica had managed to get away from both of her boyfriends in order to be here tonight.  All of them had probably lied their asses off.  Which would mean more punishment coming their way.

Lexie would have known that Eric was going to be working as bouncer tonight.  He was the only one who would have let her through the door without contacting Patrick, because he was too new to know better.  He was also the only one who wouldn't realize that her friends shouldn't be here without their Doms.  Having Michael and Olivia with them would have been enough, he wouldn't have thought twice about letting them in without notifying anyone. 

Obviously Patrick was going to have to do a more thorough job training anyone who spent time at the front door.  Although, now that Lexie wasn't working for him, it wasn't like she'd know what the schedule was after this week anyway.  Jared or Will would have never let her in without contacting him first.

The public stand-off worked in Lexie's favor too.  He had to follow his own rules or invite chaos, not to mention a lack of respect from everyone else in here for not following his own goddamn rules. 

"She hasn't had an Introduction scene," he said, his voice clipped, even though he knew that the excuse wasn't going to work.

"Michael can handle it," Olivia said, raising her eyebrow at him.  If it had been anyone other than Olivia, he probably would have taken them out front to go a few rounds in the parking lot.  But Patrick didn't hit women, he only spanked, whipped, flogged and caned them when they asked nicely.  Besides, if he was being 100% honest with himself, he wasn't sure that he'd come out on top.  Olivia took her Krav Maga seriously, and he doubted she'd have any real concern about damaging him, whereas he would never be able to make himself go all out against her.  "Besides, you don't require an Introduction scene for submissives who come in with an established Dom."

No, he didn't, although he usually assigned someone to 'oversee' any new couple in the club for their first few scenes.  Just as a precaution.  Not that Michael was new exactly but... fuck, he was going to regret this.

"Fine.  Andrew, get back to work."  There was a loud exhalation, as if everyone suddenly started breathing again all at the same time.  It would have been funny if he wasn't so righteously pissed off.  He looked Michael directly in the eye.  "I'm going to be overseeing."

Angel Recommends: CL Sholey

So before I get to the recommendation... just a bit of catch up on what's going on with me writing-wise =)  I'm over 50k words into Mastering Lexie, which means that I'm probably about halfway through.  I'm going to be putting it up for pre-order later this week, and when I do I'll announce it on the blog AND also provide a teaser ;)  Woot!  I've also re-released books 1-3 of the Venus Rising Quartet with edits.  Nothing major, but should make the readability a lot better since grammar is definitely improved and I've fixed a lot of words that were wrong.  Also, working on the next chapter of From Terra.  Yay!

So... in the meantime, if you're looking for something to read, I've become a big fan of C.L. Sholey.

I have to admit, I almost didn't make it through the first chapter of Shield, the first book in C.L. Sholey's New World series, but I'm so glad that I did.  It had a bit of a slow start, but things really heated up fast once the humans crash landed and meet their first alien.  

Rask is a Castian, part of a very long-lived race that looks human when they don't have their armor on.  Their armor makes them utterly terrifying, and when Grace first sees him, she panics and flees.

There's lots of cool things about Castians.  Their armor is part of them, it comes out whenever they feel threatened, and when they don't it sinks into their skin.  They're fierce warriors.  They have blood brothers whose thoughts they can read.  Their sense of smell is so good that they can scent emotions.  Oh, and all females on their planet were poisoned and killed off by their enemies, the Tonians, hundreds of years ago, so Grace is the first female that Rask has seen in - literally - hundreds of years.  

Watching him trying to figure out what she is, and then getting all horny but having NO idea what to do about it, is hilarious.  He's an alpha male, but a totally clueless one when it comes to sex, and it's freaking adorable.  Grace is pretty into it as well, since things on earth had pretty much disintigrated before the shuttle that she was on escaped, and women weren't exactly safe from the depredations of men.  Of course, once she starts showing Rask what to do, he catches on quickly.

When they reunite with the rest of his people, things get even more interesting.  There are older Castians who remember the females, and once they find out about this planet Earth, which is dying, and the fact that human females are compatible, the rescue mission is on!  Picture a bunch of horny virgins, who have never met a female, but are super excited to have one... and they just happen to be 6 1/2 foot tall warriors who are totally alpha male even though they don't know what their cock is for.  The best part is, for the most part, the older males seem to think it's best if they figure it out on their own.  

There's a lot of humor in the entire series, a lot of really sweet alpha males, and some great stories when it comes to danger and strong female characters.  I really enjoyed these books on pretty much every level.  I could go into more detail about them, but not without having to explain a lot about the culture of the Castians and Tonians and it's really just better that you read it for yourself, because otherwise it may or may not make sense if I try to do it =D

Giveaway, From Terra Ch. 13, and a Story

Okay, so I am now at 300 Twitter followers and the Twitter giveaway for a free copy of Mastering Lexie has started =)  I'm also over 100 likes on my Facebook page!  You can go there to enter the Facebook Giveaway for a free copy of Mastering Lexie.  It's amazing how quickly my Facebook page went from 88 to 101 once I said there's a chance for free stuff =P LOL.  I'm okay with that though, I enjoy doing the giveaways and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy that there are so many people who want one!  By the way, if you haven't seen the GORGEOUS cover for the book yet, check out my previous blog post.

Chapter 13 of From Terra is now available on Literotica and Chapter 14 has already been submitted.  I had to edit chapter 13 because apparently my alien was too close to sounding like an animal instead of an alien which is why it took so long to come out.  Bah.  Whatevs.  I like the chapter.  And I'm super excited to see what people think of Chapter 14 because it's definitely the WEIRDEST creature I've ever utilized.  Chapter 15 should be fun and then I can't WAIT to get to chapter 16 when Lord Plath returns again!  =D  As much fun as I had being dark with Taken by the Wolf, I'm really enjoying doing something so fun and funny.  Chryssa entertains me so.  She's probably one of the most pragmatic characters I've ever had, and one of the most sensually greedy.  I'm thinking about doing more characters like her, since people seem to be responding to her.

So.  A little story.  I find it amusing, you may or may not, but people have indicated that they like knowing some of the little things that go on in my life.

Last night, I'm sitting on the couch with hubby and we finished catching up on Gotham (which I am LOVING!) and I didn't really have an opinion on what to watch next, so I toss the remote at him.  He looks at me with this kind of bewildered expression and holds up his hands, because he's holding a beer in one hand and a bag of chips in the other.  Waving his full hands up and down like he's doing a demented doggy-paddle, he looks at the remote which has landed on the couch next to him, and goes "Oh noooooooo."

At which point I bust up laughing and tell him "You look ridiculous."

He starts giggling (yes, actually giggling) which just makes me laugh harder and then I have a sudden thought.

"Oh my god... is this what being married to me feels like?"

Which just makes him start laughing as he nods YES.

Because that's the kind of shit I do to him aaaaaaaaaaall the time.  It was both weird and hilarious to be on the receiving end of that kind of ridiculousness.  Poor guy.  Can't imagine how he puts up with me.  LOL.

Mastering Lexie Cover & Giveaway

Happy November everyone!!!

So I'm pretty excited about a lot of stuff going on... I now have the cover for Mastering Lexie (Thanks to RaineyCloud9 by designer Crystal Raine and her incredible talent) and I'll be making it available for pre-order on Amazon this week, which I'll let you guys know when it's up. I'll be looking into how to do pre-order for the other sites as well.

On Facebook I have reached 89 Likes... to encourage people liking my Facebook page (I swear, I say all sorts of interesting things on there, really!) once I get to 100 Likes on my page, I will have a Mastering Lexie giveaway specifically for my Facebook followers!

On Twitter, I have 294 followers... to encourage people following me on Twitter, once I have 300 followers, I will have a Mastering Lexie giveaway specifically for my Twitter followers!

For both giveaways, I will be giving one lucky winner a free e-book copy of Mastering Lexie.

I'm currently at about 43K words =)  A little over 1/3 of the way through the book.  It's moving along at a good pace!!!

On Friday, I submitted Chapter 13 of From Terra to Literotica, so that should be out any day now!  For those of you wondering, Lord Plath will be returning... just not until Chapter 16.  I'll hopefully finish writing Chapter 14 in the next couple of days.

And I'm having a really good time working on the Stronghold short story for Yellow Silk Dreams' Christmas anthology!  It's fun to write something for Stronghold that's not a full length, super involved story, but also gives me (and you) a little glimpse into some of the characters on the outskirts of the main Stronghold group.  Good times!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and a great Halloween... Facebook & Twitter followers got to see my Luna Lovegood Stormtrooper outfit, so if you aren't tempted by a giveaway, maybe you'll be tempted by that! =D