Looking Back on 2014

Holy crap it's been a good year!!!

I finished Taken by the Wolf for Lit, which was a big deal for me because that story got kind of out of hand with plot LOL.  It became so much more complicated than I had originally planned!  But I had a good time with it, and it's possible I will eventually do a book of sci-fi romance that will take place on the planet that Alex and Bella ended up on - although they would NOT be the main characters.  It's just a thought.  Starting From Terra was good, even though it's obvious I'm not going to meet my goal from January of finishing it before the end of this year.  I'm also obviously not going to finish the other two series that I'd wanted to this year (Tomboy Tease and Homeschooled), but that'll just give me a goal for next year!!!

Looking back at my goals for this year...

*sigh*

I still haven't been to a strip club.

Maybe this year.  I'm going to stop making it a goal though, because I apparently suck at fulfilling it.

I did much better with my writing goals than my life goals LOL.  I managed to finish the Domestic Discipline, totally completing a series for the first time ever =)  I don't really consider the Venus Rising Quartet totally completed, just because it got a spin-off series which is still ongoing and the characters are a part of.  And I published both Taming the Tease and Mastering Lexie (and kinda got the 2nd one in just under the gun!).

Even though I didn't publish the book version of Marriage Training, I feel like I've done some pretty significant progress on it, since there's a writing agent interested in it, and so that makes me feel pretty good.  Lots of suggestions have been made from the agent about changing it for book format that I'm really excited about, so I'm kind of glad I didn't get it self-published this past year =)

I feel pretty good about this past year, even though I didn't make all my goals (including my bonus goal *sigh*).  I'm really glad that the Stronghold series is going so well and that people really seem to be enjoying Lexie & Patrick's book!  I'm looking forward to where the series is going to go this year. I'm also looking forward to starting a new series, although I don't know if I'm going to go futuristic or Victorian for it... probably Victorian.  There's a book I've been working on for almost a year and a half now, whenever I'm not doing anything else, so there's only a few chapters written for it, but I think I'm going to go ahead and concentrate on getting it out this year.  No connection to Marriage Training. 

Anyway.  So yeah.  I'm really happy with this past year and the stuff I've put out... I hope everyone else has been too.  I know I've been really grateful for the help I've received, for all the reviews you guys have written, and for the comments that I get throughout the year, on here, Facebook and Twitter =)  I love hearing from you all!

Next blog will be New Years Day, about all the stuff I hope to accomplish this year!

Something Free for Christmas!

Amanda Byrne, who's a wonderfully talented author, has a free book out if you want to try her writing! (At the time this blog was scheduled, she told me that she was still waiting for Amazon to price match... hopefully today, the day this blog actually is posted, it's all taken care of.  Otherwise, use the KOBO link to download it if you don't have a Nook =)

An accident forces Lila into physical therapy - and onto Dean's massage table. Under his talented hands, her injuries start to heal, and sparks a desire that neither one can ignore.

A 6,700 word erotic short story

Download it here: AMZ | BN | Kobo

Excerpt:

Finally she couldn’t stand it anymore and, one day, when their session was coming to an end, she caught his wrists to still him. Seeing she had his attention, she stretched up, placed her hands on either side of his head, and drew him down to kiss him.

It was awkward and not nearly as sexy as it looked in the first Spiderman movie. But there was a sweetness to it she hadn’t anticipated. Wanting more, she shifted onto her stomach and arched up, not paying attention to where the sheet was going.

Now she had a good angle. Now she could slip her tongue between his lips, swallow his moan as his hands dove into her hair, tongue dueling with hers. A kiss she’d intended to be cautious and testing spun out of control, and she tried to drag him closer.

Mmph. Perfect. His mouth was perfect, and just as skillful as his hands. Long, firm strokes into her mouth with his tongue, backing off to nibble at her lips, tiny kisses at the corners until she went after him, greedy for more. Wet, hot, and delicious. That was Dean’s kisses.          

Oh. He moved on without prompting to her jaw, nibbling, sucking, licking his way over the delicate line, making her gasp as he suckled the spot under her ear. A spot. Her spot, the one that revved her faster than any other. Especially when he combined it with-

He jerked away, his hand still on her breast, ready to squeeze again. No. It had been good, fantastic, he’d been into it, she knew it, he couldn’t stop now. Fuck waiting until she was done with rehab. “Dean?” she whispered.

The Original Stronghold Outline

So, I've talked in blogs about how my outlines change... it's usually due to character developments or a new revelation about the characters or plot while I'm writing, sometimes it's due to a bossy Dom....  I don't usually keep the first draft of my outlines, but I figured for Mastering Lexie I would.  Just in case anyone's interested in seeing how much the story changed from the original idea to the final product.

If you haven't read Mastering Lexie yet, you may want to do that first... or you may enjoy reading this outline first and then seeing how the book changed as it was written.  Up to you.  =)

Here's the original outline... which, looking at it, a LOT has changed since I wrote it.  In fact, it's practically a different book.  LOL.  So yeah... I always start off with an idea of what I want to have happen, but man does that idea change substantially as I'm actually writing about it.  There are bits and pieces you might recognize, but overall... totally different book.   Even the epilogue changed because I decided to postpone Andrew's book and have Jared's come first!

Mastering Lexie (the original outline):

- Lexie is Jake's little sister - Patrick refuses to let her play, only allows her to work.  Recently started letting her around the club but only to look - scares away any Doms who approach her.  Patrick wants a slave (never had one).

- Lexie tries coming onto him - he gives some orders and she submits, which turns him on more than he's willing to admit, but it doesn't stop her mouth - tells her she's not what he wants in a sub.  Hurts her.

- Talks more with Angel, who tells Michael that Lexie would like to show him around club - explains situation.  He's a very strong Dom, amused, he agrees.

- Lexie puts on special outfit for first tie in club - Michael makes it special, uses hands and mouth.  Patrick and others try to interfere when they first show up but subs, Olivia and Michael prevail.

- Patrick confronts Lexie the next day when she comes in to work, tells her that she doesn't have enough experience to know what she's getting into with Michael, she says then you do it, he agrees to train her but only at the club.

- Lexie has girls night with Angel & Leigh - bond.  Leigh and her boyfriend are drifting again.  Lexie says they should start a support group.  Everything is good with Adam and Angel.

- Patrick distracted from work by lustful thoughts of Lexie, esp after intense scene.  Feels guilt over Jake.  Hangs out with Andrew - talk about women / the couples / Jared & Marissa who just came home.

- They have another intense scene - Patrick mastrubates afterwards.  Michael does scene with Ellie.

- Leigh and her boyfriend break-up. Lexie goes to help Angel, canceling a scene with Patrick who realizes he's disappointed and grouchy because of that.  Heart to heart with Justin at Stronghold while Chris dances with Jessica.

- Very intense scene next time Lexie comes in; she basically jumps him at the end and he loses control, they have sex.  Super guilt over his lack of control and taking advantage of his friend's sister.

- Adam / Michael ushering Angel, Leigh and Lexie around club, Leigh was curious.  Lexie quits her job.  Patrick's upset - avoids her at the club.

- Jake comes home - Lexie upset, admits what happened.  Jake asks Patrick why he won't be with Lexie, Patrick suprrised at support, goes to Lexie but she's mad he didn't fight for her in the first place.

- at club she's talking with other Doms, he decides to fight for her, leads to hot scene.

Epi - Katherine comes home and her new bf wants to take her to Stronghold.

Before I Go

So, if you haven't picked up your copy of Mastering Lexie, you should do that!  (See previous blog).  The other thing you should do is leave a review... it's all I want for Christmas!  Seriously though, if you like my books, the nicest thing you can do for me is leave a review.  =)  I appreciate each and every one!

I am leaving tonight for vacation, but I'll probably still have internet access while I'm away.  Just in case, though, I've scheduled some blogs to automatically go up while I'm gone.  WOOT!  I've got Twitter & Facebook linked to my phone, so there'll be updates, I'm sure =)  The only thing I might not be able to do is let you all know when the next chapter of From Terra is posted (it was submitted yesterday), so keep an eye out for that!

Have to say... thought I was going to get to take the easy way out.  My initial idea was that Chryssa's brother Jed could be Porluxa's prine, and then Chryssa would show up... happy reunion... nice little tidy bundle.  But then I get the comment "I'm guessing Jed will be Porluxa's prine, but I don't know... that seems too simple for Angel" (okay, not a direct quote, but it's the gist) and I'm like well crap.  I don't mind people guessing what I'm about to do... but this comment was right on the money.  It IS the easy way out.  I do try to avoid that.  So I've come up with something else, and since I'm doing that, I figured I might as well cave to fan pressure and bring back Brik for at least one chapter.  Maybe he'll get his own story eventually too.  He'd be a good match for my Dark Angel pen name.  So.  There were supposed to be two more chapters.  Now there'll be at least three, hopefully not more than four.

I really need to get around to finishing the other two series that I started and never finished and that all of YOU voted I needed to finish.  Don't know if anyone remembers, but the original goal was that I finish them this year... sooooooooooo obviously that's not going to happen.  But I should be able to finish Tomboy Tease and Home-schooled during 2015.

Ah, also, people have been asking about Broken, which will be the second novella for Stronghold.  There won't be a novella in between every book, but this one is a kind of prequel for the fourth book, Breaking the Chain.  I've talked (a long time ago) about the order of upcoming books, but there is a definite clue for what's coming up in the epilogue of Mastering Lexie.  ;)  I'm pretty excited about it.  Considering fan comments about the characters during previous books, I have a feeling others will be too.

So that's it... enjoy Mastering Lexie.  Please leave a review for it if you have a minute.  Look for the next chapter of From Terra.  And I hope you enjoy the scheduled blogs while I'm away! Happy Holidays!

Mastering Lexie is Now Available!!!!

Amazon , Barnes & Noble , Smashwords

Lexie grew up with a crush on her brother's best friend, Patrick. He's gorgeous, sexy, controlling and arrogant, and she knows that he wants what amounts to a full-time submissive. So far, none of his girlfriends have ever been able to give him what he needs, but she's sure she's just the woman for him. She keeps pushing the boundaries of their relationship, until he agrees to allow her into the BDSM club that he owns, Stronghold, and train her. She can't help but wonder, will she be able to prove to him that they're worth the risk, or is she going to end broken hearted?

Hands off. That's what Lexie is to Patrick, and not just because she's his best friend's little sister. It's also because her family is practically his, they share all of the same friends, and he's worried about breaking her heart. The sweet little Pixie he's always known has grown up into a gorgeous young woman, one whom he wants to tie up, spank and control. She's passing every test he sets in front of her, but can she convince him that they'll be able to make it work before her brother comes home and Patrick has to ask his best friend if he can date his little sister. Because if she can't, Patrick knows he'll remain silent on the subject forever. It's just not worth tearing apart the people he considers his family, not to mention the family of friends that he's made, if he and Lexie aren't able to meet each other's needs. For now, he's going to make what memories he can while he keeps his promise to train her. He knows he's toeing the line during her training, but he just can't seem to stop himself, and she's starting to break his careful control.

This book contains hot and heavy erotic scenes, spanking, bondage, and BDSM.

This is the third book in the Stronghold series:
1. Stronghold
2. Taming the Tease
2.5 On His Knees
3. Mastering Lexie
3.5 Broken (Spring 2015)

From Terra Ch. 17 & Guess What?

Hey look!  I'm back to writing free stories!! LOL

Chapter 17 of From Terra is now up on Literotica =)  I'm excited to be back in the business LOL. Hopefully I'll be able to get another chapter submitted before I leave for vacation, because I'm not sure how much writing I'll be able to get done while I'm out of town.

For those of you (im)patiently waiting for Mastering Lexie, you'll be thrilled to know that it was submitted last night =)  There's a good chance it will be out and available today!  So keep an eye out for that.  Of course, I'll be updating the blog by tomorrow with the links, if it is.  WOOT!  I'm pretty darn happy with it overall.  It went shooting off in directions that were unexpected at times, but I think that it ended up being way better than the original outline.

Speaking of which, I've got a blog scheduled for next week when I'm on vacation where I'm going to share the original outline with you all, in case you're interested in seeing how very different it is from the final product.  Cuz uh... it's WAY different. 

So yeah, that's what's going on!  Enjoy the free chapter while you're waiting for ML to hurry up and come out =)

Update

Soooo I noticed it's been almost a week since I updated the blog and figured I should... you know... probably do that.

I have gotten absolutely nothing done on From Terra because I'm in a mad rush to finish Mastering Lexie.  I know exactly how these last few chapters are going to go, I just need to pound them out, and I've been infernally busy because it's the holiday season and I'm always crazy around this time of year.  I had a lot of girl time this weekend because my girls and I went to the Redskins game on Sunday and had a sleepover Saturday night so that it would be easy to drive down Sunday morning.  If you follow my facebook, then you got to see all the drunken conversations that I posted lol... might remind you of the Stronghold girls' nights. I won't lie, I use a lot of conversations that have actually happened between my friends and me in the books.

Mastering Lexie will actually probably be out earlier than December 20, because when I looked at my calendar, I realized that OOPS, I'm actually headed out of town on the 17th LOL.  ACK.  I will have some internet connection, but my life will be much easier/better if I can get it submitted before I leave, so that's the current goal.  We originally weren't leaving until the weekend, but we're now going to Harry Potter World with some friends so we're leaving a couple of days early to go to Florida before we go to Georgia for the holiday.  WOOT!  Preeeeeeeeeetty excited about visiting the new portion of the Harry Potter Theme park at Universal.  =)

In the meantime... I'm gonna get back to cracking on ML so that I can freaking finish it on time!  I'm hoping to be done writing before this weekend so that I have time to do some more editing and so that my helpers aren't put under too much of a time crunch!

FREE Stronghold Short Story!

So, as a Christmas present, the authors of Yellow Silk Dreams have banded together and produced a kind of magazine with short stories / articles from all of us.  I contributed a short written especially for the article.  You may remember a chat that Liam had with a masochist named Gina in Venus Aspiring; well she's been playing regularly with Master Will since then and all she wants for Christmas is him... but does he want her?  I also include a few little small glimpses into the other Stronghold characters, as well as a total spoiler about how Patrick & Lexie's book ends (you know... if you're questioning whether they end up together or not ;) lol

If you want the free Stronghold story and to check out some other YSD authors for free, just click here.

Honestly... it's kind of silly not to.  I mean, it's free.  Plus, Jackie, our fearless leader, went to all the trouble of making it available in several different formats so that you can read it on your Kindle or computer or whatever device you prefer =)

Also, since it's part of a free download and not available anywhere else, leave a comment here on my blog, on twitter or facebook to let me know what you thought of the story!  I'd love to hear any feedback on it and whether I should do more little shorts about the side characters like it!

In other news... I'm working my ass off on Mastering Lexie still.  I'm not getting anything done on anything else.  But it's going good!

Aaaaaand it's very likely that it will be out before December 20, because I just realized that I'm leaving town on December 17 and the whole hassle of trying to get everything together and submitted using a hotel's crappy internet just does not sound appealing, so I'm going to do my best to get it done before I leave.  Woot!

Last Mastering Lexie Teaser Until Release!

Soooo... it's December!!!! i.e. release month for Mastering Lexie.  I am a typing fiend.  No kidding, I got three chapters written last week... unfortunately, it's still not enough for me to make ML available for pre-order =/  The way Amazon works with pre-order is that I can submit a draft copy at any point - but it has to be a full draft - and then I have to submit the final, edited, ready-to-go version at least 10 days before the release date.  This means that, to get the book out on December 20, I would have to be completely finished with it by December 10th.  While I might be done writing it by then, I'm almost positive I won't have time to edit it.  And we all know, reading unedited books sucks.  So I'm not going to be able to do the pre-order thing... but the release date is definitely December 20.  Hopefully at some point in the future I will get better about guesstimating my writing time so I can do pre-order stuff.

Anyway.  Like I said, things are really moving along with the book, which is super exciting.  The beta readers all say they're enjoying it so far (which is even more exciting lol) and have come up with a lot of good stuff for me which has really been helping with the creation of the book.  I'm really happy with it at the moment, even though I wish I'd managed to finish it sooner.  I had originally planned to try and have it done by today, so that I would have the next ten days to work on editing and stuff.  *sigh*  Oh well.  Can't do it all!

In the meantime, to celebrate the fact that it's now release month, here's the last teaser before the book comes out:

******

Returning to Lexie's apartment the next day, Patrick beat down the feeling of anticipation that had haunted him ever since he'd left the night before.  It had felt incredibly good to give her directions, knowing that he would check up on her, knowing that there would be consequences.  He was a bit torn about whether he'd deny her Stronghold or if he'd spank her, but either way, it was the first time in far too long that he'd exerted his dominance over a woman in any kind of real way.

Once Lexie had started working at the club, he'd stopped playing there... and since he didn't really enjoy casual scenes, he didn't play at home either.  Hell, he hadn't dated since Lexie started working at Stronghold, even when she was going out with that little jerk Trevor.  That had driven him nuts.  The little bastard hadn't deserved Lexie at all, although at least she'd figured that out.  And Patrick had gotten a couple good swings in before they'd been pulled apart.  She'd brought Trevor to Stronghold for the very first theme night that Patrick had allowed her to hold.

The little idiot had tried to convince Lexie to sneak off the main floor and to one of the private rooms - something Patrick had expressly forbidden her to do.  She'd refused to leave the main floor, like she'd been told to, and the dumbass had decided to push things on the dance floor.  There were plenty of other couples around them doing similar things.  Patrick had thought he was just going to have to sit back and watch it, but at the first frantic glance Lexie had sent him as she tried to push Trevor away, Patrick had been beside her in an instant.  

It was one of the first times that he'd lost control over himself in years.  He'd just meant to separate them and give her boyfriend a firm lecture about safe, sane and consensual, but then the kid had told Patrick to leave them the fuck alone and grabbed Lexie's breast.  Hard enough to make her cry out and she'd pulled back, tripping over her feet and falling to the ground.  So Trevor had ended up with a black eye, a sore jaw and some bruised ribs by the time Justin had pulled Patrick off of him.  

He'd sent Patrick to his office to cool off, which he was only willing to do because Hilary had already been holding and comforting Lexie.  Adam and Liam had helped Justin restore order, while Jessica kept everyone away from Lexie and Chris guarded Patrick's door.  It was not Patrick's best night, despite the fact that everyone had really enjoyed the theme night and attendance had been at an all-time high.  He was kind of sad that he'd missed Olivia scaring the shit out of Trevor though.  

The only good thing to come out of that night was that Lexie had broken up with Trevor immediately and Patrick hadn't had to go through the torture of watching her date anyone else since.  Just the torture of knowing that he couldn't claim her for his own.

Today was a bit of a test.  He wanted to see if Lexie would follow a non-sexual order that wasn't part of a scene.  This wasn't just a series of scenes to Patrick, it was the way he wanted to live his life and he wanted to see if Lexie would follow through or not.  Although he liked a sassy sub, he didn't want every minute of his life to be a battle, which meant that his submissive needed to follow orders some of the time.

He didn't even get a chance to knock on the door before it opened.  A cheerful Lexie was practically bouncing on her feet as she grinned up at him.

"Five thirty, right on the dot," she said.  "As expected."

"Hey Pixie."  Damn she was cute when she was like this.  Wearing a grey t-shirt advertising some restaurant and blue jean shorts, she was completely casual and completely beautiful.  Her short hair was tucked behind her ears and she wasn't wearing any make-up at all, and Patrick had the strongest urge to just tuck her under his arm and never let her go.

"Come on in," she said, bouncing back from the door, pride practically emanating from her body.  Patrick already knew that she done everything he'd told her to.  Everything about her demeanor screamed proud submissive, but part of a Dom/sub relationship was acknowledging and rewarding good behavior.  

Warmth flooded his chest, seeing her like this.  Knowing that she'd done everything he'd told her to, and that she'd found satisfaction in it rather than resentment or boredom.

The apartment was spotless and the number of boxes stacked against her wall had been halved.  Granted, other than the clothes, her place hadn't really been all that messy.  Still, Patrick liked things neat and it had made a good test for her.  Especially since she'd never been messy before, but, as she'd pointed out, she'd always had on her mom on hand to make sure her room was clean.

"Good girl," he said, enjoying the way her bright blue eyes lit up from within at his words.  He'd told her that before, countless times, but this time it had more weight.  Because this time, they both knew she'd crossed some invisible line, that it meant something just a little bit different.  

"So now what?" she asked, practically bouncing on her toes as she tilted her head back to look at him, stepping a little bit closer and getting into his personal space.

Patrick raised his eyebrow.  "What do you mean?"

"I did what you said, right?  And I proved I can handle Stronghold.  So now what?"  She wasn't just eager, her voice was a little bit challenging.  Even if he tried to let the situation slide back to the status quo, she wasn't going to accept that. 

He knew it, but he still felt a bit of exasperated resignation at hearing the confirmation of that in her voice.  For the past year she'd been working towards this and they both knew it.  There wasn't anything he could do to stop her, really, but he could at least make sure she took things slowly.  

"Now, you go have fun at your girls’ night.  Come back to work at Stronghold on Tuesday and I'll start training you on Thursday."