Monday, August 27, 2012

Winners of the blog hop

That's right! I said winners! As in more than one lol. Since I had such a great turn out it seems fair to pick more than one winner lol.

*Cue drum roll*

Juliana and Cannd are the winners! I'll be emailing you both shortly! Congrats! And a big thank you to everyone that took part. :)

~M

Friday, August 24, 2012

Follow the Rainbow Book Review Blog Hop

 

Hey guys! Over this weekend the Follow the Rainbow Book Reviews Blog Hop will be taking place. I’m really excited to be taking part in this hop. To hop from one blog to another use the highlighted link above.

 

What writing GLBTQ literature means to me.

Until a few years ago all I read was het sex, and it was always the same ole same ole. Frankly, I was getting bored. Then I found GLBTQ and a whole new world opened up.  It was new, exciting, sensual, and oh my God, was I hooked. I’d never read anything like it.
 
 
 
My main area of interest is in the genre is M/M. Yes, reading about two men making love turns me on, but it’s more than that. My interest brought me to a new awareness of just how far we, as a people, still have to go in the matter of equal rights. And I’ve seen how narrow-minded our legislating body can be in regards to what they consider ‘not normal.’  



 
*Sigh* I’ve met people through my writing and heard stories that’ll rip your heart out. And the only difference between us… I’m allowed to marry and they’re not. That’s the tip of the iceberg, granted. But my point is because I’m straight a lot of the rights granted to me are denied to people who just happen not to be straight. They bleed the same damn color as I do… but because they are considered ‘different’ by the people in power, GBLT folks have to fight for what I took for granted. And that’s just wrong.
 

Contest:

Okay, now for the contest!

1) Join my blog, or let me know if you’re already a member.

2) Just comment. It can be about anything. If you join my blog (or have joined already) and comment, I’m offering a choice of one of my books to the winner. As always, I have a plan B lol.

3) Leave an email address. Please remember to do this. Without an email addy I can't send you your prize! :)

The hop ends Sunday, and I’ll be contacting the winner Monday by email. Please check out the other blogs in the hop; there are some fab prizes being offered.
~M


Thursday, August 23, 2012

Guest blog by Tali Spencer


Hey everyone! Today I have Tali Spencer visiting, and she’s doing a guest blog on her latest release, Sorcerer’s Knot, from Dreamspinner. Make sure to check out her blog; she's doing a giveaway too!  

When Life Serves Up a Monster—Guest Blog by Tali Spencer 

Have you ever wanted something really, really badly? So much you can’t think of anything else?

You know, the kind of thing that’s the one and only thing you want in the world, because if you had that, you know you would be complete?

I think all of us have been there. That kind of wanting is especially powerful in young people who’ve suffered broken homes or other life events that have left them feeling that something’s missing from their lives. But it could be any of us. If we could just find that one thing, win the love of that one person or open that one door, all our problems would go away. Think about how many of us obsess about a love interest, the one person who will make us whole. Or we might fixate on getting our dream job, going to a certain school, gaining entry into an elite group… or even getting published… something just at the tips of our fingers.

So we put all of our energy toward that goal. We put aside everything that does not advance our mission. We barely even notice we’re missing out on other things because we’re so focused on reaching our dream. And when we reach that goal, when we finally get what we want, the one thing that will make our life perfect… we find out it’s not the answer.

In fact, it’s a tentacle monster.

Maybe the monster is a marriage that didn’t turn out like a fairy tale. Or a job that’s soul-killing, without a future. Or learning that having children isn’t a picnic of cooing giggles and cuteness. As often as not, achieving the dream comes with a damn lot of crazy baggage we never signed up for. And instead of enjoying our triumph, we sometimes find ourselves fighting for our lives and wondering what the hell we got ourselves into.

The good news is we all get to go through this. I don’t know too many people who haven’t done battle with at least one tentacle monster of their own desiring. I’ve encountered three such monsters so far—defeated them all, thank you for asking—and wouldn’t be surprised to run into another. Why? Because I’m a dreamer and believe with all my heart in things like true love, human kindness, and happiness ever after. I never see the monsters coming.

But I just wrote this post to illustrate how I came up with one of the themes of Sorcerer’s Knot, which is about Cian, a young, ambitious wizard who sets out to acquire a power that’s been forbidden to men for a very good reason. It’s also the tale of Muir the Scarred, the man Cian must either seduce or defeat if he is to get hold of that power. And yes, there is a tentacle monster.

Blurb:

In a world where pleasure unlocks even the best-guarded magic, Cian has a long list of magical talents—and an even longer list of sorcerers he slept with to acquire them. He even seduced a dragon. There’s just one arcane power left for him to master: command over the sea. Now Cian has learned where to find Muir the Scarred, the only man known to have mastered that power—and he is determined to wrest it from him by whatever means necessary.

But completing the task isn’t so easy. First, Cian’s boat is wrecked on the shores of Muir’s desolate island. Then he learns an enchantment will keep him there forever. And when he tries to seduce Muir, he finds himself being seduced by the mysterious sorcerer instead. But the source of the power Cian seeks is also trapped on the island, and it will stop at nothing to break free, even if that means forcing pleasure—and magic—from Cian's unwilling body.



Excerpt:

Cian began to remove his garments, one by one. He knew what he looked like without them, what peeling away layers of borrowed raiment would reveal. What he wore was scavenged, mismatched, salvaged from the sea or left behind by previous houseguests. None of the items suited his coloring. He yanked off his boots first, glad to rid himself of stiff, stained leather and missing nails. The wool jacket he shrugged off his arms was rough and patched, though the soft shirt beneath looked shabby only because it lay against skin as creamy as the ocean’s finest pearls. Lastly he unknotted the rope he’d used as a belt and pushed down his trousers, leaving only the draped and tucked linen of a loin wrap.

“I have something you want more than food,” he said.

Though the sorcerer did not speak a word of protest, Cian knew he’d guessed right. Half-formed desire gazed back at him from those pitch-dark eyes. Half-formed. What else lingered there issued a warning.

“I was wrong,” said Muir. “You may well eat tonight after all.”

“I’m not a whore, but I’m not a beast, either. I can’t live on grass. If my hard work won’t earn me food, maybe soft work will. I don’t want to leave here to toil in the village or on one of the farms, never repaying my great debt. I want to stay with you.”

“With me?” Muir smiled ever so slightly. He resumed stirring his soup, but he was listening. “You have no idea what you are asking, or offering. What will you do if I send you away?”

“Come back. Like a dog.”

Something predatory leaped over Muir, anger throwing off everything about him that was false. He ceased stirring his soup and strode to where Cian waited, stripped to a loincloth. He grasped Cian by the hair at the back of his neck and pulled him off-balance against him, mouth descending to capture his lips with a ferocity that made Cian gasp. And then that gasp too was taken, Muir’s tongue pushing it back into Cian’s throat as his free hand explored the smooth, offered flesh.

Instead of triumph, Cian felt fear, but it was a wild fear, exhilarating, the kind of fear that led men to hunt beasts capable of rending them with horns and claws. His cock hardened, tenting the loin wrap and pushing into the other man’s thigh. Muir’s power was within his grasp. He had sunk the hook and now had only to pull the man in, exhaust his senses and weaken his mind. Little by little, he yielded, giving himself over to that roaming hand, allowing Muir full access to his mouth. The man tasted like cherries, honey, and salt.

Cian wound his arms around Muir’s chest, pulling him tight and reveling in his scent. He smelled the sea, heard waves crashing. His moan vibrated the tongue now probing his surrender. With his hands, Cian explored Muir’s broad shoulders, grabbing handfuls of coarse wool, trying to undress him. Was Muir’s body scarred also? He dreaded what he might find, but he craved it too much to care. The path to power lay through Muir’s body.

He ground his groin against Muir, inhaling sharply when he felt the thrust of the man’s erection. Hard, long, and thick, rubbing against him with a summons he yearned to obey. For far too long, he’d denied his own urges. His mouth broke from Muir’s when the sorcerer grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him down, onto his knees. Mouth wet and puffy from being kissed, Cian looked up to see Muir rip at the lacings of his robe so the long-sleeved garment fell down over his arms and thighs to the floor.

Muir the Scarred was well named.

Trails of annular blemishes ribboned the pale skin of Muir’s previously hidden torso and limbs. Knotted ridges and rings of healed tissue, some half the width of Cian’s hand, strung along a serpentine path that curved from the sorcerer’s right shoulder, puckered over thick muscle and lay flat upon his breastbone, then continued down the ladder of his left side; more trails of ringed scars appeared under his arm to curl down his ribs and wrap around his hips. His cock, too, as long and thick as promised, was embellished with smaller variations. Ring-shaped cicatrices of pale rose encircled the dusky shaft, a swirling pattern at once shocking and strangely beautiful, like jewels embedded under the skin.

Muir reached down and ran his fingers through Cian’s hair. “I haven’t had a man as pretty as you in some time.”

Saturday, August 18, 2012

And the winner is...

Malissa, you were the winner from the Goodreads chat!

If you have Priceless don't worry, I have a plan B lol. Congrats!

~M

Goodreads chat for Priceless



Hey y'all! I'm doing a chat at Goodreads today at 3 Eastern. Stop by and join the fun! There will be a giveaway involved lol! And if you already have a copy of Priceless, we'll do something else!

~M

Saturday Snark


Hey guys! Today’s little bit of snark comes from Nighttime Dreams which is due out in November. Just a reminder: Bryan, a good ole country boy at heart, was the sheriff from Nighttime Wishes.
Make sure to check out Marie Sexton's blog for the other links! ~~~

Bryan kept his eyes on both aliens. What was going on? They looked ready to square off. “Hey, I have no intention of harming Shawn—”

“Oh, only us?” Daroshi snapped as he turned to look at Shawn.

Zing sliced his hand through the air trying to stop what was fast building into another useless conversation. “Regardless—”

Bryan gripped the knife. “He didn’t fucking ambush my ass after I went to all the trouble of covering for you guys—”

“We couldn’t very walk in the front door!” Daroshi hissed. “In case you didn’t notice we don’t look human.”

“Nor did he stun me!” Bryan yelled.

“Dear gods, come on Shawn,” Ziang muttered.

Daroshi pointed his finger at Bryan. “You stunned my commander first—”

“I had two big ass aliens after me, of course I tased him! What did you expect after the way you busted through the window? You think I was going to offer you a beer? And fuck, my house is probably gonna burn down since I left the damn stove on!” Bryan bellowed. “Son of a bitch, I left the damn stove on!”

The door to Medical opened and Shawn walked inside with Blayno guarding him. He had heard most of the conversation from outside.

“Huh, I did tell you he wouldn’t come without a fight.” Smirking, Shawn took in the flushed faces of Daroshi and Bryan. “Think I also warned you to disarm him.”

Daroshi threw his hands up in the air. “Gods! Are all humans like this?”

“Only the ones half scared out of their minds.” Shawn turned to Bryan. “How’s it hanging, dude?”

Friday, August 17, 2012

TGI Friday


Here it is Friday again! Yay, time to start the weekend! I hope y'all had a good work week, and resisted the urge to knock any fellow co-works up side the head lol. ;)

Check this out! I found a site through the DSP author group that lets you use photo's. Cool, huh? And it's legal: notice the link below the picture. And what a picture.

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/michael_harold/5455283250/">Michael Taggart Photography</a> via <a

There is just something about this that caught my eye. *Laugh* there has to be a story in there somewhere!

I guess y'all saw I redid my blog again. LOL, yes again. I had a new header made so I switched things up. I'm rather pleased with the result! Maybe we'll call this my 'gray period' lol.

Okay, I'm off to work some more on Shadows in the Night. It's up to 38K, can you believe that???  I'll see you guys tomorrow for Saturday Snark. :)

~M

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Captive Heart by Tali Spencer

Hey everyone, come on in and have a seat! Today I have my good friend Tali Spencer visiting with me. She's talking about writing in general and her latest release Captive Heart, which is being released by Resplendence on August 15th

Plus, she's giving away a free copy of Captive Heart to someone who comments on her blog post between now and 12 a.m. on Saturday, August 18th. So, let's get to it lol!

~M


~So tell us about yourself. What got you interested in writing?

I’ve always loved the spaces between words and images. Like many writers, I dabbled as a child, but I was also considered artistic and loved science. My first dream was to be a doctor. I never really thought about being a writer, though, until a ninth grade English teacher gave me a copy of the first book of Tolkien’s Lord of the Ringstrilogy, and I read it and realized fantasy was that perfect space where words create images. So Mrs. McPeak from El Paso, wherever you are now, thank you. I haven’t stopped writing since, though I’ve hit a few detours along the way.



~If there was one piece of advice you could give a new author, what would it be?

If you want to have a career as a writer, not be a hobbyist, educate yourself about the business. I meet a lot of new authors, really talented young writers, who approach getting published very casually, when in fact publishing is serious business. Writers who learn the ins and outs of that business will be better able to weather the ups and downs. And I’m not kidding when I say getting a book accepted by a publisher is only the tip of the process. 

If you want to be published, learn the etiquette and how-tos of submitting to publishers, editors and agents: seemingly small details really can send your manuscript to the top of the pile—or straight to the bottom. Do yourself a favor and learn how to research potential markets, read and negotiate a contract, understand how a publishing company works, and ferret out the basics of distribution and promotion. That’s all stuff you need to know.

Seriously, my advice is to relax about the writing. Enjoy the writing! Tell the stories you love and have fun with building your skills as a writer. Get a good beta reader or two. But learn everything you can about the business end for when you decide to make that jump into the big pond. Acquiring that knowledge now will pay off for your career down the line. I’ll step off my soapbox now. 

~How much of your personality and life experiences are in your writing?

All of it. Literally all of me and all of my life is in my books. Not all in one book. Not all in one character or setting or plot. Some parts are in books no one but me has read yet, and maybe no one ever will. But the places I have lived, or have visited… they’re in my fiction, my settings, and my worlds. The people I have hated or worshipped or loved… they’re in there, too.
If you know me at all, you may recognize a bit here, a quirk there. Julissa has my utter faith that people are basically good. Vorgell, my basically cheerful nature. Gaspar has my way of putting information together. Lukacz has deep roots in my childhood. If you know me really, really well, you may identify bits and pieces of my sons, my father, my husband. They show up a lot. :D  I believe all fiction is autobiographical… it’s just a matter of to what degree. 

~Is there anything you’d like to tell? Maybe something in the works you would like to promote?  Feel free!

In addition to Captive Heart, I have two M/M novellas coming out soon. Sorcerer’s Knot, a magical tale of wizardry and ambition—and tentacles!—will be available on August 22nd from Dreamspinner Press. The other is a long novella, The Prince of Winds, an Arabian Nights flavored fantasy of adventure and romance, coming from Dreamspinner as a September release.
If you’re in the mood for something really different, I have a demon story set in the Andes that will be coming out in October in the “Devil’s Night” anthology from Storm Moon Press.  


~ What's your guilty pleasure?

I have so many, I can’t decide. If I have to go with just one, make it Celebrity Apprentice—the best damn train-wreck on TV! Donald Trump says the most amazing, idiotic things… sexist, racist, crazy stuff.
And I don’t think he’s any of those things, by the way, he just says them!  And the B list cast of characters always includes a few loop jobs who go bat shit insane. You can’t make this stuff up.

~ What was your favorite character to write, and why?

I absolutely loved writing Gaspar. He’s an emperor, and weighed down by responsibility, but he’s also a loving, passionate man—and he wants to rescue his sister, who has been kidnapped by Julissa’s brother. So he conquers a country. He’s overjoyed by his victory, anticipating revenge on the brother… and this lovely young woman, who he thinks is a servant, falls into his lap and he thinks, “Why not?” So he entices her into bed. Being on top of the world makes a man horny. Except the world delivers one of its famous“gotcha” punches and Gaspar discovers bedding Julissa has made both their lives complicated.
His range of emotions was fun to write. Triumphant, furious, vengeful, remorseful, playful. That Gaspar is playful is something I, at least, find sexy. But he has to be serious a lot and that part doesn’t suit him so well. He’s also self-conscious about his looks, because of his nose and having being rejected for marriage by several princesses. Gaspar’s got a lot of me in him, poor guy.

~If we were to come to your house for a meal, what would you give us to eat?

Because you’re very special guests, I would make ossobucco. Or, if there are a lot of you, I would make a big pot of homemade gravy with meatballs—I’m from Wisconsin, where we call it spaghetti sauce, but I married a Philly guy and everyone here calls it gravy—an even bigger pot of gnocchi and a pot of ravioli, and serve that. There’d be a tomato, basil and mozzarella salad, and a big loaf of Italian bread. And for dessert we’d have cannolis. But if you dropped in unexpectedly, I’d have to serve up ice cream bars for dessert. The pasta, gravy, and tomatoes, I always have on hand. 


~ Do you have a historical crush and if so, who is it?

Benjamin Franklin. Not only was he brilliant, interesting, and a founding father devoted to principles I hold dear, but he sounds like he’d be fun in bed. My husband knows about my Ben crush. When we were dating, we visited Ben’s house here in Philly, and there was this man there who would dress up like Ben and pretend to be Ben. He was sitting under the tree in the courtyard and we got to talking. Next thing you know, we were just lost in each other, grinning and laughing. He stayed completely in character and it was like being with Ben! When I walked away later with my husband, he looked at me and said, “He was flirting with you!” And I said, “Yeah, and you’re lucky he’s dead!”

~~~~
Blurb and Excerpt for Captive Heart
A vengeful emperor conquered her country…now he’s after her heart.
Julissa has only known life as a sheltered princess in Sebboy's opulent but restrictive society, ruled over by strict parents and the righteous Prophets of her god. She is all but destined to a marriage of alliance until her brother kidnaps a foreign princess as his bride, and Julissa's country becomes the target of the girl’s vengeful brother. Gaspar Leonnte may have a big nose and be the subject of ridicule at Julissa's family table, but he doesn't have any trouble conquering Sebboy.
While fleeing the city, Julissa falls into Gaspar's hands and everything she ever knew changes. When a misunderstanding brings Julissa to his bed, the victorious emperor sees no reason not to enjoy his pretty captive for the night. Julissa should refuse him and honor her duty to her family and Prophet, but how can she fight the passion Gaspar awakens… even if doing so might mean her life?
Excerpt:
A great noise in the hallway and the sound of fighting caused Aurelia to shriek and Julissa to leap from her bed and dart, still in her nightclothes, into the antechamber of apartments belonging to the royal sisters. Male voices boomed outside the chamber door. She recognized Lorant’s and flung the door open to see what was the matter. Ilona and Serafina crowded behind her.
In the dim light from the sconces, she saw Lorant drag a naked Petraeus to his feet then hurl him hard against the wall. Her older brother’s bellows of rage filled the corridor. A brace of soldiers propelled another man, also naked, down the hallway toward the stairs.
“What’s happening?” Julissa couldn’t understand why her brothers were fighting on the eve of battle. And wasn’t Lorant supposed to be at the front?
Ignoring her, Lorant slammed Petraeus’ head against the wall three times until his brother’s hands, which had been grappling with his, dropped. He threw the unresisting youth to the floor. Only then did he attend his sisters.
“Go back to your rooms!” he snarled.
“But Peta—” Julissa had never seen her brother, any of her brothers, naked. To see Petraeus now, so pale and exposed, and also so helpless, seemed impossible and wrong. “Stop!”
She grabbed Lorant by the arm but could not prevent him from delivering a hard kick to his moaning brother’s middle. This time, Petraeus coughed blood.
“I found him being a whore to men!” Lorant wrenched out of her grasp. “Go back to your rooms, Jules! Father will deal with him and his paramour, too.”
More soldiers charged toward them from the stairs down which the other man had been taken. On Lorant’s order, two of them seized the naked prince and dragged him quickly away. When Ilona and Julissa tried to follow, Lorant shoved them roughly back into their chamber, so hard they both tumbled, gowns about their knees, to the floor, where Serafina and Aurelia descended upon them with cries of concern. But Lorant simply slammed shut the door and they heard him slide the outside bolt home, locking them in.
Through the door, they heard Lorant ordering the soldiers to keep them secure. For an hour, they scribbled prayers to every Prophet, burning them in holy candles, sending heavenward their entreaties that the terrible screams echoing through the palace cease. In the oppressive silence that followed, Julissa lay in her bed, comforting a sobbing Aurelia, saying it was over, that no more soldiers would come. That Peta would be all right. She stared sleepless at the ceiling until, hearing noises in the courtyard below, she scrambled from the bed and ran to the window. Through the shutters, she saw a closed carriage leaving, clattering off by way of the service gate into the night.
* * * *
The sisters were released from their rooms in the morning and told to act as though nothing had happened. They knew better than to disobey, though the family meal that evening was strained. Lorant, mercifully, had gone back to the front. Julissa didn’t think she could have held her tongue around him, but her father and mother terrified her into silence with their cold expressions. She fled as soon as she was able, her feet carrying her onto the south terrace and its gardens, where she hoped to blot her mind of her last sight of her brother by silencing those thoughts with icy cold and prayers.
The night air smelled of winter daphne, a light scent of sweet viburnum wafting from the low shrubs her gown brushed along the path. Clipped pillars of honeyed box trees screened the view toward Cheda with its scores of white marble shrines bejeweling the hills like pearls. Beyond those unseen hills, cannon fire rumbled, rolling over the city in waves.
“What your father did to your brother was wrong.”
Julissa inhaled deeply of the crisp cold. Her father had decreed that none of them speak ever again of Petraeus and his disgrace. Only Adora would be so heedless of the Sebboyan king’s wrath. Through wet eyes, she cast a quick look around the garden. The winter path was far from the house, and empty but for the two of them, so she dared to speak.
“He didn’t want to go!” Emotions she’d bottled up all afternoon burst from her lips as though some dam had broken. “How could a father refuse to listen to his child? How could he subject his own son to torture, to silence? His crime was great, but—”
From servants she had learned enough. While Petraeus had been forced to endure the horror of seeing a close friend blinded and emasculated in the cruelest of ways, she had been hiding in her bedchamber. Not hiding, she reminded herself. Locked. She’d been locked in her room, where she’d just curled in her blankets like her sisters and been the worst of cowards.
“What crime?” Adora argued softly.
It was difficult to believe so young and unassuming a woman had been a celebrated advocate in Uttor—until she spoke. Julissa tried to look away, but the Uttoran princess placed a hand upon her arm, insisting on being heard.
“Your brother shared his body with another man? It is his to share!”
“It is a crime against god’s creation!”
“But not your god who punishes him! It will be the hands of men that blind your brother’s eyes, remove his tongue and condemn him to live in a cell far from the kindness of his family or the advantages of his station. Men, not your god, commit these acts against him.”
Julissa walked away from this woman and her heresies. While it was true the god lauded by her chosen Prophet, Garmael, was gentle and kind and would not have punished a man for something that harmed no one, another Prophet, Mamatas, had spoken against unions that bore no fruit, calling them acts of theft, and therefore harm, against the creator. Thieves lost their hands, and those who stole from a god lost their lives.
“Men, gods…women can stop neither!” Julissa realized her words lacked the discipline of a reasoned argument and stopped to face Adora again. At this moment, she wanted nothing to do with the young princess Lorant had abducted and forced into marriage—acts for which, even now, Uttor’s cannons besieged Julissa’s country. “I wish this were not so. But I can do nothing. We are all helpless now. Petraeus is already taken away.”
Somewhere in the hills was the ridotto of the Sileres, the brothers of the Seventh Prophet of Koth, where her brother would undergo a ritual of purification before taking the oath of silence that would precede a priest ripping out his tongue. So that it never pleasure a man again, or speak of the foul deeds it had performed.
She could barely conceive of the sex acts Ilona had described to her in lurid and quite possibly imagined terms. Only Adora, said by servants to have spoken passionately in Petraeus’ defense to Lorant, defying his threats to strike her, seemed to have any real concept of what was involved. To place one’s lips upon a man’s member and taste it with tongue or suck it like a teat, or for a man to accept another man’s member into his body…it simply escaped Julissa why anyone could wish to do such a thing.
“Perhaps, sister, if you can learn to which ridotto—”
“I’m not your sister, and Petraeus is not your brother! Your brother is attacking my country and killing my people! I’m sorry Lorant kidnapped you,” Julissa said, angry that she could not keep tears from her eyes, and that she liked Adora but hated Uttor for having brought all this down upon them. “He shouldn’t have taken you, and he shouldn’t have married you, and if he forced himself on you, he shouldn’t have done that, either. But there didn’t have to be a war!”
Turning on her heel, she walked away from the garden and Uttor’s unsmiling princess.
* * * *
Gaspar Leonnte was tired. Two weeks on the march, worn to the ground tired. So were his men. He’d pressed his two corps of imperial troops hard to cover the distance between Sardona and the Sebboyan city of Nicohemas, effectively cutting the country in half. His energy had been spent long before this campaign, however. Though the Sebboyans didn’t know it, he’d begun his war against them on the very eve of his sister’s abduction, producing cannons, carracks and munitions in secret, playing shell games with the deployment of his ships and troops.
“Anything from Arrento?” he asked his aide-general, Niarchus.
The striped command pavilion with its golden poles and fringe afforded rustic comfort, including heat against the winter cold, and a freedman, Gaspar’s trusted Banno, to provide food and drink. He accepted Banno’s offer of a deep bowl of mulled wine, cupping it in his hand.
“Only his last communication, that he had joined the army outside Cheda along with the reinforcements from Juta and Facciolo’s cavalry. He believes he has a plan that will take the city.”
Cheda meet Darius. His best friend could slice an army through the heart of any foe.
Gaspar dropped into a camp chair and smiled at the thought of soon seeing his sister again. “Good. He’ll cut them to pieces, or I don’t know him. I just hope he can reach and find Adora quickly.”
“They won’t harm her. If not the Kordeun royals themselves, someone in the city will trade her for peace.”
“They should have done that before I invaded.”
Niarchus snorted. “You caught them by surprise. They thought you would wait until spring to make war. Nor could they imagine you would invade with such a massive force so soon and without warning. You caught them before they could ask for assistance from their allies. We should still take control of the road to the Benarri kingdom. The royals may attempt to escape Cheda that way.”
Gaspar nodded. It would be prudent to seal off the road. He lifted the bowl to his lips and took a deep, warm drink, confident the next vintage he tasted would be Sebboyan. “Do it. I don’t want any of the Sebboyan royals to escape me, especially Lorant. I want them all.”
~~~~
My Twitter: @talismania1
Resplendence Publishing: http://www.resplendencepublishing.com

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Saturday Snark

Time for another Saturday Snark! Make sure to check out Marie Sexton's blog for the other links! This week snark comes from Nighttime Wishes.



“What,” Shawn said pointing at his face, “the hell is this?”

“Those symbols?

“The ones under my eyes, yes. You know, the ones that were not there last night. Those symbols.”

“Those mark you as mine. Why? What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing.” Shawn turned back to the counter and picked up the shaving cream. He swung around, finger on the trigger, and opened fire at Ziang, letting him have it. White foam covered Ziang’s face, his chest, and his head. Ziang stumbled back against the bathroom door, his hands up.

“You big, stupid alien! I told you not to spring any more freaky alien stuff on me.” Shawn shook the can and started round two of the assault. “What’s wrong? I’ll tell you what’s wrong! You marked me, marked my face. Not like I can hide that. Bad enough you did this without telling me, but you did it while I was passed out.”

“Shawn…” Ziang gasped as he battled shaving cream.

“Don’t you Shawn me, you overgrown octopus. You did this while I was passed out. Passed out, you hear me? And why was I passed out? Oh yeah, that’s right, you fucked me senseless last night, you big ole rutting alien.”

“Enough!” Ziang knocked the shaving cream from Shawn’s hand.

They stood staring at each other, both breathing hard. Shawn’s lips twitched and Ziang raised a scaly eyebrow. Shawn bit his lip, but the giggles wouldn’t stop.

Friday, August 10, 2012

TGI Friday

Hey everyone and welcome to the weekend! Yay, another work week behind us. :) Hope y'all had a good week.



Check this out—did y'all know that my friend Tali is releasing a book on the 15th? It's called Captive Hearts and it's a m/f story.

I'm doing an interview on the book later so I'll go more into it then, but let me say that Tali can world build like you wouldn't believe lol. I've read the book before and I have to say, it's very good. But then, lol, all of her stuff is!

Tali is doing a giveaway for Captive Hearts released by Resplendence on August 15th on her blog Brilliant Disguise. Make sure to check that out. :)

Cool cover, huh? :)

~M

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Saturday Snark


Hey guys!  Check this out... I found this interesting exercise today done by some author's and decided to join. Now, y'all that know me know how fond I am of learning new things, so lol, bear with me while I figure this out.

This is called Saturday Snark and it's at Marie Sexton's blog! This is something she used to do in the past and has recently started again. It sounds like a lot of fun. It's kind of like a blog hop that centers around characters being snarky.

*Gasps and points to self* I have characters who fall in this category??? LOL, you bet I do. So here is my excerpt from Priceless.



“I don’t have anything to wear except what I had on last night.”
“Tell me what sizes you wear, and I’ll have the concierge pick you out something and
“The hell you will,” Randy said, a thread of steel in his voice.
Eyes locked as they stared at each other, a battle of wills. The fact Garrett didn’t see anything wrong with what he said made Randy want to beat his head against the nearest hard surface… which seemed to be Garrett’s head. Randy had no doubt Garrett snapped his fingers and people jumped in all directions for him.
Did he have any idea what clothes in those little casino shops cost? Randy glanced at the jeans he had tossed in the chair last night. Right, he forgot there for a minute. Anyone who could afford those kinds of jeans, and was willing to pay that god-awful price for them, could afford anything in those retail shops. Probably buy the whole damn shop too.
“Garrett, I’m just several floors down from here. I can run to my room, shower, get dressed, and be back up here in no time. Forty minutes, an hour tops, and I’ll be back.”
“You really have a problem with me wanting to spend money on you,” Garrett said. The disbelief in his face stung and managed to trip Randy’s pissed-off switch.
“Garrett, get this through that thick head of yours. I’m not sitting here, naked and in your bed, because of the money you throw around.” Randy sat his coffee cup on the nightstand with a snap. “I’m here because I’m interested in younot your money or what you can or might buy me. Your money makes me uncomfortable, and the fact you seem to think money can buy you anything blows me away. Can you put that elitist, asshole attitude in park for a while, and
“The last person that spoke to me like that got thrown out of my office on his ass.”
“Well, hell, can I put my pants on before you toss me out?”
Silence hung in the room for several minutes. Garrett snorted out a surprised laugh, caught off guard again by the sheer audacity Randy showed. “Okay, point made. Damn, you’ve got a mouth on you.”
“You weren’t complaining about my mouth last night.”
“I wasn’t complaining now, believe me,” Garrett said as he sat back down on the bed. “Finish your coffee and come back up here.”


Hope you enjoyed this! I'm going to try and do this every Satureday. Make sure to check out the other author's taking part too. :)

~M

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Dreamspinner Spins Me a Dream



That's right! Wheeeeee! Got the news last night lol. Perfect, the second book after Priceless, is under contract!

*Throws glitter*

I wasn't expecting to hear anything for awhile yet, so when the kiddo and I got back from McDonald's-yes, we were at Mickey-D's lol-imagine my shock to see a contract.

The release date is Jan/Feb of next year. What a way to start 2013! I'm kinda hoping it'll be released in Feb. It would fit, you know? February is Valentine's Day and Perfect is all about my little imp Cupid. ;)

And while I'm on this subject, I want to say a big thank you to everyone you bought Priceless. Guys, it's #7 on DSP Bestseller List. OMG, I'm awed just to be on the list, much less up that high! So... *big group  hug* thank you all. :)

~M