July #goals and RWA conference

I won't go into the fact that it's suddenly July. Nope, won't touch that distressing bit of calendar news!

Lots going on this month: a wedding (not mine lol) and the Romance Writers national conference on Atlanta. I've never been to Atlanta and would love to explore but I'm literally flying in Thursday night after work and leaving Sunday morning at the crack of dawn. Alas, no exploring for me. One day, Atlanta!

I'm also working on my contemporary ménage series, Havenbrook Ménage Series and in the beginning stages of plotting an Edwardian trilogy. Yes, I know I started one several months ago but I didn't like it. The plot felt great, the characters engaging, but every time I went to write it I dreaded doing so. In the end, it was best that I scrapped it.

I'm not sure if I want this to be m/f erotica or a ménage but I do want to write one. I love the time frame and have always wanted to write in that era! It's now or never!

And Christmas...was going to write a Christmas ménage. Maybe for next year.

Monday #goals and #excerpt

I've been editing my new contemporary menage romance, Forbidden Road: A Havenbrook Menage and plotting out book 2. Actually I've been editing a whole lot, I also have a new Victorian Menage finished and the first in my trilogy of paranormal erotic stories.

No allergy or sinus medicine isn't helping but that test is Tuesday (tomorrow). Here's hoping I survive until then!

This week's goals are the same as last week:
Edit Forbidden Road
Put together a contest for Wicked Seduction release
Plot Forbidden Love: A Havenbrook Menage
Do the allergy test (ugh)

Anyone ever have an allergy test? Anyone know any practical advice on immunotherapy for allergies? I'm suffering here! I need my sinus/allergy meds!

Seduction of my Proper Wife: A Victorian Menage at the Parisian Exposition:

Aria waited for the English beauty to take her hand. Lillian hesitated, it was clear in her face, that vulnerability that drew Aria.

From the first moment she saw the tall, pale woman, Aria wanted her. She didn’t have the English words to describe her, but she found Lillian to not only be striking externally but within as well. Even before she broke down and shared her past, Aria could see her pain and fear sharply defined in Lillian’s vivid blue eyes.

It only made her want the other woman more.

Her breasts ached to feel Lillian’s mouth on them, to feel her teeth close over her hard nipples. She was slick with need, and Aria wanted desperately to alleviate that yearning. To feel her fingers within her, to feel Lillian’s touch, her mouth.

More, Aria wanted to taste Lillian, to breathe in the scent of her passion, to show her all the ways of love.

In her life she’d enjoyed both men and women, many of the women here enjoyed each other in ways their male companions could never understand. She enjoyed sex, enjoyed the difference between making love with a man and doing so with her fellow dancers.

She had, on occasion, slept with European women who wanted the anonymity and exoticness of sex with a foreigner. She found them demanding, dominant. While Aria didn’t necessarily mind the dominance, they weren’t as conscious of the entirety of pleasure as her other women lovers were.

Should Lillian stay as planned, Aria intended to teach her all the ways of love, not simply momentary pleasure.

Where to buy:
All Romance
Amazon
Amazon UK
Amazon Canada
Barnes and Noble
Kobo

Review: 4 stars from LASR: I really enjoyed the relationship between the two, and then when Phillip came into the picture the dynamic changed yet remained the same. I think the author did a really good job of that. When the three were engaged with each other, you could feel the heat come off the page! Wow!

Weekly #Goals

I'm happy to say that this past weekend was super productive!

I finished Forbidden Road: A Havenbrook Ménage Series. By finished, I mean it's done, but certainly not edited. In fact, I think I changed one of the hero's eye color half-way through. Must fix that! And I'm positive I managed to mess up another defining characteristic or two for all 3 of my characters. Plus I need to change the name of a secondary character to one that does not begin with a G. Garret is a great hero's name, but Grant doesn't match the secondary character needs to go.

This week I want to take a couple days and not think about this story but then start to edit it. I love this book and the concept I have for the next 2 in the trilogy, but need to flesh out book 2 a bit.

Also on my weekly goal list is more exercise. I've slacked due to this plaguing cold, but need to get back into it. Just because it's freezing out there doesn't mean I shouldn't exercise! I'm told it helps with your body heat, but my body didn't get that memo. As I type this, my fingers are blue. Literally. I need a nice cup of hot tea to get me through this day. At least one.

Have a great week! And remember: Some people strengthen the society just by being the kind of people they are. John W. Gardner

February #goals, #series, and more #menage romance

This month I shall figure out a way to stop time (only for a little while, a few hours at most!) so I can accomplish more. Or possibly sleep more so my waking hours are more productive.

Groundhog Day/Stargate aside, this month is yet another busy one! Who here wishes that just one month would be free from obligations? Or at least limited to maybe a small handful of them?

Setting aside writing time is harder and harder to do, but this month my goals are to finish up a couple stories and get everything ready for publication. I'm so close to finishing my 2 ménage stories that I'd really just like them finished, edited, polished, and done! Plus I have some serious plotting to do for the next books in the series.

• Re-write the ending to Cursed Love: A Wicked Demon Story--I liked the ending when I wrote it but upon second and third read, it needs something a bit more.
• Edit the whole thing once more and have that converted
• Finish Forbidden Road: A Havenbrook Ménage Series
• Edit it, write the synopsis and blurb, and submit it
• Outline and plot Forbidden Love: A Havenbrook Ménage Series
• Outline and plot Forbidden Temptation: A Havenbrook Ménage Series 
• Finish Wicked Seduction: A Victorian Ménage at the Parisian Expostion
• Write blurb and finish cover
• Edit it and have it converted
• Outline and plot The Wallflower's Seduction: A Victorian Ménage at the Parisian Expostion

Monday #goals

Finished editing Cursed Love: A Wicked Demon Tale yesterday and sent that off to my editor. Pleased with the way this turned out and hope that Cooper and Nikki's story will progress over several stories. Here's the blurb:

Nikki Kent had spent her life running from the monster inside her. When she found Cooper Marquez's ranch, she knew she found home. Unfortunately, her demons followed her.

Cooper Marquez knew his lover had secrets, but hadn't figured on one quite like this. No matter what she thought, he wasn't going to let her go through anything alone.

Together they go on a journey to discover the secret to her curse. But when Nikki discovers the truth about her demon, will she leave Cooper for his own safety? Or can he convince her that nothing will stand in his way.

This is a paranormal contemporary romance with ancient Native American spirits, drug cartels, and one hot rancher to make it all better. I hope you enjoy it, since this is a departure from much of my other work.


It's also November, which means it's NaNoWriMo! Or National Novel Writing Month. Yes, while it's possible to write an entire 50,000 word novel in one month, I'm positive that November isn't the month for me. Between birthdays, Thanksgiving, and general craziness, it's so not happening.

Or, to put it another way--too much pressure! I can write a 50,000 word novel in a month on my own terms, but to do so on someone else's makes me break into a cold sweat.

My goal for November, however, is to start a new menage. Details to follow!

Olympics!

Anyone else excited for the 2012 Summer Olympics? I've got my schedule and the site for streaming so am ready to go. I don't like the traditional games, for instance I won't watch the track or the gymnastics.

I like the off-the-beaten-track games like the modern pentathlon and fencing. (Just wait until the Winter Olympics! My favorite there? Curling *G*)

What's your favorite Olympic sport?

Goals and Summer Reading

My writing goals this week are to get back into The Devil's Pawn and finish that sucker up. I want to move on to other stories. But then I always say that at about chapter 3...I know what the story is supposed to be like and think I should be able to twitch my nose and *poof!* the story is exactly what I want it to be.

But I also want to read. Isn't that what summer is for? For that I need suggestions. Fiction, romance, mystery, erotic, I don't care. I just need books! What are you currently reading?

Goals, fireworks, and food

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."~Declaration of Independence

Friday I have a guest scheduled, so let's switch it up a bit and have a 4th of July recipe today...before the actual day if anyone wants to try it!

Zippy Summer Shrimp It's fun, fast, very summery, and goes with anything else you have on your holiday menu. If you like shrimp, I guarantee these will be a hit.

Prep Time: 10 Min
Cook Time: 10 Min
Ready In: 20 Min

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil


• 3 cloves garlic, sliced


• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes


• 2 teaspoons paprika


• 2 pounds shell-on deveined jumbo shrimp


• 1/4 cup lemon juice


• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat; cook and stir the garlic in the oil until translucent.


2. Sprinkle the red pepper flakes and paprika into the oil.


3. Add the shrimp and toss to coat.


4. Pour the lemon juice over the shrimp; allow to cook until the shrimp are bright pink on the outside and the meat is no longer transparent in the center, 1 to 2 minutes more.


5. Reduce heat to medium-low; add the basil and toss lightly.


6. Season with salt and pepper to serve.

Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 238 Total Fat: 13.9g Cholesterol: 230mg

Weekly goal:

• Stuff myself at my July 4th cookout with friends and family (and waterguns!)


• Enjoy fireworks


• Remember that this isn't just a day off, but a day to be glad we have the freedoms we do


• Finish The Devil's Pawn so I can get that off my checklist. We all know how I love my lists!

Patriotic-Sounding Place Names

Thirty-one places have “liberty” in their names. The most populous one as of April 1, 2010, was Liberty, Mo. (29,149). Iowa, with four, has more of these places than any other state: Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty.

Thirty-five places have “eagle” in their names. The most populous one is Eagle Pass, Texas, with a population of 26,248.

Eleven places have “independence” in their names. The most populous one is Independence, Mo., with a population of 116,830.

Nine places have “freedom” in their names. The most populous one is New Freedom, Pa., with a population of 4,464.

One place has “patriot” in its name. Patriot, Ind., has a population of 209.

Five places have “America” in their names. The most populous is American Fork, Utah, with a population of 26,263.

Goals 24 and house cleaning

I took a few days off to make a long weekend and feel so accomplished I need to shout it out.

• Almost finished my new m/m Hellfire Club Erotique story and titled it! The Devil's Pawn: A Hellfire Club Erotique.
• Also did the blurb for it!
• Will be sending it off to my editor within the next 2 weeks, then the book converter as soon as I get the edits back, so hopefully it'll be out by the end of July!
• Made an Olympic cake out of cupcakes (see not too bad picture of it to the right!) for a Father's Day Extravaganza.
• Cleaned. And cleaned and cleaned! I cleaned so much, my house now looks like I'm ready to show it to potential buyers (I'm not which is a shame, because it looks beautiful!)


• Organized my office area. Technically I suppose I could lump it in with cleaning but the office area is a special place for unfilled papers, potential shredding or filing of papers depending on how long they've sat around, pieces of writing ideas, and other misc. junk.

I do love working in a clean space. (It's the cleaning I do in spurts!) What does your office or other working space look like?

Insight and Oh yeah Weekly Goals 23

I've come to the conclusion that having a weekly goal sucks. Which is a complete turnaround for me, as I'm a creature of goals. I like making short goal lists every day (even if only mental lists) because then I'm assured of completing them. It's worked for me for years, and I always feel very accomplished:

• Goals/checklists help keep things in perspective


• They are useful in separating the What do I do first? from that overwhelming feeling of looking around.


• They cut down on the sitting on the couch feeling of helplessness and/or laziness that often happens after work.


• I like lists! I admit it, I'm one of those people who do. I can't help it, I have lists for everything, all filed in appropriate places based on what they're for (writing, day job, house, etc.).

All this leads me to also say that despite my OCD tendancies, there are times when that list should be torn to shreds, those goals left for another day, the checklist ignored. This week is one of them!

Because in the infamous words of Scarlet O'Hara, Tomorrow is another day!

Guests and Weekly Goal 22

Richard Dawson died! I know he was the host of Family Feud because just last week I looked up the Hatfields & McCoys and apparently the descendants of the feuding family were on a show...with a pig on stage. Huh.

I think I'm going to stop numbering these goals...I have no idea what week of the year this is, I can only tell you that June sneaked up on me and I don't know where May went.

1. Add more romance to my current m/m story. You'd think, as a romance writer, I could do that. But no, I have sex, I have plot, but I need romance! I refuse to not have romance!
2. I'm going to have more guests on my blog, so if you're interested, drop me an email and we'll schedule something.

Aycliff's Vow: A Hellfire Club Erotique now available.

All Romance
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

Memorial Day and Weekly Goals 21

Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans — the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because
flowers would be in bloom all over the country.



This is from the Military.com site where it talks of Decoration Day (a term I rarely hear used anymore) now known as Memorial Day. Whether you know someone in the armed services, whether you're in the US or not, remember those who fought and died, and are still fighting for, for the freedoms we enjoy.








My goals for this first (semi-official) start to summer:

• Work on and rename 4th in Hellfire Club Erotique series, a m/m story with all the love and angst I can possibly put in.


• Work a bit on streamlining the blog. Seems to be a tad crowded.


• And for those following my alter-ego's blog tour, here's the link for this week's stop for Dark Inheritance: Fallen Empire

What's happening today

Today I'm a guest over at Cassandra Carr's talking about my Hellfire Club series.

I hope to have Aycliff's Vow up by next week or the week after, and I hope to finish The (tentatively titled) Moor by the end of the month. May is flying by! So that may be finished in June.

Weekly Goal 20

I'm writing the fourth in my Hellfire Club Erotique series now, a m/m story that centers on a Turkish merchant and an Englishman in way over his head with the bad guys who want to rule the world...or at least the English portion of it.

Still working on a title for that, The Moor is derogatory but nothing I think of seems to fit. The Foreigner? Cheesy. The Lover? Ugh. Any suggestions?

• Finish untitled m/m Hellfire story


• Title the story!


• Spread the word about my alter-ego K. Reed and her post-apocalyptic Regency romance Dark Inheritance: Fallen Empire.

Weekly Goal 19

This week I plan a subtle entrance into Pintrest, s far behind the fact of the fad, I'm not sure it's worth mentioning. But there, I mentioned it anyway.

This week I also plan to add to my blog, spruce up the pages, tweak the sidebars, and see how it all turns out.

And finally, this week my alter-ego has a new release out, Dark Inheritance: Fallen Empire--post-apocalyptic Regency romance. Lots to do over on that end! But read chapter one here.

Weekly Goals #17

Aycliff's Vow, while not finished, finished, (only the read-thru & edits to do) is so close I can taste it. Or well, maybe not taste, but definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel. And so long as that end is not a train, plane, or UFO, we're all good.

This week I'm going to really focus on my other name, K. Reed and her website for the launch of my semi-mainstream side. I say semi because a dystopian Regency isn't exactly totally mainstream is it?

Weekly Goals #16

Goals are hard. Especially with long lists of them. So in the long and glorious tradition of getting things crossed off, shorter lists are in the cards.

1. Finish Aycliff's Vow

That's my only goal this week. I'm more than half way finished (61% to be specific) and would like to have it done by next week so I can leave it sit before I begin the editing process. I know it needs more sensuality and possibility more darkness, but right now I'd like to finish it before adding those layers. It's a multi-step process.


And work on the blurb. Drat. That's TWO goals this week!

2. Aycliff's Vow blurb

But I have the cover, so that's one thing off the list. Which would have worked if I'd put it on a physical list to begin with. Mental lists don't seem to count.

Weekly Goal #14

Just because it's Wednesday does not mean I can't have a goal for the rest of the week. Believe me when I say I'd rather skip it but I like having goals. I like making them better than planning/missing them but I find that small goals push me to at least get those finished.

It's better than complaining about not moving forward!

So despite the mid-week-ness of it all, here are my goals for the first week in April, no foolin':

1. Chapters 1-4 of Aycliff's Vow (Chapter 1 is 98% finished)


2. Fiddle around with concepts for a website


3. Get free PDFs out to contest winners

Weekly Goal #13

Where has the time gone? I always heard about how time goes faster when you're older, but frankly I'm not that much older (am I?) and these days and months are zipping on by.

I hate to have a goal of stepping back and enjoying life, it seems like something that should just happen, but every once in a while I think e need to be reminded to literally stop and smell the roses. Or in my case (since I planted no roses) the many daffodils and tulips I do have. Most of which are blooming already and some of which might die with this impending frost.


“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” – Stephen Covey

Weekly Goal #11

Goal: To get rid of thie sinus headache! Does that count as a weekly goal?

I've finished The Escape and it's now being converted so that should be out within he next few weeks. Wanted the right tone for it, then lost steam and rushed the ending, so had to fix that. Am much happier with it now!

Covet: A Regency Ménage Tale will be released Thursday, so there's that.

My other writing name is coming along nicely with my first non-erotic Regency romance. Set in a world where a plague has wiped out 60% of the population, the survivors struggle with highwaymen, roving bands of outlaws, French spies, and famine.

I think I've earned a week off! Plus spring has sprung and it's going to be beautiful this week! I'll pick up again on Sunday. Really.