#HumpDay #ManWars with Kelly Moran

Happy #HumpDay! You know what that means! It’s time for #ManWars with my good friend Kelly Moran Books! My challenger today is sexy doctor Ramon from my UNDEAD UPRISING urban fantasy serial which is part of the EDGE OF NEVER box set!

It’s our book birthday and we’re having a party today at https://www.facebook.com/events/1622580184670054/.

You can get the 99 cent box set EDGE OF NEVER at these retailers:

EdgeOfNeverAmazon: http://amzn.to/1Kd4E4z
B&N: http://bit.ly/1iLS3MI
iBooks: http://apple.co/1iLT2fE
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1iLRjHc

ramon

#ThrowbackThursday A Visit to London

I can’t believe it’s been nearly five years since I visited London! It was awesome to walk around and see the sights that I wanted to include in a number of books I was writing. Two have been published, but the other one, which had a story revolving around the Knights of Templar, might never see the light of day. Sigh. Too many books to write and too little time.

This is a photo of me, my daughter, and my husband in front of Big Ben. We love to walk around and explore the city and we really had a wonderful time doing just that. I can’t even imagine how many miles we clocked since we spent most of the day walking. One of our most fun adventures on this trip was a Jack the Ripper Tour. Very informative and interesting to walk the same streets as where the crimes had occurred. Now that’s one thing I will definitely fit in a book in the future. Maybe Diana and Ryder will have to take a trip there to help out Scotland Yard with a copycat killer or maybe even a vamped out Jack the Ripper!

BigBenBigUs

Guest Blogging Today!

A VAMPIRE FOR CHRISTMASGood morning to all my friends! I’m guest blogging today and have some giveaways going on today. So please take a moment to visit these sites:.

Wormyhole Blogspot

The Qwillery Blogspot

As always, thank you for your support! Also, many thanks to Romancing Rakes for this review of WHEN HERALD ANGELS SING from A VAMPIRE FOR CHRISTMAS!

“OMG y’all. I cried while reading this book. It’s a story where love and sacrifice once kept Damien and Angelina apart but in the end, brought them together for a much deserved HEA…(T)his story enthralled me. I’m a fan of A Christmas Carol and squeed the moment I realized this was a loose take on that…Damien and Angelina’s (story) had me tearing up while sitting on a bench at the boardwalk looking like a crazy person. This is a heartbreaking story of love, sacrifice, forgiveness and redemption.”

Discover THE LOST Heroes

With the release of THE LOST just a day away, I thought I’d share some of the secrets behind the creation of the novel. Before I tell you why I love Adam and Bobbie from THE LOST, here is the blurb from the back jacket cover:

    Adam Bruno is no ordinary millionaire. The heir to an ancient race possessing a dark, powerful magic, he can shapeshift and create energy. His gifts make him a living weapon and have forced him to live in seclusion. But now an inhuman force hunts down Adam-just when he finds someone who makes him feel more human than he ever imagined possible . . .

    Home from combat in Iraq, Bobbie Carrera wants only peace, yet soon joins Adam in a terrifying battle against paranormal enemies who hide in plain sight. She’s drawn to his strength of mind and body; he’s attracted to her courage and intoxicating energy. Their scorching passion can either transport them to the heights of ecstasy or-if Adam’s powers rage out of control-destroy them. But when an invisible brotherhood tightens its nets and someone Adam trusts betrays him, only a heartrending decision can save them.

Now, I have to tell you, that’s only the tip of the iceberg for these two characters.

I loved Adam because he is an uncertain hero and a bit tortured. He has no idea why he has such unusual powers and until he meets Bobbie, his powers have only caused harm to others. Not so at his first touch of Bobbie. The fact that he is finally bonding with someone is difficult for him, especially since he not only doesn’t have a clue as to why he has such powers, Adam doesn’t really know who he is. I loved exploring how he slowly comes to terms with not only his abilities, but with the fact that he no longer has to be alone.

As for Bobbie, well, she is like one of my favorite heroines of all time and that’s saying a lot that she’s competing with Diana Reyes from THE CALLING. A Marine home from war, she is both emotionally and physically wounded, but that doesn’t stop Bobbie from coming to Adam’s rescue in various ways. She rescues him when he is attacked and she rescues him from loneliness because she is a woman who is sure of herself and what she wants in life.

Many of you have asked what inspired THE LOST . Well, lots of things that we’ll be talking about again over the next couple of weeks. For now I’ll share with you the eye candy that inspired both Adam and Bobbie physically.

Adam is blonde, big and beautiful and the man who caught my eye to fit that bill was Curtis Stone.

CURTIS STONE

As for Bobbie, I wanted someone who was athletic, dark-haired and dark-eyed. Beautiful. Kate Beckinsale was the perfect choice for a model.

Kate Beckinsale

Together Bobbie and Adam are wonderful. Sexy, dark and empowered by being together. I love the chemistry they have and the way that the power of their love and Hunter power merge to make them both stronger.

I hope you’ll feel the same way about them after reading THE LOST.

Curtis Stone Photo Credit: Joseph [email protected]
Kate Beckinsale Photo Credit: Photo Credit: Mario Antonio Pena Zapaterí[email protected]

Fr***g’n Twilight

On this Fun Friday, it seems to be another day for the Jersey Shore. This time it’s a hilarious spoof on the extremely popular Twilight with its glittery brooding teen vamps. Sit back and enjoy Fr***g’g Twilight from the Jimmy Kimmel Special the other night. You gotta love those glittering abs and the “He’s Italian?” comment and response!

If you can’t see the video below, you can also click on this link for the Fr***g’g Twilight spoof or cut and paste this link into your browser:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIPE9fSWzw

Hope you all have a great weekend! I’ll be down the shore, filming some videos for you for my upcoming release STRONGER THAN SIN!

Wicked Wednesday – HONOR CALLS in print!

AWAKENING THE BEAST Collection of Nocturne BitesI know that some of you prefer a book in your hands to reading an e-book. I can totally understand. It’s tough to worry about getting suntan lotion or sand in your e-reader or computer.

So the good news is – HONOR CALLS – my novella for Nocturne Bites will be part of THE AWAKENING THE BEAST collection that will be out in October 2009 from Silhouette Nocturne.

I love the characters in this novella – Michaela and Jesus. They are opposites in so many ways and yet drawn to each other by their strength and honor. Their honor, however, is what one day may pull them apart.

I am so hoping I will get to further explore their relationship in the future in a full length novel, but for now, I hope you enjoy their very sexy and very conflicted time together in HONOR CALLS.

Today’s Wicked Wednesday is an excerpt giving you a hint as to Michaela’s troubled past. I hope you enjoy it. *Warning* It does contain violence.

New Jersey Shore
Twenty Years Earlier

Her mother was bleeding.

Michaela could feel the warmth and wet of it drip down onto her as her mother held her hand and dragged her through the tall marsh grasses along the edges of the dunes. The stalks, dry from a lack of summer rain, crackled, the noise overly loud in the silence of the night.

Too loud, she thought, recalling the creature that had attacked them. The creature who would surely hear them, pounding and crashing through the grasses as they tried to escape him.

Suddenly her mother stopped short and shoved Michaela away toward a larger patch of foliage.

She fell to the ground, the sharp edges of the grasses biting into the palms of her hands as the tall stalks swallowed her up. The saw edges of the plants cut her hands and arms, but she bit down on her lower lip to stifle her cry of pain, aware it would reveal where she was.

Aware that her mother was ready to sacrifice her life in order to hide her.

Holding her breath, she tried not to move and peered through the ever-shifting mass of dune grass stalks that had covered her.

Her mother stood there, her chin at a defiant tilt. Blood dripped down the side of her face from a large gash above her brow. The blood looked black thanks to the palette of the night. Her face was washed to a pale almost green ghostly hue by the light of the full moon.

“You didn’t think you could run from me again, did you?”

The tone of the creature’s voice was low, almost soothing except for the odd rolling sound beneath, like the purr of a cat.

Her mother said nothing for a moment, then picked up her chin another rebellious inch. “You will not take me again. I will not allow it.”

The odd rumble in the creature’s voice intensified as he laughed and said incredulously, “You will not allow it?”

Something flashed before her mother. A bright white blur so close to her . . .

A gush of dark liquid erupted from her mother’s throat and spilled down the front of her bright yellow sundress.

Her mother picked up her hand, brought it to her throat, but the creature yanked her hand away, laughing cruelly as he said, “I will have you now, as you die. I will have you after, as your body cools. But first . . .”

The creature wrapped an arm around her mother’s waist, holding her up as her knees did a slow motion buckle. Burying his head against her ravaged throat.

The horrible sounds of his sucking and her mother’s moaning carried across the still night.

Michaela covered her ears, but it was too late to avoid hearing him say, “But first I will have your blood.”

Curling up into a tight ball, she tucked her head against her knees, brought her arms up over her head and closed her eyes. Tried to escape from what was going on just a few feet before her. Imagined other places and times. Prayed for her mother to be safe. Thought about the yellow sundress her mother wore and how they had bought it at the thrift store just earlier that week.

The rough shake of the ground beneath her body pulled her back from where she had gone.

Only then did she realize the night was now almost quiet. The only sounds those of the stalks as the wind moved them and the far away susurrus of the waves washing up against the shore.

She was alone. Or at least she thought she was.

Peering through the brittle green stalks, she saw what had made the resounding thud that had snared her attention.

Her mother’s body lay less than an arm’s length away, staring sightlessly at the moonlit sky. Her dress torn, exposing her breasts and the bite marks on them. The cheery yellow of her dress bloodied from the hideous hole where her throat had once been.

She wanted to keen and cry, run to her mother, but instead she grabbed hold of her knees and forced herself to remain still, fearing that the creature lingered nearby. Knowing that her mother had given her life to save her. That she could not dishonor that sacrifice with her fear.

A second later the ground shook again and suddenly there were shafts of light piercing the night, moving back and forth across the dark sky. Another tremor of the earth came beneath her and she realized the tremors were footfalls. Coming closer and faster as the intensity of the lights increased until suddenly there were blue pants legs standing before her hiding place.

“Shit. Holy shit,” the man said and passed his flashlight over her mother. Across her still beautiful face and sightless eyes.

She cried then, a puny wheezing sound, but it was enough to snare the man’s attention.

He parted the grasses before her and the silver and gold badge on his chest gleamed brightly against the royal blue of his uniform.

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph,” he said and reached for her.

Awakening the Beast
October 2009 – Silhouette Nocturne

A collection of sexy Nocturne Bites featuring:
Honor Calls, Return of the Beast, Mortal Enemy,
Immortal Lover, Claws of the Lynx and Wilderness
by Caridad Pineiro, Lisa Renee Jones,
Olivia Gates, Linda O. Johnston and Barbara J. Hancock

Pre-order your copy today!

Guilty Pleasures Monday – RT Convention 2009

As you know, I was away this week at the 2009 RT Convention in Orlando, Florida. I had a wonderful time participating in panels, meeting with old friends and fans and also making new friends and fans! This Guilty Pleasure Monday I’m going to share some of my adventures and photos.

I arrived late on Tuesday, but got to share a plane ride with a totally interesting gentleman who was a gun collector. Talked him into answering some questions for the Liberty States Fiction Writers since he is an expert on all kinds of guns.

Wednesday I hit the ground running, starting with a mixer to honor the bookseller of the year. Here’s a photo of me with some of the wonderful performers at the mixer.

As I was heading out of the mixer, I had a big WOW as I noticed the Grand Central Promotion and saw the cover for SINS OF THE FLESH. Check it out! It’s gorgeous. I’m going to try and get a cleaner version for you.

Then I hit the ground running for the first of my many vampire, multicultural and series panels (over the course of the next few days). Check out me, LA Banks, AC Arthur, Kimberly Raye Terry and Megahn Hart on one panel.

Also got to savor the jungle-themed Ellora’s Cave party. Here’s a photo of the Ellora’s Cavemen doing a dance at the party.

Harlequin held a great mashed potatoes martini bar luncheon to celebrate its 60th anniversary and had samples of its covers from over the years as well as some great contests for bags filled with books and some SONY E-readers. Here’s Vivi Anna and me hamming it up in front of one of the covers.

From there it was more panels, more nightly festivities and an unexpected adventure which I must share.

My friends and I returned from one of the workshops and decided to take a break by partaking of a single glass of wine on the balcony of our room. First problem, a security bar that wouldn’t go up. Being independent and strong women (and determined to enjoy a beautiful spring day), we got the bar up and opened the sliding glass door. We went out onto the balcony to take a break, but to avoid bugs in the room, decided to close the door.

My friends warned me the door was hard to close, but with one easy push (those weight training sessions must be working better than I thought), the door slid closed.

Just one problem – that sticky security bar. In slow motion it came down and landed perfectly in its little receptacle, locking us out on the balcony door!

What to do? A hotel staff member drove by on the path by our room in a little golf cart and we shouted and waved to him. He waved back and grinned broadly. What else did we expect when 3 lovely women were so enthusiastically beckoning him?

Realizing we would not be freed at that moment, we imagined ourselves to be the heroines in our books who would take the bull by the horns and do something. So we formed a human chain, eased over the railing and made it to the ground.

NOT!! Luckily a gentleman came by and we caught his attention. He quickly phoned security and even came back to check if we needed anything, like more wine. LOL!

Did I mention that in addition to the security bar the door to the room was double-locked and the bar was in place?

Luckily, security did not delay too much and two of them – a man and a woman – arrived to open the door to the room and then, laughing quite uproariously, pick up the pesky security bar so we could open the sliding door.

A happy ending so we could head to the RT Awards where I cheered on my friends Vivi Anna, Anna DeStefano and Debra Webb, all winners of RT Reviewers Choice Awards this year. Anna and Debra are also Dangerous Women Writing group!

I missed the Faery Ball that night as I had a wonderful dinner with my publisher and fellow Grand Central authors, including Rita Herron, another of the Dangerous Women Writing group.

The Vampire Ball the next night was a blast. Ran into some women babysitting a ghoulish baby!

Also ran into a former Mr. Romance at the book fair who was kind enough to pose with me. What a smile! (Okay, the rest is pretty good also!)

Had lots of fun and am already thinking about heading to next year’s conference in Columbus, Ohio.

Here’s some more photos for you from the conference!

For another look at the photos, please click here or visit this link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2021814&id=1130005412&l=dc05fc54a2