What I’m working on now

I’ve spent the morning writing and researching for my holiday vampire anthology. Why researching? Well, the hero, Hadrian, is a vampire who dates back to 303 A.D and Rome. There are one or two flashback scenes to that time and so I’ve been trying to get a sense for what Rome might have been like at that time and what Hadrian might have been doing during the Christmas season.

Christmas season? Well, the fun part about this “Bah, humbug” holiday vampire anthology is exploring the pagan traditions that have contributed to our Christmas customs. In particular, I’m focusing on the Roman customs (some of them deriving from Egyptian festivals) which have shaped our Christmas holiday.

Of course, online research can only give you so much info. So what’s a girl to do?
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How not to write yourself into a box

This blog is for Fantasyfan and everyone else who voted and left a comment on the poll about what to do with Diana and Ryder. That poll is still open and remember, if you suggest something unique that I use, I’ll dedicate a book to you.

So, what follows is a discussion on writing a series and some SPOILERS for THE CALLING vampire novels!

So if you don’t want to know more or have anything spoiled, READ NO FURTHER.

For the rest of you — here goes:
Continue reading “How not to write yourself into a box”

What are you watching?

I watch TV while I write, generally something that will put me in the mood for what I’m working on.

Right now I’m doing some touch-ups to a werewolf urban fantasy novel that I hope something will like enough to acquire. It’s a dark, sexy and action-packed work. The heroine is a modern woman, but the clothes and weapons she uses are not — leather jerkins, swords and crossbows.

That makes KING ARTHUR a perfect movie to get me in the mood. Of course, Clive Owen is truly sexy in this movie. Plus, he and Keira Knightly have good chemistry!

So, what are you watching? What are your favorite movies?

Sneak Peek at BLOOD CALLS

Excerpt from BLOOD CALLS, May 2007, Silhouette Nocture

     As he had two days earlier, he stood before her paintings, admiring them.  Appreciating the sweep of her brush as it almost made love to the figures she had placed on the canvas.  The movement of the brush strokes so alive, that he found himself laying his fingertips against the image on the canvas as if to prove to himself that it wasn’t real.

     Ramona wondered what he was doing as he stood there, scrutinizing her artwork once more.

     When he picked up his hand and touched the canvas, she had to go see what had drawn him.  Feeling stronger thanks to the rest in the cab and the tea that had provided a boost to her flagging energy, she set the mug on the table and joined him.

     He brushed his fingertips along the line of the woman’s hip in the painting.  Slowly moved his hand upward along the slender sweep of her waist and within her, she imagined the motion of his hand against her body.  Imagined how it would be for him to touch her the way he caressed the woman in the canvas — the woman she had imagined herself to be, lost in the throes of a lover’s embrace.

     As he shifted his hand upward, over the shadow beneath the woman’s breast, she felt his energy beside her.  Sensed his growing desire and her own.

     When he looked at her, his ice blue eyes blazed with fire.  “Did you feel this way as you painted?”

     She had felt that way and more, she wanted to say, but couldn’t confess that with each stroke of the brush, she had imagined it was them together.

     “No,” she said, but he faced her and laying a hand at her waist, said “Liar.”

     He bent from his larger height, but she was already meeting him halfway, wanting to experience him if only for this one moment.  A moment that had sprung from nowhere but was not to be missed.

     His lips were a bit cold, but wonderfully soft on hers.  Exploring as he sampled the edges of her lips with his and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close.

     The body she had admired from afar was much like she had imagined.  Big.  Strong.  Hard.

     He was so hard beneath her hands as she grabbed hold of his shoulders.  Hard against the flatness of her belly as he swept his arm beneath her buttocks and tightened his embrace.

     She moaned at the thought of that hardness within her.  Of his big body urging her downward into the giving softness of the bed that was just at the other side of the loft.

     The sound of her need and the press of her small body jolted Diego from the enjoyment of her response.

     As right as it felt — as she felt in his arms — this was so wrong, he thought and slowly eased away from her.

Botanicas, Santeros and Santeria

Let me preface this with, I’m far from any kind of expert on Santeria. My exposure to it is because as a Cuban, santeria was something that everyone knew about. Even my parents and grandparents, devout Catholics that they were, would do things that I later recognized as being tied to Santeria beliefs.

How the Virgencita Caridad appeared in Cobre BayWhat kinds of things? Well, the first thing you saw in my house was the statue of the Virgencita de la Caridad.

Who’s that? you might ask. Caridad del Cobre was an apparition of the Virgin Mary in Cobre bay. Our Lady of Caridad (or Charity) is also the Patron Saint of Cuba and my patron saint.

Anyway, on special days, the parents and grandparents would leave sweets or bring flowers to the Virgencita, much like you see Ricardo doing in DEVOTION CALLS as a way to honor the beliefs of those people who think he is a santero. I think those actions were a natural blending of their Christian beliefs with those of the Afro-Cuban santeria religion that was practiced in Cuba.

What’s a santero? It’s someone who is a priest in the Santeria religion. Santeros learn their practices orally from another santero.

What’s Santeria?
As I said, I’m no expert. I researched the subject for the book and included what I could from my personal experiences in visiting an occasional botanica in NY, NJ or Miami. We sometimes went to get a statue or medal of La Virgencita Caridad for a new baby or home as the Virgencita was always with us.

What’s a botanica? It’s a place where you can acquire religious objects and other things, including what you may need to practice Santeria.

For a little more on this, including some links to other sites that explain Santeria, you can visit the Ricardo’s Botanica page at the new site we are developing.