I just want to say Thank You!

No corny bullshit I want thank Bookslut Goddess, Setta Jay, C.E. Black, Gladys from Nerd Girl Official, Lelani Black, Angela Snyder, Christi Williams, Antonio Lozada, Allison, and my real life support system Linda Dunlap, Chrishaun Keller and Dan Thompson. 

All of the people listed before my real life support system have helped me by simply being there. Retweeting, offering to do reviews and just being nice people who yes there is a certain level of give and take but there also felt like there was a tremendous amount of giving. Yes, several came for the Gandycandy (should I be thanking David Gandy as well?) but you stayed you retweeted me and gave me the exposure and help a person can't pay for. 

For the first month I'm seeing the kind of returns on Amazon I had been hoping for. Yes, okay it had something to do with now having a much larger catalog and maybe releasing the new four at only .99 cents but readers wouldn't have known about that without the retweets and the lovely reviews and the putting me out there in a way I didn't (which I know people will find hard to believe) and don't have the confidence to put myself out there. 

Will there be a repeat of this month, it would be nice but I doubt it. What goes up must come down but hopefully as I continue to put more out there I will be able to sustain a regular readership that will then suggest me to a new reader because I really think that's where the readers come from and that's why it felt so huge. Those people said, 'hey, check this out.' and the level of trust was there and the buys and the tries happened. 

For right this second my mind is quiet but there's an idea buzzing-thanks to Gladys- and then another. I'm in the middle of moving but hopefully in the next few weeks I'll sit down again and I'll write more and hopefully the story is good enough people will keep coming back and I'll be one step closer to being the full time writer I've wanted to be. This month has given me that hope so I just want to say thank you for those that through a little bit of kindness have helped me get one step closer to a dream. 

To my real life support peeps, they make the doubts, the fear, the constant questioning into something I realize I'm not alone in and it makes it easier to go back to the page and write. 

Interview with the talented C.E. Black

Okay, so remember posts and posts again where I wondered if it would be a good idea to interview authors. My primary fear feeling like I was saying, hey this person is great and they suck and then I feel like people hate me or think I'm a liar. 

Those were the worries running through me as I considered C.E. Black. I had just hooked with her on Twitter I had barely read her description on Twitter how did I know if she was a good writer (everything is subjective but still) I wasn't sure and I worried. Then I got Cursed Desires and I was hmmm. I am not a huge PNR girl, I like supernatural, ghosts are my thing a psychic or even a demon maybe. The book looked interesting and it mentioned menage which in my midwest small mind is all gasp, haven't written one and don't think I will. Then as I'm reading I'm starting to wonder who is the third and then I think no freaking way, yes freaking way. Ghost sex, super duper hot! Fears exploded, I invited her and she was kind enough to say yes.

Where do you get your ideas? (Ghost sex, very hot BTW)

Truthfully, I’m not really sure where my crazy ideas come from. I think I just have an overactive imagination. I joke with my friends that my mind is not a place you want to hang out. But in all seriousness, in every one of my stories, there is a hidden truth to something from my life. For example, the idea for Cursed Desires, began with my husband and I went to Charleston for our anniversary. We love taking the ghost tours and on one particular tour of the jail, something or someone tugged on my pant leg. Before that trip, I went on a cemetery tour with some girlfriends and I remember the tour guide warning us about malevolent spirits following people home. Putting the two experiences together, I thought, what would happen if something followed you home? And of course, I had to sex it up, because, well, that’s who I am and what I write.

Do you have a typical day or routine?

Nope. I do tend to do my writing in the mornings after I get the kids to school, but other than that, I do whatever I’m in the mood for. Of course, pressing matters come first, like this interview,  and household necessities.

What do you enjoy the most about writing?

Getting these voices out of my head! I love seeing my story come to life and there’s a wild thrill knowing others read what I wrote. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of it.

How do you write, do you use outlines or is it more free flow? 

I’m a pantster. I hate doing things more than once. I’ve always felt like it was a waste of time for me. When an idea strikes, I just sit down at the computer and start typing from the beginning. Now there have been times that I’ve hit a block and then I might write down plot points for what happens in the next few chapters, but they are short, incomplete sentences that just help me get over the hump. Then I’m back to free flowing.

What made you want to become a writer? 

As a reader, I always had a problem with wanting to change the story. Not that the book I was reading was badly written, I was just curious what would happen if this character did this? Or this? And then my own stories would take shape. When I stumbled upon self publishing, I realized, writing wasn’t an unattainable dream anymore. And decided to try my hand at it. So far, I’m having the time of my life.

What drew you to PNR?

I loved reading PNR and there’s something freeing about writing it. The rules are different with PNR, because really there aren’t that many rules. Supernatural characters and the world that surrounds them can be anything I dream up.

What books or authors were your influences?

I fell in love with the Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris. It was actually the first book I’d ever read with a sex scene. I was fascinated that stories like that existed. Then I read Laurell K. Hamilton and fell in love all over again. But the author that truly inspired me to write, is Maya Banks. There was something about her work that just made me think, “I can do it. I know I need practice. I’ll need to work hard, but it is attainable.” And I’ve always had the notion that what will be, will be. If I bombed, then at least I tried.

Are there any other books or authors you're reading now you really enjoy? 

I read all the time. There are so many books, by so many authors, it would take me forever to type them all out.

What are you reading right now?

Nothing at the moment, which is unusual.

What are you writing now and when will we see it? 

I’m working on a few projects, but the one I’ll be focusing on is A Shifted Wedding. It will be a novella to add to my Alpha Division Series. I don’t know when that will be out... When I finish. :) Hopefully, in a few months. This month, I will have a new story released in a Halloween anthology called Grave Hauntings. Nine authors bring nine sexy, spine tingling stories and it will be free. The tentative release date is October 15^th.

His For More Than One Night

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Kate Frazier wants one night and one night only. It’s the only thing she’s made for, the only thing she’s capable of. She doesn’t want any hand holding or cuddling;, she wants to get off and then she wants them to leave. She likes her men bland, boring, and non-threatening—only the Nordic god staring at her from across the pub is anything but. One by one she’s breaking her rules for only one night, because the moment he gets close she can’t help herself.

Trey refuses to let it go at one night. He knows her secret, the one she’s tried so hard to pretend didn’t happen, didn’t exist, even as her nightmares still haunt her. He knows and has her admitting to the rape she suffered at the hands of her mother’s boyfriend for two long years, and he knows about the frantic, ugly things she did with anyone who would have her in her teens. He sees it all and it doesn’t faze him. He wants the woman she is now and he’s not going to let her go.

Now Kate has to make the decision to go through the painful door of her past to the other side, where Trey and the happiness she never thought she could know is waiting.

This is a standalone novella at 38,572 

Please be aware this is an erotic romance and is explicit 

Please be aware this book deals with the issue of child molestation and a woman's attempt to cope with what she went through.

Excerpt:

Stepping out of the elevator, I push my phone back into my purse and turn down the hall to my apartment. He’s there, leaning against my door. Air leaves my lungs in a rush, and I stop, hardly believing it’s him. Then he straightens at the sight of me and looks pissed. His anger gives me the backbone I lost at the sight of him.

I’m going for cool and barely pull it off. “What are you doing here? I told you before, one night only.”

He smiles, and it’s a knowing smile. “And I believe I told you there was a difference between what you want and what you need. I was patient, but I’m done with that now. Open the door and let me in or I’ll fuck you here in the hall.”

His sincerity is clear, and I back away. “Trey, I meant it. I don’t want to fuck you again.”

He follows and grabs my wrist, lightning fast, and pulls me up against the hard length of him. “Thank god, because fucking isn’t what’s really on the menu, we’ll get to that when you’re ready. Open the door, Kate.” It’s a whisper and also a very clear command in my ear. When I don’t move his hand slips over my ass and below my skirt.

I move then, fast, knowing he will keep his word. My key is in the door, and I barely have time to turn the knob before he’s behind me. Pushing me forward, his hard cock against my ass, and I’m wet instantly for him.

“Good girl. I can smell you ready for me, and I’ll be inside you soon, I promise you, first you have to pay for your bad behavior.” Sliding my zipper down he removes my thong and skirt in one movement. His strength is on full show as he picks me up and settles me on the edge of the bed, my ass up at him. I shouldn’t be surprised by the stinging slap, but I am, and yelp. Once hard on the right cheek, then another against the left. Gasping, I can’t get air in before he smacks the right cheek again, harder, and I’m gushing. My hands are clenching the covers, and I bury my scream in the bed, wondering if I have just come from the spanking, but the need is still eating at me. No, not a climax, but damn close, and then he spanks me again. I hear the sound of the bedside table opening, and a second later he’s tearing open a condom.

His name is a whisper. My throat is too tight for more.

“I know what you want, sweetheart, and I will, later. Right now I need to be inside you, and later I’m going to make you sit on my face for at least an hour. Your punishment has only just begun. Especially as you loved the spanking. It wasn’t really a punishment.” With those words of warning, he pushes hard and deep, and it verges on pain he’s so damn thick.

We’re both breathing hard and heavy, and only the sound of flesh slapping against flesh fills the room for long minutes. My climax slams into me violently, and my pussy clenches hard and tight. The groan of my name thrills me as it spills from him at the moment I feel him fill the condom. His cock is jerking, and I clench again, taunting him. Growling, he pulls out of me, and I hear the condom hit the empty trashcan, and then he’s up and undressing. I can’t move. I want to but I just can’t. Every bone feels like mush.

He lifts me easily and settles me in the middle of the bed. He’s naked, and his fingers move quickly over my blouse. When he opens it and gets to my bra, he slows and lowers his face to the valley of my breasts. Breathing deeply, the sight of him enjoying my body so completely has me fighting the tightness in my chest. With one hand he undoes the front clasp, and his fingers brush lightly over my breasts, circling a nipple before tweaking it with the slightest edge of pain.

“So beautiful, so damn responsive. Night after night I dreamed of you, waking hard and aching for you. Beating off like a fucking teenager because of your stubbornness. How many have you tried to fuck since that night?”

I can’t meet his eyes. How the hell did he know? “Two.”

“Did they even get inside your apartment?”

Shaking my head, I run my hands through my hair. It was embarrassing. “No, never made it out of the bar. None of that matters, Trey. I can’t do this. I can’t be what you need me to be.” 

His Hidden Agenda

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I hate him, I hate him, I hate him. He’s always so charming and gorgeous and everyone in the office loves him, but not me. He’s my competition and I hate him. I deserve the promotion, I’ve given not just my nights, but my weekends and even my marriage to this company, and I deserve the promotion. Only, it’s Alex my bosses are patting on the back and taking meetings with. I’m positive the only reason Alex is nice and smiling to me is because he’s trying to throw me off my game. Men as gorgeous as he is don’t let their eyes linger on fat girls like me. He’s blueblood, I’m south side Chicago, below the poverty line, he’s Harvard and I’m night school six years to get a degree; on paper, it’s laughable. He can’t really want me, there has to be something he’s hiding, a hidden agenda only he knows.

There is, and when I finally find out, I’m going to have the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make. The company I’ve put my life into—or a chance at the kind of love I never believed existed before.

This is a standalone novella at 35,472 words. 

This is an erotic romance so please be aware it is explicit in content 

Excerpt:

          I’m awakened by a very annoying buzzing. I’m still in Alex’s arms and he lifts an arm and twists away for a moment and the buzzing stops. His arm comes back around me and my hand strokes his arm. I groan and my eyes open, the sun is just barely up.

          “What time is it?”

          “Six thirty, sorry, I set it as  late as I dared in order to give me time to get home, shower, get dressed, and get to work on time.” His voice is full of gravel.

          I turn in his arms and kiss his chest through the shirt. “Ignore me in the morning, I hate mornings. Thank you again, I’m just sorry you’re up so early after not getting much sleep yourself.”

          He is stroking my back and then his finger is under my chin, “It was worth it, every minute, nothing to be sorry about.”

          Pressing against him, I feel him and he’s hard, I’m wet in an instant. His hand slides into my hair and he closes his eyes. “Don’t move sweetheart, please don’t move.”

          There’s no thought to what I do next, just overwhelming need. He’d lain in bed with me, hard and needy and asked for nothing. He’s gone down on me and given me the most intense pleasure I’ve had in my life. For some unknown reason this man wants me, and thinks I’m beautiful, and it makes me feel beautiful. I feel like I owe him so much more than I can ever give him. I want to do this for him. I really want to, I’m dying to know what he looks like, feels like, and I can’t believe it, but I want to know what he tastes like. My hand slides down his taut, hard stomach and slips under his waistband, he hisses my name. He’s not moving and I find him with my hand. Oh my, he’s thick, so thick my fingers don’t reach all the way around. I stroke from the base of him to his leaking tip and he’s longer than my vibrator, it feels like. My vibrator is a satisfying seven and half inches but now I can’t wait to have him, long and thick, inside me. I’m stroking him and I move to pull down his underwear. His hand is around my wrist stopping me and I moan.

          “Alex, I want to. I want to taste you like you tasted me.” He comes then in my hand. I’m disappointed it’s all over so quickly. I continue to stroke him until he begs me to stop because he’s too sensitive now. A little of him is on my hand and I’m curious and taste him. I’ve read about women complaining about the taste. When I had tried the one time, the gross smell of Larry stopped me before I even got that far. A few tentative licks was all I was able to manage. Now, being able to taste him, I don’t get it, it doesn’t taste bad to me. I continue to lick my hand clean, smiling to know I’ve done something to ease his discomfort and because I’m glad to know when the time comes, I won’t mind the taste of him.

          “Watching you lick your hand clean with a smile on your face has got to be the sexiest thing I have ever seen in my life.” His words are guttural from deep in his chest.

          “I like the way you taste.”

          He closes his eyes and rolls out of bed. “I have to go or I’ll make us both late.”

          I follow him out of bed and watch as he dresses. I can’t help sighing to watch him cover up his beautiful body. His eyes come up and he shakes his head with a smile.

          “Stay right there until I close the door. I don’t trust myself right now.” He orders and it’s my turn to smile. 

Draft2Digital

I have heard of Draft2digital but kind of shrugged, as it didn't have as many places to distribution as Smashwords. I've complained about conversion before, I found a converter and she was the cheapest I had found and of course she's busy as hell. I had fully intended to release the two I have coming out now in October, I wanted to release in September. I didn't have a choice though because my converter couldn't get me in until a month after I contacted her. Frustrated but happy with her previous work I considered her worth it and just sucked it up. 

Then I go on Draft2Digital and they give you a mobi file to upload to Kindle. I hated Smashwords, I simply couldn't get my files past their premium catalog approval process so I had doubts it would be easy on Draft2Digital. It wasn't snap your fingers easy but a quick change to chapter headings (increasing size and making it bold) and I was done. I seriously could not believe it was so easy. Only 15 minutes had passed and the file came out looking as clean as the one my converter had given me. Holy shit, no cost to convert and it will go through to all the big names, Kobo, Apple, Scribd? I am now in love. They also give a epub file and I used that to go direct to Nook, although they do send to Nook for you if you want. Personally, no I don't want, I want to be able to see the direct result of my lame attempts at marketing and what does and doesn't work in real time by going direct. 

Another great thing about them over Smashwords is they pay out monthly and Smashwords pays quarterly. That's a huge bonus which alone had me considering Draft2Digital over Smashwords. Before I tried it. 

I'm happy, now I'm almost a hundred percent in control of the most important and costly parts of self-publishing. The covers are still out of my control and I don't mind because I get a quality product that is often quickly done. Right about now, I'd like to pop some champagne. Just thought I'd share.