Author Spotlight: Pandora Spocks

Author Spotlight
Pandora Spocks

For Sparrow

AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER at this Universal Link: books2read.com/ForSparrow

Blurb:

When Jessi Crenshaw’s husband Graham dies unexpectedly, she’s devastated.  He’s the only man she’s ever loved.  Just eighteen when she met him, she’s been married to him for twenty-five years.  Now she’s lost her friend, her lover…and her Dominant. 

But as it turns out, Graham had an inkling that his health was in decline, and he tapped his friend and protégé in the Lifestyle, firefighter and paramedic Judd Farris, to be Jessi’s Dominant until she gets back on her feet. 

Judd is determined to fulfill his promise to his friend.  But it’s a damn odd arrangement—a platonic Dom/sub relationship.  With her fiery auburn hair, sparkling green eyes, and audacious spirit, Jessi captured his attention the first time he ever saw her.  At her husband’s funeral. 

A man could go to hell for the things he’s been thinking.  But they’ve drawn a line, and he’s going to stick to it.

Judd’s sexy good looks and his gentle confidence aren’t lost on Jessi.  She’s torn between loyalty to the man she loved, and desire for the man increasingly in her fantasies.  In the letter Graham left for her, he mentioned that she might find Judd attractive.  But that’s simply ridiculous.  He’s five years younger than she is.  He couldn’t possibly be interested in her.  Could he?

Judd’s a Dom without a sub, and Jessi’s a sub without a Dom.  It’s perfect for the time being.  Could it be that Graham had more in mind than merely a temporary solution? 

And could it all end at the hands of a madman?

FOR SPARROW is a contemporary erotic romance novel with a light BDSM theme.  It’s the third book in the Dream Dominant Collection.

***

FOR SPARROW launches on October 3, 2017. 
Pre-Order it now for only 99¢. 
After launch day, the regular price will be $2.99.

Pandora Spocks is a sassy ginger and hopeless romantic, living her happily ever after in South Florida.

Pandora has had stories pinballing around in her head for years. At one point, she spent hours daydreaming in Mrs. Howe's ninth grade algebra class. She didn't learn much algebra, but she had some really good ideas. Recently she decided to try her hand at sharing those stories with others.
Pandora is currently at work on her next spicy romance.

Connect with Pandora:

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 Excerpt:

            Flickering candlelight greeted them as they entered the bedroom, and Jessi saw various implements lined up on the bed.  She looked to Judd.

            “I wanted to create the right mood, Angel.  Candles seemed the way to go.”

Slowly she approached the bed and lightly fingered what she saw there--a black leather crop, a rectangular paddle also of black leather, a black suede flogger, and a wooden spoon.  Judd stepped beside her and slid off his black leather belt, adding it to the assortment.

            When she turned to him, his expression was bemused.  “Told you I went shopping,” he laughed.  “Now, you’ve been such a good girl, I’m going to let you choose what I’m using to spank you with tonight.  So what will it be?”  He stepped back and folded his arms across his chest, waiting to see her response.

            Jessi blinked and looked back to the items on the bed.  Her head spun with possibilities, but suddenly she knew the answer.  Dropping to her knees, she grasped her wrists behind her back and bowed her head.  “Whichever one would please you, Sir.”

            “Angel, you please me more than I can say.”  He stroked her hair lovingly, then removed his shirt, tossing it into the bathroom. 

“I think…”  He reached down to help her stand, tugging at the dress gathered around her waist to pull it the rest of the way down.  “I think we’ll get the biggest bang for our buck…or your butt,” he grinned, “with the paddle.  I want you to stand at the end of the bed and lean over.” 

Jessi complied, resting her torso on the bed, her head turned toward the slider overlooking the beach and the ocean beyond.  In the dim light, she could also see herself, naked and bent over the end of the bed, reflected in the white sheer-shrouded glass.  Her expression was wanton, needy.  And she felt immensely happy.

            Judd smoothed his hand over her bare bottom, pausing to tweak the plug.  Jessi gasped at the sensation and felt the need in her core grow.  She yelped when the first smack surprised her, but after that, she gave herself over to the sensations, the whack on her cheeks, the vibration in her ass, the tingle in her pussy. 

            At some point, Judd put down the paddle and used his hands to smooth away the sting.  “Up on the bed and on your knees, Angel.” 

            Jessi complied, and he turned her to face the bank of glass.  “Head up.  I want you to watch as I fuck your cunt.”

            She gasped, her eyes meeting his in the reflection as he impaled her with no further preamble.  He pounded into her, all the while fidgeting with the red-jeweled flange of the butt plug.  Jessi felt a release of fluid she was powerless to stop.

            “Come when you’re ready, Angel.  You’ve earned it,” Judd coaxed.

            Needing no further encouragement, Jessi cried out as ecstasy overtook her, starting in her drenched core and radiating throughout her body.  

Swaggalicious: New Ideas for your swag

As I am wandering around on websites not writing I was looking for cool ideas for swag aside from the standby of pens, mugs, bookmarks stuff. I had an idea all of my own (so you know, include me in your footnote and shit) of doing a phone cover of my oh so pretty celtic heart symbol so I went looking to see if that was possible and for how much. No, this is not a paid advertisement, they have no idea who I am and sadly I will get no $$$ from this post. I stumbled upon Collage.com and oh my goodness the plethora of pretty made my cold heart flutter. 

How sad is it that I never thought of a calendar of my covers, as I now have more than 12? I bet you didn't think of it either or there would be a gazillion of them out there. How cool is that though? To have a calendar of your favorite covers to give out instead of a book mark, true the cost isn't cheap but think of it, your reader looking at your covers every day! The minute I have more than $10 bucks in my pocket I'm ordering some for next year and totally doing a giveaway. 
Look look! It's so pretty!

Just as I thought hmm...cool moving on I saw the next bestest thing EVER magnets. You could do a big one with a collage of your covers or a regular sized one with one cover. Ok yes, it doesn't sound cool but the idea of your book cover holding up some kid's macaroni art...I know it's sad the idea makes me giddy but it so does. 

Now I'm clicking like a maniac and what, what, what?  No way, personalized notebooks? Okay, yes I saw this on another website and even considered it but it got to be sooo overwhelming and yes this is incredibly girly of me but the website didn't look this pretty and uncluttered. The idea of a cover on a notebook a reader will use is the shit to me I want to order some for me to keep!

There are the usual things, tote bags, mugs, and coasters there's even some cool looking playing cards that just don't seem that feasible as a writer of romance-maybe thrillers and action for the poker players or maybe as a Christmas gift to friends and family. 

While I'm at it throwing out the coolest thing I saw put into use. 

This writer did the flash drive on a post card with his cover on one side and the other side blank so he could sign to give the reader. He said the cost for 100 was just under $5.00 and he sold it for $10.00 at a comic con. Which is a hell of an idea. When going to a con the attendees aren't there for you so the last thing you want to do is lug books there and even worse back. He said he sold out of them and it just looks cool. This is a website I did a quick search and found. 

USB drive

I'm sure you could also them on a book mark, or business card, it looks cool and ever so a change from the same old same old.  

Okay pretties, now I really do need to get to writing. Any ideas you want to share feel free to comment. 

Everything you say and do can and will be held against you

As many authors do I offered up my blog to feature other authors. It's something I've done in the past and until two authors flaked on me right in a row I actually enjoyed doing. Previously, I reached out to authors I knew and liked, I featured Jordan Silver, Setta Jay, Christa Tomlinson, and CE Black. All of these writers I had encountered on social media and had taken a look at their stuff and liked. I offered, they didn't ask and I was happy with every encounter. 

No secret authors featuring other authors is win-win you help an author get some exposure from people who like you and you get exposure from people who like them, good times. As I saw someone in a group I'm in ask to be featured on other author's blogs for their new release. I thought about it and decided to go ahead and offer up my blog. Then because I'm a bit of a control freak planner just having one author wasn't enough I went ahead and just made a blanket statement of offering up my blog to other authors within the group. Immediately I had responses of yes, please. One author I knew of and even though I didn't read her I was actually quite happy to get to know more about her as I'd basically just 'seen her around' on social media not really interacted with her, and was interested in knowing more. That was Ms. Felicity Brandon who I just featured this weekend, I'm glad I did. Even though I'm not into BDSM I read through her samples on Amazon and really liked her writing style and I felt very proud to have her on my blog. 

Then I got another response from another writer. At the time I basically nodded and carried on as there wasn't a time issue with him and Felicity just had a release and the author wanted another time. Once I was done with Felicity's post and hit publish I turned my attention to the other author. Huh, I remember this guy. It was that guy, the guy who felt the need to explain to me what petite was and supposedly wasn't. The guy who kept poking me when I tried to ignore him because quite frankly I don't engage trolls or assholes. Life is too short and I really couldn't care. But this guy he kept poking at me, not wanting to be ignored because he had something that I supposedly needed to hear. 

I'm not going to feature this asshole and I told him so and gave him the previous post I wrote about our encounter. You want to be an asshole, fine but I don't have to have anything to do with  your ass. The thing is if he hadn't been asshole despite me not liking his writing style and not being able to say I recommend him, I would have featured him. It actually does not bring me any kind of happiness or satisfaction to tell him I won't feature him. I've said it before and I mean it. I'm not here to do anything but help other authors, even if I don't necessarily like someone's writing or subject matter or even them as a person because of stupid shit they say or do. I'll just keep scrolling past and not engage. Even though this post is talking about that guy the greater message is: Everything you say or do can and will be held against you

Remember that, you tweet it, you Facebook post it, you snapchat it, Instagram whatever. If you put it out there to see know people will see it and they'll judge, for better or worse. For the readers especially it's a way to lose readers and it hurts the bottom line. For the writing community, it's a small world and the memories are very long. Don't make it harder for someone to want to help you out. 

Author Spotlight Felicity Brandon

Felicity Brandon

Felicity writes erotic romance with bondage, submission, and spankings. Oh my! High heat levels and naughtiness abound in each book she writes. 

Although several of my h's love a good spanking for fun BDSM and discipline isn't really my thing. That said it doesn't stop me from appreciating a good writer. Case in point, Felicity Brandon. I love Ms. Brandon's writing style and am so happy to spotlight her work and get to know her. 

You've written viking historical, now regency, and contemporary is there a time you prefer writing?

I immerse myself in whatever genre I am writing, and am happy writing in all of them. I was amazed by how easily I slipped into the Regency era, but I think moving back and forth between times helps to keep my writing fresh.

Is there a place and time in history you wish you had lived in? 

I love history, but I don't have any desire to live in it. As a woman, I think I am much happier in the twenty-first century, where I am free to be myself.

What writers or books first made you fall in love with reading? What was the writer or book that made you want to write? 

The first book I got lost in as a child was 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe', by C.S. Lewis. I was completely transported to Narnia, and spent many years checking the back of wardrobes!  Since then, there have been many awe-inspiring books, but Anne Rice remains one of my all-time favourites writers. Her narrative style is utterly enticing.

When not writing and you have time to yourself you can be found... lost in music and/or at the gym.

What is something you wish you knew when you first sat down to write your first story? 

Writing the story is just the beginning...

Favorite comedy

Clue or Hot Fuzz

Hot Fuzz is a wicked fun comedy, that everyone in the entire world should watch. Simon Pegg is a fucking genius (damn I thought I was going to get through this post without cussing). I think I have a girl crush on Ms. Brandon. *dreamy sigh* 

I'm so glad I got a chance to learn more about her and hope y'all did too. Enjoy a look at her newest release and keep scrolling to find where you can take a look at her others and find her online.

Taming Lady Lydia 

Felicity says Taming Lady Lydia is the most sensual and potent romance I have ever penned. Lord Markham is the Regency hero I always fantasized about... He’s a strict authoritarian with a loving, tender heart.

When eighteen-year-old Lady Lydia Franklin becomes the ward of Lord Thomas Markham after her father’s death, she quickly discovers that the wealthy, handsome gentleman believes in strict discipline for wayward young women. Her penchant for naughtiness soon earns her a sound spanking, but despite his willingness to punish her as often and as shamefully as he feels it necessary, Thomas’ firm-handed correction leaves Lydia helplessly aroused.

Though he is charged with ensuring that Lydia’s innocence is preserved, Thomas cannot help but notice her body’s response to his stern chastisement. It isn’t long before she is lying naked across his lap as she is spanked thoroughly and then brought to a blushing climax, and over the coming days he sets about teaching her what it means to surrender herself completely to a dominant man.

Being taken in Thomas’ arms proves more pleasurable than Lydia ever dreamed, and she finds herself imagining a future as his wife rather than his ward, but the dark rumors about his past are hard to ignore. When he asks for her hand she agrees to be his bride, but once the wedding is over will the bond between them hold firm or will it all end in scandal and heartbreak?

Publisher’s Note: Taming Lady Lydia includes spankings and sexual scenes. If such material offends you, please don’t buy this book.

Excerpt: 

“You can either be a good girl, behave and obey my requests…” He pauses, watching my responses carefully. “Or, my love… you can resist me, try me, and be soundly spanked for your trouble. Do you know which you have chosen tonight?”

I swallow at the question, my hips raising beneath our entwined bodies as though they choose to answer for me. “I have disobeyed you,” I whisper.

He smiles, his brow rising wryly at my comment. “Yes,” he agrees, kissing me chastely on the lips. “And so you will be spanked.”

“I am sorry, Thomas,” I whimper, not really sure if I am truly sorry, or whether I just enjoy playing the heroine to his bondage scene.

He is already moving down my body as he replies. “Thank you, my love,” he replies, and there is genuine warmth in his tone. “But you know the rules. You are to be punished and then you will be pleasured.”

************

It's available now at Amazon

Felicity can be found everywhere (I think she's Batman)

Her website: FelicityBrandonWrites
Facebook
Amazon Author Page: Amazon
Barnes and Noble:  Nook
Apple:  iBooks
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It's that time again: Covers

Cover time peoples! Don't, don't do it. Don't gasp and run from the cover artist's website and think it's not worth it. Don't think this is something you can do on your own. If you have paid for editing-you better have paid for editing-don't waste your money by not paying for a cover artist. I get it, it feels like one more thing that you just can't afford anymore because you have already spent so much. Get over it or go back to your day job. 

If you are not slinging smut and you want to take this all the way then don't cheap out on this. While yes there are cover artists out there that aren't worth it there are still a shit ton who are worth every penny. Look at the titles in the top 100 best sellers both on Kindle and on the USA Today list, that's what your cover needs to look like. 

Now, on to the cover artists I've found I think you should take a look at. 

Repeats:

Cheeky Covers

Once again my cover artist, Carrie, who I still can't believe does such a good for so little. Custom covers run from $35-100. She is easy to work with and has no problem working with neurotic, twitchy writers. 

Alchemy Book Covers

Every time I do covers I check this artist (have no idea if it's guy or girl going with girl cuz I like the idea of it being a girl) and every single time I love her work. Seriously, there are only one or two I'm eh on. All kinds of covers here, thriller, mystery, romance, chick lit, literary it's all here and it all looks so good. 

There are two different premades, one page is $85 and the other are all sale premades for $40 and they don't look any worse (okay a few of the fonts aren't that great but maybe they could change that up for not much more) the point is you can get great looking covers for less than you think that are totally worth it. 

Custom covers are $185 for ebook only, ebook and print are $235

New Cover Artists:

Angela Haddon 

This is a cover artist who caught my eye on Twitter, god I love Twitter. Her premades look exactly like something you would see on a table in Barns and Noble, good placing and switching up on the fonts. I like. 

Her premades run $50 to $80 (and yes like a cheater I covet 2 on the page-but I'm just looking). Her custom covers run $220 for ebook only and $295 for the print and ebook, ouch but considering what she does with premades I would take the leap and say she looks like she's worth it. 

Vivian Monir

She doesn't have much in the way of premades but her portfolio looks so good I wouldn't hesitate to say she's worth it for custom covers that start at only  $60 (damn! totally worth it) she then goes to $120 then $175 and add on $45 for print cover. 

Resplendent Media

Aria does not do premades but her $125 for a custom ebook cover is still really good for the quality of her covers. Ebook and print will cost $165 and I seriously can't find one cover she's done I don't love. 

Kasmit Covers

Someone who also doesn't have many premades but pricing is more than fair for the quality of the covers. Custom starts at $60 then $100 then $140 and for print cover add another $40

Natasha Snow Designs

This cover artist is not just romance but also does good looking fantasy, sci-fi covers and of course those as romance. Really great portfolio. She has a decent amount of good looking premades for sale for only $59 her customs start at $150 and has a premium package for $225 for print covers add $50

Clary Sage Book Design

I found this cover artist by complete accident, and I have to say I just love her work. It's really beautiful and it actually made me want to write something for a few of her covers. She has several premades for fantasy that range from only $40 to $102 

RBA Designs

This is the one I've been on the fence about but I'm just going to go with it because the portfolio is overwhelmingly good. The reason why I was hesitant is that the cost of the stock photo used isn't included-personally I like to know exactly how much something is going to cost. I don't like surprises. That said, you've been warned. There are no premades and the cost is a flat fee of $150 which includes print cover and that alone makes this a value considering how good the covers in the portfolio are. 

***The link to each website is the name***

Links to my past cover blogs. I have no idea if prices have changed or the artists are still around. 

2016 Covers

2015 Covers

2014 Covers