Six Sentence Sunday - The Challenge

Six sentences from my first book, The Challenge.
~~~
From behind the open halves of his silk shirt, a hard body enticed her with strength and safety.  Mid-length black hair called to her fingers, taunting them to grip the perfect hanks while vivid green eyes promised long hours of sexual satisfaction.  However, his musky male scent drew her the most. It rolled over her like a lover’s touch, gentle and knowing, but designed to leave her breathless.  He would star heavily in future fantasies. Oh yeah, me-time was getting a completely new face.
~~~
Find more sixes at sixsunday.com

The Tortoise or The Hare

How do you write? Are you a little each day or do you have days when all you can do it write, but you know a long, lonesome stretch of desert awaits you around the next corner?

I, myself, am still very new to the writing for publication game. The Challenge was my second story to ever be finished and selling it was a complete, and over the moon happy, shock to me. My writing process for TC was a little bit every day. I was very much the tortoise then. Slow and steady did win that race. :)

Now, however, I am working on the second story, The Submission and I find myself more like the hare. Some days are filled with clear insight and the words pour out of me until I'm drained only to be followed by weeks of frustrated nothingness. Lost in my own story and ready to drop it into that shredder in my mind. To build a bon fire with the pages as my kindling.

As you can probably tell, I'm again in the midst of the nothingness. I would love nothing more than to type in "and a miracle occurs," close up shop on this story and kick it in next week, but I know I do myself a disservice with that. More than anything this story needs to be finished. I'm sliding into the last third of the story and then I can set it aside for a bit before editing.

How though do I finish it.

I've decided to try something I've never been able to do before. I'm going to skip a few scenes. ~aaaaahhahahahaha~ Yeah, I'm so not a skipper. LOL My brain just generally does not work that way, but I figure, what can it hurt right. hehe

So tell me, are you the tortoise or the hare and if you have any tricks of the trade, I'm all ears. ;)

A Christmas Silly

December eighteenth
she was running out of time
The Day would be upon us
before she finished this rhyme

Out came the list's, out came decor
up went the tree with ornaments galore

The hubster desired
those movies of war
Her diva she wanted
this, that and more

The cookies were unbaked
The holiday meal not yet planned
Her writing still stalled
It was quite out of hand.

A mere week to go
she could not finish on time
perhaps she just needed
to draw a firm line

What could she say, what would she do?

"Christmas is cancelled"
to harsh it was true
she loved this sweet holiday
more than anyone knew

She needed to stop,
and take a cleansing breath
open her mind
dig deep into its depth

Relax, calm down
it would all be okay!
No need to frown
on this marvelous day.

So with water so warm
The bubbles did call
Out came her list
At least ten feet tall

Her wants and desires
so simple indeed
ebooks my fine people
I just need to READ!!

May your holiday season be calm, your family and friends be healthy and hale and your ebook gifts be plenty! ;)

***unabashed promo ahead***

If you know anyone like this poor lady, who could use a holiday pick me up, may I suggest a few ebook essentials...

Black Cat Beauty by Savanna Kougar
The Collision by Crystal Kauffman
Assassin's Kiss by Paris Brandon
Protect and Defend by Francesca Hawley
The Challenge by Serena Shay

Inquiring Noob, Wants To Know...

To all the impatient characters clogging up my brain,
Please take some time to make a line, consider it a train.
Tallest to shortest, richer to poorest I do not care which
Please settle down and wait your turn; Vern, stop calling me a bitch.
I know you all have stories to tell, each one is important to me
Be you cat or dog, bat or hog or some strange concoction in between.
I’ll hear your tale, just stop your wail and please, please let me be!

Well Aug 10th has come and gone. I’m now the proud mama of a newly published book, THE CHALLENGE. However, I neglected to take into consideration that once my baby was out there, the rest of my very eager characters would come a-calling.

Many of the ideas that sprang to life during my writing, re-writing, editing and re-editing of THE CHALLENGE, are now back vying to be the next story up on the block, even though I’m currently working on the next story in my Jaguar series.

While grateful that I even have ideas, the roar of requests has me wondering, how do other authors handle this? Do your characters bombard you with write me next requests? And if so, how do you handle it? Do you write only one story at a time or try to spread your focus and write more than one at a time?

Inquiring noob, wants to know??

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Does Strength Equal Stupidity?

So I was driving along yesterday and I happen to notice a nice looking, okay, Hawt! guy on a motorcycle next to me. Yes, I was quite lucky indeed. He wore jeans, a t-shirt, and sexy Keds on his feet. He had a firm chin, soft lips-perfect for long kisses and his hair was dark and wind-blown... He reminded me of my hero in The Challenge.

Wait... wind-blown? How do I know this? You guessed it, no helmet.

Now, this blog isn't about the foolishness of riding a bike, sans helmet. Nope, I'll let his significant other handle that topic. Today I was wondering - when writers of the paranormal creatures such as shapeshifters, vamps and the rest of our special heroes and heroines, give our characters indestructibility, does stupidity somehow sneak in too?

I know I'm guilty of making my characters somewhat fool hardy, at least in my mind I do, cause I really love to see a guy like Mr Hawtness on a sweet chopper bucking safety and society by letting the wind blow through his sexy, disheveled locks even though the road rash from one single fall could and would probably be deadly. Or maybe jumping from airplanes-free falling darn near to the ground and only then, hoping the chute will open, climbing mountains with big guns strapped to their backs, taking charge and kicking ass....Oh My!


Whew....


Must get back on topic... My question then is this. If we give them all this strength, does it automatically infuse in them the stupidity to risk themselves, would a safety first male be as sexy or maybe it's not stupidity just the traits of an alpha male?

What do you think?



Have a great weekend!

What the heck do I do now?

It's now just over two weeks until my release date for The Challenge. YAY!!! Only, what the heck do I do now?

----------------Newb Alert - Newb Alert-----------------

So I have a list of newbie questions I thought to put out for all of you seasoned authors out there. Now, I figure it is only fair to pay for any brain picking I do, but my currency comes in the form of a snippet of my upcoming release. I'll post it at the bottom. :)

On with the questions....

1. Should I be promoing it like crazy? Probably, but how and where?
2. When it comes out, how many copies should I buy to use as give aways? Is there a magic number?
3. Do interviews on other blogs work?
4. I'm working on a second book, as I've heard that is the best promo you can do, but is there anything else that worked really well for anyone out there?
5. Any other words of advice for my big day...I'm all ears.

Thanks! Now how about a snippet...

As the car drew to a halt and Bastian got out, she wondered again if she was making a mistake. Yes, she wanted to know the wildness of sex with this side of her physiology, but at what cost? Did she dare risk the loss of her anonymity? She’d hidden for so long behind her talent that it was hard to put herself out there for sex alone.

“We’re here.” His hand reached out, palm up, ready to assist her from the car. He left her breathless with his considerate gesture. How many men these days opened car doors? A symphony of nature met her as she rose from the car. Water lapping onto the shore and a fresh pine bouquet filled her with a wild yearning. She could run here, be free here. Maybe she could be more, here.

They moved along the dock towards a giant gazebo outlined with twinkle lights. Silky netting hung suggestively around a raised pedestal in the center of the room, a bed hidden within its depths. They were alone, and the incredible man at her back demanded her full attention.

“Shh, pretty kitty.” Bastian wound himself around her, calming the shakes racking her body. When had those started? “There’s probably a minimum of a hundred things I could call you.” His tongue dragged lightly over the whorls of her ear. “But do you know what I would like?”

She tingled as pictures raced through her head. Her body sprawled over the hood of the car, the warm metal teasing her breasts as he pounded into her from behind.

“Wha—what?”

“Your name, darlin’, what do I call you when I demand your release?”

The Challenge has a release date!

Happy Fri Everyone!

So I'm borrowing a post from my personal blog this Friday because I still so stoked about the news.

Woo Hoo! I am walking on air today...


On Aug 10th, the first book in my Jaguar series, The Challenge, goes on sale at Liquid Silver Books. I am thrilled. So thrilled in fact, that I decided to give you a snippet of my heroine...Marina.


Enjoy!

Bastian stepped closer, and her back warmed from the heat pulsing off him. Long fingers brushed the sides of her breasts, drawing the nipples to rigid points. “There’s a first time for everything.”Oh yes, there was. Tonight she would climb into her car and willingly go wherever he wanted to take her. She’d allow herself to revel in the pure passion of sex with a full-blooded shifter, setting aside what would come next. Tomorrow was soon enough to find a nice, boring human and live a nice, boring life.This was her chance to find out if there was more to sex than the lackluster orgasms found with human partners. For years she’d wondered if there more to it than the grunts and groans, the ooh babies and the repetitive pounding which never seemed to get her close to the elusive orgasm.

Have a great and safe 4th everyone.

The Dreaded Stall...

Happy Friday!

I thought it would be fun to chat today about what I do when my story stalls.

When I wrote The Challenge, the initial meet between my h/h stalled me for a bit. I knew where they met, how they met, I knew why the heroine was there, but I was still unclear as to the actions of my pride leader hero. Bastian is part adrenaline junkie that's for sure, I mean what alpha male shape shifters aren't, but would he risk himself by going on a mission that had a potential for danger just for the rush?

Probably, but he has responsibilities to the pride which I know he knows. So why tempt fate? Thing is, if he didn't go he would miss out on meeting his mate. I knew he had to go, but he didn't know Marina would be there and he went anyway. I needed a reason why...

I've found the best way for me to work through something that stumps or stalls me is to interview my character. So that's what I did.

Meet Bastian...

Me: Good Morning, Bastian. You awake?

B: Grrrrr

Me: Yikes, no need to be snarly, not enough sleep last night?

B: My mate needed me last night and I provided. Now what the hell do you want.

Me: ~sigh~ What I want and what I need are totally different states of mind my dear. ~pant, pant~

B: Ha! ~snickers~ What do you need then, sweets?

Me: stay on topic, girly. Ok, I need to ask you some questions. First, what the heck were you doing at the casino, the night you met Mari?

B: Shit, only good thing to come from that night was Mari. I was there tracking a rouge shifter. The ass munch got baked on some ganga he’d grown on the Den’s acreage and decided it would be a kick to walk down main street in his cat suit or so say his friends, but being as high as he was, he couldn’t find main street, thankfully. Like we need that kind of exposure. Anyway, he ended up at a local farm, harassing the livestock. The farmer didn’t take kindly to the nuisance and shot at him, but claims that he only got him in the hind quarters. Stoner boy made it all the way to the fricking casino with shotgun pellets in his ass… go figure.

Me: Well that explains what the enforcers were doing, but why were you there?

B: Boy you are noisy aren’t cha. The enforcers were there, I just happened to be with them. And before you ask why, well, I was bored.

Me: You were "bored” so you put yourself at risk? And your guards allowed that?

B: Watch your tongue little one, I'm the leader and I do as I damn well please.

LOL, Though he never really answered my question, he did give me a wealth of attitude and personality to work from and it got me past my stall. Amazing how that works, huh.

So, what ways have you found to move out from those dreaded stalls?

Have a great weekend!!

The Challenge, The Twist and The Rub

Happy Friday all!

So how do you like that title for today's blog...pretty clear what I'm going to talk about today, right. Yep, I can hear ya'll now "Clear as mud, Serena"

Hey, I heard the eye rolling too...LOL

Thing is I've been having a terrible time deciding what to blog about today. A situation not unlike my current WIP status. So I figured I'd tell you a bit about the new WIP - The Submission

The Challenge

Unlike my first story, The Challenge, which seem to take me for ever to wrap my head around, TS jumped from my brain and onto the storyboard relatively quickly! Rick and LeAnn knew what they wanted me to share about their journey into love and all was good, they were happy, I was happy, we were ALL happy...ah huh

The Twist

See, there is always a twist in my writing life, but I apparently neglected to remember that with TS. I was busy pulling together the bits and pieces of scenes I had already written...you know the scenes from the middle that will undoubtedly change, but just won't wait to be written. I had already started the story in a couple of different ways each time with an "oooh this will be a better place to start."

~this really should have been a clue of what was to come, but I never claimed brilliance as one of my better qualities, just bull-headedness and stick-with it-ness.~

Anyway, with every new start Rick and LeAnn got quieter, waiting I'm sure to spring on me their six foot tall surprise... Trent

Another hero, guys? Really?

Yep, a complete 360

The Rub

While the story is perfect(I think so anyway), the conflict de-lish and the sex is bound to be most enjoyable to write, here's the rub...

I'm nervous! There, I said it. ~nibbling my nails~ I've never written a menage story before and IMHO, a good one is about more than just three people hopping into the sack and throwing down several times in the book...I need the emotion, the angst, the realism of trying to make three people happy at once... Add to that the fact that we are talking about two alpha male jaguar shapeshifters and one female they both want to mate...Oh man!

Are Rick, LeAnn and Trent biting off more than this author can chew?

Who knows, but I can hear my cp now...you won't know until you get it on the paper. True. I guess I'll just have to write it and see...

Wish me luck!

Have a great weekend!

Sun morning snip-it...

So I couldn't resist starting my Sunday with a snip-it of my upcoming book, The Challenge. See, I've been playing over at the LSB forum as well as reading some awesome free reads on our friend Savanna's blog. ~sigh~ Do stop by and check them out, you won't be sorry...

Anyway, I decided to post a little tease of my own and where better than the Shapeshifter blog.... Enjoy!

The smell of sunshine and sex rolled him. Sounds dimmed and lights flashed brighter. His stomach hit the floor with his body soon to follow if he didn’t do something quickly.

“Bast, you okay? You’re looking pale, dude.”

“Yeah.” No, he wasn’t all right. His freaking knees were weak. “Uh, Gun, I’ll need you to smooth things over with the casino manager, ‘kay?” At least one body part didn’t share the absurd weakness of his knees—he was half-hard from the delicious smell of a woman made only for him.

“Sure, no sweat, I’ll play nice to the casino manager. You sure you’re okay?”

“Yes.” His response came with a bit more gravel than he’d hoped, but all he could focus on was the smell and getting the other male far away from what was his.

“Solid. I’m out.” Thankfully, the enforcer had paid enough attention to his leader to know when it was time to go. They couldn’t afford to have a go at it here in a public venue.

There was another cat in the pile and she belonged to him. Hell, he’d found his mate at the bottom of a mass of smelly humans, in a noisy casino and miles from pride land. Amazing.

In a flurry of action, he dug into the remaining humans piled before him, moving them and their scents away from the smell of his woman.

“Please. Get. Off. Me.” The husky voice finished the job started by her scent. His cock stretched to full length and swelled fiercely against the zipper of his jeans. If he weren’t careful, he’d be a eunuch before he was a mate. Not a happy thought.

Auburn hair, tangled from the recent struggle, came into view as the last human in the pile fell away. Olive green eyes sparkled as he offered her his hand. A shockwave of sexual heat raged from his balls to his head. She wasn’t classically beautiful, but her pinchable cheeks and real womanly curves spoke of her earthiness. This was the kind of woman able to take a man of his size and cushion him in her femininity; wrap him in her scent and take his breath away only to give it back with her kiss.

“Thank you.” The tips of her fingers barely touched his, but the spark shot clear to his toes and out the top of his head.

Mine.

Sunshine, sex and human scents flooded his system. The closer he pulled her to him, the greater the smell. The sunshine warmed him. The sex thrilled him, but the human chilled him. Where did the human smell come from? Could she be...?