Something Different

When I'm not writing about my jaguar shape-shifters I like to write contemporary novellas. They're a nice change of pace and sometimes that's just what I need to get motivated toward a new jaguar story.

Recently, I got the thrill of my life when my Resplendence editor sent the Coffee Time Romance Review for my story IOU. Savannah graciously invited me to promo it on this blog so here it is:


IOU
PARIS BRANDON
ISBN#: 9781607350842
November 2009
Resplendence Publishing, LLC
www.resplendencepublishing.com
E-book
$3.00
45 Pages
Contemporary, Erotic Romance, Carnal Reunions
Rating: 5 Cups

...I was absolutely stunned at the impact of Paris Brandon’s writing. IOU set a fire that burned from page one through to the end. When these two characters come together it ignites from the first breath and could be the model for every woman’s fantasy. Everyone has that one person from their past that has a hold of a part of them but that never gets a second chance. The Carnal Reunion series is about second chances and what can occur if someone takes a chance. I look forward to reading the rest of the series and recommend IOU because it is a sizzling ride back to the past that everyone should read.
Delane
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More


Blurb:

The morning after her final exams, Bliss Harper woke up in her own bed wearing only her underwear. She didn’t remember how she got there or why there was an I.O.U. tucked into her panties for one night of “Bad Boy Sex” signed by N. Santucci. She had a ten year plan for success and that didn’t include getting involved with handsome Nick Santucci. No more bad decisions involving handsome men for her.

Nick didn’t think Bliss Harper’s version of bad-boy sex had her waking up with the pizza delivery guy trying to save his family’s business. Better to let her live with her fantasies. Ten years later he’s not delivering pizza he’s delivering deals. The terms are simple. He’s planning on negotiating one night into many with the woman who holds the marker on his heart.

Excerpt:

Bliss Harper bit her lip and gazed down at the back of a ten year-old pizza receipt where Nick Santucci’s precise signature was scrawled at the bottom of an IOU for one night of sweaty, dirty, bad-boy sex. She carefully opened the musical card that he’d sent in reply to the photocopied IOU. The tinny strains of a lively nineties dance number, by a local band that had lasted on the charts for about four minutes her senior year, blared. Nick’s familiar scrawl informing her that he’d see her at the Ambassador, ready to pay up, was at the bottom of the card.

Thanks to Classmates R Us, she’d finally reconnected with the one man who’d been starring in her personal fantasies for the past ten years. She usually had better sense, but she’d realized the day her college reunion invitation had arrived that she’d slipped back into her all-work-and-no-play mode. Of course, there wasn’t any guarantee that this weekend was going to change that.

Nick could be fat, bald, married or all of the above. Well, if he was, at least she could finally start fantasizing about someone else when she had her next close encounter with her battery-operated, Saturday night date. And if her luck held, she’d find out what she’d done to make Nick Santucci owe her a night of bad-boy sex. Maybe then she’d start living the life she’d put on hold ten years ago to pursue the success and security she had finally achieved.

The door shuddered and Franny’s familiar knock made her smile, something she’d been doing a lot of since showing up at Karen’s door a few hours ago.

“Come on in, Fran.”

Fran, wearing one of her signature no-nonsense pant-suits strode into the room like an Amazon queen. “When are you going to design me something that makes my butt look good?” she asked, waving her hand at the emerald, toga-styled silk sheath wrapped around Bliss, and caught at one shoulder with a matching tie.

“I’ll make a deal with you. You take enough time off from the think tank to come to New York and get measured, and I’ll make you a dress that will win your butt an award.”
Fran rolled her eyes and then glanced at the open card Bliss held. “What the hell is the name of that song you keep playing?”

“I don’t remember,” she lied, and knew she was caught when Fran pinned her with her famous frown.

“Have you remembered a damn thing about that night?”

“Not much after Elliot broke up with me. I think there was dancing and green jell-o involved,” she shrugged, “after that, nothing.”

“So are you here looking for Nick Santucci as a possible Mr. Right? ‘Cause, honey, Mr. Right could be fat, bald or married—and very possibly, all three.”

Bliss blinked. “It’s scary how much we think alike. And the answer is not just no, but hell no. I think. So, are you not looking for Mr. Right, either?”

“There’s no such animal,” Fran scoffed. “But I wouldn’t mind a few rounds with Mr. Wrong,” she said, and surprisingly enough, she almost sounded wistful.

My Resplendence editor just informed us that the Carnal Reunions anthology will be available in print in time for the Romantic Times Convention! I hope to see you there. Thanks for inviting me to promo this, Savanna;-)

Paris
Website:
Buy Link:

Deep Thoughts For A Friday...

Good Morning, friends and a happy Friday to one and all!

Today's blog has nothing what-so-ever to do with shapeshifters or the paranormal, but a lot about writing and what's right and wrong. No, I shall not be the moral compass here, everyone has to do that for themselves, but I will present to you, two things I've read about this week which have caused me to ponder while I should have been writing.

First up, J.D. Salinger and the prospect of unpublished ms lying about in his safe. What to do with them now that he has died?

Check out this link for the full story - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100129/ap_en_ot/us_obit_salinger
Why do I find this a quandary? Well, here's the thing, Salinger had not published a thing(that we know of, unless he was using an iron clad pen name) since 1965. That had to be a choice he made, because honestly, is there any editor who would have rejected a Salinger work? But I digress, it is my assumption that he chose not to publish any more of his works, so that makes me wonder, is it then wrong to consider taking his ms, most of which were probably unedited, and put them on display to be judged by readers and scholar's alike?

What if Mr. Salinger had a love of making up dirty limericks for his personal amusement? I know I do... LOL The hubster has received many an Valentine's card with a sassy little poem in it, but I wouldn't want those made public.

Even if it wasn't dirty limericks, would anyone want their pre-edited works published? Or worse, to have someone else fully decide what you may have meant and edit your words? I'm thinking, no.

Perhaps then, if there are unpublished works in his safe, they should be kept merely for the pleasure of his family and not the public eye.

Next up, Confessions of a Book Pirate, here's a link to another article I came across the other day.

http://www.themillions.com/2010/01/confessions-of-a-book-pirate.html

This was an interesting article, but this reasoning for the theft of books leaves me cold. Just because you can not hold the book in your hands, does not mean it is not stealing. I will concede that ebooks are a fairly new technology and that we do indeed need to promote understanding, but there was one comment among the many that had me wondering if anything we e published authors do will make a difference. The comment basically stated, "downloading is copying, not stealing."

If that's true, I need to get on it and grab a couple of my favorite authors works and pull the words out, mix them up in my own ms, give it a new title and send it out to the publishers! It's sure to be a money maker!! Oh wait, that's called plagiarism which we all know is WRONG!!

Anywho, I will stop the deep thoughts now and leave you with a fun puzzle...

Who am I
-I am the beginning of eternity
-The end of every rhyme
-The beginning of every end
-And the end of space and time

Have a great weekend everyone!

What If They Don't Come?

I had to sigh while reading Serena’s earlier post because in the not too distant past, ideas popped in from so many places I had to cull through to find the ones with the most potential.

Not lately, though. I’ve been pulled in so many directions, both personal and professional, that I’m having a hard time coming up with anything new. It seems my muse is on vacation. And with all the rain and dreary weather here in used-to-be Sunny California, who can blame her.

So it’s times like these I take out the old plot cards. I used to do this as a writing exercise, and I’ve been to chapter meetings where we workshopped plots using this very method.

I make up ten cards for each character: hero, heroine, mentors/allies (The Writer's Journey, Christopher Vogler) villain/enemy. I do the same for structure: plot, conflict, black moment, resolution.

Starting with the character archetypes, I use Heroes and Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes (Tami D. Cowden, Caro LaFever, Sue Viders) to create my characters, and pair or pit them with/against each other:
Hero: chief, bad boy, charmer, best friend, lost soul, etc.
Heroine: boss, Seductress, spunky kid, free spirit, etc.

Then I move on to plot structure, and using the 22 master plot types, I pick between: Quest, Adventure, Rescue, Escape, Revenge, etc

Once I’ve randomly chosen cards for all parts of the story, I lay them out. If something doesn’t work, I think on it for a while. If something really doesn’t work, I pick a new card, and I don’t let myself feel guilty about it.

Another tip I've found helps is to find pictures in magazines to help me visualize. Sometimes stories come from the pictures themselves. A face, a place, a fancy car.

That reminds me…I once had an idea about a girl who bought a car at auction, but found something hidden inside the trunk that some very bad people wanted to get hold of…

Maybe my muse isn’t so far away after all.

The First Anniversary of BLACK CAT BEAUTY

Yep! Maowsa... it was one year ago, today, that my Halloween shapeshifter novella, BLACK CAT BEAUTY, was released. Nope, it didn’t make the deadline for the Halloween-themed stories Liquid Silver Books had put out a call for. Nevertheless, my black cat girl, Sable, is on the prowl and purring her story with lots of cattitude.

Sometimes, it feels as though I can barely get a breath in. Time flies way too fast these days. Nearly as flash-speedy as my hero and Sable’s erotic lover, Devon, takes to the skies... faster than a speeding bullet. Devon not only stars as Super Ace in the movies, he is a superhero in disguise.

One reason I wrote Sable’s tale/tail was for the sheer fun of it. Yep, utterly selfish on my part. Still, I hoped readers would enjoy the fun, too. Okay-yowls, the infamous reviewer, Mrs. Giggles, was not amused, well, actually, she admitted to laughing and not knowing why... however, she couldn’t handle what she called the ‘cheesy’ element of the story.

Sable would slinky shrug, and basically say to the Giggler, to each her own fur coat... and it’s her loss, the silly human... raoorrrr! let the Mae West-seductive party begin... did you bring me an enormous sausage treat, superhero? Or, are you just glad to see me?

I realized I never posted this review from a fellow author on this blog. So, happy snappy roars, here it is ~

~~~ Bekki Lynn’s Review of Black Cat Beauty ~~~

I haven't read a shapeshifter story in forever though I do have a few in my to-be-read files. Savanna first peaked my interest, months ago, with a tidbit about a panther shifting to a human form, I've been salivating with hunger for the story ever since. I knew it had to be different, hot and fun. And I love cats. She did not disappointment me whatsoever.
Well, except for the fact that I didn't want the story to end. I wanted more of Sable's sassiness, quick comebacks and feistiness. Savanna uses references to well-known figures in such a manner that turned the story into a movie before my eyes. Her imagery was amazingly real and well done.
I loved everything about Sable and Devon. Though she didn't want to succumb to his charm and lustful scent, she simply couldn't resist the power of it and once she got a taste, she was his to command though she wanted to claw him to pieces for it. But who couldn't resist a virile, caring, yet demanding man who could serenade you in and out of your mind and have you orgasming beyond your wildest dimensions.
There is so much packed into this short story you'll not believe it. I don't want to give away too much, but if you've experienced a floating sensation while in the throes of loving your mate -- well, Devon will take you on a flight you can't imagine. Throughout the story, I wanted to be Sable and at times I felt like I was.
The chemistry between the characters is sweet and fun while scorching hot. Black Cat Beauty is going on my keeper shelf to be reread over and over. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys shapeshifters and those who don't.

Bekki

Bekki Lynn

Author of the Servin’ It Up series ~
Psychic Hitch & Last Glass of Wine
from Siren-BookStrand Publishing
~~~

Night Owl Romance Reviews ~
4.5 Top Pick
~ Black Cat Beauty is an entertaining, quick read. Its plot is complicated given the length of the book, but Ms. Kougar pulls it off. The erotic scenes were well done and fit in with the rest of the story. ~

For the full review claw-click on the button ~ http://nightowlromance.com/nightowlromance/reviews/Review.asp?ReviewId=3861 ~
~~~

BLACK CAT BEAUTY

Blurb: A private Halloween party in a gothic mansion hidden in the Hollywood Hills. Add one party crasher, Sable Kiki, a naughty black cat with a sexy wild human side.
Her covert assignment from her devious, always-cunning father: use her seductive wiles to find out the truth from Devon Zant, a movie star on the rise to super stardom.
Posing as the superhero actor, Devon Zant, D’Torr has arrived on Earth seeking revenge for the capture of his younger brother, and to assist in stopping a powerful enemy.
The leviathan warfleet of the Altirrux wants rule of all intergalactic trade routes to Earth, endangering the survival of D’Torr’s race, and all the inhabitants of the rare blue jewel, Earth.
~~~

~~~ Sable & Devon invite you to read their love story ~ will a black cat girl find happiness with a superhero? ~~~

BLACK CAT BEAUTY ... She has the claws and the cattitude to prove it... He has the super-powered strength and passion she fights, but needs... available from Liquid Silver Books.
~~~~~~

Plus, take a look at COYOTE MOON by Pat Cunningham ~ Can a half-werewolf woman, unaware of her wolf nature, come to love the WereCoyote determined to free her wild side and make her his mate? ~ http://bookstrand.com/product-coyotemoon-14959-330.html ~
BEST OF BREED by Pat Cunningharm ~ coming from BookStrand.
~~~~~~

HAPPY SHAPESHIFTING NEW YEAR!

~ MAY YOUR BRIGHTEST READING DREAMS COME TRUE ~

Savanna Kougar

~ Run on the Wild Side of Romance ~

Author of ~

All Shades of Blue Paradise
Red Lioness Tamed
When a Good Angel Falls ~ In Print
Tangerine Carnal Dreams
Murder by Hair Spray in Gardenia, New Atlantis ~ In Print
Black Cat Beauty
Her Insatiable Dark Heroes ~ In Print
Stallion of Ash and Flame ~
~~~~~~

How Overwhelmed Are We?

I haven't seen the movie "Avatar" yet. The weather's been lousy and honestly, hubby and I prefer matinees and our schedules haven't been lining up. I have noticed how much everyone else has liked it though and it seems like some people are having a hard time these days because they don't live on the planet where "Avatar" takes place (I apologize for not being able to recall the name). Excuse me?

There seem to be some people who are getting depressed because of this. Depression is horrible and I'm not trying to make light of the situation. I'm trying to understand. The only explanation I can think of is that people feel helpless to change the world they live in now. And come to think of it, how many times have you heard someone utter "Why bother? What can we do?" As if "we" are comprised of people without any power.

I have to admit that it's not hard to feel powerless when you see the pictures of the devastation that's befallen Haiti, the current political unrest everywhere, reports about the employment situation, health care; the list goes on. And if I watched it on a continuous 15 minute loop, all day long I might get to the point where I'd like to pack my bags and go live on another planet.

Does anyone remember when you had a half hour of local news and an hour of national news every night? When they actually reported the news and you didn't have to sit through a media commercial given by a talking head or a political pundit with an agenda? And it didn't last all day. And all night.

This is not the first time in history the world has been a mess. It's always been a mess in one way or another. An overwhelming mess. But we haven't always been privy to it 24/7. What's the solution?

The easiest one for me is to watch enough news to find out what's going on, turn off the television and do at least one positive thing to bring the world into balance. That could be anything from separating my recycling to donating my time or money to something I think will make a difference. Sounds simple but I swear I feel a little less overwhelmed when I do something positive.

What about you?

Where Do Those Ideas Come From?

Happy Friday one and all!

So I was reading Pat's awesome post yesterday(if you missed it, please go back and check it out...she has a fabulous voice and I think you'll love the idea she's currently working on.) So her post got me thinking about all the ways stories have snuck-up and smacked me between the eyes...

*Dish washing is an untapped kegger of ideas for me... I don't have a dishwasher so it's the old warm, soapy water and scrubbing central for me, but for some reason, the ideas just flow freely when I up to my elbows in suds.

*Driving anyone? I always seem to get the most brilliant ideas, on the road, but by the time I get somewhere to write them down, yeah, not quite as faboo as I thought...LOL

*Music, TV and movies, all wonderful fodder for my imagination.

* Awhile back, I was riffling ~can it still be called riffling if your doing it online? hmmm~ through pictures the other day and came across the one above and guess what? Yep, it hit me with an idea.

I mean really, a picture of a fortune cookie and all of a sudden I'm jotting down notes for an idea....

Isn't writing cool!!

How about it, anything weird give you a great idea for a story?

Have a great weekend!