Saturday Souvenirs - Blog Hop Winner and Art

Happy Holidays to you all from the Weird, the Wild, & the Wicked. I haven't posted a Saturday Souvenirs for a few weeks because I've been desperately trying to edit an MS that has been recalcitrant (stubborn) and the Muse whines a lot about all the other stories I could be writing. lol Some authors say there is no such thing as 'the Muse', which is fine for them, but right now the motivation to edit has been at an all time low for me, so 'the Muse' ain't talking much. :P

But I do have some good news. I have to announce the winner of the Siobhan Muir tote bag full of swag for the Evernight Holiday Blog Hop. Are you ready? Don't hold your breath now...

Donna Newman

Congratulations, Dawna! Everyone else, don't worry. There's more to come. I've sent the list of you to Evernight so they can add you to the drawing for the iPad2, so stay tuned for that one. :D

Okay, on the Saturday Souvenirs. To make me happier (and the Muse as well, lol), I'm posting some of my favorite artwork, whether photos, book covers, or original art pieces by friends and family. Hopefully that will jar my motivation back to editing. :P

I love the Steampunk aspect to this mechanical eye. It would make a great story, don't you think?

Ah yes, the dragon tattoos. I'm a huge fan of ink, but dragon ink is the best. :D

Special kisses always get my attention, but these two really struck me. ;) The artwork here makes me sigh from the sensuality of it.

 

 I love line drawings, but the watercolor above is from my oldest daughter, her choice of colors grabbed my heart from the beginning. Do you see the rattlesnake? :)

I like the two covers above, not only because you can find my name associated with them, but also the images and colors the cover artist used. Plus, you can get Naughty Nibbles for FREE at Evernight Publishing! :D

This image showed up in my feed yesterday and I was struck immediately by the action, intensity, and power of it. Damn, that guy is coming for you! It made my heart flutter and wanted a copy of it, preferably signed by both the author and the artist. It's a frelling awesome image!

So hopefully I'm now inspired to go back through that story and fix it so it's worth reading. :P Thanks for stopping by. One last question: When you have something to do and no motivation to do it, what inspires you?

Winners of the Book Giveaways

This week I had two authors stop by on my blog with giveaways. Alex Bowman offered a copy of his new release Losing His Religion to a lucky commentor, and Nara Malone stopped by with a copy of her first Pantherian adventure, The Tiger's Tale, to a lucky commentor.

The winner of a digital copy of Losing His Religion by Alex Bowman is:

Dee

The winner of a PDF copy of The Tiger's Tale by Nara Malone is:

Yadkny

Thank you to everyone who stopped by and took a look at these wonderful authors. Congratulations, Dee and Yadkny! Happy reading! :)

Giveaway Winner for The Virgin Who Cried Wolf and some Candy

Good morning. As promised I have the winner for the digital copy of Alexandra O'Hurley's The Virgin Who Cried Wolf. But first, it has gotten warm here in Las Vegas so I thought I'd give you something to cool off with.

Oops! that just might have heated you up a little more. ;)

So the winner of Alex's giveaway is:

Ursula Avery

Congratulations, Ursula! Thank you to everyone who stopped by and stay tuned for Monday when Carolyn Rosewood is here guest blogging. Have a good weekend and happy reading! :)

Running #100words for the #FridayFictioneers and Giveaway Winner!

Welcome back to the Weird, the Wild, & the Wicked. Today I wrote a little story to Madison Woods' photo that continues the adventure of a WIP featuring private investigator Nik Wolffe.

Nik could hear the perp’s breathing all the way from the walkway leading to the tunnel under the highway. He hunkered down on his haunches beside the wooden bench, waiting. The man’s fear and cologne mixed in a rancid stench preceding his appearance at the mouth of the tunnel.

He was running full out, looking over his shoulder, when Nik rose and stepped into his path.

“Oh, shit!”

The perp slammed into him with a yelp and tried dodge away, but Nik knocked him into the grass and clamped a hand to his collar, planting a knee between his shoulder blades.

“There are a few folks looking for you, Mr. Hemmings.”

Nik always gets his man. :)

Also, the winner of the free ebook from Adonis Devereux is Tory Michaels! Congratulations, Tory. :D

Thanks for stopping by. If you'd like to read more of the authors participating in the #FridayFictioneers, please drop by Madison Woods' site. Thanks for stopping by and happy reading! :)

Hoppy Easter Blog Hop Winner

Welcome back to the Weird, the Wild, & the Wicked for a quick announcement of the Winner of this weekend's blog hop. Ready for it?

Sherry S.

Congratulations, Sherry!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the blog hop. It was great to meet you and see so many new faces.

I hope you'll stop by tomorrow when the erotic romance author duo Adonis Devereux stops by with their new release, Chasing Earth and Flame, and a chance to win a digital copy.

Also tomorrow, Fredrick MacGregor, the hero from Her Devoted Vampire, will be over at The Para Posse Blog talking about vampirism. Stop by and say hello.

Thanks again for attending the blog hop and happy reading! :)

Six Sentence Sunday - Her Devoted Vampire - Friend or Foe?

Welcome back, Sixers! How has your week gone? Mine has been busy, busy. busy. Had some great interviews, gave some great interviews, and connected with a lot of people. I love connecting with readers and authors, so thanks for stopping by today and commenting. Your comments mean a lot to me and it's great to see some returning folks. Several authors post on the Six Sentence Sunday list and a few of my favorites are Cara Michaels (yay, she's back with a new release!), Zee Monodee, Tory Michaels (who will be on my blog this week), and Gem Sivad.

Today I'm offering another snippet from my recent release Her Devoted Vampire from Evernight Publishing. In this snippet Bridget suddenly realizes how little she knows about Fredrick MacGregor.

“You will let her go.”

Fredrick’s voice drifted out of the darkness in front of them, and the arm around her throat tightened with her assailant’s surprise. Bridget gasped for breath and struggled to move his arm as something pushed deeper into her side, finally causing pain. She moaned, and her anger shifted back toward fear.

            Fredrick materialized out of the darkness with the same predatory grace she’d seen in the coffee shop, and her body froze in prey-awareness. He stalked toward them with so much menace, she wondered if she would die right along with the jackass holding her.

Not wise to piss off a hungry vampire - and some part of Bridget recognizes the predator. :) Thanks for stopping by and happy reading!

Also, the winner of the drawing for a digital copy of Cara Michaels' Gaea's Chosen:Event Horizon is Nellie Batz. Congratulations, Nellie! You have the choice of the digital copy, or if you have it already, a signed cover from the author. Please DM @caramichaels with your choice. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to read the bonus scene. :)

#MenageMonday and Winner's Announcement

Good afternoon. I'm getting a late start on things today, but there are a few things I wanted to mention.

Today is #MenageMonday on Cara Michaels' blog, where she offers the #MenageMonday Challenge. I'm a participant this time and there are three prompts: a photo, a phrase, and the Judge's choice. This week it's the Greek gods. Come stop by and read all the great posts in the comments section.

I also wanted to announce the winner of Cara Michaels Interview giveaway: @CRMoss! Congratulations! You won a copy of Gaea's Chosen: The Mayday Directive. If you get a chance, please look her up on Twitter and congratulate her.

Thanks for stopping in and happy reading!

UPDATE:

I won Judge's Pet for my #MenageMonday entry. The badge is to the left below the Judge's Badge. My entry and the prompts are below. Three prompts: the photo, the phrase "last call" and the Greek gods in reference or as character. 200 words max.

Athena bowed her head over the muddy soil of the two week old grave. She’d been named for the Goddess of Wisdom and Strategy, but her last op to apprehend gunrunner Michael Jackson had ended with the death of her partner. Some strategy.

“Oh, God, Ky, I’m so sorry.”

They’d staged the op at a costume ball on Halloween night at a local night club. Most of the men wore nothing more than a sock, while the women wore three postage stamps. She’d felt overdressed in her Vegas Vamp costume.

Ky had been the sexiest man there in his Thor getup, but it hadn’t stopped the gunrunner’s bullets. She’d lost a piece of herself when he went down.

“Last call,” she whispered, upending a 750ml bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey onto the headstone. “I wish I’d said I love you.”

Strong arms wrapped around her from behind, making her yelp and drop the bottle.

“You can say it now, if you like.” His breath brushed her ear.

She turned, scanning his body. “You’re alive?”

“Merrahs are hard to kill. Especially Ky Merrah.” Then he winked. “Unlike Michael Jackson, I don’t catch ‘fire’ easily.”

Woo-hoo! I had so much fun! Thanks to Cara Michaels for the award. Please head on over to her blog and check out the other offerings and winners. I was in good company and was really lucky. There are some great writers who come each week. Happy reading! :)

Giveaway Winner Announced and the EAA Conference

The moment you've all been waiting for . . . well, at least some of you! The winner of the book giveaway from Nara Malone's interview is:

Michelle Bauer!

Congratulations, Michelle! Here's your opportunity to get to know Master Bond and his sinfully sweet Toasted Peach Ice Cream from The Dungeon Gourmet. :)

In other news, I spent the weekend on the Las Vegas Strip with the Erotic Authors Association at their conference Sex in Sin City. It was an international crowd, some folks coming all the way from England and Libya! There were several of us from the Las Vegas area: Shannan Albright, CR Moss, JJ Ranger, Laura Hunsaker, and Katie Salidas.

I also met several epublishers and some very cool authors: Charlie Richards, Kate Richards, Maureen O Betita, and Cecilia Tan. I listened to some great readings from Sharazade and Emerald, laughed and chatted with KD Grace, Andrea Dale, Dee Brice, Starla Kaye, Laura Antoniou and Courtney Breazile, and spent time with editors from Decadent Publishing, Extasy Books, Torquere Books and Forbidden Fiction.

Courtney Breazile, Siobhan Muir, and Charlie Richards

The classes and panels were great and I had a wonderful time, but the best part of the conference was meeting and connecting with these authors and publishers. Conferences are about networking and I networked my butt off. Well, on the Strip, I only added to my butt, but I had a terrific time doing it! :D

Emerald has agreed to do an interview around November and I'll be getting together with Katie Salidas soon to discuss an interview as well. It was a great time and if you're an aspiring writer, I highly recommend these kinds of conferences. They are a great way to get noticed, find publishers, and other authors who can steer you through the unusual and ever-changing world of publishing right now.

The next conference I'll be attending is the Arizona Dreamin' Reader Event in June of 2012. It may seem like a long time from now, but it creeps up on you. There are several others happening at the end of this year and the beginning of next. You can visit the RWA site for a list of some of the major ones: Romantic Times, RWA Nationals, Desert Dreams, Authors After Dark. Check them out.

In the meantime, have a great week and I'll see you for Six Sentence Sunday! Happy reading! :)