I’m at the Cobblestone Press Author blog today talking about Power. Stop by here and say hi!

Like I said yesterday, I’m back to the mundanities of work life. But, I have to admit, being back at work has its upsides. The best part of my job (besides the long commute by bus and the leaking roof) is that all the females in my office love the same kind of TV shows. One of the girls got me hooked on Grey’s Anatomy when she lent me the first season. I’m now watching the third season, almost caught up to where the rest of the Grey’s Anatomy fan base is at.

Here’s why I love this show so damn much:

1. McDreamy.

2. A great mixture of comedy and drama.

3. McSteamy.

4. The constant swapping of sexual partners.

5. Bailey’s no-nonsense attitude.

6. Burke and Christina’s relationship (yes I know it’s not going to end happily, but I’ll enjoy it while it lasts.)

7. A rockin’ soundtrack.

8. Ferry boats.

9. The most bizarre surgeries ever.

10. Sex happens all over Seattle Grace. It makes me wonder what the doctors and nurses get up to at my hospital.

11. Alex.

12. McDreamy’s trailer. I could live in that.

13. The characters’ perverse pleasure in blood and guts.

Well, my hotel weekend is over and I’m officially back at work. But all’s not lost as I do have a bit of good news to share.

Loose Id Publishing has accepted ‘Beauty and the Beasts’, my werewolf menage and probably my favorite of all the stories I’ve written. I’m so excited about this contract since Loose Id has been on my most-wanted-publisher list FOREVER!

‘Beauty and the Beasts’ should release later this year (squeeeeeee!).

Releasing at the end of this week is Power, my novella in the Vampire Oracle series. I have a couple of things planned for the release so watch this space!

So I’ve been quiet lately. Painfully quiet, boringly quiet. I could blame it all on work and the stresses of daily life, but I have to admit it. I’ve been lazy on the blogging front.

However, I’m ready and willing to buck up. Starting today, Monday the 30th of June 2008, I pledge to blog on a regular basis (regular meaning at least four times a week). I can’t promise it will be particularly interesting, but I’ll sure as heck make the effort.

Of course it’s so much easier to make time for blogging when you’re sitting in a hotel room with nothing better to do like I am right now :).

Yes, that’s right. I’m actually on vacation. Okay, maybe not vacation. It’s more like a four-day weekend. I decided I needed to take a break, and lucky for me, a few of my girlfriends agreed. So here we are, shopping and eating and dancing….well, that’s what we will be doing as soon as I shut down this computer.

At my insistence, we went to see Wanted today, the new movie with Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy (YUM!). I thought it was great-lots of action and thrills. Good chemistry between the lovely Angelina and James too.

What I’m really looking forward to seeing this summer is The Dark Knight. They showed the trailer while we were waiting to see Wanted and it looks great.I can’t wait to see Heath Ledger as the Joker, and Christian Bale is so damn fine as Batman. There’s a lot of talk surrounding it and it’ll be interesting to see if it lives up to the hype.

Before I go, I’ll leave you with this piece of eye-candy. Enjoy!

PS. Check out my Bookshelf page and take a peek at the exclusive excerpts of Power and In Control. In Control releases later this year and Power releases on Friday. I can’t wait!

The one thing I’m absolutely obsessed with is… romance novels. It’s an addiction.

On a rainy day, I usually… sit outside and watch it rain. There’s something soothing about rain.

The sexiest thing a man has ever done for me is… shave himself… down there.

The sexiest thing I’ve ever done for a man is… met him at the door in pink plastic wrap.

In a past life, I was… a courtesan.

My personal hero is… Angelina Jolie.

The biggest lie I ever told was… my age.

About the Author
Selena Blake writes paranormal and contemporary romance for Cobblestone Press. Her series Stormy Weather will be available in 2008. Drop by her website to find out more about the handsome Deveraux men of Louisiana and for a free short story. Http://www.selena-blake.com
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You know, just like every writer out there, I’m always tempted to answer this question with a sarcastic response. Something like, “I buy them at the corner store, where you can get two for the price of one”. Yeah, very witty, huh? Lol.

The truth is, I find ideas just about anywhere and everywhere. Sometimes, it can be as simple as waking up after a dream I’ve managed to hold onto. Or I could be looking at a picture online and there’s a new idea. Other times, I might hear a line from a song and there’s another new one. One of my faves is reading research material and having one drop right into my head. This actually happened with Guarded By Stone.

I don’t know when they’re going to strike, but when they do, I make sure I ponder the thought and write it down. Sometimes the ideas come fully developed and before I know it, I’m already working on the story. Other times, I need to slowly research and explore the character/s or situations that have entered my mind before I can start writing.

The only thing every process has in common, is how intriguing and exciting it is. There’s nothing better than the excitement of discovering a new tale to tell, and all the things that go hand-in-hand with developing the idea into a story. Personally, I love it. I love chasing it to where it leads… hopefully, to a new short story, novella or novel.

So, when you get an idea, hold onto it and don’t let it go. You’d be amazed at what it can develop into. For me, this extends to other things in life too.:)

Yolanda Sfetsos
www.yolandasfetsos.com

I love books.

Last week I went to Chapters to use my Mother’s Day gift card from my kids (smart kids, a gift card from Chapters and a gift card from Starbucks, conveniently located in Chapters).

Armed with only $30, I knew I had to be very careful how I spent it. What would I choose? What was I in the mood for?

The first thing I did was wander around looking for any of my author friends and turning their books face out. My local Chapters was sadly lacking this time, but I did my best. I turned out Wild, Wicked and Wanton by Jaci Burton (weirdly located in romance instead of erotica, strange since it’s one of the hottest books I read last year - I mean smoke pouring off the pages), Unpredictable by Eileen Cook (a wonderful local author who’s doing so well and is a joy to talk to), several of the Midnight Breed series by Lara Adrian and Dark Garden by Eden Bradley.

Feeling very satisfied with myself I searched out books by Alison Kent and HelenKay Dimon, two authors who’s blogs I have been loyally reading this year. I couldn’t find either, but Chapters said they would bring them in. In fact, I wasn’t having any luck finding a lot of Brava releases (they had a 2007 release from Sylvia Day and I was looking for a new one), which I also pointed out to the clerks.

So then I went to the scan every shelf method. In the end this is what I picked up:

Well, ok, I picked up more than that, but I had to put some down didn’t I? $30 doesn’t go very far when the spines of books still show a $3-6 difference in the Canadian and US pricing (one example $13 USD, $17.95 CAD). Um, yeah, our dollar has been almost at par for some time now. According to the bookstore they bought them at the higher rate so that’s how they had to sell them. Right. So basically it’s cheaper for me to go to the US to buy my books. Point taken, but I still had that gift card that I had to use.

And yes, to get these four books with Canadian pricing meant that I actually spent $9+ of my own money, but since I couldn’t decide which one to put down I took them all.

So far I’ve only managed to read the Jane Porter book (met her at ECWC last year, she’s so interesting and I loved Flirting with Forty) because we’ve just finished moving. I can’t wait to read the rest! I love books (not that you could tell from the stack of boxes marked books, sitting beside me ).

Moonshine

By Moira Rogers
http://www.moirarogers.com
Coming on June 27th from Cobblestone Press

Claire is tired of pretending to be polite, docile…human. She wants to unleash the animal inside her, and she wants to do it with a man who can really handle her. Then she meets Lars, a dangerous, sexy alpha, in a smoky bar. They share some moonshine, a potent shifter aphrodisiac, and have blisteringly hot sex.

Their one night of intoxicated passion leaves her wanting more, but Lars isn’t interested in a woman who can only let loose while under the influence. Claire must then decide whether she’s ready–and willing–to truly embrace her wild side.

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Excerpt from Moonshine

Claire knew she stuck out like a sore thumb from the moment she walked into the bar, and realized it had nothing to do with the fact that she looked like shit. Dos Culebras was not a bar women usually entered alone unless they were professionals. The few non-hookers in residence belonged to men frightening enough to convince the rest of the clients to leave them alone.

She was not a professional. Worse than that, she was a shapeshifter who challenged every man in the bar just by walking into it. Hell, she wanted to be a challenge. She needed to meet another shapeshifter tonight. Someone like her, who understood her strength. Who could handle her strength. Someone who wouldn’t be afraid.

She heard her ex-boyfriend’s voice as she took her beer to a small table in the corner. It’s not you, Claire. You need someone…like you. Oh, he’d been full of false sympathy when he’d broken up with her. He’d pretended it wasn’t because she’d proven herself to be stronger than he was—yet again.

Humans are fragile. A morbid thought, but so true. Humans were fragile, and she had to stop wanting to be with one. Over twenty years had passed since magic had first crashed into science and bled into everyday life. The terror had finally subsided, and lots of men now found it hip to have a supernatural girlfriend. At least until she embarrasses them in front of the boys by being stronger than they are.

Human men. Their egos were as fragile as their bodies.

She was halfway through her beer before she realized she had attracted a stranger’s attention. He sat across the bar from her, in a corner booth, with his back against the wall and one booted foot propped on the cracked vinyl in front of him. A cigarette dangled from his mouth, and a long-neck hung loosely from his fingers. Tattoos encircled his arms, tribal designs that stood out against his skin and disappeared beneath the sleeves of his T-shirt. He looked dangerous. Perfect.

Even at that distance, his eyes bored into hers. The intensity of his unwavering gaze made her uncomfortable. She had no problem recognizing another shapeshifter. Not a wolf, which she might have expected, but a coyote. Like me.

She met his gaze unflinchingly, knowing he wouldn’t be able to resist the challenge of her presence.

You’ll do, whoever you are.

After a moment he rose, one fluid motion bringing him out of the booth. He stalked towards her, his movements at once graceful and dangerous, and she couldn’t take her eyes away from him. He stopped at the corner of the bar and slid onto a seat. For a minute, Claire thought he wouldn’t speak. Then his icy blue eyes softened, and he said in a low voice, “You look like shit.”

“Thank you. I feel like shit,” she replied quietly. “That’s why I have a beer.”

He paused for a moment, then set down his bottle. “I know who you are, you know.”

It figured. Coyotes weren’t rare, but there were only ten female coyotes in town compared to the fifty or so males. She turned her eyes back to the man and ran them over him in an assessing manner that bordered on insulting. “Really? Haven’t seen you in any of my classes. You don’t look like the college type.”

He just grinned, and the simple action transformed his face from broodingly dangerous to dangerously handsome. “Touchy bitch.”

“Yeah, maybe.” She finished the rest of her bottle and set it on the table. “My boyfriend just dumped my ass because I’m tougher than he is. I’m feeling a little touchy.”

He stared at her for a second. “Beer ain’t taking the edge off of that, doll. You do shots?”

She slanted him a look, wondering if he was the type of man who could find her something better than alcohol. Maybe the tricky little magical drug making the rounds now. Custom designed for shapeshifters, it provided the adrenaline rush of a shift, along with a healthy dose of desire. Right now, she wanted something to remind herself just how far she was from actually being human.

Of course, she wasn’t exactly sure how to ask him if he happened to have a bottle of moonshine in his pocket. So instead, she settled for a vague reply. “If I wanted to do the stuff I usually do, I wouldn’t be here.”

He nodded. “Hey, Wanda. Give us a couple of shots of Johnnie Walker, yeah?”

Claire waited until the woman set a shot glass in front of her. Then she picked it up and tossed it back, coughing a little as the liquid burned its way down her throat.

When she managed to blink away the reflexive tears that sprang to her eyes, she found him watching her. “It’s a long way from milk and cookies.”

“Yeah.” He threw back his own shot without blinking. “I’m Lars.”

“Lars.” Claire dropped the shot glass back on to the bar. “Hi. I’m Claire.”

A knock at his door woke Valentine.

He opened his eyes and saw that the sky was dark. It was still night, but he could see well enough; a little light filtered through the trees of the forest that was his home. The small house that was his nestled in the middle of the forest. It was not large but afforded him a lot of privacy.

He was used to living alone. He’d had many lovers, many men who had come to his bed, but none that would stay. None who would give him the love he so desperately needed.

He supposed he should look for the humor in this. After all, he was a high priest that performed the rite of marriage, yet love avoided him.

The knock came again at the door, and he swing his feet out of bed. Putting on a simple, white cotton robe, the wooden floor soft and warm under his feet, he made his way to the small foyer of his home and opened the door.

A man stood in the shadow of the door’s overhang. Valentine could make out broad shoulders and large hands; one of which clutched a broom.

“Are you Kalus Valentine?” the man asked. His voice was deep and rich, like fire whiskey.

Valentine nodded. “Yes.” He wasn’t sure why, but this man frightened him.

“May I come in? I have a few questions for you.”

“By all means.” Valentine stepped aside so the man could enter. When he saw what the man was wearing, he realized the reason for his fear.

The man wore the traditional dress of the Roman soldiers. A gold breastplate covered his broad chest, and his shoulders were draped in a small, red cape. A leather kilt hung from his hips to just above his knees.

He glimpsed the man’s taunt stomach and the trail of hair that led down from his belly into the folds of the kilt. Simple sandals covered his feet, with leather straps entwined around his large calves.

It was not just the uniform of a Roman soldier that scared him. It was the way the man looked. He wore no helmet. He had straight, red hair that framed his face in a riot of curls and stopped just short of his shoulders. His face was wide, with a strong chin covered in red and gold stubble. He stopped himself from touching the man’s skin, which was tanned a deep golden brown.

It was the eyes that held him in place. They were a deep, piercing green. Indeed, in the dim light of the foyer, it looked as if they were glowing. He had never seen a more beautiful man, and his heart beat faster. The soldier slid his gaze up and down Valentine, as if searching for something. The eyes seemed to probe him, to see into him.

He looked away as he grew hard beneath the cotton robe. Heat infused his skin and seeped into his cheeks.

The man closed the door behind him with a soft click and turned back to look at him. “I am Asterius of the Royal Guard. Do you know why I am here?”

Again, Valentine enjoyed the cadence of his voice, the deepness of it. “No,” he said, struggling to make his voice sound normal. “I do not.”

“I am here to return this.” He held up the broom. “I am told it belongs to you.”
With Asterius’ eyes on him, Valentine’s cock jerked underneath his robe. He hoped the solider could not see his dick moving in answer to his presence.

However, as if reading Valentine’s thoughts, the man looked down. His gaze lingered there, and Valentine grew even harder.

Turning away from him, Valentine went into the fireplace, speaking over his shoulder. “I have never seen that broom. Who was it that told you it belonged to me?”

“We found it in the home of a young couple. A young, married couple. They said that there was a Pagan priest that lived in the forest, though they would not give me a name.”

Valentine busied himself with making a cup of tea. He poured water into a kettle and turned his back to the guard so that he could not see him light a fire beneath the kettle with a touch of his finger to the kindling. Asking Lupercus for strength, he dropped a handful of tea leaves into the now boiling water. The scent of jasmine filled the small room.

“I am but a simple man,” Valentine said. “I live on my own and do not bother anyone. Surely there are other Pagan men beside myself in these trees?”

Asterius came in and stood behind him, his body heat warming Valentine’s back. He wanted to press his body against the guard’s, let that heat touch his skin.

Still holding the broom, Asterius moved closer to Valentine. “There is no one else that lives in the forest. We have searched it thoroughly. There is no one that lives here but you.”

Valentine turned to say something to him and found himself face-to-face with him. He could sense heat rising from Asterius’ skin, could see dark flecks of brown in his green eyes and the individual colors of his stubble. Valentine’s cock grew harder still; Asterius must have felt it, too, for he looked down again and stared at Valentine’s dick pulsing beneath the white fabric.

Asterius smiled, a sparkle in his eyes. In a whisper, he asked, “Are you sure the broom is not yours?”

Valentine nodded, not trusting himself to speak. His heart stopped when Asterius reached out a hand and ran a finger from his throat to his breastbone, where the robe had opened at the top. Heat grew where Asterius touched him, and his penis pulsed in response.

Valentine stood in shocked wonder as Asterius lowered his face and brushed his lips against his, kissing them softly. A spark jumped between them.

When Asterius pulled back from the kiss, Valentine felt as if he were a deer caught in a trap. His heart pounded, his skin tingled.

Then Asterius smiled and stood the broom against the kitchen doorway. “The next time I come to see you, would you mind offering me a cup of tea?”

Numb, Valentine watched as Asterius let himself out of the small cottage, closing the door behind him with a soft click.

For more info on Valentine, check out the blog! www.valentineanovel.blogspot.com

And, while you’re at it, don’t forget to pick up your copy of Valentine by clicking here:

http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/books/valentinejw

Whether pantser or plotter or somewhere in between, I’ve met very few writers who aren’t a little OCD about the things they need–or don’t– to write. (Okay,

some of us might be a little more OCD than others lol.) My list isn’t too long.

Not cluttered…I write in one of two places. I spend a lot of time in this office

As you can see, it’s a disaster. My husband’s desk (the brown one in the foreground) makes me cringe just to look at. How can you do anything in all that

clutter!? Unfortunately, this room is the catch all for everyone in the house when they can’t decide where to put something else, which is why there’s a ladder and an air compressor in there. These things really do have their own homes, but for some reason, there they are.

It’s probably no surprise that this is where I prefer to write when the weather is nice. Ahhh, a clear surface. That’s divine, there.

Music…I like to make playlists but lately I’ve been on a XM radio kick. Fave channels this week–the 80s, Flight 26, Squizz, and Bone Yard.

Books…I use thesaurus.com quite a bit, but find my Flip Dictionary more helpful and it’s usually within easy reach.

Phones…I used to try to hide the phones when I write, but have found it’s just easier to answer. If I don’t I get irritated messages from my friends asking if I’m screening or just fell off the face of the Earth lol!

Snacks…What’s a writer with their favorite snack? In the winter I tend towards French Vanilla Cappuccino but the rest of the year I have a serious Diet Coke addiction. I usually have a bowl of peanut M&M’s and another of Lifesavers sitting on my desk too. Unfortunately, the kids got out of school last week and have raided my stash!

So this is it. My necessary tools of the trade. Anyone else got a list?