Aphrodisia Authors :: Blog

So I have a whole lot to be thankful for this year. I think I need a reminder of that lately. The economy has left the world a scary place for a lot of people, so I want to take a moment and talk about the things I’m thankful for this year with my writing.

I have some tremendous editors, John Scognamiglio at Kensington, Bethany Morgan at Samhain, and Susan Swinwood at Harlequin. They’ve all believed in my work enough to buy from me this year.

My awesome agent (who I have really made work for her commission this year), Lucienne Diver.

And for my readers, my critique group, my friends…I can’t even say how grateful I am for all of them.

So, that’s my message today. There are so many things to be thankful for, even when the world is scary and bleak. I’m posting this about a week in advance because I’m headed cross country to visit family for the holiday–and I’m very, very thankful for them, too.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

(And as special moment of thankfulness, I had a book come out on Tuesday called Carnal Desires. What a lovely reminder of why this holiday is awesome. Info is below.)

Here’s what it’s about:

Centuries after the destruction of earth, several species of altered humans still survive. These shape-shifters are exciting and exotic creatures, and their human forms do little to mask their most primitive and passionate instincts…

IN HEAT
Mahlia is a snow tigress in heat and now that her tiger king has returned to rule the planet Vesperi, she can no longer deny her desperate need to mate. She greets him as a woman, but their desire for sex is uncontrollable as they come together with a primal passion.

IN SMOKE
When Lady Katryn is called back to her home world to join Lord Nadir’s harim, she is curious to learn more about her weredragon nature. What she discovers is a scorching eroticism that consumes her all over.

IN MIST
Dr. Sera Gibbons is one of only two human survivors after a five hundred year cryogenic freeze. Save by the merman Bretton Hahn, she savors the way her caresses her and makes her live out her wildest fantasies.

-Crystal Jordan

Carnal Desires, available now:
Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble | Chapters.ca

I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

My typical Thanksgivings with family and friends go like this: cooking, eating, board games, movies.  Today we played Scategories and my team was bested by a team consisting of a 10-year-old boy and his mom.  Ten-year-olds think out of the box when it comes to board games.  During a timed contest where you have to come up with 12 answers to questions (long story), we’re all trying to think of a W-word that’s located in a classroom.  My team drew a blank, but the 10-year-old said, “wall.”  Duh.  He was the big winner on that one, besting a table full of adults.

So, then it was on to movies.  We watched The Butterfly Effect with Aston Kutcher.  Great, unusual movie. I’ve never watched That 70s Show he was in or anything else with him, but I can see what Demi sees in him.  I’m now an Aston fan.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Elizabeth Amber

Dominic, The Lords of Satyr

Well it’s Thanksgiving, so I’m not really expecting anyone to be reading this post! Though, I suppose that today it’s just the American T-day, so to anyone else in the world it’s just another day! Thanksgiving around these parts (my house) is pretty laid back. Too much food. And football. Lots of football. And tomorrow my hometown boys (Seahawks!) are playing. Wish them luck. They need it.

But the real fun…when things really get crazy is the day after Thanksgiving. Or maybe when the clock strikes twelve even. What am I talking about? Black Friday, baby. The biggest shopping day of the year (At least here in the States). Are you in? It’s chaos. You have to be somewhat insane. But shopping becomes like a sport where only the fittest and most determined survive.

There’s crazy good deals at some stores for only the first handful of customers. Stores open before dawn (some at the stroke of midnight!) But people get there early. Like way early to get in line. And they run inside once the doors open. They fight. They argue. It’s dirty. It’s nuts. But I just may do it…..maybe.

So do you do it? Black Friday? Or if you’re not in the states, would you if you were here?

Oh yes! And before I go, I should probably share my cover with you! I just got it! Yaaaay! (I saw Jackie’s post below and realized I haven’t shared yet!)

I’m much later getting this post out than I’d hoped to be, but I’m blaming it on my head cold and its propensity for making me brain-dead. (Translation: I forgot!)

So, my first Aphrodisia release, Behind the Red Door, will be released in June of 2009. And that seems like FOREVER from now and very, very soon, all at the same time. It seems like forever because seven months is a while in the scheme of things, especially if (like me) you’re accustomed to the shorter turnaround on e-books. But when you think of all the things that go into getting a book into print, it’s almost overnight.

I’ve found there are a lot of wonderful milestones on the way to a book. The best, of course, is the first: THE CALL. There’s nothing like that moment when your agent or editor first tells you you’ve SOLD. But really, that’s just the beginning. There’s signing the contract (although I must admit, the reading it part isn’t so much fun), getting the email from your editor accepting the manuscript, and even (believe it or not) going through the copy edits.

But of all the milestones I’ve experienced so far since “the call,” none really compares to the moment I saw this:

This is a page from the Kensington catalog for May-August 2009 and it was my first (and so far only) glimpse of my book’s cover. And, even though it’s black and white and low resolutions, I LOVE it. But not only do I love the beautiful cover they’ve designed for me and the rather flattering introduction (yes, I blush easily!), seeing this has made it all seem so real. The call, the contract, the copy edits–they were all “evidence” that this is really happening–but none of them seems as concrete as an actual page in an actual catalog.

My editor tells me he’s sent hard copies of the cover to me and my agent, so I’m hoping to see this in all its full color glory soon. (I am checking my mailbox these days as obsessively as I used to when I was expecting rejection letters, only without the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.)

The next “milestone” will be galleys–when the publisher sends a mocked-up version of the manuscript after it’s been set by the typeseter–and then…it all goes to the print and gets released a few months later!

Can I just say…WOW!

When I first moved to the U.S. from the UK ten years ago I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself on all the American holidays. I knew all about the 4th of July but what were President’s day, Labor day and Thanksgiving all about?

In England the most exciting thing that happens in November is Bonfire Night on the 5th of November which commemorates the attempt by Guy Fawkes and his conspirators to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605 when the King came to visit. His plot didn’t work and to celebrate, we Brits light bonfires and set off fireworks. (a bit like the 4th of July I suppose in reverse )

You can imagine me trying to explain this bit of peculiarly British history to my new Californian neighbors- Me: “Yeah, we light a bonfire and toss a guy on it until he goes up in flames.”
Shocked neighbor:”You burn a guy A real one?”

Which leads me to Thanksgiving. As a history major, who wrote her thesis about the Welsh Quakers who settled in Pennsylvania 400+ years ago, I was totally fascinated by the whole Thanksgiving story. I was also surprised to hear that the tradition of commemorating that day hadn’t actually been going on since it happened.

But I get it. In fact, I’ve come to appreciate it as the anti-Christmas, the time when we can all get together as a family and with friends without the frantic gift buying to get in the way. The first couple of years we lived here, we were invited to several homes for Thanksgiving-a gift that made us feel so welcome in a strange land, at a time when our kids who had no other family around them, they were embraced by new ‘aunts’ and ‘uncles’, ‘grandparents’, friends.

This year it will just be us, our 4 kids and Granny from Ireland, but we will enjoy the day and the pleasure of living here and give thanks for being lucky enough to end up in such a beautiful place.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Kate Pearce x

PRIMAL MALE, the sequel to SEXY DEVIL is here! The official release date is Nov 28th, but rumor is some stores in the U.S already have it, and it’s shipping from Barnes and Nobles right now! I’m pretty excited. This is my first true sequel ever. Sure, with my Berkley Books, they all center around Vancouver, and many of the characters have been secondary ones before, but to me, they’re not really sequels, even though they are slightly connected. Does that make sense?

Maybe it’s because PRIMAL MALE is a paranormal, so there are things -psychic and paranormal aspects- that are carried over? Or maybe it’s because Gina and Caleb, from The Devil Inside, actually have active parts in it as well. After all, they were the start of the whole thing.

Here’s the history on this series. The Devil Inside is my very first paranormal ever written, and it was written about 4 years ago, and published by Liquid Silver Books as a novella. It’s not super paranormal, just a psychic woman with a bit of a wild streak, hooking up with a straight laced guy who doesn’t believe in ‘that stuff”. I’m not a plotter, and although I knew Gina had a brother, when he and his best friend showed up at the end of the story, I KNEW I wanted to write their story. I mean come on… two hot ex-military guys who work private security now, and ones a telepath and the other is an empath? These guys were hot!

However, right around that time is when NY came calling and I got busy with other works like BOUND and TROUBLE for Berkley and THE CRIB and SEX AS A WEPON for Aphrodisia. It wasn’t until I got the right s back for The Devil Inside that I decided what I wanted to do. I pitched the idea to my wonderful editor John, and he like d it. SEXY DEVIL was born. In SEXY DEVIL you have a fleshed out The Devil Inside, and it’s sequel Devil’s Jewel.

Devil’s Jewel didn’t feel like a sequel to me when I wrote it because Devil’s (Gina’s brother) story picked up exactly where The Devil Inside ended. It was just in His POV, so we started to see the wrold as he saw it…which was a lot more paranormal and slighly darker becasue he and his partner were on a demon hunt.

SEXY DEVIL was last years release, and now finally, Drake’s story is here. PRIMAL MALE is a sequel in my mind, because it takes place abotu 6 months after SEXY DEVIL ends, and all of the players from that book are in this one at some point or another as well – in active rolls, not just on the sideline.

While keeping those characters involved made writing it a bit harder for me, in some ways it also made it easier and more enjoyable. And I’m thrilled that readers love sequels, and so far, they are loving PRIMAL MALE!

The reader reviews on B&N are starting to show, and so far, they’re great. Reader Rosalind sums it all up wonderfully, so instead of posting the back cover blurb, I’m going to copy her 5 Star review…

“Ms. White has intrigued the reader by delving into a paranormal world filled with adventure and romance. More interesting is the irony of Drake’s ability to tune in to everyone emotions around him, while having some difficulty coping with his own.

The reader also gets an unexpected treat from the other characters in the book to round things out. Unfortunately, there are some commitment issues in the book, making it even that much more enjoyable to read. This is a story that explores some pain and suffering, making it much more real. You need to know what happens in the end and if it can work. Sasha White isn’t afraid to explore the unusual then pull you in, so that you’re wrapped around her fingers. Also, readers will be pleasantly surprised at the bonus at the conclusion of the story. I truly adored it! Bravo, Ms. White for another excellent tale of love.”

YAY!! I’m so happy! SO happy, that I think more sequels are a definite possibility. What do you think? Think you’d like to see more of these supernatural hunters and their families?

Cheryl McInnis at Romance Junkies.com enjoys sequels, and gave PRIMAL MALE 5 Blue Ribbons!

“Author Sasha White has outdone herself yet again with PRIMAL MALE. This sequel to last year’s SEXY DEVIL is fast-paced, breathtakingly sensual and riveting. I finished this story in one sitting because I couldn’t tear myself away. The chemistry between Drake and Mel was very hot and the love scenes steamy and explicit, but even more compelling for me was the very real emotional connection between the two of them, and watching their relationship grow was deeply satisfying. PRIMAL MALE is yet another example of why Sasha White has become a favorite of readers who love both a well written story and sizzling love scenes. Pick this book up, and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.”

To celebrate the release of PRIMAL MALE, I’m giving away a copy of SEXY DEVIL. If you’re interested in winning a signed copy of the first book of this series, then all you have to do is comment on this post, and tell me if you ever post online reviews of the books you read. And if you don’t…why not? Us authors love them you know. We need tothem as a form of feedback, so we know readers are out ther reading our books, even if they’re not always loving them. *g*

I’ll draw a random winner and post here on Wednesday. So remember to check back on this post to see if it’s you!

READ AN EXCERPT
BUY THE BOOK

WINNER!!
NATASHA, your post was drawn randomly, and you win a copy of SEXY DEVIL. You have one week to email me to claim your prize. (to email me, use the CONTACT form on my website)

Okay, I’ll agree that not all writers process information the same way I do. Let me start off by explaining that I’m an engineer. Believe it or not, there are quite a few engineering-type erotica writers out there, or at least more than you’d probably expect. I’m not sure why that is; we all know the “insert tab A into slot B” type of writing isn’t what makes erotica great. Or even good. Good erotica has to have a story that tugs at your emotions while it’s tugging at other body parts. The one explanation I can offer is that you can only write so many technical papers before you have to cut loose and have some fun! That may or may not have anything to do with it.

So, what does an engineer do when her first Aphrodisia erotica comes out? Exactly what they tell you not to do. Every day or two, I hop over to B&N and Amazon and check my rankings.

I know, I know. Lots of writers do that. After all, you’ve poured your soul (or at least a bunch of sweat and tears) into this book, and it’ll be quite some time before you see any royalties. No matter how many great reviews you get, there’s a certain amount of nail biting that goes on.

But engineers don’t just go online and check rankings. We graph them! What could possibly be better than a graph?? Well, okay, a really hot vampire story is better. But a good graph runs a close second for those of us living half our lives in our left brains.

I realized right off the bat that some people might think I was wasting time graphing my online rankings. We all know the rankings don’t directly relate to sales. So I worked on finding a meaningful way to use the data. I’m checking my marketing ideas. If I find that the graphs both make a strong jump in the right direction, I’ll know I’ve hit on something.

Okay, at least that sounds reasonable. Doesn’t it?

So, what’s my point? Writers need feedback. Beleive it or not, writers love to hear from readers! We need some reassurance that our books aren’t sitting out there gathering dust. I’ve taken to sending emails to authors whose books I’ve really enjoyed. Granted, there’s at least one incredible writer out there who thinks I’m stalking him, but most of us really appreciate those emails. So next time you finish a book and think, “Man, that was great,” please send the poor, lonely author a note. She/he will keep that note forever in a file marked, “fan mail by book.” Especially if she/he is an engineer.

I hope you all enjoy the holidays! I’m off to hit the online bookstores…

Lydia

www.LydiaParks.com
Addicted and Sexy Beast VI from Aprhodisia

There can’t be a published writer who hasn’t heard, at least once, “Where do you get your ideas?” I’ve seen a lot of shrugs and head shakes in response and am guilty of same. It’s not that I don’t know where the ‘idea’ vault is, I know the consequences if I reveal its location. Banisment to a deserted island with nothing to read and no computer. Shudder! What a gruesome way to go! But there are a few things I can reveal without running afoul of the idea police.

What I want to do on this foggy morning when I have house guests descending in a few hours and half a book still to write for Aphrodisia is replay a recent experience. I don’t yet know what I’m going to do with this gem, but it has stuck into a deep spot in my brain, and sooner or later it’ll holler so loudly that it’ll send me running for the computer.

My oldest son has a new girlfriend, a bright, self-confident woman who used to model and now is office manager for a company that makes laser products. The other day she was over using my good sized kitchen. Over wine, we started sharing. Her story completely topped mine. A few years ago she was property manager for an apartment complex. Another employee was the landscaper, a man she’d always gotten along with but didn’t know well. One night she and her young daughter were in their apartment when they heard some metal on metal sounds outside. She looked out her window and saw the landscaper taking a tool (she didn’t see what it was) to her car. He did thousands of dollars worth of damage. But what freaked her out was seeing him leave the car and run toward her front door. She grabbed the door while he was pulling on the other side and somehow, after what to her felt like hours of struggle, managed to lock it. Then she called 911 while the man pounded on the door cursing and threatening. Apparently he’d had a breakdown of some kind and blamed her for much of the pressure in his life. For weeks after, she was terrified of being alone, especially at night and couldn’t let her daughter out of her sight. He was let out on bail and continued to threaten her. She was unable to do her job and desperately needed to move from the apartment complex, which she finally did. Friends gathered around her, she spent some time living with her parents, and got another job. She wrote a 4 page report to the court detailing how much that one night changed her life, and I’m hoping to see it. The man was sentenced to 6 months in jail, 6 months! He’s now out and, she’s heard, still living in the area but stable mentally. She’s no longer looking over her shoulder, but I vividly recall the look in her eyes as she dumped.

Years ago, my brother-in-law’s son’s 18 year old girlfriend was hit over the head and on the back with a hammer by a man everyone considered a friend. The girl’s then 12 year old brother was in the house at the time. Somehow she got a leg lock around her attacker’s head and held him down while her brother called 911 but she had to be hospitalized and needed physical therapy for months after to say nothing of the emotional trauma. Like my son’s girlfriend, she too wrote the court about how those few minutes changed her life and I’ve read that letter.

So where am I going with this? I watch movies where heroines stand up to mass murderers, psychos, hit men, etc, etc. After pummeling the bad guy into the ground, they dust off their hands and go on with their lives. But that isn’t the real world. Reality is spending the rest of one’s life with that trauma. Slowly coming to life in that corner of my brain is a survivor of violence who desperately needs the nightmares to end. A ‘good’ man isn’t going to magically appear in her life and make everything all better. She’s going to have to face up to her demons on her own before she’s healthy enough for that good man. She’ll have successes and failures, strong days and weak. But like Angela and Apple, she’ll eventually embrace life again, and I’d be honored to write about their journey.

And that, to a large part, is why I love telling the IRS that I’m a writer!!!
Vonna
www.VonnaHarper.com

On November 7, my Unwrap Me co-author Melissa MacNeal mentioned holiday themes, and how they can inspire you. Well, when Kensington asked me if I wanted to contribute a novella to the next Christmas anthology, I had my theme cut out for me, so to speak.

Hmm. What kind of sexy romance could I write that had something to do with Christmas? I brainstormed about all the things I associate with Christmas and ended up with a spicy mix indeed.
Lots of people love Christmas, right? Well, that would be my hero, Nick Buchanan (named after St. Nick). But others pretty much hate it. That would be my heroine, Jude Benedetto, who’s been abandoned on Christmas. Twice!

How would they meet? Well, how about a Secret Santa gift? Jude’s girlfriend rigs the Secret Santa draw so she can play matchmaker, and she gifts Jude with a hot firefighter (the girlfriend’s brother-in-law).

How’s a guy who loves Christmas going to persuade a Grinch to get in the holiday mood? Hmm. Remember the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” (a.k.a. “A Partridge in a Pear Tree)? When Nick realizes he met Jude exactly 12 days before Christmas, he has the brilliant and sneaky idea of giving her a special gift each day, themed to match the song – but so cleverly that anti-Christmas Jude won’t catch on.

Day 1, the partridge in the pear tree is Nick himself, her Secret Santa gift. For Day 2 (two turtle doves), he gives her two orgasms that have her cooing (well, more like screeching ) her pleasure. I had so much fun thinking up gifts for each day. Some were pretty obvious, like five golden rings (specialty condoms, of course!). Others were more of a challenge, like seven swans a-swimming. (If you read my novella, see if you can pick out all 12 gifts.)

Anyhow, suffice it to say, much fun was had by my hero and heroine, and by me too, as we progressed through those very sexy 12 days. And as Nick slowly persuaded Jude to open her heart and trust in him, and rediscover the loving spirit of Christmas. And that, after all, is the most fundamental Christmas theme, isn’t it?

Do you have a favorite Christmas-themed book or movie (or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa themed)? What kinds of lovely (or not so lovely) things do you associate with December holidays? To get us all in the holiday spirit, I’ll give away an autographed copy of Unwrap Me to one of the people who comments.

By the way, if you’d like to read an excerpt from my novella, “Unwrap Me,” check it out on my website at http://www.susanlyons.ca.

“Driving my man wild” in Satisfy Me Tonight drops in March 2009. Just saw the cover and I’m feeling it.

AND I was offered my own 3 novella anthology starring me, me and just me. I’m nervous, geeked, happy, but overall ecstatic as heck!

Birthday Celebration Weekend

I had the pleasure of seeing Ms. Tina Turner in Atlanta over the weekend to celebrate my birthday. Guys, this woman looks amazing and moves like someone half her age. Just simply gorgeous! I would have given half my body, brain, your body, your brain and your first borne to the last (:twisted:) to be guaranteed to have that kind of sex appeal at 70.

That had me thinking how some things truly DO get better with time and…practice. I’m thinking looks in some, attitude, zest for life, wine, writing, chocolate and of course, sex. Especially married sex, since that’s the area I’m focused on now. How all the awkwardness of early encounters turns into a well-oiled (literally) machine over time. The nuances, the moves, the needs being met just as you need them to be. No quickie can beat that. So despite, the hard sell of easy loving, I’m still saying married sex is Simply the BEST!

**booty dancing**