Romance, Writing and Food: A Winning Combination!

Hi everyone,

It seems whenever I write there seems to be a scene where the hero and heroine are eating. Or, in one story the heroine owns a pastry shop called Wicked Temptations. (You can purchase that story in Celtic Love Knots Vol. 9 from Whiskey Creek Press Torrid.) The food scene between the hero and heroine was full of sexual tension and so much fun to write.

Anyway, I believe food can and at the right time a sensual experience.
If you don't believe me read Sherrilyn Kenyon's Seize the Night, Tabitha and Valerius' story. Yeah, you know the one...Val eats dinner off of Tabby.

Romance and food go together like, peanut butter and jelly. A food feast or a food fight I say let the fun begin.

When writing about heroes, heroines and food sometimes I'd like to include recipes.
I'm thinking of adding a section on my Yahoo group where readers can access/download a file of recipes in my stories.

Romance, writing and food all blend nicely together for a winning combination every time!

What are your favorite receipe's and why?

Hugs,
Tambra
Cowboy of the Night, a Recommended Read from Coffee Time Romance and
You Need To Read from You Gotta Read Reviews. Order: www.redrosepublishing.com

Text Novel Interactive Poll--you pick my muse!

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For those of you following my serial text novel, Musestruck, here are the five choices for my muse, Dante Erato. You, my dear readers, get to pick the muse before I finish his entrance scene. This poll will be up from Today until 5pm on Sunday. To vote, just put your muse number (1-5)in an email and mail it to me at starmuse23@gmail.com by 5pm EST on Sunday, July 28, 2009.

I'll tally the votes and edit my muse scenes to match which ever luscious guy y'all voted for!

So, without futher adieu, ladies, here they are in all their glory, the candidates for Dante Erato, the muse of love in Musestruck:

If you're reading my novel, and feel like clicking the thumbs up sign to cast a vote for me in Dorcesters "Next Best Celler" contest, I'd truly appreciate it.

The post where Maree spouts a heap of what'll hopefully prove to be nonsense.

I usually have at least some idea of what I'm going to post before I begin to write it. Today, soooo not the case. My excuse is I'm sick...sick of being sick, actually. We're immersed in the winter doldrums here in Auckland. And, yet again, I've been hit with a dose of the flu--no karate class or dance class for me tonight. It'll be Panadol and another early night.

I'm also going through one of those periods where I'm wondering why the hell I bother. With writing, that is. So probably not the greatest of times to be writing a blog post, but I'll give it a go and see what putting fingers to keyboard produces.

Note to readers: what follows could quite possibly be stream of consciousness and utter self-indulgent crap. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I'm sure I'll crawl back out of this hole eventually--I always do. No matter how many times I feel like chucking in the towel (and doubtless doing my family a huge favor by finding a job which could help pay the mortgage), wanting to write, needing to write is too deeply ingrained in me. But that doesn't stop me from periods of introspection which ultimately lead me to wonder why I'm putting myself through this. Like now.

I've been writing for five years. I have 9 completed novel-length manuscripts. Yep, you read it right: N I N E. (I'm a great believer in finish one, immediately start another and if you need a break, go back and rework one of your completed manuscripts before getting stuck into writing another new one.) I've finalled in a number of contests, and placed in enough contests to know my writing doesn't completely suck. I've even won a full manuscript contest. And though I'm not a fan of rejections, I do query. I've had fulls requested, too, and some incredibly positive feedback. I'm not being arrogant when I say I know I've got what it takes to be a successful author. I know this because judges and readers industry professionals have told me so.

But I'm not quite there. I haven't found that one person who loves my novel-length stories enough to want to take a chance on a relative unknown. "In this tough economic climate, it's harder than ever to sell manuscripts and I'm afraid I just didn't love XXX enough to want to represent you/offer you a contract." I understand, really I do. Who wants to be stuck trying to sell something that doesn't completely blow them away? Not me, that's for sure!

So here's my dilemma: I'm afraid.

I'm afraid that if there's something fundamental lacking in my writing--that x-factor that makes agents and editors punch their fists in the air and go "this is it!"--then I might truly be wasting my time. I might spend months and months writing manuscript number 10, only to have it, too, fall by the wayside for reasons I haven't yet been able to fathom.

I could quit writing new stuff, 'cuz gee whiz, there sure is enough of the old stuff to work on! How about I rip each one of those 9 manuscripts apart and start again from scratch? How about I stop being a barnstormer (pantser), go against my nature and become a plotter? How about I draw up detailed character interviews for each character, write detailed chapter-by-chapter summaries and get stuck in? How about I analyze every single page to ensure there's the right balance of action, dialogue and narrative? That might work. It'd certainly be a challenge and I do like a challenge.

But the biggest issue for me is that I can't bring myself to count rewrites as "real writing". It's an interesting process and for the most part it's satisfying. It can even be a helluva lot of fun but it doesn't nurture my soul the way writing new stories does.

I'm afraid to write new stuff in case I make the same old mistake...whatever that mistake might be. I'm afraid if I constantly rework my old stories, they'll lose that "voice" that made them special in the first place.

I'm afraid that after five years of highs and lows and struggling to achieve my dream of being published, and finally realizing that dream when my debut release came out this month, it might be a one-off. Maybe I'll never have anything else published. Maybe that one novella is all I've got.

And right now, I'm really hoping this fear is only a symptom of me feeling like crap because I have the flu. And I'm hoping that tomorrow when I look at this post, I'll be embarassed as hell because I'll be able to truthfully say it really is a bunch of self-indulgent nonsense. I'm hoping that I'll open up my ms file and be enthused about the story as I was when I first got the idea and knew I just had to write it. And I'm hoping that all this fear will be swept aside and replaced by the need to write.

It's happened before. I'm hoping it'll happen again. Fingers crossed.

M

Epublishing and RWA

If you're a member of RWA, a romance writer, or romance reader, you've probably heard about the recent RWA bruhaha. If not, check out ESPAN's blog, starting with Deidre Knight's letter to the president of RWA, and Diane Pershing's response. In addition, Angela James, senior editor of Samhain Publishing also spoke out and today, Raelene Gorlinksy of Ellora's Cave is posting about the advantages of epublishing.

I'd like to make it clear that I love RWA. If I didn't, I wouldn't be an involved member of it or three other local/online chapters. They're a wonderful organization in that they allow unpublished authors to join and for the most part, they've been great about educating members about the industry. Until recently that is. Among many other issues, now so many of our epubbed authors are stuck in no man's land in regards to entering the Rita contest or the Golden Heart. I'm a member of PAN (Published Author Network) yet because I'm published with an epublisher, I can't enter the Rita, but because I'm too published, I can't enter the Golden Heart (which I don't want to, but still, they shouldn't leave writers out in the cold).

There have been heated discussions on both sides with many people threatening to leave RWA or those who have already done so and I don't think that's the answer. Change comes from the inside so join your local chapter, or ESPAN (or both) and make your voice heard. The real problem I have with RWA is its lack of willingness to educate authors on epublishing. I'm epublished and was lucky enough to have someone look at my contracts before making a decision, but not everyone will have that. I also knew what questions to ask thanks to various classes/articles/posts on Romance Divas. It would be nice if RWA provided education on epublishing contracts and what to look for in a reputable company. Instead, they turn a blind eye and in the long run, this is going to hurt the people they claim to want to protect. In fact, I believe it's already hurting authors. Because many authors who have already sold to NY haven't properly negotiated the digital aspect of their contracts, the royalty norm has been set between 6-12% and that's just beyond ridiculous.

Okay, I'm going to stop with that now because that's not the real reason I decided to post on RWA and epublishing today. I wanted to tell y'all why I love being epublished. First I'd like to say that my ultimate goal is to be published in print. There I said it. I posted about a couple weeks ago, but I just signed with an agent so it's obvious that I'm striving to be published mass market. The thing is, I want the best of both worlds. I love writing for Ellora's Cave and if/when I write for NY, I plan to keep writing for EC. They have a market for the short erotic novellas I write, they pay almost 40% royalties, they pay ON TIME (monthly), they negotiate contracts, and everyone I've worked with or dealt with has been super professional.

I took an online class about six months ago and the instructor is a well known author who got her start in epublishing. I noticed that she had an upcoming release from EC so off loop I asked her why she still wrote for them when she was churning out books in NY. Her answer was simple. She didn't want to put all her eggs in one basket, she sold to them without the help of her agent, and most importantly, many of her EC books (novellas) had outsold some of her NY books. Not to mention they pay her monthly as opposed to getting an advance from NY, then waiting a year, sometimes two, to get the rest of her money.

As far as RWA is concerned, there doesn't have to be an Us vs. Them mentality. Members simply want an education on the changing market and as a representative of romance authors, RWA owes its members to give them that education. If you're interested in making a difference or seeing change in RWA, think about joining the yahoo loop, RWA change: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RWAchange/

Secrets author celebration steaming up YOUR summer!

Don't miss the great giveaways and sexy fun at Romantic Crush Junkies this week as the authors of Secrets, 27, Untamed Pleasures celebrate the imminent release of the sexiest anthology of the season. Up today, author Leigh Court tantalizes us with a peek at her steamy historical, the bet. "I can make a woman come using just my words..."

Nuf said. Nobody spins a sexy historical better than Leigh. So get yourself over there. Pronto. :) You might just win a great prize. :) And don't forget to check back at Romantic Crush Junkies, often, because we're handing our prizes all week long! :)

Living the Writer's Life: A Fantasy World

Hi everyone,

First let me apologize for posting only here and there. My Dad is back in the hospital again.

Okay, now for the fun stuff.

Have you ever been told, "You live in a fantasy world." As you can tell, I have. Now my my reply is, "Well, duh! Of course I do, I write paranormal romance." (And they thought that was an insult. LOL)

As writers of fiction, I think we should live, or maybe should I rephrase this as part of our minds are in a fantasy world. It keeps my imagination on alert. Brainstorming with my critique partners help push other stuff to the surface.

There's nothing wrong with having your thoughts in another place/time--as long as you're keeping up with your normal life of family, friends and responsibilities. I wouldn't want to be the cause of unpleasantness in someone's household. You know, "Hey, Tambra said it was okay to stay and plot in my fantasy world. Y'all fend for yourself."

What I mean, is that by keeping the creative channels open in your imagination, you can live in that fantasy world and thereby making it more real to your characters in the stories you create.

It can take me a while to get back into a story if I haven't worked on it in a while and if I think about it and toss around ideas, I find it easier to when I have the chance to actually write on it.

Another way to stay in a story is to write 100 words a day on it. Its doable and keeps you in the story without having to set a longer goal when life steps in. I was in a Yahoo group at one time and the 100 words a day worked. You can write down your words on a sheet of notebook paper and put them in later, too.

I believe living in my fiction fantasy world keeps me sane. What about y'all? How do you keep your worlds alive as your creating your books?

Hugs,
Tambra
Cowboy of the Night: 4 Cups from Coffee Time Romance
A Cursed Heart (Keelia Greer) 4.5 Red Roses from Red Roses for Authors
both stories available from Red Rose Publishing
www.redrosepublishing.com

Steam up your Summer with Red Kiss!

Deidre Knight continues her steamy saga of Immortal Spartans with Red Kiss, the second installment in the Gods of Midnight series.

When River's Spartan brothers fell at Thermopylae, River was the only non-warrior to follow the fallen warriors into death and to the banks of the River Styx. When the war God, Ares, turned the Spartans into immortal warriors sworn to protect humanity from demons, River was dipped into the magical waters and transformed into a weapon shifter. Damned to serve his brothers in battle by assuming the from of their weapon of choice, River's existence is one of lonely and sometimes grudging servitude.

When the Spartans battled in revolt against an increasingly corrupt Ares, River was cast into the river in the form of a dagger. Now, at the beginning of Red Kiss, River is stranded in this form, with his soul and identity slowly seeping away. The violent nature of his weapon form threatens to consume all that was once good in him. Unless he is soon found and commanded into his human form by a mortal, he will lose his ability to return to his human form.

Months pass before River manages to make psychic contact with the mortal demon hearer, Emma Lowery. When Emma hears River calling out for help, she faces a lifelong fear of the water to rescue him. At River's urging, she uses him in blade form to draw blood from herself. From her blood sacrifice, River draws the energy he needs to shift back to human form. In the process a soul connection is forged between Emma and River, but River's psychic calls for help have broadcast his location to the demons Ares has sent forth to reclaim him.

While Emma's blood gift imbues River with the power to help her escape the immediate danger, the energy is fleeting. He cannot maintain his human form without more blood sacrifice on her part. But the evil that pursues River has no intention of letting Emma go. Without River's protection, she will surely die.

While River is captivated by the lovely Emma, every time he shifts from weapon to human form, he loses control of his emotions and sexual yearnings. Horrified that the episodes he calls berserkers might cause him to harm Emma, he warns her to steer clear of him. Instead of making love to Emma, as his heart yearns to do, he vows to to protect her from an evil he fears she can never comprehend.

But evil has its sites set on more than just River. They want Emma, too.

Even if River overcomes his dangerous side so he can be with the woman he loves, the demons will continue pursue him--and her-until they are both destroyed. Will River turn his back on love so Emma might remain safe, or will he and Emma combine their gifts to conquer the evil may soon destroy everything they hold dear?

As with Knight's Midnight Warriors Series, the Gods of Midnight promises to become stronger with each new installment. With the series world building done, Red Kiss is a faster, sexier read, liberally infused with the heat and sass its sultry Savannah setting.

As with all of Ms. Knight's romantic fantasies, a fresh and surprising new romantic pairing brews within the pages of Red Kiss, leaving the reader with the promise of more delicious reads set in this larger than life world populated by some of the sexiest heroes to come down the pipes in a long while.

Red Kiss proves again that Ms. Knight does, indeed, give great hero! Don't miss this one.

I'm having twins!

OMG. I'm having twins. That's right, bouncing baby twins! Twin book releases, that is. But judging by the way I'm angsting, you'd think I was bringing two real, live, flesh and blood babies into the world on July 1. And in a way, I am. July 1 is the day two of the stories I labored over for so long go out into the big bad world to be judged by, *gasp*, real readers. It's a scary thing.

What I never dreamed was just how much time and attention promoting two releases on the same day would require from me. Whew, I'm exhausted. Not to mention out of my mind with anxiety. Thus the short post today.

Will all my superhuman promotional efforts, blog tours, chats, book trailers, etc, etc, etc impact actual book sales? I wonder. I also wonder when promotional efforts by authors become off-putting to would-be readers. I know I've resisted the liberal use of Facebook announcements simply because I've noticed the tendency for some well-meaning authors to send them a bit too frequently. Sadly, now nearly all the Facebook announcements that flood my inbox have become auto-deletes for me. Somehow, having my name associated with anybody's delete key isn't my idea of good promo. Not going there.

As you can see, I'm thinking a lot about the business of selling books. And when they were giving out business acumen, trust me when I say I missed that bus. Hell, it probably ran me over on it's way out of the station. :) So, I'd love to hear from all of you. How do *you* feel about book promotions? Do all of the ads, blogs, tweets, reviews and such really matter when it comes to convincing you to part with some of your hard-earned cash to hit the "buy" key? I really want to know.

What I do know is that it's a tough book market out there. If I expect another publisher to consider investing in one of my stories, it would behoove me to do my part to actually, yanno...help sell my books.

With all that said, I'm getting in touch with my inner promo ho for a moment to share the book trailer from one of my July 1 releases. Because it's just freaking awesome. Really, my Secrets 27, Untamed Pleasures anthology sister, Nicole North did a fantastic job on bringing our trailer script to visual life:




So, anybody wanna buy a book? ;)

Those fragile male egos!

Hi y'all. Got an interesting topic today: male egos.

Now we all know they're often fragile. I know that, you know that and I bet every woman from the dawn of time could provide examples of egos shattering into teeny tiny itty bitty pieces. And funnily enough, our menfolk can feel just a tiny tad threatened by the fictional heroic males we women so adore.

For this particular example, I'm not talking about contemporary heroes whose sexual stamina is rooted (oops! excuse the unintended pun) in reality, or even historical heroes, whose escapades and sexual prowess, while perhaps being mildly exaggerated for our reading pleasure, are generally at least attainable -- with a lots of practice! -- by a normal, healthy, horndog of a man in his prime.

No, I'm talking about paranormal heroes, the vampires and shape-shifters and fallen angels and demons etc. And one could possibly be forgiven for thinking that the sexual prowess and the size of such a creature's er...dangly bits couldn't possibly affect the robust ego of the modern-day man. Because, yanno, vampires and shape-shifters and fallen angels and demons and the like, are entirely fictional, mere products of fertile imaginations, and therefore, how could they possibly pose a threat to anyone's ego?

Evidently that's not the case.

You see, a male friend of mine is currently reading Even Demons Get The Blues. Which, I think is incredibly courageous, given that it's an erotic romance written with women in mind! And he emailed me a couple of days back with something to this effect: Oh come on! Ten inches? You're killing guys' egos here!

(And yes, I know exactly what scene he's referring to, but I'm soooo not going there!)

Now, real-life guys who're blessed with 11 or 12-inch (or larger!) dangly bits aside, I know what he wrote was meant in jest. And all joking aside, I did point out the somewhat salient fact that my hero is a demon and this is sooooo NOT A REAL LIFE STORY! But his comment sure got me thinking because this isn't the first time a guy has called me on the lack of realism surrounding my demon hero.

When I first heard that Even Demons Get The Blues had finalled in the Red Sage Alpha Male Novella contest, I rang a girlfriend to tell her all about it. I got her husband on the line instead. Here's kinda how the conversation went:

“Congratulations!” (He’s a polite guy.) “So what’s the website address?” I told him the link for the Red Sage blog and he went straight to it. And… wait for it… “Interesting title. Erotic romance, huh? Mmmmm.” Pause for me to blush. And then, “So what exactly is an alpha male?”

Uh oh. “Ummmm. So he’s like the bad boy every woman secretly would like to have in her bed. In real life, he’d be an arrogant, impossible SOB who took whatever he wanted and your average woman would usually run a mile coz he’d stomp all over her heart. But this isn’t real life so I kinda get to let my imagination do its thing.”

“Right. And your guy’s a demon.”

“Yep. ”

“So he’s, like, really bad.”

“Oh yeah.”

“And he gets the girl?”

“Of course.”

“I see.”

And as I mentioned in my Males on Alpha Males post, I could tell he really didn't get it. I guess no guy likes to think about women preferring bad boys -- especially the demonic kind, with supernatural abilities and 10-inch dangly bits which they can use to incredible effect to pleasure the heroine over and over and over again....with no chafing!

So are we tromping all over our menfolk's fragile egos when we write this stuff or can't get enough of reading this stuff? Are we being cruel and insensitive when we lose ourselves in stories featuring paranormal heroes our menfolk couldn't possibly compete with in a million years?

The way I see it, the answer is simple. No matter how "out of this world" the hero I'm currently drooling over might be, when the story is done I turn to my husband. He's the one I chose. He's the one I married. He's the one I'm in love with. The others? Fffft! *waves hand in a languidly elegant fashion* They're just smokin' hot fantasies and like smoke, eventually they disperse and leave you with nothing.

So guys, don't feel threatened. This is real life and we're smart, savvy women so we'll always choose you. Which just goes to show: virtual size doesn't matter!

:-)

M

Villain or Hero?

Sorry I missed everyone last week, I was on vacation! Over the weekend I saw Gran Torino. It was amazing, but it totally wasn’t what I was expecting. From the previews, I thought it was going to be about an older man who took it upon himself to become a champion of his neighborhood by warding off thugs and gangs. In the end, it’s what the hero of this movie did, but he definitely wasn’t a typical hero and in the beginning I wasn’t even sure I liked this scary, bitter guy. Walt Kowalski is a (recently widowed) Korean war vet. He’s grouchy and more than a little racist. He didn’t want to champion anyone and he sure as hell didn’t want to be a hero to his immigrant neighbors.

***Spoiler Alert***

If you haven’t seen the movie and don’t want it spoiled don’t read any further.

Without going into too much detail, through a series of events, Walt ends up befriending the neighbor boy (Thao), his sister (Sue), and their Hmong family. Sue sees something good in him and pretty much ignores his racist sentiments. Through this, an odd bond forms between them and by the end of the movie he makes an incredible choice. He knew that Thao would never have a chance to survive the neighborhood with a certain Hmong gang around so he literally sacrificed his life and they were sent to prison. They murdered him in front of witnesses—people who would have been too scared to talk to the police before—but because of what he’d done for the neighborhood, that code of silence was broken. Even though Walt wasn’t a typical hero, he had many layers that were peeled back in each scene. Still, his core attitude didn’t change and I appreciated that b/c PC characters can get boring and if you change a character too much, it becomes unrealistic.

Currently I’m plotting out a story where the heroine is the antithesis of what a heroine should be. I was worried about developing her character but after seeing that movie I’m going to keep moving in the same direction. She won’t be the most likeable woman in the beginning but I hope to pull back all her layers to reveal what makes her tick.

I’ve been trying to think of characters in books who start out as villains but end up as heroes and I’m drawing a complete blank. Anyone have any recommendations? Do you like reading about villains turned into heroes/heroines? What makes a character unredeemable?

Summer Of Love Contest Winners!

The Summer of Love Contest Winners are now posted on the Three Kinds of Wicked blog. Thanks to everyone for playing along and sharing your memories--or fantasies--regarding the Summer of Love.

Where in the time will Trey show up next? Enquiring readers want to know! I hope you'll check out Trey's site and blog often for fun news, quizzes, polls, excerpts and bonus content related the upcoming Three Kinds of Wicked Series, debuting at Red Sage Publishing on July 1, 2009.

Pouring on the Steam(punk)

I read somewhere recently that insofar as romance editor aquistions are concerned, steampunk is the new black. If this statement proves true, then it's downright serendipitous considering I'm neck deep in two steampunk manuscripts. Not that I knew these stories were steampunk when I started them. It's just that airborne temples, alternate histories, and clock driven hearts started popping up all over the place and then...well, they were kinda just written that way, to paraphrase my favorite bad girl, Jessica Rabbit.

What I didn't know when I started these two stories is that steampunk is reaching beyond its fringe fan base and drawing in mainstream readers by droves. Suddenly, there's a lot of talk among writers about exactly what steampunk is. Same as with urban fantasy when *that* was the new black, I've found as many definitions of steampunk as there are titles representing the genre. While my steampunk stories in progress are quite--well---steamy, that's not what the term is referring to. Quite literally, steampunk refers to the age of steam power, and is often written in a speculative world, heavy on Victorian influences, where Industrial Revolution technologies such as steam engines, clocks and Jules Verne type contraptions reign supreme--but not necessarily so. :) Got it? Yeah, I know, it's about as clear as mud.

So, think Alice In Wonderland meets Frankenstein, and yeah, that would be steampunk. Or Jules Verne meets Sherlock Holmes in a world where the the surprise air raid at Pearl Harbor forced America to surrender. What if Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid had staged their raids on air ships to fund an uprising in the midst of a feudal land war?

Still confused? Yeah, me, too. But I'm learning enough about the genre to know that entire cons are now dedicated to the Age of Steam, and yes, I'm chafing at the bit to get myself out to Steamcon. With all this information jamming the works in my brain, is any wonder that the yet-to-be-released manuscript I've heard the most groundswell buzz about, is indeed, a steampunk title? From what I've read, the upcoming title, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker wraps everything I love about steampunk into a breathtaking bundle, and in my opinion, represents one of the freshest offerings I've seen come down the pipes for a long while. And let's face it. When authors such as C. L. Wilson sing the praises of a yet to be released manuscript from a little known author, a girl pays attention and hits the pre-order button pronto.

If you're anything like me, a picture's indeed worth a thousand words. So if you're still scratching your head wondering what the blazes steampunk is, I introduce to you the book trailer for LeAnna Renee Hibbard's upcoming release, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker. Yes, I am dying to read this book . So LeAnna, if you're out there, just want you to know that I'm probably going to be in jail for stalking the UPS guy the day after your book is released. I want it *that* badly!



Hopefully, someday soon we can get LeAnna to the blog to tell us her bordering-on-grueling sale story. As for our readers, tell me your take on steampunk. Are you interested, uninterested, or is today the first you've heard of the genre? My future sales are depending on what you tell me here, though I feel pretty certain the steam-powered train I've stowed a ride on isn't going to stop anytime soon for something so trivial as my ability to actually sell my steampunks...

Unexpected emotional responses

Well, I never thought I'd see the day when a customer service officer would actually reduce me to tears and I'd end up crying on the phone. I mean, I've been upset by rude people or difficult circumstances before --who hasn't? But usually I keep it together until I hang up and then I cry from sheer frustration or anger. In private. Where nobody can see or hear.

Not today though. And believe me, I don't "do" tears to get my own way or use as emotional blackmail.

So here's the situation: I purchased airfares online about 8 months back. I paid a premium domestic fare because I had to attend the funeral of a friend. You don't quibble with airfares in cases like that. You just suck it up and pay up because you need to be there. Unfortunately, the weather packed in and all domestic flights up and down the country were cancelled. Naturally I was upset--borderline devastated! I'd actually boarded the plane and been sitting there, waiting for it to take off, when the call about the bad weather came through. But hey, who could have predicted such crap weather on the one day that week I wanted to travel?

I was told to go home and ring the airline....only to discover the airline's policy is not to refund your ticket--they give you a credit toward other flights, and if you don't use it within a year it lapses. Well that sure sucked a big frickin' kumara! And every time I thought about that credit, sitting there unused, I would get upset all over again.

I finally decided to use my credit to go to the Romance Writers of Australia conference. It'll be my very first conference outside New Zealand, BTW, so it's a pretty big deal for me. And the bugger of it all was, I couldn't book online because I had this credit to apply to my new airfares! Grrrr.

So I had to ring a customer services officer. Honestly? The entire experience was pretty dire and I was left with a less-than-favorable impression of the airline's idea of "customer service". Some people just don't know the meaning of the word "service". Not only that, but when the e-ticket came through, I couldn't for the life of me figure out how they ended up charging me the extra $$ they did. Husband reckoned they must have only applied a portion of my credit and there was some still sitting with the airline. Yeah. Right. I wasn't so sure about that and given my last less-than-joyful experience with them, I'd been putting off ringing to get a break-down of costs.

Today, when I finally plucked up courage to ring the airline to ask fif they would kindly break the charges down for me, I got talked over and hung up on. And I was so angry and frustrated, I cried. Then I pulled myself together--or so I thought--and rang back. And blow me down, when I finally got off hold and spoke to a real person and requested to speak to a manager, I cried again. Even worse, the instant I started to explain the whole situation to the poor unsuspecting manager, I burst into tears again. And sniffled in his ear. How pathetic is that?

Pretty pathetic.

Now I have to give kudos to the manager: he listened and got the whole story first. Then he patiently explained the fare breakdown and how the credit had been applied. He didn't make me feel like an idiot, or that I was a bother. Then, when I was quite happy about why they'd charged me--even if the fares weren't the ones I'd originally requested--he went the extra mile and refunded me the difference between the original fares which had been showing online as available when I'd booked, and what I'd been charged. And he did it all with politeness, finesse and a hint of humor.

So that part of the story had a happy ending. A credit back to my credit card account? Woot! Fantastic, right?

But you know what? As appreciative as I am--and still am!--of the way he handled the whole thing, I'm still upset to the point of tears. In fact, I'm crying as I type this.

But what I've realized is I'm not truly crying because of rude, snarky airline staff. I'm crying because this entire little episode is rooted in the deep emotional upset of having a friend die and not being able to make it to her funeral and say goodbye. Doesn't matter that it happened six months ago. Doesn't matter that I wasn't the only one stranded at the airport that day who didn't make it. Doesn't matter that her husband understood that I'd tried my best to get there and why I hadn't made it. None of that matters.

That virtual "credit" attached to my name, sitting in some computerised internal account at that airline, was--and still is--inbued with all the emotion tied up with losing someone you care about. Which also explains a lot about why I got so depressed and miserable whenever I thought about how to use the credit, and why I'd been so very tempted to let it lapse.

Who knew such a thing could happen? Not me. Or at least, not until today.

For me, writing offers a similar experience. Doesn't matter that I'm writing fantasies or paranormals or letting my imagination run completely wild, my characters' emotions and responses and reactions are to a large degree rooted in the reality of my own experiences. And perhaps that's why when I re-read certain scenes I've written, I cry--not because what I've written so bloody exceptional it brings tears to my eyes....I can only wish for that to happen, LOL. But because certain scenes have been drawn from some deep emotional reservoir and captured on the page, and even now, years later, they still have power over me.

Phew! Well that post didn't turn out quite like I'd expected at all! So please forgive me for not being my usual snarky--hopefully upbeat!--self. I'll be back to normal next week, I promise!

Thanks for letting me vent,

M

Celebrating the Summer of Love (with a menage!)

Got menage?

I do, finally. At least in print. :) And what better era to set a love story involving the utter abandonment of sexual inhibitions than the late 1960's? It only felt natural as I created Trey, the sexy Time Strider who spreads his steamy brand of sexual healing throughout time in the upcoming Three Kinds of Wicked series, that he'd meet Sage, his lady love, as she made her journey to Woodstock.

What I didn't realize as I crafted Wicked Temptation, the kick off story to the Three Kinds of Wicked series, is that this very summer marks the fortieth anniversary of The Summer of Love.

Wow. Forty years. Quick, somebody stick me with a syringe of Botox before my forehead crinkles in an unbecoming and quite possibly permanent expression of surprise.

So, with *that* confession behind me (this blog tends to cause me to post before I think better of what I've said...) I tend to live with my head in the clouds when I write. But for some reason, as I did the historical research for Wicked Temptation, it still didn't click in my math-challenged mind that what I was writing about--the Summer of Love--would eventually be released so close to this important anniversary.(Can Botox go to your brain?)

So...being the first class promo ho that I am, and in celebration of this serendipitous marketing opportunity, I'm having a little contest this week. The winning comment and runners up will run on the debut post on the Three Kinds of Wicked blog on Friday. So you're going to have to check out *that* blog to find out if you won. :) (Told ya. Promo ho. And it was only a *little* Botox)

Many feel the Summer of Love changed the world forever. If you know anything about Kronos vs. Kairos--well, let's just say August 1969 was all about Kairos. (Big hint to the content of end story of the series, so file it away!)

So, tell me. Where were you during August, 1969 during the peak of the Summer of Love? How did this summer change *your* life? And if you were but an itch in your Daddy's underwear, tell me where you *wish* you were had you lived during those pivotal times. How you think you *might* have been changed by the Summer of Love?

And if you actually went to Woodstock? Major brownie points.

The first place comment will receive an advanced copy of "Wicked Temptation", the kick-off title in Red Sage Publishing's *first* author developed series, Three Kinds of Wicked.

The First place winner *and* how ever many runners up I think warrant it (minimum 2) will receive a hand-beaded set of "love beads" remniscent of the ones Sage wears in Wicked Temptation. These lovely beads are made of genuine multi-hued gemstones, and are hand strung by my beautiful son, who has autism. So yeah, they're special, and truly one of a kind. :) My very own version of a miracle to share with my readers.

And now for the icky legalese part. By entering, you certify that you are over eighteen years old. You'll also be giving me permission to run your comment(s)on the Three Kinds of Wicked blog. So hurry up, get to posting those comments before I get all sentimental and start posting pictures of sixties beefcake all over this thing. (Hush, Maree LOL)

Take a Writing Vacation

I think every writer needs a writer's vacation.

If you can't attend a conference due to money/family constraints, try a one day conference a local writing organization is putting on. A weekend event can infuse confidence and give that extra burst of creative energy you've been lacking.

To keep the creative juices flowing and the muse refreshed taking time out for a writer's vacation can be one of the best things you can do for you and your muse. This is just another way to refill the writer's physical and emotional well.

I've just returned from the Lori Foster Reader/Author Event in West Chester, Ohio. I had a fabulous time and am energized more than ever to feverishly put words to the page. Please go to Lori's website for detailed information. I'd love to return next year.

Meeting industry professionals, readers and friends from the internet in this relaxed setting eased my nerves. Let's face it, when you're nervous and dressed up, you know that something will happen. (For me that would mean anything from tripping and falling down, to losing a button and my skirt/dress releases flashing the general population.)

Thankfully, on this trip I did well. LOL

Here are some other ideas for a writing vacation day:

Go and write someplace different such as a wi-fi friendly eating establishment.
The park.
Organize a write-a-thon with a group of friends and each writer host it at his/her home. Just being around writing friends and discussing characters,plot etc., can help in a variety of ways.

However you decide to take your writing vacation, do take one. The mind as well as the body needs to be in top condition to write your best.

Until next week!

Hugs,
Tambra
Cowboy of the Night, a bestselling time travel erotic paranormal romance
from Red Rose Publishing. www.redrosepublishing.com

Kiwi Hunks!

Well, it's Thursday and much as I pleaded with Ms Head Wild Woman to give me a day off, I do have to post again today. I kinda figured you'd all had enough of me this week, but evidently she's not gonna let you off that easy. Sorry, guys!

And because I'm all out of ideas, I thought I'd fall back on a Wild Woman's last resort: namely, gratuitous beefcake.

But this is beefcake with a twist because this is Kiwi beefcake! And by "kiwi" I don't mean the hairy fruit with the green centers we New Zealanders call kiwifruit and use to decorate pavlovas.

First up: Karl Urban, who featured briefly in my last post and deserves a bit more of an opportunity to be drooled over.

1st photo was Karl as Kirill in The Bourne Supremacy. Middle one he's Vaako from The Chronicles of Riddick and far right is just a damn fine photo of Karl!

Just in case he's starting to look reeeeally familiar right about now, he also played Eomer in Lord of the Rings, the character of Ghost in Pathfinder, and more recently Leonard "Bones" McCoy in Star Trek.

Whether he's playing good guy or bad guy, for me, Karl's just hot!

Next up is New Zealand All-Black rugby football poster boy, Daniel Carter.

Dan is arguably the best first five-eighths player in the world. He's scored 20 tries as an All Black, and lies second in the points scoring list.

Dan's image will shortly be plastered all over international billboards modelling Jockey underwear.

Mmmm. I simply can't imagine why they chose him.

And now I have some more Kiwi sporting legends for your viewing pleasure.

To the far left, Chris Cairns, one of our Black Caps cricketing greats. He used to look pretty damned fine in his cricket gear but he sure scrubs up well, don't you think?

And next to Chris, staring into the distance and looking all mysterious, is current All Blacks' rugby captain, Richie McCaw. Mmmm. Biceps. Gotta love these new short-sleeved rugby shirts, huh?

Now I don't think Outrageous Fortune has ever screened in the US. Which is a pity because antics of The Wests are simply superb! Not too mention graphically wince-worthy. And incredibly compelling. And not just because the men of Outrageous Fortune do tend to prance around wearing nothing much--though that's a definite bonus.













For your viewing pleasure today, on the left I have Grant Bowler, who plays Wulf in Outrageous Fortune. He's a bad boy--a reeeeeally bad boy. And not even doing time has stopped him from his criminal ways. But his saving grace is he loves his family...in his way.

And last, but not least, to the right there's Martin Henderson, he of Britney Spears' Toxic music video fame...among other things. You can kinda see why Britney was so keen to have him in her vid, huh?

So there you have it: some of my favorite Kiwi hunks.

Do they measure up?

I reckon they do! *fans herself rapidly*

Enjoy!

:-)

M

Ack! Wednesday Again!

I'm a little late posting because I completely forgot today was Wednesday. All morning I've been running around under the assumption that it was Tuesday. I'm leaving on vacation this weekend and have a ton of stuff to do before then and now I realize I have one day less than I thought to get everything accomplished!

I apologize for being hideously unprepared so today we're going to chat about the only thing on my mind. Vacation! Before I got married my sister and I took off a month and backpacked around Ireland. This probably ranks as my favorite vacation because I was younger, single, didn't have a mortgage or many bills to worry about and we were free to do what we wanted. I love traveling with no schedule. My second favorite vacation I took with my husband a year after we got married. Right after our wedding we couldn't take a real honeymoon (he was still in the Marines) so a year later we took five weeks off and traveled across Australia and New Zealand. The people and country were amazing and if we ever get a chance I'd love to go back. Snorkeling along the Great Barrier Reef is one of my favorite memories there. The end of that trip was a little crazy. We stopped in Fiji for a couple days before heading back to the States and I gashed my foot open on a rock. Visiting a 'hospital' and getting a tetanus shot in a third world country was certainly an experience I'll never forget. They didn't even charge us. People just gave donations of what they could afford.

So what's your favorite vacation and why? Where's somewhere you'd like to go but haven't made it yet?

Even Demons Get The Blues

Surprise!

Yes, I know it's only Monday and you're not expecting me this early on in the week but we had a gap our schedule so I was the one who got stuck with....er...I mean, got the pleasure of coming up with something interesting to discuss with y'all.

So, what to share? As usual, there's been plenty happening in the Anderson household but I don't think you want to hear about sick kids, sick husbands and my 11 year-old's birthday party. Though the quadruple chocolate layer cake I baked was abso-frickin-lutely delicious! Nom nom nom... And the latest Star Trek was a hit with kids and adults alike...much to my relief, since I chose the movie and it was my butt on the line if the birthday boy and his mates didn't like it.

Mmmm. As much as I can't quite get past Zachary Quinto's reeeeally icky bad guy, Sylar, in Heroes, I'm warming to him as Spock. Wouldn't go so far as to say he was hot, as some tweeters have insisted on Twitter, but I could be convinced. Almost. If it weren't for Karl Urban as "Bones" because being a Kiwi, he's got my vote! I'm biased and I don't care. Sorry...not!

And hard on the heels of my son's party was another cause for celebration. My debut release, Even Demons Get The Blues, went "live" on the Red Sage Publishing website yesterday... *pauses to run round the office screaming and wildly wave her arms...oh, and check the website--again!--just to make certain it wasn't all a dream*

Guess what? It's not a dream! That BUY NOW button on my website can stay right where it is! *VBG* And not even my dad emailing me to ask for a "signed" copy of the book, which, given it's an ebook isn't exactly possible, can dampen my enthusiasm. (I did offer to sign his laptop screen but somehow I don't think he'll take me up on that offer.)

So now I'm gonna take the opportunity to do some blatant self-promotion and share the blurb with you. Yanno, just to "encourage" you to buy it ;-)

Even Demons Get The Blues

Rezon was the Demon King’s lieutenant for four thousand wonderfully gory years. But even the most badass Demon in Hell gets jaded, so he took up Beguiling humans. Only trouble is now he’s been beguiled by Leisa, a flawed human female.

Leisa might look like an angel, but she sure doesn’t act like one. Under the influence of a Destroyer Demon, she committed a terrible crime and her guilt is eating her alive. Alcohol and casual sex are her chosen methods of self-destruction and she’s embracing both with a vengeance.

When Leisa picks up one loser too many, Rez is provoked into showing her what a real man—er...make that Demon!—can do. But their sexy encounter turns out to be potentially lethal for them both, when Leisa accidentally shatters Rez’s defences and bonds with him.

The sole surviving Drakon Demon bonded to a human female? There’s gonna be Hell to pay!

EVEN DEMONS GET THE BLUES

Author: Maree Anderson
Publisher: Red Sage Publishing
ISBN: 9781603103145
Length: Novella
Format: eBook
Genre: Paranormal erotic romance

What? Oh. Sorry. I was drooling over my lovely cover. Again. Just can't help myself.

So that's it from me for today. See? No pressure. But if you do buy Even Demons Get The Blues and actually read it, I'd love to know what you thought, so please drop me a line on my website.

And finally, since June is shaping up to be a demonically busy month, I've posted a schedule of what I'm up to on my website. Yes, a schedule! Believe me, it's necessary 'cuz I really am that busy. Groan....

:-)
M