Staying warm!

I have my laptop on the dining room table and I’m sitting looking out the patio doors at our pine trees. The branches are hanging down, heavy with pure white snow–a regular winter wonderland! As long as I can stay inside and admire it through the glass, I don’t mind too much. It’s when I have to be outside that I start to curse the month of January.

January is usually the coldest month around these parts, and this seems to be the coldest week (at least, I hope so!) It’s supposed to hit 10 below tonight and minus 2for a high tomorrow, and that’s not even considering the wind chill.

So is it any wonder that my thoughts have turned to staying warm? I’ve got on my sweat pants and sweat shirt and my thick socks and the house is cranked up to 72. I find I’m craving hot comfort foods to eat, and when the sun goes down I start to think about a cup of hot chocolate. There’s an extra blanket on the bed and thank heavens, there’s my honey to cuddle up to.

Staying warm, as you can see, is a process. You have to cover all the basics — shelter, food, clothing, a significant other. In a way, staying warm is one of the secrets of life -- appreciate the small things that make our days and nights enjoyable.

When I’m sitting on the couch at night shivering with the cold and I wrap up in a blanket, I can feel all my muscles relax. My whole body gets warm. And usually I fall asleep and miss the end of the movie! A dull night at home, maybe, but also a miracle, the way we humans create our very special nests and are never happier than when everyone we love is safely settled in.

Stay warm this winter!

A great way to kick off a year!

I'm not sorry to see 2008 go. It was a tough year for me and my husband as we battled our way through his health problems, and a tough year for the world at large. In the last few months of 2008, I barely had the energy to write some days, but I did manage to finish one story.

So what better way for an author to kick off a new year than by having a book published? In this case, it's more of a short story, but I'm not going to start the year by quibbling about details.

Extasy Books publishes its shorter fantasies so you can get a fantastic taste of an author's style at a bargain price. So check out my shortie, Final Fling. It's 52 hot pages of futuristic romance.

Here's the teaser blurb!

Lady Linbeth de Aborne knew her father’s position as one of the leaders of Earth meant she’d become a pawn in a political marriage someday. She never expected, though, that her father would decide to send her from Earth’s sexually liberal society to the harsh, repressive world of Nyasse and the stern arms of the famous general, Lord Chatonar.

About to lose her freedom forever, Linbeth decides to spend the week before her wedding enjoying a final fling in the House of Fulfillment on Pegusus Pleasure Planet. Wanting a night she can remember, filled with the darker pleasures of bondage and submission, she yields her body to the discipline of Master Zenwan. But what he does to her heart catches her by surprise …

You can read an excerpt from Final Fling by clicking here

Random thoughts

I just checked my statistics for this week and I had more views than usual, yet I didn't post anything new. Hmmm. I'm going to chalk that one up to people having more time to be online and read over the holidays rather than the rather zen thought that I do better when I don't do anything.

Speaking of zen thoughts, one of my friends rather desperately wants to get a dog, but he has a job where he's gone quite a bit and he feels guilty that he'd have to leave the dog so much. It occurred to me that this might be a good reason to get married. Then he'd have someone at home to watch the dog. I am being serious -- somewhat anyway! People have gotten married for a lot worse reasons, and if you can't bond over a dog, there's something wrong with you. I can see the whole thing turning into a sweet love story that I should probably write, LOL.

Your SexTing is lost in the mail

How behind the times am I? I haven't caught on to texting yet, and now comes sexting. For those who are as lost as me, sexting is a form of texting where you take a seminude or nude photo of yourself with your cell phone and text it (hopefully just to someone significant and not a few thousand of your closest friends).

Apparently, it's a new form of teen flirting. It sort of makes me glad my teen years are behind me. I don't do well when posing for nude photos, or photos period, as you can probably tell from my profile photo, which features a rear view. It's not that I'm ugly or anything, I just don't photograph well, and being nude probably wouldn't help.

As for all those nude photos floating around the Internet, you don't need to be psychic to foresee some embarrassing moments in the future for some of these young ladies. While no prude to be sure (just read one of my books, LOL), there is only so much I want to see or know about my future leaders. And we think this year's election was bad!

Santa joins the 21st century!

I heard from Rudolph (who is such a gossip) that Santa has joined the 21st century and is reading e-books. Good for you, big man! I imagine you have plenty of time to read when you only work one day a year!

Now for a shameless plug. E-books make great Christmas presents, whether for others or for yourself -- and one of my publishers, Extasy Books, is having a 30 percent off sale this month on every author's backlist.

I have a couple of books on backlist there, including Gabriel's Gift, which is a Christmas story about an alien's very happy first holiday on Earth. It's also a truly hot encounter, guaranteed to heat up a winter night.

The discounted price will show up once you put the book in your shopping cart. The drop down list still shows the regular price. End of shameless plug. :)

Thanks, Jen!

A big thank you to fellow author Jen Turner who featured my novella, Her Master's Pleasure, on her blog this week. You can catch the smoking excerpt I sent her at http://www.jen-turner.blogspot.com/

Jen writes dark paranormal romance. If you love vampires, werewolves and other creatures of the night (and who doesn't), check out her blog for sexy introduction to some great reads./

Some weekend heat!

It's a snowy Saturday here, but I've managed to keep warm by working on updating my Web site and blog with my hot new cover from Extasy Books. When I first opened the file and saw it, I suffered a total meltdown.

The cover is for Final Fling, a short fantasy due out Jan. 1, 2009, from Extasy Books. Here's a sneak peek:


About to be forced into a loveless political marriage, Lady Linbeth de Aborne visits the House of Fulfillment for a Final Fling.
The mistress of the most exclusive house on Pegusus Pleasure Planet smiled with the assured confidence of a woman who had experienced every possible sexual adventure. “I’ll admit Master Zewan is newly in my employ, but I have the utmost confidence in his abilities. I’ll stake the reputation of the House of Fulfillment that you will emerge from your night with him utterly satisfied.”

Linbeth arched an eyebrow. “Satisfaction is the least I’d expect from a visit to your establishment. I want something I can’t get anywhere else. I want an unforgettable experience.”

The mistress pursed her crimson lips. The older woman looked prim in her high-necked gown of patterned silk, with her graying hair swept up in a tight bun, but Linbeth knew she still commanded a steep price for fulfilling her patrons’ fantasies as a dominatrix.

“You want to be bound and ravished.” Mistress Peneti traced one dark red fingernail around the rim of her wineglass as if teasing the body of a lover. “You want a man to do unspeakable things to you, debasing acts a woman of your stature could never accept, while you’re powerless to resist.”

A pulse throbbed in Linbeth’s neck. “Yes.”