David Bridger, New Release

Today I'm interviewing my favorite current author from across the pond, David Bridger. His debut release, "Beauty and the Bastard" from Liquid Silver Books, has received such reviews as "intriguing" and "ultimately enjoyable". You can’t know how excited I am to have you here! First off, we’d like to hear a little background on you before we jump into your work.

Thank you, Miranda! I'm thrilled to be here on your new blog, which really is delicious!

I'm a first-time published author who's been working hard for fifteen years to become an overnight sensation. :)

My first love was the ocean. I went to sea almost straight from school (after a fabulous long summer when I was eighteen, playing guitar in a touring rock band out of Liverpool, which mainly involved me losing my virginity and ensuring it stayed lost) and enjoyed various jobs on the wet and bouncy stuff, including lifeguard, sailor, intelligence gatherer, and investigator.

But I always knew I'd come home to write one day. And here I am.

Brilliant. You are most fascinating! So, Let's talk about "Beauty and the Bastard". I have fond memories of when you were trying to name this story! What is it about?

Saul the Bastard is a fallen angel who works as a bounty hunter for powerful urban demon families. Rebecca Drake, a modern day demon princess, is being hunted by dangerous desert demons. When Rebecca’s family hires Saul to protect her, they are both unhappy with the arrangement, but before long sparks fly as they try to resist their strong mutual attraction. For the first time in living memory, Saul has someone to love; someone he is scared of losing; someone the desert demons have marked to be their next sacrifice.

How imaginative! What was your inspiration for these characters?

Saul walked into my mind almost fully formed. That is, in my original vision of the closed-down, privately-tortured, ruthlessly efficient antihero, I saw enough of him to know I had to drop everything I was doing and get to know him intimately right there and then. Next thing was to find a heroine who would be strong enough to balance his strength of character, and place her in serious danger so that her vulnerability would help bring his out. Rebecca answered the call almost fully formed, too.

Privately-tortured... Ruthlessly efficient? I would like to get to know him intimately as well! Do you personally identify with your hero?

Yes. You know, you're the first person who's asked me that, so I haven't even dealt with it myself until now - but, yes, I do.

As you will see from the excerpt I've linked to below, Saul is living a kind of hell on earth. He knows he committed a terrible sin, but the memory of it has been removed from his mind. And he knows his sentence will continue until he has righted whatever wrong it was that got him into this fix in the first place.

He sees his sentence not as a punishment, but as an opportunity to atone for his sin. That doesn't mean he enjoys it, though, because it causes him terrible pain. Saul is a creature of the night, but not through choice. As soon as the sun rises, he is transformed into stone. And he stays trapped like that until the sun goes down again. He maintains full consciousness throughout. In fact, he never sleeps. But he can't move or even breathe while he is in the stone. Every evening, when the stone releases him at sundown, he suffers physical agony while his body starts to work again.

It's this aspect of his life that I identify with. My seagoing days ended when I got hurt, and I came home in quite a bad way. I was paralyzed for two years before I regained any kind of movement, then spent several more years progressing from bedbound to a wheelchair to up on sticks and finally, fifteen years later, to standing unaided on my own two feet again. I still get the pain. It'll never go away. But I wrote Saul's agony from my memories of the terrible time when my active (and very scared) mind was trapped inside a body turned almost to stone by constant all-over muscle cramps.

David, you are quite an inspiration. I'm so happy for how far you've come both personally, physically, and now professionally. Male romance novelists are a rare breed. What is it about this particular Genre that attracts you?

I've always been a romantic. Most sailors are, you know. It's that "called by the brooding sea" thing. :)

So it came as no surprise when everything I wrote had romance in it somewhere, even if it wasn't always the main course.

Do you find it harder to be a male in this industry or do you think it gives you an advantage?

I don't know if it gives me any advantage. Curiosity points, perhaps? But I certainly haven't felt at any disadvantage because of my gender. I've found romance readers, authors and epublishers to be generous, and helpful, and all round delightful people.

Indeed. Tell me a little about your writing process, do you outline and plot out detailed characterizations, or do you sit down and write when the muses dictate?

I do both a little planning and a little pantsing. I live with my characters and let a scene or two play like a movie in my head for a while before writing anything. Then I write those scenes. By that time, ideas for character and plot and all that good stuff are pouring into my mind, and I turn them into a skeleton outline. Just one sentence per scene, usually, and divided into chapters to get a shape for the story. Then I plan chapter 1 in a bit more detail and start writing.

I don't do fast drafting. I tried it, and it doesn't work for me, so I aim to write my best possible draft straight off. That might seem likely to slow the process, but actually it makes the whole thing faster for me in the long run.

Well, you do a fantastic job. Who do you read in your spare time? Who inspires you?

I read enthusiastically in both the genres I write - paranormal romance and urban fantasy - and also enjoy science fiction and a small handful of crime writers. For nostalgia, I return every now and then to my beloved collection of John le Carre's cold war spy novels. Two writers who rock my world with everything they produce are Neil Gaiman and Stacia Kane.

What we all want to know is: what can we look for next? What are you currently working on?

I'm writing another Angels and Demons novella right now. It's set in the same world as Beauty and the Bastard, but features a whole new cast of characters. I love it!

Where can we find your work or read more about you?


My site is www.davidbridger.com and I blog at http://david-bridger.livejournal.com/

Well, thank you so much for stopping by to share your fantastic story with us. You’re definitely someone worth reading, I hope you’ll stop back in when you’re next release is issued.

Thank you for having me, Miranda! I've enjoyed my visit and would love to come back!

Lauren Fraser, New Release!

Today we’re talking with Lauren Fraser whose novella “Longing for Kayla” was recently released from Ellora’s Cave. Since her release her book has been dubbed a “Must Read.”

Welcome Lauren!

Tell us what your story is about.

Thanks for having me, Miranda. Here’s the blurb for Longing for Kayla.

Dumped by her boyfriend during her birthday ski weekend, Kayla runs to the two men she can count on, her best friends, Jesse and Chris. Reckless and hurt, she throws caution to the wind and confesses her deepest fantasy. To be with two men.



Jesse and Chris have shared women before, but Kayla is not like other women. She knows them better than they know themselves. But what she doesn’t know is that Jesse has a forbidden fantasy of his own. When she discovers it, she encourages Jesse to go after what he wants with Chris in the bedroom, opening to the three of them a whole new world.



In love with Kayla for as long as he can remember, Chris is excited to finally be with her, but he never expected to desire both of his friends. He’s straight. How the hell can he want Jesse as well? With everything changing, can these friends move beyond what they’ve known and find a way to build on the love between them?



It sounds fantastically steamy! How did the idea of the story come to you?

I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about a ménage. There is something so deliciously naughty about two men completely focused on your pleasure.


Oh, I completely agree! Where do you get inspiration for your characters?

It completely depends on the book. The plot ideas pop up at the oddest times. Sometimes it can be something as simple as watching a couple interact on the street that sparks an idea. I tend to be a huge people watcher and I love to just sit back and observe. I get a lot of my ideas from what I see around me.

So, this story focuses on a few fantasies. Would it be too personal for you to share one of your own?

Wow. Umm... I think anyone who reads my books would have a pretty good idea of some of my fantasies. LOL. Without getting too graphic, I do think the whole personal gratification with your partner directing the play while he watches is damn hot!


Girl, I like the way you think. Tell us, Where do you see yourself writing 5 years down the road? Will you stay with this Genre or move on to something new?

In 5 years I would love to NY published as well as continuing to build a solid backlist in erotic romance. That’s kind of the big dream.

I love writing steamy romances but I do have a lot of other stories percolating in my head that are a bit different than the erotic romances I write now. I see myself writing both in the future but I have no plans to stop writing erotic romance because it is just so much fun to write.

Tell us a little about the publishing process. What surprised you about it?

I think what surprised me the most was how slow the process can be. It can take years from the time you submit until the time a book is published in print. That is what I love about e-publishers, it’s not a fast process but it is certainly quicker.


What would you say is the easiest?

I have been really lucky to work with wonderful editors who get my voice. Knock on wood. So far I have found the editing process to be fairly painless. There are definitely suggestions and fine tuning to make my books stronger but it’s still me. I hope that makes sense. LOL


The hardest?

The hardest thing was just biting the bullet and submitting something. J But once I actually did that and got my work accepted, I think the hardest part has been balancing my writing with my promotion. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the promo that there isn’t time to write. There are so many options it’s hard to know where to best spend your time. I always have to remember that writing the next book is the best promotion I can do.

What would you tell a reader reluctant to read erotic romance?

I would say start with a sensual story and work up to the more erotic. If there is something that they find exciting, but are a bit embarrassed to admit out loud or curious about, they could probably find a story that has that kind of erotic elements in it to varying degrees. That is the great thing with most of the publishers, you can see the heat level and then just don’t pick the hottest one for your first read. Otherwise your eyes might pop out. LOL

That’s great advice we’d love to know what you’re working on now. What can we look forward to reading next?

As I approach my mid-thirties I have to admit I find the older woman/younger man idea more intriguing. We all want to know that we still have what it takes to attract those hot virile men so I tend to gravitate to those types of stories.

I have an older woman younger man story scheduled for release in September with Total E-Bound and a really sexy geek story coming soon from Liquid Silver.

Right now I am working on another steamy older woman, younger man story complete with surfing, hot beaches and even hotter sex.

Yum. Can’t wait for that, sounds delicious. Finally, where can we find you online and where can we run out and pick up your work?

My website is http://www.laurenfraser.com

Blog: http://authorlaurenfraser.blogspot.com

You can find the books through my current publishers; Ellora’s Cave and Freya’s Bower. You can also grab a copy at most ebook stores like All romance ebooks

What Contest do you have running right now?

My friend and fellow Ellora’s Cave author, Amy Redwood and I are celebrating our joint release date with a contest. We are each giving away a copy of both of our new releases: Longing for Kayla and Sinful Intentions. For all the details on the contest be sure to check out the contest page on my website. http://www.laurenfraser.com



Let’s enjoy an excerpt from the novella.

Kayla stood at the fridge door staring inside unsure what she was even looking for. What the hell had she been thinking telling them that? There was no way they weren’t going to bug the crap out of her now that they knew she had a kinky side. She leaned her head against the cold shelf. Inhaling deeply, she pushed back from the fridge and grabbed three beers. The only way to handle those two was to go back in there and change the subject. Just pretend she had never said anything. With another deep breath, she steeled herself to go return to the room.

The moment she stepped into the living room, Chris and Jesse’s whispered conversation stopped, and she knew there was no way these two were going to let the subject drop. When Chris reached out to take a beer from her, she pulled it out of his reach. “You want this? Then you need to keep your promise not to make fun of me. Otherwise, I’m taking these beers and drinking them myself elsewhere.”

“Why would we make fun of you?” Chris asked.

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah right, like I didn’t just give you enough fuel to hold this over me for years.”

“I don’t have any problem with what you said, Kay,” Chris told her, pinning her with a look so hot it scorched the soles of her feet.

Jesse took a step toward her. “Making fun of you is about the last thing on either of our minds.” He took the drinks from her and set them on the table. With the beers gone, she looked around the room, unsure what to do with her hands.

Heat from Jesse’s body invaded her senses as he stepped closer to her. He tilted her chin up with his finger, forcing her to look at him. “You want to live out your fantasy, birthday girl?” His husky voice slid across her, causing her nipples to bead tightly. An arrow of heat surged through her body.

“What?” she squeaked.

“I never got you a present for your birthday. I was thinking maybe this might work instead.” He leaned in and pulled her bottom lip between his teeth. His tongue swept out and licked her lip. The forbiddance of kissing her best friend made her shudder and she leaned against him. God, if this was a dream she never wanted to wake up.

“So, what do you think, birthday girl? You want us to give you a birthday you’ll never forget?” he murmured against her mouth. Something about hearing the words against her lips intensified everything. She glanced up at Jesse. He pulled her tightly to him so she could feel his erection against her stomach.

“Well?” His tone dared her to deny she wanted this. She looked over her shoulder at Chris who hadn’t said a word. He stood off to the side watching them, giving nothing about what he was feeling away.

She gulped. “Is this what you want too?” she asked Chris. Her voice shook. She wasn’t sure if it was from nerves about him saying yes, or that he might say no.

Chris stepped toward her, his eyes dark with desire. “Oh, hell yeah.” He moved in closer, blocking her in from behind.

His hot breath caressed the back of her neck when his body pressed in close. “You sure about this, Kay?”


I know I’m sure! Lauren, thank you for letting us get to know you and I wish you MUCH success with your books.

Kaily Hart, New Release

Today we're talking to Kaily Hart. Her new Novel "Picture This" has recently been published with Ellora's Cave. She's stopping by my blog today to share her process with us! "Picture This" is enjoying such success, being described as "Sexy" "unique" and "an absolute must read!"


Enjoy an excerpt from the book!

“Well, thank you for your time and for the information. It was very helpful.”

Not.

Jillian put the phone down a little harder than she’d intended. It slammed back into the cradle with a sharp crack that more than matched her mood.

Dammit.

It’d been sold, again, three months earlier. Private auction, anonymous bidder and there was no way for her to find out who’d bought it. All she knew for sure was that it’d been a man. It figured. Damn, she’d been close this time. Not that she would have been able to afford to make even one bid herself. It had opened at fifteen thousand and after some fast and furious bidding had finally gone for a cool seventy-five thousand—dollars. Jeez, she’d probably be paying off her student loans for another twenty years and some guy had dropped seventy-five grand on a picture?

Jillian sighed. She wasn’t even sure what she’d do if she could uncover the identity of the new owner. She’d kept telling herself she’d be able to buy it one day once she got established. She’d planned on it, she’d counted on it. It was why she’d tried her damndest to keep track of it for the past ten years. Her only hope now was that it would sit in some private collection, gathering dust and never see the light of day. Yeah, right. She’d never, ever been that lucky. All those years ago, who would have thought? Deep down though she’d known and it had plagued her ever since. When she least expected it, it was going to come back and bite her on the ass. She just knew it.

* * * * *

“Sam? Man, are you even listening to me?”

Sam couldn’t tear his eyes off her. The dark luster of her hair, the curve of her cheek, something about the shape of her body. It just now occurred to him, but he’d seen her around the building before. He’d noticed her legs he remembered, appreciated the toned lengths, the shapely calves and too easily imagined how they’d look wrapped around his waist or up around her ears. And her mouth. God, the things he’d thought about her mouth.

How could I have forgotten that?

As soon as the thought formed he knew the answer. He had a strict hands-off rule at work that he’d never broken, not even in his head. Until her. He’d made himself forget.

He watched her mouth curve into a smile and his dick twitched in immediate response. Something flared low and sharp in his gut. It was a sensation he didn’t think he’d ever felt before, at least without some form of specific and intentional stimulation.

“Who’s that?” he demanded.

“Who?”

He heard rather than saw Duncan’s puzzlement. He motioned across the expanse of the elegant lobby. “The woman there. Slim, dark hair, black suit. Talking to the blonde.”

“I thought you didn’t fuck around with the staff?”

Sam’s balls tightened in a rush. The explicit image he got was shocking. Not just because it was of her—on her knees in front of him while he fucked her from behind—but because he hadn’t been able to censor it, or control his body’s reaction to it. Sam shot him a glare. He was in no mood to be trifled with.

Duncan cleared his throat. “Ah, sorry, I think her name’s Jennifer, something like that. She works in Finance. Or maybe it’s Legal.”

“Jillian?” he managed to choke out. “Could her name be Jillian?”

“I…maybe. Why?”

“Last time I checked you were head of Human Resources, Duncan.”

“Jesus, Sam, we have over four thousand employees, two thousand in this building alone. I can’t personally keep track of all of them. I haven’t worked with her directly. She’s probably—”

“Find out. I want her file on my desk in ten minutes.”

“What’s got into you?”

Sam took a deep breath. “Schedule a meeting with her.”

“A meeting?”

“Yeah, with me.”

“You don’t know where she works or what she does in your company, but you want a meeting with her? Why?”

Sam felt the impatience he’d tried to contain roar through him. He wasn’t used to having his orders questioned and he sure as hell wasn’t used to explaining himself to anyone.

“Because I’m the fucking boss and I said so.”


Wow! Welcome! Kaily, Let’s get to know you, the author, before we dive into the work. Tell us about yourself.

Hi Miranda! Thanks so much for having me here today. Let’s see my blurb would be:

Kaily Hart, a seemingly straight-laced mother of four left corporate America and a high-powered, lucrative career to be a stay at home mom. Ha! That lasted about four weeks, during which time she realized she had a deeply repressed dream - to write. Romance! By day, Kaily plays conservative wife and soccer mom, but at night crafts hot and steamy tales of romance and love with gorgeous heroes who wouldn’t dream of leaving the toilet set up. Ever. She’s smart and sassy, at least in her own mind, and is trying her best to bring the alpha male solidly back to contemporary romance. Two years ago she never would have thought she’d be doing this, but now that she is? It just feels so right.

Fantastic! So, your new novel “Picture This” was recently released from Ellora’s Cave! Tell us what your story is about!

Desperate and young, Jillian Moore did something she knew would one day come back to bite her in the ass. She’d posed nude. For money. Years later, and on the fast track to a successful career, she’s still haunted by her mistake. She can’t help but wonder when her past will catch up with her.

Samuel Steele is not short on female attention, but the women who warm his bed pale in comparison to the fantasy he’s created of the seductive temptress in the painting hanging prominently in his bedroom. A fantasy that has ruined his once satisfying sex life. When he discovers that her exact likeness works in his building—for him—things get…interesting.

How did the idea of the story come to you?

LOL. The premise itself? I have absolutely no idea. It just popped into my head along with the sketchy details of the characters. I just took it from there. I got the idea when I was browsing the Call for Submissions area on Ellora’s Cave website. I was just looking, I swear, but the story idea grabbed me and wouldn’t let go!

Do you have a critique group, beta-readers, or do you self edit?

I don’t have anything formal in regards to a critique partner. I’ve exchanged chapters and a couple of stories with people. I don’t have any beta-readers but the idea is very appealing. I basically self-edit for the most part!

What is the hardest part of writing for you?

I always joke it’s actually the writing part. It’s so easy to come up with that nice new and shiny idea. It calls to you ‘write me, write me’. When you get there to actually write it, the next one’s calling to you. It requires discipline to stick with a story long enough to not just write the really good scenes, but all of it!

I have the same problem! What about the easiest?

The actual idea part is the easiest for me. My mind is brimming with ideas as is my idea file! I have a ton of stories just waiting to be told.

Tell us a little about the publishing process. What surprised you about it? What did you find the easiest?

I’m published with an epublisher, so from submission to revisions to edits to publication, it moves quickly. My editor is wonderful. She’s very straightforward and no-nonsense which I love and folds in well with my style.

The hardest?

The hardest was knowing someone was pouring over every single word choice I’d made and evaluating those choices. It was my first experience with having a professional actually comb through something I’d written, so it was a bit nerve wracking. I’m a bit of a control freak, so anything throughout the process that wasn’t driven by me (which is basically everything except the writing part) is hard because it’s out of my control!

We’d love to know what you’re working on now. What can we look forward to next?

As usual, I’m working on several things in parallel. I’m currently in the process of finishing up two novellas, in the same vein as Picture This. I have a couple of full length novels I’m writing and I’ve outlined two paranormal series I’d love to really get into before the end of the year.

10. Finally, where can we find you online and where can we run out and pick up your work?

Book buy link - http://www.jasminejade.com/p-8437-picture-this.aspx

You can find me around the web:

Web – www.kailyhart.com

Blog - http://kailyhart.blogspot.com/

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/kaily.hart

Twitter - http://twitter.com/kailyhart


Kaily, thank you for letting us get to know you and I wish you MUCH success with your books!

Thanks Miranda!

An introduction in three parts...

At present, I am the steward of three very separate and distinct monikers. (See: Personalities)

The first one is sadly the least developed of the three as I spend the least amount of time actualizing her, mostly becuase I didn't get to pick her name. (which has been omitted to protect the innocent) She's pretty uninteresting. She wastes her time at a secure 9-5 government job, puts her Darling Husband through college, step-monsters' 3 children, and does veritable shit loads of laundry. She eats emotionally, over salts everything, and is constantly trying to drop that extra 20 pounds. Let's leave her to the professionals, shall we?

The second is Arjuna. She's a Tribal Fusion Bellydance Diva. She dances with the Desert Gypsy Dance Company in the Troupe "Gypsy Melody." She teaches locally on Wednesday nights. She enjoys her roll as performing monkey and gets to play dress up twice a week! When she's feeling frisky, she takes over the host body while doing dishes and performs for the reflective window in front of the sink. Sometimes, dishes takes Arjuna 2 hours instead of 40 minutes.

Then, there's Miranda... Miranda has lurked in existence for more years than I'd like to admit. She had quite the active childhood, first in the form of a coping mechanism and imaginary friend manufacturer, later, as a manipulation technician, and finally as the enthusiastic creator of fantastical plot lines. Her creativity knows no bounds and she'll never run out of stories to write. After many many initiated manuscripts and a 17 chapter handicap, she's found the stories she was destined to write. This blog is her creation, and though her alter-egos may make an appearance once in a while, she wants to immerse herself in the world of writing, editing, agenting (see how I turned that into a verb?), and publishing sexy, sweet, sensual and altogether romantic novels. Also, do not fear, this is the only blog where she will be referring to herself in the third person.

So... please contact me with questions, ideas, advertisement requests, and such and please... ENJOY!