Samhain Publishing

Jen: Today is my son’s last day of school. He’s been counting down the days for the last two months, and every day on the way to school he’s shouted loud and clear just how many days he had remaining.

For me, today comes with mixed emotions. I’ve got multiple deadlines piling up, lots of work to be done, a book due to our editor. All over summer vacation. Plus my son will be home, so I won’t have many quiet days ahead of me.

But his joy at summer vacation also reminds me of my youth, when summer was the time of so many possibilities. Where I could hang out all day at my friend’s house, go swimming, lay out and get a sunburn (I can’t pretend I ever tanned), and just relax.

Relax. It’s a nice word, isn’t it? And sometimes in the helter-skelter of adult life, I forget the meaning of that word. So for now I’m going to think back on those days when I was young, when summer meant playtime and talk time and stay-on-the-phone-all-night time.

When Lisa and I were teens, we didn’t live in the same city or go to the same school, but we didn’t let that stop us from being the best of friends. Summer was our time to hang out constantly, much to our parents’ chagrin, I’m sure, since they were the ones driving us between each other’s houses. But there was rarely a Lisa without me, or vice versa.

I remember one day of summer vacation, must be twenty years ago now, I stayed the night at Lisa’s house. Lisa’s dad worked at a place that sold spas. Right across the street from his work was a mini-golf course/arcade/waterpark. Yeah, teenage heaven. So we tagged along with Lisa’s dad to work, then spent the day golfing, riding the slides and playing games in the arcade. When we were sunburned, broke and exhausted, we crossed the street and headed back to her dad’s work…and a nice spa. Yep, we sat in the spa on the sales floor and acted like models, helping to sell spas (or so I remember thinking in my silly teenage girl mind). That day is stamped in my memory as one of those perfect summer days, where everything was perfect in my world.

Lisa: Funny you should mention one of our times when you were in my neck of the woods. Growing up in different cities was pretty annoying before we were old enough to drive—and you moved away the day BEFORE I got my license!

Anyway, one of my favorite summer memories was when we’d just literally walk around town. We’d walk miles in the hot sun just to get out. We couldn’t drive yet, so we’d walk and girl talk the whole time.

Sometimes we had a few dollars in our pockets, sometimes not. We could usually get a cup of water somewhere if we got thirsty.

However, I remember a certain occasion where we went into a take-out pizza place and asked if we could just have some water.

Cute boy behind the counter: “What kind of water do you want?”
Lisa: “Huh?” (I had no clue)
Jen (jokingly serious): “Actually, I’d like Coke water.”
We all giggled…

Until we took our large drinks outside and discovered he really did give us Coke!

But the joke was on me… I don’t drink soda. I was very thirsty that day, but definitely pleased. It was probably the very first time we’d gotten the “cute girl” discount. Oh to be a teenager again…

Jen: The good-old days. When coke magically—with a smile—could become water. Maybe we should try reliving them this summer. Or in the very least, spend some time relaxing, talking, getting away from work and stress and the daily grind.

So now that we’ve shared some of our favorite summer memories, what are some of yours? Do you have any fun plans this summer? Are you going to take time to just relax and remember what life is really all about?

Ashleigh Raine is the writing pseudonym for Jen and Lisa, two best friends since the start of time (the 1980s, to be exact). Visit our world on the web at ashleighraine.com, follow us on Twitter, Jen and Lisa or climb into our imagination and pick up a copy of Lover’s Talisman, Forsaken Talisman and Driven to Distraction, available now, here at Samhain Publishing.

It’s always exciting to have a book coming out, whether in ebook or paperback. That moment of seeing or holding the final product, knowing other people are going to read the story you put your heart and soul into, is amazing, enervating, blissful even.

Then Lisa and I (I being Jen—Lisa and I are best friends and writing partners who write together as Ashleigh Raine) started thinking about the characters. How do they feel about their story? So rather than tell you why we think you should buy Forsaken Talisman (although we hope you will) we’re going to let the characters sum up their feelings on what happened in the book. Forsaken Talisman is first and foremost a love story between Dusty and Skylar, but in Talisman Bay, each book brings new challenges and desires for all the characters.

So without further ado, here are the men and women of our Talisman Bay series, to tease you with hints of what happens to them in Forsaken Talisman in their own words.

Skylar: Dusty is a hero, a lover, a beautiful soul. And he’s mine. He found me on the edge of hell and has given me more than I ever imagined possible. Yeah, I’m one heck of a lucky girl.

Dusty: If you’re truly following your heart, no one should fault you for that. I’d follow Skylar anywhere, do anything for her, because she’s everything to me. I want to share my life, my love, everything in this world and every other world with her.

Stephan: I do everything for Mariah and our baby. Everything.

Mariah: When I fell in love with Stephan, a whole new world opened up to me. When Dusty found Skylar, my life grew even richer.

Craze: Life is not a game. I don’t intend to play it like one, but I do intend to win.

Twyla: Broken hearts are just that: broken. But I will never forget what’s most important in my life.

Marlin: I will always help friends in need, however they need helping. I will not let a friend down when she needs me.

Ana: There are some things that can’t be shared, even with your best friend.

Jake: So if I were to be serious, I’d have to say that you just gotta see what my friends go through, how they live…and mostly how they love! ::winkwink::

Hawke: I never gave up searching for her. But when I found her, I was too late.

Slade: When love is forsaken it can be found in deeper places and should be nurtured rather than shunned, no matter how it tears at your heart.

Ryan: Sometimes you have to say or do things you don’t want to to help get a friend back on track, and sometimes you get to teach a hot woman how to fight with blades. Guess which one I prefer?

Fiero: So much happens, so much changes, but one thing always remains: the tricky beauty of love.

Need more convincing? Nationally bestselling author Anya Bast gave us a great cover quote for this book, and we can’t thank her enough for it: “Forsaken Talisman is a romantic, action-packed adventure you won’t want to miss, filled with characters the reader will care about from the first paragraph. Ashleigh Raine delivers a thrilling story that will have you turning pages well into the morning hours.”

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Lisa: It’s that time of year again…to look back at the year, make an assessment of the highs, the lows and decide how to move forward into the future.

I do that every year for better or worse. However, this year, I don’t need to look back because I’m still feeling the sting of all the lows without enough highs to balance them out!

So rather than end this year on a grumpy note, I’m gonna go way back to when the decade was young. On this very day, December 30, in 2000, I met my soulmate.

Online.

Those were the days when the idea of meeting anyone worth knowing online seemed completely absurd. Now, not just online dating, but new online friendships stumbled into seemingly by accident have become a whole lot more normal. Even meeting friends of friends through social media before meeting in person. Y’know, back then, it didn’t even cross my mind to Google the guy before seeing him. Now, that’s standard procedure.

So, here I am on December 30, 2009, nearly a decade after that first meeting after 2 weeks of emails and y’know what? I’m still just as in love—if not more—than I was back then.

(Jen: What Lisa didn’t mention was she wasn’t even looking when her soulmate found her. She’d been dating around, going out, not having a lot of luck finding someone. And she didn’t even really want to. When she got the emails from her soulmate, she was adamant that she still wasn’t looking. That she only wanted to be friends. Isn’t it funny when fate has other plans?)

It was such a whirlwind. I’d come home late after work to an email that knocked my socks off. If that guy was who he claimed to be, he was perfect—the guy I’d been waiting for my entire life! I just ‘knew’ it.

But really? Well, I was sure, but I was also sure that I must’ve gone insane at some point, so I forwarded his emails and mine to Jen. She knows me better than I know myself so when she confirmed that meeting this guy in person wouldn’t be a bad thing…like not at all…like, hurry, do it now before he gets away…and don’t screw this one up!!!!…I figured perhaps maybe if the guy was willing, we could meet in a public place just in case. (Jen: When I read the emails I remember asking Lisa something along the lines of “Did you write these to yourself? It’s like reading an email from the male version of you. You’d better meet him just to find out if he’s your male doppelganger!”)

On first sight, I’d thought my ‘sense’ was wrong. He was too clean cut, I was too ragtag. But then, after we got to talking, six hours went by. Dinner happened and neither of us wanted to say goodbye.

The next night, New Year’s Eve, we had separate plans, but a few days later, we met again and agreed that we should’ve ditched our plans and been with each other. I moved in two weeks later—at his request! I didn’t know that when he said, “Stay here, with me.” He’d meant, “Move in, forever.” I had to go home and get more than a weekend’s worth of underwear!

(Jen: An don’t forget—he had to meet me and my hubby and pass our test as well. On paper—or in emails—he was clearly Lisa’s perfect match. But I needed to be able to meet him, talk with him, look him in the eyes just to make sure. It’s what BFFs do for each other, you know? Within a few minutes of Lisa and her man walking through the door of my house, I knew. Lisa’d found the man she was supposed to be with. Even my hubby was amazed at how different yet how perfect these two are for each other.)

So many people say that we should write our romance into a book, but I’d have to disagree. There was absolutely zero conflict. No social rules to follow, no raving mad inlaws, no kidnapping, no paranormal activity, no accidental time travel, no car trouble or broken- down spaceships, no nothing but us falling in love and staying together.

And in real life, isn’t that the way it should be?

Lisa and Jen have been best friends for over twenty years, and write romances—the kind chock full of juicy conflict—together as Ashleigh Raine. Learn more about them and their books at AshleighRaine.com or pick up their novels here at Samhain Publishing.

Jen: The first time I remember suffering over a fictional loss was when I was a teenager and went to see the movie Ghost. At the end of that movie when Patrick Swayze says “Ditto” and goes into the light, I sobbed so loud that other people in the theater actually laughed at me {ask Lisa about it, she was with me at the time. (Lisa: Yes, I was there…and laughing at her, too!)} Perhaps it was the teenage hormones at work, or maybe I like to suffer, but I went and saw that movie several more times in the theater—and cried every time. Recently, I caught the ending on cable…and balled all over again.

Why is tragedy and death of beloved characters in popular fiction so prevalent? Is it the shock value? Is it to showcase how life is precious? As a writer, I get why death is necessary. It creates great emotional angst, it allows us to explore the darker side of life. It can create great conflict. But still, from the other side of the table, why do we, as readers and viewers, keep coming back to shows—or rewatch movies and reread books—that rip our hearts out time and time again?

Lisa: There’s one particular character whose death killed me. Jack Dawson in Titanic. After all that he’d shared with Rose. After all they’d been through. After everything he’d done for her—much without actually trying, he was just being himself. When that guy died, I was beside myself. I mean, I identified with both Rose and Jack in that movie, so losing one and then the other was difficult. Sure, without his death and then hers, the story would’ve been much different and had a much lessened impact, but still that doesn’t take away the heart-wrench. I suppose the consolation was the beautiful reunion scene at the end for Jack and Rose…and the rest of the people who died aboard the Titanic. (Jen: After more than thirty viewings, that scene still guts me. I cry from Jack’s death all the way until they’re reunited.) Everyone happy in eternal death because they didn’t get much time in life, okay, that’s consolation enough in a movie…or at least it’ll have to do.

Jen: Anyone who knows me knows I’m a big fan of Joss Whedon, yet that man has ripped my heart out more than once. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I was completely shredded when Tara died. I screamed at the TV when she was shot and then went into a bit of a stupor. I actually wore black in mourning the day after that episode aired. I loved Tara and Willow together and when Willow got her mad and crazy on and got her revenge, I was right there cheering her on (even when she almost destroyed the world.) Joss also gutted me when Joyce, Buffy’s mom, died, and when Spike died in the series finale. At that point I knew that Spike was going to be moving over to the TV series, Angel, but even knowing his death wasn’t going to stick, I still sobbed until my eyes were swollen at his heroic passing. Joss got me again when Wash died in Serenity. I never saw it coming, and when it happened I wanted to rewind and rewatch only because I figured I must’ve seen it wrong. (Of course, being in the theater at the time, I just had to sit there with my jaw on the ground and tears burning my eyes cursing Joss again for killing one of my beloved characters.) Mr. Whedon, I’m putting you on notice. Stop ripping my heart out! You do it too well.

And while we’re talking about writers and creators who need to stop, let’s talk about the creator of Torchwood, Russell T. Davies, who I’ve decided must be one of the most evil men on the planet. For those of you who haven’t watched Torchwood: Children of Earth yet and don’t want to have it spoiled for you, stop reading now. I mean it. Stop. Because I’m going to rant and moan and gripe over each unnecessary death.

Torchwood is/was a great show. But it was good not just because of Captain Jack, but because of the entire ensemble. Yet for some reason that I can’t fathom, over the last two seasons the writers have stripped us of more than half the Torchwood group. Now, I should say that while I’ve griped over all the deaths above, in most cases they’ve served a purpose and although it’s hit me hard, I understand what the writers were accomplishing and how it bettered the story. But with Torchwood, nope, I can’t understand what’s going through the writers’ heads. First they killed Owen and Tosh. Their stories were unresolved—and will now forever remain as such. (Lisa: Yeah, complete and utter tragedy!) Can you imagine the awesomeness of their stories if they’d been allowed to carry on and explore their relationship? Yes, a definite tragedy that these possibilities were cut short. Then…then they had to go and kill Ianto. Why? Honest to God, I can’t understand what’s in their heads, and I hate to say it, because I’ve been a huge fan of Torchwood since the beginning, but I think they’ve lost me as a viewer.

So what characters from books, movies and television shows have you mourned over the years? And do you think their deaths were necessary, or were they blatantly murdered by their creators for reasons you just can’t get behind? Mourn and grieve with your obituaries in the comments, and we’ll remember them together.

And just as a bit of fun and eye candy, here’s a picture of Lisa and I with Gareth David-Lloyd, who played Ianto in Torchwood, when we met him at 2008’s Comic Con. Gareth, Ianto—and you—deserved so much better!

Jen: Lisa often works as a background actor on movies and TV shows, and I’m used to getting phone calls from her letting me know she’s not going to be available because she’s going to be playing a recovering nymphomaniac (in the movie Domino), a dead nun (in the TV show Angel), a hooker (in half a dozen different shows—does that mean she’s easily typecast? *snicker*).

Often Lisa will call me with just a title of a movie, and I’ll go into research mode and see what I can find out about it on the net. All for research purposes of course. We wouldn’t want Lisa to head blind onto a movie set and act like a dork in front of our favorite hottie flavor actor of the month (and yes she’s done that, but so have I, because yes, we’re just that not cool.)

About a year ago, Lisa called me to tell me she was working on another movie, but this time as a specialty costumer. Lisa’s a kick-ass designer—she made outfits she wore to several award shows including the Grammys, the SAG Awards, and several others. This time she wasn’t designing, but she was getting to work with leather, creating belts and straps for a costume.

I asked her what movie she was working on. She told me that the movie was DragonballZ, so I went on my merry way to IMDB.com to get the deets. And lo and stinking behold, one of our favorite actors of all time, the yummy James Marsters, was playing one of the main roles.

I squealed, and somehow Lisa interpreted my squeal to mean “OMG James Marsters is in that movie and he’s playing the role of Piccolo.” To which Lisa returned her own squee, “OMG, the costume I’m working on is for the character of Piccolo.”

We squealed and OMGed our way through that conversation, as we have many times before.

Lisa: Yeah, there I was, holding what almost became the crotch of the costume (It got redesigned and ultimately wasn’t used. Wait. That didn’t come out right. The costume had a crotch when all was said and done, just not the one I had been working on while on the phone with Jen!) and being all giddy. I mean, we’d actually met James Marsters before. He’s so awesome.

Unfortunately, I was too far down on the totem pole to do any of the costume fittings, but that’s okay because I was just glad to know the costume I was working on was for an actor I totally adore.

I spent a good three weeks doing nothing but cutting leather and vinyl strips to turn into the arm straps on his costume (see the circle in the above picture of James Marsters as Lord Piccolo). I am fairly certain I made enough straps for a BDSM convention. Movies don’t just use one suit. There’s the close-up suit, the action suit, the two multi-purpose spare suits, a couple of stunt suits…the extra straps and buckles in case any of the others fell apart. There were six straps per arm. And once I built the straps, I got to install them (hand sewing leather that thick is absolutely no fun!!!!) and then install the arm covers on the costume by hand as well.

It was a fantastic experience and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Jen: This is just one more gem that’ll probably get used in a Hollywood Heat story someday. The costumer heroine having to, um, sew the crotch on the costume being worn by the hottie hero. Yeah, we could have fun with that.

If you’re interested in seeing how Hollywood—specifically stuntmen—have inspired us before, check out Driven to Distraction, available in both ebook and paperback. And for non-fiction Hollywood experiences, check out the Tales from Hollywood page on our website.

Yes, it’s true. The redone, spit shined, hot, happy and yummy Forsaken Talisman was released last Friday. Hooray! I’m even celebrating with a hot cup of tea as I write this. (Good golly, it’s tasty, too!)

Here’s the blurb: (I’ve got more to say after it!)

Is she a victim of a madman’s agenda, or a willing player in his demonic games?

*Book two in the Talisman Bay series.

Kidnapped and mind-wiped by the Shadow Walkers’ greatest nemesis, Skylar has no memories of her own, except for her name. All she knows is what memories she does possess belong to someone else—as does her face—and that she can’t trust anyone, including herself.

Shadow Walker Dusty Clements goes against direct orders to rescue Skylar and take her into hiding. It’s the only way to get to the truth, and keep her out of the hands of an enemy who could use her to wipe out the entire organization. The last complication Dusty needs is to fall for her.

As Dusty and Skylar work to uncover the secrets of her past, they discover a mystery more than twenty years in the making, and a love they can’t deny.

The enemy has one more trick up his sleeve though—a magical kiss capable of probing the deepest secrets of the mind. All he needs to bring the Shadow Walkers down is to get his lips on Skylar one more time…

*This book was previously published but has been completely revised, rewritten, re-edited, with an addition of more than 20,000 words.

**Warning, this title contains the following: Sex in an interdimensional cave. Hot men ripping demons apart bare-handed. Liberal use of the f-word as verb, adjective, threat and sexual promise. Oh, and wet and soapy sex in the shower followed by warm bodies sliding between cool sheets—yes, sex in a bed. It’s almost normal!

You might remember this book from awhile back… Yeah, it has the same title, same world, same characters, however, we added a little bit of an old friend from Lover’s Talisman (can’t tell ya who, you’re just gonna hafta read it!), a little bit more of Jake, Marlin and Ryan and a whole lot more of the yummy goodness that is Talisman Bay.

To read excerpts, go to AshleighRaine.com.

To buy the ebook, go to Samhain Publishing. (Well, you’re kinda already there, but there’s a page just for the book and that’s where you need to be in order to buy it.)

In fact, I’m gonna go read and reminisce and get all hot and bothered and have my heart broken and mended and…and…and…generally be very happy that Forsaken Talisman is finally out for ya’ll to enjoy for real! WooHoo!

Who doesn’t like to win free stuff?

Okay, that was a rhetorical question. So let me follow it up by saying that we’re giving something away in this blog post, but you’ll need to read to the bottom of the post to see what we’re giving away and how to enter. We’re sneaky that way.

Spend some time hopping around the internet and you’ll find thousands upon thousands of contests going on at anytime. Even if you only look for contests given by authors you’re likely to find hundreds of them. Of course it makes sense. Offering a contest or other free things gets people to your website, and the hope that is, once there, readers will be interested enough to stick around for awhile, and maybe, hopefully, if they like what they see, they’ll buy your books.

Whenever we run a contest, we always try to do exciting giveaways. In the past we’ve given away movies, TV shows on DVD, lots of books, tote bags, jewelry. Right now, over on AshleighRaine.com, we’re running a big contest to celebrate the upcoming release of Forsaken Talisman (releasing from Samhain Publishing on Friday, April 3). We’re giving away lots of goodies—necklaces, a purse, some books… Check out the photos of some of the prizes:

Now this is where we need some feedback. As readers, what contest prizes do you prefer to win? Have you ever bought a book you heard about because of a contest? If you’re an author, do you throw contests, and what contest prizes do you prefer to give?

As a thank you for taking time to give us some feedback in the comments, we’ll be giving away a digital copy of Lover’s Talisman, the first book in the Talisman Bay series, to one lucky commenter on this blog post. We’ll announce the winner here in the comments on Monday, March 9—but you have to check back in to the blog to see if you win.

The stockings are empty. Beneath the Christmas tree is a stray ribbon the cats have picked as their Christmas present, and a few torn pieces of gift wrap that didn’t make it into the trashcan. The trashcans are bulging, as are the bellies of everyone in the household. Another Christmas is winding down, another year is almost over.

Now that the craziness of the holidays is behind me, this is when I sit back and reminisce with my family. While playing board and card games, we talk about our favorite memories of Christmases past, while creating new memories for the future.

When I was a kid, we celebrated Christmas Eve at my paternal grandparents house. The moment I walked in their door it felt like Christmas. Every inch of their house was decorated with Christmas scenes. My favorite was the Christmas town complete with a frozen over lake where ice skaters frolicked and played. I would sit and stare at that and imagine myself as one of the figures, forever captured in the holiday spirit.

My grandparents’ tree was so tall it touched the ceiling, and the presents didn’t fit under the tree—they spread out covering almost the entire floor in the living room. My grandma and papa had a table set up with a dozen different types of Christmas cookies on it and a box of See’s Candy. We’d snack and nibble until dinnertime, which was always a huge feast, before we all crammed into the present-packed living room, climbing over gift boxes and overstuffed stockings to find a place to sit, then we passed out presents and made lots of noise as we all opened our gifts.

My grandma and papa are gone now, but the memories are still strong. In my family we do our best to continue the traditions of a large family get together, with all the cookies and gifts and loud family exuberance. No matter what else is going on in our lives, we come together for the holidays and we celebrate the love and joy of being together. I want my son to have the same special memories of the holidays that I do.

I have one extra stop I make every year on Christmas Eve now. The cemetery where my grandparents are buried. I go and thank them for the life they helped build for me, and the unconditional love they gave me every day. Even though they’re gone, through the memories and love they gave me, they will always be a part of my holiday.

I hope everyone had a holiday full of love and family, and that the warm memories you created stay with you for all the years to come.

So many authors, so many books, so many choices. We, Lisa and Jen, who write together as Ashleigh Raine, want to help our readers out. So rather than tell you why you absolutely, no doubt about it, should buy Lover’s Talisman (coming out Tuesday, November 25 in paperback and available for instant gratification right this very minute in digital), we’re going to make your life so much easier by giving you 10 reasons why you shouldn’t buy yourself a copy.

1) Lover’s Talisman is a big book. Almost 100,000 words. A reader could lose herself in the story for hours and hours and forget to do all those necessary important things like clean house, make dinner, go grocery shopping, wash the dog, take a shower…

2) When dinner burns, you’ll find yourself wondering if a L’Fail demon is responsible for the charred remains and you’ll want to invite the Shadow Walkers over to investigate.

3) Your friends might think you’ve lost your marbles when you try to explain how a “pleasure tingle” works and how awesome it feels.

4) You may be tempted to pack up your home and family and move to Talisman Bay.

5) You could start falling in love with bad guys.

6) You may try to fight demons on your own in the hopes that Marlin or Jake or Dusty or Ryan or Stephan will come to your aid.

7) You’ll swear you’re telepathic and try to “click-in” to your best friend.

You could find yourself suffering from heat stroke in the middle of winter because bad boy Freeze is a lot hotter than his name would imply.

9) You could get hurt trying to walk through walls in the hopes of finding the Shadow Walkers’ interdimensional hideout.

10) The Shadow Walkers are so hot, you might accidentally try to cook dinner on them.

See how much we care about your welfare? We want you to be fully aware of the circumstances you could be setting yourself up for. In the interest of full disclosure, click here to read the blurb and multiple excerpts (including some naughty teases) from Lover’s Talisman. But please, be forewarned. If you choose to continue, there is no going back.

For those of you who like to live on the edge, we understand and commiserate. Join the ranks of the Shadow Walker groupies and purchase your copy of Lover’s Talisman today.

Buy Lover’s Talisman in ebook.

Buy Lover’s Talisman in paperback.

Click here to read more about Ashleigh Raine, their books, their crazy lives and enter a contest or two.