Samhain Publishing

Hi everyone. Imagine me poking my head from my writing cave and looking at you all with owl eyes. Happy New Year! Oh, I’m still getting used to this 2009 thing—more deadlines, going to bed later, waking up earlier. I can’t believe January is already almost over.

What I am getting excited about is my next Samhain release, 10 Days in Paradise, in print. This will be the very first book (non-anthology, that is!) that I wrote that I actually get to hold in my hands! It’s so excited! To celebrate, I’m giving away stuff every Friday over on my website, including e-copies of 10 Days in Paradise, so please come check it out!

Dawn
http://www.dawnhalliday.com

 Ah, menages. It’s easy to see why they’re so popular. The best romance novels, after all, combine a woman’s deep, dark fantasies with darn good storytelling. In the past few years, romance authors, especially ebook authors, have brought this truth to the forefront, as seen in part by the amazing, enduring popularity of menage romances. I just checked My Bookstore and More, and four romance titles in the current top ten list are menage stories or contain menage scenes. I think it actually might be a slow week for menages, though!

I love reading menages, especially those in which two (or more) men are deeply, madly in love with one woman. I also love to write them—my first published romance, Honeymoon Castaways, is a m/f/m menage and my latest, Twice the Night, is as well. And my future books—well, let’s just say I’m playing around with different variations on the classic love triangle.

So here’s a quick little tutorial on what all those m’s and f’s and slashes mean:

m/f/m —> Two men and one woman…no boy parts touching!
m/m/f —> Two men and one woman…everyone’s sharing the love.
f/f/m —> Two women and one man, and, yep, the women are enjoying one another too!
m/m/m/f —-> three men and a woman, technically all of them sharing just about everything. But then again, maybe not, since there’s no way to separate the m/m in this combination. If you’re buying a foursome (or more) story, you’ll definitely need to read the blurb to find out whether you’re going to be enjoying a little manlove.

Also, there’s a wide variation in how the happily ever afters in menage a trois (or more) romances wind up. Some, as in mine, end with all the characters involved in the menage finding a way to be together forever. Others end up like traditional romances, with the two main characters together and the third (or fourth, etc.) riding into the sunset by him-or-herself. Basically, in these types of stories, this extra partner is a catalyst for conflict in the story and ultimately either helps or hinders the couple’s happily ever after.

So let’s talk about menages.
What are your favorite menage stories?
What is your idea of the “perfect” menage?
Do you think authors/publishers are glutting the romance market with too many menages?
Where do you think erotic romance will go next? Will readers start asking for more and more partners, or will there be a swing in subgenre?

Dawn Halliday

Twice the Night, my second menage story with Samhain, releases today!

Years after witnessing her husband’s murder, Tamara O’Leary is about to be married to Cole Thompson. Finally, she can look forward to the future with the man who reopened her heart.

Until one night Duncan returns. He’s not just a beautiful dream. He’s real…and he wants her back.

Tamara loves Duncan, but she isn’t willing to abandon what she’s found with Cole. Worse, she soon learns that Duncan survived that night by turning into the very thing she fears most.

Now Tamara has a choice—retreat behind her shell of fear, or step boldly into the arms of two men who love her.

Warning: Graphic language and some violence. Explicit sex including a vampiric threesome. A one-of-a-kind wedding featuring a committed ménage a trois.

Here’s a short excerpt:

It was just…well, he didn’t begrudge Duncan what he had with her. It was just that he wanted her too.

“I—” Duncan’s voice faltered, and he looked down at his still-foaming Guinness, pushing a long-fingered hand through his black hair.

“What?” Cole asked, trying to stay cool. A part of him panicked. Though his friend never said anything, Cole had always felt he could see straight through him.

“I just wanted to say sorry, mate. I knew you had feelings for Tammy a long time ago.”

Cole felt like he’d been punched in the gut. He couldn’t speak—he just stared at Duncan, his hand wrapped around his empty bottle. God, he could really use another beer. He desperately tried to suck oxygen into his compressed lungs.

Duncan forged ahead. “You’re not comfortable with us, are you?”

Cole shook his head and spoke tightly. “No. I mean, you’re wrong. I’m comfortable.” More so with the two of them than he ever had been with anyone else.

Duncan’s eyebrows snapped together. “But you still want her. My wife.”

“Um…” Shit, shit, shit. He felt like bolting, but he wasn’t a coward. He met Duncan’s eyes.

Duncan flexed his fingers and placed his hands flat on the table, palms down. “I’ve no intention of kicking your arse about it, Cole. I’ve known for a long time.”

Twice the Night

Thanks for reading! In honor of the release of Twice the Night, I’m holding a contest at my website. I’ll see you there!

For those of us in the United States, it’s Labor Day weekend. It’s the weekend that symbolizes the start of the school year, the return of cooler days…the end of summer. For many of us, it’s our last chance to do something “summery” before the craziness of fall begins… Take off on a mini-vacation, have a barbeque or picnic, go camping or sailing, or spend a fun day at the beach or the pool…

For me it’s going to be my last trip to the beach—my kids and I go weekly during the summer, but we usually don’t have time once school starts back up. The hope is that I’ll someday live steps from the sand so that I won’t ever have to say goodbye to it…but until then, I have to say goodbye to the sounds of surf and cool sand squishing between my toes until next summer.

What summer activities will you be saying goodbye to over the weekend? Or do you keep on with your summer activities all through the year?

And (eek!) the holidays are just around the corner. I know…you didn’t want to be reminded of that, did you? LOL.

Have a great weekend, everyone!
Dawn Halliday

So I got in this huge fight with a male friend on Wednesday night. About what? The character of readers of erotic romance, of all things!

I am of the opinion that erotic romance readers read in the genre for tons of reasons…the foremost being the same as readers of any fiction—to escape for a little while into someone else’s exciting life, to live vicariously through them, to watch them grow and fall in love, and to ultimately live happily ever after with their soul mate. I’m also of the opinion that erotic romance has improved sex lives all over the world, and has probably saved more than one or two marriages.

My friend, apparently, has a very different opinion. He was listening to a radio talk show which stated that a large percentage of married women and men cheat on their spouses. He didn’t remember the exact numbers, but the percentage of women cheaters was slightly higher.

He brings up romantic fiction and theorizes that romance has something to do with this! Immediately, my hackles rise, and I ask him what on earth he thinks he’s talking about. He says, yes, it’s quite clear to him that women who read erotic romance are unhappy with their significant others and are ultimately more likely to cheat (or want to, anyway, and would, given the opportunity). GRRRR!!!

If a woman is happy in her relationship, he says, she’s less likely to read erotic romance. Women in unhappy relationships are more likely to read romance (because it’s an escape…see how my own words come back to bite me in the a**?). Using that logic, a higher percentage of women who read erotic romance have a latent desire to cheat vs. non-romance-readers.

I told him about how erotic romance was all about finding a monogamous mate (or…umm…“mates” if it’s a menage…lol) with whom to live happily ever after. They’re not about cheating. They’re about finding “the one”. He didn’t buy that argument, nor my assertion that erotic romance can actually strengthen a marriage.

So what do you think? Do you think he’s way off base, as I do? Or do you think he has a point? Respond here, and I’ll automatically enter you in a contest to win a download of my most recent Samhain release, 10 Days in Paradise
(One man, one woman, lots of sizzling sex, and a monogamous, permanent happily ever after, for what it’s worth. ). I’ll post the random winner in the comments here next Friday.

Dawn Halliday

10 Days in Paradise releases today!! Woo hoo!

This is a book that’s very close to my heart. The story came to me in the midst of a trip back to my hometown of Hilo, Hawaii. I was sitting out on the lanai, fighting off mosquitoes, listening to rain pound on the tin roof, and watching the surfers face some killer waves in the tossing sea. And I thought…wow, this way of life is SO different from the way of life of most of my professional peers back in California…

Thus Kanoe Anakalea, the quintessential local boy, and Celeste McMillan, the quintessential upper-class career woman, were born.

Here’s an itty bitty excerpt:

Kanoe came up beside her. Tears pooled in her eyes as she turned to him. “Oh my God, Kanoe. My mother is a cold-blooded, unhappy woman. She’s been that way all my life. I never recognized it before.”

A niggling, annoying little voice in her head spoke up. And you’re turning into her, Celeste.

She ground her teeth. Nonsense. She was not. She had lovers—as proof, she only had to look at the exotic naked one sitting beside her. Sighing deeply, she blinked the tears away, then pressed her cheek to Kanoe’s. His mouth sought hers, stormy and smooth like the rain in Hilo, making her forget everything besides being in Hawaii with the best kisser she’d ever known and having the time of her life.

This was perfect. Six more days like the past twenty-four hours would leave her primed, sated and ready to pursue her goal. She’d never realized how wonderfully relaxing sex and friendly companionship could be.

Her stomach growled loudly.

He chuckled, a low, masculine rumble against her mouth. “Let’s go get some breakfast. Wear your bathing suit. I’ll take you jet-skiing after.”

“Sounds like fun,” she murmured, but instead of getting up, she gazed at him. “Kanoe, those words you were using when we…made love. What did they mean?”

He hesitated. His chest rose as he took a deep breath before he spoke. “Ipo,” he said softly. “Term of endearment.” He gave her a sidelong glance. “Define it however you like: ‘sweetheart’, ‘babe’, ‘honey’, ‘lover’, whatever.”

She licked her lips.

“’Ono. Delicious. Nani. Beautiful.”

Heat flooded her cheeks. It was the second time he’d called her beautiful.

What must have been a full minute of silence passed. Celeste climbed out of bed, gloriously uncovered and un-bashful this time, and began to search her suitcase for some clothes.

Finally, still lying on the bed behind her, he gave one last definition. “Ku’u. Belonging to me. Mine.”

10 Days in Paradise

Thanks for reading! In honor of the release of 10 Days in Paradise, I’m holding a contest at my website. I’ll see you there!

Yawn. Stretch.
I’m coming out of the writing cave. ((Blinks)) My, it’s mighty bright out here!
And sunny! Hey, it’s almost spring!

Spring. My goodness. Bathing suit season is coming. Time to start my yearly diet…

I live in California, and I have three kids, which means we spend a lot of time at the beach. I love going to the beach. I hide under an umbrella and a wide-brimmed hat (unlike my kids I’m fair-skinned and burn easily) and watch people. People at the beach are really interesting to study. The fact is, most of them aren’t wearing many clothes, and their self-image shines bright and clear. There are those, even without perfect bodies, who exude confidence, and those who give off subtle messages of insecurity.

I like to write about heroines who aren’t a hundred percent comfortable in their own skins, because I think most women really aren’t. Lots of us are really good at faking it, but I think there’s some level of insecurity in a majority of us. I think it’s great to see a heroine grow out of a deep uncertainty about herself and bloom into a person who can love—and be loved—wholly. My upcoming Samhain release, 10 Days in Paradise, is about just such a woman.

In 10 Days in Paradise, the hero, Kanoe, helps to pull the heroine out of her shell, but another big part of the story is her growing connection to the setting (Big Island, Hawaii). It’s a place that strikes a chord in her soul the moment she steps off the plane.

Setting is an important part of any book, in my opinion, and can really enrich a book, make it vivid and ultimately more real. As a writer, I love writing about tropical settings in my contemporaries…mmmm…. As a reader, I love anything with a rich, compelling, believable setting, whether it’s in China or Africa, whether it’s 10,000 years into the future or about cave dwellers.

What about you? What do you think of setting? What are some of your favorite settings in books? I always love book recommendations too!

Winter has arrived, but I’m not loving it, at least not this year. This year, my winter has been all about nasty, parching wind, dry skin, the stomach flu, out-of-control deadlines and stress. (Aside: my recommendation to y’all—don’t get your house remodeled during the holidays!) I usually get completely into the holiday spirit. I decorate my house, inside and out. I go on extended, fun shopping trips with my family. I listen to Christmas music. I simply enjoy.

But…not this year. Sob! I want to enjoy it, I really do. But I have so, so much weighing me down.

I’m dreaming of a place to go, a place where I can be free of all this insane stress. My mind keeps going back to Hawaii, where my next Samhain book, 10 Days in Paradise, takes place. Balmy warmth. Sun and sand. More than that, relaxation. In Hawaii, people operate on “Hawaiian time”—which basically means everyone’s late for everything, and nobody worries about it. “Oh, you’re fifteen minutes late for our meeting? No worries, brah. It’s all good…”

Ahhhh….today, I just want to climb to the top of a palm tree and stare out over the ocean. Maybe I’m a little nutty, lol, but my life has been so intense, that just sounds so… perfect.

Where would you like to escape in the midst of all this holiday craziness?

Dawn
http://www.dawnhalliday.com

So it’s finally here. The release of my first book. It’s not the first book I wrote, but it was the first book that was accepted for publication, the first book I went through edits with, the first cover, the first release, the first review…

It’s been a wild ride, and so much fun. I can’t wait to do this over and over. I’m so glad it was with Samhain, and I’m so happy that I got to work with Sasha, who’s a fantastic editor.

It all started off with the writing…and I had an absolute blast writing this story. I hope those of you who read it have just as much fun!

Newlywed Catalina Robinson thinks it’s not possible to be more satisfied…but then she learns what it’s like to love two men.

A Midsummer Night’s Steam story

Cat has just married Dave Robinson, the man of her dreams. Their Best Man, Andreas Bailey, is flying them to their honeymoon resort in Barbados. But over the middle of the ocean, something goes horribly wrong…

Cat, Dave and Andreas find themselves stranded on an uninhabited Caribbean island. Though she’s never thought of him as more than a friend, Cat finds herself connecting to Andreas in a way she never expected and is shocked and aroused to learn that her husband feels the same way. Together, the three of them discover a heat and passion uninhibited by the conventions of society. But will they ever be rescued? And what will happen to their unusual relationship once they return home?

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic language, ménage a trois, voyeurism and skinny dipping.

I’m running a contest on my website through the end of the month. You can win a $10 gift certificate to Samhain (that’ll get you FOUR Midsummer Night’s Steam stories) as well as a bunch of other little goodies. To enter, click here.