Samhain Publishing Ltd. Weblog

And now for something completely different...

Sometimes its okay to just kick back and smile.

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Sensory Input and Stress

Each day we’re bombarded with things that cause us stress. While a little stress is good, constant exposure can lead to long-term health problems. If you’d like to learn a little more my Thursday Thirteen today is about stress and what it does to the body.

So how do we relieve the symptoms of stress?

As writers, we’re told to use the five senses in scenes when writing our books. The same five senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell can help us relieve stress.

Sight: soothing and uplifting images work, especially if you’re a visual person. Bring the outdoors inside in the form of plants and flowers, place personal mementos such as photos in your office and private space. Walk on the beach or through the park or botanical gardens.

Hearing: if you’re sensitive to sound and love music, auditory stimulation will work well. Listen to your favorite music, hang up some wind chimes, buy a small fountain to place in your office or private space, go for a walk and listen to all the sounds.

Touch: works well if you’re a tactile person. Wrap yourself in a blanket and relax. Pet a cat or dog. Soak in a hot bath or dress in soft or sensuous clothing that feels good next to your skin.

Taste: this is a trickier one since we don’t want to get out of control and gain weight! But slow savoring of a favorite food can help relieve stress. Drink a glass of your favorite beverage. Lick an ice cream cone. Sip a cup of hot tea or indulge in a piece of chocolate, letting it melt slowly on your tongue.

Smell: If you tend to become quiet and introspective while stressed look for an invigorating scent and if stress turns you into the Energizer Bunny go for a relaxing scent. Light a scented candle or spritz on your favorite scent. Walk in a garden and smell the flowers. Breathe in the scent of fresh coffee or bread.

Practice the above strategies and you’ll be well on the way to managing stress.

Source – How to Manage Stress

What are your favorite ways to relieve stress?

Shelley Munro loves walking, cycling, boxing on her Wii and baking cakes when she’s stressed. Her contemporary release, TEA FOR TWO is currently available for pre-order at Amazon. You can visit Shelley to learn about her writing and books at www.shelleymunro.com

Putting the fun back into writing

Writing has, for me, always been about the fun of a good story. Adding in aggressive turnips, or having a character get all sarcastic was just for my amusement, and that of the friends I used to show my work to. It’s why there are veiled references to some of my favourite TV shows in there, or how I ended up challenging my friends to find as many WWE wrestlers in the book as they could ( Ilfayne’s Bane has five. Answers on the back of a ten pound note, please). I wrote because it was fun. Getting published was just a bonus.

Samhain wine extravaganza at RWA Nationals

It’s all about the party! Samhain Publishing is thrilled to announce our plans to host an informal meet & greet at the RWA National Conference in Washington D.C. Attendees from all walks of the industry are invited to join us to mingle with favorite Samhain authors, chat with our editors, learn more about digital publishing and opportunities at Samhain, or just to drink really great wine. The event will be held Friday, July 17 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the conference hotel in Angela James’ suite. To receive the suite location, please enter your info into the widget below and it will be sent to you via text message Wednesday July 15th. Please note this is the same suite the Rogue Digital seminar will be held in so you only need to sign up for alerts on one event. (if you are reading this other than on Angela’s blog and cannot see widget, please visit there to enter your info into widget: http://nicemommy-evileditor.com/blog/?p=2506)

Please help us spread the word and reach out to RWA attendees this year in Washington D.C. See you all there!

All questions can be directed to the comments section of this post (http://nicemommy-evileditor.com/blog/?p=2506)

Flawed Release Day!

My second novella with Samhain Publishing releases today!

Flawed by Ember Case

Their passion is perfection…but treachery lurks in the shadows.

Emilia ra Elawyn, Princess of the Silverhaven Bright Elves, is shocked when she overhears her stepmother’s plans to banish her from court to the dry deserts of the barbarian horde. Emilia’s sin? Her magical stone, the source of the power to rule over her people, has not awakened. Without it she can never claim the throne.

Desperate to escape her fate, she offers herself to a visiting Shadow Elf ambassador—and his guard. Once compromised, she’s certain the barbarians will refuse her.

Rorek Northmark can’t deny the princess tempts him to distraction. It isn’t as simple as allowing himself—and his guard, Jo’el—to indulge in her luscious body. Touching her means getting tangled up in court politics, the one thing he wants to avoid. Still, her plea touches the only soft spot in his hardened heart, and he can’t bring himself to push her away.

Yet nothing is as it seems in the Bright Court, and their one night of exquisite pleasure could trap them all in a web of mortal danger…

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex (including m/m and m/f/m), naughty language, some magical sex along with sexual magic, a desperate princess and the men who love her, elves and spells and betrayal oh my! and enough heat to start small fires. Cold drink recommended.

To purchase, visit My Bookstore and More

MISS FIRECRACKER...releases today!

The second book in my Wild West Boys series, MISS FIRECRACKER, releases today!

…She’s the match, he’s the fuse…an explosive combination

One year ago Willow Gregory entered the Miss Firecracker contest on a dare—and ended up with the crown. As a working carpenter, she’s not exactly the tears-and-tiara type, and after a year of walking the straight and narrow she’s ready to cut loose.

Waking up in a sexy stranger’s bed with no memory of the havoc she wreaked the night before wasn’t quite what she had in mind. Nor was agreeing to his mandate—work for him at the tavern until she repays the damage. Or go to jail.

Blake West thinks he could possibly be the only man alive who could say no to a drunken, horny, naked beauty queen. There’s something about the former Miss Firecracker that makes him want to blow his Mr. Nice Guy persona all to hell.

It helps that Willow is ready to dive headfirst into a no-heartstrings-attached affair. Which fits in perfectly with Blake’s temporary gig managing his friend’s bar.

Every grinding kiss, every stolen touch leads to another…until a harmless little white lie becomes the detonator that could explode their chances at a happily ever after.

Warning: this light-hearted beach read features a hero hotter than the 4th of July and a feisty heroine who knows exactly how to pop his top.

To purchase, visit: My Bookstore and More

For more information on Lorelei James books, as well as excerpts, news, contests, and to see what’s up with Lorelei’s yahoo group, the James Gang, visit Lorelei James website

Frequently Asked Questions Series: Supplementary Questions

The funny thing we’ve found about having a comprehensive list of FAQs, is that there are still plenty of questions we haven’t answered.

Since we started running the FAQs series, this question has come up more than once:

“My book was previously available in an unedited form on my website/ blog/ personal discussion board OR it was previously self-published and available from Lulu or Amazon or from my website OR half of it was made available in installments at a readers’ website or on my blog so I could gauge reader interest OR I put a copy into print at Lulu but no one except my mother bought it. Does this still count as previously published?”

Award-Winning Mirage Now In Print

Wow, that’s such a great feeling to get to write “award-winning” in front of a book I’ve written. That award-winning statement is for the 2009 EPPIE Mirage won for Best Historical/Western Erotic Romance. And Mirage has received quite a bit of critical acclaim. I’m very proud to have been one of the first ePublished authors to receive a Top Pick from RT BOOKreviews. A Top Pick is pretty darn close to a contest win. It means that out of all the books the reviewer read for the month, this particular book was in their opinion, the best of the best.

TIED UP, TIED DOWN releases in print!

The 4th book in my Rough Riders series, TIED UP, TIED DOWN, released in print the beginning of this month.

Mmm. The cover is so glossy and pretty — here’s a peek at what the story is about:

TIED UP, TIED DOWN
…The strongest bonds are the ones unseen.

Businesswoman Skylar Ellison is firmly in control of her life. So getting tangled up with a sexy Wyoming cowboy—and conceiving a baby in the parking lot of a honky-tonk—wasn’t in her plan. Since it appears the daddy has taken off for greener pastures, the only thing to do is pull up her bootstraps and carry on alone.

Cattle rancher Kade McKay returns home after a year on the range, and is knocked for a loop when he learns he’s the father of a three-month-old baby girl. When Skylar refuses to marry him, Kade grits his teeth, moves in and plays house by her rules to prove he’s a man in for the long haul.

Despite Skylar’s insistence they are to remain strictly parenting partners, their old passions flare hot as a brush fire, spurring Kade to demand absolute sexual surrender from the headstrong woman. Skylar willingly submits her body to the hot-blooded cowboy but she’s leery of handing Kade the reins to her heart.

Can Kade convince Skylar the wicked sex games aren’t a temporary distraction? Or will he have to bust out the ropes to show her he wants to be tied to her…forever?

Warning: this book contains: no holes barred kinky sex scenes, wicked rope play, blunt language, and yowza! lots of hot cowboy nekkidness.

Buy it here

For more information on Lorelei James books—excerpts, contests and to join the James Gang, visit Lorelei’s website

The Final Act now in print

Three couples. Three loves. One hot story about the backstage lives of a touring theater company. Life imitates art? One can only hope…

Elena is a by-the-script actress whose co-star, Michael, has a gift for improvisation that drives her crazy. Fighting a fiery chemistry, they work to keep their on-stage romance where it belongs—on the stage. But a year-long road tour stretches before them. How long can they keep a lid on their simmering passion?

When his left-behind boyfriend, Tom, seems withdrawn on the phone, Denny questions his lover’s faithfulness. Their once-solid relationship faces its biggest test during the long separation.

Inexperienced Gretchen is thrilled to land her first professional role in the musical, Transitions, but the pressures of performing are more than she bargained for. Entranced by her wholesome sweetness, Jake, the pit guitarist, endangers the very qualities he admires by giving her a “little something” to take the edge off her nerves.

Every night for a year, they’ll play out a “happily ever after” on the stage. Before the last curtain call, will life imitate art?