Samhain Publishing Ltd. Weblog

Confessions of a Crier

I admit it, I am a crier. I can cry at the drop of hat at anything and anybody. This holds true for books and movies too. I always have tissues in m purse at the ready. Let me tell you some of the things I let loose the tears on…

Favorite movie to cry to is Steel Magnolias. I think I’ve seen the movie at least a dozen times and yet I still cry. If you haven’t seen it, it’s about the friendship between these southern women and Julia Roberts plays Sally Field’s daughter. I won’t give away the plot, but suffice it to say there’s one scene where Sally Field makes me cry buckets of tears.

Makes me want to pop it in the DVD now. LOL.

Okay, next, I cry when I read a really good romance. One that makes your heart twist in pain right along with the characters. I’ve had to wipe away tears and sob as the emotion leaps off the page into me.

I get very emotional when it comes to kids, too. The strangest things make me cry. One time a few years ago a high school marching band came in to do a pep rally for my company. They looked so amazing, when they marched out, I was completely overwhelmed with emotions and I burst into tears.

Boy did I feel like a dork.

Whenever I hear beautiful music or see one of my son’s concerts, my throat closes up and my eyes prick with tears.

I even get choked up watching made for tv movies.

Gah!

Anyhoo, I’m considering buying stock in Kleenex because believe you me, I am one of their best customers. ;)

Darn It, Who Cares!

My name is Lauren Dane and I write romance. What’s more is that I like to read it too.

Resolution

I tend not to make New Year’s resolutions. I rarely even try to keep them and I was raised an Italian Catholic. We do guilt well and I was sick of irritating myself by feeling guilty. Also, why do you have to wait until then? I mean, what if right now, I see what I need to do. Can’t I have a July resolution? And why can’t it be something like, live life better, or see Paris again? Of course, I am a military brat and wife, so I will admit I need some kind of event, something to keep me on track for goals, so I came up with a new outlook. Follow me after the jump to find out what it is.

Romantic Suspenses with Bite

Anybody like romantic suspenses with a bite? The Vampire…In My Dreams, the young adult vampire romantic suspense will be coming out August 26 in print and Deadly Liaisons in November, a sexy adult vampire romantic suspense.

Deadly Liaisons—
Dark huntress and rare telepath, Tezra Campbell treads a thin line between being a skilled criminal investigator for the Hunter Council and a renegade. She has an obsessive compulsion to find the vampire who murdered her parents, resulting in severe trauma to her younger sister who’d witnessed the crime a decade earlier.

Prince of the American vampire clans, Daemon, sees Tezra as a danger to herself and to his people if the serial killer vampire terminates her next. He’s also concerned his own brother might be accused of the crime, takes her into custody, and intends to find the killer himself.

Only things don’t work out the way either planned, yet both aim to win the deadly game.

Wouldn't You Like To Capture A Spy?

Available Now: To Capture A Spy by Silvia Violet

When danger lurks, is courage alone enough to save a country—and a heart?

It’s not enough Meg Wentworth has suffered kidnapping, imprisonment and torture. She kept her wits about her and escaped with her life, only to be captured by a handsome British officer—and promptly accused of spying for the French. Convincing him otherwise turns out to be easier than dealing with her next discovery: that Lucien just might be the man to help her put her life back together. If only he will let go of his rigid control long enough to let her show him they belong together.

Recovering from a near-fatal injury, British intelligence officer Lucien Archer hoped to leave the shadowy, violent world that left him scarred, body and soul. But a mysterious letter calls him back to duty, and nothing prepares him for Meg. The beautiful spy’s fiery spirit threatens to break through the shell Lucien has built around his heart.

But Meg’s kidnapper wasn’t looking for simple ransom. He’s an old enemy of Lucien’s, Le Lézard, who’s resurfaced with a single goal. To raise magical forces dark and powerful enough to destroy England. To do it, blood must flow. The blood of Lucien and Meg.

And the fire of passion that burns between them is the perfect lure to get them both where he wants them. On an altar of sacrifice.

Warning:This book contains wickedly delicious sex and words no Regency maiden should know.

Ladies! Meet Red Hot Alaskan Men

Sure the odds are good, but are the goods really odd? That’s the saying about Alaskan men. Find out in this funny, sexy romp about a woman who loves to make love happen for others, but forgets about herself.

Nothing Personal Releases in Print!

I’m so thrilled this story has released in print. It’s a fun marriage of convenience story set in Las Vegas about a millionaire and his assistant and a rather large favor he asks of her. I had so much fun writing this book, and I’m so thrilled Samhain gave me a chance to bring Faith and Ryan’s romance to the readers.

I hope you enjoy it!

It was nothing personal, just a business arrangement.

Ryan McKay is a multi-millionaire with a problem. He needs a bride to fulfill terms of his grandfather’s will. Unfortunately, the one he chose just bailed on him and he’s hours away from losing his company. Enter Faith Lewis – his shy, devoted assistant. Ryan convinces Faith to step in and marry him, assuring her their marriage is merely a business deal. Ryan is certain he can keep this strictly impersonal. After all, he’s the product of a loveless marriage and for years has sealed his own heart in an icy stone. Despite Faith’s warmth, compassion and allure, he’s convinced he’s completely immune to her charms.

Faith will do anything for her boss, but marry him? The shy virgin sees herself as plain and unattractive, a product of a bitter mother who drummed it into her head that she wasn’t worthy of a man’s love. But she agrees to help Ryan fulfill the terms of his grandfather’s will, hoping she doesn’t lose her heart to him in the process.

But love rarely listens to logic, and what follows is anything but business.

For contests, excerpts and more, visit me at my website

In Print - Serati's Flame, V.C.O.E. Book 2

Book 2 of the Vampire Council of Ethics series is now available in print. If you haven’t gotten your hands on Book 1 (Carinian’s Seeker), or this title, Serati’s Flame, you will have yet another opportunity to enjoy this series. Why? Because Hatsept Heat, V.C.O.E. Book 3 is coming next month! Wooot!

A Bit About Bondage for the Knotty Girl

Knotty Girl is now available in print as part of Samhain’s Overheated anthology! How exciting is that! I’m going to post the blurb here for those of you who might be interested but then I am going to talk about something I thoroughly enjoy, which is the general, over all theme of Knotty Girl. Bondage. Yummm!

You write what???

The other day my seven year old son walked into my office while I was updating my website. He stared at the computer screen for a few minutes, perplexed, and then asked: “Mom, who is Jess Dee?”

Turns out he’s seen the name a few times, and has no idea why it keeps popping up in my office. Now, the truth is, he has no idea who Jess Dee is. He knows me by my real name, and as Mom. So how do I explain that Jess Dee is not only his mother, but an author who writes erotic romance?

The last time I blogged here at Samhain, I mentioned that my in-laws were staying with us, and I had gone to great lengths to hide my writing persona from them. Pity I haven’t gone to such extremes to hide my other self from my children. Okay, fair enough, my seven year old has only just turned seven. His reading, while advanced for his age (of course it’s advanced, he’s my son) is still fair to poor. He is not going to be picking up a book by Jess Dee anytime soon and paging through the contents.

But…what happens when he is older, when picking up an erotic romance is not just a curious action of a young boy, but the developmentally appropriate lusting of a teenager? Yep, he’d probably prefer the lovely, shiny pictures he’d find in a magazine to a soppy romance, but heck, if it has sex in it, won’t anything do? Even a love story?

How do I then explain to him, that: “Yes darling, Mom did write that book? And yes, I did use all those naughty words. And yes,” will nod the affirmative, “I do know what sex is.”

Isn’t it a fact that parents don’t know about sex? Certainly they don’t indulge in the activity. I know my parents never did. Ever. Their four children were all quite incidental to their marriage. (Although I do still wonder sometimes how we got here.) How can I possibly explain to my son that actually, yes, parents do know about these things, and more than that, this particular parent writes about them.

What is the average adolescent boy to do? Grab as many of his mother’s books as possible and show every other adolescent boy he knows the “good bits?” Or grab as many of his mother’s books as possible — and bury them?

I’m glad I still have time to come up with a solution or two. I figure I have a good six or seven years on my hands (and please, don’t disillusion me about that. Even if it’s a fantasy, it’s my fantasy, and it keeps me calm.) But if you do have some advice, or some personal experience, I would love to hear it. Any counsel or wise words of wisdom will help.

Jess
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