Samhain Publishing

With every new release I like to take a moment to close the office door and do a total happy dance. I’m talking Snoopy dance, Kermit flail, showing off moves no one should ever have to see. Sometimes you just have to let the excitement flow and revel in one of those truly blissful happenings. Putting a book in the hands of readers never gets old, in fact, it gets better every time.

Adding to my joy this turn around the dance floor are the great reviews For Kicks is collecting. I’ve found some amazing review quotes, and truly lovely reviewers. This may be strategic for me since reviewers tend to come to conferences and I hate to sit alone at lunch. When a reviewer takes the time to make your review special, they tend remember you and let you join their table.

I haven’t told my mother about the reviews yet. This is her favorite story of mine, so whatever success the story finds she’s going to take full credit for. And I’m okay with that.

“For Kicks is as decadent as a chocolate layer cake, as bubbly as a flute of champagne and as exhilarating as a roller-coaster ride. Bayley-Burke writes blood- pumping contemporary romance that will leave readers energized.” 4 1/2 stars, Romantic Times

“[Logan] pursued Breeze like “a Black Friday shopper” and it definitely added to the humor of this story, as did Breeze’s attempts to always turn the tables on Logan.” — Guilty Pleasures, 4 stars

“I loved this story. It was funny, witty, sweet, and sexy. I could not put this book down. Oh and did I mention the love scenes? Oh my…way to melt the panties.” – Romance Book Craze

Samhain is participating in The Romance Review's Year End Splash (YES!) Party this year.  Click over to the site and bookmark the page to return to on November 1st!

                I am CELEBRATING all this month Samhain’s release of my dark Tudor romance, The Devil’s Mistress.  It’s my first print release, dark and sexy, the story of a reluctant lady assassin who’s blackmailed to poison Anne Boleyn.  To reward myself for finishing my magnum opus, even though writing about such a dark heroine sometimes made me nervous alone in the house at night, I’m buying myself a bundle of new books. Which is the best possible reward for myself…aside from flying to Bali, and that REALLY expensive bottle of wine I consumed…that I can imagine.  The very thought of all those new books gives me a sensual shiver.  :D 

So I’d love to hear about YOUR favorite reads, or just the books you’ve read lately and enjoyed.  If you respond, you could win a print copy of The Devil’s Mistress! All your suggestions are welcome, but what I love in particular are:

1)      Dark reads.  I mentioned my assassin heroine, right?  She’s Allegra Grimaldi, an Italian perfumer and poisoner, a bastard offshoot of the Borgias.  I love reading about assassin heroes and heroines because their journey toward trust and love becomes all the more satisfying.  I like to find the fissure in that formidable armor, right up front, and see burgeoning love widen that tiny crack until the protective shell around the hero’s heart cracks wide open.  So I’m always looking for those kickass urban fantasy slayer/avenger/bodyguard heroines.  And those formidable assassin heroes give me the shivers!

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The Mercenary is my first release with Samhain Publishing – and my first solo release at that! It’s a post-apocalyptic action/adventure, with steampunk elements, and a core of GLBT romance. It’s probably a given, but I greatly enjoyed frolicking in this story’s sandbox. I was able to indulge in my passion for apocalyptic settings, steampunkish details, long-haired men and conflicted relationships – what with jealousy, stubborness, hot-headedness and of course mortal peril! I have a few more story outlines set in the Mercenary’s world – looks like I’m not ready to let go just yet! To celebrate, I’m holding a little contest at my livejournal, offering the chance to win a free copy. The winner will be announced on monday. All you have to do to be entered in the draft is leave a comment at my blog post telling me what kind of character you’d want to be in a post-apocalyptic world. Me, I’d be an odd, geeky bookman who’s in charge of some last, great library that somehow escaped the catastrophe. And I’d have an army of little rat-men to help me manage the place. What about you?

Hope you enjoy!

Cornelia

Livejournal: http://corneliagrey.livejournal.com
Blog: http://corneliagrey.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/corneliagrey

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Hi fellow Readers and Authors!

I’m excited and thrilled that today is release day for my debut book, Relic Defender: Key of Solomon with Samhain Publishing.

RELIC DEFENDER: KEY OF SOLOMON is the first book in a series surrounding the search and protection of world-altering relics. The series mixes mortals and immortals, forcing them to work together when most of the time, that’s the last thing they want to do.

To celebrate release week, I’m hosting a Virtual Book Launch party at www.relicdefender.wordpress.com from March 1 through March 6. The prizes include Samhain Publishing gift certificates, local (Oregon) chocolate, Starbucks cocoa, free downloads and a lovely angel wing necklace and earring set.

To enter, just visit my blog at the above address, make a comment each day you are interested in entering and you’ll be entered in the drawing. If you mention, in the comments on any daily blog post at www.relicdefender.wordpress.com, that you came to my blog from this post and answer this question, “What makes a shape-shifting rock happy?”, you’ll be entered in a drawing for a $20.00 Samhain gift certificate!

And while you are at the blog, check out the extra excerpts of RELIC DEFENDER: KEY OF SOLOMON, a preview of book 2, RELIC DEFENDER: THE SKULL OF DOOM, a taste of the backstory to some of the items mentioned, and even some “deleted scenes”.

Here’s my blurb on this fun story to write:

Anthropology PhD candidate Lexi Harrison never bares it all when she belly dances for a strip club crowd. She doesn’t have to—she’s that good. Every performance earns money toward her degree, and restores the sense of power that her painful childhood ripped away.

Something is different about tonight. A man whose silver gaze seems to touch her skin beneath her veils. When a rowdy customer crosses the line, he comes to her rescue with the speed of a hawk—complete with wings.

Mikos Tyomni has never seen anyone dance the raqs sharqi like Lexi. Trust his tormentor, Archangel Michael, to put him in close contact with the cause of his downfall: a mortal woman. Particularly this mortal woman. The Defender. He has only thirty days to win her trust before Hell’s deadliest demons attempt the mother of all prison breaks.

No matter how sexy the messenger is, Lexi’s career plans don’t include some crazy idea that she’s the last line of defense against the forces of evil. Until her university mentor’s murder leaves her holding the key to Hell. And fighting a losing battle against a passion forbidden by Heaven.

Warning: This title contains a dark and sexy fallen angel, bad-ass demons, a heroine with kick-assitude tossed together with mythology, archeology and a shape-shifting rock with a fondness for the gangsters of the 1920s.

 I'm so excited!!! My first ever erotic paranormal (and my first book with Samhain) The Yearning is available today.

It's a tale of passion, danger and romance!

Here's the blurb:

To break this curse, they’ll have to turn the heat up. Way up.

Jasmine Dante prowls Key West’s nightlife, fighting a losing battle against a jealous rival’s curse that forces her to seek carnal pleasure, no matter the danger. Weakened from lack of sleep, driven by insatiable lust, she spots a man who stirs her desperate craving, and begins yet another dance of seduction.

Except the dark stranger who returns her direct stare is no ordinary lover. Inside his powerful body lies a raw sexuality that just might be enough to break her curse. There’s only one way to find out: imprison him in her bed and feed on his passion.

Former U.S. Marshal Mike Stearn is many things, but he’s no woman’s sex slave. The deadly telekinetic power he ruthlessly suppresses comes alive again at Jasmine’s touch. Beneath her bold, potent sensuality he senses vulnerability and desperation. He may be in handcuffs, but she’s the one who’s enslaved.

As Mike resurrects his power to free himself so he can find the curse’s source and defeat it, Jasmine revels in his masterful rule. Her ravenous yearning evolves into rapture as she surrenders to his hunger, her darkest needs—and the emotional connection that lies beyond. Unless the curse takes her life first…

Warning: Tons of steamy sex, smoldering passion and a to-die-for love story with a hot Alpha hero who finds himself imprisoned by one sultry and desperate babe.

TO CELEBRATE THE RELEASE, I'M OFFERING A CONTEST TODAY AT NINE NAUGHTY NOVELISTS:  http://ninenaughtynovelists.blogspot.com/?zx=2aa17b4c4ebe255b

Leave a comment for your chance to win one of my backlist!!

The Yearning Buy Link: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/the-yearning-p-6248.html

‘Hold the Dark’ has been a book of firsts for me.

First novel in print. First book I ever took to a book signing. First time I watched a stranger pick up a book of mine in a bookstore (no, she didn’t buy it, but only because her cell phone rang).

And now I’m here about to give away a signed copy in my very first contest!

Winning your copy is simple. You can either solve Fermat’s Last Theorem using nothing but the letters A through L, the number 6, and a likeness of Alex Trebec, or you can be the first person to correctly answer the Markhat trivia question I’ll provide at the end of this article. I’ll also give you my email address to save you a long driving trip to Mississippi.

But first, some business. There may be people out there asking themselves ‘Who is this guy, and what does he write, and why is there a lemur on my head?’

I can’t help you with the lemur issue. But I can answer your other questions.

I am Frank Tuttle, world-famous (where ‘world’ is defined as the area comprised of my lawn and ‘famous’ means my dogs know me) author of the renowned Markhat books.

The Markhat books are fantasy. Hang on, hang on, I see a few people trying to slip out the doors. Let me ‘splain.

I love fantasy fiction. I love elves and wizards and dragons, spells and magics and swords a-flashing.

But that’s not what I write.

Poetic elves would last about ten minutes in Markhat’s world. Dragons might last a bit longer but would ultimately wind up as boots and hats. Wise old wizards who didn’t specialize in military-grade hostile magics would wind up worse.

In other words, Markhat’s world is a lot like ours.

Markhat earns his living as a finder, which is analogous to our ‘private eye.’ If you’ve lost something, or someone, you seek out Markhat’s door and the painted finder’s eye thereupon, and you put coin in his hand, and you turn him loose.

That’s when the stories start.

I like Markhat, and I like writing him. He’s never at a loss for a clever comeback. When he gets pushed, he pushes back. He doesn’t shy away from trouble if he thinks he’s in the right, and he’s looked Death in the eye and winked more than once in the course of five books.

And he’s got a softer side, too. Three-leg Cat and Mama Hog can vouch for that. He’s the kind of guy who takes in strays, who tips a little too much, who gives up his seat to little old ladies.

I think you’d like him, if you met him. I do.

So if you’re fan, here’s your chance to pick up a free signed copy! And if you’re not, well, now’s your chance to find the finder.

Here’s the question. Remember, the FIRST person to email me the correct answer to it wins the signed book. Later entries win my sympathy but sadly nothing else.

In one of the Markhat books, Mama Hog names her hometown. What is it?

Email me at franktuttle@franktuttle.com with the answer!

Hold the Dark in e-book form also available at My Bookstore and More!

Glutton for Pleasure came out in print this month and I cannot tell you how excited I am. I tried to play it cool. I tried to be calm.

I can’t do it. After all, this is my very first print book. MY FIRST PRINT BOOK!!!

Ahem. Sorry. It’s just a huge deal for me. I mean, when Glutton came out in e, I was through the roof with happiness. But there’s just something about holding your first book in your hands, stroking that lovely cover, thumbing through the pristine pages, it’s…sigh. Awesome.

To share the awesomeness, I am giving away a copy (my first autographed copy!) on my blog (http://alisharai.wordpress.com) this week. Check it out.

Thanks for listening to my squeals of joy. I hope the new decade brings you much happiness as well, and lots of time to read.

Blurb below:

They’re craving something sweet. She likes it spicy.

Devi Malik knows how to heat things up. She does it every night as head chef in her family’s Indian restaurant. Her love life, though, is stuck in the subzero freezer. Now, with a chance to fulfill a secret fantasy with her long-time crush and his brother, it’s time to put her desire on the front two burners.

For Marcus Callahan, a love-’em-and-leave-’em attitude isn’t only a necessary evil of their kink. It’s a protective device. Lately, though, his brother Jace has been making noises about craving something more.

Jace’s dissatisfaction with their lifestyle grows with every glimpse of sweet little Devi. Yet Marcus is too haunted by the pain of their shared past to give love a chance.

Despite their reputation for vanishing with the dawn, they discover one night with Devi isn’t nearly enough. And Devi finds herself falling in love with two very different men.

It’ll take more than explosive sex to light up the shadows surrounding the Callahan brothers’ secrets. But Devi’s never been afraid of the dark…

Warning: This title contains two sizzling men for the price of one, ménage a trois, oral sex, anal sex, fun toys, great food, and creative uses for syrup and dressing rooms.

Read an excerpt
Buy the book

Best,
Alisha Rai
http://www.alisharai.com
alisharai.wordpress.com
twitter.com/alisharai

As I writer I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with my job. Some of it (okay most of it) is hard. Damn hard. But thankfully the parts of writing I love more than makes up for all the days I want to light my laptop on fire and pitch it off a cliff.

So here’s a list of things I really love about about being a writer.

1. It gives me a reason to avoid hanging out in the man cave (a.k.a the garage) with my husband. I live in Eastern Canada. It gets damn cold up here in the winter. Cold enough to freeze my butt to the chair no matter how many blankets he shoves at me.

2. I get paid to make stuff up. Seriously.

3. I get to give two people a Happily Ever After, even when the hero or heroine didn’t see it coming.

4. It’s highly entertaining to watch peoples expressions change when they learn that by “writer” I didn’t mean an author of children’s books.

5. Not many other careers involve looking forward to embarrassing my sons when they’re older by whipping out my sexy book covers and reminding them their mother wrote this.

6. I get to play with witches, demons and shape-shifters whenever I want and never get hurt.

7. A deadline is damn good excuse when you want to avoid socializing with people that drive you crazy.

8. I have an excuse to by a new laptop every other year. Like it’s my fault a stupid plot hole or uncooperative character makes me slam the lid down a little too often.

9. I get to spend hours (and hours and hours) writing something that might make someone else temporarily forget about the bills that need to be paid, the crappy day they had at work, the mountain of laundry waiting to be washed, or the kids and pets overtaken by the effects of a full moon.

10. Because it’s romance and it’s all about the moment. The moment when the hero and heroine meet, whether it’s for the first time or the hundredth. The moment when a heated argument makes them realize something has irrevocably changed between them. When they’re a breath away from that shake-you-to-your-core first kiss. Or the moment when they’ve finally figured out that no matter how much of a pain in the ass the other is, they belong together, they’re meant to be.

Those are just some of the reasons I adore my job! How about you? What do you love most about your job? Post your comment and be entered to win a download of my lastest release, Primal Hunger. Contest open until midnight December 13th. Good luck!

UPDATE:

Congrats to Nicole on winning the the download of Primal Hunger!

Did you ever do something when you were young and foolish, and afterward said, “Never again!”? Well, in my new novella, Bound by Design, part of the Binding Ties anthology, my heroine, Jenn, has vowed just that. She played around with a Master/slave relationship in college and while parts of it were amazing, she gradually lost herself to the boy who called himself her Master. After she was rescued, she vowed, “Never again.”

But then she meets a man whose quiet strength and obvious dominance rocks her down to her toes. There’s something about Scott that draws her to him, that frightens and excites her at the same time. That tempts her to try a taste of that old lifestyle.

Bound by Design got a 5 cherries review from Whipped Cream Reviews! It said in part…“Natasha Moore builds a beautiful world that draws you in. This is a great flowing story with lots of wonderful characters full of love and trust this book is not to be missed. If you enjoy a story full of excitement and trust this is the book for you. I will definitely be on the lookout for more from this author. “ You can read the whole review here:
http://whippedcream2.blogspot.com/2009/09/bound-by-design-by-natasha-moore.html

To celebrate the release of the Binding Ties anthology, Jenna Ives, Skylar Kade and I are holding a month-long contest. In honor of the bondage theme of the anthology, we are giving away a beginner’s Bondage Kit, complete with blindfold and wrist and ankle cuffs! Wouldn’t that add a little excitement to your evening? All you have to do to enter is send an e-mail to bindingties-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Have you ever said, “Never again?” and then done it anyway?? Was it a mistake? Or are you glad you gave it another try????

Natasha
www.natashamoore.com