Topic Tuesday - Project Difficulties

TOPIC: Lets talk about a time when you have worked really hard on a project and it not to produce as quickly as you expected. What have you done? Did the project eventually succeed?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

These are questions I've just dealt with so very apropos!  Late last year I got this idea for a trilogy, a sort of Longmire meets Sons of Anarchy and this vision was so strong that I immediately began to flush out the three books.  This is the fun part of writing when you get that excitement in the belly that lets you know this is the next project so let's find some cool names!  The first book, "Merrie's Rescue" flowed.  The second book, "True North" flowed even faster.  So I thought, eh, the third, titled "When Dove Cries" was going to be a breeze!

Not.

It was the time I had to bring all these elements that I'd scattered about in the first two books, together.  It was a mystery of sorts so I had to dot my i's and cross my t's and resolve all these little questions while still maintaining a bad ass biker gang.  Every day I would sit looking at my screen, screaming in frustration because I just couldn't put it all together.  I had it down in my mind but for some reason it wasn't flowing out of my fingers.

What to do...what to do...

I had to finish this book!  Especially because by this point the first book was already in a publisher's hand.  At any moment I could get an email from them saying they want to read the other two books so I had no choice but to finish.

So I decided to work backwards.  I went to the last chapter and wrote that out, and when that was done, I went to previous chapter I had outlined.  For some bizarre reason, this actually worked.  It took me off the area that was quagmiring me and allowed my mind to focus on the romance of the story instead of the technical who-done-its.  I always say that writing a book is like building a house.  You have to put the frame up before you can add the insides and this was a perfect example.  Once I got the framing of the story up, I was then able to take a break and then go back in with a clear mind and rework and add what needed to be added.

Saturday After Dark Presents...Paper Kisses

Ray Sostre: http://theafterdarkworld.blogspot.com
J S Morbius: http://morbiussworld.blogspot.co.uk/

This Saturday's After Dark moment has a history, and so I must share this history before I can post my very sexy scene.  Years ago, back in the stone age of technology, when I first had the concept that I wanted to write for a living, I was married.  When I told my (now ex) husband that the only thing that makes he happy is writing, he laughed.  That marriage did not last.  So when I moved to Los Angeles, California from Baltimore, Maryland (via several different states along the way) I wasn't quite sure about what type of writer I wanted to be.  I thought maybe I'd give screenwriting a go.  So I wrote three manuscripts and one of them happened to be titled "Paper Kisses".  It's my version of "what-if I went back to my hometown and started a romance with my old male best friend" <<because I really did have a male best friend named Danny>>

Rereading the screenplay I now realize how horrible it was, but I used that basic concept and wrote a short novel out of it.  In the story, the hero (Skylar) is a master at bondage and he proceeds to tie up the heroine (Alannah) every chance he can.  I wanted to think outside the box with this story, push myself a little because I'm not well versed in writing any type of BDSM, and although Sky readily admits he's not into the DSM kink, I think I've written him pretty sexy.  Let me know what you think!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“I have you in a spreader bar,” he told her, like she had a clue what that was.  “I wasn’t sure if I was going to restrain your legs but after the second slap on your ass I knew you needed more.  You are so beautiful, Alannah.  I would love to put you into more restrictive ropes, an artform called Shibari and I’ve been learning it for the past ten years.  It’s a form of erotic spiritual bondage and your limbs would be so lovely tied up.”

            More bondage?  With rope?  She didn’t know how she felt about that.  It was taking some getting used to with the cuffs and…what did he call it…a spreader bar.   But once again, all thoughts about that soon fled as his fingers spread her labia lips.  In fact, there was nothing else in her head all at except the expectation of him getting ready to lick her pussy.  All the erroneous things that usually clouded through her mind had disappeared under the heat that flooded through her body.  

He blew against her core, against the wetness that dripped out of her, and caused her hips to buck.  And then his tongue touched her, swiping a lick up her seam that ended at taking her little clit between his lips and sucking on it.  He repeated the motion, again and again, until she was nothing but sensation.  She was moaning, groaning, begging for more.  Begging for him.  She was completely mindless except for the pleasure he was raining upon her.  One of his fingers dipped into her pussy as if testing the slickness of her channel.  Oh yes!  More, more!  Two fingers now, finding her special little spot inside, the one that had her climax climbing fast.  Something powerful was building, a pressure she’d never felt before, and she didn’t know how to stop it…or even if she wanted to stop it.  She felt like she was about to explode.

            “How do you feel?” he asked her again, in between licks, and she was barely able to form a coherent word.

            “Coming,” she managed to gasp. 

            “Yes.”

 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thanks for reading!  

https://twitter.com/BethDCarter
https://www.facebook.com/bethdcarterauthor

www.bethdcarter.com

Welcome Nicola Cameron!

Please welcome the awesome and talented Nicola Cameron! 

Thanks for letting me come on your blog today! Trickster is my first M/M shifter story, and was originally intended to be a short story submission for Evernight’s Alpha’s Claim: Manlove Edition anthology. Obviously that didn’t happen, which is good because this really needed to be a longer story. For more background on the plot, let’s turn to Mark Fellowes, the human half of this pairing.

Q: Mark, you’ve never been interested in men before, AND you had no idea that shifters existed. Your life literally changed in one day -- how did you feel about that?

A: Shocked out of my gourd, to be honest. When Delaney first tried to kiss me in the office, I have to admit that my initial reaction was anger, because up until that moment we’d been having a great conversation. I was so damn happy that he seemed to be a down-to-earth manager who knew when to trust his people (unlike some micromanaging dictators I’ve worked for). When he leaned over the desk for the kiss, I felt betrayed, like he’d been playing me just to get close.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t stop thinking about him for the rest of the day. Yeah, I was pissed off at him, but underneath that was something I’d never felt before. I didn’t understand until later that it was the mating instinct -- it’s like being OCD, but in a good way that ends up with orgasms. Luckily I’m not homophobic, otherwise it might’ve taken me a lot longer to get with the program. I still like women, but Delaney -- well, to paraphrase Tony Stark, he completes me.

As for Del being a shifter, well, he had to show me before I believed it. I’m still trying to get a handle on it all, but you know what? It’s also pretty damned cool. Remember, I’m a geek -- to me, having a boyfriend who can shapeshift is like living in a real-life superhero story.

BLURB: 
Delaney Smith, coyote shifter and Trickster Technologies executive, thinks humans are bland, boring, and undateable. So he gets the shock of his life when he comes back from vacation and scents his mate in the Trickster offices — a mate who is not only male, but quite human.

Mark Fellowes is taken aback when the CTO at his new contract job makes a pass at him, and even more surprised at his temptation to respond. Straight and dating a career-minded businesswoman, he’s never even thought about kissing another man — until now.

When Mark is attacked by thieves trying to steal company files, Delaney must put aside his preconceptions to protect his mate. But will a criminal bent on destroying Trickster Tech separate them before he can stake his claim?

EXCERPT:

Delaney cleared his throat. Mark yelped and spun, bumping into the dresser next to the bed. The towel around his waist started to slip, and Delaney caught a glimpse of pale, muscled hip before he yanked the terrycloth back into place.

Panting, he glared at Delaney. “Jesus Christ, what is wrong with you?” he yelled. “Do you even know how to knock?”

“I did,” Delaney said, trying to sound innocent. “You didn’t answer so I got worried. Didn’t know you were in the shower until I came in here.” And you were coming in there.

Without his glasses, Mark’s resemblance to a furious faun was even more striking. “God. I do not need any more of this tonight,” he growled.

“This what?”

“You, sneaking around and following me everywhere.” He scowled at Delaney’s groin. “Especially with another fucking hard on.”

For some reason, that cheered the shifter. “You noticed, huh?”

“Helen Keller would have noticed it, all right? Does it ever go down?”

“Not since this morning. I can’t help it, babe. I smell you and I get wood.”

“Oh, Jesus.” Mark edged next to the bed, clutching both towels now and looking hunted. “Look, I’m tired. I just want to put on some pajamas and crash, all right? I’ve had a really bad, weird day, so how about we can talk about shapeshifters and," he waved vaguely between them, "that other thing in the morning.”

Delaney ignored the slap of disappointment and nodded. “Okay. We’ll talk later when you’re not tired.”

Although you weren’t too tired to jerk off in the shower.

Mark’s cheeks blazed to life. “You listened to me?”

Oh, shit, he can hear my thoughts already? “I didn’t mean to, but coyotes have really good hearing,” Delaney said defensively. “At least you got off. My balls are aching so much I can barely walk straight.”

“So go to your own damn bathroom and rub one out there!”

“It’s not about getting off, dammit!” Delaney yelled back, before catching himself. “Okay, it’s not just about getting off. God, I really wish you were a shifter. Then you’d understand.”

“Well, I’m not a shifter,” Mark snapped, “so you’re just going to have to explain it to the stupid human.”

“I -- Jesus.” Delaney sucked in a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down and find the right words. “Being drawn to a mate, it isn’t just physical. It’s emotional and spiritual as well.” He gestured at his groin. “Yes, I want to fuck you. That’s pretty damn obvious. I also want to know you. I want to talk to you, find out everything about you—where you grew up, what your family’s like, whether you like sports, what your favorite food is, your opinion on Steven Moffat, what you want to do with the rest of your life, all that. And I want you to get to know me, too.”

 BUY LINKS:
Evernight: http://www.evernightpublishing.com/trickster-by-nicola-cameron/
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-trickster-1420161-340.html
Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/trickster-mm
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Trickster-Nicola-Cameron-ebook/dp/B00IEKBBLU
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trickster-Nicola-Cameron-ebook/dp/B00IEKBBLU


AUTHOR BIO:

Nicola Cameron is an expatriate Chicagoan who has lived in England, Canada, Holland, and Sweden, and keeps a confusing amalgamation of languages in her head as a result. Currently located in the clavicle of Texas, she has finally mastered the proper use of "y'all," much to her Chicago family's dismay.

Despite a healthy interest in sex since puberty, it wasn't until 2012 that Nicola decided to try writing about it. As it turned out, the skills she picked up during her SF writing career transferred rather nicely to erotic romance. When not writing, she wrangles cats, smooches her husband, makes dolls of dubious and questionable identity, and thanks almighty Cthulhu that she doesn’t have to work for a major telecommunications company any more (because there’s BDSM, and then there’s just plain torture...).
    
Website /Blog: http://www.nicolacameronwrites.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nicolacameronwrites
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YesItsNicolaC
Evernight Publishing: http://www.evernightpublishing.com/nicola-cameron/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6623791.Nicola_Cameron
Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/nicola-cameron
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00AIE4RAC
All Romance EBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html?searchBy=author&qString=Nicola+Cameron

Topic Tuesday - Cultural Differences

Now, while you don't have to have traveled outside the country for this post, have you ever traveled somewhere and been struck by the differences between there and where you live or lived? What were they? Good? Bad? Why did they leave an impression on you?
 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

First of all, I want to thank everyone who visited with me during the Valentine's Day Blog Hop.  The winner was notified and her prize was emailed to her.  Starting Monday (2/17) and lasting all week, is my Love Story Book/Blog Tour.  I'm giving away all three ebooks as the grand prize so please stop by & enter!

http://girlsheartbookstours.blogspot.com/2014/02/touring-now-love-story-series-by-beth-d.html

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

NOW...to answer the Topic Tuesday....I have been fortunate to travel to many countries so I may have a lot to say on this.  I've been to New Zealand, Australia, I've lived in France, and traveled through out Europe, including a quick trip to Sweden and Finland.  My first visit to Paris was 18 days after September 11th, 2001, and it was a tense trip to say the least.  New York City still had smoke and ash billowing about and armed guards with machine guns were patrolling the airports.  Every trash can in Paris had been sealed off because of bomb scares, so litter was in the streets.  Everyone treated us with something akin to pity that first trip.  My second trip back to Paris was just a year later, and the city had rebounded.  In 2004 I lived there for four months and by then I was telling people I was Canadian, because they once again hated Americans.  It's a shame the American citizen gets a bad rep from what our politicians do and say.

I live in Los Angeles, a very diverse culture I must say.  My boyfriend works in television so there's always someone from somewhere else.  I heard someone comment once that they were very surprised we have our flag everywhere.  It's on cars, trucks, the flag is flown from private homes and many businesses.  He was very surprised at our national pride.  

I've not been abroad since 2007 but my family and I are planning a Japan trip in about three years, once my son reaches age ten. Our goal is to climb Mt. Fuji.  The one thing I have learned in my many travels is that the world is a very small place.  I think if everyone could travel they'd see that language is the only thing that divides us, really.  We all have the same features, the same tastes, the same desires. 

The Essence of Romance - Valentine's Day Gift Hop!

 http://www.skyewarren.com/hop/

Flowers.  Chocolate.  Compliments.  Jewelry.  Dedicating a song or writing a poem. Doing all the things you don’t like to do for the one person who makes your world a better place. When I was twenty, any of the above would have made my Valentine’s Day.  Now that I’m a mom, washing the sink load of dishes means more than all the tea in China. 

The essence of romance might change over the course of our lifetime, but the sentiments don’t.  I love doing something unexpected, whether it’s simply cutting out hearts from construction paper and decorating my boyfriend’s office or sending him flowers.  People often complain that Valentine’s Day is too commercial, a way for the greeting card business to have a spike in sales.  But I think it’s a day to remind us that love is just as essential to our soul for a happy life.

And I’m not just talking about the romance between two people, but about nourishing yourself.  Your own heart.  Taking the time to do your favorite hobby, or reading your favorite book, or pampering yourself to a day at the spa.  If your soul is happy, you are happy.

Thanks for joining me on this Valentine’s Day blog hop!  I would love to make someone happy with a romantic ebook so all you have to do is leave a comment & a way to contact you (I promise not to spam you, I simply don’t have time to track you down), and one winner will be drawn at random.  Winner can choose any one of my titles!  And be sure to visit the others in this wonderful hop!

I hope your Valentine’s Day is truly magical in whatever form it takes.
<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3
For future info on blog hops, book tours, & give-aways, please friend me or follow me!
 https://twitter.com/BethDCarter
https://www.facebook.com/bethdcarterauthor

Saturday After Dark...WIP "When Dove Cries"

 Ray Sostre: http://theafterdarkworld.blogspot.com
J S Morbius: http://morbiussworld.blogspot.co.uk/
Theresa Stuart : http://oneuniquewomanswords.blogspot.com
Pablo Michaels: http://www.pmmanmanromance.com

I decided to do something a little different for my Saturday After Dark moment, going with an excerpt from a WIP.  Usually, I don't like doing this because you never know when or if the story will be picked up by a publisher.  I also don’t like releasing the names of my titles before I get a contract on them because I once had a publisher change a title on me.  But, I’ve been working very hard on this story (the last book in a trilogy) and it’s near completion, so I thought I’d write a little backdoor action.

I hope you enjoy!

 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

           Cade grunted and he lifted Dove’s hips.  His cock slid almost all the way out of her but before she felt any loss, she felt Draven pushing into her ass.

            “Don’t tense up,” Draven ordered and Dove took a deep breath.  “Good.  God, Dove, you’re so tight!”

            In and in he went and the burning returned.  Dove held her breath, not sure if she was enjoying the new sensation.  But just as she thought she wanted to stop, Draven pulled out of her a little to give Cade room to push in.  They worked her like this for a minute or so, each going in little by little, letting her adjust to their double invasion.  It began to feel…amazing.  Nerves she never thought she had began to come alive, intensifying the feeling of two men sliding into her at different times, never letting her body have a break from the electrifying assault on her senses.

            “You ready, Cade?” Draven asked, his voice a little gruff. 

            “Yeah,” Cade replied, answering with an equally strained tone. 

            Before she could ask what they meant, both men pulled out of her and then surged together, burying their cocks together at the same time.  Dove gasped, unable to believe the feeling of being totally consumed.  She had thought being filled with one or the other was amazing, but this was beyond words.  Beyond anything she had imagined.  They began to fuck her in earnest, both pumping into her holes, and her juices ran as everything inside her tightened around them.  Sweat dripped off each of them, making their bodies slick as they moved against one another.  Dove felt something building, something so intense she was almost scared to reach it, but there was no stopping the pleasure Draven and Cade wrung from her body, the feeling of being consumed.  She screamed as the dam broke, flinging her off into space with a climax so hard and earth shattering that darkness covered her vision.  Dimly she heard both men finding their own release and felt their cocks pumping deep within her body.  

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++