Samhain Publishing Ltd. Weblog

Finding the bright side.

I had equipment malfunction problems this weekend, and wrote a brilliant post about the Death of a Keyboard.

(Goodbye keyboard, you served me well.)

But then last night an email that showed up in my in-box that made my keyboard bit suddenly read more like whining than brilliant sarcasm.

My keyboard of 5 years is dead, but on the 1-5 scale of tragedies it rates about .001. So, no complaining today. Instead I’m going to be thankful.

I am thankful…

The Voice

One of my favorite poems starts off –

There is a voice inside of you
That whispers all day long,
“I feel this is right for me,
I know that this is wrong.”

Shel Silverstein made it sound so simple. But what do you do when the voice inside you starts speaking in tongues?

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

Enjoying Summer

Last time I was here at the Samhain blog, I was worried about surviving Spring Break.

The weather wasn’t cooperating with any of my plans, and by the end of the “holiday” I was exhausted and dreading the end of the school year. I was also questioning if I could possibly make it through summer without losing my mind.

Then a wonderful thing happened. So wonderful, it bordered on miraculous.

Surviving Spring Break

We’re going on day 8 of Spring Break here. So far we’ve seen rain, lightning, and more thunder, with a special guest appearance of hail. Not quite the sunny days the kids were hoping for to enjoy their break.

I went into the break without a plan.

Holiday Hangover

I’ve got a holiday hangover. Not the “drank too much” sort – I held my end of year celebration to a modest level, and was clear headed and headache free this morning. But I think I’m ready for the regularly scheduled programming of my life to resume.

Blessed Samhain

There’s a bite of fall in the air today, a deepening promise of the winter to come and the darkest part of the cycle of days.

To the ancient Celtic people today was Samhain, the most important day of the year. A full blown celebration of the end of summer and the approaching winter, the days festival would stretch from sundown Oct 31st all through to sundown November 1st. During this time, the veil between the worlds was thought to blur, and the souls of the deceased as close as they could ever again come to the living.

Preparing for the storm

This was going to be a golden week, and end-of-summer celebration. Margaritas by the pool with my visiting sis, kids back in school. Many hours a day of silence to write in. Life back on a regular, dependable schedule.

Then my son broke his wrist at football practice. Welcome to ER waiting and orthopedic dr appointments.

Then the tropics got “interesting”. Hello, Tropical Storm Fay.

A Casual Gardener

Plump, juicy tomatoes, warm off the vine. Just the thought of them is enough to make my mouth water and my stomach growl. My haphazard, poorly planned garden this year is heavy on tomato plants, with 5 varieties (Roma, Early Girl, Best Boy, “Patio”, and Grape) taking up a large chunk of my greenscape. I’m already counting my baby fruit (27 as of this morning, ranging from pea sized to golf ball), although they’re still weeks from harvest.

I found space for a few pepper plants when I planted as well, and will have a nice variety come summer. Sweet bell in several colors, and enough hot chili peppers to keep me in salsa for months. A hanging herb garden has flourished out by the pool, where I planted several baskets of Parsley, Sage, Dill, and Thyme. (If I’d been thinking musically I would have put the Rosemary out there between the Sage and Thyme, instead of on the windowsill with the Basil. Maybe next planting season?)

Not right now.

Leonardo da Vinci. Douglas Adams. Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Isaac Asimov.

Other than an amazing talent for arts, what do these men have in common?

Go ahead and think about it for a bit. I’ll grab a drink while I wait.