Samhain Publishing Ltd. Weblog

Bound by Steel in Print!

When I created Lianon, the female hero of my first book, Crossing Swords, I knew I’d be spending more time with her. She’s one of my favourite characters ever, and according to many readers and a few reviewers, she’s what made that book for them, too. But Lianon is something of an anomaly in the genre. She’s the anti-romance heroine.

The Lady in Pursuit...

…except she’s no lady.

I’m speaking of Viera, the heroine of Healer’s Touch, my second Samhain release, out this month in print! She’s a whore with a heart of gold and a libido equal to any jaded rake, and she wants what she wants.

What she wants is Aru, a 1200 year-old fallen Darjhan, a social pariah who employs her sexual energy to perform miracles of healing for his patients. She’s been working for him for months, and despite his pledge to remain true to the wife he’ll never see again, she’s determined to have him.

But Aru is more stubborn than she’d anticipated, and Viera finds herself recruiting her new friend and confidante, Inella, to help her show Aru everything he’s been denying himself. As the three descend ever deeper into a maelstrom of eroticism and repressed desire, Aru finds his carefully crafted emotional armor cracking under the strain.

What ensues is a battle of sexual attrition, where Viera’s every volley leaves Aru weakened and desperate, his only options total retreat or full-on engagement. And Viera isn’t the type to admit defeat. She wants what she wants, and she’ll do whatever is necessary to get her man.

In honor if Healer’s Touch’s print release, I’m holding a contest at my blog. Simply caption the cover with the most sexually suggestive double entendre you can think of, and leave it in the comments, and you could win a signed copy.

Jump over the broomstick for a steamy excerpt of Healer’s Touch.

Crossing Swords, Available in Print!

I have a confession to make. I’m a traitor.

I’ve been an epublished author for ten months now, and I couldn’t be more thrilled with the experience. I’ve had the opportunity to work with a great company, a wonderful, editor and a whole team of friendly, devoted professionals who have all contributed to making my books the best they can be. I’ve managed to find lots of enthusiastic readers, a few honest to goodness fans (gulp), and some amazing bloggers, authors and reviewers who’ve become online friends. Along the way, I’ve become an advocate for ebooks, expounding at every opportunity upon their environmental benefits, as well as the many advantages of the format for publishers, authors and readers. I’m not just an ebook author—I’m also a rabid and nearly exclusive ebook reader, as well. When someone recommends a book to me nowadays, my first question is always, “Is it available in e?”

So why am I a traitor?

Gimme some sexual healing...

We’ve all read them. You know the romances I’m talking about: sweet, spunky, hymen-packing ingénue enchants jaded, too-handsome, oversexed rake. Was a time when I gobbled those things up like popcorn, couldn’t get enough.

But when I began to write my own stories, somehow the plucky virgin heroines were nowhere to be found. In their place was an eclectic assemblage of hired killers, slaves, mercenaries, thieves and whores. And the heroes populating my little universe, though frequently too handsome for their own good, were often unseasoned, even naïve, and not always so experienced with the bed stuff.

My beloved healer, Aru, embodies these qualities, and then some. Barring the novelty that is the virgin hero, Aru is possibly the least sexually experienced romance hero ever. Conversely, Viera, the woman who wants him, is a former prostitute who found much to enjoy in her old vocation, and even more to love about her new one.

You see, Aru heals by channeling the sexual energy of his patients, or—if those patients are too ill or badly injured—a willing surrogate. Viera, whose sexual energy exceeds that of any he has known, has been acting as his surrogate for months.

It isn’t hard to see that something’s gotta give, and soon. One sexually aggressive, take-charge woman + one poor sap clinging to celibacy by the atoms on the tips of his fingernails + one working relationship steeped in sex = one heck of a seduction. One thing’s certain: you can only push a 1200 year-old celibate dude so far before he finally goes all explody and someone’s bodice gets ripped.

Duck under the lintel for an excerpt!

Crossing Swords Out Today!

I’m thrilled to announce the release of my first novel, Crossing Swords, a fantasy romance with a little pepper on it!

If you’ll believe, Crossing Swords is a story nearly twenty years in the making. Back when I was a young’un of barely seventeen, I wrote a scene in a tavern involving Gil, a killer for hire, and a woman named Lianon who dressed as a boy and hired him to kill her. The two fought their duel almost to the death when Gil discovered her ruse, and then…

And then the pages sat in my file-box for almost two decades, a sad, dejected tale without a middle or an end. But the characters haunted me. I thought about them. I dreamed about them. I knew they had a story, if only I could find it. It wasn’t until I discovered the wonderful world of erotic romance that I finally knew exactly what was going to happen to Gil and Lianon. They were going to fall in love, of course!

Jump over the broomstick for blurbage and excerpt!