Samhain Publishing Ltd. Weblog

Wicked Fantasies?

Recently the third book in my Black & White Collection (named because of the beautiful covers created by Tuesday Dube and Dawn Seewer) was released at Samhain. Rough Cut is the latest installment in a series about wicked fantasies and it touches on a BDSM relationship. In the story, author Gwen Preston is contacted by Hollywood’s hottest property, Ty Ransome. Ty’s interested in turning Gwen’s book, Evening Songs, into a movie. She agrees to write the screenplay with him and during the course of the story, they discover they share very similar, dark desires in the bedroom.

The first book in the Black & White Collection, Erotic Research, delved into role playing—the hero and heroine acting out several sexual fantasies, including a harem slave girl scene and a pirate adventure! In the second book, Tequila Truth, the three main characters decide to spend one weekend exploring a menage a trois!

My editor and I have discussed ideas for future books. Some ideas have included a cougar story, m/m/f menage and a Domme book. I thought it might be fun to make an appeal here as well.

So…what wicked fantasies do you dream about? Read about? What dark desires would you like to see explored within the pages of an erotic romance?

The Good Life

Dr. Seuss once said, “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” I hit a milestone birthday this summer and with it, I’ve made a promise to myself to slow down and enjoy life more. I’m telling you—the first 40 years are a blur and I have no intention of missing out on the next 40! Therefore, I’ve come to the decision that life is far too short to skip out on doing things I really want to do. Does this mean I’ve become irresponsible? Reckless? Not at all.

I’m spending more time with my friends and family. My daughter and I have started going to bed a bit earlier each evening. In the past, night used to be time I scurried around tidying the house. Now, rather than pick up things that somehow mysteriously reappear the next night, I’ve decided to put the time to better use. Usually, my daughter lies in my bed and we’ll talk, read, or work on our laptops side by side. It’s a nice time just for us and I look forward to it.

I’m not making any more excuses about exercising. I started to bail on my running ritual yesterday because of the stack of laundry taunting me, but my mother made the comment that I should, “Take care of myself first.” She was right (but don’t tell her!) and amazingly enough I was able to run and do the laundry!

I’ve also started going out with colleagues after work occasionally. Before I would make excuses about being too tired or too busy, but hitting a happy hour once a month is amazingly refreshing and rejuvenating. It’s a time to unwind and I’ve strengthened some work friendships through our fun conversations. Talk about a stress-reliever!

My husband and I have created a budget and after eighteen years of marriage we’re finally sticking to it. As a result, we’ve been able to pay off lots of lingering debts. Without the stress of money, our relationship is better now than it was when we were dating!

I’m trying to appreciate my life. I’m laughing more. Smiling often and taking time for me. Perhaps Ferris Bueller said it best when he said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around once in awhile, you could miss it.”

Three's Company in Print!

Jayne Rylon had a bit of trouble logging in so I’m posting this blog on her behalf.

Three’s Company is a fitting name for my first print book. In addition to being a smoking hot anthology about menage, it’s allowed me to get to know two amazing authors whose books I enjoyed long before we teamed up together. Both Jess and Lorelei have been supportive of me joining them as the newbie to Samhain.

Working with them on this project has been phenomenal so I wanted to shout out a big thank you here. I hope you all enjoy the end result, now available in print!

Three’s Company
by Lorelei James, Jess Dess and Jayne Rylon
ISBN: 978-1605043241
2009 EPPIE Winner for Best Romance Anthology

A Question of Trust by Jess Dee. Gabriel fulfills every one of Madelines sexual fantasies. Until he introduces her to his best friend Connor. Suddenly Maddie’s horizons are expending in a whole new direction that breaks all the rules.

Nice and Naughty by Jayne Rylon. Alexa limits her adrenaline rushes to boardroom negotiations-until she indulges in a high-octane encounter on the hood of her sports car. Justin is supposed to be just a refreshing summer affair, but he’s called for the kind of backup that shifts the odds in love’s favor.

Wicked Garden by Lorelei James. Billy ran out on Eden the night of prom. Now he’s back and she’s hoping a fling will finally untangle him from her past. She hadn’t counted on his wicked side-or the return of old lover Jonto appeal so strongly to her dark, hidden desires.

Learning Curves in PRINT

This month marks the release of my first book, Learning Curves, in print. To say I am thrilled would be a gross understatement. Quite frankly I’m over the moon. The decision to start writing was sort of an epiphany on my thirty-fourth birthday. I have no idea why I chose to fall apart that year, but I did.

I suppose the writer inside me had bided her time long enough and on that birthday, she demanded I release her. She’d waited patiently through pregnancies and sleepless nights with crying babies, career changes at work and my return to college to work on a master’s degree. She was finished waiting.

So, I sat down at the family computer (which at that point was in the unfinished basement of our house) and started to write. Learning Curves is actually a compilation of my first two books with Samhain, Erotic Research and Tequila Truth. Both are red hot with a sprinkling of ménage, anal play, fantasies, spanking and God knows what else thrown in!

Erotic Research
Romance writer Julia Martin tells herself her pizza “dates” with her too-hot-for-words editor Ross Philips are more than enough for her. Ross has secretly lusted after his shy best friend for years, but fears his strong sexual desires would be too much for her.

When her cat dies and her depression halts her writing, Ross suggests a change to bring her out of her doldrums—try writing erotica. And, being such a good friend and editor, he even offers to help with her research.

Tequila Truth
The rules of Tequila Truth are simple. Shots are poured, a question asked, and only absolute truth can be the answer. Kylie Halston has been playing the game with her roommates, Colt and Heath, since college.

Then an innocent question forces Kylie to reveal her hottest fantasy—a ménage a trois with two men, complete with bondage and a bit of spanking for good measure. Colt and Heath are only too willing to make Kylie’s fantasies come true. The only question is, come Monday, will their platonic relationship survive the passion?

Because of You releases today!

Today marks the release of my third Samhain book and my first foray into romantic suspense.

Sometimes what you’re looking for is closer than you think.

Jessie’s life is a mess. In the eight hellish months since her husband died in a freak accident, she’s been mugged, her house has been trashed, and now she’s receiving frightening pranks calls. She resists a friend’s offer of a weekend getaway—her grief is still too fresh to consider meeting anyone new.

Then again, since it’s a party for gay men, there won’t be any pressure, right?

ER doctor Caleb James feels perfectly at ease among his gay brother’s friends, but one look at Jessie sparks a sexual tension that’s impossible to ignore. A few drinks and a few hours of conversation later, things move a lot faster than either of them expect. Jessie is left confused and Caleb aches with regret—and love for a woman who is still guarding her heart.

Pressure is the last thing she needs. But as it becomes apparent that her string of misfortunes trace back to her husband’s death, help is what she’s going to get. Caleb’s help…ready or not.

Warning: This title contains a two adults playing doctor. But that’s okay, one of them is licensed to practice. A prescription for extra-strength Kleenex may be required.

Coming out of the closet

I’m flying tomorrow to attend my first event as an author, the Lori Foster Reader/Writer Get Together in Cincinnati, Ohio. While I’m more excited about this weekend than I can say, I’m also traveling with a fair bit of nervousness. By nature, I’m shy and the idea of appearing somewhere as my “writer” personna is intimidating to say the least. I’m most comfortable firmly ensconsced behind a computer screen, invisible to readers except for the words that I write. Yes, I’ll admit it—I live vicariously through my characters. In truth, I lead an ordinary life—a lovely one—but it’s a life where the most excitement I experience on a Friday night is watching my son play roller hockey!

In addition to my innate bashfulness, my writer’s life, up until this weekend, has been lived incongnito. My day job isn’t quite up for the revelation that I write erotic romances by night! Coming out of the closet is going to be quite a big step for me. This is the first time I will be surrounded by people who know about my secret life and while I’m thrilled at the prospect of being able to speak freely about my books, I’m also apprehensive about that as well! Until my critique partner, Rhian Cahill came for a visit a few weeks ago, I’d never said the titles of my books aloud. It took some getting used to!

Perhaps the most exciting part of this weekend is that I will have the opportunity to meet face to face some folks who’ve become very important to me this past year as I’ve embarked on my writing career. My editor, Lindsey will be at the get together as well as some very dear friends I’ve made in the samhain cafe.

So, is anyone else planning to attend this event? If so, do you mind stopping by and saying hello? I’ll be the shy author in the corner!

What else do you do?

One of the things I love about hanging out around the Samhain blog and café is that I’m in the midst of a community of readers. I’m surrounded by people with whom I have something in common. I’ve had some really great discussions about books and I’ve made some very dear friends here based on our shared love of the written word.

Anyone who knows me will tell you—I adore reading and writing. I literally live, breathe, eat books, and I think that fact is clear when you look at my chosen professions—librarian by day, writer by night. But sometimes we get so wrapped up in our conversations about books, authors, and new series that I think we fail to mention the other things we love in our lives. What else do we do? So I thought I’d go first!

• Personally, I think iTunes is the greatest software invention after Word and rarely a day goes by when I’m not listening to my music. It calms me down and relaxes me like nothing else.
• My daughter and I are addicted to American Idol. This year, she’s crazy about Adam (gimme a break) and I like Danny and Matt.
• I run two or three days a week with my sixty-four year old mother and have for years. She runs circles around me because the truth is I hate running, but I love the time spent with my mom. It’s become ‘our’ time and over the years, I’ve learned innumerable things about her.
• I’m crazy about musicals. Yep…there…I’ve said it, I’ve come clean. I’ve made many trips to NYC to see Broadway shows and the soundtrack to Les Mis has been in the CD player in my car for nearly a decade.

So I’ll throw the question out to you—what else do you do?

Playlist

I am a music fanatic. Love it. Can’t live without it. iTunes quite frankly changed my life. Seriously. I’ve downloaded every CD I’ve ever owned and now I’m able to make music mixes for every aspect of my life. I have car trip music, songs to pep me up while I’m cleaning the house, party music. You name the occasion and chances are good I’ve got a CD mixed up and ready to roll.

Lately I’ve been reading about authors who are putting their ‘playlists’ on their websites. Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series, comes to mind. Romance author, Julia Quinn has iMix links on her website. Penguin Books has even jumped on board and has playlists for some of their popular YA writers.

It got me thinking about my own writing playlist. I’ll be perfectly honest. The one time I don’t listen to music is when I’m writing. I’m a sing-along girl and it tends to interrupt the flow of my own words if I’m trying to sing someone else’s. However, music does impact and even influence my stories. Quite often if I’m suffering from writer’s block I’ll turn the music on to get my creative juices flowing again. And there are definitely certain songs that I equate to certain books. Songs that inspired a plot in my mind or helped me mold a character.

I love to listen to Cher when I’m writing about a spunky heroine because her songs make me think of strong women. Nanci Griffith’s music played a big part in a trilogy of historical novels I’ve recently written. I listened to a lot of Tom Waits while writing Erotic Research and Pat Benatar during Tequila Truth. I can’t listen to either of those artists without those stories coming to mind.

So I’m wondering…what music inspires you? Either in writing or in life? What songs would appear on your playlist?

The Sound of Silence

I find as I get older I covet the times when I am completely alone and my house is quiet. Yep, you guessed it! I’m the mother of two busy teenagers with too many friends!

It is VERY rare when my house is completely still and I have to confess the majority of my writing is done with a symphony of noises blaring in the background. A big group of teen boys (and my husband) playing Call of Duty. The television blasting out the commentary of a hockey game or the laugh-track of a sitcom. My daughter upstairs listening to her music, talking on the phone and doing IM (all at the same time)! The dishwasher running. Kids playing football in the yard.

My mother tells me I will miss these days when my children are grown up and have moved out and I know she’s right. There may even be a time when I get tired of the silence and actually long for some noise. Maybe one day I’ll actually turn the TV on rather than off!

But for right now, I truly appreciate the moments of absolute silence. As I write this, I’m sitting alone in my house and there no sound but that of my fingers tapping the keyboard and it is a beautiful, beautiful thing indeed.

Fantasies heat up the night in Tequila Truth

What is your ultimate fantasy? My second book with Samhain releases today and the name of the game (and the book) is Tequila Truth.

Three roommates have been playing the game for years on their birthdays. The premise is simple. Take a shot, ask a question and only absolute honesty will do for the answer. However, on Heath’s birthday, the game takes a turn none of the roommates could foresee. His question? What is your ultimate sex fantasy? When Kylie admits her desire for a menage a trois, her two alpha male roommates, Heath and Colt decide to make her fantasy come true.

Warning, you will need to crank up the air conditioning before reading as this title contains all the following erotic goodies: explicit sex, ménage a trois (m,f,m), anal sex, spanking, bondage, and graphic language.