I finished Lessons in French by Laura Kinsale. I loved this story. I so admire how her heroines are so likeable and sympathetic. And I loved Hubert! It was so touching when Callie loses him, when she'd been so eager to take him to the fair and show him, when she brushes his tail and buffs his hooves. And Trev was such a sympathetic bad boy, too. A fun story with a neat little twist at the end.

I then moved on to Kate Pearce's Simply Insatiable. I've loved all Kate's other "Simply" stories. She's so good at the wounded hero and I was really looking forward to seeing how she handled Minshom - he was such a jerk! I wondered how she would make him sympathetic, if not likeable. But she gave him a troubled past that worked. He was still a jerk, but every time he acted like a jerk, we were inside his head and understood why. My only wee quibble is the introduction of   Thomas Wesley - he kind of shows up out of the blue and at the end Minshom mentions him and the possibility of a...er...get together... yet I never felt there was much emotion between the two of them.

Now I'm reading Erin McCarthy's latest "The Taking". Just barely into it, so more next week!

I haven't written a word in a couple of weeks. As you know from my previous blog posts, I've been busy with writing work other than writing. I've also been struggling a bit with the two stories I have in progress, going back and forth betwen them.  I sat down and made a list of other story ideas. Many of the ideas I have involve secondary characters from other stories. I've worked through a few of them, made some plans, figured out some characters but wasn't excited about any of them. And then I got some really discouraging news and on top of the struggles with the writing and a blow to the self-confidence, I decided to take a break from writing. And in fact, not just from writing but all the networking stuff, too, like Twitter and Facebook and all the loops I belong to. I didn't even blog Friday, and considered not blogging today. Feeling like a big failure, I just need to get away from it for a while, I think. Take some pressure off myself. Really, I don't know why I push so hard when the publishing inndustry moves so slowly. I have three submissions out, with my agent and two with editors, so I can't send out anything else to them and I have ten completed mansuscripts waiting to go (though at this point I'm pretty sure they're all a bunch of crap). 

I can't say I've been happy spending the last week not writing. In fact, I've felt pretty down. On the other hand this is a good time to take a break. There are lots of other things to do to spend my time:

1. read a book

2. work out

3. have a bubble bath

4. gardening and planting flowers

5. read a book

6. go for a massage

7. watch TV (hockey playoffs!)

8. mani/pedi

9. clean toilets

10. bake cookies

11. go for a run
12. read a book

13. shopping

Lessons in French by Laura Kinsale.

If it's that hard to make myself do it....maybe I shouldn't be.

Lat week I wrote about all the research I'd done and how I'd gotten back into the "Ponzi" story. Well, I came up with the most Amazing Idea for the plot to link all the books in this planned series together and did even more research. I thought it was brilliant. Until Friday when I looked at it and thought "This is so stupid."

Sigh.

Maybe it will still work. I don't know. But since it had now been a week since I'd gone back through that story, I had to review it again to get my head back into it and I wrote about 20 pages on it and today I'm procrastinating so much going back to it, I'm thinking it it's just not that much fun to write, I'm not going to do it. Writing is fun for me - or it should be. If I had a contract and a deadline maybe I'd feel different and I'd push on with this, but for now, it's going on the back burner (again!).

I feel like working on something fresh and I have a few ideas kicking around and maybe I'll start one of them. Something fun and easy...

Because it's NHL playoff season, I'm sharing another little snippet from my hockey story, Breakaway, not yet published (but stay tuned for news):


“Would you like to go get some dinner?” Jace blurted out.


Remi stared at him.

“Dinner?”

“Yeah.” He lifted a shoulder. “You know. In a restaurant.” Oh, Jesus, he might as well just disappear and never come back. What a moron. Like she’d ever want to go out again with someone like him.

“Why?”

“Uh...why not?” He tried his smile, the one that usually worked with women. Not this time.

“I thought we were just having one night of fun,” she said.

“Yeah. Well. We could have two nights of fun.”





Remi’s tummy did a little flip.

“I don’t think so,” she said breaking eye contact and picking up the folder she planned to take home. “I’m not really made for fun. Apparently. After what happened the last time.” Add to that the fact that he’d said he was going to call her when he clearly had no intention of ever doing that, having dinner with him would be a big mistake.

He laughed. “I told you. That was funny. Maybe not at that moment. I think it’s nice that your friend cares that much about you.”

And it also showed how out of character it was for her to do something like that, but she didn’t want to point that out to Mr. Fun.

“Come on, Remi.” His voice was deep and velvety soft. “Come play again.”

The suggestive words and the silky tone of his voice made her shiver, made her nipples tingle, made her insides clench.

He reached out and stroked a hand down her bare forearm, lingering at her wrist, his thumb stroking over her pulse there.

“Let’s go out.”

“When?”

“Right now. Tonight.”

“I can’t go out on a school night!”

He laughed. “Why not? It’s just dinner.”

Why not indeed? Remi nibbled her bottom lip. No Jasmine or Kyle waiting at home for her to cook dinner. She had papers to mark but that could wait till later. What was wrong with a dinner out? Other than this guy was the hottest guy on the planet and was dangerous like dynamite. And about as resistible as chocolate.

“Just fun?” she asked.

He nodded. “Just fun.”

“Why not?” she murmured.

“We could go to Inferno,” he said. “The food’s incredible there.”

It was the hottest, most expensive restaurant in Chicago. She looked down at her black pants and teal blue turtleneck sweater.

“I’m not really dressed for that,” she murmured. “Neither are you.”

“True.” He shrugged. “How about pizza?”

She smiled at him. “That sounds great.”

They dropped her car off at home and he took her to Mama Sophia’s. Over deep-dish pizza and beer she quizzed him about his hockey career. “I don’t know much about hockey,” she admitted. “But I think it’s very rough.”

“It can be.” He smiled at her. “That’s the fun part.”

“Do you fight?”

He laughed. “I have been known to mix it up a bit. But not often. There was a time back when I was a junior player and I was headed to goonsville because of my size, but my coach—a great, great man—convinced me not to go that way.” He tilted his head. “You should come to a game.”

“Oh. Yeah. Maybe.”

“I’ll get you a ticket. I’ll get you two tickets and you can bring your friend…what’s her name…?”

“Delise.”

“Yeah. She didn’t seem too impressed with me the other night. I think I should make it up to her.”

“It wasn’t you she wasn’t happy with, it was me.” Remi grimaced. “She’s the one who wanted me to find a guy that night and get lucky. Then when I did, she freaked out and got all paranoid that I was leaving with a serial killer.”

Jace choked on a mouthful of beer. “Good to know she has a high opinion of me.”

Remi laughed. “She didn’t even know who you were. She would have felt that way if I was going home with the Pope.”

“Ha. Be glad it was me. You wouldn’t have gotten three orgasms with the Pope.”

Now it was her turn to choke. “I didn’t get three! We were interrupted…”

“Damn. That’s right.” His eyes went even darker. “I guess I owe you one more, then.”

Still working on Delicious by Shayla Black. Having a teensy little problem with Luc. This guy is dating a "nice girl' who he thinks is good wife and mother material, so he can have kids with her. He knows they won't be having much sex because he's not really attracted to her that way (the way he is to Alyssa, the heroine, who is a stripper) but that's okay, because she'll be a good wife and mother. WTF? WHAT ABOUT HER? Did he never think she might not want to be in a marriage with no sex? Geez, man! Why would you do that to someone?

And I finished Why Men Love Bitches by Sherry Argov (confession: it's overdue at the library but I couldn't renew it because someone else wants it, so I kept it). I wish I'd read this book when I was 19 and needed it. There are some things in the book that made me cringe and some things I was nodding wholeheartedly to. Be prepared for a number of provocative blog posts about this book!

Another week of very little writing. I have to get over the idea that if I'm not actually writing, I'm not accomplishing anything. There's so much more to this "writing thing" than I anticipated when I started out.

Last week there was promo - with my Nine Naughty Novelists and with another group of authors at the Samhain Cafe, which meant about four hours of on-line promo work. That's important, right? But no actual writing got done that day!

I also did a lot of research. I've mentioned before my "Ponzi" story and how I intended it to be part of a series of stories. When I started work on it many months ago, I felt overwhelmed by trying to plan out a whole series and I let go of the "series" part of it and just focused on the Ponzi story. Which has progressed, though I got stuck, left it, went back to it, left it again. A few weeks ago the library books I'd been waiting for to use as research came available, and that got me started again. And then somewhere out of the blue, the idea for the overall plot that would connect the series came to me! And I got deeper and deeper into more on-line research.

I have to say here - I love research. When I was in university, I loved doing research for papers, reading, making notes, learning. And research is even more fun for a book because it's research into things that interest me. I can see the danger of getting too involved in research and never writing!

I still haven't figured everything out - but I also know that I don't have to have every little thing figured out to be able to start writing, because ideas come to me as I write and often the characters figure things out for me.

Yesterday I finally got back to the story. Started at the beginning, using some of the new information I have, to change some details here and there. I added a scene that I now know has to be there, to set up what happens later. And I think I'm ready to move forward with this story. Because even though I now have the series figured out, I still have to write that first story!

Another sneak peek at a completed manuscript that I haven't submitted anywhere (yes, I have a few of them!). This one is titled Power Exchange:

Jesus fucking Christ.


Cole stared across the main room at Le Château. That could not be Carina Lockhart leaning against the bar over there, so fucking hot in a shiny black dress that looked like it had been laminated to her curves, and heels that could seriously injure a man. Her honey-blonde hair had been scraped up into a tight, high pony tail. Her eyes were wide, her lips parted as she met his gaze.

Oh yeah, that was her.

Busted, sweetheart. Cole’s pulse leaped and he couldn’t restrain the smile curving his lips. Carina Lockhart, secret Dominatrix.

Huh? That wasn’t the impression he’d gotten of her earlier. Sure, she was strong. Intelligent. Confident. Bossy. But that something he’d seen in her eyes, the way she’d softened when he held her hand, made him question her domination. Somehow it didn’t ring true.

He crossed the room toward her as if drawn by a magnet. No way was he going to do her any favors by pretending not to recognize her or disappearing. He was going to have his fun with this, and the anticipation of it sizzled through his veins.

Like arousal.

He stopped in front of her, stared down at her, not saying a word.

“Hi,” she finally said weakly.

“Well. Carina. Imagine my surprise seeing you here.”

She swallowed but lifted her chin. “Likewise.”

He looked her over, up, down, then raised his gaze back to her face. “Very nice.”

She pressed her lips together. No thanks for the compliment. He wanted to laugh. “I had no idea you were into the lifestyle.”

“I’m not.”

“Ah.” He lifted a brow. “Just...exploring?”

“No. Well.” She sucked her top lip in briefly. “I’m uh...checking this place out.”

“Ah. Finding yourself.”

“I’m not finding myself! I know exactly who I am.” Irritation tightened her voice.

He nodded. “Of course.”

“Don’t patronize me! What the hell are you doing here? If my grandpa knew...”

He lifted a brow. “Does he know you’re here?”

She blinked. “No.”

“Then we’re on even ground,” he murmured.

She closed her eyes briefly. He could almost hear the curse words he was sure she wanted to spit out. “I guess we are,” she finally said.

“So.” He trailed a finger over her bare shoulder and down the satiny skin of her arm. “Top or bottom?”

She gritted her teeth. “Top.”

“Of course.”

“You?”

“Top. Always.”

“Of course.” She echoed his words in a chilly tone.

He smiled. “You, Carina, are no top.”

Her eyes widened. “Yes, I am.”

He shook his head slowly. “I can see it in your eyes. You may think you are— you may fool others into thinking you are—but you’re not.”

“That’s ridiculous. In fact, I’m meeting two men at eleven o’clock in the red room who need to be punished. And I’m going to do it.”

“But are you going to enjoy it?”

She stared at him. “Of course I am.”

He looked at her. Said nothing. “What are you drinking?”

“Uh. Green tea and apple juice.”

“Sounds good.” He reached for her drink, took it from her and tasted it. “Yeah, it is good.” He handed it back to her.

She glared at him. He gestured to the bartender and requested another one for her and one for himself.

“So how are you going to punish these two men?”

“With this.” She held up her flogger, lifted a brow.

“Nice.” He took it from her, let the ball of the handle snuggle into his palm. Gave it a flick across his own palm. “Very nice.

He watched her breasts rise beneath the shiny PVC and the way her eyes darkened as she watched him snap the flogger. Oh, yeah.

“Nice, if a bit...amateurish,” he said.

“What!” Her lips parted.

He smiled. “This is good for a beginner. You can’t do too much damage with this.”

“I know what I’m doing!”

The bartender passed their drinks over and Cole handed one to Carina. She clenched her hands into fists and refused to take it. Oh, man. She was just asking for it.

“No thanks,” she said shortly. “Give me back my flogger.”

He lifted a brow. Waited.

“Please.”

Ah. Satisfaction. It was a small thing, but still...the anticipation of bending her to his will, of bending her body over and giving her what she really wanted sizzled through him. Jesus.

Lucky me, I've already read this book which was out yesterday with Ellora's Cave,  because Nara is my critique partner! This is such a unique and great story! Here's an excerpt from Dungeon Gourmet :


With all the elements of her meditation in place, Sarai lay back. He’d outdone himself when he planned this particular torment. She should have followed her first instinct and never opened the auto-respond email from Bond.
A silver moon barely softened the room’s indigo shadows. Outside crickets chirped, and katydids rapped in time. They seemed to say Mas-ter-Bond, Mas-ter-Bond, repeating like monks chanting. Deeper in the forest a night bird added its voice, Lick-her-well, Lick-her-well.

Sarai tried to put her mind outside in the night, but the collar at her neck, the cuffs at her wrists and ankles, bound her mind inside her body, locked her into Bond’s world.

Velcro bonds. She could unfasten them when she chose. She could toss them aside and sleep without them if she wanted to. Her rules, he said. Make it as real as you need. They might as well be chains. They might as well be manacles welded in place.

Her hands had put them in place. At least they looked like her slender fingers. A scar marked the thumb that pressed fuzzy patch into looped square—a thin white line cut by a glass broken doing dishes. Her scar. His hands. They were as much Bond’s as if he pulled them on over his own hands like gloves. His will controlled them.

His fingers fastened the padded collar. His voice spoke to her, the way it had in email, the tone as thick and sensual as one of his French sauces, as clear as if his lips were against her ear.

“You dream à deux tonight. Feel me as a duet. I could make you believe I am two. Make you know it. This you don’t understand. But you know this truth. It makes you simmer inside, this thing you pretend not to want. Feel that evidence, how much you don’t want. Feel it there, hot between your thighs. You get so wet, my pet. You get wet just from the sound of my voice.”

Fever turned crisp, clean sheets to a rumpled, sweaty tangle as Bond’s words made themselves felt. Cotton slid over her skin with every twitch and turn, relentless lover’s hands. Sweat slicked her body.

“Feel both Bonds. The one who knows your body and the one who knows the secrets you hide from yourself.”

Did she have secrets she didn’t know?

“I want you stripped bare, a naked slave to passion, bound and vulnerable to her Master’s probing. He will probe with four hands and two sets of teeth to tug and tease your secrets to your lips.”

“I don’t want that,” she said out loud. “I don’t need two. One should be enough. One is enough.” The words hung hollow in the air. They felt like a lie.

A voice she didn’t know whispered in her mind. It would be nice to try, like a taste test. Two tongues. Twenty fingers. Twenty sticky fingers.
She turned toward the clock. Twenty minutes. She’d been bound twenty minutes. The night stretched like a journey in front of her. She would be lost before morning. Her mind would be the first to go missing. Maybe she’d lost it before tonight.

She wanted at least one Bond—a real, touchable one—to walk through her bedroom door and spread her like a meal on white linen. She wanted him to probe her. She wanted to watch him lick his fingers, suck at each one like her taste was a rare delicacy to be savored. And she didn’t care about being at his mercy, or being bound by his desires. She wanted him to sink his teeth into her.

I finished Just Right by Erin Nicholas. Great story! I really enjoyed Ben's journey. And Jess turned out to be more fun than I thought she was at the beginning of the story!

On the weekend I had lots of time to read while driving to Fargo, and I finished Paradise Rules by Beth Kery. Beth is becoming a favorite author! This story was hot, hot, hot. And the setting (Hawaii) just made me so much want to be there! Lots of nekkidness in the tropical sun. Very sexy.

Now I'm reading Delicious by Shayla Black (or is it Shelley Bradley)? Same person, different name, can't remember "whose" book this is! But I'm enjoying it!

Also still reading Why Men Love Bitches.

Once again a week without much work on the actual Work In Progress. I heard back from my critique partner about the changes I made to Power Struggle. She thought they worked and had a few more suggestions for tweaks, which were totally bang on, so I worked on those, edited and polished, printed and highlighted with many coloured markers a la Margie Lawson and then sent it off to one of my editors! That's always scary. Then my husband and I went away for the weekend and that meant no writing at all. Today at lunch time I finally got back to it, but after a week away from it, I had to read back to get back into it and get back into the characters' heads.

Once again I'm having that "this is crap, no one will ever want to read this" feeling. But since I've had that with pretty much every book I've ever written except maybe one, I'm getting used to it. Getting to expect it at some point in the process. And I'll just keep going.

From my completed novel, not yet submitted anywhere, tentatively titled "Shameless":
Warning: Adult content!!

Dag couldn’t believe they were doing this. What the fuck had happened tonight?

He studied Chris, wanting to know what was going on in his friend’s head. Yeah, they’d shared girls before, but never someone one of them had actually had a real relationship with. And much as he wanted to do it, for so very many reasons, he didn’t want Chris and Kassidy to jeopardize their relationship for…this.

But Kassidy’s eyes were hazy and full of lust, her body practically quivering with need. Her mouth tempted him, Christ, he had to have it, taste it.

And he’d get to be with Chris while he was doing it.

Complex emotions rose and fell in him, fragments of thoughts spun away from him even as he tried to marshal them together into coherency. But his balls were on fire, his dick so hard it hurt, and all those hormones pounding through him were destroying his ability to resist temptation.

He moved toward Kassidy, standing next to Chris, and Chris moved too so they stood like they had on the dance floor, him behind her, the sweet curve of her ass pressing into him, Chris in front of her. Dag started at her shoulders, dragged his hands over slender bones down the soft skin of her arms, onto her hips. His fingers dug into the warm resilience of her flesh beneath the silky dress. She’d let the hem drop so her ass was covered once again, but he’d seen the sweetness that was under there and wanted to touch it.

She let out a moan as the two men pressed her between them, and he smelled her hair – a soft scent that was sweet and sexy, a mix of vanilla and amber.

“So hot,” he whispered. “Aren’t you, Kassidy?”

Another whimper escaped her mouth. He nudged her hair aside to find the warm side of her neck, inhaled again her scent and opened his mouth on her skin. He sucked lightly, dragged his tongue over her. So sweet.

“Ah, sweetheart.” Chris drew her arms up and over his shoulders. “I love you for this. So much. Come on. Let’s go in the bedroom.”

He kissed her mouth and then stepped back. The three of them moved together down the short hall and into the bedroom, where Chris had nailed her up against the door earlier. Jesus. Dag’s cock twitched. And now here he was in there with them.

I finished Nora Roberts' Black Hills in exactly 7 days and got it back to the library with no ovedue fines. It was a great typical Nora story.

And I finished Black Jack by Lora Leigh. Likewise, a great Lora Leigh story.

Now I'm reading Just Right by Erin Nicholas. I really like Erin's writing - and I'm hoping Jessica gets the stick out of her butt soon, she's no fun at all! I know there's more to that, though...will keep reading.

And in the non-fiction department, I also read Betrayal: The Life and Lies of Bernie Madoff by Andrew Kirtzman, and am just starting to look at Why Men Love Bitches by Sherry Argov.

Things were moving along nicely with the Celtic story and then a few things interrupted my progress. But these are all part of the writing process, too.

First, a few books I'd put on hold at the library became available - two of them are about Bernie Madoff, who ran a huge Ponzi scheme. I wanted to read these as research for my Ponzi story. When I read a book that's really helpful I make lots of notes, so I started doing that.

Then, another interruption. My critique partner emailed me back with her thoughts about the story I'd sent her to look at - the one I've titled Power Struggle. I truly value her feedback and suggestions on my writing, she has made so many of my stories better. And of course it would be nice if she said she loved the story and I shouldn't change a thing. But that's not what she said. She made a number of very good points, including something I'd been concerned about myself and a couple of things I hadn't thought about. So it was back to Power Struggle and my Celtic story got put on hold again.

Rewriting parts of a story can be hard or it can be easy. This one was a bit of both. Some parts I looked at didn't have to be changed much because they were in the hero's point of view and what was going on in his head didn't really change. What I needed to change was what he was showing on the outstide, so scenes from the heroine's point of view had to change. I had to try to get really deep inside his head and change how he acted. Then of course, a change in one place sometimes means things need to change throughout the rest of the story.

And then another interruption. I got the ARC of Lost and Found, my next Samhain release, to review for any final edits. Once again, all part of the process. I love this story, but after months writing it, revising it, editing and polishing it, then going through multiple edits with my editor and the Final Line Editor, I'm quite sick of it. I'm reading it, looking for any last little typos or missing punctuation we all might have missed, but I'm hardly even seeing it. I have caught a couple of things though, and tedious as this is, I do want the final product to be as perfect as it possibly can. Only about 7 weeks until release!

So most of this past week I was rewriting that story, doing some research, and doing final edits, and I didn't make much progress on my WIP. But that's okay, it's all part of the process. I sent my revised story back to my critique partner and maybe today I'll finish this ARC, do a bit more research done and get back to my WIP.

Here's a teeny excerpt from my upcoming Samhain release, Lost and Found:

Nate watched Derek embrace his wife and kiss her, and shifted in the armchair. He’d almost been hoping she’d still be pissed at Derek. He deserved it. He should have been home with his wife.

For some reason, Nate was annoyed at his friend. He’d hurt Krissa. And then he didn’t even come home for dinner. Again.

Hell, it was none of his business. If Krissa was okay, he shouldn’t be worked up about it anymore either.

Krissa snuggled into Derek’s side, closer, and Derek put both arms around her. One hand stroked her hip and she rested her cheek on his chest, her hand on his shoulder. Then Derek slid his hand to the back of her thigh and lifted her knee across his lap. With a sigh, Krissa’s hand moved to Derek’s neck and she tipped her head back to look at his face.

“I’m sorry, babe,” he whispered. Nate could barely hear him. He wanted to look away from the increasing intimacy of their pose, but couldn’t. From behind his dark glasses, he knew they couldn’t really tell if he was looking at them or not. He faced the television screen but could see them.

Derek bent his head and kissed Krissa again, and Nate watched her mouth open beneath Derek’s. Nate’s groin tightened, heavy and full. The kiss deepened, Krissa’s hand on Derek’s cheek, his hand on her ass. As they kissed, mouths shifting, he could see tongues touching and licking, heard soft breaths and soft, wet suckling noises.

Someone groaned—he wasn’t sure if it was Krissa or Derek—and Nate’s cock swelled. Jesus. Had they forgotten he was there?

His cock throbbed beneath the fly of his jeans, and he altered his position in the chair again. He swallowed, but still couldn’t drag his eyes off the vignette of the couple making out in front of him.

Their mouths parted, wet and shiny, and they looked at each other. Krissa blinked, caressed her husband’s face. Derek nuzzled her neck, kissed her throat.

Krissa’s eyes drifted to Nate and widened. “Oh.” She pushed at Derek. “Derek. Stop.”

“Mmm.” He licked her throat and she quivered.

“Stop, Derek. Nate’s here.”

“S’okay,” he murmured. “He likes to watch. Dontcha, Nate?”

Derek lifted his head and sent a wicked smile Nate’s way.

Nate’s skin burned and tingled all over and his cock pulsed. He wanted to touch himself. He wanted to see more. He wanted Derek to touch Krissa. Hell, Nate wanted to touch Krissa.

He swallowed a groan but didn’t answer Derek, who had returned to kissing and sucking the soft flesh of Krissa’s neck and shoulder. Her head fell back.

“Derek…” her voice trailed off.

Touch her. Nate could see her breasts swelling beneath her thin T-shirt, begging to be touched. Christ, if Derek didn’t do it soon, he was going to.

Derek did it. His hand slid up over Krissa’s flat stomach under the T-shirt, and cupped her breast.

Nate was going to explode.

Krissa gave a soft moan that sounded like the word “no” but if it was, Derek ignored her, caressed her breast, the T-shirt riding high and exposing her smooth tummy.

Fuck. Nate was either going to whip his dick out and jerk off right there in front of them, or he was going to burst. Gritting his teeth, he rose to his feet and almost staggered out of the room.

“I’ll give you two some privacy,” he muttered, and headed to his room.

He tore off the sunglasses, not bothering with the light in his room, and fell onto the bed, hands fumbling at his zipper. He shoved his jeans open and down, pulled out his aching cock and fisted it. He groaned into the soft darkness, the pull of his hand gratifying, relieving. He slid his other hand under his T-shirt, rubbed his chest as he thrust into his fist. Then he lowered his hand to cup his balls, squeezed, and pumped into his hand only a few times before he came, white hot streams of semen spurting onto his belly.

He lay there panting, staring at the ceiling.

Derek was only half right. Nate did like to watch. But Derek liked to watch, too.

Young Artists For Haiti, featuring more than 50 Canadian singers, join K’naan to perform a rendition of his song ‘Wavin’ Flag’, with the intention of inspiring people to continue contributing to Canadian charities for their work to help Haiti following the country’s 7.0 earthquake in January. Proceeds to the song, released March 12th, are going to Free the Children, War Child Canada and World Vision Canada.

How many of these artists do you recognize?

Nelly Furtado, Sam Roberts, Avril Lavigne, Pierre Bouvier of Simple Plan, Tyler Connolly of Theory of a Deadman, Kardinal Offishall, Jully Black, Lights, Deryck Whibley of Sum 41, Serena Ryder, Jacob Hoggard of Hedley, Emily Haines, Hawksley Workman, Drake, Chin Injeti, Ima, Pierre Lapointe, Elisapie Isaac, Esthero, Corb Lund, Fefe Dobson, Nikki Yanofsky, Matt Mays, Justin Nozuka and Justin Bieber.

I had to put Black Jack on hold because when I went to the library on Saturday I scored an Express Bestseller (7 day loan only, no renewal, BIG overdue fines)  - Black Hills by Nora Roberts. So I dropped everything to read that. It's really good despite the head hopping (we know you don't care Nora, and you can do whatever you want) but what's really strange  is, it's a hardcover book. Man, it's heavy! And twice I've lost my page!  I'm so used to my Sony.

Also in between Nora and writing, I'm  reading some non fiction  as research:  Too Good to Be True: The Rise and Fall of Bernie Madoff, by Erin Arvedlund.

Contemporary

Jenna Bayley-Burke – Compromising Positions
Jianne Carlo – A Paratrooper in A Pear Tree
Kelly Jamieson – Rigger
Opal Carew – SECRET TIES
Opal Carew – SIX
Qwillia Rain – Diablo Blanco Club: Unfair Advantage


Historical

Emma Wildes – Can’t Say No
Debra Glass – Bad Kitty
Debra Glass – Bought and Paid For
Francesca Hawley – Seeking Truth
Kate Pearce – Simply Wicked


Futuristic /Sci Fi/Fantasy

Allyson James – Calder
Anna Leigh Keaton* – Once Upon a Time… Midnight Hour
Anna Leigh Keaton – Woodland Magic – Fated
Jory Strong – Fallon Mates : Zoe’s Gift
Michelle Polaris – Bound Odyssey


Paranormal / Time Travel

Allyson James – Mortal Seductions
Allyson James – Mortal Temptations
Anna Leigh Keaton – Time and Again
Dana Marie Bell – Dare to Believe
Francesca Hawley – Protect and Defend
Sharon Page – Blood Deep


Novella

Anna Leigh Keaton – Inferno
Jayne Rylon – Phoenix Incantation
Liza James – Hot For Teacher
Madelynne Ellis – Pure Folly
Sherry James – Eight Seconds (Flavors of Ecstasy Anthology Vol. 3)

Wiinners will be announced at the Passionate Ink Party at RWA Nationals in July! Congratulations to all the finalists!

Well I finally got focused and decided to work on my Celtic story. This is the one I mentioned that is causing me some problems. I'd started it and got a little stuck, so I did more research. I stumbled across an amazing website about Gaelic Ireland that gave me SO many ideas, and really kick-started my creativity again. Thank goodness! I was getting worried.

So I've been writing this story and although I can't say it's been flowing out me like some other stories have, it's going. It's going. And that's okay. This is so completely different for me - it's a sort of historical story but it's not "real" history, it's my own world that I've created. So it's a combination of researching and making it historically accurate, and world building. Both of which I have never done before.

Okay that's not strictly true. When it comes to world building, the truth is I world build with every story I write. When it's a contemporary story it's easier, but I am still creating a world my characters live in. This one is a little more difficult. I'm enjoying it. It's a challenge. I'm not sure if I'm doing a good job of it or if this book will ever been seen by my readers, but I'm going to keep going. Even though it's painful and slow.

I considered (for about two seconds) giving you a sneak peek of my work in progress. I quickly shut down that train of thought. This story is so different for me, I don't want to embarrass myself. I will embarrass myself with a few select critiquers/readers only. Not the whole world (as if the whole world reads my blog LOL!).

So anyhoo...here's a little peek at a novel that is with one of my editors right now - Breakaway:

Remi hurried down the school hall, past empty classrooms, and into the gym. The kids were actually being pretty good, sitting on the bleachers and filling the room with a dull roar punctuated with the occasional scream of high-pitched laughter.


“Change in plans,” she said to her fellow teacher Paula Vaughan. “We have hockey players coming instead of basketball players.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Okay, everyone, listening!” She paused and waited for the noise to subside, holding a hand in the air. “We’re running a bit late, so please be patient. Jemar Fast isn’t going to be with us after all.” Big groans of disappointment greeted that statement. “But someone else is coming in his place.”

“Who is it, Ms. Buchanan?”

“Yeah, who is it?”

Dammit, she didn’t even know who it was. “Three players from the Chicago Wolves are coming today.”

Cheers echoed in the gym. Huh. Guess the kids knew hockey.

“They should be here shortly to get us started. Has everyone got their book picked out that they want to read first?”

Another burst of cheering erupted and she grinned. She loved it when kids were into books and reading. Some of her students were already avid readers, but others, like Justin and Ryan, struggled with it.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jennifer entering the auditorium with a group of men. Relieved, she prepared to turn the microphone over to the principal to introduce their new “stars” and get things started. If they didn’t get going soon, the kids would be beyond control.

Remi went to stand with some other teachers at the side of the gym and watched Jennifer lead the three men to the front where the sound system was set up. Big guys, all three of them…Remi’s eyes widened and she straightened. She blinked and focused on the back of one of the men. It looked like…no. She shook her head. Then he turned.

Jace.

Her face went hot, her body got chilled and she fell back against the concrete block gym wall.

He said something to Jennifer and they both laughed. His gorgeous smile flashed. Today he was dressed casually in jeans and a Wolves T-shirt that hugged his broad chest and shoulders. The other two men with him…yes, she was sure they’d been with him that night at Rouge…also wore the same T-shirts.

Hockey players.

Well, didn’t he just look like a hockey player? Big and tough, with a crooked nose. Except he had beautiful perfect white teeth—didn’t most hockey players lose their teeth by getting hit with a puck or something?

She licked her lips.

Jennifer spoke into the microphone to get the kids’ attention and get the rally underway but Remi barely heard a word she said, until she introduced “Jace Heller!” and the kids all screamed and clapped.

Dear God, he was famous.

And she hadn’t even known who he was.

No wonder he dated a model. She leaned her head back against the wall and covered her eyes with one hand. She’d slept with him. Her. Remi Buchanan, grade six teacher at Abraham Lincoln Middle School. A wave of heat swept over her at the memory of his touch, his mouth on hers, his body inside hers.

Her one wild attempt at being fun and spontaneous and sexy had ended with the police at her door. She chewed on her lower lip. That could have been very bad for Jace. Oh, God.

Jace had taken over the microphone and was getting the kids all worked up into a frenzy over reading books. She focused on him and what he was saying, clamping down on the resurgent lust.

“So you guys can ask us all questions now if you like,” Jace said. “Who’s got a question?”

Hands shot up and little bodies bounced excitedly on the bleachers. Remi smiled.

“What’s your favorite book?” a student asked Jace.

“I have a lot of favorites,” Jace replied. “But I really love Tom Sawyer.”

A murmur of agreement rippled through.

His hockey buddies shared their favorites, too.

“What’s your favorite video game?”

Jace tipped his head to think. “Tough one,” he said. “Right now I like Hosuko.”

More cheers. The kids were eating it up.

“How many of you play sports?” Jace asked. Again hands reached for the sky and kids jumped up and down. “Wow! That’s great! Any hockey players?”

More hands.

“Any girl hockey players?”

Remi laughed and shook her head, but sure enough, several girls jumped up and waved.

The rally continued and then the three athletes stationed themselves at the doors of the auditorium along with the teachers to hand out buttons and score sheets and gift bags with free books to the kids as they filed out.

Remi went over to talk to Jennifer, who was all smiles. “That went great!” she said. “Those hockey players were fantastic with the kids!”

“Yes. They were.”

“Come on. I’ll introduce you. You’ll be working with them over the next few weeks.”

Remi nodded, sucking her bottom lip as she followed Jennifer toward Jace. Her heart picked up speed and her head went just a little light as she neared him, tummy tight and fluttery. She’d given him her number but he hadn’t called.

Yet. It was only Wednesday.

Maybe he had no intention of calling her.

Maybe he was going to be horribly embarrassed to see her.

Maybe he was going to regret that he’d volunteered to work on this program.

Remi pressed a hand to her stomach and stopped with Jennifer. Jace was bumping fists with a boy—Remi’s student Ryan—who’d stopped to talk to him. She’d never seen Ryan so focused.

Then Jace straightened to his full imposing height and turned and his gaze landed on her.

She felt it like a touch.

His eyes widened and then a slow smile spread across his face.

She liked that smile.

She gave him a tremulous smile back.

“Remi, this is Jace Heller, Dominic Griffin and Matthieu Lalonde. Gentlemen, I’d like you to meet Remi Buchanan. She’s a grade six teacher here at Lincoln and she’s the one who was instrumental in bringing the kick off rally to our school this year.”

Jace’s smile disappeared, replaced by a glower.