News and Highlights from My Writing Week: A Title for More 2

The bulk of my writing time right now is spent on the sequel to MORE, but I’ve got a few other things going on. Here’s an update and some bits of news.

This week I…

  • Came to a decision on the title for the second More book. For now I’m going with MORE THAN MOST. This is very tentative at this time since my publisher will have to give their okay after the book is contracted. I also may need to select a new title if another book in the genre or from my publisher releases before mine. Or I may just decide another title works better once the book is finished. Although right now, I’m really digging MORE THAN MOST.
  • Took an hour off from my regular writing to type up my handwritten notes for Vargas’s story (The Haven 2), adding a few scene ideas that came to mind as I worked. All I can share at this time is: Good God, I cannot wait to write that book!
  • Did the final read-through after proofing of WHAT YOU DO TO ME: A BREATHE EPILOGUE and received official word that it will be released on April 23rd.
  • Finished reworking the plot elements that were giving me fits in MORE THAN MOST (More 2). Someone remind me never to plot out a book over two years before I write it. But all’s going well again. The boys are working through some issues, growing as individuals and a threesome. I have to say, I was worried I wouldn’t be all that into writing the sex in this book since it’s not a new relationship, but happily that’s not the case at all. The intimate moments I’ve worked on thus far are coming out very erotic and meaningful to the relationship and their story.
  • Revised the first scene in part seven of MORE THAN JUST A GOOD BOOK.

That’s where I’m at for the most part. Hope you had a fabulous week.

More Than Just a Good Book Part 6 now available

Cover-Md-MoreThanJustSerialWith my other deadlines over the past few months, this one got pushed to the back burner for longer than I’d hoped. I’m happy to share that I was finally able to set aside some time to get back to all the plans I have in store for Mark and Scott, and now part six of my free serial story is available on my website.

I’ve also written a rough draft for part seven and a few notes for part eight. I can’t wait to share the rest of Mark and Scott’s story.

If you check it out, I hope you enjoy part six. I’d love to hear what you think of this latest installment.

Snippet from MORE THAN JUST A GOOD BOOK

From the work-in-progress manuscript for MORE THAN JUST A GOOD BOOK (serial novel) part six…

Balancing the tray in one hand, Mark entered the bedroom. He nearly lost the tray’s contents onto the floor at the sight before him.

Scott lay on the bed as instructed, his hands over his head gripping the headboard. He wore the five items from the box and nothing else.

“Did I do it right?”

Those whispered words from Scott had Mark’s arousal kicking into gear. Everything else faded away.

Well almost everything. He had to take care of one last thing. He set the towel-covered tray on the nightstand. Scott glanced at the tray but said nothing.

 

Please note: Work-in-progress excerpts may not end up in the final manuscript or may be revised to something different before publication.

Friday Photo: Should I Be Scared?

Sometimes when I’m really in the zone, writing and revising and writing and revising, I can work for hours, blocking everything else out. I forget to feed myself. And my cats. Well, it appears the cats may be forming an army to get their revenge.

They are multiplying!

By the way, I’m making great progress revising the next installment of MORE THAN JUST A GOOD BOOK. After that it’ll be off to my beta readers for review. I’ll keep you posted on when it’s available on the website.

Release Date for HOW TO SAVE A LIFE

I’m thrilled to share that HOW TO SAVE A LIFE has a release date of January 15, 2013. (All release dates at my publisher are tentative until closer to the date, but I’ll let you know if anything changes.)

I’ll be working with my editor on the final edits soon and am really looking forward to reading the book again. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve had anything to do with Walter and Kevin. I’m going through withdrawal.

With all of my open projects, the rest of the year should be kind of crazy but in such a good way. Also coming up is the next installment of MORE THAN JUST A GOOD BOOK and a short Christmas story.

You can read a description and unedited excerpt for HOW TO SAVE A LIFE at my website.

Friday Photo: My Parents Came to Pride!

Last month I attended a late summer pride event. It was such a fun day with fellow authors SJ Frost, Hank Edwards, Jax Steele, and Deanna Wadsworth (who organized everything for us). One of the best parts of the day: my parents stopped by. I was so proud of them. Not only did they come by our booth, but they also walked all around the event, looking at the various booths and collecting freebies along the way.

They love me and my partner, but they’re not PFLAG people. They don’t wear rainbow gear and march in parades (they’re quiet, introverts like me). I even had to explain to mom what Pride was. So I was elated they came. They even tried to win a free book at our booth, and my mom picked up one of my CDs. I heard her whisper to my dad as she held up the CD, “This is the only way I’ll get to read her books.” Which is funny because previously she had made it sound like she had no interest in reading the “sexy stuff.”

I’m fairly certain she doesn’t get how “sexy” we’re talking about here. Uh-oh.

I’m thinking she probably put the CD in, clicked on my short story MORE THAN JUST A GOOD BOOK, got to the rimming scene, and promptly closed the laptop lid. But hey, THEY CAME TO PRIDE!!

And looky, I even have a picture to prove it.

Part 5 of More Than Just a Good Book & Another Giveaway

Part 5 of MORE THAN JUST A GOOD BOOK is now available on my website. You can read part five here or download parts 1-5 of the serial story in one PDF. Hope you enjoy reading Mark and Scott’s continuing story. I probably won’t work on the next installment until I get the last of HOW TO SAVE A LIFE sent off to a couple people for feedback. I’ll keep you posted on the progress of both.

Want to be among the first to read the next installment of MORE THAN JUST A GOOD BOOK? You can sign up for my newsletter here. I announce the link there first, along with a giveaway for free books in every issue and other exclusive content.

Also, I’m guest blogging at Jessica Freely’s blog today, talking about the importance of reading for me as a writer and giving away a PRINT copy of MORE. Stop by and leave a comment to enter. The giveaway ends on Monday, July 9th at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be contacted via email.

 

Another Preview of more from More Than Just a Good Book

Good news! I have the next installment of More Than Just a Good Book written. It’s three scenes. Just need to do some tweaks and have a couple people go over it. In the meantime, here’s another sneak peek at what’s next for Mark and Scott. And if you didn’t get a chance to check it out during the scavenger hunt, you can view a longer preview at Mary Calmes’s blog.

From Part 5, coming soon…

“What do you mean it’s been cancelled?” Mark stared at his advisor across the cramped office space and tried to process what Dr. Wolfe had just said and what it could mean.

His dissertation defense had been postponed. Indefinitely.

Dr Wolfe didn’t say anything for half a minute or so, which felt a hell of a lot longer. The man was always direct, the kind of guy who looked you in the eye and told you the truth about your work, about your potential, whether you wanted to hear it or not. He’d said on many occasions that anything other than sheer honesty only held a person back.

The hesitation wasn’t a good sign.

Finally, he spoke again. “They need to investigate an allegation before the committee will agree to meet with you.”

Can’t wait to share the rest.

Erotic Romance Scavenger Hunt & ARe eBook Bucks Giveaway

Today I’m pleased to share a special event, The Erotic Romance Scavenger Hunt, a blog hop featuring nineteen authors, a ton of exclusive material and fantastic giveaways, and an amazing grand prize for one lucky scavenger hunter.

For the event, each author is hosting exclusive content for another author in the hunt. I’ve provided an exclusive preview excerpt from part 5 of my serial novel More Than Just a Good Book so be sure to keep any eye out for that.

I’m also giving away $15 in All Romance eBooks bucks to one lucky person here on my blog. See the end of this post for more details on that.

Just joined the hunt? Click here to start from the beginning.

SCAVENGER HUNT RULES: Hidden within each post on the hunt will be a single letter that is red. Jot those letters down because they’re part of the following mystery phrase you’ll need to unscramble:

_ _ _ _ I _ _     _ _ _ _ _ _ _     _ _ R     _ _ _ _

At the bottom of each post will be a link to your next stop on the hunt. Once you’ve completed the hunt, read all the fantastic exclusive material and entered all the individual giveaways, unscramble the letters you collected to reveal the mystery phrase. When you’ve uncovered the phrase, fill out the entry form in order to qualify for the grand prize. Grand prize is open internationally. You must be 18 or older to enter.

The hunt will only be open for 72 hours so play fast! Entries sent without the correct phrase or without contact information will not be considered. All entries must be received by May 28 at noon Central Time.

On with the hunt!

Today I have the pleasure of hosting the exclusive content for author Amelia June. Amelia has her first m/m title coming out in July with Torquere Press. Congrats, Amelia! I’m so glad to have you on the blog.

Amelia June writes steamy erotic stories and novels. She favors stories that leave little to the imagination and never uses words like “flower” or “manhood”. She has been writing since the age of five when she self-published her first novel “The Scary Gost.”

Amelia lives in the desert southwest with seven–yes seven–male creatures including two children, one husband, and an array of critters. She is a student of humanity, loves eavesdropping, and prefers chocolate to just about anything.

Find out more about Amelia on her WEBSITE.

NOW FOR AMELIA’S EXCLUSIVE MATERIAL!

Hi there! I’m Amelia. Thanks to my lovely host, Sloan, for hosting me on her website. I’m excited to be a part of the scavenger hunt.

Today I want to talk about my tarot card story, Pleasure’s Power. Based on my concept of the High Priestess card, Pleasure’s Power is a naughty fairy tale. All great stories start with once upon a time, right? In this time there is a prince, Peter, who loves his kingdom but cannot obey his mother the queen. There is a priestess, Jocasta, whose faith is strong though she has private doubts about the high priestess’s ability to lead. In between them lies the Goddess, who only concerns herself with pleasure and abundance. When the unlikely lovers meet on a bright spring day, the fate of the kingdom comes to rest in their hands. Can they unite crown and temple and please the Goddess? Or will they be separated by those who seek power over pleasure?

I had a lot of fun writing this story. Peter is less of a big bad alpha male and more of a sweetheart. He’s kind, thoughtful and shy around the pretty Jocasta. When push comes to shove, though, Peter shows his mettle. I wanted to talk about a man who could be gentle and tough all at once. Jocasta is his perfect match, too. She’s a priestess of the goddess, not a fainting maiden. She needs Peter’s genial warmth just as he needs her wisdom and strength.

Here they meet for the first time:

(excerpt copyright me, please don’t steal it)

Jocasta walked into the field an hour later, arms laden with baskets for the various herbs she was gathering in the forest. She had just about given up on finding any blooming night jasmine when she spotted some on the edge of the same clearing where a man napped. “Nice,” she murmured. Her slipper-clad feet barely made a rustle in the fallen leaves. Intent on the fragrant blooms, she shouted in surprise when an animal snuffed her hair.

“Oye horse, keep your snout off me. I have no clover on my head,” she said, pushing his nose away from her with more force than she intended. The horse whickered and blew a puff of air over her face. “Good thing you’ve been eating sweet clover,” Jocasta muttered, waving her hand in front of her nose. “Now where did you—oh!”

The man apparently hadn’t heard her scream. He still slept in the same spot, soft plants flattened under his weight. Jocasta spied his royal crest and took him to be a guardsman snuck off for a mid-day nap in the midst of duty. She grinned and walked over to the lad, who was handsome and sandy-haired, his body long and lithe. The bow and broken arrow lay forgotten next to him. She took a sprig of lavender from her basket and tickled the tip of his nose. At first nothing happened until the man inhaled. He snorted, sneezed, then blinked awake. She quickly hid the flower behind her back.

“Good day, sir.” She nodded her head toward him. “I noticed you sleeping and came to have a proper look.”

The man’s brows furrowed in irritation, as if annoyed at her. She thought to speak again when the man suddenly scrambled to his feet, his gaze wide and focused on a charm at her breast. “My lady,”his voice, a breathy whisper, competed with a breeze.

As she regarded him with amusement, he dropped to one knee and bowed his head.

“Oh there’s no need for that when I stumble upon you in a field having a perfectly lovely nap. I only thought to send you back to your duties before you were noticed miss…” Her voice trailed off when her mind registered the necklace he wore and the particulars of the insignia on his chest. “Your highness,” her voice broke on a high note she disliked. “My apologies, I took you for a—well, never mind, but please rise. No need for you to bow to a lowly attendant.”

The prince raised his head and smiled at her, but didn’t rise from his knee. “My lady, I am the prince of the land, true, but your kind rule here and we all know it. Well, perhaps all but my mother. You keep the crops abundant and the game spry but plentiful.” At this he rolled his eyes, but didn’t explain about the getaway boar. “I know the full moon clasp at your breast to be a sign of elderhood within the temple, despite your young age. You must be quite powerful.”

Pride welled within her and a rush of heat filled Jocasta’s cheeks. “Still rise, you’re making me nervous down there.”
—–

You can see what happens to Peter and Jocasta in Pleasure’s Power from eXtasy Books.

I also want to brag that my first m/m title, The Ruby, will be published by Torquere Press in July! For news on my treasure hunting boys and everything else me, you can visit my blog at http://www.ameliajune.net or follow me on Twitter @ameliajune.

Thank you again for visiting, and good luck on the scavenger hunt!

Amelia

WAIT, THERE’S MORE!
SLOAN’S GIVEAWAY:

One lucky commenter will win $15 in All Romance eBooks bucks. To enter, leave a comment on this post stating you’d like to enter. My drawing closes when the scavenger hunt ends (May 28 at noon Central Time). After that, I’ll draw one random winner and will notify them via email.

Good luck!
Sloan

Ready to move on? The next stop on the Erotic Romance Scavenger Hunt is… Ava March!

 

Part 4 of More Than Just a Good Book now available

I’m pleased to announce the release of part 4 of Mark and Scott’s story, More Than Just a Good Book, which you can read free on my website.

Writing this story has been such an interesting process for me. This is the first time I’ve ever written and polished anything one section at a time before finishing the rest of the story. I have the entire book outlined, so I know the major plot points, but I often explore new ideas as I write and then go back and rework the beginning later. Overall though, I’ve been really surprised at how well this new process is working out for me. I hope you guys are enjoying it as well.

No Multiple Formats until Complete: I’m no longer posting each installation in multiple formats as that takes quite a bit of time to put together, and I figured I’ll save that work for when the full version is complete. This should help me prep new parts more quickly. I hope this isn’t an inconvenience for anyone. You can read the individual installments on my site or parts 1-4 in PDF format.

Just a note for those of you waiting to read the entire story all at once: I will be making it available as a full download in various formats when the story is complete. My best guess is that’ll be sometime next year. I have 10 parts planned, but again, that’s just a guess as things might change the more I write. I might end up cutting some chapters or adding more.

When I’m finished I may decide to publish the full story and make it available for purchase, but there’ll be some time where you can download it first, so be sure to keep an eye out here on the blog or via my newsletter for more on when the full story will be ready.

Thanks for checking out Mark and Scott’s journey together.

Here’s an excerpt from part 4:

Scott shook his head. “Nothing’s wrong.” Since that first kiss in the elevator, he’d been able to let go, to be in the moment with Mark. He wanted that feeling again. He breathed deep and let himself fall into it. “Absolutely nothing.”

“Good. Because I’ve been dreaming of doing something to you.” He ran his hands down the front of Scott’s bare chest and abs straight to the small dragon tattoo on his hip. He gripped both hips and dropped to his knees. Then his tongue was exploring the dragon. “God, I love this tat.” He stroked the hard length of Scott’s cock with one hand. “Been dying to suck you.”

“Oh God.” This was not happening. Scott’s entire body shook as Mark’s warm breath hit the top of his dick. “What are you doing?”

“Want to feel your cock on my tongue, in my mouth.” He held the base of Scott’s dick and angled the head toward his mouth. “You are free to move as you’d like. Touch me, touch yourself, fuck my mouth, whatever you need.” He leaned forward and licked the tip of Scott’s dick.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Nothing had ever felt like that. Scott hissed as Mark did it again, tonguing all over the head and the sensitive skin below. The wet heat of Mark’s saliva covered the end of his cock. Then Mark opened wide and took him deep, sucking his way to the tip again.

“Oh. My. God.” How could this feel so differently than a handjob? He jerked his hips forward and immediately pulled back. Too much. “Wait.”

Mark sat back on his heels. “You don’t want me to?”

“I… I do. No one’s ever…”

“Never?”

Scott couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Mark released him and stood. “What the hell kind of men have you been with?”

“Not many.” He shrugged. “I usually blow them, or they fuck me then leave.”

“Not this time. This time, I’m sucking you until you come. Unless you don’t want—”

“I do!”

And before Scott could dwell on how the squeal of those words must have sounded, Mark dropped to his knees again and had his cock surrounded by that wet heat. Scott’s ass hit the wall. He reached out and gripped the top of the desk in one hand and the dresser in the other. He watched Mark’s head bob faster and faster, and the intensity built with each plunge of his mouth. So different. Real. Powerful. And that was the problem.

Staring down at Mark felt…wrong. He gripped Mark’s shoulders. “Please.” Mark sucked harder, faster. “Please. Can I…”

Read More of More Than Just a Good Book