Reviews, Cats vs Cucumbers, Work, Work, Work #writestuff #caffeinateme

Good morning friends and readers! *sips coffee* It's a dreary, rainy, chilly day her in Southern Illinois, but wow has it been awesome so far! Started out with a thousand plus words this morning on a project my muse, Havan Fellows and I are working on. That's the way I like to start my day, with words!

Wanted to take a moment though to invite you all along as we take off on a tour tomorrow to celebrate the release of Heart on the Run. Will over at Pride Promotions took pity on us this time and we're doing a couple of spots a week for the next week. I may have whined a little too much about writing all the posts for the last tour. It starts tomorrow, so I hope to see you there! Uh... i mean, at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words and Mm Good Book Reviews, that is. I'll have to give you the links tomorrow.

Oh... nearly forgot. We're giving away... a Kindle Fire loaded with books! So make sure and enter the giveaway! 

And… *drum roll* There've been fabulous reviews for our new book, Heart on the Run too! Nothing creates sunshine in an author's heart like a review from someone who likes your work!

An Amazon 5 star review says "Sweet, sexy, and slightly smooshy"  Read More at Amazon

Add that to yesterday's review

4.5 Stars! From Claire at Divine Magazine

"Fabulous! That is all."

"This novel is angsty and frustrating, romantic and sexy, with MCs that really reach out and grab you. It's a fabulous book!"

Read More at Divine Magazine

And I didn't need to sweeten my coffee at all this morning!

Then someone shared this…

And I'm giggling like a loon. I'm tempted to test it. My cat suspects something might be up though… she's hiding in the crawl space and her companion is hovering on the windowsill… afraid to come in. Some kind of sixth sense?

In other news, the holidays are rapidly approaching and I'm getting ready for a great Black Friday sale at All Romance. Look for some good deals there on the day after Thanksgiving! Havan and I are writing away on a third Parkerburg book… I know right? It's addictive writing with someone who understands your characters so well.

Oh, and I am creating a holiday compilation too… gathering together all the holiday stories under one cover for a seasonal treat. That's my week, all planned out.

What are you all up to?

Bump in the Night, 5 Stars, Top Chef #writestuff #caffeinateme

Good afternoon everyone. *sips coffee* Hope Friday finds you well. It finds me reluctant to do much this Friday. LOL. However, I am still plugging away at Mum's the Word, trying to get Izzy, Owen and the Professor out of the trouble I left them in. Look for posts on the blog next week.

In other news, Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words wants to go bump in the night with you… us… er… someone! 

It's such an honor to be listed, but I have to confess, it's not the first time I've been considered scary. That's right. In my former life as an English teacher, I terrified many an incoming student! Somehow, this feels more like an honor though.

Speaking of honors, Gloria at Paranormal Romance Guild had some kind words and 5 stars for Dead Money, book 5 in my Jack of Spades series. Check that review out HERE. 

And way off topic… I was so happy to see these science/history articles in the news recently! Can you imagine discovering Jefferson's chemistry lab?  I'd love to make a pilgrimage to see that on my next trip east. Doesn't just inspire you to write about secret rooms and hidden treasures?

And… Top Chef. I am sooo disappointed that it didn't start in October, but the new season comes around in Dec. This is when I really, really love my Amazon Prime membership. Because without cable I can get the TC season episode by episode for a small fee. Can't wait to see who's cooking this year. I loved last year's contestants, especially Gregory. He was awesome.

Okay… enough coffee break. Back to work. You all have an awesome weekend.

Fall Morning, Playing Hooky, Triberr #writestuff #caffeinateme

Good morning friends and readers! *sips coffee* Ahhh. That's the way I like it. How're you all doing this rocking, awesome fall morning? I'm rejuvenated. Because... Well, there's no other way for a former teacher to say it than I played hooky yesterday. Enjoyed the mild weather and the gorgeous fall color. 

This morning, I want to share with you one of my daily rituals. Triberr. It's #4 on my list of must do's. 

1. Coffee. 

2. Email. 

3. Facebook. 

4. Triberr. 

The list goes on after that, but you don't need to know about those things… not yet anyway.

Today, Triberr is bugging me. Just have to get this off my mind. So, if you could excuse or skip the mini rant, I'd appreciate it.

Do you Triberr? If you don't, Triberr is a post sharing network thingy for bloggers. We join tribes, Triberr gathers posts from our Rss feeds, and puts them in a list for us to all share on Twitter or Facebook. I tweet mine. Because, well, I'm not really tweeting much of anything else, right? Right. So...

The system is simple. I share, you share, we all share and the word gets out to many, many more people.

Except...

Well...

There's some people that don't share. But that's okay, because Triberr has made it easy for you to find those who don't share, and mute them so they don't show up in your feed anymore. I like that. Because while I enjoy sharing, I prefer to share for those who are sharing my posts. I think I owe it to them, right?

That's easy enough. After a few days of muting people who share 0 posts a week, I'm down to a manageable feed.

Except that Triberr can't seem to manage the feed.

This morning I had seven posts.

Refresh.

Six more show up, some duplicated from before, some newer.

Really?

You'd think they could figure out a way to get all posts in one stream, and eliminate posts from the stream after they've been shared.

And yes, I may need another cup of coffee... or two.

Seriously. If you don't triberr, give it a shot. Look me up over there and we can share...

Now then, I feel better. Not just because I got more coffee, either. Well, okay. The coffee helps, a lot.

I was over at All Romance this morning, kicking it and checking on my latest releases-- 

Uh…

Did you get your copy of A Man of Unusual Talent? Are you following Pulp Friction?

Was that a subtle enough inclusion of the promotional material? Sorry about that.

Anyway, I was there, and I hit the Discount Books link. There's a great selection of M/M over there for 99 cents. So, I picked up a few for reading after I get my work done today. Bloom Box by Cate Ashwood and The Truth as He Knows It by AM Arthur. 

Speaking of discounts, since it's Halloween soon and all, I'm currently offering Heart of Clay, the story of two men in love and the ghost who wants them together, for only $1 at All Romance. 

Bobby isn’t pleased with his cousin or his ex. Their refusal to let go of the past has kept him on a plane where he doesn’t belong and isn’t at home. He’s expended all his energy trying to get through to Brad, without success, but Clay’s return finally gives him a foot in the door…or out the door.

If he could just get the two stubborn men together.

Just a final reminder, don't forget to enter the rafflecopter drawing in the sidebar. There's a few more day and two $10 gift cards up for grabs. I'm going to get to work because I want to read my new books. Y'all have a great day. 

Wrapping Up, Teasing, and Coffee #pridepromotions #writestuff #caffeinateme

Good afternoon friends and readers. After a cold night, and an unproductive morning, it's time to batten down the hatches and get things going. In case you missed it, this past week was Superhero Tour week for me and my writing buddy Havan Fellows. There's a link on the sidebar for the rafflecopter giveaway- two chances to win $10 ARe gift cards! That has a few days left. Below are links to some of the tour posts. We had such a blast writing these, I hope you can take a few minutes to check them out and join in the fun.

Sarah Madison teased our appetites with extra sharp cheddar, sea salt and olive oil crackers and a fantastic excerpt when we crawled in bed together on Thursday. 

This week I featured a book from one of my all-time favorites, Sean Michael. Jack ofAll Trades is Sean's latest release in the Hammer series.

Blog Tour Wrap Up

Monday

Over at Michael Mandrake's blog Havan and I positivity.

Then we dashed over to Jessie G Books – where character names were the topic of the day.

Tuesday

We visited at Love Bytes Reviews to discuss what super power we'd like to have.

Wednesday

Then we wandered over to talk about a subject dear to my hear at Unquietly Me (Food!)

Over on Wicked Faerie’s Tales & Reviews – they were asking about tombstones. Not pizza. That's what we thought at first, too but we were wrong.

And MM Good Book Reviews – posted a great 4 star review by Cat.

Our secret talents were exposed to public scrutiny on Happily Ever Chapter

All Romance

Thursday

Dean and CC rocked a character interview at Inked Rainbow Reviews

While Havan and I blogged about villains over at

Meanwhile Molly Lolly hosted another interview with Dean and CC and shared her 4 star review

Friday

At Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words, the boys all got together and talked about things they'd never do again. Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 

Meanwhile, over at Bayou Book Junkie, our Heroes write letters to their younger selves. 4.5 star review of A Man of Unusual Talent.   

V's Reads posted an awesome review of A Man of Unusual Talent Read More at  

Thank you to Will at Pride Promotions and all of their wonderful bloggers for hosting us. It was a fabulous tour. 

Rebates & Sales, First Lines, Easy Commute #writestuff #caffeinateme

Good morning everyone! *sips coffee* After a few days in the eighties, we're back to gray skies, chilly temps and rain here in the countryside. It's all good though, because rainy days make for good writing, and boy do I have writing to do! News of the day is that there's a 25% rebate going on over at All Romance eBooks. Great tie to pick up books and earn book bucks for later. – Oh, and since I messed up my sale over there the other day, Cranberry Pi is still only $1 until Sunday. And since you get the rebate on that, too… well, how can anyone pass up a deal like that?

First off though, please allow me to share of what's been distracting me with you. This one is a fun quiz I saw on Facebook: "First Lines of M/M Novels". Melanie at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words came up with this, and the answers are being posted Sunday, so you should take a look now and see if you can guess any of them before then.  

Then, when I got through trying to find all those, I stumbled over this… Waiting for Clark.  

When Bryce Weyland agrees to go to a comic convention dressed as a superhero, the last person he expects to see is his one-time best friend (and hopeless crush), Clark Kenmore. But Clark is impossible not to notice—he’s wearing spandex tights, a rainbow cape and the same disarming smile that haunts Bryce's dreams.

Given my upcoming superhero release, how could I resist that red herring?

On Thursday this week I crawled in Bed with Victoria Sue Crawl in Bed to discuss her new book, and boy… did she turn the tables on me. Read that interview here.

And on Monday the Superhero Blog Tour with Havan Fellows starts. That was set up by the fabulous Will at Pride Promotions. Check here on Sunday for the blog links, and throughout the week. We're giving away secrets, and gift cards. That's celebrating the releases of A Man of Unusual Talent and Flyboy's First Misadventure.

Good news, I've finally finished the last PF book, Dead Money, and it is with the editor now. Her initial feedback was encouraging. Havan and I are still writing away on the holiday story, over 43K at the moment, and looking to add about six more chapters before we send that off to the editor as well. Mum's the Word is late this week, I'll probably end up posting twice next week to make up for it. I've had to set it aside to deal with the deadlines for Pulp Friction and the holiday story.

And those deadlines are very real, so I'd best get myself to work. Isn't it convenient that my office is in the kitchen, next to the coffee pot? The commute is so easy…

*turns up the stereo* Eagles Take It Easy 

Oh, and remember, there are free reads on Wattpad for you to enjoy!    

Babysitting dogs, Remembering Matthew, Supervillains... #malexmale #writestuff #caffeinateme

Good morning everyone! Thank you joining me on my rambling this morning. I’m on the first cup of coffee, so I hope it all makes sense. *sips from mug* The SO is out of town for a family even, and I'm babysitting a whole lot of dogs. It's a regular dog riot here and will be until Monday night. Whoo. Whee.

It's October, which calls to mind many things, falling leaves, bonfires, football games, Halloween … and death.

"On October 7, 1998, Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old student at the University of Wyoming, was brutally attacked and tied to a fence in a field outside of Laramie, Wyo. and left to die. On October 12, Matt succumbed to his wounds in a hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado." 

Every year this season reminds me of all those who've been lost to hate, the boys and girls taken from us. Never forget. Hate kills.

Okay, So yesterday I had a very special guest here on the blog, Lexi Ander of Less Than Three Press visited to talk about her upcoming release there. You can check that out at Crawl in Bed with Lexi Ander of Less Than Three Press

To give you an idea how things are going here, Netflix released season five of the walking dead on September 27th. I have 2 episodes left to watch. 2. I do not even want to think about how many zombies I've seen thus far. They killed two great characters… three actually. I had high hopes for Noah. And Tara. Oh my. Poor Tara.

Many words to be written. I'm about half done with Pulp Friction #5, Dead Money. I'll leave you with this. …rock on. Great White Once Bitten 

Ooh and this…

Villains lurk... 

You need superheroes!

Fortunately, I have just the hero for you!

When marshmallows are involved, things are bound to get sticky. 

A Man of Unusual Talent

Life Challenges, Cover Art, Walking Dead Season 5 #writestuff #caffeinateme

Good morning everyone! *sips coffee* That sounds so simple doesn't it? Sips coffee. Like an easy gesture made elegant and graceful through long practice. The truth of the matter is that getting to that first sip is sometimes fraught with terror and moments of desperate confusion. This morning, for example, I forgot to put water in the coffee pot.

That's right.

So I had the scent of coffee, which isn't quite as good for sipping.

And I stood there, for a several seconds With the pot tilted at the correct angle, waiting for that aromatic brew to gurgle its way into my mug.

Only it didn't.

Hence the desperate confusion.

But now, I have rectified the situation and I have real coffee. *sips coffee*

And… to make up for being uh… life-challenged this morning, I went to Facebook to the Story Orgy group to say "Hi, how ya doing" to all my friends there before I start work on my post of Mum's the Word for tomorrow, and what do I find but that there are prezzies there for us! Cover art for A Man of Unusual Talent is finished, and I should receive the final files today. That means it's time to schedule a release date and start stressing over it. I have to confess, I do love this story J

In other news, Telling the Truth is now available for pre-order at Amazon, Smashwords, and All Romance. The release date is scheduled for October 7th. I know, I told you that yesterday, but today I have the Amazon link as well. 

.

Tonight, season five of The Walking Dead comes to Netflix, at last. I'm going to do my very best not to be a glutton and watch all of it at once, but, well, you know. It's like good alcohol. You take a sip, then another, and before you know it you're hammering back double shots until the bottle is empty and you have no idea how that happened.

If I am going to watch any of The Walking Dead at all, then I need to get down my word count for the day, which is 2K. I'm starting out this morning with the prompt for tomorrow, just need a few hundred words there, and then I'll be shifting over to Pulp Friction for the rest of the day, where it's my hope to get a full chapter done.

So, rock on all you lovers of words and song. Here's more 80's hair band music to get your engine revving. Great White Once Bitten 

Have a great Sunday everyone! 

Power of Coffee, Pumpkin Spice Leather, Motley Crue #writestuff #caffeinateme

Good morning everyone! So loving this gorgeous fall weather. It's crisp and sunny and soul inspiring, you know? 

To celebrate, I'm making a risky venture. I mixed up some pumpkin puree and some applesauce with some spice and threw it in the dehydrator. Pumpkin spice leather, anyone? I'll have to let you know tomorrow how it turns out because dehydration is a long term process.

Okay- Works for me. 

I've been busy this morning getting Telling the Truth all set up at Amazon, Smashwords, and All Romance for pre-order. The release date is scheduled for October 7th. You can check that out at SMASHWORDS and All Romance eBooks. Amazon, of course, is mulling it over. To be honest, they might just boot it off, because you know… TWINS! And they don't like that. Dinosaurs are okay, and um… tentacles and Sasquatch, but no kinky stuff… Right, Amazon.

Now that that is accomplished, Havan has returned At the Heart of Christmas to me, and it's once again my turn to pick up Sprocket and Chaz's story. *rubs palms together* It's date night… I'll let you think over what that's going to entail. *snicker*

Read on Wattpad 

So the day is slipping away rapidly, and I really need to get at least three thousand words done today. So I'm going to leave you this… Motley Crue (on a real 80's kick lately!)

. 

Pre-Roman Tomb, Deadlines, Culture Club #writestuff #caffeinateme

Good morning everyone! We've made it to Thursday, and the sun is still ashining away! That means I have a guest on the blog today courtesy of my connection with Will over at Pride Promotions. Click here to read a saucy Crawl in Bed Interview with JK Hogan, author of Unbreak Broken. 

Congratulations go out to my friend and fellow Pulp Friction author Laura Harner today on her new release, Coming Home Texas. This is book one in a new m/m series for Laura and it is awesome. Get your copy today and fall in love with Brandon and Joe. 

Why couldn't the mummy play outside?

He was all wrapped up in chores!

Yesterday I added a few thousand words to the Christmas story I'm writing with Havan fellows and today, I'll be focusing on Mum's the Word. Another chapter of that is due next Monday, but more importantly, I'm running out of time to get the story finished. Only about five posts to go. Of course, I'm in the same situation with the Pulp Friction story, Dead Money. That's due to the editor on the 1st. What would writers do without deadlines to inspire us?

I've got a good start on the sale over at All Romance for National Coffee Day. Will be adding a link and Pinterest board to the side bar today or tomorrow. For a preview of titles on sale, click here: #booksncoffee. More titles to be added later.

In other news, I am excited about this article,  about a pre-Roman tomb unearthed in Pompeii. I have long been interested in archaeology and the ancient world. Not just because of Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford and the glamour and adventure portrayed in the movies, either. Nope. I am fascinated by the way our cultures have grown and changed. For better or worse, our world is the way it is in part due to the actions and beliefs of these ancient people… Incredible, isn't it?

Speaking of things from the past… Rocking out this morning to this eighties hit: Boy George and Culture Club Karma Chameleon . *sigh* I had the BIGGEST crush on Boy George back then. He's still a very handsome man. 

Time to refill this coffee mug and get to work.

Y'all have a great Thursday! 

Like A Wolf 

To triumph, you must face your competition. 

That's what the fortune cookie said. 

EXCERPT 

 The man standing at a host’s podium was worthy of the reaction his voice had caused. He was tall, broad of shoulder and narrow of waist. His hair hung in a smooth curtain of darkness to the shoulders of his simple white dress shirt, nearly bursting at the seams trying to contain the muscles packed into that frame. 

“I…we…” His voice gave out, probably because all his brain cells were focused on striving to see through the gloom to make the blur of white that was the man’s face into an image to go along with the voice and the figure. 

“You have a reservation.” The voice purred smoothly along his skin…stroking it, leaving prickling hairs rising in its wake.

“You know who I am?” Startled, he moved closer and found himself under intense scrutiny from a pair of tawny gold eyes with a curious, elongated slant, almost Asian. “I…” Again, he was at a loss for words. 

“No.” A soft chuckle broke the silence before it could grow awkward, and Robert started. That chuckle went straight to his groin. “You’re standing at my podium, and…” He raised a big hand in a cavalier gesture. “The rest is logic. Name please?” 

“Red…ding.” Robert was grateful for the shadowy darkness that hid his face…and his blush, hopefully, from the man at the podium. “Um… Robert.”

The chuckle erupted into a full-throated, husky, ball-tightening laugh. “Ah, Red, I am the Wolf. Henry Wolf, to be precise. My friends call me Hank.”

  

SMASHWORDS   All Romance eBooks    AMAZON

Graze, White Rabbit, All Romance #writestuff #caffeinateme

Good morning everyone! *sips coffee* I overslept- missed the sunrise and the first cup of coffee…had to make a whole new pot as a matter of fact. I’m testing out a new service this coming week called Graze. They send you a selection of healthy snacks for a small fee each week. It's a subscription service, like … well, like nothing I can think of. I admit, sometimes, I am too lazy to fix my own snack. So I...uh… eat stuff I know I shouldn't. Like half a jar of olives… or a peanut butter sandwich. I'm not sure how this is going to go, because I do actually prefer to make my own food as a general rule. 

Maybe a few boxes of new to me snacks will stir up some creativity in preparing my own ahead of time. I'm already curious about how I can make "tiny bite size cookies" There snack blends contain a variety of tiny bite size cookies, which I think I'd really like to replicate… We shall see. First up in the test kitchen- tiny bite size brownie bites. Throw some of those in a bag with walnuts, etc and I can totally claim I made my own trail mix, right?

Hm. What would be my ideal writer's blend? Nuts… lots of nuts… those brownie bites… a salty pretzel or two, dried cranberry? Have to think about it. What about you? What are your favorite bits of the trail mix? What would you put in your personal blend?

What is the most important day in Egypt?

Mummy's Day!

I'm late! I'm late! For finishing up the post for Story Orgy today, Mum's the Word part eight. When last we checked in our heroes were in a dark creepy basement… Today we'll see if they've discovered anything new. After that, I've got a lot of words to add to At the Heart of Christmas and the next chapter of Dead Money to get written. I am so behind… And edits for Telling the Truth are due any time now

Plans are also underway for the September 29th National Coffee Day sale. I'm going to spend some time today setting discounts and tagging titles with the hashtag #booksncoffee. My book page over there is looking good. And just to prove my point that All Romance is more author and sale friendly, I've been invited to participate in their October Monster Giveaway. I've so far donated copies of three books for the giveaway, but I'm planning to add some more. So if you shop ARe in October, you could win one of my books!

Did you know I have my own FaceBook group that I share with my bestie Havan Fellows? You can come on over and Crawl in Bed with us anytime just by joining! 

Thanks for stopping by and letting me ramble. Now I've got the whole extent of what lies ahead of me today, I'd best get to work. I'll leave you with this… Billy Idol Rebel Yell 

 

Like A Wolf – 

A Contemporary M/M Romance

To triumph, you must face your competition.

That was what the fortune cookie said.

SMASHWORDS     ALL ROMANCE    AMAZON

Fortune Cookie Says, Books and Coffee, Work #caffeinateme #writestuff

Good morning everyone! *sips coffee* What's everyone up to today? I've just been working on publishing Like a Wolf at Smashwords- which will distribute to iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and so forth- and All Romance eBooks. Previously it was and still is at Amazon. I had it in the Kindle Unlimited program for a while to see how that worked, and the answer was… so-so. So, the great news of the day is that you can now purchase Like a Wolf at other vendors. This books sports a sexy cover by Laura Harner and was edited by the astute Jae Ashley. It's inspired by the nursery story Little Red Riding Hood. Sort of… If you're interested, scroll on down to the bottom of the page for the blurb and buy links.

In other news, I have discovered that September 29^th is National Coffee Day. I know, me too. I was like, but isn't every day coffee day? Anyway, I couldn't let Coffee Day (which is kind of the national holiday of writers, right?) pass without doing something to celebrate. So, since All Romance eBooks is by far the easiest online retailer to work with sales wise, what with Smashwords requiring coupons and Amazon being… well, Amazon, I'm have a huge sale over at All Romance on the 29^th. Don't worry I'll remind you. I'm planning to use the book tag #booksncoffee, so you'll be able to click over there and use their search function to find books with that tag.

My lovely editor says she'll have the next round of Telling the Truth edits to me early this week, so that's on the project list. I'm going man shopping here in a few minutes so Laura has pics to use for the cover. Then Havan tells me I'm up for the next round of At the Heart of Christmas (still just a working title). And today is THE day. Mum's the Word Part eight must be done today for posting here tomorrow. That's a lot of words to be written today!

I'd best throw on some motivation and get to work! Foreigner Blue Morning, Blue Day 

Y'all enjoy your Sunday fun day!

Like A Wolf – A Contemporary M/M Romance

To triumph, you must face your competition.

That was what the fortune cookie said.

Young, fresh, and wise beyond his years, Robert Redding finds culinary success and contentment with The Lunch Basket, his upscale diner that dishes up good old-fashioned country food. Serving the food he loves to his customers has always made him happy. He sees no need to step outside his comfort zone. He doesn’t want to be famous; he just wants to feed people.

Every good meal should be served with an edge of danger…

At least, that’s Hank Wolf’s philosophy of food. Step through the doors of Hungry and you’re putting yourself in his hands. In the kitchen, Hank is in control of everything, and the result is a mouthwatering dining experience that the whole town loves. Letting go of the tight control he has on every aspect of his life just isn’t in the recipe.

Curiosity leads Robbie to Hank’s so he can see for himself what all the fuss is about. and the attraction between the two chefs comes to a quick boil. But give these two restaurateurs the same ingredients and watch haute cuisine and home-style come head-to-head.   

Smashwords     All Romance     Amazon