On Hiatus

Hello Blog Followers,

As you might have guessed, the Vixens are taking a hiatus from the blog for the summer.  Helen is off on some exotic island, Viola is off on vacation, I just returned from Costa Rica, and Tricia just returned from Disneyland.  Needless to say, we are busy women and have decided to chill with the blogging for the summer until kids are back in school and things get back into a routine.  

That being said, we couldn't leave you without something to whet your appetite over the summer.  So behold the final TGIF of the summer.  I had to go with a newcomer to the Hollywood scene and the reason that I went to see the new Star Trek movie.

CHRIS PINE

  

YOU'RE WELCOME! 

Have a great summer and we'll see you again in August!

NEW COVER ART and Come Visit Me at Paty's

Current read: My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult




I'm thrilled with my new cover art for Blood Wolf. This is the story that won the Got Wolf? contest over at The Wild Rose Press. It will be featured in an anthology with the other long winner, My Lord Werewolf by Ria Ellis. The cover, designed by the wonderful Angela Anderson, is dark and gothic and suits the story perfectly. According to my lovely editor, Callie Lynn Wolfe, it's perfect for Ria's story, as well, which I'm looking forward to reading. Look for the book in October!

If you have a moment, drop by Paty Jager's blog where I'm chatting about The Outlaw's Angel, along with the other three authors in the Lawmen and Outlaws anthology. See you there!

Writer's Block?

This week I entered a writing challenge to write 15,000 words. I have no idea if I’ll be able to complete this gargantuan task, but I’m going to give it my best shot.

To set the week off, I’m going to share one of my favorite articles that I have printed and posted by my computer. Every so often, I take a peek at this list and it helps me remember to give myself a break and just write! Hope it helps you as well.

Eight Ways to Conjure Your Writing Genie

1. Shake off "Impostor Syndrome"

Everyone communicates, and a lot of people write, but few people dare to call themselves "writers". If you feel like an impostor, take a deep breath and remind yourself of your unique purpose and how important it is. Or take on a fictional persona and write through that mask.

2. Conjure Your True Voice

If you're at a loss for words, try meeting a friend for tea and talking your way through the material, or even talking out loud to yourself. Your spoken words might not be publishable, but once you've got 'em down on paper, you can edit to your heart's content.

3. Write it as a Letter

Submitting written work can be scary--especially if it's going to be read by The Powers That Be. But you don't have to think about those Powers when you're writing; in fact, it's probably better not to pay them any mind until the last few editing stages, after you've already squeezed out every last idea and captured it on paper. So when you're still writing, why not imagine you're writing a letter telling your closest confidante about your project? Try starting your work "Dear ____", and you might tap into a fountain of lovely, loose conversational prose.

4. Detach Your Ego

If stage fright derives from fear--the fear that if the work fails, we fail--we need to disconnect ourselves from the work. When I play pool, I don't care if I win or lose, because I'm not A Pool Person--but beat me on the air hockey table and I'll be grumpy, because I'm invested in the game. Realize that people reading your work are just as self-centered and will most likely not draw any permanent conclusions about you from your work.

5. Plunge Into the Scary Parts

What are you afraid of? Spelling poorly? Weak transitions? Well, go ahead and deliberately spell every word incorrectly, write without transitions, don't use any punctuation--do everything you're not supposed to do, and have fun doing it! Draw caricatures of your writing demons, put the dreaded failure behind you, and move on.

6. Lower Your Standards

There's really no reason to worry about editors, teachers, critics, bosses, and what they think until the last stage of revising. Until that time, indulge yourself. Don't correct anything; write in slang; write 3 pages in 15 minutes; leave notes to yourself, like ADD DETAILS HERE or FIX THIS LATER, throughout your work--anything that makes it easier to write.

7. Sidestep What Blocks You

Don't let one part of your writing stump you for long. If it's bugging you, just skip it and move on to an easier, more appealing task. If the introduction isn't coming, jump right to paragraph two, or page 23. If you can't think of anything to say in one section, just skip merrily along to the next part and let your unconscious work on the hard stuff for a while.

8. Stop When You're On a Roll

When writing is a struggle, you'll naturally want to stop. But if you do, you're rewarding yourself for not writing. Try sticking with it--and then quit when you're on a roll, so that next time you'll be eager to return to the work. Or start writing when you know you have to do something else in 45 minutes--as soon as the pressure's off, as soon as you say "well, i know i won't get anything done in this little bit of time" you're free to let your creative juices flow. Waves of inspiration will come and go; the trick is scheduling your work to take full advantage of the tides.

I found this list on the web at: http://www.transaction.net/web/tutor/text/dissolve.html

Have a productive week!

Viola
http://www.violaestrella.com/
Angel Vindicated – Available now from http://www.cerridwenpress.com/

TGIF-Unconventional Hottie

So, I believe myself to be a multi-faceted girl and I don't always go for the pretty faces, tight abs, and voices that can bring you to orgasm just by saying your name.  (Can you hear me Gerry Butler?)  There are also men that I think are hot because they have that something about them.  For my mom, in the 80s, it was Edward James Olmos.  Don't ask me why.  She just said he was sexy.  I.  Didn't. Get. It.  But mine is not to judge.  

So I decided to look at a man that I think is hot, but others' opinions may vary.  Plus, it's my birthday so I can do anything I want.

NATHAN FILLION!! 

Nathan who? You might ask.  Well, you may remember him from the TV shows 'Firefly' or the creepy reverend dude on 'Buffy' or the loveable husband on 'Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place.'  He was also kick-ass in the movie 'Serenity' (GO WATCH IT!!!!)

Anyhoo, here he is.

Oh, and since it is my birthday and since I am such a giver, the first Non-Vixen person to comment on the blog AND wish me a happy birthday (because I'm not vain at all) will win a ARC of the new Jeanne Frost book due out July 28th.  Sorry, I don't have the name right now but I think it's 'One Foot in the Grave' or something like that.

Hasta Luego!  (That's an hommage to my trip to Costa Rica which I'm leaving on tomorrow.)

Flash Fiction Challenge

Current read: Miner in Petticoats by Paty Jager

Have you ever tried flash fiction? Basically, a flash piece is a complete story (with beginning, middle, and end) in 1000 words or less. It's a wonderful exercise in brevity and precision. Last year, I wrote the following piece for a 500 word Halloween Mini Tale contest. My tale took second place, and is exactly 500 words. Did it start out at 500? Nope. I had to cut it down and make every word count. I learned a lot from doing the piece. Making every word count is essential in longer works as well, so writing a flash piece can be great training for paring down longer works to the bare essentials.

So here's my 500 word flash piece. Do you have one you'd like to share?

Onyx fur vanished as Logan emerged from wolf form. My breath caught at his silky black hair, his muscled chest.

“Mary, my love.” His baritone voice cracked as his vocal cords adjusted. “It’s been so damn long.”

“We can’t waste time talking,” I said. “Each Samhain you change a little sooner. Take me to bed.”

He trailed his finger down my cheek, tracing my jaw line. Sparks erupted on my skin. “Let me look at you through my own eyes.”

“But you see me all year.” I needed him. His lips on mine. His body inside me. We had so little time.

“It’s not the same, Mary. Please.”

He pushed my lace robe from my shoulders, his calloused fingers lingering on my naked flesh. I cupped my breasts and held them out in offering.

“So beautiful. So ripe and full.” His golden hands covered mine and his thumbs circled my nipples. Fire shot through me and landed between my legs.

“Logan.”

He leaned toward me and covered my mouth with his.

His heated tongue slithered over my lips and plunged inside. He groaned and squeezed my breasts, then moved one hand upward, fisting it in my hair and urging me closer. The kiss was hungry, firm, drugging. He tasted of vanilla cream, of musky man.

Of sweet memory.

We devoured each other for precious moments, until I ripped my mouth away. I panted, breathless, as I pierced his warm blue gaze with mine. “You. Inside me.”

His eyes smoked. “You’ve never looked lovelier, Mary. Your nipples are like pebbles of carnelian.” He pinched one, then the other. I shivered.

“Are you wet for me, love?”

Wet. Gushing. “You know I am. Make love to me.”

He lowered his head and his firm red lips, swollen from our passionate kisses, encircled my nipple. He sucked, gently at first, then harder, until he tugged and bit me. “Ah, yes, Logan. Just like that.”

He swirled his tongue over the plump flesh, licking and nibbling, until he seized the other nipple and suckled. Juice trickled down my inner thigh.

“Logan. Lover. Please.”

He swept me into his arms and carried me to the bed. The bed that had once been ours. His body covered mine, wisps of black chest hair tickling my tender nipples. My sex throbbed. Ached.

“Look at me, Mary. Look into my eyes, and remember who I am.”

“I always remember, Logan. I never, never forget.”

He entered me in one smooth thrust. Sweet joining of bodies, of souls. He surged, claiming me, loving me, and my body shuddered, exploding into nirvana as he plunged, his golden muscles tensing when he spilled into me.

“Mary. I love you. Always.”

“And I love you, Logan. Forever.”

He released me, and within minutes my ebony wolf returned. He left the bed and settled in his usual spot by the door.

“One day, Logan, we’ll break this damned curse.”

I closed my eyes, recapturing my lover’s warm caress, praying I spoke the truth.

TGIF -- Jimmy Thomas

Current read: Miner in Petticoats by Paty Jager

The Summer Meat-Wave continues with another luscious cover model. Jimmy friended me on MySpace several few months ago and asked if I'd be at RT this year. Yeah, I know -- he no doubt friended numerous romance authors for publicity, but let me have my fantasies ;). Jimmy is thirty-two and (no surprise here) is a personal trainer and model. From all accounts, he's a very nice person. One lucky lady at the RT conference won a raffle and got to have breakfast in bed with him... Enjoy the photos!

Interview: Romance Author Fran Lee!

Please welcome the lovely and talented, Fran Lee!

Viola: Tell us a little about yourself. Fears? Accomplishments? Longings? Fantasies?

Fran: Wow. That leaves soo much territory to cover, Viola! And we only have a small page. Better keep it short and sweet.

I am not old exactly…but I certainly am not young. I have three adult children (two sons and a daughter) who think that their mom is both nuts and wonderful. (Not sure which on any given day, but they all seem to like the fact that their mom writes naughty books and gets paid to do it). It’s sort of like when I decided on a whim to learn karate. They just sort of rolled their eyes, but when mom finally got her black belt, they would tell their neighbors, “My mom can whip your dad!”

I have been writing for a LONG time, but never found the guts to submit anything. It was my son who finally said, “Just DO it!” I just showed him my most recent cover, and he said “Please don’t show that to my wife…that’s just TOO much to live up to!” LOL!

First, my fantasy is to get lost and find myself in a Never Never Land populated entirely with hot cover models. My fear is to wake up and find out it was only a dream. My accomplishments leave a great deal to be desired, but I will list those that I believe are worthy of sharing:

I have written over 100 books, short stories, and novellas. Of these, I have only submitted four to publishers, and have had all four picked up under contract by Ellora’s Cave and Resplendence Publishing. I wrote most of these stories over 20 years ago, and am simply “modernizing” and editing, then submitting.

My first book (Out of Her Dreams) out of Ellora’s Cave is being released June 12, 2009. My second book to be published, Dictated by Fate, will be released by Resplendence in August.

I hold a second degree black belt in Kenpo karate. (An impressive accomplishment because I started karate at age 45.) You should have seen me in a class full of five-year-olds. LOL!

I have six grandchildren (I count this as MY accomplishment because I managed to somehow raise my kids to adulthood so they could have kids of their own).

I do a daily column on Examiner.com where I interview authors, publishers, editors, and cover models (those hot, sexy guys who grace our books)! I also do book reviews there.

As for my longings? Um…too X-rated to discuss in mixed company. But I’ll be happy to discuss this x-rated subject with any male cover model brave enough to e-mail me. Or all…um…sorry…lost track for a minute there…

Viola: Great answers! And congratulations on your new release, Out of Her Dreams! Could you give us a blurb?

Fran: Of course! I was only waiting for you to ask…

Blurb:

Out of Her Dreams

By Fran Lee
June 12, 2009

Ellora’s Cave

She’s a best-selling erotic romance writer. Her fans adore her. She’s making excellent money. All by writing about a man she dreamed up many years ago. Her hero is handsome, virile, sexy, strong, sensitive and a complete gentleman.

He’s a hot-headed, sex-on-the-hoof pro wrestler. He has a reputation for being the hottest, nastiest man on the mats. The fact that his face and body are plastered all over a bunch of mushy romance novels written by a woman with a death wish doesn’t sit well on those massive shoulders. His agent’s demanding monetary retribution from the woman who’s dared to use his image on her covers but he has another form of retribution in mind…and it has nothing to do with money.

Viola: Ooh, sounds wonderful! What or who was your inspiration for writing this story?

Fran: Pro wrestling 20 plus years back was like a wonderful vaudeville show! The wrestlers were bigger than life and loads of fun to watch. I wrote this one after watching a live match, with the entire hullabaloo.

Pro wrestling has evolved massively since this was written, and when my grandson got hooked on WWE, and I was dragged to see some more recent, even hotter matches, I decided to pull it out of mothballs, dust it off, modernize it...and voila!

Viola: I love a heroine with a little sizzle and sass. What is your heroine’s biggest “vixen” moment? And how did the hero react?

Fran: Sam has lived vicariously through her books for the past two years, and has written about a man she met in her dreams, years ago. When she meets her hero’s dead ringer in a bookstore at a book signing, she is shocked to realize that her dream lover is a REAL man…and one who will probably sue her for everything she owns. She panics, heading for the stockroom to get her adrenaline back to normal. He corners her there and demands to know why she’s been using his image on her covers…without his permission.

A hot and lusty mutual attraction explodes between them, and they find themselves lip-locked and in a hot, rather frenzied embrace until someone knocks on the door to find out what’s going on. Sam almost has him undressed as she lets out her hot inner vixen, and he can’t help but respond.

As he is tucking in his shirt and buckling his belt, she says in embarrassment, “I have no idea on Earth where that just came from. I am so sorry. I was out of line completely. I sincerely hope you don’t plan to include molestation in your lawsuit.”

He stares at her like she’s crazy and rasps, “I don’t believe I’ve ever had a woman apologize to me before for me groping her, Miss Hastings. I wouldn’t worry about me suing you for that. But if you refuse my offer of dinner and a drink, I think that would definitely qualify as breach of promise.”

Viola: Sam sounds like my kind of heroine. What are you working on now?

Fran: I just finished second line edits on DICTATED BY FATE, due out August 25, 2009 from Resplendence. My Novella “Hallie’s Cats” has been contracted by EC.

I am working on a short story for an anthology, and I am modernizing another full length novel for submission to EC. I am still waiting for responses on three other short stories I recently submitted.

I suppose I’ll simply be playing it by ear until I know exactly what is accepted and what is rejected. Usually when I get a reject I just send it somewhere else, and it gets picked up immediately. I’ve been extremely lucky in that. Having a huge stack of already-written books makes it sooo much simpler. Most of the hard work was already done years ago.

Viola: Can’t wait to read them. Would you like to share an excerpt from Out of Her Dreams?

Fran: Certainly!

Excerpt:

Out of Her Dreams
2009 Ellora’s Cave

She walked slowly across the luxuriously thick carpet to the ready supper table set up before the fireplace and looked about the decadently fabulous room. Obviously he had planned on a very private dinner and drink. She touched the bottle of champagne and swallowed hard. Dear Lord. She didn’t know if she could manage being alone with him again. She didn’t realize she wasn’t alone until his voice made her turn with a little gasp.

“You have my book?” The sight of him standing in the doorway of the luxurious sitting room made her breath leave her in a startled whoosh.

Control yourself, Sam. It is not polite to stare and drool.

She nodded jerkily, opening the bag and taking out the hardback copy. “Of course. You paid for it.”

She held it out as he walked across the room to stop a couple of feet from her. He looked awe-inspiring in a beautifully tailored silk shirt that was open to show his corded neck and a pair of trim Armani slacks. The material sleekly covered but didn’t hide the massively muscled body beneath it and her mouth went dry again. God but that man had a walk—predatory and as sexy as hell.

She had no idea real live men could look so utterly marvelous and perfect. Dream men could but certainly not real ones. Heat pooled and swirled in the area somewhere below her navel, trickling into the suddenly damp center of her body as the man stalked toward her like some big cat on the prowl, those dark eyes moving down her body to her feet before returning slowly to her red face. A shot of something honeyed and hot surged through her at that look and she knew exactly what was on his mind because the exact same thing was running through hers.

He took the book from her hand slowly and opened it to the flyleaf, his dark eyes touching the autographed page for a long moment before returning to her face again.

“You were serious about that dream bit?” His voice was quiet. A small smile curved his lips.

Oh. My. God. That mouth.

She swallowed and nodded jerkily. “Yes.”

The sight of her standing beside the intimate little table for two sent a jolt of lust knifing through him almost painfully. David could almost taste her delicate floral perfume, along with the warm, delicious scent of a woman who craved what she saw. She stood bravely erect in an incredible blue silk dress that hugged every lush curve she possessed. The warmth of her body and the need in those emerald eyes fired his blood and made his groin swell and come alive with a vengeance. He found himself staring like an idiot. A horny idiot.

It was suddenly hard to remember why he had asked her to come. Was it to discuss the books, or was it simply to see her again? To take her and slowly strip her and taste her soft skin with his lips and tongue until she begged him to bury his cock inside her and finish it up right? Okay. That sounded good. Damn good.

She handed him the book with nervous hands and he wondered what those hands would feel like moving over his naked body. What she would think if he just tossed the damn book and dragged her against him to let her feel how rock-hard he was and how much he craved her. And as he opened it to stare at the autograph she had scrawled over the flyleaf page, he knew that she was not leaving here tonight until he had tasted every inch of that creamy skin.

Viola: Tantalizing excerpt! Fran, thanks for visiting with the Colorado Vixens. It was a pleasure having you on our blog!

Fran: Thanks so much for having me over today, Viola! It was a blast talking with you!

To find out more about Fran and her books, you can visit her on one of these sites:

http://www.franleeromance.com/
http://franleesromanceblog.blogspot.com/
http://franleesbookreviews.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/franleeromance
http://www.myspace.com/franleeromance
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1597116568&ref=name
http://www.examiner.com/x-5288-Salt-Lake-City-Romance-Novels-Examiner
http://goddessesofstorytelling.blogpot.com/