STRANGERS Soon to be Released!

It's been a long time coming, and now it's just a few days away! Barbara Elsborg's STRANGERS will be released by Ellora's Cave on December 2nd!

Of STRANGERS, the author says: "Well here it is. My favorite book. The book of which I am most proud. The book whose hero makes me laugh and cry. The best book I've written."

If you're familiar with Barbara's work, I think you know what an exceptional talent she is, and what a huge endorsement this is for her latest release.

Posted below is Barbara's cover for STRANGERS. Since beta-reading the novel well over a year ago, I've been anxious to see what sort of cover the book would get and it's perfect! (How often does that ever happen?) Yeah, definitely goes on my Killer Covers list. Here it is:

Knowing the characters as I do, the cover artist totally captured their essence and the dynamics of their relationship.

STRANGERS was the first novel of Barbara's that I ever read and the story blew me away. Barbara has a knack for redeeming unredeemable characters. Her male MC, Charlie Storm, begins as a very jaded, self-absorbed rock star-turned-motion picture icon who's on a self-destructive death spiral of "sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Now if that sounds cliche' then trust me that STRANGERS puts a fresh spin on it as well as having some wonderful touches of humor when Charlies connects with Kate (female MC), a woman also at the end of her rope but living a very different life. Through Kate, the reader discovers Charlie's warmth and tenderness buried beneath all those layers of hardened bad boy. But will Kate only become another victim of the runaway train wreck that is Charlie's life or can her love save him from himself?

Click on STRANGERS to read the opening scene and I think you'll see why you'll want to join these amazing characters on their journey. (Over 18 only please.)

Obviously I'm very exccited to see this one released so I can snag a copy...or six. Can't wait for Wednesday!

Last Flight of the Ark

My erotic science fiction romance, Last Flight of the Ark has just been accepted for publication with Liquid Silver Books. Check out the blurb below.

Evolution never happened so fast.

Twelve hours outside of Terra II, Colonel Kaleb Titan, a molecular geneticist and commander of the Ark, faces a life or death choice that could change the fate of mankind.

The Genesis I, AKA the Ark, has traveled for eight months with a hold full of wildlife and three crew members to keep her on course and operating. When a wolf bite and genetically-altering gamma radiation transform Colonel Titan, he notices his senses have been heightened and his libido has gone haywire. He can’t keep his hands off his crew and they don’t seem inclined to stop him.

When their sister ship, the Genesis II arrives early, Kaleb’s problems compound. If Earth Command learns of the infection, his ship will be quarantined and the crew will die in space. When the command crew of the Genesis II boards his ship, one whiff tells him they’re not who they appear to be. They might have flown the Genesis II to their location, but they’re not from earth and Kaleb suspects they want their planet and cargo.

When he discovers that they’ve kept the Genesis II’s crew of over two thousand alive, he begins to believe their reasons may be far more ominous than anyone could have imagined. However, he also discovers what’s holding them back. The hijackers seem to be allergic to canines.

Now, Captain Melissa Deluzio the pilot, Lieutenant Jessica Stearns a wildlife biologist, and Colonel Rivers are forced to employ biological warfare against their own people, but will it be enough to save them?

History is about to repeat and only one species will survive.

http://www.liquidsilverbooks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10610

More Chops from Slipping the Past

Here are some more chops that didn't make it into the final copy.


Thirty two years before…
Gabriel clutched his mother’s leg. “No.”
“Let go.” His father pried him lose and handed him to the man standing in the doorway. Gabriel kicked and screamed. The man wrapped his arms around him, keeping him from flailing.
“I don’t want to go.” Frustrated and held tight, Gabriel did the only thing he could. He closed his eyes and let it build. The power rushed through him. He sucked from the lights and air. “No! I don’t want to go.” Bulbs exploded.
“Strong.” The man adjusted his hold, making it harder to for Gabriel to breathe and pull energy. “His talent won’t be wasted.”
“I told you he was special,” His father said. “He’ll do great things for our world.”
“Mommy.” He sank his teeth into the man’s shoulder. The man released his hold and dropped him. Gabriel scuttled toward his mother, who sobbed. She stepped forward. His father moved in front of her and caught Gabriel by the collar. He heaved him off his hands and knees and shoved him toward the strangers.
“You have no place here.”
“Mommy!”
“Lucian, let him come to me. You’re scaring him. I’ll take him to the transporter.”
“You’re making this harder. He was born for one purpose and he will serve that purpose. It’s done. I signed the papers, they own him. He needs to start learning to be a man and he can’t do that with you treating him like a baby.” His father pushed her back. Gabriel screamed and sank his teeth into the stranger again. The man didn’t release him, but grabbed his hair and yanked his head back.
Gabriel’s eyes watered. He stared at his father through the tears, pleading. They were mean. He could feel they didn’t care about him. Why was he letting them take him? “I want to stay. Please Daddy. I’ll be good.”
“I’m not your father anymore. You’re an Enforcer. You better get used to it.” He turned and walked through the door, shutting it behind him with a soft click.

Hot Dads: The DILF Anthology

Amazon.com: Hot Dads: The DILF Anthology (9781607778417): Lori Perkins: Books

Hot Dads, The DILF Anthology is out in print. Get your copy today and meet Derek James, the hottest dad in espionage, in my story Cloaks, Daggers and Diapers.

The Misfits - out today

The Misfits is out today with Loose-ID

http://www.loose-id.com/prod-The_Misfits-1047.aspx

It's not easy being a faerie. Holly would know. She's the laughing stock of Fae, useless at magic and has wings that never cooperate. She can't understand why a high-born faerie she hardly knows would want to marry her because she certainly doesn't want to marry him. The mortal world looks far more enticing.

Being a vampire bites. Crippled with guilt over his part in the death of his twin, Dominic is estranged from his family. When he rescues an injured werewolf on the run from his pack, he sees a kindred spirit in the damaged outcast.

What use is a werewolf who can't scent or track? Victim of his conniving brother, Jay is viciously attacked by his pack. The wolves might not want him but once he's living with Dominic, they won't leave him alone.

After a night of passion with Dominic and Jay, Holly's ready to move in with them. But their enemies are intent on keeping them apart and the trio of misfits find themselves in a fight for survival. If they can't figure a way through the web of lies and deceit that bind them, they'll lose more than their families. They'll lose each other.

Lucy in the Sky - out today 21st October

Lucy in the Sky
Barbara Elsborg

When you wake up to find a spaceship in your backyard, what do you do? Choose from three:
Phone the police.
Scream.
Go yell at the alien for wrecking your garden.

Lucy storms out of her house to confront the inept pilot and the last option turns out to be both the right and wrong choice when she finds the gorgeous hunk’s name is Three. She’s torn between fury that he’s crushed her roses and decapitated her statue of Eros, and a longing that he enliven her boring life and whisk her to the stars. Three doesn’t give her a choice when he throws her over his broad shoulders and takes her into space. Lucy soon finds herself exploring alien territory in ways she never imagined.

Three’s efforts to hide and protect her on the mother ship are stymied by his inability to keep his hands—and other body parts—off the luscious Lucy, and it looks as if her immediate fate might be a solo trip into space without a spacesuit.

She's on a roll!

Help me shout out a big congratulations to Take it to the Stars's very own, Laurie Green.

Laurie has done it again! *\0/* *\0/* *\0/*
It's just been announced that P2PC has swept the paranormal romance class of the RWA's Heart of the West writers contest with a first place win.

Way to go.

What to cut, what to keep.

Rewrites can mean cuts. From words, to sentences, to whole paragraphs and even chapters. I've learned a lot from writing short stories and I've become a bit of a word-miser. As a result, I've noticed it's become harder to write a larger story. Here's a section that I chopped from my soon to be released novel, Slipping the Past.

“Where are we going?”
Jocelyn down shifted. She’d no idea. They’d been circling the neighborhood for the last hour. Since the enforcers didn’t drive, she wasn’t sure if they were still waiting for her at the house. She knew she could never go home, but she wasn’t ready to face that reality. Plus, she needed to drop Nate. She couldn’t drag him into this, regardless what her mother wanted but there was a problem leaving him home, he was her eyes. Without him, her mother’s transporter was worthless.
“Jocelyn?”
“I don’t know. I’m trying to think.”
“You’re wasting the charge in this vehicle. We need to put as much distance as we can between us and that reaper.”
“Stop, Nate. I’m trying to figure it out.”
“You’re not ditching me.”
Jocelyn groaned and rolled to a stop in front of the house. Nate looked away from it. “Nate, look at the house. I can’t see it.”
“No. We need to get out of here.”
“Nate.”
“No.”
“Damn it, Nate. Would you look at the house? I need to see.”
Nate snorted and stared at the pavement, refusing to give her what she wanted. Jocelyn watched through his eyes as the wind caught the leaves and sent them whirling across the road’s surface in a spiral dance. For once, she wished she could see with her own eyes, but it looked like she’d have to lower herself to begging.
“Please.”
“If we keep doing this, he’s going to come out that door and see us. Then we’re done.”
“I’m done. You’re not involved.”
“Says the woman who’s borrowing my eyes to sort of make her escape—if she’d actually leave the neighborhood.” Nate huffed and glanced at the front door. “Happy?”
Jocelyn put the vehicle in first and began to drive again.
Jake glanced at the door one more time. “Oh shit. You better get this thing going.” Ian stepped out onto the porch and locked onto them. Jocelyn slammed her foot to the floor.
“Eyes front, Nate!”
He snapped his head around and stared at the street. “Get us the fuck out of here, Jocelyn.”
The tires squealed and the transporter shot forward.
“They can’t teleport inside a moving vehicle. Don’t stop,” Nate glanced in the rearview mirror to see the reaper standing in the street behind them. “Left. Go left.”
The tires screeched as they took a corner. Nate checked the mirror. The reaper had teleported behind them again, watching their every move. She turned right, taking another side street. He teleported again, staying in the rear view mirror. He could follow them all night. Too bad they’d wasted most of the transporter’s charge circling the block.
“We have to get on the interstate. He can’t follow us that way.”
“I don’t think that will stop him.” Something about the reaper made the hair on her neck snap to attention. He’d come for her four hours early. He’d been anxious to get her soul and didn’t care if he broke the law to do it. Until midnight, she was still seventeen and untouchable, or she should have been untouchable. If he didn’t care about that, there was a good chance he wouldn’t care if Nate got hurt during the capture, or worse.
“We might be able to ditch him in traffic. Get to the interstate and we’ll take a side exit. There’s no way he can predict our next move. He can keep popping behind us on these side streets. The interstate won’t be as easy.”
“Fasten your safety harness and keep your eyes on the road.”
Nate complied and eyed the sign ahead. “Oh shit. You can’t do that.”
“Just watch me.” Jocelyn shot down a one-way street the wrong way and onto an off-ramp. She’d have to take a chance. Only a crazy man would follow her wrong-way onto an interstate. Hell, she was crazy to even contemplate it. Bright lights beamed at her and a horn wailed. Jocelyn swerved around the transporter and shifted into a higher gear. She moved to the shoulder and weaved around two more oncoming transporters. She couldn’t get onto the correct side with the concrete dividers between. They’d have to ride this out for a mile or two until they hit the open and she could get across the median.
“Jocelyn! Look out!”
Jocelyn had seconds to register the reaper standing in front of her, backlit by the lights of a freighter truck. “Oh shit!” She down shifted and swerved. It wasn’t enough. She missed the reaper and truck but hit the divider doing at least eighty miles per hour. Her head smashed into the steering wheel before her restraints locked down and yanked her back.
Everything began to reel along in slow motion. Their transporter spun and flipped. Airborne, it spiraled across four lanes of traffic and hit the barrier on the other side. Metal screeched and sparks left a tail behind them like a comet as the vehicle slid across the pavement on the driver’s side.
Then, everything went dark as Nate blacked out.
“Oh God, Nate.” Pain wracked her ribcage where the harness had caught and her forehead felt smashed. “Nate.” Jocelyn dared to open her eyes and look. The light from other vehicles stabbed through the back of her skull. She ignored the pain and examined Nate. His chest rose and fell. She took a deep breath. He was alive, but how badly hurt? She slammed her eyes shut, unable to take anymore. They were trapped. Where was the reaper?
Jocelyn released the catch on her belt and reached for Nate. She shook his arm. “Wake up. We’ve got to get out of here before we have company.”
Nate groaned.
“Nate. You’ve got to wake up.”
Boots crunched on broken glass and her stomach lurched.
“Jocelyn Miller. I have a warrant for your arrest.”

Go here for updates on the release of Slipping the Past:
http://www.liquidsilverbooks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10337

Visit next Thursday for more excerpts from the cutting room floor.

Dawn

Yippeeeeeee!!!!! Arlene's book is now available!!!!

http://www.shadowfirepress.com/excerpts_2009/Love_Grows_Wild_in_the_Dark_aw_excerpt.html


Love Grows Wild in the Dark by Arlene Webb

Heat Rating: From Just a Spark to Warm shading toward Fire.

Content Warning: None

Single Author Anthology.

In Lieu of Flowers
Tormented by flowers, stalked by non-existent fiends, will a youth with an overactive imagination ever find happiness?

Hate my mom. Hate my life. Hate my mom.... The words looped in my mind, a mantra of misery. Top of the food chain, a nineteen year old Caucasian male, and here I was thrown back into reliving high school years. Surprised the old bat hadn't made me skip grade school to help for holidays. Come home from the intern gig for one lousy weekend, and it's Joel to the rescue--again.

"The cooler needs restocking. Red carns, alstro, delphiniums. There's another pack of pink roses in the back that aren't done yet."

"Yeah, yeah." I flipped my knife to a path parallel to the stem contaminating my other hand and pointed upward, my elbow braced for liftoff. "If I stab my eye out, can I leave?"

Mom burst out laughing. One thing about the woman, she did appreciate my sarcasm. But I seriously doubted she understood how deranged I was. I loathed flowers, almost as much as I hated running into dolts from my past.

Brad frickin' Norris. The vision of splattering crimson, the clank of enamel teeth hitting the sidewalk orchestrated with the lovely sonata of his girlish sobs and deep grunts begging for mercy--I sighed, my fantasy concerning punching Norris in the face had encouraged me to strip every thorn, and then some, off the rose in my hand.

"Maybe you should check the availability of Braille keyboards first." Mom slapped the final touches on yet another arrangement I'd have to cart across the street. Fingers moving in a blur, she peered up at me. "Forget the roses and take this. Careful. It's pricey, and I'll see you at home, kay? Honestly, son, I'll lose it if you drop that one."

Rebel
Can an untamed lover distract from the desire to bring down the human race?

It hurts, having your head cut off. I don't care how lovingly the man crooned as he snapped me between his thick fingers. Pain ricocheted through my vascular system. With every fiber of my being, I hoped my fluid burned his fingers.

"Bastard human." My loud curse started a ripple from my cringing little ones. Heads bent in submission, they gulped their distress, murmuring soothing words to no avail. In a matter of hours I'd be sealed, callous formed, on my way to splintering into more suckers for the bipods to torture. I shook, using all my strength to turn from my loving offspring trying to raise their disfigured faces to the light. The devil had pinched them too.

Time to concentrate on settling the score between Plantae and Mammalia. The book lay at my base. I bent my mutilated crown, covered the page, and continued reading where I left off before the monster had stomped in on two horrid legs to mess with me.

When darkness soothed my injuries, blackness cloaked my hungry mind, and I swore again. Not happy with twisting me almost dead, forcing me to branch into a form they found ëpretty', lights went out at sundown like I was a simple seedling.

I snickered. Stupid human still hadn't found his bible. Soon, I'd have opportunity to take down his fascist regime.

"Mommy, why does he keep doing this?" my youngest whispered.

"Shh, my love. Someday you'll become so perfect the cruel man will stop." I didn't elaborate. No little sprout wanted to learn about hell day, and I didn't want to upset my offspring this vengeful night. I'd keep them in the dark as long as I could. "Sleep now. Dawn will break, it always does. And I promise you, we'll have a new light for breakfast--soon."

Circle in the Sand
Fallen angels, a handsome blue-eyed officer... How can a female geek concentrate?

I never thought it'd be so annoying being the lackey for a narcissist serial killer, but the angel rising from his chair had me gnashing enamel.

"You lost your marbles?" V growled. Like a trench coat around him, his dark hair flowed past his knees.

"Yes." Despite telling him that six times already, I didn't dare flip him my human backside and skedaddle before he dismissed me. The last thing I wanted was to squirm beneath a fallen one, his fist down my throat. His eyebrows snapping into killer angles encouraged me to elaborate. "Without my balls I can't blast brains to pulp. Searching the office, that's all I was doing."

"Balls? You sure look double X to me." He snorted, jerking his gaze from my chest. "Cease demoralizing your co-workers. Playing the ëI'm nuts card' won't negate a contract. If I don't make tomorrow's headlines, Rissa, my love, I'll hunt for lost items in places the sun doesn't shine. Get back to work."

My heart regained its beat as V stopped shaking feathers everywhere and his hands unclenched. It'd be easier to scope that red dot without my eyes swollen shut. I traded my urge to curtsey for a nod and retreated. It'd serve our molting slave master right if I did spread loss of mojo through his minions. With three women including me and five men dysfunctional thanks to the willies, the big oaf would have to do his own retribution. Unfortunately, the angel had me by the short hairs. I'd signed in blood. Two more foreheads to go, a total of seven bodies and he'd leave me and mine alone.

Review: The Power of Love

Just wanted to mention there's a great review of Barbara's POWER OF LOVE up on BittenbyBooks blog.

You can find the link to POWER OF LOVE at right.

Do the Right Thing....

...and don' t miss this novel! To be released this Thursday from Cerridwen Press, DOING THE RIGHT THING is an amazing story of love, loss and heart-breaking decisions that will leave you wanting more. (Never fear! A fantastic sequel is in the works!!!)

Barbara has a rare talent for creating a terrific blend of humor and tragedy that puts the reader right into the front seat of an unforgetable romantic joyride.

Words of praise for DOING THE RIGHT THING:

"Addie is a kind, quick-witted, survivor-of-a-mom-from-hell in an impossible love triangular with a twist. In a quest for her mother's approval, she meets Mr. Perfect—tall, dark and handsome Will, a man who only wants to do the right thing, but finds trying to do right by everyone only leads to a terrible wrong.

When Will steps into Addie's life, so does Ed, a serial playboy with an electric smile and a heart of gold who is there to catch Addie every time Will lets her down. The clincher? They're brothers. These three flawed, funny characters make for a story that runs the gauntlet between hilarious and heart-breaking.

An addicting Contemporary Romance. Five big shiny stars...and then some."

We have a Winner

All hands on deck!

Take it to the Stars's very own Laurie Green has just placed first in the Southwest Writer's Contest with her science fiction romance P2PC.

Here's the link: http://www.southwestwriters.com/swwcontestwinners09.php

I'm sure this is only the beginning of this amazing novel's voyage.

Dawn

Slipping the Past.

Some love affairs last a lifetime, others never end.

Jocelyn Miller is a fugitive. She’s, blind, homeless and was doomed to spiritual incarceration from the moment she drew her first breath. On the run since her eighteenth birthday, she’s somehow managed to stay one step ahead of the reapers. If she’s caught, she knows she’ll lose her soul, but what she doesn’t expect—is to lose her heart.

Innocent people don’t have warrants.

Or do they? Gabriel Solaris is an enforcer, a genetically enhanced psychic often referred to as a reaper for his ability to take souls, and he’s charged with collecting Jocelyn’s. When he finds Jocelyn outside the store, he’s sure she’s up to something illegal. Proving it isn’t necessary, he already has a warrant. But the closer Gabriel gets to Jocelyn, the more he begins to question his duty. Her claims of innocence have a ring of truth he can’t deny.

I loved you once.

Gabriel loses control and kisses her. Instead of taking her soul, he gives her a week to prove her innocence for past-life crimes. Now it isn’t only Jocelyn’s soul at stake. If she can’t prove her innocence, Gabriel will go down with her.

Liquid Silver has posted a notice of my book's upcoming release on their public page. There's an excerpt. No cover yet, but they'll post it there as soon as it's done.

liquidsilverbooks.com/forums/showthread.php?p=156837

Doing the right thing - coming soon!

Doing the Right Thing
Barbara Elsborg - available from Cerridwen Press 24th Sept

Addie Winter is single—just one more reason for disappointment in her permanently disapproving mother’s eyes. There’s nothing she wants more than to be loved but when her own mother can’t bring herself to love her, she wonders if anyone can. What she needs is a man—real would be ideal, but she’ll settle for pretend. Anything to shut her mother up.

Will Mansell chokes on his drink when Addie offers to pay him to spend the night in her room. Tall, dark-haired and the epitome of Addie’s “hero”, he can’t believe his luck because women usually go for his blond-haired brother. Ed Mansell is a serial playboy with an electric smile who waltzes through life and through women. Lucky for Will and Ed they don’t have the same taste in women. But that was before they met Addie.

Far from pretending, Will and Ed set out to prove Addie wrong. But after having no one who loves her, Addie finds too much love can be just as painful as no love at all.

Guess what!!!!!!

One of us has just had fantastic news. Brilliant. Wonderful. Exciting. It's our very own Laurie Green whose great sci fi romance P2PC has finalled in two - yes two - contests. Hip hip hooray for Laurie.

In the SWW Science Fiction category

the link: http://www.southwestwriters.com/swwcontestwinners09.php

and in the Heart of the West - competition. No link for that yet. To be added later.

Laurie will hopefully be attending both banquets in September and October when they announce the winners - but she's already a winner with us!!

HUGE congrats, Laurie

What's in a name?

I wonder what readers think of the names we pick for our heros and heroines. Does it put them off the story if they don't have names that give them the right feeling? I would never not read a book because I didn't like the name the author had chosen but the time I spend finding the right ones for my characters - you'd think I was studying brain surgery.
My heroines are Kate (more than once) Katya ( ooh is that a bit like Kate/) Chloe, Addie, Holly, Susie, Polly, Lucy, Daisy, Erin ( a different sound there), Jo (and again), Flick and Imo - to name but a few. I obviously like the 'ly' sound at the end of the name. In fact both my kids have names that end this way.
My heros - Charlie (arggh - slipping into it with the guys), Ethan, Nathan, Christian (all ending the same!), Dominic, Jay, Jax, Jack, Three, Beck, Will, Ed, Alek, Aleksei, Felix, Adrian, Jake and so on.
I can see a pattern. The men's names are mostly short and hard sounding, the women's have two syllables and are softer.
Getting the name right is absolutely essential to me. I can't write unless I've settled on the right moniker.I've even picked my next two with no story in mind. Keir and Faryn - well maybe not for the same story as they're both unusual but I'm definitely using them somewhere.
So - I'm interested in what readers think of names - do they care what the characters are called? After all the angst we go through in choosing the right names - I have a feeling it matters far more to the writer than the reader.

Free read on Ellora's Cave!!!

The Bad Widow - is available as a free read on Ellora's Cave from today. It's an erotic historical comedy - Salem witch trials era.


http://www.jasminejade.com/p-7384-the-bad-widow.aspx

The Bad Widow

Rose Thorne doesn’t want much. She’d like a man to love and for village idiots to stop claiming she’s a witch. Just because she does a little magic doesn’t mean they need to burn her at the stake. It takes ages to get the smell of smoke out of her hair. On her way home after foraging for mushrooms, she’s assaulted by two local lechers. Her rescuer appears out of the mist—a tall, dark, handsome stranger with a mouth-watering body. Finally something in her miserable life is going right. Furthermore, her savior turns out to be mute, so he can’t ruin things by saying something stupid.

Can life get any better?