Author: Dee S.

New! Cowboy Desire anthology from BVS

Cowboy Desire anthology

For me, Cowboy Desire is the best BVS anthology yet—the stories are all compelling and very different. Damn good writing!

Of course I didn’t review my own story in the anthology (paranormal Bird That Sings) but I do hope you’ll read and enjoy it!

Wild Thunder—Zia Westfield
Loved this old-fashioned cowboy type story. It starts with Gabe and Emmaline waking up next to each other. Emmaline wonders how she got there, in (she assumes) Gabe’s hotel room when suddenly a flashbulb startles them. The resulting photo gets Em fired and Gabe in hot water in a custody battle for his nephew. How the animosity and ager are settled is all about Em’s effect on two families and a large black horse. I loved the role Colton’s nephew played in the story. Zia, a really fine story, ma’am. (Tipping hat)

Ava—Callie Carmen
In this short story sequel to Callie’s romance novel Joshua (another 5-star!), she features Ava, the artist who lost Joshua, her childhood friend and first love. Now she’s back home in Kentucky and seriously focusing on her art—and Colton Maples, a successful rodeo cowboy who’s taking time out to help his dad in his art gallery. Colton has a reputation and sponsors to keep up, so even though he’s helping out at home, his mind is on the circuit. And speaking of reputations, rodeo cowboys have them in spades. Can Ava trust Colton to remain hers when he’s surrounded by rowdy colleagues and Buckle Bunnies? They discover in a strange and sweet way that love is met with Thunder and Lightning. Two great characters in a great story!

Cowboy Desire anthology

Orion—Virginia Wallace
What a great ad unexpected story! I don’t want to give too much away here because I want you to discover the story for yourself, but I’ll say that Daisy is a rancher’s daughter who’s trying hard to keep their ranch going when her father can no longer carry on as he used to. One night, while out riding, a strange light brightens on the horizon and then disappears. The next day, from nowhere and just when they’re desperate, a man arrives to help. Who is this Orion fellow? No one she knows. But he’s hired on anyway and soon proves to be their salvation. More than that, he seems to read Daisy’s mind…and her heart. They fall in love. Daisy expects Orion might ask her to marry him when he vanishes. Uh-oh. Virginia’s storytelling excited me when I read her story in Desire Me Again. In Orion she’s shown another wonderful example of appealing characters with an unusual take.

The Long Paddock—Jan Selbourne
This is one of my favorite stories in the book. Jan delivers a real taste of Australia and wonderful romance! Shelley and David—ex husband and wife—meet accidentally on a storied sheep and cattle trail/road known as the Long Paddock two years after their divorce. David had a drinking problem and Shelley finally gave up on his ever working on their marriage rather than spending hours at the pub with his friends. Now she’s dating someone and taking a much-needed time away to see her oldest friend. Traffic is held up by sheep being driven south and David is one of the herders. As fate would have it, they run into each other a couple more times and Shelley senses a difference in David. He claims to have changed. He claims never to have stopped loving her. He claims he’s ready to make a life. But is any of that true? How can she trust him, ever again? But as I mentioned, there is that pesky thing called Fate… This is a remarkable love story!

Space Cowboy Blues—Alice Renaud
Even a universe isn’t wide enough to keep love at bay! When Melynas escorts Jack, a cowboy from Earth who travels from planet to planet studying local “farm animals” for scientific reports, she longs to get close to him. But her planet and even her touch is deadly to him. Jack is a true gentleman and he shows that by acting respectfully toward Melynas, something other humans don’t do. Only when Jack is embroiled in a fight to protect Melynas do the two discover something fantastic. Alice usually captures us with her writings of Mer-people. This futuristic space romp is new from her but I hope it won’t be the end of her explorations—this story is worthy of a trip across the universe. I loved it!

Cowboy Desire anthology

Loving Jack—Estelle Pettersen
What a cool story! Olivia Bertrand married Angus Wilson directly after high school graduation. They had been going together but in no small part because her very best friend, Jack McCullen was already dating someone seriously. On their wedding night, Liv discovered Angus with another woman. What??! Furious, Jack beat Angus up and then screamed at Liv that she should have married him. That’s a fine time to tell her. After a quick escape from her marriage Liv goes off to London to work and stays away five years. When she finally returns home, she finds Jack is single—he never married. Is there any hope for the two of them, or has it been too long with too many misunderstandings? I really enjoyed this story of second-chance love.

Mail Order Mate—Eileen Troemel
Jack (short for Jackleen) and her niece are all that’s left of a family of nine after a pandemic sweeps across her planet. In an effort to solve two problems at once, the local government brings in human-like aliens from an over-crowded planet to form new family units and keep the planet’s agricultural base from total collapse. Jack agrees to accept a male (Ido) and his brother and wife to their station where they raise jumbos—kinda sheep on steroids. Jack missed the sounds and comfort of having people around, but will these aliens ever fill that void? And will she ever come to love Ido as a wife should? I was charmed by this story of family, no matter who or what makes up that group. Eileen makes you feel you’re there on the planet Loved it!

The Wyoming Way—Nancy Golinski
Spencer Campbell runs a ranch in Wyoming with his brother Paul. He’s married to a woman from Boston, a social butterfly named Charlotte. They have two daughters in college, so they’re living in that stage of life where empty-nesters struggle to find common ground after the kids have left home. Trouble is, Charlotte always seems to make it clear that she’s unhappy in Wyoming. The adjacent ranch is owned by Joey and his sister Jess—who left years ago for veterinary school and never returned. Joey has PTSD issues and really can’t maintain the ranch as it should be. Now Jess is returning home to pursue her career and help get the ranch back into shape. It’s so easy to be with Jess again. Spence has someone to talk to, someone who understands him and what he does. When they’re trapped away from home in a blizzard, they found they had more than common interests between them—know what I mean? What Charlotte does next sets off changes in both their lives. Complications in love are never good things. Can Spence and Jess find their way through them? What a great story, and unusual, too. I know you’ll love it as I did.

Cowboy Desire anthology

The Cowboy’s Heritage—Patricia Elliott
Magic strikes in this sci-fi story. On their island ranch, Reid McCloud goes searching for a lost lamb. It’s a prize-winner and Reid’s folks will kill him if the lamb is lost for good—or worse—when they return from their cruise. He chases a trail down a narrow, rocky path to the beach where he discovers not a lamb but (can he believe his eyes?) a mermaid. Before his eyes she shimmered and changed into a woman. Had he seen her correctly? Couldn’t have! Everyone knew there were no such things as mermaids. Regardless, she was injured. With the help of his friend, he got her back to the house. When she comes to, she tells Reid to call her Nerina. Meanwhile, far under the sea, a young mermaid who was caught up in s storm while trying to escape an unwanted marriage, is being searched for. Could she and Nerina be one and the same? And while she and Reid begin to fall in love, what will they do when she is found, as she inevitably will be? This is a very different love story with a surprise ending, and I loved it!

Craving Her Cowboys—R.M. Olivia
At the beginning of this ménage tale, Riva is a woman in a very bad situation, living with an abusive man. She making her escape as he returns home, and just in the nick of time…she’s free. Taking the back roads to Dallas so as not to be tracked easily, she breaks down not all that far down the road. Fortunately for her, she is stopped in the parking lot of a repair shop run by two brothers. Unfortunately, her car troubles are even worse than her personal ones. It will be days before she can get underway again. With no money and no where to stay, she reluctantly accepts the offer of the brothers for her to stay with them. They might not be able to fix her car right away but she has their engines roaring! The next day they take her home to pick up all the things she had to leave, and also give her worthless boyfriend what-for. Is it any wonder she doesn’t resist their offer to stay longer? Another hot tale from R.M. Oliver! Air conditioning required.

Cowboy Desire anthology

E-mail Ordered Groom—Starla Kaye
Gwenie (Gwendolyn) was a farrier—a most unusual career for a woman but she was damn good at it—and part owner of her family’s ranch. Her brother Thad has a surprise for her, something he says is the answer to her dreams. Who should climb out of a black SUV just arrived, but Drake Walters, her brother’s best friend, her old, secret crush, and a former football player. A serious injury spelled his exit from the NFL, and now he’s there, on her ranch, talking to his brother like they’re still the best friends they had been fourteen years ago. To Gwenie’s shame, Thad reveals that he’d emailed Drake that he worried about her. She was too much woman (meaning capable, stubborn, and not terribly feminine) for the men in their area, but that he knew she wanted a home and babies. Oh, and a husband, and that she’d been scribbling Drake’s name in the margins of the ranch’s records, over and over. Drake wanted to discuss a business question with Thad, so he came home to see about both issues. But once he’d seen Gwenie, could he remember that when he left she’d been just his friend’s kid sister? Did he want to? What a great story with two very likeable, engaging characters!

Pearl, Ben and REO—Alan Souter
This is perhaps my favorite story in the book. It’s so different, so sweet, so unexpected. Ben, a rodeo champion in 1909 Wyoming, and his Sioux Indian wife, Pearl, live on a little farm. When Ben arrives home after winning another calf roping event, the love between the two is so evident. “I’ve been thinkin’,” he said. “Every time I’ve heard that our lives have made a big swing from the well-traveled road.” And what Ben’s been thinking is that he’s getting a mite too old to rodeo for many more years. His horse is getting a hair slower and deserves a more fitting life. What he has in mind is indeed a big swing from the life they’re used to. The change is…REO, a brand new automobile. Pearl is not quite ready to jump on board with whatever this new change means. The thing takes two people to start, and then breaks down fairly often. They live in Wyoming, where the primary mode of transportation is a horse, not horsepower. But she sees Ben’s dilemma and never doubts that he needs this change but only if they can move forward together The question is how. Once you read this story you’ll treasure it as much as I do. It’s true love in under 10,000 words!

Bullets and Bustles—Suzanne Smith
Emma Tombs is a bounty hunter, and one of the very best. But she’s not happy doing it, not anymore. She confesses as such to the local sheriff when he pays the bounty for the latest man she’s gunned down. He tells her that the man she wants the worst, Johnny Romma, is in the area. She wants Johnny so badly because he killed her husband. Her husband had been no prize but killing him left her penniless and at a loss for a way to support herself except with a gun. Reluctantly, she gives up the chance to bring him in—dead or alive—and leaves town, her old life, and her reputation behind. She sets up a café in a distant part of the state. She’s a pretty women, which is the only reason the café hasn’t closed because she’s a horrible cook. One day, a gorgeous man wonders in for breakfast. They chat. He comes back and they chat some more. JD he says his name is. Emma is completely taken with him. He says he invested in a ranch outside town, though, he admits with a grin, he knows as much about ranching as she does about cooking. Says he’ll read a book to find out what to do. It’s practically love at first sight for the two—until Emma discovers JD’s secret. Suzanne’s skill at storytelling is on full-on display. This is a wonderful story of two unlikely lovers that leaves you feeling happy!

Charity Sunday: The Independence Fund

I missed the last couple of months due to a death in the family and recovery from a pretty bad injury. But I’m happy to be back participating once more in a Charity Sunday!
Charity Sunday: Dee S. Knight

How Charity Sunday works: for every comment made on this blog post, I will donate money to the charity named. The same promise is made for every blog site listed in the group–click the Linky Links link at the bottom of this post to see the list of participants and read/comment on any of them to see a donation go to that blogger’s charity. We’re all different! Thanks for your help and your participation!

This month I’d like to highlight The Independence Fund. The mission of The Independence Fund is “…to empower our severely wounded Veterans and their Caregivers to take control of their lives. We provide the resources and tools that enable Veterans to regain their independence and fight for their ability to sustain it.”

They support wounded Veterans of any era and use a “whole family” approach to achieve the greatest results and sustainability. They also partner with the VA to help stem the tragedy of Veteran suicides. And—and this is how I heard of this organization—one of the tools they provide is all-terrain wheelchairs so Veterans might experience life outdoors. I’d seen these things long ago but didn’t know where to support their distribution. They allow truer outdoor activities since they use tracks instead of wheels, and thus move across lawns and gravel and even go into the woods. I’m thrilled to support this organization that has a very high rating on Charity Navigator!

Burning Bridges by Anne KristMy book of the month is Burning Bridges, a romance that has its genesis in the Vietnam War, and which Coffee Pot Book Club awarded the Gold Medal for Best Romance 2020!

Blurb:
Not your typical “secret baby” book! This Southern romance packs in the emotion.

Letters delivered decades late send shock waves through Sara Richards’s world. Nothing is the same, especially her memories of Paul, a man to whom she’d given her heart years before. Now, sharing her secrets and mending her mistakes of the past means putting her life back together while crossing burning bridges. It will be the hardest thing Sara’s ever done.

Buy link:
Kindle Unlimited

Excerpt:
Sara stared at the letters arranged before her in numerical order. The moment in time she and Paul shared was long ago, yet her dream had conjured his presence as though she’d just seen him. In her mind, his blue eyes darkened with passion before his lips captured hers, and he moaned his appreciation when their tongues met. She tasted his sweetness and knew the steel of his arms as he held her. How many nights had she put herself through hell reliving those memories? Too damn many.

After the concert, they’d met clandestinely on weekends, mostly at Sandbridge, where they could walk and talk undisturbed. With each meeting, stirrings built deep in Sara that pushed her to want more, but Paul insisted they restrain themselves because of her age.

Then the weekend before he shipped out, she’d planned a surprise and her life changed forever.

The kettle screeched, bringing her back to the present. Sara prepared a cup of tea and then picked up the envelope marked twenty-eight. At one time, she would have given her right arm to hold this letter. Now, curiosity and the desire for a brief escape drove her more than the passion of youth. Blind love had faded when she’d had no word to bolster her during the long weeks after the ship left.

First had come the waiting. No letters arrived, even though she wrote him daily. There were no phone calls, no notes, no anything, for days that dragged into weeks then crept into months.

Anticipation morphed into anxiety. She worried he was sick or hurt and unable to write.

One day she admitted that Paul must be afraid to write for some reason, and she feared what he would say if she did receive a letter. That their time together had been a mistake, that she was too young to be in love. That he really loved someone else and Sara had been only a stand-in while he was in Virginia. Perversely, she began to sigh with relief when she arrived home and found no word.

Now, knowing why she hadn’t received mail, what would she feel if she opened this letter and her old fears proved to be true?

“Nothing,” she murmured. “Paul’s dead. He can’t hurt me anymore.” At the very least, his letters might allow her to put his ghost to rest. For that reason alone, she had to read them.

She slid her thumb under the flap and ripped the envelope open. A single sheet held his hurried scrawl.

Author Dee S. Knight:
A few years ago, Dee S. Knight began writing, making getting up in the morning fun. During the day, her characters killed people, fell in love, became drunk with power, or sober with responsibility. And they had sex, lots of sex.

After a while, Dee split her personality into thirds. She writes as Anne Krist for sweeter romances, and Jenna Stewart for ménage and shifter stories. All three of her personas are found on the Nomad Authors website (www.nomadauthors.com). Fortunately, Dee’s high school sweetheart is the love of her life and husband to all three ladies! Once a month, look for Dee’s Charity Sunday blog posts, where your comment can support a selected charity.

Author links:
Website: https://nomadauthors.com

Blog: http://nomadauthors.com/blog

Twitter: http://twitter.com/DeeSKnight

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeeSKnight2018

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/265222.Dee_S_Knight

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B079BGZNDN

Newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/h8t2y6

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/dee-s-knight-0500749

Sweet ‘n Sassy Divas http://bit.ly/1ChWN3K

Please check Sheri ‘s  Lisabte Sarai‘s Charity Sunday posts.

New from Lisabet Sarai! Understudy: Acts of Submission

New BDSM erotica from Lisabet SaraiOne look from him and I melt. One word, and I’m on my knees.

Blurb

When the Berks Hills Summer Playhouse offered me my first real acting job, I never expected to share a stage with theater legend Geoffrey Hart – let alone his bed. Nothing in my education or experience prepared me for the paradoxical pleasures of submission.

Now I’m devoted to my master, for better or worse. According to the rumors, though, Geoff’s heart is taken. Dumped by his long-time sub, he has escaped to the Berkshires to lick his emotional wounds. Geoffrey’s dark games arouse me beyond belief, but I fear I’m just a substitute for the real object of his affections. Am I willing to settle for the role of understudy in this perverse passion play?

Note: This book was previously published by Totally Bound. It has been revised, expanded and re-edited for this release.

Buy Links
 Kinky Literature – https://www.kinkyliterature.com/book/4427-the-understudy-acts-of-submission/

Amazon  US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B092VYT8DN

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.th/dp/B092VYT8DN

Smashwords –  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1080182

Barnes and Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-understudy-lisabet-sarai/1139312061?ean=2940164880460

Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/th/en/ebook/the-understudy-acts-of-submission

Add on Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57802100-the-understudy

Online Excerpt
https://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/2021/04/like-snake-in-garden-bdsm-eroticromance.html

Myths, Cliches and Personal Experience
 I’ve been reading, and writing, BDSM erotica and erotic romance for a long time. My first novel, deeply involved with dominance and submission, was published more than a decade before the appearance of FSOG. I know how difficult it is to create something fresh in these sub genres. Originality is possibly my most important personal criterion, both in selecting my reading and in creating my own stories, so I try very hard to avoid clichés. Sometimes, though, a BDSM cliché lies at the heart of what I want to say.

One somewhat overused and abused trope is the notion of the “natural submissive”. A woman who previously had no interest in power exchange meets a dominant man and immediately succumbs to his charisma. Despite her lack of experience with BDSM, she’s ready to obey his instructions, to let him bind her, punish her, and use her however he wishes. Instead of being awkward and terrified, she finds deep satisfaction in her submissive role. She’s thrilled when her Dom tells her that he’d intuited her secret desire for surrender, that he knew as soon as he met her that she craved a master.

The Understudy: Acts of Submission plays with this familiar scenario. As soon as she catches sight of him, aspiring actress Sarah falls under the spell of theater legend Geoffrey Hart. When he orders her to carry his luggage upstairs, she finds herself unable to refuse. And when he challenges her to consent and submit, she discovers joy and pleasure beyond anything she’d dreamed. Meanwhile, Geoff is delighted to find such an aptitude for surrender in a total novice, but claims not to be surprised.

 I feel a bit guilty exploiting this trope, but I have to admit that I personally find it intensely erotic. That’s because it mirrors my own real world experience with BDSM. I was a horny but very vanilla twenty-something when I met the man who initiated me into dominance and submission. And the very first time we came together physically, I was hooked. Looking back, I’m still full of wonder at the trust that bloomed between us, when we scarcely knew one another. Forty years later, the intensity and beauty of that D/s relationship continues to show up in my erotic stories.

 People in the kink community will tell you that trust takes time to grow, that both doms and subs need practice, that the instant connection glamorized in BDSM fiction is a myth. Maybe for some people, but for me, the myth turned out to be true. And I’m still sharing that revelation with my readers.

 The Understudy Acts of Submission by Lisabet Sarai

Excerpt
“It’s him!” Adele tugged at my shirt, almost hard enough to tear it. “Look, Sarah!” She pointed to the shiny black Lincoln cruising around the corner. “I still can’t believe it! We’re really going to have a chance to work with Geoffrey Hart!” The wooden porch shook as my friend literally jumped up and down with excitement. Adele’s temperament matched her fiery hair.

Of course my own heart beat faster than normal as the town car approached the inn at a sedate pace. Geoffrey Hart was a legend in American theater. Since his first appearance off-Broadway ten years earlier, he had won every award in the world of drama. He’d played every prestigious role from Oedipus to Willy Loman. One summer in Central Park I’d seen him as both Hamlet and King Lear. He was astonishing, equally convincing as the callow, indecisive university student and the bitter, world-weary old man. His magical voice, full of nuance and music, reached the back row without amplification. His body language was eloquent with emotion. In both plays, he’d made me cry. His performances were an inspiration, one of the things that finally made me settle on drama—much to my parent’s chagrin.

I’d been thrilled when the Berk Hills Playhouse offered me a place for the summer. I never in a million years expected that I’d meet the man who had been such a role model.

But why on earth was he coming here, to a little summer stock theater in the rural hills of western Massachusetts? The last news I saw, he was lead actor and part owner of the Gotham Repertory Company. What could possibly have induced him to abandon the city for the sticks?

“I heard that he broke up with Anne Merrill,” said Adele, sotto voce, as if she’d read my mind. “She dumped him. He’s come out here to the country to lick his wounds.”

“What? Who told you that?” I recalled the actor’s handsome face and imposing presence. It was hard to believe someone would dump him—he seemed like the type to do the dumping.

“I can’t reveal my sources.” Adele’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “But the word is that his heart is broken.”

“Oh come on!” I just couldn’t imagine someone like Hart moping about a woman. “Seriously?”

“I wouldn’t lie to you, would I?” She put her arm around my shoulders and gave me a quick hug. “And that’s not all. There are rumors about their relationship—that it was, well, kinky, if you know what I mean. According to the grapevine, she wasn’t just his girlfriend. She was also his slave.”

“Please! You shouldn’t believe every bit of gossip you hear.”

“I’m just saying…”

About Lisabet
Lisabet SaraiLisabet Sarai became addicted to words at an early age. She began reading when she was four. She wrote her first story at five years old and her first poem at seven. Since then, she has written plays, tutorials, scholarly articles, marketing brochures, software specifications, self-help books, press releases, a five-hundred page dissertation, and lots of erotica and erotic romance – over one hundred titles, and counting, in nearly every sub-genre—paranormal, scifi, ménage, BDSM, GLBT, and more. Regardless of the genre, every one of her stories illustrates her motto: Imagination is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

You’ll find information and excerpts from all Lisabet’s books on her website (http://www.lisabetsarai.com/books.html), along with more than fifty free stories and lots more. At her blog Beyond Romance (http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com), she shares her philosophy and her news and hosts lots of other great authors. She’s also on Goodreads, Pinterest, BookBub, BingeBooks and Twitter.

Join her VIP email list here: https://btn.ymlp.com/xgjjhmhugmgh

New from Kayelle Allen! Surrender Love

Surrender Love

Surrender Love by Kayelle Allen

Surrender Love is out in eBook and print.
Surrender Love by Kayelle Allen

This is one of the longest books I’ve ever written.

Over 500 pages.
Luc & Izzorah’s love story is a big one.

Strip away the power, immortality, and the body to die for, and you have a simple man with a deep desire for love and acceptance.

Luc is the most powerful man in a 22 planet empire, but he is alone.
Century after century.
Until he meets Izzorah, a catlike alien male
in need of immediate rescue.

But thankfully, taking care of someone is just what each of them needs…

I’ve been recommending books for a while now.
Today it’s time to recommend my own.
Surrender Love is a re-release of an old favorite in a new format. It’s far from “clean and wholesome” but not down and dirty. I’d say it’s just right. ;

***

If you read the old version of this book, you’ll want this one. This edition contains about 20k words not in the original.

JL Peridot: The perilous matter of reviewing books

It’s hard reviewing books. Even when all I did was read, and the only opinion I had to worry about was my own, it still took work. Sometimes you just want to enjoy the emotional experience of a book without having to put it into words. Publishing a review thrusts you into the public eye, turning your raw feeling into something that can influence another person—that’s one heck of a responsibility!

As an author, things get complicated. It’s often hard to share a raw opinion, especially if it’s not overwhelmingly positive, knowing there’s another writer out there just like you, who may be hurt or confused by what you have to say. “Suck it up, buttercup” is unhelpful on both sides, even though we authors are generally advised to grow a thicker skin and accept we can’t please everyone. The thing is, we’re all human—fallible, vulnerable, sensitive—it’s what makes us able to relate to each other and create good stories for our readers.

There’s also the matter of reconciling the technical self with the emotional self. What happens if you can’t stand the way an author writes, but the story’s so good you end up enjoying the book? Or what if the story is dreck, but perfectly written? What’s your criteria for adding up those stars then?

Then there are the times when things get uncomfortable. Early in my career, I agreed to participate in a review swap. In case you’ve not heard of these, it’s when the two (or more) authors agree to read each other’s books and leave a review, usually on Amazon and Goodreads.

I got right to reading, but found I couldn’t connect with the characters or the story. And when I wrote to the author privately to let them know, they responded asking me not to post a review because they only wanted 5-star reviews associated with their book.

Now, I understand the desire to write a 5-star book. I can appreciate that publishing is a business no matter how romantic the story, and that practices like this are common and accepted in some circles. But something about this exchange didn’t sit well with me.

As a writer, it made me feel like I chose a dishonest line of work. As a reader, it made me lose trust in the indie publishing sector, where we may lack the readership numbers needed to outshine these minor manipulations. I used to wonder why many reviewers state explicitly that they were giving “an honest review”. After this incident, I stopped wondering.

These days, I avoid review swaps, review requests, and any kind of review-related transaction. I’ve learned that I’m a “mood reader” and, as such, it would be unfair of me to promise a fair review if I’m emotionally incapable of delivering one.

Likewise, I don’t expect any of my writer friends—even close ones—to read or review my books. Reading fiction is a privilege and a pleasure, and I think sometimes we authors lose that in the deluge of our work.

If, like me, you’ve grown weary and wary of book review culture, here are a few alternative ways to support an indie author whose stories you admire:

  1. Recommend instead of review. A book may not be for you, but you might know someone who’s looking for that exact read.
  2. Include the book in literary discussions. Need an example in a blog post or forum discussion? Consider citing a lesser-known book alongside the customary bestsellers.
  3. Give that author a boost on social media. Even if you’re not sharing your in-depth opinion of their work, this helps them reach a wider audience and achieve stickier brand recognition.
  4. Engage with their online content. Social feed algorithms are diabolically good at helping bigger names overshadow smaller players. Every like, reply, save, repost and follow can help your favourite newcomer gain visibility and connect with more readers.

About JL Peridot
JL PeridotJL Peridot writes love stories and more from her home beneath the southern skies. When not chipping away at her current WIP, she’s chomping down on a new favourite book, watching Netflix, and chilling real good. Subscribe to JL’s mailing list for banter, updates, teasers and the occasional microfiction.

Website: http://jlperidot.com
Blog: http://jayelle.pink

Chasing Sisyphus by JL PeridotChasing Sisyphus

Bounty hunter Adria Yuan is hot on the trail of her final hit: a notorious hacker wanted by the city’s elite. With the reward, she can pay for her brother’s surgery and finally get out of Basilica City. Trouble is, her line of work’s not exactly legal, and she’s barely staying ahead of the cops who want her target, too.

Detective Rhys Carver may be a little unorthodox, but he’s a good cop. Born and bred in Basilica, he does his part to keep his city clean. As clean as it gets, at least. And with Adria suddenly in his sights, it’s going to take more than falling in love for him to let her go.

As the pair close in on their mark, they are unwittingly drawn into a high profile conspiracy that could thrust the whole of Basilica into chaos. Can Adria and Rhys set aside their differences, and their desires, to save the only home they know?

Excerpt

Adria hadn’t counted on the tripwire. This kid knew someone would follow him home one day. He’d strung a line of empty soup cans across the apartment hallway. When she kicked that out, a hefty serving of iced water came down squarely on her head. Gooseflesh prickled her neck and shoulders. The muscles in her jaw seized in the cold. Against the shock, she scrambled to her feet, fired up to catch the stomping and crashing in the other room before it got away.

A figure ran past the doorway.

“Stop!” she yelled.

It rounded the corner. Adria gave chase.

She scanned the room. It was dim at best, thanks to the streetlights from outside, but she saw enough. Computer equipment and various peripherals lay strewn across the floor, some still plugged into a transportable battery in the corner, emitting tiny lights and numbers.

A window slammed shut. The glass shattered. Shards crunched and ground beneath Adria’s boots as she hurried in pursuit of her fleeing target.

When she stepped out onto the fire escape, two hands rammed her into the ladder. The whole balcony shuddered from the collision. Pain flared down her shoulder, but she kept her grip on the gun. She held it up with her good arm and fired.

Two shots.

Missed.

She stumbled backward, clutching her burning shoulder, but the railing crumbled under her weight. Adria grabbed what was left of it with both hands as her footing slipped away.

It looked like a four-story drop. Maybe five if she’d miscounted. Her legs dangled over thin air while from below came the clatter of broken pieces of railing, along with her gun, as they hit the concrete.

Overhead, her target stomped away on the rungs and disappeared onto the roof.

Adria’s shoulder raged. She tried to pull herself up, but couldn’t take the weight with just one good arm. Her feet kicked out, searching for a foothold, but the grill beneath had long withered away to slivers of rust and sharp edges.

Water and sweat dripped into her eyes. She swiped them helplessly on her sleeves and winced as rough seams grazed the skin. The railing creaked in her clammy grip. She could always let go. If she timed her landing right, maybe she’d get away with a broken ankle and a tetanus shot. Surely it only looked like a long way down.

Then she heard a gunshot from inside the apartment.

Add Chasing Sisyphus to your Goodreads TBR.

New release!! When the White Knight Falls by Virginia Wallace

When the White Knight Falls by Virginia WallaceAlec had passion unlike anything she imagined.
But passion can go two ways…

BLURB:
The lovely and talented Kate McCoy once thought that her future was predictable, and secure. Classical music was her passion, and she was inarguably the mistress of her craft.

Then she met Alec Murdenson…

Alec knows nothing of orchestras; he’s a rocker, through and through. The ferocity of his music seems out of place when viewed alongside his easy smile, and his sense of humor—not to mention his handsome face and striking green eyes.

But there is something else lurking behind his riveting gaze, an entity that is both Alec and yet not Alec at all. That phantasm is more than a little disturbing; perhaps it is even a cold-blooded monster.

As Kate becomes tangled within Alec’s web, she is forced to re-think everything she once thought she knew. In so doing, she must make a horrific choice: Either run for the hills…

Or embrace a man who understands human depravity better than she ever could.

Buy link: Amazon US

Excerpt:
Vinyl car seats…

Vinyl car seats aren’t comfy, not at all. They’re not like old couch cushions, resting upon worn-out, well broken-in sofas, into which one can comfortably settle. No, vinyl seats are cold and unforgiving. They don’t conform to the human posterior; they swelter in the summer and radiate winter’s chill like a cowhide icicle. Kate hated vinyl cushions of any kind. They reminded her of the leather seats in her father’s chauffeured Bentley, and she hadn’t liked those either.

Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, Kate tried desperately to find a position that wouldn’t make her behind ache. She was rather tall for a woman, and this backseat was, as Dr. Seuss would have put it, “three sizes too small” for her frame. And this whole situation would have been much, much easier without the handcuffs!

Giving up on the prospect of finding an accommodating position, Kate leaned back and stared at herself in the rearview mirror. The police officer assigned as her “babysitter” was sitting coolly in the front, listening to the radio. The Los Angeles Police had ordered a female officer to arrest her. Smart move, thought Kate sourly. The last thing the LAPD needs is the famous Kathryn McCoy suing them for sexual harassment.

Kate met her own brilliant sapphire gaze, hoping against hope that this was all just a bad dream. Just a little while ago she’d been going about her business; she still had her makeup on, for crying out loud! Not that most people thought she needed it. Her long, straight, jet black hair and porcelain complexion were usually adornment enough.

This can’t be happening, thought Kate. But the flashing police lights belied her wishful thought. The street upon which the police car was parked was inarguably picturesque; palm trees lined the thoroughfare, and the surrounding cityscape was defined by beautiful stonework. This part of L.A. was no place for horror … but here she was, living out a nightmare.

Hanging her head in despair, Kate entertained a brief fantasy of suicide. She’d just suffered a death in her family, and her exhausting career had pushed her to the breaking point. Relationship issues had caused her personal life to become an emotional roller coaster. She’d been on the edge for quite some time … and now this.

The police car was rather stuffy. Kate wondered absently if her makeup had melted enough to expose those stubborn freckles across the bridge of her nose. She had been pampered and spoiled her entire life, from her upbringing in Long Island to her current situation in California. Being cuffed and rudely shoved into a cruiser was not something to which she was accustomed.

Kate lifted her head as a detective approached the car. He motioned to the officer in the front seat and waited outside the rear door. “I can exit myself, thank you,” said Kate as the officer opened the door. She was in no mood to be rough-housed out of the backseat. Stepping primly from the vehicle, she balanced carefully on her high heels, adjusting the back of her evening gown as best she could manage with cuffs on.

“May I help you?” she asked the detective coldly.

“Is this yours, Miss McCoy?” asked the detective calmly, reaching into an opaque evidence bag.

Please don’t, pleaded Kate inside. I don’t want to see it. She turned her gaze away as the officer held up something upon which she couldn’t bear to look: a violin bow, broken in half and covered in blood.

“Is this yours?” repeated the detective.

Kate bit her lip, remembering vividly the words of her Virginian friend, old Jerry. If you’re forced to defend yourself, NEVER talk to the police! One misspoken word, and they can hang you. Shut the hell up and wait for a lawyer!

“Miss McCoy,” said the detective, assuming a patronizing tone. “I need to know what happened in there. If you don’t tell me what he did to you, I can’t help you. I’ll have to book you on the charge we arrested you for.”

A police officer can’t help you, Jerry had said. They work for the district attorney, and the district attorney’s job is to convict you. Resolved to keep her cool, Kate just stared defiantly at the detective.

“Miss McCoy—” began the detective.

“If you’re going to grill me for the third time in four hours,” said Kate between clenched teeth, “then by all means call me ‘Kate’!”

“Kate,” re-started the detective, “I need your story.”

“Ask my lawyer,” retorted Kate.

“Then, Kate, you leave me no choice,” sighed the detective. “Your ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ friend is dead, apparently by your hand. This is your violin bow, and there was no one else on the scene. You have blood on your hands and your dress, and your prints are all over the place.”

“Lawyer!” said Kate firmly.

“I heard you the first time,” said the detective.

Kate waited for his next words, knowing that they would spell out her doom.

“Kathryn Leigh McCoy,” said the detective, “I’m going to charge you with murder in the second degree. Are you sure you don’t have something to say?”

Kate looked away, half-amused by the detective’s last-minute attempt to coerce a damning statement out of her. “Yes, sir,” she said contritely. “Yes, I do.”

“What is it, Kate?” said the detective, assuming a falsely intimate tone. Kate looked daggers at him. “Kate?”

“May I get back into the car, please?”

“That’s it, Miss McCoy?”

“No!” spat Kate.

“What else?”

“AND,” screamed Kate at the top of her lungs, “I WANT MY LAWYER ALREADY!!!”

Interview: Meet Virginia Wallace:
NA: What sort of research did you do to write this book?
VW: Honestly, I did none whatsoever. At the same time, I spent thousands of hours on research. My favorite genre of music has always been heavy metal. I’ve been to countless concerts, listened to countless albums, and I’ve even been blessed enough to actually meet a few of my musical heroes. I wanted to write a book that captured both the frantic energy and the raw pathos that metal so beautifully personifies. I think the romance market often overlooks a major demographic: ‘Metal chicks,’ and that was a niche that I wanted to fill while still appealing to mainstream romance readers.

NA: What is the main thing you want readers to take away from your book?
VW: Romance novels are, at their core, fiction. So yes, they often feature such bewitching concepts as ‘love at first sight.’ This is often as it should be, because we read fiction to escape our lives. But there is also a place for stories that echo reality, and the reality behind relationships is this: They take work! They’re often confusing. Sometimes you’re smitten with someone one day, and the next you wonder what you ever saw in them. You believe someone’s your soul mate one day, and the next you wonder if they’re maybe the Anti-Christ in disguise. What gets you through both the good days and the bad ones is commitment and perseverance. So I suppose what I’d like my readers to take from my work is this: Love doesn’t just happen. Nor is it simply a feeling; rather, it is an act of will.

NA: A fun fact about writing your book.
VW: Ostensibly, the title When the White Knight Falls is a reference to the death of starry-eyed infatuation in a romantic relationship. But it’s also a reference to one of my absolute favorite books: Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, which features a scatterbrained ‘White Knight’ that keeps falling off his horse and landing on his head.

NA: What started you on the path to writing?
VW: When I was a teenager, my best friends introduced me to the iconic role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. That was an absolute game-changer for me. I developed my creative chops by telling stories, not writing them down; it would be years before I began putting my tales on paper. I’d always thought of myself as an artist as a child and a teenager, but writing slowly began to eclipse that as I came to feel that could express myself more thoroughly as a writer.

NA: What do your friends and family think about your being a writer?
VW: Half the time, I don’t know! The curse of being a writer is that it’s a very isolated pursuit; writers simply aren’t as available as most people. But I suppose my more honest answer would be similar to any writer’s: Some in my circle are proud of me, some think I’m weird… and others wish I would just ‘shut it,’ and stop incessantly yapping about what I’m working on!

NA: The biggest surprise you had after becoming a writer
VW: What an absolutely INSANE amount of work it is! People ask me sometimes how much time it takes to be a writer. My response is always ‘how much time do you have? And before you answer, let me tell you that it’s not enough.’ There is no ‘dabbling’ in writing, at least not once you engage the publishing world. You either go ‘whole hog’ or you don’t even bother. The hours are long and the pay is meager… but at the end of the day, you do it because you love writing. You do it because you can’t imagine yourself doing anything else.

NA: Do you outline books ahead of time or are you more of a by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer?
VW: I use kind of a hybrid approach. I write character outlines, and a loose plot. Then I write the finished ending first; it gives me something to write toward. I always laugh when writers announce on social media that they’ve ‘finally typed ‘the end!’’ I’m always like, I type that first! After the ending is finished, I start at the beginning and move forward. I do make periodic adjustments to the outline as I go along, though. I feel that if I’m too rigid, then I’m not allowing my characters to tell their own stories.

NA: What has been one of your most rewarding experiences as an author?
VW: When a reader tells me ‘I loved your story’! I don’t think of myself as some kind of intellectual or artistic genius. I’m just an entertainer, like countless others. If I pulled you out of your life for a day, or even just an afternoon, that makes me proud. Appreciative readers make the work well worth the effort!

NA: What are your top three favorite books of all time?|
VW: There are three that I read every year like clockwork: ‘Rebecca’, by Daphne du Maurier, ‘Huckleberry Finn’, by Mark Twain, and ‘The October Country’ by Ray Bradbury. All three hold special places in my heart for a long list of reasons!

NA: First thought when the alarm goes off in the in the morning?
VW: You probably don’t want me typing that here. I am NOT a morning person! I’m fuzzy and foggy and it takes me a couple of hours to get moving. On the plus side, the moment I crawl out of bed the worst part of my day is over. No matter what happens, it’s all uphill from there!

NA: What errand/chore do you despise the most?
VW: PROOFREADING!!! I’m all about the characters, the ebb and flow of the story. The right word in exactly the right place. Looking for misspellings? Punctuation errors? I prefer that to be someone else’s job! That’s partially why I so aggressively sought a gig with a traditional publishing company.  Had I remained on the ‘indie’ scene, all that boring stuff would still be on me!

NA: What famous person would you like to have dinner with?
VW: Ozzy Osbourne! I wouldn’t understand a word he said, mind you, but I’m sure it’d be a blast anyway. I saw him with Black Sabbath on their finale tour, and he was an absolute hoot. (Whenever I’m feeling down about myself, I always remember: I’m number one, because Ozzy told me so!) His books I am Ozzy and Trust Me, I’m Dr. Ozzy are a riot. He has this dry sense of humor, and a way of sharing anecdotes that’s very engaging.

NA: What are you working on now?
VW: This interview! I’m also working on a horror/romance novel (yes, there is such a thing) entitled The Angel and Beast. Once my wonderfully talented editor is finished gleefully raking me over the coals, it’s on to ‘submission time!’

NA: What is any question we didn’t ask that you would like to answer?
VW: To whom do I credit my success?

A writer isn’t a lone entity, as many believe. A writer is part of a team. My friends taught me to create engaging characters as we sat around playing D&D and munching on Doritos. (And drinking Surge. LOTS of Surge! That stuff’s poison. Seriously…) I was home-schooled as a child; my mother taught me how to write, at least on a technical level. Over the years, beta readers have often offered just the right criticism – made just the right suggestion – to completely turn around a floundering manuscript. But all of that is still for nothing if you can’t find the right publisher, one who believes in you and is willing to take a chance on your work—and I have. And above all else, I believe this happened because I prayed for it. My efforts – and those of others – mean nothing without the blessings of God.

So to whom do I credit my success? Everyone. All those who stuck with me, who carried me along as I fumbled my way through the confusing publishing world. Those who believe in my work now, encourage me, publish me, and help me hone my craft. God, who brought all of those wonderful people into my circle. I’m living my dream, for sure. But I’m not doing it alone, and that’s the biggest blessing of all.

About Virginia:
Virginia WallaceVirginia Wallace is a native of the Chesapeake Bay region on the Southeast coast of the United States. Nomadic by nature, Virginia has lived all over, from the mountains of New England to the rolling hills of the American Heartland.

She began her creative career during her late teens and early twenties, working as a freelance portrait and commercial artist. She slowly transitioned into writing, eventually self-publishing three novels for the ‘indie’ book market.

As a writer, Virginia Wallace has always worked at meshing modern stories with a lush style reminiscent of 19th Century American and European literature. When the White Knight Falls marks her debut into the mainstream book market.

Where to find her:
Website
Facebook
Twitter  (@VirginiaKWalla1)
MeWe
LinkedIn

The trick to writing a series by Eileen Troemel

Welcome, Eileen Troemel!!

How to Write a Long Series
(in theory)

Wayfarer series by Eileen Troemel

If you want to write a long series, you should probably start a spreadsheet for all your details. Names, descriptions, scenes, ideas, summaries of books, and so on. That would be the logical way to start a series. If you are a person who plots out your books, that’s probably the best way to start a series.

I don’t plot my books. I just write them. I sit down to my computer and start with an idea. I let things flow as they come. If I’ve finished something, I look through my WIP folder and open what sounds good and then I read. I edit as I go because the mistakes offend me (yes even in my own stories).

I wrote a series of nineteen books – one short story (prequel) and eighteen full length novels. I sat down to my computer and wrote. Before I started the second novel, I reread the first one. Then I let the characters take me where they wanted. This is how I’ve written most of my novels. I think it’s worked well.

Wayfarer series by Eileen Troemel

It sounds like I’m super disorganized, doesn’t it? How in the world did I manage to write so many in a series? The snarky(ish) answer is – one story at a time. Let me give you some background.

In 2014, I published my first books (romance novel, meditation self help book, and three poetry books). Like all new authors, I was pretty clueless. Reading articles – they all said don’t wait, publish your next book.
My middle daughter and I had this conversation about books – one of like a billion. She asked what I was doing next. I said I didn’t have any idea. She asked for a space scifi romance where the woman comes from a vulnerable point.

Ideas popped into my head. I pulled from different experiences in building my character and the world (or more appropriately universe) she was in. Put in ideas on travelers, gypsies, and other nomadic societies, my love of Star Trek, Star Wars (and other space type movies) and about a thousand other ideas and experience into my head, mix and spew out the results. Five months to the day from my first book, I published Wayfarer.

Wayfarer series by Eileen Troemel

For me, it was one and done. Then my readers got a hold of it. My daughter finished it and said – what’s next? (this is a theme). I said – no I told her story. I’m done.

I was but Adara and Decker weren’t. I don’t think it took long and I was working on Wayfarer Clans… and then Wayfarer Immemorial… and – well you get the idea. By the end of 2014 I’d published four Wayfarer novels. In January 2015, I published Wayfarer Wedding and I thought I was done. My main characters were married. They had their happy ever after – right?
Nope. I wrote the prequel next and then just kept writing their story.

Clearly, I did not start out to write a series. I almost never plot out a book. When I started Wayfarer – I only had the female main character, her race, and a vague setting. I’m pretty sure I wrote several scenes before she even had a name.

Wayfarer series by Eileen Troemel

As soon as people – i.e. authors – hear I wrote a series with eighteen novels and a short story, the first question is – How did you keep track of everything?

First book, I didn’t. I think I was three novels in when the idea of keeping a spreadsheet came to me. One thing I did not want to do as I wrote a series was to mess up someone’s backstory or say someone had green eyes in one place and blue in another.

So I started a spreadsheet. I reread all the books and each new character, Wayfarer words, ship, and other details in the books went into my spreadsheet. I’ve got nine tabs in it. On some of the tabs, I’ve got a ton of information and others ended up being just a short list.

I know at one point, I added the number of books so I could track who came in when and who was in which books. I used this to keep a summary of each book. I cannot tell you how many times I used the summary to figure out days between events. There’s a lot of pregnancies in my series so making sure the right amount of time had passed was key. But I also used it to figure out ages and other things. If I was working on a Wayfarer novel, I had my spreadsheet open. It was my ultimate referral.

One other thing which helped me was to reread the books. One reason to reread the previous books was to get the feel for the characters, setting, and tone. It helped me fall back into Adara’s head or whichever character I needed to write about.

Wayfarer series by Eileen Troemel

Rarely did I start a book with a plan. When I reached book ten (Wayfarer Expansion), I freaked out a bit. TEN books. It seemed like such a big deal. Was the story good enough to be book ten? Obviously it had to be BETTER! I edited and edited and edited. In passing, I told a friend how I was feeling and she reminded me numerological a ten is a one so it’s a beginning. It was simple. It’s just another step in the series. I finished my edits and published.

My middle daughter and I talked (another of those billion book conversations) about authors who kill off characters. Somewhat to tease her, I said maybe I should kill someone off in the Wayfarer novel. What was meant to tease my daughter turned into a serious discussion of how it should be done. When I started writing Wayfarer Acceptance, there were two things I knew – I did not want to write another birthing scene and one of the characters would not survive the end of the book.

Around book twelve (Wayfarer Convictions) or thirteen (Wayfarer Limits), I realized the stories were leading to a huge change in the storyline. I knew at this point where Adara was going to end up. What? Plotting? Yes – minimally.

One of the things I hate about long series is without fail, repeats occur. I looked at where I’d been in the series and realized I was coming to the end.

My daughter and I talked about different crimes and different overall themes and at some point, I realized – wow this is so hard to write without giving spoilers. Let’s just say my characters evolved to a point where their lives were changing. By book fourteen, I knew how many books I had left to write. It was supposed to be three more but when I wrote the last book it ended up being too long for one book. I split it and the series ended with eighteen full length novels.

My lessons from this… well bullet points work for me:

  • Each book has to have a beginning, middle, and end. This doesn’t mean a storyline can’t carry over but there has to be some sort of conclusion.
  • Use a spreadsheet or something like it to keep track of all the details in your series.
  • Avoid any kind of formulaic format.
  • Stretch yourself and your skills by taking risks.
  • Follow the story and be true to your characters.
  • Know when it’s time to end the series.

It doesn’t matter how you write – plotting or writing as it comes or jumping all over the place. What matters is the story. Each book has to be unique and different so the reader doesn’t know what to expect. Once your reader knows what to expect, they start to get bored. Bored readers are never good.

The answer to the question – how do you write a long series? – is not simple or easy. You write your way, honor your characters and your story, and hope the readers LOVE what you write.

Read Eileen’s interview about writing the Wayfarer series

About Eileen:
Author of Moon Affirmations as well as poetry, novels, and short stories, Eileen enjoys telling a good story or expressing a heartfelt emotion.  She’s been published in The American Tarot Association’s Quarterly Journal, What’s Cooking America, Children, Churches and Daddies, and many other publications.  In addition to her writing, she loves to read, crochet, crafting, research genealogy, and spend time with family.  She has three adult daughters and has been married to her husband for 38 years.

I hope authors will check my social media for information to help authors who are featured.  I have four categories which specifically pertain to authors.

Tips for Authors (https://eileentroemel.com/category/tips-for-authors/).  This is a series of blog posts which I hope will help writers who think they are ready to step from final draft to editing and hopefully publishing.  As I think of more topics I plan to add to this.  Editor Interviews (https://eileentroemel.com/category/editor-interview/) which asks editors key questions.  This gives authors a chance to get to know editors and how they think. Book Tour (https://eileentroemel.com/category/book-tour/) which I get book information from companies who offer book tours. 

However, I also post for any author who asks.  All they have to do is provide me with the information.  I’ve worked with a lot of authors and I’m now starting to get requests from publisher.  Author Interviews (https://eileentroemel.com/category/author-interview/) In this section, I send out 10 questions to authors who want to be interviewed and they provide me answers and pictures and graphics to post.  These all get posted on my web site and then they go out to my social media. 

One last thing – though this isn’t on my blog but in my group on Facebook – I’ve been doing live (typed) interviews.  I create a post about the author and the book we’re talking about.  Then in the comments I ask question and the author answers.  Others are invited to ask as well. 

One thing I want to say – I don’t charge for any of this.  Yes, it takes time and effort but I’m not out any money.  I’ve gotten to know some great authors and learned about genres I don’t write in. 

My philosophy – hmmm well I’d like to have some lofty esoteric response here but the answer is simple.  I’m an author.  Almost daily, I get requests to advertise with some group or someone wants to do a review – but of course there’s a charge for it. Being an author is expensive.  Most of us in this field are saving for expensive items like editing and book covers.  While we put out a lot for these ($300+ for editing and anywhere from $50 up for covers) we make very little in royalties – even as a self published author a lot of people take their share first.  I don’t have the money to help in most situations but I can say – hey come put your stuff on my site and I’ll post them. One post – if it’s sent to me in an organized fashion – takes very little time and effort on my part.  If it takes very little effort and it helps people, then why not do it? So I do.

Website: https://eileentroemel.com/ 
Twitter https://twitter.com/EileenTroemel
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/EileenTroemelAuthor/ 
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LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/eileen-troemel-6667825b/
MeWe https://mewe.com/i/eileentroemel

5 awesome traits in attractive romance heroes: JL Peridot

Love, Nostalgia, and Lights in the Sky by JL PeridotWho says romance heroes are unrealistic? Certainly not me. Yet every now and then, I hear rumblings of that persuasion and can’t help but feel there’s a secret “let-down lover” lurking behind that opinion.

I don’t think good romance heroes are unrealistic at all. To me, these made-up people embody vital relationship-improving qualities that decades of unhealthy relationship attitudes and toxic gender norms have conditioned us to neglect.

What qualities? I’m glad you asked. Here are my top 5, just to name a few…

1. They’re open to new experiences

If you’ve ever been in a relationship with anyone who poo-poos things just because they’re unfamiliar, you’ll instinctively know why this is a must-have for any desirable love interest. New experiences can be as big and adventurous as skydiving, or as small and emotionally thrilling as falling in love. It doesn’t matter.

What matters is the impact these experiences have on us, enabling us to grow. And how can a couple grow together if one of them is unwilling to grow at all?

2. They’re honest

A romance hero doesn’t lie to their partner. And any time they would consider it, they’ll have a damned good, ground-breaking reason. And still, they take the initiative to come clean eventually—which means not waiting until they’re caught out and lying is no longer an option.

Of course, it doesn’t have to happen right away. Honesty, and the vulnerability that comes with it, can develop as part of the romantic journey. But a good romance hero must own their honesty by the end of the story. There can be no Happily Ever After without it.

3. They’re kind

We’re all beholden to our ego in some way, but a good hero knows that love is more important than pride. If this hero had the choice between being right and being compassionate, they’d pick the latter any day of the week.

For them, life isn’t about winning or getting the last word in—it’s about cherishing the people they care about, and making the most of the time they have together.

4. They’re considerate

Is this the same as being kind? Close, but not quite. Kindness is great, but if you’re having to ask for it all the time, well, you may as well be dating a robot—that said, machines are getting very good at understanding and predicting our needs.

A considerate romance hero doesn’t need to be asked to put the effort in. Driven by a genuine interest in others and penchant for unselfishness, they actively learn to predict the needs of their partner and take it upon themselves to rise to the occasion.

5. They look after themselves

Finally, self-care. Awesome romance heroes don’t need to be muscle-man buff, but ideally they’ll eat as well as they can, get some exercise, and make time to process their thoughts and emotions. Life is hard and unpredictable, and sometimes we’re genetically, culturally, and socioeconomically destined to deal with certain setbacks and challenges.

So on that rare occasion where we can choose, why wouldn’t we choose the things that make life less difficult for ourselves and the ones we love? After all, a loving relationship means sharing the load of each other’s burdens. Genuine self-care is thus an act of commitment. It’s an act of true love.

About JL Peridot

JL PeridotJL Peridot writes love stories and more from her home beneath the southern skies. As the Nyoongar season of Bunuru kicks off in her city, she’s working on a sci-fi novel, hitting the gym, and enjoying Saturday morning cheese toasties with her real-life romance hero.

Subscribe to JL’s mailing list for banter, updates, teasers, and a free copy of her microfiction collection, Love, Nostalgia & Lights in the Sky.

Website: http://jlperidot.com

Blog: http://jayelle.pink

Love, Nostalgia, and Lights in the Sky by JL PeridotLove, Nostalgia & Lights in the Sky

A collection of tiny stories, featuring previously published micro fiction, #vss (very short stories), flash and short poetry by JL Peridot. This book contains adult content of a romantic and sexual nature, and is intended for readers over the age of eighteen.

Subscribe to JL’s mailing list, Dot Club, for a free copy of this book.

Excerpt

From “Night Over the Valley” (micro fiction):
Sunlight warms the body, but the light from the planet warms the heart. That and his arms around my waist.

Wars are won and lost in the valley below. Who knows what horrors lay waiting, spattered across the canvas, when our low-orbit vessel crests the mountain horizon? With every pass, we capture the howling of animals, play them through the ship so everyone on board can hear the song, the requiem for a people who’ve forgotten how to love.

It’s why we stay away, they said. Centuries pass like nights while we look on, hoping we won’t be too old when the captain finally cuts the temporal acceleration and we can go home. But until then, we wait.

His hair still smells of Earth. He’s the sunlight on my back, his beard on my cheek the brush of pine fronds in the spring, his breath on my shoulder a summer breeze. My hand on the window a winter’s chill.

“I feel like we abandoned them.” I blink back an autumn rain. “Mutually assured destruction, they called it.”

He nuzzles my neck. “Nothing is assured.”

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Charity Sunday: Barstool Sports Fund

Charity Sunday: Dee S. Knight

How Charity Sunday works: for every comment made on this blog post, I will donate money to the charity named. The same promise is made for every blog site listed in the group–click the Linky Links link at the bottom of this post to see the list of participants and read/comment on any of them to see a donation go to that blogger’s charity. We’re all different! Thanks for your help and your participation!

Everyone has been affected by the COVID-19 virus, and small businesses are in the thick of it. It’s not bad enough that businesses have been shut down, but the open-close, open-close circle many have gone through in various states has made the situation even harder. Barstool Sports’ David Portnoy is a small business owner himself and has been as affected as any other business. But he hasn’t stood around scratching his head and wondering what to do, he’s taken action by raising money to distribute to others who really need help to stay afloat. I like someone who takes charge, and this month I am supporting his cause. Please comment on this blog post to help me make a generous contribution to the Barstool Sports Fund!

Today I’m highlighting my book Baer and the Three Goldilocks. Susan Baer is a small business owner who has worked hard to make her life’s work a success. She doesn’t own a bar or restaurant, but she owns a fitness center and that’s in the ballpark of businesses Dave might help if Susan were caught in the COVID trap of destruction.

Baer and the Three Goldilocks by Dee S. KnightBlurb:
Another erotic fairy tale with Princess Katherine and Prince Cole.
Susan Baer, founder of Baer Hugs, health centers for women, longs to find her special someone. Sadly, there are no prospects in sight. Suddenly, three men come into her life. All successful, all gorgeous, all blond. And posing their own unique problems. One is too rough and hard in his treatment, one is too soft and wants her to take charge. The last is…well, let’s just say he’s unavailable. *sigh* Can any of them turn out to be “just right?”

Buy link:
Kindle Unlimited

Excerpt:
Susan came into her office at breakneck speed, talking the whole way. “I know it’s after two and I’ve taken a longer lunch than anyone has a right to.” She threw her purse in the bottom drawer of her desk. With barely time for a breath, she spun around and slammed into Duncan’s broad, solid chest.

He grasped her shoulders to steady her. She stepped back and he dropped his hands.

“Oh! Sorry! I didn’t mean to blow through like a tornado.” Taking a deeper breath, she smoothed the French twist she’d pulled her hair into that morning, then did the same to her skirt. She hoped she didn’t look as flustered as she felt. Gesturing to the guest chair, she said, “Sit. Tell me what’s going on.”

Duncan looked at her for a few long seconds before laying her phone messages on the desk. “Did you have a good lunch?” It was quietly said, and with little inflection. So why did she get the impression he meant more than his words’ literal meaning?

“It was fine, thanks. We drove down towards Williamsburg. How was yours?” Absently, she shuffled through the call slips. Nothing important jumped out at her.

“It was good. The girls and I talked about you.”

Her head snapped up. “Me? What about me?”

He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Curiosity.” Narrowing his eyes, he leaned forward slightly. “Why you’d want to go out with that jerk, mostly.” He paused, and when she didn’t respond he leaned back. “We talked out of concern, not idle gossip. You know he’s made a pass at most everyone who works here.” His mouth hitched into a smile. “Except me, of course.”

That caused her to return his smile. “No, Toby has been pretty clear on that score.”

Duncan held out his hand, casually examining his nails. “You know, it’s been my experience that men who protest as much as he does sometimes have something to hide. Do you know for certain that he’s not more on my team than yours?”

She laughed. “Pretty sure.”

He put his hand down and looked intently at her. “But not certain?”

“Why does it matter to you?” She left a hint of a smile on her face. Was he fishing to find out if she and Toby had had sex? Her heart fluttered a little at the possibility that he wondered.

“Because I care for you. I’m your friend and I hate to see you waste yourself on someone like him. Why do you see him, Susan?”

Friends. Oh. She said nothing. The reasons she dated Toby were rooted so far in the past she wasn’t sure she could explain them in a few quick sentences. And she certainly didn’t want to explain them to Duncan. Her feelings for him were too complicated as it was without adding Toby into the mix.

“Susan, why?”

“Toby and I have known each other a long time. You see him at his worst. He does have good qualities.”

If Duncan had worn glasses, he’d have been staring over them in abject denial, giving her a “Yeah, right” look.

She shrugged in acknowledgement. “I know it might not be obvious, but he does. My relationship with Toby is a long story, and one that’s none of your business, Duncan.”

As though a mask dropped over his face, his expression became impassive. He pushed out of the chair. “You’re right. I’m not going to apologize for worrying about you, though. Meetings are scheduled in Lexington for all day Monday, and our reservations are confirmed for Sunday and Monday nights.” He pointed to the call slips on her desk. “It’s been quiet and that’s all you have to take care of.”

He stopped on his way out the door when she called his name.

“I appreciate the worry, but it’s all right, really.”

Shrugging, he exited, closing the door behind him.

Which left her alone to wonder to herself why she went out with Toby Williams. It was more, she hoped, than proving to Toby that she was different from the overweight girl who’d had a crush on him for three years of high school. She was certain that was how it had started.

“The question is, how did it get to where it is now?” Propping her head in her hands, she considered her situation.

Quite by accident, she’d met Toby about four weeks ago at a business function. She’d scanned the crowd and noticed a distinctive looking, tall tow-head with light blue eyes. Those eyes had met hers across the room and she’d known without doubt who he was, even after sixteen years. By the questioning look he’d given her, she guessed he was confused—as though she was someone he should know, but couldn’t place. That made her smile. And her smile practically guaranteed that he would make his way to her. Which he had, in short order.

In the four weeks since, they’d seen each other only five or six times. It had started well but reflecting on it now, she realized his attitude had worsened with each meeting. While his hands and lips had grown bolder, so had his words. Not in blatant verbal attacks but in snipes and subtle hints regarding her dress, her work, her opinions. None was very noticeable individually. But taken together, as she thought of them now, each abusive comment had worked to make her revert from who she was now, to acting like the shy, embarrassed girl she had been years ago. Wanting to capture his attention, wanting so much to belong.

Author Dee S. Knight:
A few years ago, Dee S. Knight began writing, making getting up in the morning fun. During the day, her characters killed people, fell in love, became drunk with power, or sober with responsibility. And they had sex, lots of sex.

After a while, Dee split her personality into thirds. She writes as Anne Krist for sweeter romances, and Jenna Stewart for ménage and shifter stories. All three of her personas are found on the Nomad Authors website (www.nomadauthors.com). Fortunately, Dee’s high school sweetheart is the love of her life and husband to all three ladies! Once a month, look for Dee’s Charity Sunday blog posts, where your comment can support a selected charity.

Author links:

Website: https://nomadauthors.com

Blog: http://nomadauthors.com/blog

Twitter: http://twitter.com/DeeSKnight

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeeSKnight2018

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/265222.Dee_S_Knight

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B079BGZNDN

Newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/h8t2y6

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/dee-s-knight-0500749

Sweet ‘n Sassy Divas http://bit.ly/1ChWN3K

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Damaged souls #MFRWHooks

This is a blog hop. Be sure to check the link at the bottom to see posts from other authors!
Desire Me Again anthologyDesire Me Again
Blurb for Second Chance:
Sandy Henderson had been a sweet, wholesome girl in her first year of college, sure of herself and totally in love with her high school sweetheart, Tom Pritchard. Then something happened that shattered her dreams, her confidence, her will to live. When she meets Tom again many years later, she resists taking a chance on love because of her secret, but Tom won’t give up on her. On them. Or will he, once she tells him about her past?

Buy link:
Kindle US

MFRW Book HooksExcerpt:
The sun had just set when Sandy carried their tea to the dark porch. Keeping the porch light out would at least make a cursory effort at keeping the mosquitoes at bay.

Tom stood when she came out and he relieved her of one of the glasses. In the July heat, condensation would soon coat the glass as the ice melted. At least a breeze blessed the evening air. Kids road their bikes up and down the street, but as darkness became thicker, mothers’ voices called them home. Fireflies inundated the yard, their tails flashing on and off.

“I miss fireflies. They don’t have them in the Northwest.”

“Really? I didn’t know that. How long have you lived there?”

“I moved to Milford about five years ago. It’s a small town but it has a college, so I finally graduated.” She propped her bare feet on the edge of the chair.

“That’s good. I’m about to finish my MBA, though I hardly need it to run the hardware store.”

She sipped the tea, feeling the sugar rush from the simple syrup she’d added to the pitcher. While in Idaho she’d gotten used to unsweetened tea, but she’d have to start making the sweetened variety again once her mom lived with her.

“That’s what you’re doing, running your dad’s store? Do you like it?”

She felt more than saw Tom’s shrug. “Not especially. But Dad needed to work less and Joey won’t graduate from State until next spring. He and Dad have always been closer than Dad and I, and I think the plan had always been for him and Joey to work the store together. As far as I know, that’s still the plan. I’ll be able to change course then, though God knows what I’ll do. What do you do in this small town where you live?”

“I teach second grade. Of all the careers I considered growing up, teaching was way far down on the list. But I’ve found I love it.” She might have said that teaching was bottom of the list, but she’d since discovered that there were far worse jobs.

She snuck a glance at Tom and found his grin facing her. “What?” she asked.

“I couldn’t be more surprised if you’d said stripper.”

Sandy lurched forward, her feet hitting the decking as her drink fell from her hands, shattering the glass Tea spattered across her bare feet and up her shins.

“Oh! I hope I didn’t get any of it on you,” she exclaimed. “Darn glass got slippery.” She started to stand when Tom slapped his hand across her forearm.

“Stay where you are. With the light out you won’t see the glass. Where’s the broom?”

“Behind the back door. My sneakers are back there, too. Can you bring them?”

“Sure. Stay here.” He disappeared into the house.

Sandy took a shuddering breath. She would stay there, and give her heart a chance to stop racing.

Desire Me Again anthologyAuthor Dee S. Knight:

A few years ago, Dee S. Knight began writing, making getting up in the morning fun. During the day, her characters killed people, fell in love, became drunk with power, or sober with responsibility. And they had sex, lots of sex.

After a while, Dee split her personality into thirds. She writes as Anne Krist for sweeter romances, and Jenna Stewart for ménage and shifter stories. All three of her personas are found on the Nomad Authors website. And all three offer some of the best romance you can find! Also, once a month, look for Dee’s Charity Sunday blog posts, where your comment can support a selected charity.

Website: https://nomadauthors.com

Blog: http://nomadauthors.com/blog

Twitter: http://twitter.com/DeeSKnight

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeeSKnight2018

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/265222.Dee_S_Knight

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B079BGZNDN

Newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/h8t2y6

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/dee-s-knight-0500749

Sweet ‘n Sassy Divas: http://bit.ly/1ChWN3K