More Than Just A Kiss.....

I'm thrilled to be taking part in this fantastic blogfest!  It's on all week, so you should join in too. It's so simple, and there are prizes involved!  You can win books from a whole raft of wonderful writers.

The rules are simple:

1. Sign up on the linky list and post the badge on your blog.

2. On one of the days of the week of September 9th, post a kissing scene on your blog. It can be either fiction or non-fiction.

3. Please do not exceed 250 words.

4. This is a blogfest, so visit the other participants and have fun!

So here's my kissing excerpt from my WIP which is untitled at the moment, so I've been referring to it as #juvvielesbian.

I could barely see her.  Only the whites of her eyes caught the light.  And her teeth, when she smiled.

Smiled.

“You’re crazy, you know that?”  Kiri laughed.  “I thought you were going to punch me back there.”

“Well, it was either that, or this…”

I stepped forward and put my arms around her waist, drawing her closer to me, pressing her hips into mine.  Her eyes glittered in the starlight as I leaned in to kiss her.

Her lips were cool and smooth.  When I ran my tongue across them, I caught the sweetness of her watermelon lip-gloss.  She pulled me closer, pushing her mouth to mine with an urgency that spiked my heart rate.  Her breasts were soft and full and heavy against my chest.  I longed to touch them, to cup them in my palms.  Warmth spread through me and made my legs grow liquid.

With our mouths still exploring, we dropped to our knees on the pine needles, not noticing the sharp points as they dug into our bare legs. Her hands roved over my body.  She caressed the dip of my waist and followed its line downward, tracing the swell of my hip.  I mirrored her movements, finding the lean, hard parts of Kiri, and the softer ones.

The owl hooted again, much closer to us this time. I pulled back.

“That’s gotta be better than a black eye.”  Her teeth were so white they hung like ghosts in the darkness.

I smiled back.  “I reckon.”

Now, go pop around the other blogs and see what other kisses you can find....

Celebrate the Small Things 6/9/13

This post is part of VikLit's blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things. Head on over there to join up! 


So, what am I celebrating this week?




I finally found the third part of a trilogy I've been reading at the library so I can find out what happens at the end.  I should know by now how frustrating it is to read the first book in a series when it first comes out, then have to wait for the other ones to be published.  Right now I've read books 1 & 2 in two trilogies and am impatiently waiting for the third parts to arrive on my library's shelves.  I should make a mental note not to start reading any series until the final part has been published.  Then I won't have these frustrating year-long waits.

I'm going up the coast on Sunday to see a good friend.  My older son has gone to stay with her for the weekend, so the little one and I will go up on Sunday to pick him up and spend the day at her beach house.

I bought my partner new sheets for our bed for his birthday, and I have been sleeping so much better since we got them.  I think I'm ruined for cheap sheets from now on.  500 thread count Egyptian cotton is all I want to sleep on from now on.  Unless there's 1000 thread count or something even smoother and softer and silkier to lie on.

I got my hair cut and I feel like a new woman.  Just wait until after I've dyed it tomorrow.  Watch out world!

What are you celebrating this week?

Common mistakes part 3 or 4....

Yes, here's another installment of 'common mistakes I see while reading.'

This one's a doozy because it's a 3 way one.

Peak - it's the top of something, a mountain, the highest point. "The temperature is at its peak around midday."  Or, "We climbed the mountain until we reached its peak."

Peek - a sneaky little look at something.  "I took a peek at the candy hidden under the counter."

Pique - it's anger, but usually fairly mild or irrational anger.  "He stormed off in a fit of pique."  Interestingly, this can also be used to mean you're intrigued, "The story piqued my interest."

I keep seeing these three being mixed up and it irritates me.  So I thought I'd just do a helpful public service by clearing that one up....

Happy Release Day, EVER!

The lovely Jessa Russo is re-releasing her book, EVER, and I'm thrilled to be a part of her release day blog tour.  So check out the gorgeous cover and enter the giveaway to win some most excellent swag.  And join me in wishing Jessa a fantastic and successful launch day.

Happy Release Day, EVER!

To celebrate EVER's rebirth, and Jessa Russo’s first step into the indie self-publishing world, she is giving you the first chapter of EVER for FREE! Yup! FREE! You can read along, decide if you want more, then click on one of the buy links below to grab a copy for yourself! *Paperbacks available soon!

Check out the FREE first chapter HERE. 

We're also having some fun on Twitter (details below), and Jessa has also compiled TWO prize packs of super awesome stuff! There will be one (1) lucky winner in the US, and one (1) lucky winner Internationally! Want to know what we’re giving away? 

***GIVEAWAY FUN!***

The winner(s) will receive the following items:

US ONLY Prize Pack (ONE winner):

Set of 4: custom Frankie4Ever / Toby4Ever Coasters (2 of each) + Signed EVER bookmarks +

Signed paperback copy of EVER by Jessa Russo (YA)

Complete set* of The Darkness Falls Trilogy e-books from Krystal Wade (YA)

*Includes WILDE'S FIRE, WILDE'S ARMY and WILDE'S MEADOW

Signed paperback copy of EYRE HOUSE by Cait Greer (NA, adult content)

Paperback copy of THE CHARGE by Sharon Bayliss (YA)

Paperback copy of SEALED WITH A CURSE by Cecy Robson (A, mature content)

INTERNATIONAL Prize Pack (ONE winner):

E-book of EVER by Jessa Russo (YA)

Complete set* of The Darkness Falls Trilogy e-books from Krystal Wade (YA)

*Includes WILDE'S FIRE, WILDE'S ARMY and WILDE'S MEADOW

E-book of THE CHARGE by Sharon Bayliss (YA)

E-book of BROKEN FOREST by Eliza Tilton (YA)

E-book of THE VALENTINE CHALLENGE by Marisa Cleveland (A, mature content)

E-book of THE GATHERING DARKNESS by Lisa Collicutt (YA)

E-book of 1,000 SLEEPLESS NIGHTS by Connie Michael

ENTER HERE:

a Rafflecopter giveaway | a Rafflecopter giveaway

***TWITTER FUN!***

We're also going to be tweeting a bit today, to celebrate not just EVER's re-release (hashtag: #EVERTrilogy), but also playing up a major theme of the book--Ever's love for her deceased best friend. We'll be tweeting the theme with the hashtag #IfICouldBringBack and then sharing who we would bring back and why, or what we'd do with them, etc.

So, sticking with EVER as my example, the main female character of the series may tweet something like this:

#IfICouldBringBack Frankie, I'd finally tell him the truth. That I've loved him since we were in diapers. #EVERTrilogy 

Who would you want to bring back? An old flame? A relative? Maybe a famous author or dignitary? Think about it and join in the fun on Sunday, 9/1/13! We'll see you on Twitter!

***BOOK DETAILS!***

EVER

The EVER Trilogy, Book One 

By Jessa Russo

September 1, 2013 

Seventeen-year-old Ever’s love life has been on hold for the past two years. She’s secretly in love with her best friend Frankie, and he’s completely oblivious. Of course, it doesn't help that he’s dead, and waking up to his ghost every day has made moving on nearly impossible. 

Frustrated and desperate for something real, Ever finds herself falling for her hot new neighbor Toby. His relaxed confidence is irresistible, and not just Ever knows it. But falling for Toby comes with a price that throws Ever’s life into a whirlwind of chaos and drama. More than hearts are on the line, and more than Ever will suffer.

Some girls lose their hearts to love. 

Some girls lose their minds.

Ever Van Ruysdael could lose her soul.

Purchase Links:

Amazon | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | GoodReads | Facebook (The EVER Trilogy)

Jessa Russo's Links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook (Friend) | Facebook (Follow/Like)

Stay tuned for the second book in the trilogy, EVADE, set to release on October 1st, 2013! 

You can now add EVADE on Goodreads!

Remember to follow EVER's 9/1/13 re-release day FUN on Twitter with these hashtags: 

#EVERTrilogy

and 

#IfICouldBringBack

Celebrate the Small Things 30/8/13

This post is part of VikLit's blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things. Head on over there to join up! 


So, what am I celebrating this week?



I'm struggling to think of things to celebrate this week.  Nothing's been terrible, but there really hasn't been much that makes me feel good either.  My WIP is like hammering rusty nails into my eyes, and the rejections for STUMPED are piling up.  Not to mention I'm still getting rejections for a book I stopped querying several months ago.  Plus the cinema has been frustratingly quiet which always puts pressure on me.

So what do I have to celebrate?

A friend who moved to Tasmania a year ago was in town on Monday and we went and ate pizza at our favorite pizza place.  It was amazing to see her and that she seems so happy and settled in her new life.

I booked the new Jim Jarmusch film as our Christmas release and it looks like we'll have it exclusively in town.  It's an amazingly cool vampire flick called Only Lovers Left Alive. If you get a chance to see it, please do.  Even if you don't like vampire movies.  It's such a smart, funny and oh, so very cool film.  I love Jim Jarmusch....

I also booked the last ever big screen showing of Saturday Night Fever.  The rights expire at midnight on Friday September 13th, so I'm going to run a show that finishes right before midnight.

And, tragic as it may seem, I really think that's about it.  It's a pretty unusual week where all I have to celebrate are small business successes.