Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Happy New Year


What’s the best thing about New Year’s Eve?

Anything that happened last year that you want to forget and pretend never happened? No problem, put it behind you and move on—it’s a whole new year!

Anything you want to happen? It’s a whole new year, anything is possible. Dream big, its all good.

Happy New Year!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Get some Mistletoe Magic for Christmas






From the pens of Cindy Spencer Pape, Regina Carlysle and Desiree Holt, a series of Christmas tales to heat you up no matter how cold the night.
Released by Ellora's Cave
Get them at http://www.jasminejad.com/

When Glimmer, Sparkle and Will, three of Santa's elves, get themselves on his bad list, the only way they can redeem themselves is by solving the rormanrtic problems of the three Woodward sisters....and maybe solving some problems of their own.

Book 1 in the Mistletoe Magic series by Regina Carlysle
BREATH OF MAGIC starts the series with a brief prologue that sets up the series and explains the circumstaces that lead all three Woodward sisters back home to Texas.Powerhouse attorney Liza Woodward knows a little something about losing control and it’s been her life’s mission never to do it again, especially when it comes to small-town lawyer Tyler Blackwell. Liza returns determined to settle her parents estate and to leave just as fast as she arrived, but her younger sister Maddie has other plans, ones that have Liza coming face to face with the one man she's tried to forget. Attorney Tyler Blackwell has never forgotten the one that got away, Liza was all he was looking for in a woman and a wife, but a large misunderstanding had Liza running from him faster than a Texas tornado. He knows she’s back in town he intend to settle their differences and pick up where they left off. Ty takes one look at the woman he’s always loved and knows it’s way past time he seduced away the control she wears like a suit of armor. It will take a steady hand, a bit of dominance, and a little breath of magic from a Christmas Elf to win this sassy Texas woman.
But he wants it all and this time he playing for keeps.These two square off and heat up the pages from the moment they meet again. You can feel the passion and sadly the tension as they see each other at Tyler’s Office/Home when Liza comes over to begin settling her parent’s estate. Neither of them put up much of a fight and when Will, the Elf charged with aiding in Ty and Liza’s reconciliation, turns up the heat and the snow. All bets are off when these two give in to temptation

Book 2 in the Mistletoe Magic series by Desiree Holt
TOUCH OF MAGIC is the story of Maddie Woodward. She's the middle sister and the one that is the most in tune with the ranch the girls were raised on. Determined to leave her career behind she's ready to come home permanently.Maddie Woodward is in a pickle. The last person she expects to see when she returns to the family ranch for one last Christmas is her former lover, Zach Brennan. He’s hotter as he ever was, all male and determined to get her naked. She’s just as determined to show him she’s over him—until she ends up in his bed, enjoying the wildest sex of her life. A night of uncontrolled, erotic sex shows her that Zach is far from out of her life. Now if she can just get him to help her convince her sisters not to sell the ranch… Maddie is, the middle sister and the one who doesn’t want to let the ranch be sold. She returns to Texas fully intending to take over the Ranch and to finally live the life she’s always wanted. She is the one who wanted to follow in her parent’s footsteps even though they encouraged her to see a life outside of the Flying W. Zach Brennan has one regret in life, letting Maddie Woodward go, now that she’s back and they both want the Flying W he’ll do whatever it takes to make Maddie his again, even if it means swallowing his pride to do it. Maddie has spirit and a spunk that can only be described as ornery. She’s a homebody; she loves to cook and is as fiery as she is sweet. When she clashes wills with Zach look out cause the sparks will fly. Zach by his own admission has made mistakes but he’s man enough to admt them and fight for what he wants. He’s a cowboy through and through.
Book 3 in the Mistletoe Magic series by Cindy Spencer Pape
WHISPERS OF MAGIC is the story of the last and ironically the youngest Woodward sister, Jenna is a free spirit with a wanders soul. She finds herself coming home as she faces a crossroads in her life. What she discovers is home may very well be where the heart is. She's living proof that size doesn't matter when in your heart lives the soul of an adventurer. Her return home is just the balm her wounded heart needs.Mitch Sterling knew he scared Jenna away with his dominate ways and he’s been kicking himself every since. When he realizes she’s coming home for Christmas he knows that he has to turn up the heat to get the one woman for him.Book 3 in the Mistletoe Magioc series by Regina Carlysle
In WHISPERS OF MAGIC, hoping to get back in Santa’s good graces, Sparkle the elf takes on a difficult assignment—arrange a merry Christmas for photojournalist Jenna, who has just lost her parents, her job, and her cheating “fiancĂ©”. Rancher Mitch Sterling doesn’t want his face on a book, but he does want Jenna back in his life. He offers a deal—he’ll sign off, if she agrees to be at his mercy for one day. Jenna left him once because she was afraid of his Dominant lifestyle. Now, with help from a magical snowstorm, Mitch has twenty-four hours of tempestuous passion to convince her that she’ll love being his sub. Jenna is like many women she believes she lives in the shadow of her sisters, not really seeing how much she does shine. She’s adventurous and open-minded which makes her the perfect woman for Mitch. She let her fears get the better f her, yet she faces them head on as she reconnects with Mitch and it’s this bravery that endears her to me. Mitch is the embodiment of the saying Long Tall Texan. These two teat
And watch for the release of ELVEN MAGIC on Christmas Eve, when the three elves find a hot, sexy way to celebrate their success.

http://www.cindyspencerpape.com/
http://www.reginacarlysle.com/
http://www.desireeholt.com/

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

And the winner is....

Thanks to everyone for their great, great comments yesterday. I tossed all the names in my husband's Stetson, and my white kitty picked out...drum roll, please...Genella de Grey. Congratulations. Email me at judithrochelle@judithrochelle.com and tell me whether you want Judith's Scent of Danger or Desiree Holt's Hot Wicked and Wild.

Monday, December 15, 2008

The interesting state of publisihing




Since the very first ebook was released, there seems to have been a line drawn in the sand between print and digital. "What always was should always be." As the ebook industry continued to grow, the print industry continued to find fault with it. Dimionish it. Denegrate it. Longtime print authors were even unkind enough to say that ebook authors aren't "real" authors. Do they really believe this or are they just worried about a new phase of the industry generating its own reader base and cutting into royalties? Rather than join'em, they've choen to fight 'em. But life is full of interesting twists and turns.


Wednesday, December 3, Publisher's Weekly published the following:


“Black Wednesday” for PublishingDecember 3, 2008, was a grim day for a number of New York publishing houses as jobs were cut, lines realigned, and pay raises frozen.
Simon and Schuster cut 35 positions from all areas of the company. The eliminations were “an unavoidable acknowledgment of the current bookselling marketplace,” according to Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn Reidy.
Random House announced a restructuring of the company, which will consolidate several publishing groups. The Random House Publishing Group will expand to include: Bantam Dell Publishing Group, The Dial Press, and Spiegel & Grau. The Crown Publishing Group will expand to include: Broadway, Doubleday Religion, WaterBrook Multnomah, and Doubleday Business. According to Chairman Markus Dohle, the Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine, Bantam Dell and Random House will continue to have separate editorial departments. “The newly formed publishing groups will continue to bid independently in auctions. Each group will have my full support to publish autonomously, promote aggressively, and strive for more competitive advantages in the marketplace.” (http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6619316.html)
Thomas Nelson cut 54 positions (10 percent of its workforce), its second round of reductions in 2008.
Penguin Group Chairman and CEO John Makinson told employees that the company will not give pay raises to anyone earning $50,000 or more (or the equivalent in another currency) in the new year. He also said, “I cannot of course guarantee that there will be no job losses in Penguin in 2009. In this financial climate that would be plain foolhardy.”

And in this morning's "Shelf Awareness," an enewsletter about the publishing industry, the
following information appeared:

October Sales: Booksellers Slip, Publishers Fall
Publishers' net book sales fell 20.1% to $644.5 million in October, as reported by 80 publishers to the Association of American Publishers. Sales for the year through October were down 3.4% to $8.362 billion.

During this same period E-book sales rose 73% to $5.2 million.

While the total number may be smaller, the growth is astronomical in a short period of time. To what should we attribute it?
1. Cost-ebooks are less expensive
2. Immediacy-buy the book and you have it to read in just minutes
3. Availability-since a finite number is not printed your book can sell and sell and sell
4. The electronic age-with each generation there is mnore and more adaptation to electronics. Rumors have it that the next generation of iPods will also be ereaders.




So what do you think? Are we in the forefront of a movement that will change the face of publishing forever? I think so. Leave me your comments.




Oh, and b y the way. One lucky person's name will be drawn from the comments for a choice of either Scent of Danger by Judith Rochelle or Hot Wicked and Wild by Desiree Holt.



Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Hot Holiday Series starts this week at Ellora's Cave!

Catch the New Series
Mistletoe Magic
coming this December
from Ellora’s Cave

Dec. 12: #1: Breath of Magic by Regina Carlysle:

Powerhouse attorney Liza Woodward knows a little something about losing control and it’s been her life’s mission never to do it again, especially when it comes to small-town lawyer Tyler Blackwell. Ty takes one look at the woman he’s always loved and knows it’s way past time he seduced away the control she wears like a suit of armor. It will take a steady hand, a bit of dominance, and a little breath of magic from a Christmas Elf to win this sassy Texas woman.


Dec. 17: #2 Touch of Magic by Desiree Holt:

Maddie Woodward is in a pickle. The last person she expects to see when she returns to the family ranch for one last Christmas is her former lover, Zach Brennan. He’s hotter as he ever was, all male and determined to get her naked. She’s just as determined to show him she’s over him—until she ends up in his bed, enjoying the wildest sex of her life. A night of uncontrolled, erotic sex shows her that Zach is far from out of her life. Now if she can just get him to help her convince her sisters not to sell the ranch…

Dec. 19: #3 Whispers of Magic by Cindy Spencer Pape:

Hoping to get back in Santa’s good graces, Sparkle the elf takes on a difficult assignment—arrange a merry Christmas for photojournalist Jenna Woodward. Jenna has just lost her parents, her job, and her cheating “fiancĂ©”. Rancher Mitch Sterling doesn’t want his face on a book, but he does want Jenna back in his life. He offers a deal—he’ll sign off, if she agrees to be at his mercy for one day. Jenna left him once because she was afraid of his Dominant lifestyle. Now, with help from a magical snowstorm, Mitch has twenty-four hours of tempestuous passion to convince her that she’ll love being his sub.

Dec. 24: #4: Elven Magic by Regina Carlysle, Desiree Holt, & Cindy Spencer Pape:
When three of Santa’s elves were ordered to provide happily ever afters for the Woodward sisters, they promised themselves a celebration if they were successful. Sharing a motel room during their assignment created a whole new level of sexual awareness among them, where boundaries were breaking down mentally day by day. With arousal at its peak after they all succeed, they decide to indulge in a sexual game of Truth or Dare, which will give a whole new slant to their friendship and allow them to explore their darkest fantasies—maybe even love.
Reader Advisory: Contains m/m/f sexual encounters.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

An early Christmas present for me!

I'm absolutely over the moon (pun intended) to announce that Curses, my witch/werewolf book, is a finalist for the 2009 EPPIE awards in the erotic paranormal category. This is the book that was left hanging when Triskelion went under, then found another home at The Wild Rose Press. I had two very excellent editors on this book, who really helped make it stronger, and am very thankful to both Carol Webb and Jade Alexander for all their hard work.


Curses
by Cindy Spencer Pape
available in print or ebook from The Wild Rose Press
ISBN: 1-60154-151-1
click on the cover for more information

Blurb:
Some people are really cursed when it comes to love! For innkeeper and witch Melissa MacRae, a family curse means that falling in love is the ultimate bad idea. Author Jonas Pierce is a werewolf, who has seen too much evil to even consider passing on his curse to another generation. So why does a hot summer fling have them both thinking about happily ever after?

Praise:
4 Stars from Romantic Times Magazine: “The characters are appealing, and passionate sex leads to a satisfying romance. Well-developed histories make the couple real and one readers will care about.”
Excerpt: ADULT!

He reached the mossy shoreline, where the memories hit him with the force of a two-ton truck. Unexpectedly, he sensed another presence, immediately becoming alert, poised for danger. Quiet, easy footsteps told him that the other person was as comfortable in the wilderness as he was, and Joe relaxed just a bit. Not too many people in the world could make that claim. Seconds later he caught a whiff of rosemary and lilacs, saw a flash of copper, and he knew.
“Hello, there.”
She froze for a second, then caught her breath and looked over at him, smiling. “Hello yourself. I was just on my way to see you.”
His eyes hungrily absorbed the sight of her as she moved slowly, inexorably toward him. The jeans she wore were ancient and faded; the soft cotton clung lovingly to her flared hips and narrow waist. A ragged gray sweatshirt with Lake State emblazoned across the front only hinted at the curves he knew lay beneath, and he longed to rip it off her. Preferably with his teeth.
“What a coincidence.” He took one long stride to meet her halfway. He reached out o clasp both of her hands in his, then leaned down to drop a soft kiss on the tip of her nose. “I was just on my way to visit you.”
Her musky, feminine scent surrounded him, her soft, liquid eyes looked up at him, and he simply couldn’t resist. Using their linked hands, he tugged her closer, then bent down for a kiss.
It was everything he remembered and more. Mel returned the kiss with passionate enthusiasm, and Joe lost track of both place and time. She tugged her hands free to wrap them around his neck, and his went around her waist without any conscious effort on Joe’s part. While her fingers tangled in his hair, his own explored up under the hem of her sweatshirt.
She wasn’t wearing a bra today either. “Oh, God.” He knew his moan had a hungry sound and he wanted, needed to fill his hands with her soft, warm flesh. Instantly, he forgot everything he had intended to tell her. The only thing in his universe was the beautiful, sensual woman he held in his arms.
When Jonas’s hands cupped her breasts, it took all Mel’s concentration just to stand. She couldn’t have spoken if her life depended on it. She knew she should call a halt to this; she’d been walking to his cabin to talk to him, to offer a much-deserved explanation about her desertion the night before. She hadn’t intended to make love with him.
Oh, yeah? So why didn’t you wear a bra then? She didn’t bother to justify her actions with a mental reply. She just gave up the fight, losing herself in Jonas’s embrace.
Tension coiled through her even before he unsnapped her jeans and slid his hand inside. When he touched her intimately, she cried out, and her knees buckled completely. Joe’s strong arm caught her as she fell, then he gently lowered them both to the soft, springy moss.

“I asked you last night, but now that it’s daytime, is anyone likely to walk by here?” He punctuated his question with little nibbling kisses along her throat.
“No.” She sighed at the beauty of the sensations he created, and, tilted her head to provide him better access. “Nobody.”
“Good.” The word came out as a fierce, guttural growl as he grabbed the hem of her sweatshirt with both hands and tugged it over her head. “Because I don’t want any interruptions this time. Please tell me you didn’t bring your pager.”
She nodded. Gladys would sleep today after their marathon session last night and so would Karen. Nobody else had the number so she’d left it on her kitchen table.
“I’ve wanted to do this for days.” His glowing golden eyes gazed at her, and Mel could feel her nipples pucker under his heated regard. He seemed to study every line and curve of her bare upper body. “Gorgeous.”
She flushed then, feeling the heat on her face and breasts. Jonas smiled, and busily stripped off his own clothing while Mel watched in rapt fascination. A pelt of curly black hair covered his leanly muscled, rock-hard chest. A narrower band of dark curls trailed down to where... Mel’s eyes bugged out. That was supposed to fit? Inside her?
Joe chuckled at her expression as he methodically peeled her own jeans and panties away. Then he lay down beside her and rested on one elbow. “It will work just fine.”
“Are you reading my mind?” She strained upward for his kiss. “Or am I that transparent?”
He kissed her lightly, then more deeply, and spoke in a whisper. “It’s those eyes. Aside from being gorgeous, they give away all your secrets.”
She sure hoped not! But she refused to worry about that right now. As he kissed her again, thoroughly this time, she gave herself completely in response, all mundane thoughts driven from her mind. Her hands tangled in the length of his thick glossy hair, holding him close as his lips left her mouth, trailing his kisses further south.
“Jonas!” She cried out as he sucked one pebbled nipple into his mouth. She writhed at the pleasure, clutching his head to her breast. She didn’t want him to stop what he was doing, but the ache growing in her lower body had her wishing he could be in two places at once.
And then he was. His big hand gently palmed her mound, and she rubbed against him, begging for his touch. Deft fingers slipped down. They parted her slick, swollen folds, before they finally, slowly, slid inside. Mel couldn’t help it. The pleasure was so intense, she shrieked.
“Like that, do you?” He switched his mouth to her other breast, while his magical fingers stroked and gently stretched her.
She couldn’t answer, lost in the ripples of pleasure that coursed through her body and coiled at her center. This was it! The passion she’d always dreamed of, but never really believed in. This was what started wars, toppled kingdoms, inspired fairy tales.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Welcome to December

I love December because it is such a holiday month. I'm still filled with turkey and pie and bountiful blessings from Thanksgivingblessinghs that include all of the wonderful friends I've made since I took my first baby steps into Yahoo. And now Christmas approaches, and with it the exceitment we never lost from when we were kids. The Secret Santas. The wonderful Christmas music, and the carols that everyone hums, even when vacuuming the house. It's how I get through ironing in december-singing Christmas carols, because believe me, I'd rather drink hemlock than iron. I love the smell of cookies baking and food simmering. The sticky sweet taste of candy canes, folowed by multiple trips to the dentist. The gifts we give and receive, with such joy and anticipation.
But this December I want to remind you of a few other things to think about. Not such pleasant things, but things we can't avoid, nevertheless. If a church or organization near you collects food and gifts for families, be sure to find something to controbute. In these tough economic times, more families than ever will need our help. Go to the library and volunteer for reading hour. For some of these children it's their only contact with the magical world of make believe. Help an elderly neighbor who lives alone and may have thought the spirit of Christmas was dead and buried, along with his family.
And send a Christmas card to a member of the Armed Forces. You don't have to agree with war or battle or any of those things. Just rememeber that these men and women are fighting for tjhe freedoms we take so blithely for granted. Christmas for them could be in a mess hall of they're lucky. Or hunkered down in the desert. Or hiding from huerillas in the Hindu Kush Mountains. Or spending their Christmas interdicting drug runners so your children and grandchildren will have less exposure to the poison sold on the strfeets.
But whatever you do, be cheerful, be thank ful, for we are all truly blessed. In our community of writers we are so fortunate to be able to say we are published, and to appreciate all the friends we've made because of it.
I am truly thankful for each and every one of youi so here's a big Christmas hug and huge wishes that for a wonderful holiday season.
Stop by and tell me what the holdays mean to you. I have a little Christmas story that my other alter ego, Emily Brevard, wrote, and I'll pick a name from the comments to send a free download.