The Edge of Monring-when the wolf appears

I first fell in love with the wolf three eyars ago, and I;ve never lost my fascination. I'm very, very excited about my new shapeshifter series, The Sentinels, written as Desiree Holt for Total-e-bound. Released this week,The Edge of Morning is Book One in the series. I hope you love my wolves as much as I do.

You can find it at http://www.total-e-bound.com/

BLURB:

The cabin in Maine her grandfather left her is the perfect place for Sierra Hart to take a good long look at her future. She’s just quit her job and ended yet another relationship. Surrounded by five thousand acres of pristine forest, the place gives her the solitude she need. The only other sign of life is a gorgeous silver wolf hanging out at the edge of the clearing. When Luke Spencer knocks on her door, she has no idea he’s going to fulfil all of her erotic fantasies. But can she ask for his help when the lumber people become more aggressive or will he turn away because of the secret he’s hiding?EXCERPT:
By evening, when the sun had dipped well past the horizon, the temperature had dipped along with it. Sierra built a fire in the huge stone fireplace and warmed some cider. She was about to stretched out in front of it on the thick cushion s she’d tossed on the floor when a knock sounded on the heavy wood door.
Now who? But this time I’m prepared. And tomorrow I’m getting a chain to go with the deadbolt.
Who’d have thought she needed it way out here?
She picked up the loaded handgun from the table where she’d left it and held it behind her back with one hand. Flipping on the porch light she opened the door with her other hand, barely cracking it two inches.
“Yes?”
“I think I’m lost.”
The voice was like melted chocolate, deep and warm and enveloping.
Sierra opened the door a little wider, looked at her visitor and every bit of saliva in her mouth dried up. The man on her porch was well over six feet, lean and broad shouldered. Dark brown hair with traces of silver dusted his shoulders and framed a starkly masculine face—high cheekbones, square jaw and unusual amber eyes. A long-sleeved black T-shirt and well-worn jeans clung to well-defined muscles.
Holy shit!
After three tries she found her voice, and then it came out sounding like a squeak. “Lost?”
“Yes. I’ve been hiking in the woods, and I probably got disoriented. Listen, I promise I’m not an escaped murderer or a rapist on the loose. It’s safe to let me in.”
Clutching the gun behind her back, she swung the door wider and he stepped inside. Up close his presence was even more overwhelming. She felt surrounded, all her breath trapped in her lungs, her legs suddenly shaky. She backed up until her legs hit the table behind the couch where she carefully placed the handgun.
The thick, dark eyebrows rose questioningly. “Were you planning to shoot me?”
She wet her lips with her tongue. “Only if I needed to.”
He grinned, a smile that somehow reminded her of the silver wolf. “I’m certainly glad you didn’t need to. I promised you I’m harmless.” He held out his hand. “Luke Spencer.”
Gingerly, she reached out to shake hands. “Sierra Hart.”

Please come visit me at

http://www.desireeholt.com/

www.myspace.com/judithdesiree

www.twitter.com/storywscribe

And leave me a comment about the wolf. do you kove him? Hate him? Want to take him home with you?

Inauguration Day

Today is a damned impressive day to be an American. I'm not a boisterous patriot, but today I'm flying my flag with pride. Go watch the inauguration, everybody.

Chatting with Sascha on The UnNamed Radio Show for Radio Dentata

Last week I did my first radio interview. Sascha, who does a show called the UnNamed Romance Show for Radio Dentata called me up and we chatted for over an hour. If you've never heard of Radio Dentata, here's a bit about it from their webpage:

"Radio Dentata was founded on the belief that people are more than just one type of music, talk show, opinion, or even sexual position.

"Consequently, the station doesn’t treat listeners as one-dimensional. We erase the labels, bridge the gaps, blur the lines and show the similarities and contradictions. The programming is distinguished by a fearless approach to sex, life, poetry, politics, and music and offers listeners graphic, forthright, and topical entertainment."

Head on over to the page, there's tons of fun stuff there!

Here's a bit about Sascha's Show, The UnNamed Romance Show.

"The inside information from romance author Sascha – Featuring the good, the bad and the ugly. Excerpts of work, Interviews with erotic and romance authors and publishers.PLUS reviews and news… Come listen in and hear the inside dirt on who is doing shit to whom."

You'll want to check out his page, to see what he's up to each Monday.

My interview will be aired soon...

Who the heck is Cian Fey?

It's me! Last Monday, January 5, marked my first release under my new pseudonym, Cian Fey. Cian's work is a little darker and edgier than Cindy's, and this first book is a male/male anthology from Total-E-Bound called Naughty Nooners. My story is entitled, Lust in the Afternoon.

Lust in the Afternoon

By Cian Fey

In the Naughty Nooners anthology

Out January 5, 2008 from Total-E-Bound

Genre: m/m erotic romance

Blurb: Ted Wayne is the IT manager at a gay on-line magazine and bookstore that also provides live streaming peep shows. During a fierce snowstorm, the on-air talent can’t make it in for the "Lust in the Afternoon" show, and only Ted is around to fill the void. Art director Grayson Jeffries talks Ted into fifteen minutes in front of the camera, partly because Ted thinks Gray is the hottest thing going. He’s reluctant to masturbate in front of Gray, but at least with Gray in the room, he has no worries about getting it up. Gray has wanted Ted for months--now he has this one chance to make all his fantasies come true.

Click on the cover for more information.

The authors of the Naughty Nooners anthology are teaming up for a chat on Friday, January 16, 7-10 pm Eastern at Love Romances Cafe. There will be awesome prizes and lots of fun with Kaenar Langford, Jude Mason, Dakota Rebel, JP Bowie, Carol Lynne, and yours truly. Please come out if you can and keep us company!

All About Blog

Blogs. And more blogs. They seem to be popping up everywhere. You can learn about everything from what your local senator did on that so-called vacation to why vitamins may or may not be bad for you. I enjoy the blogs where people talk about their books, why they started to write, why they love it. And I've found some really great books this way.
I also love to visit authors' bloga nad learn what they think about things. Not just their plots and characters, but how they look at life.
Blogs can be very informative.
But sometimes, they can be very mean, and I think that's a terrible misuse of public space.
This weekend I cruised past a blog to see what everyone on the loops was talking about, and Oh! My! God! From a simple anouncement that was no more than a minor news item, more than 200 of the nastiests posts I've ever seen were generated. People said things in public I'm not sure they should even say in private. They bashed others in a way that goes well beyond flaming. And to what purpose?
The few people doing most of the commenting seem to have an axe to grind and they were determined to grind it to death. These are authors who have enjoyed some mild success and feel they need to throw dirt on the roots of their career. They even went so far as to attack someone's personal life. And for what? What exactly did they get out of it?
My grandmother always told me "Be careful who you step on when you;re on the way up. They're the ones who'll catch you when you fall." Someone should have told that to these women, because maybe their new colleagues might wonder if they're next on the chopping block..
The worst part is, this is a very public forum. People will read these comments and take some of them as gospel. I was happy to see many others jump in to refute what was said, but the damage is done. You can't take back words once they're out there in cyberspace.
This blog will be around for a very long time, and people will be reading it as long as the link is there. You never know whose eyes will see what you wrote. It could be the publisher you;ve just submitted to. The agent you want to represent you. Or your current publisher who holds your fate in their hands.
If youl;re unhappy professionally, handle it in a professional manner. If you want to gripe about something, like the price of postage, the economy, or the abundance of alpha males,. have at it. Be sure your blog is entertaining and informative. Or at least entertaining! LOL! But don't use a privilege you've been given to throw dirt on some one or some thing.
Remember, whatever you write, people will remember, and memories can be very long. so think about what impression you want to leave with people.
Okay. Soapbox put away for the day.

Bank Holiday Blues

Here in UK we have this thing called a Bank Holiday. There's one in May, and another in August. They were originally days when banks and most other businesses were shut -- now banks are probably the only businesses that are shut! Most everything else is open, and usually doing a roaring trade. Supermarkets, garden centres, outlet centres -- you name it, they're heaving with people. The highways are clogged with people heading for or returning from popular resorts. And the weather generally sucks. All in all, a good reason to stay home. If we do get any fine weather, then there's always gardening to do. But this year -- well, it generally sucked...
Anyway, it's a three-day weekend. And yesterday we went to Llandudno (that's in Wales, people) to attend a Mind, Body, Spirit Fair. We have a stall for our cat charity, and I do Tarot readings. I don't make a charge, but ask for donations to the charity. One thing that always strikes me is the number of people with problems who come to readers to find solutions (which we can't give!) they could easily sort out for themselves. Once they would have confided in a friend, a family member, a pastor. Now they ask a stranger. I think it's seriously sad. An example -- a middle-aged woman, seriously overweight, wanted to know how to change her life. Her husband of twenty years (father of her five children) was suspected of having an affair. Should she divorce him? Where would that leave her and the kids?
The card layout was clear -- she needed to make some decisions, some of which would be painful. I told her what the cards said. That was what she was paying for. (If I'd been advising her (I wasn't), I'd have told her to loose weight, get her hair cut and styled, and regain her self-respect. She was a doormat.)
Why do some women let themselves be walked on? This is the 21st century. Do we still cling to the mindset of the nineteenth? (Typified by a Gaelic saying which translates as 'better a lobster than no husband.')
So that was why my Bank Holiday made me blue...

Naughty Nooners for a New Year

Starting around February this year Ellora's Cave will be offering free reads, Naughty Nooners. These shorts will be a great way to try out new authors and genres.

Show and Tell, my Naughty Nooner is a stand stand alone story, set in Washingon DC. I started this story in the car while we were sitting in a giant 4th of July traffic jam, waiting to pay the toll. We sat in that line for hours. Thankfully I had my imagination to keep me company.

Here's an excerpt of Show and Tell, release date TBA.

SHOW AND TELL by Isabelle Drake

A Naughty Nooner, coming soon from Ellora’s Cave

“Invitation, please.”

Emily handed over the elaborate card Jenn had received in the mail and waited while the bare-chested muscleman checked her friend’s name off the list on his clipboard. Sure, she could’ve used the card Gino had sent her but she didn’t want to leave a trail. “Thank you, Miss McNeil.”

Two steps later she was inside Gino’s large and lavish apartment, instantly becoming one of the mass. Although almost everyone there probably worked for the Smithsonian, Emily didn’t even try to guess who was behind which mask. There would be time later to catch up with old friends.

That particular night she had only one item on her to-do list. Seduce then reject the infamous Randall Kentworth. If she did a thorough enough job, she’d leave him panting, wondering pointlessly who the hot woman in the gold brocade jacket was.

As she slid through the mob, scanning for her prey, something rubbery caressed her waist. She twisted to find a huge cactus staring at her.

“Can I get you a beer?” it shouted, holding up a half full plastic cup.

Emily pulled the plant’s other hand off her waist, still gawking at the insanely large Saguaro cactus, complete with a cluster of yellow flowers and bird’s nest. “A cactus?”

The blue eyes hiding inside the plant blinked and the muffled voice shouted in defense, “Hey, there’s cactuses in the desert.”

Emily grinned. Museum people. Always looking for ways to prove how clever they are. “I’m meeting someone,” she said but then to let him know she appreciated the offer, she patted the tiny wren sitting in the nest.

As the giant plastic cactus melted into the crowd, Emily made her way toward the backyard where Gino always put the keg. Randall would be there, surrounded by an adoring mob. Unbuttoning her jacket as she went, she mused, all I have to do is wait until he’s alone.

Once she was done with him he’d know what it was like to want someone you couldn’t have. Her own hopeless wanting was undoubtedly worse than anything he’d end up with, because she’d watched the object of her desire flirt with every female in his path—with the exception of her. He hadn’t even known she’d existed.

That had mostly been her own fault. She’d been too shy even to be considered coy. She’d been damn invisible.

But that was then.

One thing her term in the Peace Corps had done for her was take away that life-ruining shyness. Who has time for hesitation when trying to find lost medical supplies through an interpreter?

Twelve months might only be a year but because of her time away Emily’s life was spilt into before—when she had been quiet and unassuming—and now, when she was demanding and pushy enough to make up for the time she’d wasted waiting for what she wanted to come and find her.

That was why she was there.

To make up for a mistake of her past.

But was it that she wanted to leave him with a sense of longing or was it that she finally wanted to get a piece of that yummy body?

Either way, she had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

It's All in the Cards!



I learned to use the Tarot many years ago, and I now do readings at charity events, such as for my local Cats Protection branch. Last week, I was doing readings for a Swishing Party (you know, the clothes swap idea?) and the charity was research in the Moebius Syndrome. Look it up. This awful neurological disorder is incredibly rare -- but one of the party organisers has a child who is affected. It made me count my blessings that my son and my grandson were born with no neuroligical problems...


Anyway, the readings went well. And I was thinking which of the cards would 'match up' with the characters I'm writing about. It's an interesting exercise. My current heroes would be The Magician and the King of Coins, and my heroines the High Priestess and Queen of Cups. Imagery and symbolism. Then I thought of my Medicine cards, and wondered which of the animal totems would fit... Could go on for hours with this!

A quick seque onto animals -- I now have four foster-kittens. Three more arrived this afternoon (couriered to me by the adoption centre) -- seems that kitten season has hit with a vengeance! Add to that unusual amounts of relief work (two staff on vacation. one long-term sick, one unfilled position) and I can see that actually WRITING anything is not going to be easy for a while. Oh, well. It'll just have to ferment in my brain until I can get time to write it all down...