Saturday, January 31, 2015

My Sexy Saturday: Their Sexy Thoughts

There’s a million ways lovers think about each other. Sometimes it’s in frustration, sometimes it’s with regret, sometimes it’s with anger…but underneath it all…there is love. We want you to show us those very special moments when lovers are thinking about each other. 




From "Water Wheel" in Storm Moon Press' Devout
Buy Link: http://www.stormmoonpress.com/books/Devout.aspx


Your Seven Sexy Paragraphs:

“How wonderful and multitudinous the works of the Lord,” the Bishop of Rochester whispered to himself as he watched the slow progress of the young lord on horseback. Leo Surrey couldn’t stop himself from tracing every aspect of Rhys, the son of the Earl of Kent. An odd name for the son of an English lord, but it was well-known in the region that Rhys' mother was a Welsh noble who had given him a name that appeared frequently in her family. The lovely young man was riding out early this day, tending his duties to the land and his father.

Sun shone on his uncovered hair, highlighting the black waves with a blue that nearly matched his eyes. When he stopped and dismounted, muscles rippled through his tight cote and hose. The Lady Eva was commonly held to be in a constant uproar about her inability to force her son to dress in accordance with his station. Instead, he preferred ordinary working clothes, leaving the finer stuff for church and holidays.

Leo watched the young heir to the earldom dig his hands into the earth and crumble a clod of it between his fingers. A scowl crossed his well-made features as he dusted his hands. He took the reins, walked the horse a few dozen yards, and repeated the motion.

The crops in the region had been poor for the last two years. Another bad harvest would cause a famine.

Rhys' long fingers dug into the ground, and Leo imagined them pressing against flesh instead of dirt. He jumped when his long-forgotten philosophy book slid from his lap to the floor. A smile quirked one corner of his mouth. God certainly had ways of reminding him.

 He'd suffered from the ordinary temptations, and the hot blood of youth had cooled in its time. He was no decadent, as was the Spanish Pope, to sire sons into his fifties in defiance of his vows. Only once, when he was barely twenty, had he strayed with issue resulting. The child had been given over to the church and the woman well paid.

A light tap at the door told him the reminder of his sin was seeking counsel. “Come in, nephew. I hear you out there.”

~~~

Other sexy bloggers:

Friday, January 30, 2015

Thoughts on Education




"Everywhere I go, I'm asked if I think the universities stifle writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher" (Flannery O'Connor).

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Beta Readers and Laudatory Quotes

I need an old priest and a young priest...

No, wait.

I have a book, Terror of the Frozen North, that is deep in second pass edits before submission. I am looking for three types of people to read the submission draft.

It is the ongoing adventures of Lord Withycombe and his American secretary, the sequel to Curse of the Pharaoh's Manicurists. It is two men in love, facing peril and adventure. Not exactly erotic romance, but very pulp fiction, with sex. No heterosexuality in this one, unless you're going to hold the maids and the housekeeper getting a Christmas kiss against me.





















So, I am looking for:

1) People who have read Curse of the Pharaoh's Manicurists and can tell me if it is a worthy successor.

2) People who have NEVER read Curse of the Pharaoh's Manicurists and can tell me whether it stands alone.

3) Other published authors willing to give me a laudatory back cover quote in exchange for the same favor or an insertion into later books in the series. (The last person to do this ended up the eccentric inventor in this book)

The book will be going out in a few days. Let me know here, or on Facebook and I will send you a review copy.

Saturday, January 3, 2015

EC royalties. For August

So, it's January.

Ellora's Cave used to be a reliable house in their heyday. In 2007, I put out my first short story with them. It came out October 25. I got a check by Dec 2 for the sales in October.

Today, January 3, 2014, I got a check from Ellora's Cave.
Dated Dec 15.
Mailed Dec 31
And for AUGUST royalties




If they are four months behind, how are they going to issue 1099s at the end of January?
Do they already know how much they owe us and are just holding it until the eagle screams?


And then there is the lovely little rumor that EC is paying certain authors last, if there is money, just kind of ices the cake.