Blog Hop Dumbassery

I’m an idiot.

See, I had this whole elaborate setup for the With Love Blog Hop that would rotate for three days and show off what I was giving away… and last night I realized that I hadn’t gotten any comments.  AT ALL.  So I looked for the stuff I knew was scheduled…

I SCHEDULED IT FOR MARCH.

[insert groans and facepalms here]

So because I signed up I’m going to make good on that giveaway.  This post will stay up until Friday.  At 5:00 pm on Friday I will pick a winner from the comments.

HOW THIS WORKS:

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, and because my teenager got dumped on Monday by her boyfriend of 2 years and 10 months, I want everyone to leave me comments.  I want to know one of two things:

Your best Valentine’s Day ever.
Why Valentine’s Day truly sucks ass.

Friday evening, she and I will sit down and read the comments.  Then, she is going to pick her favorite.  Whoever gives the right answer in the heartbroken sixteen-year-old’s opinion gets the prize.

THE PRIZE:

One (1) ARC copy (pdf) of my latest release, Something in the Air through Rebel Ink Press.

Because honestly… everyone deserves a Happy-Ever-After.

~+Contemporary Romance+~

Kelly Ray Patrick is a sweet, southern girl who has never been lucky, either in finances or in love.  But as the recent co-recipient of a lottery jackpot, she and her friends have set out on a Valentines-themed singles cruise in the hope of relaxing and meeting Mr. Right.  Only, to Kelly Ray’s surprise, Mr. Right appears to be her best friend, Dominic James.  Nic appears to be feeling the effects of the trip as well, and has discovered his own interest in Kelly Ray.

The only thing stopping them:  their friend, Trevor, who has been carrying a torch for Kelly Ray since they were all kids.  Will respect for that friendship be enough to stem the budding relationship, or will they throw caution to the wind and indulge in their desires?

THE HOP:

Click on the image above to check out the event page and see what everyone else did!

Tuesday Tales: Love

Tags

free read, Tuesday Tales

I’m baaaaaack!!!

First of all, thank you, Jean, for not kicking me out.  I really appreciate it!

This is sort of a continuation of an earlier TT post, and something I’ve toyed with for years.  For the original post, CLICK HERE to read about Preston and Karen’s first kiss.

Also – check out more stories from several fabulous authors on the Tuesday Tales Blog.

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[INTERLUDE: The Love Letter]

Dearest Preston,

It has been two weeks now since you left me standing on my front porch.  I don’t know where in the world you might be or what you might be doing, but I do know one thing… you are all I think about.  You are at the front of every thought in my head, the impetus for every action I undertake.  I never knew what I wanted until I had you – until you took my dare and kissed me.  Part of me tried to die when you got in that car and walked away, but I wouldn’t let it.  I held on – am still holding on – to the hope that you’re going to show up any day now after having performed some act of heroism that got you an early exit with honors.

I know things like that don’t happen, though.  I know the heroes are the ones they like to keep for a long time.  It might sound bad, but I keep catching myself thinking about something horrible.  Some sick little part of my psyche keeps hoping for news of a minor accident – some sort of small, non-lethal injury that will bring you home.

I feel horrible for thinking that and I know that if something does happen to you I’m going to feel guilty for the rest of my life, but I want you home that bad.  I want to know if what we have is more than just a passing thing built out of desperation.

You’ve had my heart for years, Preston.  I just didn’t know it.  With Valentine’s Day only a week away, I know now where my heart belongs – in the place it has always been.  With you.

I love you.  A thousand times I love you.  My heart swells when I think of you then it shatters when I remember that you’re on the other side of the world.  I want to pick up the telephone and call you but then I remember that you aren’t at your Dad’s house.  I remember that you aren’t anywhere that gets cell reception.  You aren’t anywhere that’s safe to let down your guard.  But I don’t cry, because I know you wouldn’t want me to cry for you.  It wouldn’t be fair, because this is the life you chose for yourself. 

You are proud to be a soldier, and I am proud of you.  Every day I want to shout from the rooftop that you are a soldier, and that I am in love with you.

Please be safe, Preston.  You have no idea how much you mean to me.  How much you are loved and missed.  Take care of yourself, and come home soon.

I love you forever,

Karen

Guest Blog: Selah Janel

Tags

guest blog, horror, mooner, selah janel, vampires

It’s that time again…but this time it’s a little special.  Selah is a longtime friend of mine, and I love her to bits.  As you can see, she and I share a certain affinity for both horror and The Lost Boys. Please make her feel at home, and do check out Mooner, her first release.

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I’ve said before at my blog that I love the horror genre because it gives an author a lot of wiggle room; you can write things that you could never get away with in other genres and people will not only agree with you and come along for the crazy ride, but they expect it. Still, the horror genre is made up of a vast and sundry amount of archetypes and some are more near and dear to me than others. Yet whether I’m watching a movie or reading a book that terrifies the hell out of me, I always seem to come back to one thing. Vampires, my friends, vampires.

It intrigues me that this perfect predator, this insane creature of the night has become the Mr. Potato Head of the horror genre lately. Don’t want to deal with the ages of folklore that created your personal Nosferatu? Eh, make him a modern vampire with a complex, people dig that! Don’t quite want to show your bloodsucker sucking blood? Eh, just make him hot and tragic — that works! Enough special effects and color-changing eyes will make up for lack of fangs or bloodshed. At the end of the day as long as he’s sexy, strong, vaguely different, and having a life crisis about what he is, that’s what makes a vampire, right?

Please. I love a lot of modern vampire stories, but let’s be frank. You can’t take the teeth and the bloodlust out of a vamp and still have it be a vampire. At its core, at its genesis the vampire legend was meant to terrify. What’s worse than the thought of your soul not being your own, even after death? What’s scarier than your loved one coming after you, trying to drag you into damnation with them? It’s incredible that the vampire has become a metaphor for so many other things, and I enjoy seeing it used as such, but at the end of the day vampires kill. And I’m thoroughly convinced you can have your hot vampire candy and they can eat, too. And since illustrations work faster than me waxing poetic, I’m going to draw on the vamp movie that is most near and dear to my heart (and Siobhan’s, too) – ‘The Lost Boys.’

Whatever you think about the movie, this is a prime example of modern bad boy vampire meets old school nightcrawler. Don’t believe me? First off we have the Lost Boys, themselves, the core group you see partying and feeding for most of the movie: David, Paul, Dwayne, and Marko. Okay, yes, I would be completely lying if I didn’t admit that they are hot as sin in this movie – and that’s the point. If a vampire is going to be hot, it’s because he or she is a successful predator. What better mechanism to lure in prey than seduction? True, you don’t see that come into play with them, but Star sure uses it to her advantage in the middle of the film. Let’s not forget, originally she was supposed to eat Michael, not get friendly with him. But there is never any doubt that they could tear you apart and not feel bad about it.

Unlike a lot of vampires that came after them, these guys are having fun. They enjoy being vampires! After the scene where they take out the Surf Nazis, how can you doubt that not only do they have to feed, they want to! And yet, even though we mainly see them partying and killing, the mere fact that Laddie’s character exists hints that there might be something else there. We don’t need any huge subplots about mortality or morality; the little detail that they’ve taken in this little boy for whatever reason speaks silent volumes. I’ve always had mixed feelings about the movie killing them all the full vampires off. On the surface it works, but because of these subtle, human details I still can’t help feeling bad for them. They were just doing what they do, y’know, and surely they couldn’t have been all bad! Note that they didn’t need four movies to get a subtle point like that across

While I applaud Anne Rice for using pioneering the angsty vampire, you can’t tell me that every member of the species feels that way. Nosferatu, Dracula, and plenty of others didn’t have qualms about being what they were. It’s nice to see that put into play here. I also really love seeing a bunch of bad boys as vampires, because I think it’s an image that reads really, really well. There’s no doubt in your mind when you first see them that they’re bad news. But it’s also like seeing that group that walked the halls in high school. C’mon, we all know the one, that group that was way cooler than you’d ever be, but you would kill to have them acknowledge your presence.

Like a lot of their earlier kin, there are rules to their behavior and they have to be followed. What I love about this movie is all the folklore it draws upon, whether it’s the lack of invitation in the family dinner scene with Sam, Lucy, and Max, or how the vampires are ultimately dispatched. The script makes the rules work for it instead of trying to get around the rules.

Now for those who dig the vampire relationship movie genre, this movie also plays into that a little with Star and Michael. Star is obviously the one who drags Michael into the group and they both take issue with making the final transformation. The movie never quite gets into what their qualms are, but you still get it. We don’t need to be hit over the head with a huge “But I’m turning into a monstrosity, can I be redeemed?” monologue. The motivations here and really through the whole movie are very basic: the vampires want to feed and have fun, Michael’s attracted to Star and he’s torn between family and power, Sam is trying to protect his family and takes the Frog Brothers along for the ride because they just want to kill vampires. And if you really want to get into it, both Max and Lucy are just trying to preserve their own little families.

And you know what? It works. The beauty of this movie is that as a viewer you can fill in all kinds of subtext that may or may not have been intended originally. I first saw this movie long after it came out and it was like a thunderbolt. It opened up the world of possibility that a horror story could have. Horror didn’t just have to be about some chick getting hacked up or some bogeyman stalking some poor schmuck…it could be about real people and believable relationships being threatened by something otherworldly, yet plausible in that world. Because that’s what also makes that movie really work. Not once do you ever doubt that there are vampires. It takes the world it plunges its audience into seriously. As a writer I tend to plunge my characters into crazy situations, but I’ve never forgotten the lessons I learned watching The Lost Boys. My worlds may be very different, but I try to treat my audience with intelligence, make my worlds believable, and any changes I may make to my creatures had better work for my antagonists.

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Selah Janel has been in love with stories ever since she was locked in a library as a child and obsessed with ideas since she realized that her Barbies might have evil twins and there could be a fairy world on the other side of the local state park. By day she designs and creates costumes for different companies and events and occasionally gets on a stage, herself. Everything she does feeds the idea machine and she often finds a story in the strangest of places. Her work will be in the  winter 2012 issue of The MacGuffin, issue three of The Realm Beyond, and the upcoming Wicked East Press anthology Bedtime Stories for Girls. Her next ebook The Other Man will be available in March from No Boundaries Press. Feel free to visit Selah’s blog and have a look around!

 

Like many young men at the end of the 1800s Bill has signed on to work in a logging camp to earn a fast paycheck to start his life. Unfortunately his role model is Big John, the camp’s golden boy known for blowing his pay as fast as he makes it. On a cold Saturday night they enter Red’s Saloon to forget the work that takes the sweat and the lives of so many. Red may have plans for their whiskey money, but something else lurks in the shadows, something that badly wants a drink that has nothing to do with alcohol. Can Bill make it back out the shabby door or does someone have their own plans for his future?

BUY IT HERE:

NBP Store
Barnes & Noble
Amazon

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Be sure to check out the five-star review on Amazon while you’re there!

Thanks for playing with me, Selah!  Hope to see you soon.

Ten Things I Didn’t Know

With the first week of motherhood under my belt, I can look back and very safely say that it has been complete chaos.  The Little Bit is lying on a pillow next to me, squirming and squeaking.  She’s trying to wake up, and I think she’s going to wake up hungry.

That having been said, here’s what I’ve learned:

1. EVERY ADULT TAKES SLEEP FOR GRANTED…until you aren’t getting any.  I’d give my kingdom for four hours of uninterrupted sleep without dreaming of diapers and bottles and all the frightening things that could happen to my little girl.

2. THE TINIEST THINGS MAKE THE BIGGEST NOISES.  And cats don’t like that particular brand of noise.  All three of the furry children are steering clear of the little human except to try to steal her bottle or attempt to sleep on her blankets.

3. NETFLIX IS YOUR FRIEND.  There is nothing on television after midnight except infomercials and skin flicks. Neither of those is conducive to caring for a baby.  I think I have no watched almost everything in the Netflix catalog.  At least some of it can be considered “research material.”

4. DAYTIME TELEVISION IS A DISTURBING HABIT.  I don’t particularly care if you’re the father or not… get a life, please.  Maury, Jerry, and Steve should all be smacked for instigating that sort of low-life, trashy behavior.

5. CHILDBIRTH KILLS ROMANCE MOJO. It could just be me, but when attempting to write love scenes, I have no interest right now.  I know that very act is what caused me to feel like I’ve been sitting on a porcupine for the last week and a half, have no sleep, and spend every two hours wiping butts and feeding little bird mouths.  Let me forget what it felt like to be ripped apart from the inside out and I might be interested in sex again.

6. WOMEN NEED THREE PAIRS OF HANDS.  One pair to tend to the baby, one pair to reach for things needed to tend to the baby, and one pair to do everything else in the house.  She’s a week and a half old, and I’ve already learned to do so many things one-handed.  If only I could learn to type that way.  Voice recognition software is looking pretty good right now.

7. OTHER WOMEN LOVE BABIES.  One her one-week unbirthday, we took Alice out for her first adventure into the great big, wide world.  First stop was Applebee’s, where every woman in the building cooed over her.  Next we went to Babies R’ Us to exchange some nursing stuff for a bottle warmer (that’s another story that I’m not getting into right now) and every woman in the building gravitated toward the little, tiny baby in the basket.  When other people tell me she’s beautiful, I feel so proud of her.

8. CHILDBIRTH IS UNCOMFORTABLE.  Yeah, we already knew that…but what the media doesn’t tell a mother-to-be is that there’s residual pain, cramps, and bleeding.  There are stitches – whether you’re cut or you tear – and women learn very creative ways to go from standing to lying down and vice versa in those first few days.  A friend of mine, Lucy Blue, said it best when she said a friend of her explained it as “first you feel like you’re sitting on a porcupine, then like you’re sitting on a pine cone, then on a pineapple…then finally it feels like you’re just sitting.”  I haven’t made it to the “just sitting” point yet.

9. YOU DON’T REMEMBER HOW MUCH YOU MISS CAFFEINE UNTIL YOU GET THAT FIRST CUP OF COFFEE.  Then you end up zooming around the room for twenty minutes before the hard crash hits and you want to pull your head off.  I’m actually suffering from a caffeine headache right now because I’m going through withdrawal.  I thought I’d broken this dastardly habit… guess not.

10. NO MATTER WHAT ELSE HAPPENS, IT IS ALWAYS WORTH IT.  When my daughter opens her big, brown eyes and looks at me, I want to cry.  She is so perfect and so beautiful, and she is absolutely everything I never knew I wanted until I had her.  All the pain, every sleepless night, every spit up, every dirty diaper… it’s worth it.  To have her tiny hand wrap around my finger or to see her smile is all the reward I could ever want.  She’s beautiful, she’s perfect, and in the words of Edwin McCain, “I could not ask for more.”

Back to the Grind

We’re now one week into the Adventures in Motherhood, and Siobhan is one hot mess.

Yesterday was the first day I’ve done anything remotely resembling work, and while it felt good, it has officially left my brain a jumbled mess of squishy.  There are five weeks left to my leave from work, and starting tomorrow, I’m going to be on my own with the munchkin.  Miss Alice is the most wonderful thing to happen to me, but I’m scared to death of her.  I don’t know the first thing about taking care of a baby, and I’ve probably relied a little too much on my mother.

So back to yesterday.

I managed to get two blog posts done and got my bio off to the RIP people…which I thought I’d already done.  No actual word counts yet, but that’ll come later.  Once we get into a routine around the house, we’ll be doing better.

Over the next five weeks I have every intention of finishing at least one novel.  See, this is why I didn’t set resolutions for the new year.  Who knows what the next month will hold?  Definitely more routine establishment.  Definitely sleepless nights and fussy babies.  Definitely no clue how things will work out.

But we’re going to get there.  We will, and one of these days I might even be back to normal.

Welcome to the World!

I’m a little late with this, but she’s finally here… everyone, I’d like to introduce you to my daughter, Alice.

ALICE MADIGAN

Born Saturday, January 21, 2012 ta 8:31 PM
6 pounds, 15 ounces
20 1/4 inches long

It’s been a week, let me tell you.  Waking up in labor Saturday morning was quite the surprise.  Despite the sixteen hours it took for her to get here, everything went very well.

But I can tell you this… giving birth is probably the worst experience for a romance writer.  I say that not because there are regrets, but because when your body is ripped absolutely to shreds, you don’t even want to think about the act that got you in that situation, much less write about it in a way that will make other people want to read it.

We won’t even talk about the stitches…

But the good news is that the swelling has finally gone down – mostly.  Sitting upright is no longer a chore, and the men in the audience will be glad to know that I have gained a full cup size in my bra already.

Now for the gory details:

The epidural didn’t work.  When the anesthesiologist stuck that need into my spine, she hit a nerve.  And the pain… OH MY GOD THE PAIN… on the back side of child birth, I can honestly say that the natural birth process was nowhere near as painful start to finish as the feeling of that needle striking the nerve in my spine.

So yeah, I did this on two doses of painkillers with phenergan chasers.  In retrospect, the phenergan was likely a bad idea, because when it got down to the hard labor, I was so drugged that I didn’t have time to regroup between contractions.  Each one hit hard and fast, and I wasn’t ready because I couldn’t stay conscious.

Once we got down to the pushing…and this is a bit on the funny side… my doctor had been running from room to room all day (four before Alice and two after), and he had just enough time to come in, sit down, and catch before she was here.  Once we got to the critical point, she was here in less than ten minutes.

I lost a lot of blood.  A LOT.  The only abnormality in this whole ordeal.  Scared my mother half to death and the doctor was only slightly concerned… but today Alice and I are both just fine.  We’re home and happy and while we’ve had a few hiccups along the way (figuratively and literally), I think we’re going to be just fine.  She’s sleeping right now which gives me time to update the world.

She’s adorable, and according to her doctor at her first visit Wednesday, she’s perfect.  Well, she does have a knot on her head from where she rested against my pelvic bone for so long, but that will pass in time.

But back to the delivery room… I had a cast of thousands in attendance for the majority of the day.  My husband and step-daughter (who, by the way, stayed with us through it all and was there from the very first second of her sister’s life… I’m so proud of her), my mother, my husband’s mother, brother and two of his sisters, Alexandra Christian (who is quite possibly the only person that kept me sane that day and my personal hero for sticking by me even through my screaming) and even my brother, his wife and his oldest child showed up from Charleston.  When it came time for Alice to make her appearance, it was only my husband, step-daughter, and mother in the room.

Afterward?  That’s a different story.  Miss Alice was passed around like a hot potato.  And I don’t remember any of it because I was completely drugged.  I know at one point Tally brought me a bag of food from McDonald’s (because I hadn’t eaten in 27 hours), but I don’t remember what was in it or that I even ate it…but they say I did.

Miss Alice is now six days old, and she’s doing just fine.  We just finished vacuuming and shampooing the living room carpet, and she slept through the whole thing.  She’s not a screamer; she’s actually a very good baby.  She sleeps a lot, and even when she’s hungry she doesn’t really cry…she sounds more like a squeaky toy.

Despite the long nights and the occasional miscommunication over the last few days, I feel like the luckiest woman alive.  My daughter is absolutely perfect in every way, and I couldn’t ask for more.

RESOLVED: Not to Have Resolutions

Well, here we are.  It’s 2012.  The last year of the world, if you listen to some people (or believe that the end of the Mayan Calendar is an omen – cue spooky music here).  I, on the other hand, believe that it’s going to be just another year.  Yeah, I believe in a lot of fantastic things, but this?  Sorry, nope.  When the world does end, I don’t want a prediction.  I want it to just happen, because I want to continue enjoying it up until the very last second.

So the big question is – with a new year looking us in the face, what are our resolutions?

Let me start with last year:

I had two resolutions last year.  One I completed.  The other? Not so much.  First, I told myself that I was going to finish a story and actually publish it.  AND I DID.  I now have three in e-print and three contracts, and I’m still going strong.  And this one, kids, was not just a simple resolution – this was something major.  It was the accomplishment of a lifelong goal, and I can’t describe how good it feels.

The second – well, I resolved to lose weight.  And I was going pretty well until about June, when I found out about the little one that’s now almost here.  The good news is that so far I’ve only gained 10 pounds above where I was, and at least 6 of it is her.

So that’s where I’ve been all year.  As for this year… well, things are going to be a little different.  I’m not making resolutions this year.  I’m not going to make demands of myself and force unfair restrictions.  What I plan to do is keep track of all the things I accomplish.  I plan to keep writing, keep submitting, and keep publishing.  I plan to finish school.  I plan to learn how to be a parent to a child that isn’t already half-grown.  And most of all, I plan to keep my head up and continue being me.

Those aren’t resolutions.  Those are things that I’d like to see happen this year, but I know me, and I know that by telling myself “YOU HAVE TO DO THIS”, I’ll only shy away from the responsibility of completing it.  I tend to get overwhelmed, and right now I’m almost there.

So that’s where I am.  We’re going to make this a good year, one way or another.

WDD #4: Under the Mistletoe

Tags

free read, Giveaway, weekend dirty dozen

We’re back!  This week’s selection comes from a free read up on The Romance Studio’s Party Site.  It’s short, sweet, contemporary, holiday, and military(ish) all in one.  If you like the dozen, feel free to hop over and read the rest.  Oh, and comment over there for a chance to win something!

Eh… why not?  While I’m at it, one lucky commenter this week will win something too.  Leave me a comment with an email address and tell me which one of THESE BOOKS you might want.  On December 26th, we’ll pick a winner, and that person will get whichever book he or she wants.

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THE DOZEN

“Okay, wait here. I have to go get something.”

“Sebastian…”

“it’s worth it,” he said as he brushed past her and took off down the dock. “I promise. Oh! Keep looking at the water!”

Rhea growled, but did as he said while he lumbered away. It really was a beautiful place, even if it carried bittersweet memories. Without Sebastian’s bulk there to block the wind, her skin prickled with cold and she began to regret ever listening to him. This had to be one of the craziest plots she’d ever been privy to, at least without Jimmy there.

“Keep facing the water!” Sebastian called out again as she heard him trot back across the wooden planks of the dock. Rhea rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her body. A moment later, he appeared in front of her, nearly overshooting his landing and toppling into the water.

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But wait… THERE’S MORE!

Under the Mistletoe: Part 1
Under the Mistletoe: Part 2

The Weekend Dirty Dozen Blog
The Weekend Dirty Dozen on Facebook

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Guest Blog: Anne Holly

Tags

Anne Holly, guest blog, Holidays, Strings Attached, Unwrapping Scrooge

Good morning and welcome to another edition of Blogging with Siobhan.  Or rather, Blogging FOR Siobhan.  Today’s guest is the talented Anne Holly, who many of you may remember as the author of Like Magic, which I reviewed sometime back.  As always, it’s lovely to play with her, and I hope you enjoy what she has to say.

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Snow Magic
A guest post by Anne Holly

Snow is a much maligned thing. Cold and wet, I suppose it doesn’t make much of an effort to please, but by the same token it’s lovely and awe inspiring. This little crystalline thing materializes out of the sky and covers the earth, along with millions of its brethren who are both like and totally unlike it. Like humans, snow flakes are both unique and connected. Inconvenient, perhaps, and occasionally dangerous, true, but I suspect the planet feels the same way about us human beasts.

I grew up on an isolated little farm, where the wind whistled and howled around the corners for about six months of every year. But that isn’t the only soundtrack of winter. If you live in a land of ice and snow, you will understand what I mean when I mention the muffling effect of snow. In the early morning after a heavy snow fall, when no one’s around, there is a silence that can’t be duplicated. This is the sound of snow. Calm, peaceful, serene silence.

Along with the crunch of boots in fresh snow where no one else has yet walked.

Snow is far from bland. It can fill untold numbers of afternoons with joyful play and the drama of ice. And there’s more to snow than cold. My father used to bank our house in snow, since it can also insulate. And there’s more to snow than white. There are many shades of blue in undisturbed fields, and gold with silver as it falls like powder, and pink as the sun sets upon it. And in the north, the sky lights up and dances on it.

I love the snow. I know it well, having lived my life in some of the coldest nooks in a country somewhat defined by its winter. It’s no surprise that I find myself writing about it often, returning to the fascinating glassy or blank surface that covers everything beneath it. My love stories are often prefaced by it, my couples surrounded by it, sheltered by each other from the wind, and isolated in a sea of snow – and snug within the layers of white that close out intrusions. It’s when they dig themselves out, or the world digs itself in, that the magic falters.

In some ways, it might seem that I am building a career on holiday stories, but really I’m building a career on snow. And rain, and wind, and all of those things that people often take for granted when compared to the showy glitz of lazy, sunny summer days. I’ve heard it said that the earth shows off in spring, summer and fall by parading its pretty colours and dramatic plumage. But, it shows off in winter, as well, if you stop to watch it. Only, in winter, it reserves its most serious art for the season that reminds us of the balance between life and death, and cold and warmth, and love and alienation.

This is the season I like best, because those things are what I write.

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Anne Holly is a Canadian writer of romance and erotic-romance, as well as a mother and teacher. She is the author of the novel Strings Attached, which was described by The Romance Reviews as “a classic contemporary romance.” She has been published by Wild Horse Press, Decadent Publishing and Rebel Ink Press, and in 2012 by Pink Petal Books. Anne’s work is characterized by its unusual heroes, sweet/spicy balance, witty dialogue, responsible citizenship, and its positive, optimistic nature. She has found a particular niche in holiday romance. You may visit Anne at her blog or website, or find her on GoodReads, Facebook and Twitter  (@anneholly2010). Sign up for her newsletter here. Email her at anneholly2010@gmail.com.

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Personally, I love the snow.  Just sayin’…

Thanks for stopping by, Anne!  Come back soon!

And The Hopping Winner Is…….

Tags

free stuff

…or rather, WINNERS.  There are three.

After some pretty stupid technical difficulties this weekend (no internet from early Friday morning until about 20 minutes ago with it being sketchy at best the three days before that), we’re finally here to announce winners and add in a few reminders.

First – I’m terribly sorry that I promised everyone a second part of Bloody Good and failed to deliver. The no internet thing has kind of messed me up on that.  But never fear, it will be up soon.  Check back for more info.

But anyway, on to the important stuff. The winners.

Ahem…

DRUM ROLL PLEASE…

Marked :  BakinStuff

She-Wolf : Wanda Flanagan

Blood Doll: Angel Graham

I will be contacting each of you via email shortly to confirm the selections and deliver your ebooks.  Please sit tight and bear with me in case I lose my technical capabilities again.

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For those of you that didn’t win, you still have other chances to get hold of my stuff.  First – once I finish up here I’ll be heading over to The Romance Studio for their Christmas Party.  Up for grabs over there is a copy of Blood Doll.

And don’t forget my Guess The Date Contest!  If you can correctly tell me when my daughter will be born, you get free stuff!