Excerpt From SILENT SKY by Regina Kammer

Part of the NAUGHTY REUNIONS boxed-set, available for download September 25th

Click here to pre-order now from Amazon
 

Blurb:
I watched in horror as the twin towers collapsed, trying to remember if I’d told Scott I loved him before he left for New York.
Genre/theme: Contemporary, women's fiction, marriage, second chances, grief

Copyright © Regina Kammer, 2015

Excerpt:

 “Jennie?” said the gorgeous guy I’d been ogling surreptitiously since the second he’d walked through the front door. “Hi. I’m Scott. Happy Birthday.” He stuck out his hand.

I smiled and tried not to melt under the intensity of his olive-green gaze as I shook his hand. His grip was strong, assertive, and compelling.

It was my thirtieth birthday and my friend Daphne was throwing me a “bring a single man” party at her flat in San Francisco. All my girlfriends were partnered, but I was the black sheep of the bunch. Perennially single with a string of atrocious short-term boyfriends and one-night-stands.

I met a lot of random guys that night, some of them even gay. (“Well, he’s single!”) Scott arrived late, and I had turned at the sound of the doorbell in hopeful anticipation. He chatted with Daphne briefly before heading straight over to me, wending his way through the cliques of party guests. My heart pumped blood to flush my face, frustrating my attempts to maintain my cool.

Physically he was everything I had fantasized about—and more. Tall, but not too tall. Green eyes, but a shade I had never expected. Brown hair, longish and tousled. Athletic frame covered by a button-down shirt and black jeans. Which meant he actually thought about what to wear to a stranger’s birthday party. He posed gallantly before me with one hand behind his back, as if he were going to bow.

“Hi. Thanks,” I said, still a little dazzled by his perfection.

“I’m a friend of Dave’s—Daphne’s brother.” He glanced around at the noisy throng. “Sorry I’m late. I’m working on this big report. I had to get it done.”

“You’re not late. We haven’t even had cake yet.”

He beamed. “Seriously? That’s the best part.”

“It totally is, isn’t it?” I giggled, nervousness edging my mirth. “And now you’re here we can get the party started.”

Lines like that were usually how I got all those losers in bed.

Except Scott blushed. And pulled his hand from behind his back to present me with a beautiful bouquet: red carnations set off by orange dahlias and yellow sunflowers, splashed with a touch of baby’s breath.

I think I gasped. It was by far the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for me.

After that, except for the few moments I was expected to blow out the candles on my cake, I found myself by Scott’s side the entire night.

Cover Reveal - NAUGHTY REUNIONS

Naughty Reunions
Return to Romance

including BBW, Contemporary, F/F, M/M, New Adult, Paranormal, Regency, Shape-shifter,  Speculative Fiction & Stepbrother Romance from Amazon bestselling authors!

Click here to pre-order now from Amazon, Release date September 25th

 

Silent Sky ~ Regina Kammer
I watched in horror as the twin towers collapsed, trying to remember if I’d told Scott I loved him before he left for New York.

Homeward Bound ~ Alexa Silver
Bry intends to come out with a splash. How will the public handle their favorite movie actor coming out of the closet. And how will the stresses impact Bry’s relationship with Kell?

Lady Esther’s Lesbian Lover ~ Berengaria Brown
Lady Esther’s London season failed to find her a husband. She’d rather find a woman to love. But that’s impossible in Regency England. Or is it?

Renovating the Relationship ~ Katherine Kingston
Dani and Brad’s relationship ended years ago when he couldn’t give her what she needed. This time Brad thinks he’s found a way to provide it, but Dani might not agree when she realizes what he plans.

The WyndMaster’s Homecoming ~ Charlotte Boyett-Compo
Maj. Marisol Diaz journeyed to hell to bring home her wayward lover. Keeping him alive was going to be harder than she thought.

Back in Your Arms ~ Marianne Stephens
Liz blames Brian’s family for the loss of her family’s Inn. Seeking revenge, she conrtacts Brian to restore it. Will rekindled love spark between them?

My Cups Runneth Over ~ Francesca Hawley
Five years ago, Brook’s tarot reading and dream premonition predicted his lover’s death so he left to protect her. On the morning of his cousin’s wedding, Delia and Brook meet again. Will their reunion bring love or danger?

Ocean Dreams ~ Suz deMello
Marine biologist Sandi has never forgotten Blue, the baby dolphin with whom she bonded. Reunited with him years later, she discovers he’s a shapeshifter in the sexiest possible way.

Hybrid Mates: Take Me Home ~ Nicole Austin
Going home isn’t easy, but my new stepbrother has me aching for the kind of love my sister’s have found. Can I really have it all?

It was a Pleasure to Burn...

Hi all,
   It's September. For me that means my thoughts turn to Banned Books Week. In my day job, I work as a librarian and this is a real issue every day.


What does that mean for a book to be banned or challenged? It means that someone somewhere thinks that they know what's best for you. For your children. For your grandchildren. A challenged or banned book has language, or a message, that some find controversial and they want it gone, regardless of views. So they go to a library or a bookstore and tell them, "Take that filth away! It shouldn't be where children or impressionable people can see it."

But what's the filth that's so terrible? Communism? Fascism? Sexuality? Witchcraft? Or could it be the Bible itself? The Communist Manifesto, Mein Kampf, 50 Shades of Grey, Harry Potter and yes, even the Bible have been challenged and in some cases removed from book stores or public and school libraries. But what's the big deal? It's just book, right? Nope. It's not just a book.

Ray Bradbury made that plain in Fahrenheit 451. A fable about a society where firemen don't put out fires, they start them. With books. The main character says...

"Last night I thought about all that kerosene I've used in the past ten years. And I thought about books. And for the first time I realized that a man was behind each one of the books. A man had to think them up. A man had to take a long time to put them down on paper. And I'd never even thought that before."

"It took some man a lifetime maybe to put some of his thoughts down, looking around at the world and life and then I come along in two minutes and boom! It's all over."

"Let me alone," said Mildred. "I didn't do anything."

"Let you alone! That's all very well, but how can I leave myself alone? We need to not be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?"

Can you answer that question? I can. I get bothered every time I turn on the news these days. I see far too many things that Bradbury suggested might happen in his book. Far too many are painfully real now. So what's the point? The point is memory. Each year, when Banned Books Week is celebrated, we're tasked to remember. This annual event celebrating the freedom to read, highlights the value of free and open access to information and condemns censorship.

It encourages readers to think. We should read that controversial book, because if we don't, someone may decide we don't need to and then it will disappear.

Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community –- librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types –- in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those ideas that some consider unorthodox or unpopular. Even ideas that some consider...dangerous. Thus, this event is about democracy and the importance of the first amendment to the Constitution.

By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship. This special week was launched in 1982 in response to a surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. Since 1982, more than 11,000 books have been challenged. And that's why this event is important to all.

Many books that are challenged say that the challenge was because a book was "unsuited to age group" -  which means that someone wants to censor books for children and young adults.

Now, I'm not saying an individual parent should be prevented from deciding what his/her child reads. No, just the opposite. A good parent involves him or herself in the child's reading choices. But just because you don't approve of a book for your child does not mean you should tell your neighbor that their child can't read that book either. And that's what a challenge is about, right at the base of it. I don't approve so you don't get the right to decide for yourself.

I don't know about you, but I want the right to evaluate a book or an idea for myself. I may agree with the person who labels a book "trash," or I might not. But it's up to me to decide and I like it that way. I want to think for myself. Read for myself and then conclude what I think, and not what I'm spoon-fed by others.

It comes down to democracy. Democratic ideals of one person, one vote. Of each of us determining the value of something for ourselves. And I'd like to close with one of the best definitions of democracy and free speech I've ever heard. It comes from an unlikely place, but good ideas often do. This definition was passionately expressed by President Andrew Shepherd in the romantic comedy, The American President.

"America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the "land of the free".

And that's what Banned Books Week is all about. Exercising your freedom of speech and your freedom to read. It's that simple.

Writing is a career

If a writer wants to be taken seriously, they have to treat the job seriously. That means that the comments they make in public need to be professional. Of course, they can talk about their children, and their pets, and their garden, exactly as you might talk about such topics at work. But just as being rude to the boss at your day job may see you unemployed fairly quickly, so too being rude about your cover or your publisher may see you not getting any more covers or contracts.
Publishing is a small world. Everyone knows someone who knows someone. So switch off the internet before raving about how your heroine has long blonde hair and is overweight, and the cover model is a size zero with a bob cut. Spell check your blog posts. Answer emails from your publisher and their staff in a timely manner. In other words, you’re at work, so act in a professional manner.

And most of all keep writing.

Some days it’s natural to want to come home, sink into a comfortable chair, and relax. Do that. For half an hour. Then get your butt in front of the computer and start writing. Every page is one page closer to the end of the book. Even one paragraph is better than nothing.
I’ve been able to write a large number of books because I write shorter books. Mine are all under 45,000 words. This means fewer characters, less complicated plots, and the book as a whole is faster to write. The shorter length suits me. But that’s a matter of personal choice. The only rule is to keep writing. Every day if you possibly can.

I write for several different publishers as well as indi publishing. Because I write across different genres, I send each different genre to a different publisher. Writing several different genres helps me stay fresh and different, and writing for several different houses means I can have more books released than might be the situation at just one publisher. Of course, it also means that sometimes I have edits for several different books at once, which can be a headache. But overall, the system works for me.

Promotion can be a big drain on time. I have a blog and a website. I try to update my blog every week. I update Facebook and Twitter most days, sometimes twice a day. With chat loops, I read and respond to two loops I like, that have a mix of authors and readers. I go to at least one chat a month but these can vary from a special chat day that’s so busy it’s almost impossible to keep up with the posts, to ones where it’s like you’re talking to an empty room. I know often people lurk on loops but I really don’t know how helpful such chats are, either the incredibly busy ones or the almost silent ones.

I also guest blog from time to time, and enjoy visiting other people’s blogs and talking to the commenters. But again, it’s a big time commitment, first to write the blog, then to keep coming back and commenting. My hope is that every now and then someone will enjoy my blurbs and excerpts and be prepared to try one of my books.
Do I have the best plan to make my writing a successful career? I don’t know. All I know is that I’m doing my best to treat this seriously as my profession, to learn all I can, and to keep researching, keep learning and keep writing.

Berengaria Brown
Blog: http://berengariasblog.blogspot.com/
Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/berengaria-brown
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Berengaria-Brown/e/B00541R3YQ/

The Villas of Lake Como

By Katherine Kingston

I recently had a chance to revisit one of my favorite places in the entire world, northern Italy and Lake Como. It’s no accident that I set my Naughty Escapes story, The Lake by Moonlight, there. It may well be one of the most beautiful places in the world. I’m certainly not alone in that belief. 

Plenty of tourists think so as well and flock to the area. Many denizens of southern Italy, those who can afford it, also retreat to this part of the country for cooler temperatures and water sports on the lake.

And many of the world’s rich and famous retreat here as well. The shores of the lake are lined with magnificent villas, fabulous hotels, and incredible resorts. Best known of the celebrities who have villas here at the moment are George and Amal Clooney. In fact they were in residence while we were there, though we didn’t happen to run into them.

Even for the not-so-rich and not-so-famous, Lake Como is a magical place. The lake is one of the deepest in Europe and rich in fish, which means good eating at the local restaurants. Other than the city of Como, most of the towns on its shores are small, charming, and geared for tourists. Since it’s surrounded by mountains, there are plenty of rugged hiking trails as well as easy walks for the less adventurous. In addition to the gorgeous villas, there are medieval towers and fortresses, fabulous gardens and parks, wonderful shops full of silks, glassware, and fine leather, and lots of old churches, monasteries, and villas full of art, all waiting for exploration.

We spent just a few days, but I could’ve happily stayed much longer.

Definitions: What is Erotica? by Regina Kammer

Riffing off Suz’s post A Few Words About Writing Erotica, I’ve decided to offer definitions of erotica, erotic romance, and such. You can read the extended version on my blog.

Introduction

People frequently make broad assumptions about what it is I write. Friends, family, and acquaintances snicker about my "porn". Romance writer colleagues imbued with the cadence of traditional romance often bandy about the term "erotica" as if to signal the ugly otherness of erotic romance.

So I will attempt to answer the provocative question What is erotica? and by doing so answer corollary questions about misunderstood erotic-like literary variations: Erotic romance, steamy romance, smut, porn, and Romantica®.

Kammerotica Definitions, or The What is Erotica? Cheat Sheet!

Erotica
Erotica is a literary form where the core of the story is sexual in nature. As a literary form, erotica has plot, themes, character development, goals and motivations, conflicts and resolutions, and all those elements that make up a story. But all those elements deal with something sexual in nature. Typical themes include the erotic development of a relationship (e.g., a Dominant and submissive), or an innocent’s journey of sexual discovery, or a character’s exploration and development of their true sexual nature. One could not strip out the sex scenes and be left with a comprehensible story. The sex is the story.

But, blasphemy of blasphemies, I do not think erotica has to necessarily be arousing. Sometimes the erotic development of a relationship or a character’s journey of sexual discovery is sad, lonely, and depressing. Sometimes it is shocking. Sometimes it is sweet and romantic. And sometimes it is arousing.

Erotic romance
In order to define this, I have to define "romance". I'm not talking le Roman de la Rose or Arthurian chivalric knights, which are the roots of the idea of romantic love. No. I'm talking Romance Writers of America (RWA) romance.

Two basic elements comprise every romance novel: a central love story and an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending.

Erotic romance takes all the elements of erotica but has a love story at its core. An optimistic resolution to a relationship—a Happily Ever After or a Happily For Now—is essential in an erotic romance.

Sex scenes are not gratuitous in erotic romance. Sexual elements form the foundation of the plot, themes, and characters. One cannot simply strip away the sex scenes and be left with a comprehensible story. The sex scenes drive the plot and character development and push toward that culmination of a HEA/HFN.

Steamy (or Sexy, or Graphic, or Gratuitous, or Explicit) Romance
Steamy Romance is a romance with a lot of sex in it. Generally, there is a very good reason for at least one of the sex scenes—the moment when the hero and heroine (or whatever permutation of H/h the story has: two men, two women, three people, etc.) connect deeply and emotionally. But in a lot of steamy romances, one could tone down the sex scenes or fade to black before the sex scenes and the story would be sound.

Unfortunately, some steamy romance novels have too many purely gratuitous sex scenes. Personally, I find these sorts of stories rather boring. I want the sex in a story to have purpose, to move the story forward. Characters should change, relationships should develop, conflicts should increase or resolve — something has to happen because of the sex. I find it interesting that erotica and erotic romance is often criticized for having gratuitous sex. It’s actually the steamy romances that too often fall into that pit.

Romantica®
Romantica® is a registered trademark of the erotic romance and erotica publisher Ellora’s Cave. The term is exclusively used for their line of erotic romance. Because it is a trademark one should never use the term unless discussing an Ellora’s Cave erotic romance. Maybe one day it will be a generic term, but until then I strongly urge people not to use it out of context.

Smut
Depending on who is using it, this word can mean "erotica" or "literary porn" or "just plain porn". It’s a cute word that seems to be used mostly by erotica authors from the UK.

Pornography / Porn
In pornography sex scenes exist purely for the purpose of sexual titillation. Plot, character development, theme, and all other literary devices are generally missing in pornography. In fact, such literary effects are irrelevant and unessential. The entire emphasis is on sexual acts. "Literary porn" is really just well-written porn, but once the story starts to have some of those literary devices, porn starts sliding toward erotica.

Pornography starts with a set-up, e.g., pizza boy goes to a sorority house and sexiness ensues. Characters remain the same after the act is finished: there is no character development, no character growth, no conflict resolution. There is just pure sexual satisfaction—although I suppose that is a resolution of some sort!

What I Write

So, what is it I actually write? I write all of the above except porn—despite what my friends think. I offer a few examples below.

Erotica
My story in Naughty List, "A Night at Valley Forge", is erotica because a HEA is not an element.

Erotic romance
Most of what I write can be categorized as this. I like a happy ending! I like my characters to explore their sexual natures! My favorite novel of mine, The General’s Wife: An American Revolutionary Tale, is pretty much textbook erotic romance.

Romantica®
Because I’ve written for Ellora’s Cave, I’ve written Romantica with my Harwell Heirs series. The Pleasure Device, Disobedience By Design, and Where Destiny Plays are all erotic romance novels under the Romantica brand.

Steamy romance
Yes! I’ve actually written steamy romance! It surprised me too, because I never thought I would. My story in Naughty Flings, "Hot As Hades", is a story with hot sex and a Happily Ever After. I think the story would not be as good without the sex or with toned down sex, but I hesitate calling it erotic romance. Maybe you can convince me otherwise in the comments?

About the Author

Regina Kammer is a librarian, an art historian, and an award-nominated, best-selling, multi-published writer of erotica and historical erotic romance. Her short stories and novels make history sexier, whether the era is Roman, Byzantine, Viking, American Revolution, or Victorian. She’s even sexed up contemporary settings, Steampunk, and Greco-Roman mythology. She has been published by Cleis Press, Go Deeper Press, Ellora’s Cave, House of Erotica, Story Ink, The Naughty Literati, and her own imprint, Viridium Press. She began writing historical fiction with romantic elements during National Novel Writing Month 2006, switching to erotica when all her characters suddenly demanded to have sex.

Keep up with Regina on her website

Follow her on Twitter @Kammerotica

Or Google+

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Connect with her on Goodreads

See what’s new on her Amazon Author Page

Candyman by Nicole Austin

Here it is, the fabulous (if I do say so myself) cover for Candyman. I am thrilled to have this reverted Ellora's Cave title revised, re-edited and going live again.

Candyman – Preorder now – Downloadable on September 4th


Blurb:
Elisa Wilde’s recurrent dreams transcend time and place. Dreams so real they seem to be actual memories of a bygone era. Driven to unravel the mystery and reclaim her life, she’s drawn into an amazing adventure.

In a tragic twist of fate, Michael Claret lost his truelove. He has waited decades for her return, but getting her back is only a small part of the battle. Edie has changed, evolved into a different woman. Not only will Michael have to once again win her heart, he must also gain her acceptance of his true nature. And to keep her requires she make a huge leap of faith by completing the mating bond—a sharing of blood binding them together for eternity.

Fate is a cruel mistress who will not be cheated or denied. To make the most of their second chance, Michael and Lisa must alter the path chosen for them, and rewrite their love story or be lost to each other forever.

*This previously published title has been revised and re-edited*

Excerpt:

Copyright © Nicole Austin, 2015

Lisa wanted to laugh as she listened to a group of women seated at a large table ordering fancy drinks with sexy names. Foreplay, All Night Long and Kinky Orgasm were a few of her favorites.

Shan found two empty stools at the bar for them. After several minutes, they were approached by a harried-looking bartender, flamboyant mannerisms and a gay pride T-shirt advertising his sexual preferences.

“What’ll it be, ladies?”

“A Slow Comfortable Screw with a twist,” her sister stated.

His attention turned toward Lisa. “What would you like, hon?”

Her mind wandered to the earlier visions of frantic sex with Michael, and her devilish muse became inspired. What the hell, he’d asked what she wanted, and he was blatantly gay so there was no danger of his thinking he could provide what she desired. She might as well tell him in explicit detail.

“I want a hard, deep, raw fuck against the wall, with multiple screaming orgasms, followed by the inability to walk straight for days.” She flashed him a wicked grin.

The bartender breathed heavily and Shan moaned. “Dayum, sis. Umm…I changed my mind. I’ll have what she’s having.”

“You and me both, sugar. I’ll let you know when I find someone capable of filling that order. In the meantime, you’ll have to choose something contained on the shelves.”

Lisa relented, ordered a glass of merlot, and turned to take in the room. The brief verbal play lessened some of the tension and allowed her to relax, if only slightly.

The band sounded hot, and quite a few members of the audience were dancing. Everyone appeared to be having fun. She received flirtatious glances from several men, but she didn’t offer any encouragement. Whether a simple case of nerves created the gut reaction or an actual case of intuition, she had the sense of sitting on the precipice of a life-altering event. Something big would happen tonight and she felt almost certain it would be tied in to the memories.

Shan and she were both asked to dance by several men and her sister took several up on their invitations. Lisa felt too strung out to dance, and politely declined all advances. Her thoughts shifted to performing.

She planned to sing tunes from now grown-up teeny-bop pop artist Christina Aguilera. Her album, Back to Basics, featured old-school style jazz, blues and soulful songs with a modern flair, along with a few sexually charged tracks that were perfect for the occasion.

Lisa would start with Save Me from Myself, a sultry, soul-inspired song that fit the forties feel she hoped to achieve and yet was still contemporary. The band had insisted she have an encore song prepared and told her in no uncertain terms that if the audience didn’t demand another number, the musicians would.

To make them happy, she decided on Candyman. The dirty and playful song would liven up the mood and get everyone interested in dancing again, hopefully saving her from singing anything else. While she enjoyed singing, she was self-conscious about doing so on stage under the bright spotlights.

At a signal from the bandleader, she headed backstage. She’d have ten minutes to prepare before being called out on stage. She paced the confines of a small dressing room going over the lyrics in her mind until the bar manager knocked and peeked in the door.

“You ready, Lisa?”

Taking note of the state she’d worked herself into, Sam moved to her side. “Whoa, honey. It’ll be all right.” Clasping her shaky hands in his own, he rubbed some warmth into her cold flesh and talked her through some calming breaths.

“I heard you sing earlier. You’re going to wow them, Lisa. Hell, if it makes you feel any better, there’s no way I’d let you on my stage if you sucked.”

As he’d intended, she laughed. “Jeez. Thanks, Sam. I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not, but I’ll take it.”

“You’re gonna knock ’em dead, honey.” He brushed a friendly kiss over her cheek. After walking with her to the edge of the curtain, he nodded to the band. They finished the current song and the bandleader drew the patrons’ attention.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Top Hat and Old Town Tavern are proud to announce that author and vocalist extraordinaire Elisa Wilde has humbly agreed to honor us all with a song tonight. So please, put your hands together and give a big welcome to this phenomenal lady.”

Oh crap, no he didn’t. How the heck would she live up to the effusive introduction? Her tummy flip-flopped as Sam walked her out onto the now darkened stage, held her waist, and set her atop the piano. A sense of déjà vu hit her as he handed her a cordless microphone then squeezed her hand.

“Have fun!”

In a flash, she was thrust back into the memory of Edie singing on a nearly identical stage. Grateful for the vision, she followed the other woman’s example and lay on her side.

Then something truly magical occurred. Upon opening herself to the magic, Lisa felt Edie’s spirit take over and she melded with the other woman. After a series of sensual moans and a sexy hiss, she sang the first verse. The pianist accompanied her for the second. A spotlight came on, illuminating her silhouette. With the third verse, the vibrating strum of a guitar joined in. The brass section chimed in with the fourth and the lights rose slow and steady along with the music.

As she gazed out over the audience, their rapt attention boosting her confidence, her eyes landed on a man who stood apart from the crowd.

Oh God. It was him. He was real. The man who called to her in ways no other ever had. She’d wanted him for what seemed like forever, loved him her entire life, but nervous jitters assaulted her from actually being near him.

Her pulse elevated, blood roared in her head, and her body zoomed from zero to hot-and-ready in the space between one heartbeat and the next. And she had no doubt this glorious man would be exceedingly capable of filling the order she’d jokingly placed earlier at the bar.

Tall and lean.

Dark and handsome.

Captivating blue eyes.

Mine!