Guest Blogger Sofia Grey!

I am very pleased to welcome fellow Liquid Silver author Sofia Grey today! And she has kindly consented to let me torture her…ahem…answer some polite questions.  Yes, just questions. Settle in Sofia, and tell us more about your delicious wolfies!

********************************

Thank you for the invitation. I’m so excited to finally take a seat on the fabled purple couch. Michael Monaghan has parked his tight butt here. Jaci Burton. Jennifer Hassani. Georgia Woods. This is seriously the highlight of my day

1)    Why romance, and why paranormal specifically? 

I’ve been reading romance since picking up a battered Mills & Boon on a second hand book stall. Prior to that it was mostly Stephen King and contemp stuff, but then I discovered Jackie Collins and had a scuffed and much read copy of Hollywood Wives until it eventually fell apart. Paranormal is a new shift for me (no pun intended), when someone insisted I read Twilight. Suddenly vamps and shifters became hot and I was hooked.

Writing romance just feels right to me. I love reaching that happy ending and all the steps along the way. The little touches, eyes meeting across a room, tentative smiles and the awkwardness of the first date. I’ve always been fascinated by ghosts and dreams, and I like introducing a hint of otherworld-ness into a story. The house I grew up in was haunted and my mum had psychic dreams, so writing paranormal is a logical step.

2)    What drew you to shifters? 

Nalini Singh’s Psy/Changeling series turned me onto shifters in a big way. The first idea for my Snowdonia Wolves series came out of nowhere. A what-if moment. What if that giant dog was actually a wolf?

3)    Who do you enjoy reading? 

For shifters, angels & vamps it would be Nalini Singh, JR Ward, DB Reynolds. For contemp, my auto-buys would be Lisa Kleypas, Olivia Cunning (the hottest rock stars ever!), Suzanne Brockmann. I’m a total cover slut though, and will buy shamelessly if the cover calls out to me

4)    So tell us a little about your sexy new hero. Is he a boob man or an ass man? Or does he have a different part he, ahem, enjoys?

Jake Bledri is the Alpha of the Snowdonia Wolf pack and as Alpha, he needs a strong woman. Lillian Hart has the personality and the strength of character that he needs, along with a very sassy attitude. He also loves her curves and her initial strip-tease nearly drives him insane.

He first meets her when he’s in wolf form and as there’s no way she’d fall in love with a giant dog, he romances her by sneaking into her dreams – a skill my wolves can use. The difficulty will be convincing her the man really exists.

5)    Tell us about your heroine. What is the inspiration for her?

Lillian is a super-hot singer with a sexy image and I enjoyed finding and exposing her vulnerabilities. Rock stars in hiding… meeting someone who doesn’t recognise them and allows them to be themselves? I will never get tired of that trope J

Fantasy and reality merge for Lillian when she falls in love with a man she only meets in her sleep, but who has the same blue eyes as her tame wolf. Her last lover tore her heart out with his lies and she now finds it difficult to trust any man. How will she react when Jake tells her the truth?

6)    You are active on Goodreads, Sofia. What do you think the value is of social media to an author? How has it helped you? 

I joined Goodreads as a reader, wanting somewhere else to review books (I was already an active reviewer on Amazon), and I found it addictive! It rapidly became one of my favourite timewasters J For an author, I believe GR is a platform that should not be underestimated. Where else can you reach out to your fans, attract new readers and socialise all at the same time? I co-moderate a group that encourages new and indie PNR writers: <http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/66901-paranormal-romance-new-and-upcoming-books-authors-pnr-nauba

We only started a year ago and already we have over 1000 members – that’s a thousand people who actively read paranormal romance. If only twenty of them tell their friends about a great story they just read, and they tell their friends… Every bit of marketing helps J

7)    What is your least favorite part of the writing process? Your favorite? 

My least favourite is rewrites. I have an amazing beta-reader who cuts straight to the issues with my manuscripts and offers great solutions too…but by that time I’ve already moved on to something new. I’m such a Gemini. I get an idea and immediately want to write it, never mind that I have a half-finished draft waiting for me, or six completed ms that need re-writes. New and shiny beats reworking an old ms every time J

Quick answers:

Firemen or cops?

Mmmm…. Firemen… stripping in the fire engine as they race to a job… hot n sweaty… Sorry, was there another question…?

The Beatles or The Monkees?

Well… my hubby will hate me for this, but neither. Rock music all the way for me. Can I have the Foo Fighters instead please? Dave Grohl will do nicely J Dave Grohl stripping in a fire engine would be even better…

Comfy T-shirt or lingerie?

I write romance. Black lacy lingerie is mandatory * grin *

Tall, dark and dangerous or tall, blond and devastating?

Dark every time. Blonds may have more fun, but dark is more dirty * grin *

Viking or Highlander?

Highland all the way! I spent my honeymoon sampling malt whiskies in Scotland and have a total weakness for that accent.

Coffee or tea?

Tea first thing in the morning, then coffee. Lots and LOTS of coffee J

* Extract from Wolf At The Door

Jake had slipped into Lillian’s dream as easily as a pair of well-worn jeans. She fit him perfectly and he took his time, drinking his fill of her beauty. She was magnificent. Jake had never seen another woman, human or wolf, to even come close. It wasn’t just her perfect skin that begged to be stroked; her hair heated his blood to fever pitch. Fiery red, the color of flames at the heart of a fire; he longed to run his palms across it to see it if burned as bright as he imagined.

His wolf growled at the thought of other men dancing with her, touching her, and he had the idea that this was her natural habitat, every bit as much as the woods and mountains were his. A momentary doubt assailed him. Were they too different? He studied her expression, the barely concealed outrage that softened to amusement. She stood before him, hands on hips, head cocked to one side.

“I’ve seen you before, haven’t I? Your eyes are familiar.” He strained to hear her words above the music.

He had to touch her. Reaching out, he placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head to meet his eyes. She didn’t resist. “Dance with me.” He had the ability to join her sleeping world but not to control it. If he could, he would already have her panting and naked, lust glazing her expression as he ravished her body.

She seemed to fight an inner battle at his words and then shrugged with one shoulder, lazy and careless. “Sure. One dance.” She jerked her chin free and took a step back. “But only because I like this track. Okay?”

Jake recognized the song although he couldn’t give it a name. A sensuous bass beat with haunting female vocals, the lyrics murmured about promises freely given. He noticed her lips moving as she sang along. Striding forward, he took her in his arms and guided her to the center of the dance floor, right under the spotlight. Her hair glowed a fiery shade, the ends sparking where they caught the strobe.

Her smile threatened to undo him, especially when she wrapped herself around him, one hand stroking the fine hair at the back of his neck. “You remind me of the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood. Are you going to eat me all up?”

*

Wolf At The Door is available 13 May from Liquid Silver Books at http://www.lsbooks.com

Love can heal all wounds…

Pop star Lillian Hart is determined never to trust another man. She has no idea that the wolf at her door is anything other than a wounded dog, much less the Alpha of the Snowdonia Wolf pack. There’s something about the wild creature that pulls at her. Then a man with her wolf’s eyes starts to invade her dreams, and reality and fantasy merge in a way that has her hoping, against all odds, for dreams to come true.

Lillian may have sworn off men, but Jake’s not just any man, he’s a shifter, and he’s about to shift Lillian’s world to make room for him. He vows to claim her as his Mate, and when Jake makes a vow, he keeps it. But Lillian wants to take it slow and Jake is not about to waste any time.

In this battle of wills, both discover giving in and trusting their hearts can heal even the deepest of hurts.

Trailer:

Thanks so much for playing with us, Sofia, and best of luck on your hot release!

Robin’s Other Half

Last time, I gushed over my favorite actor from childhood. This time around, I’m dedicating my post to William, my ultimate leading man in real life…otherwise known as my hubby. He actually agreed to be interviewed, if ya can believe it! Pull a chair and prepare to be amazed as we get a man’s POV on the world of romance writing.

::Emilia clears throat:: Um, Robin? Hello? Mr. Robin? Anyone? Anyone?

 Okay, so, you know how sometimes life just gets in the way of life?

Poor Robin. She’s having one of those days…weeks, maybe. She started this post and then life wrestled her to the ground and she didn’t get a chance to finish. I know we are all super excited to see what Mr. Robin has to say about living with one of our favorite ladies, but it will just have to wait until next time.

Unfortunately, life and schedules have a way of getting jumbled up for all of us. So until Robin’s next blog date, we are all going to have to wait with bated breath, wondering what it’s like to live with that smexy writin’ Miss Danner.

If it’s anything like my house, the reality is a bit of a let down.  Not that Mr. Mancini doesn’t benefit from some of those scenes I have to work out…or some of the frustrations either…because he definitely does. You don’t sit around writing sex all day without feeling a little inspired.

However, by the time I fix dinner, get the kids’ homework done, run them around to all their events, deal with dogs, cats, and everything else, sometimes crawling into bed just means sleep. Yeah, not as sexy as it should be.

But it’s better than those days when I’m writing a high tension fight scene or, oh my, something terribly sad. Writers feel what their characters feel, so finding me bawling my eyes out or slamming the keys on the computer isn’t uncommon.

Once, he came home to find me slamming pots around the kitchen. Why, he dared to ask. Because the heroine in my book finally decided to tell off her jerk of a boss and he fired her. That’s why. What a son of a bitch!

Yeah. That happened.

Mr. Mancini has learned that sometimes it’s best to just turn around and walk away. Perhaps I should stick to writing sex, huh?

I’m interested to know if I’m the only one who has total mood transformations based on what my characters are doing. I can’t be the only one, right? Because I know this doesn’t make me crazy…it makes me dedicated.

Emilia

Just the stats…

If there was any question about how much I love the “f” word – let this settle it.

Spring Training is complete (YAY)! In doing the final read through, my editor and I thought it would be fun to see just how many times I used the word fuck in the manuscript. Of course, that progressed to shit and all the variations of damn…which progressed to, well, you get the idea. A bottle of wine later, I had the stats.

So how many times did I use curse or dirty words in Spring Training? Here’s what we came up with:

Fuck – 126

Damn (in all it’s variations) – 68

Shit – 53

Hell – 34

Cock – 31

Pussy – 31 (coincidence that it matches cock?)

Dick – 17

Fuck is the clear winner…by a landslide I’d say. And do you want to know what my friend and fellow author, Mandy Harbin, said when I told her the stats? “You need more dick.”

Words to live by.

Until next time…here’s more of Garrett from Spring Training – Coming May 20th!

Exclusive Excerpt #2:

Strawberries.

You’re such a dumbass.

What the hell was he thinking? If there was one thing every baseball player knew, it was that you didn’t fuck with the owner’s daughter. Ever.

And there he was … talking goddamned condoms and telling her she’d made him hungry.

Jesus Christ.

Garrett scrubbed his hand down his face. He’d heard about the beautiful Jessa Montgomery. From what he’d seen just now, she’d earned every ounce of praise. She was a total knockout. Her hair was a gorgeous shade of blonde and copper, long enough to drape over her breasts. Breasts that weren’t overly large, but perfect to fill his hands.

And her eyes. Garrett bit back a moan. Her eyes were mesmerizing. Not quite blue, not quite green.

But when she started rattling off stats with that voice as smooth as honey, sweet mercy, he’d gone rock hard. Which was damned uncomfortable when his junk was crammed into a protective cup.

Not even his mother could rattle off stats like that and know what they meant. The fact that Jessa understood the game he loved? Fucking. Sexy.

Garrett reached down to adjust himself, hoping to get some relief from the pinch currently nagging his balls.

Two weeks. He’d better chill the fuck out if he was going to survive two weeks with Jessa. Garrett respected the hell out of TJ Montgomery. It was rare for TJ to take a personal interest to the extent he had with him. He still hadn’t figured that one out, but Garrett liked the man. And he needed this job. He had his mom and Leah to worry about. And now little Georgia Grace.

His dad had died years ago, and now that his brother-in-law was gone, Garrett was all they had. The family farm in Mississippi had been his parents’ dream, and Garrett worked hard to make sure it would continue to provide for them. But there was only so much he could do by himself.

Baseball was his ticket to securing a future for his family. He couldn’t afford to screw that up. He had no business thinking about strawberries and wondering if Jessa’s nipples would taste the same as she smelled.

Shit.

Garrett made his way onto the field. He didn’t know what she was getting all bent out of shape about anyway. Even being a few hours later than he’d scheduled, he was still two days early for team practice. If anything, he should be offended about the crack she’d made about him wearing protection. As if he was some kind of man whore.

Ah, if only he’d had that kind of time to waste.

He scanned the growing crowd. He smiled and waved to the fans calling his name. He took in the excitement like the ground soaked up the sun, giving himself a moment to revel in the fact that he was here. All the years of hard work and sacrifice had finally paid off.

“Hey, Donovan!” Garrett turned to see the batting coach signaling him over. “You planning to stand around all day, or you gonna show these folks whatcha got?”

He caught sight of Jessa, already sitting in the first row with her bare feet propped up on the rail. He couldn’t resist stretching his neck to check out her long, lean legs. He cursed as she eased out of the short-sleeved button down, leaving her in a tight top with tiny straps. He wondered how easily those straps would snap if he wrapped his hands around them and tugged.

As if she sensed him watching, her gaze locked on him. Her smile was almost apologetic. Then she laughed and waved her clipboard — her demand for him to get busy.

“Donovan!”

Garrett grabbed his bat and sighed. It was going to be a very long two weeks.

Those Sexy Shifters: Under a Moonlit Night

It’s release week for me and two of the other LL&L ladies! Cherie, Lynn, and I, along with our friend Lea Griffith, are all celebrating the release of Under a Moonlit Night, a collection of sexy short stories about shifters.

When Liquid Silver Books first put out their call for submissions for this collection, I didn’t think I’d be subbing anything. But Becca Jameson, the lovely bad influence that she is, said “But you have to!”

Thinking I had a comeback for that, I told her if my muse showed up to the party, I would write something.

So, imagine my surprise when a plot bunny came hopping into my brain, dressed in a bear suit and waving a flag saying “I’m from 1912, write me.”

What happened next eventually became “Ripped Awake,” my story in the Under a Moonlit Night collection. That’s what happens when you’re friends with Becca Jameson: She and your Muse do a sneak attack and ain’t nobody getting out until that story is written.

McCallan’s Secret by Lynn Lorenz

When Carrie McCallan, matriarch of the lumber company McCallans, finally decides to remarry, she’s faced with not only letting a man into her life for the first time since her husband’s death, but telling this man about her family’s secret. Not so hard, unless the secret is your family is a pack of werewolves. Carrie will have to take a chance on Leon Wong and discover if he loves her enough not to turn and run.

Ripped Awake by Vanessa North

Lacey Evans is tired of waiting for something to happen. She always expected more from life. Then a mysterious stranger comes into her diner, confused and needing help, and finally she catches a glimpse of a passion exceeding expectation. Rip went into hibernation in 1911. When he opens his eyes to a changed world in 2012, Lacey is the only part of it that makes sense. What can a one hundred thirty-year-old bear shifter offer a modern woman?

Tracing His Heart by Cherie Nicholls

Carter Jones, known as Jones to his friends, lost part of his soul a long time ago. He had to make a choice between his pack and his heart, a choice that has haunted him and his wolf for years. Rhea Gracefield, Domme, business woman, and lone wolf, was forced out of her pack when the wolf she loved told their secret. What happens when Jones finds his way in to the Domme’s Domain?

Bear With Me by Lea Griffith

Tyee Clark screwed up bad and he’s been hiding to lick his wounds. The last thing he expects is to find the woman he craves more than anything else taunting him. She should know better than mess with a sullen grizzly. Unless she means it. Lily Baskins has been hurt bad and she’s been waiting for the right time to institute a whole lot of payback. She’s not about to let sleeping bears lie. Not when she knows what she wants and is willing to face down a beast to get it. Lily’s had the man. Now she wants the bear.

Under a Moonlit Night is now available from Liquid Silver Books, Amazon, and All Romance eBooks!

RT Fun!

I’m slowly recuperating from the week of great fun at RT. I’m pretty sure I brought a bug home with me because I’ve been sick for a week! But, besides that, the week itself was great! Love seeing old friends and making new ones. So exciting meeting people from Love, Lust, and Laptops that I’d never met before. *waves to Cherie Nicholls, Monette Michaels and Jianne Carlo*. Lynn Lorenz I’d met last year. And Vanessa North I see several times a week. She’s my running buddy!

So, I’ll post a few pics here of us being…well…crazy!

The first picture is us at the formal night. Me, Annmarie McKenna, Vanessa North, and Cherie Nicholls.

 

 

 

 

 

The second picture is us meeting Cherie for the first time when we arrived. The Londoner was not a hugger, but by the end of the week, we had her reluctantly accepting our squeezes! Vanessa North, Monette Michaels, Cherie Nicholls, and me!

 

 

 

The third picture is crazy! Me, Annmarie McKenna, and Vanessa North at the paranormal party! Fun nights!

Next year, New Orleans! Join us. It’s going to be a blast. We are already looking forward to it. Becca Jameson

 

Editing Tips by Em

Kinda sounds like a show on PBS, huh? Well, it’s not. I seriously have some knowledge to share. Being an editor as well as a writer has definitely improved my writing skills. It also provides me better insight into what my editors has to go through when looking at my manuscript.

With my first release, The Rebound, I was completely blindsided as to what to expect. I had no idea what I was getting into with the editing process which, if you’ve never gone through it, is akin to having your internal organs slowly ripped out Braveheart style.

My first time editing there were a lot of tears and many curse words. I was sad, I was embarrassed, I was furious, I was depressed.  Yeah, it was ugly.

But now that I’m editing, I see where the editor was coming from. Rather than being mean, as I assumed, I know see she tore me apart out of nothing but love and affection. Yeah, it felt like going through a meat grinder, but in the end, the book was so much better.

Now that I’ve been at this for a while, on both sides of the fence, I feel I can confidently share a few words of wisdom and some things that I wish someone had shared with me when I was just starting out.

1. Formatting is important. No, it isn’t your editor’s job. Read the house style and follow it. It is time consuming and boring and it is the last thing your editor wants to do for you. Start off on the right foot by following the guidelines set by the company.
2. Em dashes are used to emphasize a thought or if someone is interrupted, ellipses are used for trailed off thought. Don’t overuse either. The same with exclamation points! Sure they are exciting! But if used too much, they become annoying! Also, why would you use multiple or altering punctuation?!?!?!  If you can’t relay this emotion with words, maybe you should rethink the writing thing.
3. No head hopping. Switching POV is okay, but it needs to be done in sections. Give us her take on what is going on, then in the next chapter, give us his. If you need to change POV mid-chapter, use a section break to show we are changing heads. My first book was a yo-yo between the hero and heroine. At the time I thought it was good to see what each person was thinking simultaneously. Now I know better. It’s just confusing.
4. He didn’t move his eyes over her because, eeeww, he’d have to take them out of his head and put them on her body. Yuck. His gaze moved over her. 
5. Don’t CAPITALIZE, underline, or bold words for emphasis. Use italics instead.

Okay, I could probably go on and on, but these are probably the biggest offenses I see as an editor. The one thing you want to remember is that your editor is on your side. They want the best possible product, the same as you do. They want you to succeed.  If they make a suggestion, listen to it. Don’t immediately assume you know better or you they are just being mean or they just don’t “get” you.

If you strongly disagree, let them know, but be able to explain why. Editors aren’t out to alter your work, your voice, or your style, we’re here to help make it the best it can be.

Em

 

Discuss, People!

Discuss what? — you ask.

I wasn’t addressing “you” in a general sense.

Instead, I was addressing characters, more particularly, the heroes and heroines in some romance novels who don’t fricking talk to each other, thus creating false conflicts.

You know the ones I mean.  The heroine who many years ago got pissed at something she “thought” the hero, her love interest at the time, did, but instead of talking to him, told him to get lost.  It’s now years later and she is still ticked off, but also still attracted, and the guy, also still attracted to her,  has no effin’ clue why she dumped him to begin with — and SHE WON’T TALK ABOUT IT NOW EITHER!

Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell, but REALLY?

If she really had loved him and was hurt and mad as hell — she would’ve confronted him with the supposed malfeasance. Then she would’ve found out right away that it was (a) a plot by her arch rival to get the hero for herself, (b) a plot by another guy who wanted her and didn’t want her with the hero, (c) a plain misunderstanding of what she saw or heard, or (d) any combination of the above.  Easy-peasey.

But then the author would not have a book.  I call this the “soap opera” approach to writing romance aka the “too stupid to talk” syndrome (TSTT).  I can’t tell you how many times back in the 60s I yelled at the television screen when Luke and Laura (General Hospital) broke up or got mad at each other over stuff that could’ve easily been explained if they had just sat down and had a heart-to-heart conversation. But then  soap operas depend on such convenient misunderstandings.

Sorry, people, but creating false angst through misunderstandings that could easily be set straight with one soul-cleansing conversation doesn’t hack it with me.

This is why I write romantic suspense — at least there is an exterior conflict to keep the plot going while the H/H’s interior conflicts are exacerbated by the pressure cooker atmosphere of the action plot.  If there is angst in my novel, it is a derivative of something really bad happening in their lives — not a missed chance at sitting down and discussing it like two mature adults.

Now you know my feelings on the TSTT syndrome, how do you feel?  Do you like angst or not?  And why?

Thanks for letting me vent. I feel better now that we have had this conversation. See?  Wasn’t that easy?