Tuesday, March 6, 2012

The excitement continues...Megan Slayer stops in!

Today in our fantastic week of guests and giveaways, we are joined by the magnificent Megan Slayer!

I want to thank Virg for letting me come by the blog. Yup, I agree, the new release emergency blog hop, or as Wendi called it, the New Release Week Blitz was a great idea. I’m having a blast.

My latest release is called, Down to Earth. It’s a paranormal and the third in my Glow Band series with Changeling Press. I have to say, I love being with Changeling. It’s like being published with a family. Really. Now the cool thing about my Glow Band series is that each book revolves around an elemental. In Down to Earth, the element is Earth. Tallulah can harness the power of the earth and when she makes love, vines grow. I’m not a huge fan of Giselle Bundchen, but this picture of her pretty well sums up Tallulah. Vines everywhere. And Ike, the hero? He drives a one-ton truck, has green hair and plays his punk music way too loud. He doesn’t look like anyone’s vision of a perfect hero. I had someone tell me Ike doesn’t even sound like he’d be handsome. Now, I have blue streaks in my hair, so green spiky hair does do something for me. Getting Tallulah and Ike together, though yes, they are opposites, has positives. They might just help the environment. Think of all the oxygen they’d create with those vines.

Do you want to read more? Here’s the blurb and a short excerpt because I want to share the love. Grin.

Opposites attract? Are you kidding?

For Ike Clanton, having competition means winning. Best at the guitar, biggest ride, highest hair, most tattoos. Until he meets Tallulah. She's nothing like he wants, but she's everything he needs -- he just has to figure it out.

Tallulah never wanted to join Glow. She's there as a favor, and not to Ike. An Earth elemental and a rock star shouldn't mix, should they?

Add overzealous greenery and a heaping helping of ego to this mix and shake wildly. Maybe being down to earth isn't such a bad thing after all.

Available here: http://changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=1788

And here is the excerpt!!!

Ike grabbed her bag and opened the door. He stopped toying with his tongue piercing. “Lulah, you’re gonna drive me to drinking.”

“My name is Tallulah Brown.” She followed him into the elevator. “Please call me by my name and give me my purse.”

Ike pressed the buttons, then leaned against the back wall of the elevator car as the doors closed. “Why do you hate me, Miss Tallulah Brown? Besides acting like a dick and running over your bike, explain what’s so repulsive about me.” He held her bag tighter. “You tell me and I’ll fork over the bag.”

“Me? I’m getting the jump on the mutual animosity. You think I can’t play and can’t remember my name. I think you’re a jerk. We’re even.”

His arm muscles bulged, and his pecs seemed to swell a bit, but he didn’t hand over her purse. Tallulah groaned. She wasn’t going to cower, but damn it, he made her feel miniscule.

“I don’t hate you or think you can’t play.” He straightened out the strap of the bag and held it out. “I heard your demo tracks. They’re hot and tight. I appreciate your talent.”

She rolled her eyes and took the bag. Okay, yes, she’d accept the compliment, but hearing those words from him was just odd. She focused on the tiled floor. Maybe she should’ve just let him carry the damned case. Her normal load seemed so much heavier. Was it really, or was there something more going on? The spark she’d felt on stage was one-sided. Had to be. He didn’t care for her. He was pandering to her ego. She’d seen her reflection in the mirror in the bathroom. It wasn’t like she’d win any beauty competitions. She might be short, but she was far from skinny. Add in the wash-and-go way she wore her hair, and most men didn’t see her in the crowd.

Ike inched toward her and tipped his head. “I don’t affect you, do I?”

“What?” Damn. She’d spent too much time thinking and not enough paying attention. “Sorry. Continue.”

“You’re not turned on by me. I’m not sure how I feel about that.” He stepped back a foot and shoved his hands into his pants pockets. “Correction, I do know how I feel. My interest is piqued. I don’t think I’ve met a woman other than Atria who hasn’t wanted to jump in the sack with me. I kinda like it, Lulah.” He nodded. “Actually, I like it a lot.”

Megan’s site: http://wendizwaduk.com/indexMegan.htm

Megan’s blog: http://theauthormeganslayer.blogspot.com

Megan on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5330530.Megan_Slayer

Megan on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/theauthormeganslayer

Megan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/MeganSlayer

When she's not writing the stories in her head, Megan Slayer can be found luxuriating in her hot tub with her two vampire Cabana boys, Luke and Jeremy. She has the tendency to run a tad too far with her muse, so she has to hide in the head of her alter ego, but the boys don't seem to mind.

When she's not obsessing over her whip collection, she can be found picking up her kidlet from school. She enjoys writing in all genres, but writing about men in love suits her fancy best.

Currently hanging out every Wednesday and Friday at the Menagerie Authors site, hunting Hotties for the Saturday posts, and working on the next great story brewing in her head!

The cabana boys are willing to serve, unless she needs them. She always need them. So be nice to Javier or he will bite--on command.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Guest Blog from the fantastic Wendi Zwaduk!!

In my week of new release excitement, today we are being visited by the fantastic Wendi Zwaduk as she dishes a bit about her book, releasing TODAY, Love Remembers!

First I’d like to thank Virg for letting me stop by. Talk about last minute promo blitz! I think we pulled this together pretty well. So thanks! I love being here and can’t wait to read her latest release, too!

For the post today, I thought I’d post a fun picture of a Greek Statue. This one is called the Barberini Sleeping Faun. He’s also known as the Drunken Satyr. Drunk on wine or that post sex-haze, doesn’t matter. He’s happy and sleepy. The reason I picked this particular work is that it illustrates just how kinky (albeit in a bit more reserved fashion) nature of many pieces of Greek Art. Penises show up everywhere in Ancient Greek Artwork. Does it bother me? Not in the least. Heck, I write about penises for a living. But imagine them being so commonplace that BUILDINGS feature penises. Shocking.

I also included this image because it brings to mind scenes from Love Remembers. Here’s a little snippet from the book. You tell me what you think.

As he sat on the edge of the bed, Aspasia stared at him with wide eyes. What went through her mind? He had hoped she would admit her love for him when she agreed to be his bride. No matter. Twelve years of mistreatment would not be overcome in a matter of days. He felt her passion in her kiss. The words would come.

He smoothed his hand over her jaw and lowered his lips to hers. The taste of sweet honey cake lingered on her tongue. The scent of her jasmine perfume filled his nostrils. As he pushed the kiss further, he swallowed her moan as he caressed her breast. Her nipple drew into a tight bud beneath his palm. Ah, he affected her as deeply as she affected him.

“Allow your fantasies to run wild, Aspasia. However you wish to explore, I am yours. Take me.”

Through a heavy-lidded gaze, she watched him. “I want to taste you now that you are my husband.” Her husky voice resonated in his brain. A new surge of desire kicked through him and focused in his groin when he stood. His cock jutted towards her as he tugged the tunic up over his head and tossed it onto the floor. Yes, he wanted to feel her mouth pleasure him, but he needed to feel her sweet body surrounding him.

Aspasia scooted towards him and placed kisses along his chest, trailing them down his abdomen to his belly button. Her tongue swirled in the small divot as she wrapped her fingers around his length.

He jerked forward as she rubbed the crown of his cock against her silky soft lips. He groaned and allowed his mind to drift as he succumbed to the heady sensations of her taking control. If she kept up the sensual torture, he would never be able to withhold his orgasm. He fisted his hands at his sides to keep from grabbing her and forcing her to take more of him. She needed to go at her own pace. When she took him deep within her mouth, he shuddered.

“Gods, yes.”

Blurb:

If he wants to keep Aspasia once he finds her, Gregorius will need to prove that his Love Remembers.

A veteran of the war in Koroneia, Gregorius wants only one woman for his bed. She made his heart sing the moment he first saw her in the markets, and for the past seven years he’s hunted far and wide for her. Once he finds her, he’ll prove his love never forgot her.

Aspasia isn’t the mirthful girl from the markets any longer. Circumstances beyond her control forced her into service to Gregorius’ bitterest enemy. When she at last finds herself in Gregorius’ arms, can she let go of the past in order to have the future she deserves? Only if love remembers...

Reader Advisory: This book contains a hero bent on finding his first love and a heroine determined to let him have his wicked way...in the garden, on the benches, in the olive grove...

Link:

http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=1571

My links:

Site: http://wendizwaduk.com/

Blog: http://wendizwaduk.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WendiZwaduk

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wendi.zwaduk

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Wendi-Zwaduk/e/B003KA589U/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Goodreads:http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3495446.Wendi_Zwaduk

Want to know more about Wendi Zwaduk? Here you go:

I always dreamt of writing the stories in my head. Tall, dark, and handsome heroes are my favorites, as long as he has an independent woman keeping him in line. I earned a BA in education at Kent State University and currently hold a Masters in Education with Nova Southeastern University.

I love NASCAR, romance, books in general, Ohio farmland, dirt racing, and my menagerie of animals. I’m published with Total-E-Bound, Changeling Press, Liquid Silver Books and The Wild Rose Press. Come join me for this fantastic journey!

--

Wendi Zwaduk - Romance to Make Your Heart Race

Also writing as Megan Slayer - Sometimes It's Fun to Squirm

http://www.wendizwaduk.com/

http://wendizwaduk.blogspot.com/

http://wendizwaduk.com/indexMegan.htm

http://theauthormeganslayer.blogspot.com/

Friend us both on FaceBook and Follow us on Twitter!

Its always better on dirt!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

A week of releases!!


As you might have noticed on the blog here, I have a new release today!

*releases the confetti and the hounds!*

*realizes it is almost 2am in my timezone and that releasing the hounds on the readers is a bad idea... calls back the hounds*

Later today I will get you buy links because I know you are all dying to read Lips of Velvet! I don't think you will be disappointed. It is sexy, fun and frisky. Just like I like em.

And I know it isn't live yet because I just searched it on Amazon and I got a bunch of lipsticks...which was sort of amusing...

But I have lots in store for you readers, as I mentioned, to celebrate this release.

Coming this week:

1. A blog tour.

So far, you can expect to see me over at Wendi Zwaduk's, Lisa Pietsch's and Buffy Christopher's blogs. More is to come and I will get you dates on those blogs as soon as possible because I know you will want to see what kind of antics I get into when I am off visiting others...

2. Contests

Because I know you guys like free stuff. So I am going to be giving away a copy of Lips of Velvet at some point to some lucky reader. And an Amazon gift card or two. You will just have to stay tuned for details... And maybe something else. I don't know. I am busy containing those hounds...we will see what happens...

3. Guest Bloggers with MORE NEW RELEASES

Yes, THERE ARE MORE NEW RELEASES. And I read one of them and plan to read the other (as I have a fangirl reader crush on the author since I stumbled upon one of her books a year or so and became addicted) and who knows who else I can talk into visiting the blog this week. Maybe I can even get that devastatingly handsome 35yoAlcoholVirgin over here. Who knows what will happen!! *Yes, I am still struggling with the hounds. They don't LIKE to be called back*

4. You didn't catch the blurb?

Okay, I will share it again. You talked me into it.

Bookworm Sandra is dragged out for a night on the town by her sister. When she meets the sexy and exotic Lucy, she is instantly attracted to her. But will their spontaneous combustion burn out as quickly as it ignites or will it lead to a long term flame?

Lucy can’t help but be drawn in by Sandra’s intelligent and fun nature. But when Sandra suggests that she was just using Lucy for sex, Lucy is a strong enough woman to hide her broken heart and walk away. A chance meeting brings them back together. Will Lucy seek revenge for a moment of stupidity?

YES!! It really releases TODAY. *throws more confetti*

Okay, get ready for a party, Virg style!!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

New release on Saturday!!


I have a book releasing Saturday!!

Rebel Ink Press Logo

"Rebel Ink Press is Proud to Announce the Release of Lips of Velvet by Virginia Nelson

Lips of Velvet, a debut release by Virginia Nelson, will hit e-book shelves on March 3rd. When bookworm Sandra is dragged out for a night on the town, she meets Lucy and sparks fly, but can they survive long term?"


I know, I have been awesome and not drowned you in promo about this. That is because I am a super awesome author who knows that you don't drown people in promo...you wait till the last second and say--WHAM! Look at mah beautiful book-baby! Welcome her to the world with me!!

(It's totally not because I have a weird issue with March/May because they both start with M and for some reason I thought the book was releasing in MAY not March...and have been telling people THAT...Nope. And I don't have a similar issue with June/July. Nah. That would be ridiculous. *whistles innocently*)

I really have GOT to get a personal assistant...

Anyway, there IS a release and it IS this week and I WILL be giving away prizes...

There will be a book giveaway... at some point verra verra soon... and an Amazon giftcard... (yeah, I love you guys like that...) and I am working on activating my mighty powers of blog touring (I have called out to my author friends...using my super author powers. I would tell you how I do that but then, I would have to kill you. Okay, that was a lie. I wouldn't have to kill you. But you would have to start drinking way more coffee and for a lot of people, that can cause insomnia. So you are better off not knowing.)

Sooo...Wanna see a blurb? (I love that word. It just sounds dirty, doesn't it? Or maybe my f/f erotic romance short just has my mind in evil grin mode...)

Bookworm Sandra is dragged out for a night on the town by her sister. When she meets the sexy and exotic Lucy, she is instantly attracted to her. But will their spontaneous combustion burn out as quickly as it ignites or will it lead to a long term flame?

Lucy can’t help but be drawn in by Sandra’s intelligent and fun nature. But when Sandra suggests that she was just using Lucy for sex, Lucy is a strong enough woman to hide her broken heart and walk away. A chance meeting brings them back together. Will Lucy seek revenge for a moment of stupidity?

Okay, I promise to get you touring info/contest info/buy links as soon as they become available!

For now, Happy WRITING!!!

And now I am doing the new release dance...

Shaka shaka...shaka shaka...wiggle...jiggle...!

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

In which I propose marriage...


Since the movie, Leap Year, probably some of us know that there is a tradition that allows women to propose to men on Leap Year every four years... (Hey, men folk...any y'all wanna get hitched? Just figured I should take advantage...I mean, I can't ask again for four years. You can answer in the comments. No pressure.)

I mentioned in book two of my Odd Stuff series that it was considered really unlucky for a man to say no. Just a heads up. You have to pay me a penalty. (Back in the day, money or a gown. Since we are modern thinking folks, I will take Starbucks giftcards or cash. Thx.)

Back in the day, you also would have had to buy me 12 pairs of gloves to hide the embarrassment of me not having an engagement ring to sport. (Again, it is modern times so lets not be archaic. Gimme chocolate, boys.)

There used to be laws governing these traditions. (Now there is just the iron fist of blog pressure...)

It is considered unlucky to get married on Leap day. And Halloween. And Christmas. Really, they have a lot of weird luck stuff...I dunno what is up with all that.

All in all, unless someone plans on marrying me, I hope to be getting some money out of this blog post. And chocolates. And coffee.

Totally worth the time to type it out, dontcha think?

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Vote for Me!


So, people are talking about the presidential election. I think y'all should vote for me. I don't have tons of money to travel around the world and visit everyone. Sorry. I am just a poor, single mom from a small town. You know... like the majority of the US right now.

I don't really know a whole lot about foreign policy but *shrug,* I am sure I could hire someone who does. Isn't that what you are s'posed to do when you don't know how to fix something? I mean, that is how I fix my toilet when it breaks because I don't know a thing about plumbing. Should work in office, I think.

There are a few changes that I would like to try to see once I got in office. It would be hard but my goals would be something like this:

A. Figure out why 74% of all of our manufacturing happens outside the US. Since we have all these empty factories and people unemployed, I think I would try to get them running again. Supposedly, a lot of the people out of work are management, too. So I would hire them to run the factories. And then I would hire everyone else to work in them. And then we could all just buy the shit we made rather than paying to import shit from other places. Sounds simple but I wouldn't mind giving it a shot for four years.

B. Install that oil pipeline thingy from Canada. Y'see, I know that four years ago, I paid $1.78 for gas. Now they are saying I am going to pay $5.00 soon. I don't want to. Put the damn line in, already. We want the gas as US citizens. It is sort of like this thing I learned about in history class... the French Revolution. The French wanted bread. The price of bread skyrocketed. The government refused to give them bread. They guillotined their government. I don't think we should guillotine anyone but if there is a pipeline...I say, install it. Cuz otherwise, the price of gas is gonna keep rising and eventually people are gonna get annoyed. And do you want to annoy a society that has access to things like lasers? (*mentally picturing sharks with freakin lasers...)

C. Our schools kind of suck. We have pay-to-play sports and college tuition costs have gone through the roof. If we use some of the money we make off the oil, we could probably improve that. I say we try.

D. Lots of good people can't afford medical insurance. Like my mom. My dad has insurance because he is older than dirt but my mom has been sick for a year but can't see a doc. I think we should take some taxes from the rich and fund something to fix that. And I think that the whole 'insurance company' thing needs looked at very closely. You see, if we have to pay as much as we do and get shitty care...something is kind of wrong. Again, I am not much with numbers, either. I am sure, though, with all those unemployed people, we can find someone who is good at numbers and I will hire them to help me work it out.

E. Speaking of taxes... Most of the business that are still here are here because we aren't taxing them. That shit has got to stop. So I really think that we should start taxing the heck out of everyone who makes lots of money. They probably won't like this and will take their companies to countries who have lower paid employees and will not tax them. Which is okay. Under section A of my plan, this is just more empty buildings that we can put new businesses in. See? Buh-bye mooches. We don't need leeches. If you aren't gonna contribute anyway, why the hell are we sucking up to you?

My plan isn't perfect. And probably it won't work.

Also, just to warn you voters, the people running against me will probably start a slur campaign. Ah, the mud that shall be flung! The thing is, I am telling you at the outset, it is all true. Well, except for the alien baby. I don't know how that rumor got started but I never really put much effort into squashing it. Honestly, I found it kinda funny. *shrug* So, yeah, I probably did everything that they say I did. Big whooopedyfreakingdoodie. You aren't voting in my personal life or my family! You are voting in my plan and the fact that I am NOT perfect... JUST LIKE YOU!! So I can represent YOU, not THEM!! See? It's perfect! We understand each other and are being honest from the outset. Isn't this nice?

Really, I thought of most of this when my prof asked me today what one bill I would try to pass if I won a lottery to be president for a day. Being me... I thought bigger.

Don't panic--probably not enough people are going to write my name in on the ballot to swing the vote.

But I can say... I could piss a lot of people off given four whole years...

LOL!!

Hope I made ya giggle. What would you change if given the keys to the White House?

Happy Writing!

Monday, February 27, 2012

Why I'm wearing Red today...


As many of you may have heard, my little neck of the woods is in the news right now. About 30 minutes from my home...in a sleepy little town known locally for the fact that when it snows and all of us get hit, they get buried... a boy who had been bullied took a gun to school. In the cafeteria, he shot five times. As of about 25 minutes before I wrote this post, one of the kids had passed away. Four others were injured and from what I understand on the news, a child lays fighting for their life tonight.

To say that this is tragic is an understatement. I hear a lot of people saying that this kind of thing doesn't happen around here. Our schools are good, quiet schools. Academic. Our kids are good kids.

It happens everywhere. Selena Gomez, super Disney star and singer, has dealt with bullying. I mention her because I have heard a lot of people saying that it would never happen with my child. Our kids are popular. Our kids would never do something like this. Our kids have friends/are in the right activities/are beautiful.

Are your children more successful than Selena? Cuz people regularly tell her to die, that she is a whore and other simply horrible things.

My son recently dealt with bullying in our school. I did a full blog post of it here on January 6th, but it didn't get the response I expected. People were surprised that I would worry about the kid that was bullied when this was going on. (It was pretty serious. "You're retarded and no one likes you. You should kill yourself. And if you are too stupid to figure out how, I can tell you.")

I was kind of surprised they were surprised, to be honest.

Because although I think that this community has to heal... has to get over this shattering blow... I also think that ignoring the roots of the problem is like someone saying, "Man, I can't believe that wearing seat belts saves lives."

How many other time bombs are ticking? How many other kids are being driven AS I TYPE THIS to feel that no one cares... I am alone, me against the world...since no one cares, who cares what I do?

How many times do we have to see innocent kids die in front of their peers before someone stands up and says, "This has to stop and I am going to do something"?

It has happened before. And, based on a sick facebook page I saw supporting the child accused of this crime, it will happen again.

A friend of mine who worked for a few years in the education system and who has children of her own posted on facebook something to the effect of we are spending time and money to help kids with testing. The kids that are gone today will never take another test. Instead we should focus on connecting with these kids in a real way and on safety. I agree. Schools should be safe... for some kids it is the only safe place they have. If it isn't safe either, where do they fit in?

And some of you are thinking, "Well, there isn't anything I can do."

"This has nothing to do with me."

"It's sad but it was the parents fault." or "He was a sick, unstable monster."

And I gotta say, none of you are right. Especially that last person. He is a kid. And more than his parents messed up. Everyone who dealt with him for even a moment had the chance to make a difference in his life. But, how?

Things you can do:

Wear red on 2/28. This is just about awareness what happened and in memory of those who were hit close to home by this devastating event.

Ask your school what their anti-bullying program is. How is it taught? DO they have one? I love the guest speaker featured in this video. She travels around. Hire her, if you can.

Sign the petition to get Bully the movie rated so kids can see it. Yeah, it is a graphic movie. I would bet it is a little less graphic than what those kids in that cafeteria have to live the rest of their lives remembering. Click here. It takes a minute of your time and can make a world of difference.

Talk to your kids. If you don't have kids, talk to your nieces and nephews. Your neighbors kids. Your grandkids. And not just about, "Hey, so it sure has been a warm winter." Actually sit them down and ask them if they have ever seen bullying. Do they know what it is? It can be as little as an eyeroll and as much as pushing a face into a brick wall. Have they seen it? And ask them if they understand that bullying isn't always the mean things you do...sometimes it's the nice things you don't do. You know...have one of THOSE conversations.

Raise hell. Get in your schools and make change happen. My school told me that they were sure my son wasn't getting bullied anymore. Then again, I gotta wonder because they also told me they had no idea this was going on or they would have stopped it. But they have started bullying classes. My son advises me that they are really having some good discussions, too. Why is my school doing this and yours isn't? BECAUSE I WAS A BITCH. No, really, I sent them an email that explained what was going on and that although I could pull my son out of their school that WOULDN'T FIX it as the bully would just find a new target. I asked tough questions and got solid answers after awhile. But if NO ONE is doing that, then NO ONE will change.

You will notice that none of the changes I advised involve you spending a dime. You don't have to be rich to BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD.

You just have to be willing to stand up and say, "It needs to stop."

Someone will hear you. Sadly, today I am wearing red. Because in Chardon...no one heard one kid. And the nightmare happened. Let's not let it happen again.

My heart goes out to the families impacted by these events. As a parent, I cannot imagine the pain of losing one of my babies or having to deal with what is going on.

I just wanted to write this blog to give people some ideas on how they could help stop it from happening again.

Will bullying ever be a thing of the past? Will horrible things like this stop happening? I don't know that. But I know that this could have been avoided. There were signs. There are always signs.

Sadly, no one felt the need to stand up and stop it in time. Probably they figured someone else would.