I did a very dangerous thing yesterday.

Both of my kids had dentist appointments, and I left the house at 1:15 in order to run a couple errands before the first appointment at 2. Except when I got there, 15 minutes early, the receptionist looked at me blankly and said, “But the first appointment isn’t until 3.” Their little reminder cards had failed me. Somebody really needs to explain that those only work when you give the correct time.

That left me in a dilemma. It would be a waste to drive all the way home and all the way back to kill that hour. So my daughter pipes up and makes a heartfelt plea. Five fatal words.

“Let’s go to the bookstore!”

With an hour to kill. And a bookaholic mom. She is an evil, evil child.

How was I supposed to say no? Discourage my eight-year-old from loving books? That’s not happening in my world. Plus, my six-year-old son jumped at the opportunity, showing just as much excitement as his sister.

Kiss of death.

Needless to say, all three of us walked out of the store with new purchases. My TBR pile has four new books on it. That’s not including the Amazon order that arrived this week with two more. Or the 4 e-books I bought this week. I have a book open on my laptop at all times, one in my bathroom, one in my car, one in my purse…

Yes, my name is Vivien Dean, and I’m a bookaholic.

What was the last book you bought? What was the last great book you read? Not that I’m looking for more fodder for my addiction…

Anybody who comments today will be put in a drawing to win a free book from my backlist, either one of my solo titles as Vivien Dean, or one of my collaborative titles working with Pepper Espinoza as Jamie Craig. Who knows? It might even be a print book! But you can’t win if you don’t comment!

I’m in love and it’s with a man I can never have. His name is Kevin Durand and he plays Keamy on my favorite TV show, LOST. Yes, he plays a bad guy (a very bad guy – a mercenary) and no, I’m not habitually attracted to bad boys. Arrogance and cruelty do nothing for me. But Kevin Durand…. Oh my God. So hot. So hot. His every glance smolders. His simplest action exudes charisma. From the first moment he appeared onscreen, I was smitten.

It’s not like me to get sprung over a television actor, or a singer or any other kind of entertainment figure; maybe that’s because they always seem a little bland to me, devoid of the passion and idiosyncracies that make a real man so compelling. But this guy has got star quality in my opinion and right now he’s dominating my fantasy life in a way no one has in a very long time. Some people would say that’s impossible, since I don’t know what he’s really like, but to me that’s what makes him the perfect fantasy.

What about you? Is there any one actor/public figure you’d run off with in a second - or just sacrifice a lot to roll around with? Tell me who and get entered into a drawing to win a copy of my latest release, THAT DANGEROUS AGE.

(Dee posted this for Vanessa Hart)

Writers write what they know, and you’ll find many of Nessie’s heroes drive Jeeps.  I love Jeeps!  In the photo is me (When I was a blonde) beside our 2005 Wrangler, along with my pampered pooch.  My husband and I have owned three (so far), the 1980 CJ-7 for 14 fun-filled years.  We are–most definitely!–Jeepers.  Make no mistake, I’m not referring to sport utilities or utility vehicles of other brands.  Jeep® is a registered trademark.  There is no such thing as a Suzuki Jeep or an Isuzu Jeep or a Toyota Jeep.  Only Chrysler has rights to the name Jeep® now.  Whatever you do, don’t suggest to a true Jeeper that your Rav-4 or Tracker is a Jeep®.  And by all means, always always spell Jeep® with a capital J!  As I said, it’s trademarked.

With that out of the way, I’ll get on with the topic at hand:  Jeeping.  Okay, now the trademark police are going to come after me for sure for making a verb-form of Jeep®.  Please don’t arrest me!  If I could come up with a synonym for Jeeping, I would.  But my dictionary has no term to describe the experience of taking a Jeep into the woods or on a mountain trail (no place for it like Ouray, Colorado, which calls itself the Jeep capital of the world.), preferably without the canvas top, and really getting away from it all. 

A romantic day for hubby and me is to pack a cooler with lunch, put on the sunscreen, grab a few water bottles (one for the dog), and head into the nearby national forest.  We travel the off-road trails at a slow pace for a couple of peaceful hours, stopping at the picnic area to eat and walk the dog, then return via a different set of trails.  It’s a quiet and peaceful getaway that costs us nothing but a little gasoline (which even at today’s higher prices still makes the “date” cost less than dinner at a fast-food restaurant).  It’s a true getaway that energizes us while it calms us. 

Typically, a romantic “date” is described as dinner and a movie, or a moonlit stroll on the beach, or dinner and dancing.  Do you have a non-typical romantic date that you enjoy?  Share with us.  And you might win a prize.  Today I’m awarding a download of your choice of LOVE LESSONS, HAY FEVER, or CABIN FEVER.

Nessie

It’s interesting what gets a person’s motor running. One friend of mine loves the sculpted hunks. She dates one after another, has lots and lots of hot sex, but those relationships don’t last. They’re built on animal attraction. She wonders why these beaus always let her down.  Not that a man who is built like a truck and is hot can’t be a nice guy or is automatically incapable of a lasting, rewarding (other than in the sack) relationship. But there has to be something more.

Most women I know are attracted to the “hunk” type guy. I think it’s natural to look at a gym sculpted body and chisled face and feel a little loopy. But in my experience these beautiful guys are, in the words of country singer Terri Clark, easy on the eyes and hard on the heart. And to tell you the truth, I was never really all that attracted to this type of guy. I always had one rule that I have never broken. Never date anyone who is prettier than you are. It’s just not a good idea all around.

Now my guy is hot. He’s built like a bulldog and he has the sexiest smile I’ve ever seen. He has blue bedroom eyes and just thinking about him gives me butterflies and makes me feel kinda funny. But let me tell you what really turns me on. Watching my fella holding our two month old baby boy, rocking him and caressing him for hours when he’s colicky. Watching him laugh as the baby grabs at his beared. Hearing him call the baby ”peanut” and watching as he kisses his tiny forehead.

My guy never hesitated during those really rough, endless weeks of grinding sleep deprivation (during which he went to work each and every day) to get up and do late night/ungodly early morning diaper changes after I’d fed the baby. Every two hours he was up with me, jumping to help me with anything I needed, never having to be asked.

The soft expression of love in his eyes and the gentle smile on his face as he looks at our baby son is what sets my heart aflame. It’s what makes me hot. I think he’s freakin’ sizzling. He makes me want to jump his bones because he is such an amazing father and partner.

It took a long time to find him, after a series of not very pretty bad boys (a whole other blog post. The bad boy. Who’da thunk it? That bad boys ARE actually . . . um . . . BAD. For you). It’s changed me and my writing forever. I see things more clearly now. Though I haven’t written since the baby was born, I feel that I have an insight about things that I never had before. My fella and my baby son have given me that.

But a picture is worth a thousand words. This is Jeff with our baby boy, Ben, when he was only a few days old. This is what does it for me.

What do you think?

The second book in our Worthington Group is now out. We are excited to note that the third one Daniel’s Surrender has been contracted as well. The funny thing about these books is that they started out as a writing execise for Vi and I. The idea was to write a short story about each of the Worthington siblings as practice. Before we knew it Daniel’s Surrender was a complete novel. We went back and rewrote Carrie’s Answer , then Meredith. It never ceases to amaze me how such a simple idea flourished into our first books. With our first book Marcus was a Dom ,who had trust issues. With Meredith she is a woman in a mans world, cutting herself off from any emotion in order to not get hurt. Her father and her brother hurt her enough and she’s determined not to allow anyone that close to her again.

Tony her hero is a man with many sides. He comes from a big loving Italian family, he’s worked hard for everything he’s gotten. He’s a romantic at heart and a Dom. We feel that the two aren’t excluusive ( though our stories are not heavy BDSM) We wanted to explore aspects of the lifestyle and bring it into our stories. At the core Meredith like her brother has trust issues. Trust in herself, trust in her family, trust in Tony. We like writing about the journey of learning to trust the one you love. Meredith while keeping her independence goes through a transformation that we hope by the end makes her still true to herself but realizing that love, real love it worth taking that leap of faith.

The Wothington’s take place in Detroit and the surrounding suburbs. Besides the club Velvet Ice and the Worthington building the other places in our stories are real. With all the unpleasant publicity about the City, we are happy to be able to write about the great things within and out of Detroit.

This summer and fall we will be working on three more books set in this world with characters that you have met in the first three books, the first two of those will involve Dorian ( the cop) and Brady ( Velvet Ice’s public owner) The emotion in these will be more intense ( that is our goal) and we are going to be writng more darker but no less romantic stories for the next three books.

Thank you Liquid Silver for giving two new authors the chance to tell their stories. We sincerely hope that you all enjoy the second book in our series.
Sierra & Violet

In one deft, effortless move, he lifted her and straddled her over his lap. She suddenly faced him, all without breaking the steaming kiss. Impressive.

Time in a bottle…

What else could her father leave her? The treasure map, the bottle of whiskey, and the wanted poster shouldn’t have surprised Samantha Hendricks. His lifelong obsession with gentleman outlaw Jesse Kincaid was likely all he’d had left. One taste of the whiskey, however, tumbles her through time, into arms so wonderfully real and strong she can only surmise she’s gone crazy. Torn between craving a delusion and believing in the impossible, hurtling between the past and present, Samantha returns to Jesse over and over again. No woman can want this man more, and if she’s clever enough, she might be able to use her inheritance for what she finally realizes her father intended — true love.

***

Come by my website for a romping scavenger hunt for entry to win an ebook copy of WANTED
http://amberromances.com

Smiles,
Amber Scott

They can come from anywhere, usually seem a little out of nowhere and some, like this one, just keep scratching.

Ideas.

A time travel erotica with a western flavor? Hmmm. Where does that come from?

This is the most frequent question I get about WANTED. In fact, where do your ideas come from is a pretty common question I hear many writers are asked.

This particular tale stemmed from a Butch Cassidy poster of my father’s. I found myself thinking about it, wondering whatever happened to it over the years of divorce and death and relocations. I found myself wondering about an outlaw hero. Jesse Kincaid, gentleman robber, was born. I fell in love.

Samantha, his contemporary love interest, grew out of a blend of many women, including me. She’s an overacheiver with a little bit of a daddy issue.

When I began writing WANTED as part of the 2006 National Novel Writing Month, all I had was Jesse, Samantha and a wanted poster. Well, those three things and permission to have fun. The characters kept lingering, demanding my attention despite my inability to muster confidence that their story could ever by published. National Novel Writing Month, however, isn’t about getting published, it’s about learning to let yourself be a little outrageous, to go where no internal editor has allowed you to have gone before.

So, I did.

I started writing, not quite sure how I was going to get modern girl Samantha to meet Jesse, alive and robbing a hundred years in the past. Then Samantha took a sip of some old whiskey and the rest was history.

Reaching the National Novel Writing Month 50,000 word in 30 days finish line was far from easy. But, WANTED was worth it.

I hope you enjoy reading this adventure as much as I did writing it.

In celebration of its release, I’m holding a scavenger hunt all week on my website with a free e-book up for grabs.

Many Thanks,
Amber Scott

Fate, love & complications
http://amberromances.com

Okay I love this sort of thing. It’s totally me as many of you’ve noticed over my SEx posts. So here it goes? I’ll start and of course you go ahead and respond.

1. Any nicknames? Kitten
2. Favorite drink? Fuzzy Navel
3. Tattoo? None
4. Body Piercing? ears
5. How much do you love your job? Writing…I absolutely love it!
6. Birthplace? Frankfurt, Germany
7. Favorite vacation spot? Yellowstone National Park
8. Ever been to Africa? no
9. Ever eaten cookies for dinner? No but I’ve had them before and after
10. Ever been on TV? no
11. Ever been in a car accident? yes
12. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle??? 4 DOOR
13. Favorite salad dressing? Raspberry Vinagrette
14. Favorite pie? pumpkin
15. Favorite number?? 16
16. Favorite movie? Serenity
17. Favorite holiday?? Thanksgiving…family without the pressure of presents
18. Favorite dessert? ? Cheesecake
19. Favorite Food?? Imported Chocolate
20. Favorite day of the week?? Thursday
21. Favorite brand of body wash?? Ivory Soap
22. Favorite toothpaste?? Aim
23. Favorite smell?? Burning wood
24. What do you do to relax? Look up at the stars
25. How do you see yourself in 10 years? Working part-time at Hangar House and writing.
26. Favorite LSB Book? Love Lessons by Vanessa Hart

Okay! Now it’s your turn

The challenge topic is reading.
Letters, books, faces, weather…
As always, any flash is welcome, and readers are, too.

Flash Fiction are scenes 100 words long.

My dh plays video games. He loves them and I’m fine with that. While he’s playing them, I can write or do whatever I want to do and not have to worry about entertaining him.  I don’t play video games. Mostly because I just don’t have the eye-hand coordination needed to be able to kill the bad guys or shoot the puck into the neat. Also there hasn’t been a game I’m really interested in yet.

But then came Rockband…lol. Yep, it’s got drums, guitars and a microphone.  Now all my secret fantasies of being a diva can come to life. :)  Heck, I sing to the radio or my ipod all the time in the car.  Not in the shower though.  Too busy working story ideas out in my head then.

A friend came over last night and we played. I’m the lead singer of course because no one else wants to sing.  I can’t play the guitar or drums. Again I think it’s that whole eye-hand thing going on.  Can’t seem to figure out how to hit the drum at the right time.

Now there are a bunch of songs on the game, plus you can buy more.  Trouble for me is I don’t know most of the songs on there. Never heard of them.  They’re rock songs and up until I met my dh, I used to listen mostly to country. Now I’m an alternative rock girl.

Anyway, what I want to ask is…do you have one song that no matter where you are, if you hear it, you have to stop what you’re doing and sing along?  I’d love to know what it is. For me, at this moment in time, it’s Razorblade by Blue October.  Of course, I only hear it on my ipod since they won’t be releasing this one as a single…lol.

Have a good day, everyone.