Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Coming Together Soon!


I'm so behind on news!!!

(I apologize in advance if the formatting on this is horrid, but I can't log into my blog from the Day Job any more, and I always forget to do these from home. So I'm emailing this in, and that always results in peculiar formatting.)

My story, "Bleeding Red", was accepted into the Coming Together Among the Stars anthology, a sci-fi themed collection being edited by my beloved Lynn. I can't believe my story is going to be featured among so many other authors that I love! Look, just look at this Table of Contents!

Introduction, "The Thrust of Curiosity; a little science friction..." - Lynn Townsend
Rose Caraway - Duali-Teaze
Annabeth Leong - Repair Mission
Lynn Townsend - Situation Normal
E.S. Wynn - A Matter of Taste
T.B. Bond - Getting Even
T.B. Bond - Love in a Space Elevator
Elizabeth Black - Longing
Zee Giovanni - Forbidden Goods of the Galaxy
Nobilis Reed - Birth of a Monster Whisperer
Essemoh Teepee - Gyozo's Mate
George Box - Yvette
Jade Waters - The Joy Ride
Nickie Jamison - S.E.T.H.
Elliot DeLocke - Sense-Think-Act 
Delilah Night - Love is a Virus 
V.L. Locey - Rose of High Barbary
Adrik Kemp - Of Gods and Men
Skilja Peregrinarius - A Fully Functional Lo^ghi
Kathleen Tudor - Navigator
Elizabeth L. Brooks - Bleeding Red
Malin James - The Power of Positive Thinking

I don't have a publication date yet, but Lynn thinks it will be by the end of the year, or very early next -- more info when I've got it!


Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Guest Blog: Snog for Sommer

The talented and wonderful Lynn Townsend asked if I'd be willing to host her this week, and I have never been one to say no to anything Lynn wants!

***

Hey Elizabeth, thanks so much for having me here, I appreciate it. 

I'm participating in the Snogs for Sommer fund-raising drive and blog hop, and as a fan of both Sommer's work and my own, I thought I'd give you - and your reads - a head's up.

In support of Sommer Marsden, who's one of my personal erotica writing heroes - check out here (http://paidbytheweird.blogspot.com/2011/08/whats-your-name-little-girl.html) where I wrote about my first interaction with Sommer... (I didn't name names at the time, because I didn't want to be that weird, freaky, stalker girl. These days, I'm perfectly cool with being an avid Sommer Stalker... join the club, we'll get jackets.)

Anyway, Sommer is a dear friend and you can read all about the Snog hop and what we hope to do for Sommer...

I'm currently working on the third book of the Rainbow Connections series (Blues, book two, will be published in late March, 2015, which seems just about forever and a day away, doesn't it?) so I decided that I'd give out a little snippet of Blues for my fans to read while we raised support for Sommer, and what better to do as a give away, but to let people have a chance to read Blues early?



So, come on over to my blog (http://paidbytheweird.blogspot.com/2014/09/) and read the current kiss... and enter for a chance to win an Advanced Reader Copy of Blues.

In the meanwhile, here's a little kiss from Roll, book one.

* * * *

"I thought I heard you get up," Vin said, sliding up behind him and wrapping warm arms around Beau's stomach. "Hungry?"

Beau suppressed the urge to leap out of his own skin.

"Don't you people believe in leftovers?" Beau gestured at the industrial-sized appliance in annoyance, trying to calm his heart. He was certain that Vin could feel his heart throbbing erratically in his chest and not entirely certain what emotion it could be attributed to. Was he startled, guilty, or just excited to be up, in the dark of night, with a handsome man's arms around him?

Vin dropped a kiss lightly on Beau's shoulder, eliciting shivers. Beau let the door to the fridge slip shut and turned in Vin's embrace.

"Camilla takes it over to the homeless shelter, after dinner," Vin explained. "We always have more than we need."

Great. Add a heaping helping of feeling greedy to his already full plate of less than pleasant emotions. "You've missed out, babe," he said, "if you've never raided the fridge for a leftover turkey sandwich."

"I'm not missing out right now," Vin said. He nipped at Beau's ear. All of their own accord, Beau's arms went around his boyfriend, pulling him closer. Vin backed him up, braced against the cool steel of the fridge and gently, slowly, traced a line of kisses from Beau's ear to the corner of his mouth. The faint rasp of Vin's stubble against his upper lip drove Beau crazy.

Two thin layers -- Beau's sweatpants and Vin's silk pajamas -- weren't nearly enough to disguise the feel of Vin's erection pressed firmly against Beau's thigh. Beau slid his hands down Vin's naked back, relishing the satin flesh under his fingertips. Vin continued to tease Beau's mouth, delicate licks and nuzzles that didn't come close to slaking the growing need.

"Oh, would you kiss me already, for Christ's sake?" Beau demanded, grabbing a handful of Vin's unruly hair and pulling his mouth down.

Beau's stomach let out a gurgling complaint.

"How about I get you some pie before you wake up the house," Vin said, laughing. "I know where Camilla keeps her stash."

Beau warred with his two hungers. "Kiss, first," he said.

"Now there's a deal."

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

News and Art

As always I have no excuse whatsoever for my long silence.

But! I do have a reason -- several reasons, in fact! -- for my abrupt return!

Item the First:
I entered a contest over on Tumblr (feel free to look me up, but be aware that I use my Tumblr account primarily to talk about fanfic and lust obsess over Marvel movies and comics). Where was I? Oh, yes: I entered a contest. And, somewhat surprisingly, won.

What I won was an art commission, and so after looking carefully at the artist's work, I asked her to make me a painting of Taisiya, the kitsune-like fox-demon from Foxfur. She sent it to me this week, and it's so gorgeous I actually, literally started crying when I saw it. (Click on the picture to embiggen.)


She does fantastic work, especially her animals, and if you're at all in the market for original art, please let me highly recommend popping over to her Tumblr page and shooting her a query.

Item the Second:
A Princess Bound was released last month, and is now available in both ebook and print formats! (That link goes to Amazon, but it's also available from other retailers.) Among a lot of really amazing stories, the collection contains my tale, "The Dancing Princess".


Item the Third:
Just last week, I signed a contract with Hot Ink Press for "(Why Don't You) Come Between Us", a m/m/m story that invaded my brain and demanded to be written. It's currently scheduled for publication in January 2015, so you'll be hearing more about that as the date draws nearer! For now, and briefly -- it's a story about polyamorous relationship negotiation. And also really hot sex, of course!

Monday, April 7, 2014

Fat Girls: Smut for Good

“Fat girls,” Christina said, “are great dates, if you’re not too squeamish. Contrary to popular assumption, it’s not expensive to take us to dinner, because we’re far too self- conscious to eat much when someone else is watching. And if you take us to do something active, you’re pretty well guaranteed to come out looking good by comparison.”

She withdrew as she spoke—a thinner person would have pulled their knees in to their chest, wrapped their arms around their shins—but Christina was too fat for that, so she just turned away. “We never ask if something looks good on us, or God forbid, whether you think we’re pretty, because we don’t know if it would be worse to know you were lying or to actually hear the truth.”

Of all the stories in Whetting the Appetite, this one may be the most brutally honest. It's also one of my favorites. You don't see a lot of fat girls in fiction at all, and certainly not in romance, but I think there should be more. We can't all be willowy and athletic, after all.


“I...don’t know,” she said, even though the image shone, bright as day, in her head, closing her throat with fear and longing.

“Now who’s lying?” Jackson said. He pinched her bottom, hard, and she squeaked in surprise. “Why won’t you tell me?” Christina closed her eyes and shook her head. “Too much to ask,” she whispered.

“Why? Because you’re not skinny?”

Miserably, Christina shrugged.

Jackson pulled her over onto her back, pinning her shoulders with his forearms as he frowned down into her tear- stained face. “What do skinny girls get to ask for that you can’t?” he demanded.

Christina turned her head. “If I tell you now, you’ll just feel obligated. I don’t want—”

Chrissy.” Jackson dropped his forehead to her breastbone for a moment, the picture of defeat, then lifted it again. “What if, just this once, you let me feel a little obligated? You’re my girl; I think I should be obligated to try something that you want, once in a while.”

Christina was silent, trying to reconcile her desire to please and her embarrassment, to convince herself that she might be worthy of such a gift as her own desire.

In honor of Whetting's release and in conjunction with the Smut for Good: Curves Rule blog hop, I'm having a contest! Comment here to enter, go "like" my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter for additional entries, or let me know that you've donated to the Smut for Good cause (link below) for three additional entries. The contest will close on April 13th, winner(s) will be announced on the 16th. Prizes are yet to be determined, depending on the number of entries I see, but will include, at minimum, an ebook and a coupon code. Here are the blog hop details and links:

Smut for Good: Curves Rule is a blog hop with prizes galore to raise funds for Parkinson’s UK as this is Parkinson’s Awareness week. To find more curves, and seek out further prizes please visit http://smutters.co.uk/smut-for-good and if you can take a minute to please visit the Smut for Good: Curves Rule Just Giving Page at http://www.justgiving.com/curvesrule and donate whatever you can to help us reach our target of £100 to raise awareness of Parkinson’s and to support the charity Parkinson’s UK http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/ who help those with the disease learn to cope with the challenges, give out information and search for a cure.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Whetting the Appetite

Whetting the Appetite is out! I'm deliriously excited -- this anthology has some really fantastic little stories in it!

Technically, it was released by the publisher on March 22 or 23, but it was only available at the publisher's site for the first week. Lynn and I did a Facebook release party on the 23rd -- which is why I posted all the postcards then. But now it's been released to distributors, yay! So let's post All The Links!

Publisher's link (also includes some exerpts): http://tinyurl.com/n9cy2uf
Amazon/Kindle: http://smarturl.it/BrooksTownsend
All Romance eBooks: http://tinyurl.com/lu8vbbc (your choice of format)
Barnes & Noble/Nook: http://tinyurl.com/kz2z2xx

Book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zoei6y1AP4
Postcards:  http://everyworldneedslove.blogspot.com/2014/03/postcards-from-edge.html (each of the 44 cards includes an excerpt from its story! You can taste test the entire table of contents with these!)
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21792973-whetting-the-appetite

If you pick it up, please, please, please consider posting a rating or a review at Amazon or Goodreads or wherever you bought it; nothing, but nothing helps book sales as much as reviews. And Lynn and I would really love to sell enough copies of this to make it into a print edition!


Sunday, March 23, 2014

Postcards from the Edge

...from the edge of my sanity, that is. Here's what happened:

Lynn and I planned a Facebook "release party" for Whetting the Appetite -- an online chat, basically. I decided it would be fun to make up a promotional postcard-style graphic for each story in the anthology, and post them randomly throughout the day.

It took me over nine hours to make all the postcards (the anthology has 46 stories -- even compressing the three-parter into one postcard still left me with 44 to make!)... and at the end, I was feeling pretty proud of them, actually.

And then, the morning of the release party... my internet died.

Well, of course it did.

So I'm going to post them here -- all 46 of them. (I'll put them behind a jump break, to save your sanity, if you're on an RSS feed -- and if you're reading this from one of the repost sites that doesn't preserve images, please come check out the original post at
http://everyworldneedslove.blogspot.com/2014/03/postcards-from-edge.html )

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Guest Blogger: BA Tortuga - Fistfights and Foreplay

Y'all, I've got the amazing BA Tortuga on my blog today, and when she contacted me to ask for a guest blog spot, I'm pretty sure I squee'd in delight. I'm not entirely sure who's doing whom the favor, here, because I've never read a single BA story that I didn't love, and she's one of the very sweetest, nicest, most fun people I've been privileged to work with since I started the whole writing-and-editing gig, which given how awesome everyone else I've met has been, is really saying something.

***

Fistfights and Foreplay- Or how you can’t write Texans without a fight sometimes

Hey, y’all! I want to thank Ms Liz for having me. I love working with her, laughing with her, and sharing the geekiness. :D

You might have noticed my tagline is because sometimes fistfights are foreplay. Well, they tell you to find something that’s in all your books, a running thread.

Mine?

Fistfights.

I’m SO proud. ;-)

Today I bring it up because my new book, Terms of Release, is about my old stomping grounds in East Texas, and has more than its share of fistfights in it.

Sage, one of my heroes, has a bit of a checkered past, and a lot of folks gunning for him. He tried hard to make like smoke and disappear, but there are times when a man has to stand his ground. He gets his share of beat up, but he also throws down with his brother in law, a handful of rednecks trying to kill him and his friend Wilma outside a diner, and ends up on the bad side of a tornado, where he has a scuffle in the hospital.

What is it about East Texas and fistfights? I’d say it’s in the water. I’ve never been to a wedding or funeral where someone didn’t get to fighting, and my daddy works as a bouncer in the bar on his free time. For fun.

Does this mean we’re less evolved than the rest of the country? Probably. It also means that emotions run high in Texans, making us damned fun to write about. If it’s not worth fighting for, well then, it’s not worth it. Period.

Says the woman who can’t go to Wal-Mart anywhere within a hundred mile radius of Dallas without getting into a screaming match, at the very least.

Grins.

Sage and Win from Terms of Release, they have a lot that’s worth fighting for, and it takes a lot for Sage to work up the courage to brazen it out. That’s only one of the reasons I love this book so much. I hope y’all do, too.

The Terms of Release is releasing March 24, 2014 from Dreamspinner Press and I’m proud enough to bust.

Official Blurb:

They say a man can always come home. So after doing hard time, Sage Redding heads to his family’s northeast Texas ranch to help his ailing daddy with the cutting horses.

Adam (Win) Winchester is a county deputy and the cousin of one of the men killed in the incident that sent Sage to prison for almost a decade. While Win's uncles, Jim and Teddy, are determined to make Sage and the entire Redding family pay for their loss, Win just figures Sage has paid his dues and maybe needs a friend. Maybe he needs more than a friend. In fact, Win’s counting on it.

No one’s denying Sage is an ex-con who went to prison for manslaughter. Regardless of the love he has for his father, he’s returned knowing things will likely go badly for him. Maybe a man can always come home, but he may not be able to stay.

Paperback buy link (first 20 copies come signed): http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4820

Ebook buy link:
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4776

Where to find BA:
http://www.batortuga.com -- website
batortuga.blogspot.com – blog
@batortuga on twitter
https://www.facebook.com/batortuga