All Romance - Wildfire

July 9, 2009

Vol 4, Issue 54

In This Issue Current Contests Author Leah Bramel invited 30+ authors to help her celebrate a milestone birthday. Comment to win free books. http://bit.ly/2Vl4R The Beach Towel Contest - Enter now to win a Lands End beach towel, a five pack of Joanne Rock's hot Blaze books, and a special romance tote to pack it all up for the shore this summer. Check out her website for how to enter here. Check out Samantha Sommersby's home page - Charlaine Harris is one of Sam's favorite authors and this July Sam is giving away a signed copy of Charlaine's Dead and Gone!
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Janice Maynard Julie: Hi Janice, thank you for taking the time to sit down with me today. I perused your website a little in advance and see that Hotmail is your latest release. Can you tell us a little about that? Janice: Hotmail is set in a small town in Tennessee in the mountains near Pigeon Forge and Dollywood. It's very much a girl meets boy romance about a couple that grew up together as buds but she had a crush on him forever while he dated other girls. So finally she decided to move on her with her life and through a series of events they bumped back together again. Before she decides to give up on him she decides to send him erotic valentines anonymously and then she is going to reveal herself to him. In the meantime they hook back up another way and she ends up sort of competing with herself because he's fascinated by this woman sending him the erotic valentines so she gets a little bit jealous of herself. I really had a great time writing this book because it was a lot of fun. Julie: I also noticed you are part of a group called The Vamps and Scamps, what is that? Janice: It's very difficult these days to keep up with a yahoo group on my own, especially with all the traveling I do, so a group of us do it together. So...Rosemary Laurey, Diane Castell, Shiloh Walker, Luann McLane, Toni Blake we all kind of knew each other and thought maybe it would be fun to just do one together. That way there is always someone there to interact with the readers. We decided to call it the Scamps and Vamps because we don't all write the same thing. We all write hot-varying levels of hot. So there can be vampires or straight romance but it's all pretty hot. We also have a blog at http://www.vampsandscamps.com that we take turns doing about every 3rd or 4th day. Julie: So how long have you been writing? Janice: Since third grade. I used to write stories in elementary school for the arts fairs and even won an award but in college no one ever really tells you that you should become a writer. So I taught school for a lot of years but always in the back of my mind was that I wanted to write a book. In 1996 I sold three books to the Kensington Precious Gems line which shut down and I got busy with kids going to college and getting married and then when we moved to our current home I opted not to get a teaching job and to try to write and then I got an agent and things took off from there. Julie: Now you write full time? And do you adhere to a writing schedule? Janice: We travel a lot due to my husband's job but yes, when I am home I keep to a pretty regular schedule of checking email and things in the morning and then by 10:30 I am writing and I write on through to 5:30 usually. I can do 20 pages a day consistently if I try. If it's a writing day I try to make myself at least do 10-15. Julie: You have a new release coming out this summer, Mating Game, tell us about that one. Janice: NAL always releases my books in July so I always miss the Lori Foster event by a few weeks. It will be out in the first week in July. Before we did this one, NAL wanted me to go in a little bit darker direction because the market is in many ways dark right now. So this book is about a woman who has three men in her life at one time which is kind of a departure for me because I'm pretty much a one man woman kind of writer, but there were reasons for this going on.
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There are threats being made on her life and she begins to doubt each on of the three men as to whether she is blinding herself to what they are really like. She doesn't want to believe it could be any one of them. So that's the mystery/suspense element that carries through it and she does get into some pretty hot water in the end. Julie: So this is more of an erotic suspense. Was it harder to write? Janice: Yes there is suspense. The hard part was because of all the suspense surrounding the heroes. I love writing the hero's point of view but I had to write the whole book in the heroine point of view because you couldn't get inside the head of the guys without giving anything away. An early advance reader complimented me by saying that she couldn't figure out who was doing it to her, which was wonderful to hear because I didn't want it to be immediately obvious who it was. One of the men is her current lover in Chicago but he's a playboy type, then she goes back to her hometown and hooks up with her high school sweetheart and ends up being with him for a little while and there's a new man who shows up in her life. So for various reasons throughout the story all three of them could potentially be the person that is doing this to her. Julie: What's next for you? Janice: I may be dabbling into some paranormal, not vampires or werewolves but something that would be my version of it. NAL and I are talking about that. Also, my agent really thinks I have the voice to do a YA and YA is just booming still. Editors are very much looking for YA manuscripts. So I am in the idea stage right now and working on proposals instead of writing right now. The only thing I am writing right now is for a Christmas novella that's going to release not this Christmas but next with Luann McLane and Susanna Carr. Julie: Do you have any advice for aspiring authors? Janice: There were so many people that were good to me and I was ignorant of the whole process. I would say that conferences like this one and RWA and RT, places where you can meet editors and listen to them talk, I think is very helpful if you can afford to go because you learn so much. It also depends on how much you want this. I was rejected for years and even after you get published you still get rejected and it hurts even then. So I guess sticking with it if you want it that badly. I grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, home of Chickamauga Battlefield, Rock City, Ruby Falls, and the beautiful Tennessee Aquarium. After graduating from high school in 1973, I headed to southwestern Virginia for undergrad. My alma mater, Emory and Henry College, is a small liberal arts institution that enjoys an excellent reputation for quality academics and affordability. Between my sophomore and junior years, I married my high school sweetheart. We graduated together in 1977. I later earned a Masters in Reading and Story Arts from East Tennessee State University. For 15 years I taught kindergarten and second grade near Knoxville, TN, in the foothills of the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains. In the fall of 2002, I left the classroom to write full-time. To view Janice's complete list of available titles at All Romance please check out here Author Page.

Links: Website
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Vamps and Scamps MySpace

Sindustry By: Bethany Brown, Clare London, Diana Copland, Jamie Price: $6.99 Gay, Contemporary, Anthology/Bundle

ePistols at Dawn By: ZA Maxfield Price: $5.50 Gay, Contemporary

With Extra Cream By: J. Hali Steele Price: $3.99 Paranormal/Horror, Shape-shifter, Erotica

Down & Dirty: Ante Up By: Moira Rogers Price: $4.49 Vampires/Werewolves, Paranormal/Horror, Erotica

Animal Instinct [Men of Alaska] By: Paige Tyler Price: $6.49 Paranormal/Horror, Erotica, Contemporary

No Longer Forbidden By: Portia Da Costa Price: $2.99 Erotica

Branded by Fire By: Nalini Singh Price: $7.99 Paranormal/Horror

Beauty Tempts the Beast By: Leslie Dicken Price: $5.50 Historical Other, Romance

Tempted by a Cowboy By: Vonna Harper, Melissa MacNeal, Delilah Devlin Price: $12.00 Erotica

The Heart of a Warrior By: Margaret west Price: $6.95 Romance

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Loves Immortal Pantheon Vol2: Athena the warrior takes a mate By: Cara North Price: $0.99 Paranormal/Horror, Erotica, Short Stories

Halloween Romance By: Donaya Haymond Price: $5.95 Paranormal/Horror, Romance

Loves Immortal Pantheon Vol2: Looking Glass Lover By: Dagmar Avery Price: $0.99 Paranormal/Horror, Erotica, Short Stories

Loves Immortal Pantheon Vol2: Windswept By: Katrina Strauss Price: $1.99 Paranormal/Horror, Erotica, Short Stories

Miss Verey's Proposal By: Nicola Cornick Price: $4.50 Historical Other

Dragon's Heir (Collection) By: Sierra Dafoe Price: $8.99 Shape-shifter, Erotica, Multiple Partners

Uncovered By: Linda Winfree Price: $5.50 Contemporary, Suspense

A Rake's Guide to Seduction By: Caroline Linden Price: $4.79 Historical Regency

Crowning Desire By: Taryn Vincent Price: $5.99 Erotica, Contemporary, Humor (Fiction)

Games Girls Play By: Deanna Lee Price: $11.00 Erotica

in-book advertisements for the Kindle Advertisements embedded in the text of your favorite book? It's enough to make a purist squirm.

Amazon takes one more step toward

But as Fast Company and others have noted, Amazon appears to be weighing the idea. The evidence comes in a pair of applications recently filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office, including one for "providing fixed computer-displayable content in response to a consumer request for content." (Translation from the geek: Amazon wants to patent a way to embed content - or, in this case, adverts - onto a website or mobile device such as a Kindle DX.) read more War of words: eBook readers go head to head There's a battle brewing for your eyeballs, and for once it's not TV programmes or even movies that want your peepers: it's
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the humble book. Of course, it has a high tech twist: a new generation of eBooks are duking it out, so what's the difference? We've put three of the latest head to head to find out. read more

Mating Game by Janice Maynard Published By: Penguin USA, Inc. Heat Index: 4 Flames Categories: Erotica Contemporary Available in: Secure Mobipocket eBook, Secure Microsoft eBook, Secure Adobe eBook Price: $15.00 Buy Now The author of Hot Mail pens an erotic scorcher that will keep readers in the throes of passion-and on the edge of their seats. Nola Grainger needs a man...and fast. Her grandmother has left her everything in her will, with one small catch: Nola has to be married within a month. But if she's going to get married, she wants it to last. And for her, that means finding a man with as much passion as she has-who can take care of every desire, every day. Nola finds three prime candidates: her high school sweetheart Billy, harddealing businessman Marc, and sexy handyman Tanner. Trying out three very different-and very desirable-men proves to be more fun than Nola imagined. But she never thought it might prove fatal. Because someone in town is dead set against Nola sticking around. And with three new men in her bed, the danger might be closer than she thinks... Excerpt: He nodded. "I'll try to stay out of your way. I'll do the outside stuff first, and save the indoor projects for rainy days." His words were prosaic, but Nola flashed unexpectedly to a vision of the two of them tangled in sweaty sheets, breathing heavily in the aftermath of amazing sex as rain beat gently on the large windows of her bedroom. Her knees actually went weak. She told herself it was hunger. He turned and headed for the foyer. "I'll go home and pack up some tools and clothes and things. I'll be back before dark." She rummaged in a drawer. "Here. You should have a key. I might not be here when you get back. I have to make a run for major groceries and cleaning supplies." Her stomach growled loudly, right on cue. He grinned, the first full-fledged smile he'd given her. "You want me to order some pizza and pick it up before I go?"
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Wow. He had her heart beating faster already, but when he unleashed a genuine smile, he made her want to throw off her clothes and say, Take me, you fool. She shook her head, trying to reclaim some shred of dignity. "Thanks, but I'll get something in town." She grabbed her keys and purse, followed him out of the house, and locked the front door. His dusty white pick up truck was parked beside her rental. Before he climbed into the cab, she put her hand on his arm for a quick second to stop him. He lifted a quizzical eyebrow, jingling his keys in his right hand. "Changed your mind about that pizza?" She shook her head, feeling herself blush again like a silly teenager. "No. I just wanted to say thank you. I'm embarrassed that I blubbered all over a perfect stranger." That high-wattage smile returned. "Aw shucks, Nola. I'm not perfect." He chuckled out loud. The sound snuck inside her chest and made her heart race. Good Lord, this man was potent stuff. He reached out and rubbed a thumb across her cheekbone. Her eyes went wide, and he leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Just a little bit of mascara, Red. But you're still one hell of a beautiful woman." The late afternoon sunshine bathed them in a soft glow. The sounds of mooing cows and singing birds and noisy lawnmowers faded into silence. The world stood still. Tanner watched her, waiting for a sign, perhaps, that he hadn't misread her mood. She took a half step forward. Up close, he smelled of healthy male sweat and Irish Spring soap. Who knew such a combination would trigger all sorts of pheromones? He made her feel dainty and feminine and wonderfully vulnerable in the best possible way. She took a deep breath and laid a hand on his chest. His heartbeat thundered beneath her fingertips. Strong, steady, dependable. He was warm and big and virile, and she knew in that instant that she had to add him to her list. Why the hell not. She cleared her throat. "I don't jump into bed with every man I meet." He must have heard the truculence in her voice, but he responded mildly. "I never thought you did." "And there's no guarantee that I will with you." His eyes gleamed. "Duly noted." "You're only here to fix my house." "Yes, ma'am." The way he said it made her want to climb his bones right on the spot. But she satisfied herself with a kiss. It was all up to her. She went up on her tiptoes, barely reaching his chin. He didn't say a word. He merely put his hands on her waist and lifted her with ease, setting her gently on the hood of his truck. That damn eyebrow of his went up again in a clear challenge.

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She rested her hands on his shoulders to steady herself. Staring at his firm, full lips made her light headed. She wondered for a vague moment if Marc had turned her into a nymphomaniac. But it was probably the urge to land a husband in less than three weeks that was making her fixate on erotic matters. Such a task was bound to drive a woman a little crazy. She leaned into him, confident that he wouldn't let her fall. Her lips found his and settled in to learn the contours of his sexy mouth. He tasted like butterscotch candy. That was oddly disarming. Feeling brave and more than a little turned on, she let her tongue slide between his lips and explore. She'd awakened the tiger. He made a noise deep in his throat and dragged her closer, one big hand supporting her head as he devoured her lips in a hungry kiss. It was heaven. In recent days she'd become accustomed to Marc's smooth technique, his slow, teasing build to the big event. But Tanner Nash skipped right from foreplay to total immersion. She whimpered when he nipped her bottom lip with his teeth, but she returned the favor. When bent his head to nibble the upper slope of her breasts, she tunneled her fingers in his hair and stroked his ears--- Sweat trickled down her cleavage, and she wasn't sure if it was the Georgia heat and humidity, or the way Tanner surrounded her, enveloped her, dragged her into the fantasy of him and her--- together, setting the woods on fire. It might have been minutes or days before he released her. She rubbed a shaking hand across her mouth and adjusted her blouse. "Well, I" Her words trailed off as her throat closed up. Tanner kissed her forehead. "I've never kissed a redhead before. You pack quite a punch, Miss Nola Grainger." She was flattered in spite of the fact that he was probably feeding her a line he'd used a million times. A guy with his level of sexuality didn't come by that expertise overnight. He knew women. Again, she pondered the differences between Marc and Tanner Nash. They were both sexy, confident men. But that's where the similarities ended. Marc thrived on the new and different. She was pretty sure Tanner was only interested in sex. His way. All day or all night. It was a darned effective scheme to seduce a woman. Kama Sutra, be damned. Missionary sex with Tanner Nash might well be the most intense experience of her life. If she had the guts to go for it.

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