Alas, Halloween is over for another year. It's my favorite holiday, and I have no idea why I haven't written a story about it. I think this ghost cat would fit perfectly in a Halloween story, don't you?

Today is release day for my new Regency e-novella, Under a Christmas Spell! I'm itching to give a copy away to someone who comments on this blog. I’ve also been tagged by my thoughtful friend, Ella Quinn, for the Writerly Blog. The questions revolve around why and how one writes. 

Ella mentioned that she writes traditional Regencies, but with sex. My Regencies have sex scenes in them, too—as do my contemporary paranormals—but the more sex I write, the more I am of two minds about writing it. I think it’s because at first I did it because I wanted to, but now I feel almost obliged to, so it’s not as intriguing to me as it was. I wonder now, does that mean I should find new ways of writing it, or start writing romantic Regency mysteries without it? Because to tell the truth, much as I enjoy a good sex scene, my favorite books are usually romantic, have lots of plot (like mysteries), and don’t have much in the way of explicit sex. I love it when an author can invoke powerful, sensual, romantic feelings without actually describing the sex act. I guess what I’m saying is that I would like to write something just like my favorite books!

Now to the questions.

1. What are you working on right now?

Three different projects! One is a vampire novella in my Bayou Gavotte series. It’s a contemporary paranormal mystery/romance. Another is a duet of novellas that may end up being a book in two parts. They are Regency paranormal romances with my version of the incubus/succubus mythology. The third is a story I’m writing just for me. It’s a Regency-set fairy tale with a very strange hero. Maybe too strange, but I’m having great fun writing him.

2. How do they differ from other works in their genre?

Hmm… I guess it’s that my paranormal beings, such as vampires and incubi/succubi, are not much like the standard mythologies. For example, my vampires aren’t undead, and my incubi and succubi aren’t demons. I like to think that my characters and their stories lie within the realm of possibility. The white cat above is the King of the Fairies in disguise. He's been pestering me forever to write a fairy tale, although I'm not sure whether he wants it to be about him (so far, it's not). I see him every year or two when I visit Germany. This year he snubbed me, so I guess I'm not writing the fairy tale fast enough for him!

3.  Why do you write what you do?

I was inspired to write Regencies by Georgette Heyer. One day I thought, “Hey, I’ve always wondered if I could do this—so why not try?” Out of that came Notorious Eliza, still one of my favorite stories. As for the paranormal aspect which comes out in many of my stories, I guess I’m just addicted to magic.  

4. How does your writing process work?

I’m a pantser, which means I don’t (can’t) plot the whole book out ahead of time. I don’t seem to be able to see clearly more than a few moves ahead. (I’m hopeless at chess, too.)  First I write a few chapters to get to know and understand the characters. Then the story reveals itself to me as I go along. It’s not an efficient process, so I’m a pretty slow writer, alas. 

I’m tagging Molly Ann Wishlade, Nancy Northcott, and Vicki Batman.

I’ll give away a copy of Under a Christmas Spell to one lucky commenter. Do you believe in vampires? Has an incubus or succubus ever sent you a sexy dream? Should I try, once again, to plot a book before writing it?

***

Hampshire, 1815

  Dissolute aristocrat Lord Valiant Oakenhurst hides a sexy, supernatural secret—as a powerful incubus, he is able to influence others through erotic dreams. At an exclusive Christmas house party, his latest mission is compromised by the beautiful but deadly succubus Lucille Beaulieu. Though still drawn to his former lover, Val cannot forget her betrayal….

Hoping to atone for her past, Lucie uses her seductive powers to help couples find happiness. But she is distracted from her task by her own delicious dreams of the dark and dangerous Val.

As the riotous festivities begin, their passion is reinvoked, but can a little Christmas magic restore their lost trust?

My Black Rose novelette "Demon in Blue Jeans" will be online tomorrow at The Wild Rose Press. Here is the trailer. Enjoy!





I love the music on this! It's so bouncy, but slightly off-key,--just a little eerie--thanks to the penny whistle. Kevin Macleod can really compose appropriate tunes!

Katy Carter appears to have everything a young woman could want: a nice apartment, a good job, plenty of girlfriends with whom to go to the movies and have pizza afterward...the only thing Katy doesn't have but wants very badly is...a boyfriend!

The demon is more specifically an incubus, a demon existing only to seduce women--and a total embarrassment to his family...for he's a complete slacker barely getting the job done, an underachiever just getting by. He's the shame of of the entire incubus clan because after all these millennia, he's still an Incubus Third Class. All his brothers made First Class in a few months...his parents hide their horned heads in shame...

Zellacrastides Amschonstenundeinliebendius is his name. (Try to say that fast three times!) Just call him "Zel" for short.

When Katy, teased by her friends about her crush on a movie heart throb, impulsively asks the Devil to send her his "baddest Bad Boy," she gets Zel instead. She thinks it's a joke perpetrated by her friends; he's up-front about the whole thing--either he succeeds in this assignment or it's demotion to the Seventh Hell and the second worst job in the Inferno. (You don't want to know what the first one is!) There's a catch, however: he's hers for only one night.

With a little infernal razzle-dazzle, the aid of "Guide to the Human Female" on his PDA, and some major cooperation from Katy, Zel earns his promotion, but when the clock strikes nine the next morning, he disappears.

Problem is, Zel took Katy's heart with him when he left...and now she's asking herself the question: How can any mortal man compete with a blue-eyed, blond-haired demon with the sexiest wings this side of Perdition?

("Demon in Blue Jeans" will be available as a download from The Wild Rose Press on October 29th. Photo of Val courtesy of www.fotolia.com, and is featured in the video-trailer "Demon in Blue Jeans.")

Katy Carter considers herself a nice girl. She has a good job, a group of girlfriends who like to go to the movies and eat pizza afterward--the only thing she doesn't have is a boyfriend--or rather, she didn't have one until the night she asked the Devil to send her a Bad Boy!

Imagine her surprise when--lo and behold!--there appears on her doorstep a blond demon named Zel--Zellachrastides Amschönstenundeinliebendius, to be precise--with the sexiest wings and wearing the tightest jeans you could imagine. Seems Zel's been sent by the Great Satan himself in answer to Katy's wish. Over a glass of ginger ale (he can't drink caffeine; it makes him hiccup) he's quick to let her know that he's not an actual demon, but an incubus--a supernatural being whose main job is to seduce women--and also that he has more than one reason to want Katy to yield to the temptation he's offering: he's up for evaluation, and Katy's his final exam. If he passes, he gets a promotion, if he doesn't...

...you don't want to know what will happen!

Discovering she can't resist big blue eyes or long blond hair (to say nothing of those wings!) Katy succumbs to Zel's hellish charms. The next morning, there's nothing to show he ever existed, except in her mind, and Katy forces herself to accept that she'll never see him again. She picks up where she left off--work, movies with the girls, pizza afterward--and then, when she thinks her mind (and her heart) are once more working normally...

...she starts to see Zel....

...everywhere....

"Demon in Blue Jeans" will be available October 29th as a Black Rosette download from The Wild Rose Press. (Photo of Zel courtesy of www.fotolia.com.)