Thanks very much for inviting me over today. I’m so glad to be here.
What was it that got you interested in writing?
I’m doing what “I was born to do” and only because I’m so driven to write. If any one thing provoked my initial interest, it was probably my genuine love of books.
Why do you write erotic romance and why do you lean toward western or paranormal genres?
When I made the leap from ghost writing and non-fiction to romance, pretty much everything I submitted was returned with conditions and many editorial notes suggested hotter content. Soon, I decided if I wanted to find a publisher in romance, I’d conform to expectations, as well as submission guidelines. As for paranormal: I hate to say I wrote to please the market but…I wrote to please the market. Paranormal was selling. I needed to sell my own work or face the possibility of returning to ghost writing so Winning Virgin Blood was born and a new series began. Now, I write a lot of paranormal because I have so many stories waiting to be written, many of which are pre-sold on proposal. As for writing westerns? I grew up on a working ranch so writing about cowboys must be in my blood!
You have teenagers from what I understand. What is the most difficult aspect of being a writer-mom?
Finding time to write is probably the most difficult aspect of being a writer-mom. I’m pretty structured but even on a schedule, there’s always an unexpected interruption.
What is your favorite childhood experience?
Every Sunday during football season was an experience. We’d race home from church, choke down a Sunday meal, and make a mad dash for the den so we could spend the day watching football games.
What is your writing process like?
It varies from day to day, from one manuscript to the next.
What advice would you give to a newly published author?
Stay true to yourself. Never base your business decisions on someone else’s experiences. Make industry-related decisions based on how you’re treated and on the business chemistry found with a publisher and fellow authors. Publishers want profits. Don’t be afraid to show them where you can help their bottom line. You have to be that kind of writer. Go the extra mile to make sure you hit and exceed national averages. Set the bar high because if you want to be a writer who sells and sells well, you have to get off your backside and work. Remember, overnight success can often take a lifetime to achieve.
Tell us about your most recent book release
Cowboys for Christmas just released from Aspen Mountain Press this week: www.aspenmountainpress.com.
Julie Kensworth opens her door to more than a blizzard and greets two wayward cowboys. She realizes right away she’s headed straight for the eye of the storm.
Brandon Blake and Quinn Stewart are a long way from home. They’re looking for a warm place to hang their hats while they try to wait out the snow and ice, which continues to gain momentum.
Julie is an author and she’s not just the average writer, she’s one of the most notorious writers in the world. When Quinn and Blake figure out Julie is an erotic romance author, well, needless to say, their minds churn with all sorts of ideas, most of them geared toward how they can heat up the cold winter nights ahead.
What do you have in store for readers next?
Steam Toys releases in January from Aspen Mountain Press. Resplendence Publishing will release the extended version of Bewitching Purpose in February. Siren Publishing will release my final Sports Wives novella, The Third Promise in early 2011. Several others are in the pipeline. Please watch my blog www.destinyblaine.blogspot.com for more information.
CONTEST INFORMATION:
Bloggers—Love Romances reviewed Winning Virgin Blood. Find the review and leave a comment about the review. What did you learn from it? What will you remember? What sounds most appealing about the book based on the review? Leave a comment and you could be the random grand prize winner of all Winning Virgin books—Winning Virgin Blood, Winning Virgin Love, Winning Virgin Lust, Winning Virgin Promises, and Winning Virgin Devotion. I’ll drop by this afternoon and award our winner with these five paranormal e-books.
Reviews of Destiny's Books:
21 comments:
Great interview! Two of my fave genres are paranormals and western romances.
amysmith98@gmail.com
I read the review on Winning Virgin Blood. It sounds great! I like a book that sizzles with the right touch of humor that Spenser family sounds like they add. Definitely adding this to my wishlist.
beckerjo(at)verizon(dot)net
Hello!
I learned that Winning Virgin Blood is first book in a series about a Scottish vampire clan named Spenser.
One thing I find appealing is a vampire with bad luck in gambling and he MUST listen to his family, return to where he "lost his shirt", and find his mate... a virgin! It sounds like Natasha is going to give him a run for his money and I look forward in reading that.
I look forward in reading this series; it's been added to my must have list.
Thanks,
Tracey D
booklover0226 at gmail dot com
The Spencers are a rich vampire family.
Orlando Spencer is a 'love and leave em' type vampire.
I'll remember that this the first book in a series.
kissinoak at frontier dot com
Hello.
I like books with a series of interrelated characters. I'm intrigued that he has to return to 'the scene of the crime' to find a mate-- ironic.
I now want to know what the clue is about how to find her.
Cheers, Kelly
marwhitpinky12@yahoo.com
Thank you for inviting me to blog with you today. *LOOKS AROUND* Where did everyone go??? ;)) I'll go round up my friends.
Hugs,
Destiny
I'm going to start posting excerpts from several Destiny Blaine and Natalie Acres books. Each post will include a number. You guess the title and where the book was published. If you guess the correct answer to all books posted, you'll win a free e-book from Destiny Blaine Productions. Do not post your answers here. Send your replies to destinyblaine@yahoo.com AND come back here and post a comment to let me know you've entered to win.
Hugs!
Destiny
Post One: Name the book and who published the following:
I’m damn good at some things. I believe everyone has a purpose in life, and mine is generally found on my back. Thing is, I’m tired of trying to figure out how I landed there, who stripped me last, and where I spent the night.
I’ve always lived in the moment, and I’ll be damned if I haven’t had some delicious moments. Lately, I just don’t remember all of them, and for some reason my lack of a good memory is starting to take its toll.
Divorced three years and still trying to forget Mark-whatshisname of the Professional Football Confederacy, I fed the tabloids with enough insight into my marriage and quickly became an overnight diva. Members of the press soon discovered, along with everyone else, my husband left me for my best friend, Cassie Teller, who in turn quickly added him to her hunk collection over at the Teller compound.
After the news broke, and with a little help from yours truly, I became an interesting topic for talk show hosts and gossip columnists. Every wife affiliated with the PFC had my name on their lips at least once. I guess some of them worried I’d move on to one of their husbands.
Cassie, of course, walked away from the whole ordeal without a scratch. Yes, she’s one of a kind, a woman who not only has her cake and eats it, too, but also sticks her fingers in another woman’s icing. Not that Mark was all sugar and whipped cream, but he served a purpose.
Thanks to alimony and a good attorney, he still pays for the short time we spent together. His generosity allows for the luxury of scouting for another husband. Best of all, since I have a lavish lifestyle to uphold, I travel on his plastic and in the same PFC circles I refuse to leave.
My name is Suzy Illiani. Sports reporters have labeled me a scorned wife, dumped lover, and my personal favoritefootball groupie.
What can I say? I get around, and when I do, I make sure everyone knows where I’ve been.
Post Two for Name that Book and Publisher:
Patience McKay sat on the bright, tangerine-colored skin board. Her toes touched the water, but her heart stayed out of reach. For over five months, she’d felt completely dead, living without a cause.
Today, she woke up to change. Her pity party ended when she kicked the sheets off the bed and rolled over to a bright, hot sun magnifying off of the bedroom window. When she stepped onto her balcony, her spirits lifted, following right behind the rising temperature.
Yes, today should have been the first day of the rest of her life. Good Lord, she could’ve been on every talk show host’s guest list. She felt empowered, motivated, willful, and quite frankly, full of shit.
She stared at the waves. The positive impact of self affirmations should’ve motivated her to move her spreading ass or at least inspired a little exercise. Unfortunately, as quickly as her new attitude arrived, depression revisited again.
Resisting the urge to call up the sources of her sadness, along with their wives—damn it to hell—she sat on the sandy shore of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, worshipping the sun and savoring the summer-like weather conditions.
A flock of noisy seagulls flew right in front of her face. Startled, Patience fluttered her hand in an effort to shoo them away. The lead bird landed inches from where she sat, and the others followed suit. They seemed drawn to her. Several of them even waddled into her space after their brilliant crash-landing.
“I don’t have anything to offer you,” she said to the feathery creatures.
“Oh, I disagree,” a man said.
Tenting her hand over her brow, Patience peered around her shoulder. “I beg your pardon?”
“You said, ‘I don’t have anything to offer you’ and I beg to differ.”
Patience studied the stranger with one eye open since he chose to stand in front of the sun. Standing about six feet tall, the cowboy wore a hat perched on his head, not to mention expensive boots on his feet, both of which distracted her.
Yeah buddy, he represented the kind of man she avoided back home.
Post Three for Name that Book and Publisher
“Pratchert?”
Stephen Pratchert looked up the second he heard his name. “Yeah?”
The fellow lurking above him pointed to a photograph. “That your kid?”
“No,” he snapped, instantly plotting the idiot’s death for such an assumption. Trixie Cartwell wasn’t a kid. Men with a higher level of intelligence probably considered her well on her way to womanhood.
One of those arrogant Cartwells fathered Trixie, the oldest daughter of Peyton Storm. Which one she belonged to was anyone’s guess, but from what he’d been told, she called all of her over-protective fathers “Daddy.”
“She’s a beautiful girl, whoever she is,” the inmate said, refusing to go away.
“She’s mine.”
“She’s your daughter?”
“Hell no,” Stephen said. “She’s my woman.”
The guy chuckled. “Yeah? How long you been in here, Pratchert?” He snatched the glossy black and white photo from Stephen’s hands and gawked.
“A while.”
“This doesn’t look like an old picture.”
“It’s not.”
“And she’s your woman?”
Pratchert sneered. “Damn right.”
“How’d you manage to find one who looks like her?”
“Lucky, I guess.”
“I’d say. Hell, she’s probably still in disposable diapers.” The fellow laughed again and turned away from Stephen’s cell long enough to eye his own confined quarters located nearby.
“She’s been waiting for me,” Stephen declared. “She doesn’t know it yet, but I’m everything she’s been waiting for and a little bit more.”
The man grabbed his balls in a crude manner and shook with laughter then. “Do me a favor and tell her if she wants to wait for two, I got twenty years to life and then I’ll set her right.”
Stephen slapped the picture against his cot and glared at the man in his pathetic orange jumpsuit, forgetting he wore one of the same. “I’d appreciate it if you never mentioned my future wife in that manner again.”
“Wife, huh?”
“That’s right.”
The prisoner continued snickering and walked away. A few minutes later, the buzzer sounded out and the prison bars shifted each railed door into place. The clanking sound around the cell block jolted Stephen back in time.
Three weeks, he reminded himself. Twenty-one days and he’d walk out a free man. He couldn’t let anyone there provoke him, regardless of how much they tried.
For years, Stephen dreamed of returning to the outside world again. He was going home, and he had a woman waiting for him when he arrived there. He’d find her, and when he did he would spend the rest of his life showing little Trixie Cartwell a really good time.
Post Four for Name that Book and Publisher
Lord have mercy, I didn't know how sweet seduction sounded until one sentence all but invited me to jump-start a stranger. Not that I hadn't banged a few in my past but I committed myself to a goal and worked on my reputation in anticipation of the Carlisle men. I even tried to live a more sex-free lifestyle.
I wanted to try out the better kind of person, day-to-day normal kind of gig, someone my sister might like to call out as family. The type of woman who didn't lay around on her back all day. Then again, I reminded myself, my sister's new husband did the unthinkable. Jack dressed up temptation and called it cowboys. Then he led me straight to the Carlisles and God love his heart, he gave me three at one time.
Dallas tilted the rim of his hat and then with ease and mischief, he began rubbernecking, I mean there's no other way to put it. His focus fell right to my breasts and oh yeah, I felt him in places a woman wants to feel a man like Dallas. I knew from the moment I talked to him on the phone several months before, he was the one to avoid at all costs because if I had a betting nickel, I'd bet on him and I'd bet on me.
Post Five for Name that Book and Publisher
Addison Deveraux stared at her family physician for several minutes, unable to speak and incapable of processing the information he relayed. She focused on the white walls around her. She skimmed over the medical licenses and board certifications, eventually narrowing her gaze on the overstuffed plastic brochure rack housing material about common medical problems. The entire time, she remained faintly aware of her doctor's monotone voice. An avid movie enthusiast, Addison disconnected from the moment and recalled a recent flick she'd watched.
She remembered one scene in particular where a woman learned of her life-destroying health circumstance. Thanks to modern day technology, the character slipped into a mind-boggling funnel surrounded by noise typically found in a seashell. The echo intensified and the room scrambled into spinning pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
On the big screen, the actress sobbed. The doctor calmly provided information about the disease for which she'd been diagnosed and the woman finally zoomed in on those fated words: "You're dying."
Addison blinked. "I am?"
"Addison," Dr. Michaels began gently, "Haven't you heard a word I just said?"
She swallowed. "No, I was..." Thinking about dying.
"Addison, this isn't something you should take lightly," Dr. Michaels stressed, leaning over his desk. An older man with salt and pepper hair, Dr. Michaels wore tinted large-rimmed glasses and resembled someone who might have been chosen to portray a physician delivering detrimental news. If only he were an actor.
Addison watched his mouth move. His words hummed all around her, beating into her ears like a hollow drum. "Treatment is something we should discuss together. This isn't the end and that's it."
Boom. Boom. Boom. The maddening tempo gained momentum.
Advice slipped from his lips but the words ran together in a never-ending slur. "Think of diagnosis as a transition. By the time you've processed the information I've given you, you'll be ready to face the days ahead. In the end, you'll be much better off."
She gulped. There it was. The dreaded statement, You'll be much better off.
How many times had she attended a funeral for one of her grandmother's friends and heard the same thing? Mary Lou Cornell went to a better place. Dan Bradley was much better off after both arms and one leg were amputated.
Carla Sue Davis found Jesus after living on the streets and working for some pimp who decided to repay her years of servitude with continual beatings. And Barbara Jo Jones faced death the same way she'd faced living; always waiting for the other shoe to drop.
No indeed, Addison refused to walk down the same road chosen by Granny Myrtle's best friends, or her cousin Gertrude, who for some reason received her bad news and decided to kick the bucket, before the bucket smacked her upside her head. No way. Addison planned to do a little better for herself. She'd die on her own terms.
The way Addison met death was her decision. Since she had a choice in the matter, she planned to go on out there and greet death-take her fate by the horns and ride the daylights out of it. Yep, it was time to get on with dying.
Post Six for Name that Book and Publisher
“He asked you about your feelings for me.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yes.”
“And you avoided giving him a direct answer?”
He probably expected a reply for that one. “Have we reached cruising speed yet?”
“And you think you’re going to do the same here with me?”
Ally nervously studied her hands, rotating her thumbs back and forth.
“Ally? I’m not going anywhere. You’ll give me an answer or else I’ll fuck it out of you.” He shut the master stateroom door and locked it. “I’m going to do that anyway. I won’t have a problem being there a little longer. I’ll stay between your legs until I’m embedded inside your head.”
Ally shivered and her mouth watered. God help her, he made her thirsty. He looked at her like she was not only the only woman in the world, but she was already his woman.
“I belong to Tanner in all the ways that matter, Santino. No one can take his place, not in life or in death.” She felt the need to let him know death wouldn’t change her feelings for the first man she ever loved, given Santino’s career choice.
He stalked her, slowly unbuttoning his shirt. He slid his arms out of the long sleeves, and then sat on the edge of the bed. Leaning back, he braced himself with muscular forearms while crossing his left leg over the right.
Her gaze went on tour. She started at the top of his head and noticed the natural damp curl hanging over his dark furrowed brow. His hooded eyes followed hers. She took a scenic road trip, traveling down his neck, across the broad stretch of shoulders, dipping down and around the flat discs on his chest and then following the curvaceous ripples of rock hard abs.
Santino’s delicious tongue settled in the corner of his mouth. “Let me know when you’re finished.”
Good grief, his confidence made her crazy. Not only was he cocky, but he possessed a smooth dominance, an alluring way to pursue a woman without being the pursuer. In his presence Ally felt like a huntress, a woman scrutinizing her prey.
“I’ve never belonged to anyone else. I’m Tanner Dorsey’s woman,” she confessed, meeting his gaze again. If her eyes darted any lower she’d have drool on her chin.
“Soon you’ll feel the same way about me, if you don’t already.”
Ally felt fully exposed in her pinstripe pastel pajamas. Barely protected by a low-cut camisole top, she was aware of his intense focus on her breasts. She gnawed nervously on her bottom lip, watching him in pure wonder and anticipating the full pursuit of a carnal man with needs he wouldn’t hesitate to express.
She realized then she put her faith in Santino, but she was terrified of him, paralyzed by what she felt whenever they were together. He spooked her for many legitimate reasons. He had rapidly become her weakness; the man who had the power to take her away from her family, or in fact, carry her home to them.
Post Seven for Name that Book and Publisher
Brandon was suddenly uncomfortable. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "How old are you?"
"Twenty-six, why?"
"Just curious. That’s all." He was also amazed he could speak.
"Do you have a boyfriend?" Quinn blurted out.
Way to fucking go! Brandon set his jaw and watched the color drain from Julie’s cheeks. Brandon shot Quinn a cold stare. "You can quit foaming at the mouth anytime now."
Quinn didn’t say anything. Brandon braced for fighting words. The cold glare he received raked over him about as deliberately as a verbal retaliation.
Brandon decided what the hell. Quinn started this. "Do you have a boyfriend?" He’d die right there if she said she had a husband.
"No, I do not." She marched across the kitchen, opened the pantry, and retrieved two jars of her homemade soup, setting them on the small island in the kitchen’s center. "Anyone hungry?"
Brandon grinned, staring at her ass. "Honey, I’m practically starving."
Post Eight for Name that Book and Publisher
“I said put me down!” She wiggled and fought against his hold.
“I plan to just as soon as I find the appropriate place.” He smiled at her. “And if you aren’t careful, I may do something more than put you down. I may just taste a bit of that anger for myself. It quite becomes you, love.”
“What did you call me? Argh! Last chance to set me down!” She continued her rant.
He walked past his sister’s room and straight into his own. Once there, he plopped her on the bed. Her eyes were wild.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” She smacked at the mattress.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“You want to fuck me?” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Watch your mouth, Victoria, and I won’t tell you again. Ladies don’t talk like tramps.”
“Well, do you?” She further challenged. “Answer me! Damn you!” She pointed a slender finger at him.
He wanted nothing more than to take her little index finger and just suck it in between his lips. Nip and nibble it, just to ensure she knew what he held in store. He wanted her to work out the full equation and solve any inner problems in her devious head. Then, she would know beyond any reasonable doubt that he wanted her and he fully intended to have her.
Her eyes were fiery and her yelling became quite distraught.
Jonathan remained calm. “What you’ve kept under lock and key only belongs to one man. I can promise you one thing, I’m not going to take it unless it’s mine to have.”
I love the "love them and leave them" kind who meet a woman they have to work for! It's hilarious to watch them work for it! Can't wait to check this out! And yum, it's a series!
Adding the series to my need to get list! Read the review and found a fun story line! Immortals with the same issues as Mortals. Addictions to Vegas and Families that run your life in such a way that it is interesting to say the least. Sounds like fun to me!! I enjoyed it and look forword to more!
Kaualoku--You're our random winner. Email me at destinyblaine@yahoo.com and I'll send you all five Winning Virgin e-books! Make sure you include what you won and where! Congratulations!
Bloggers!
A special thank you to those of you who posted on Destiny Blaine's 12 Days of Christmas Blog Tour. For those of you who posted here, I have a special prize for you.
If you posted before December 20, 2010, drop an email to destinyblaine@yahoo.com with FREE BACKLIST TITLE in the subject line.
In the body of the email include Love Romance's BLOG. I won a free backlist title.
This is very important. Without that statement, I can't send your e-book surprise!
Our GRAND PRIZE WINNER will be announced today at 2 PM at http://melissasimaginarium.blogspot.com
So hurry over to Melissa Bradley's blog and find out who won over $200in prizes!
Hugs,
Destiny Blaine
Join us in 2011: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/destinyblaine_romance
I forgot to post that I entered. So here it is "I entered to win".
Thanks!
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