Tula's Neal's Naughty Nibbles

Five Naughty New Year Resolutions

2012-01-01T08:41:00.000-08:00

There's no time like the New Year to let your naughty side out but here are some resolutions to help you keep it going, all year long. Nope, they're in no particular order so pick and choose at will.

1. Want to spice things up in your relationship? Why not send your man a naughty text when you know he's in a meeting? If you're really daring, send him a picture. He won't be able to wait to get home to you, all hot and bothered!

2. Try your hand at erotica! That's right, write a short story starring the two of you and read it out to him when you're in bed. Let him see a side of you, you've kept hidden. And if you can act it out, all the better!

3. Heading out to dinner? Don't tell him anything but when you've been seated, let him know in any way you choose, that you forgot your panties at home. Naughty, naughty girl!

4. So we all know men are heavily turned on by the visual, right? Brush up on your stripping skills and give him a show every now and then. Go shopping at your favorite naughty store and let him choose the outfit. Don't be embarrassed! Your guy loves you, all of you so don't worry about whatever jiggles!

5. Learn what turns you on and don't be shy about asking for it. The better satisfied you are, the more you'll want to satisfy your partner. So check around on the Net and see what pleasurable goodies you can discover! This may be a good place to start!

Love of a Courtesan out in the world!

2011-06-04T08:03:00.001-07:00

Well, after a long, hard labour, Love of a Courtesan is out!!! Check it out! It was released 20th May by New Concepts Publishing. Here's another excerpt -

Chapter One
The loud, firm knock on the door resounded through the atrium startling the yellow songbirds in their cage. They flew off their perch, chirping, their wings fluttering. Chloe's own heart leapt though she had been expecting this summons, had been waiting for it. Belthus, her longest-serving slave, emerged from a side room but she waved him away and hurried to the heavy door. She knew who it was even before she opened it. A tall, slender man the color of burnt almonds stood in front of her. It was the third time he'd come. The third Monday morning in as many weeks.

"My master sends his greetings and this token of his love." He extended a small packet to her. A shiver went through her as his fingers touched hers. She wished she could prolong the contact.

"And a letter as well?"

"Yes." He made to hand the small scroll over to her as well but she stopped him with a shake of her head.

"No, come inside. I want you to read it to me." That was the plan she'd hit upon just the night before. It would draw the Aethiop courier into the house and keep him there, where she could feast her eyes on the sight of him. Even better, he would read the letter to her and she could pretend that it was he who'd written her the honeyed words of love, that the expressions of the writer, the feelings, were his.

"Do you not prefer to read it yourself, in privacy?" He frowned. "Perhaps it would be better."

"No," she said, firmly. "You know your master and know the inflection he would give to certain words. Since he prefers to remain anonymous for now, your voice will have to serve as his."

"I must be getting back."

"The letters you've brought before have been short. Is this one longer?"

"No." His tone was amused.

"Then you will be done before he has had time to miss you." She had out-argued him but he did not seem to mind she noted with satisfaction. A small smile splayed around his full, well-formed lips but he kept his eyes averted as if he didn't want her to read the expression in them. She turned to show him through the atrium. The songbirds monitored their passing but Chloe's attention was all on the man.

She watched him carefully to gauge his reaction to the large mosaic on the floor. It had been installed a year ago and depicted a series of love scenes between gods and mortals. In one corner, a swan lay on top of a voluptuous woman, Zeus's rape of Leda. In another, an ardent Bacchus lay with a naked Ariadne who reclined among flowers, her legs open to receive his very visible and very erect cock. Her guest slowed but she couldn't tell or even begin to guess what he was thinking. She thoughts his lips twitched but she wasn't sure and his face was completely neutral. As a slave, he might never have been in the home of a courtesan before. Certainly, few slaves could afford the services of a much sought-after courtesan and had to content themselves with a hurried fuck from a streetwalker in some small hovel near the theatres or outside the city walls. If they had enough money to spare, they might, as a special treat, seek out a fellatrix, those women whose gifts with their tongues could make a man believe he had found paradise.

A few whores moved up from the street to the bordello but few reached her status as owner of her own home, able to choose and refuse clients. Whenever she thought of what she'd achieved since she left North Africa as a teenager to follow Gallus Aemilius, the Roman governor, back to Rome, she felt a sense of pride. He had hired tutors for her to teach her the arts of conversation and literature, how to sing and dance. But Chloe herself had sought out the fellatrix, Cynthia, to teach her the more intimate arts and she had proved an apt pupil. When a stroke nearly felled Gallus Aemilius she had persuaded him to help her set herself up as one of the most stylish courtesans in the city. His patronage had ensured her success and though it was more than a year since he'd died she continued to offer prayers for him every day at her household shrine.

She wondered how much the Aethiop knew of her history, if her home and its explicit decorations had shocked him. Surely, he'd have realized that a courtesan's home would be no ordinary place, would, in fact, be something of a temple of the seductive arts. Like the garden to which she led him.

The rains of the past couple of days had revived her languishing plants and made her peristyle, once again, an inviting and intimate room for outdoor assignations. Jasmine vines curled around the columns and the leaves of the grape tree were a bright emerald green. Basil, thyme, mint and other herbs flourished alongside violets and nasturtiums while the red and white rosebushes ranged along the far wall released subtle but heady fragrances into the air.

He inhaled deeply and appreciatively.

"Your garden is a perfumerie," he said, looking admiringly around him.

"I am pleased you like it. Come sit." She took a seat on one of the three heavy couches and patted the space next to her. "You've said your master does not wish his name revealed but will you not tell me yours?"

For a second their eyes met and something hot uncoiled itself in her stomach, tautening her nipples. The Aethiop's eyes were the color of dark honey glinting in the sun, his lashes as long and silky as an Easterner's.

"He has instructed me not to reveal that either."

"Oh." She tried not to let the disappointment show on her face.

"Are you going to open your present?"

"What? Oh." She'd forgotten she held it. "No. I'll look at it later. I want you to read to me now."

He chuckled then, a low throaty sound.

"What is so funny?"

"I think you must always get what you want, when you want it. Isn't that so?"

No, she could have told him. It wasn't so. She could have told him that she'd wanted him from the minute she'd first seen him, could have described for him each and every dream she'd had of him, and how on some nights she woke up wet and panting for his touch. She could have told him that, last night, she'd turned away her clients so she'd be fresh and well-rested for him, that she'd woken especially early in order to have more time at the Baths to cleanse herself. But she said none of those things.

Presenting my book trailer for Daughter of Egypt

2010-11-02T11:01:00.000-07:00

Slogged my way through Windows MovieMaker and finally came out with this -

ePublishers

2010-08-18T09:59:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to say how much I really love epublishers. I mean, what's not to love? They accept electronic submissions meaning I save a bundle on stamps and envelopes and, if they accept my manuscript, it's usually out within a year.

So let's hear it for epublishers. And by way of celebrating them, here's a list of some of the more well known ones including the ones I've been published by.

Amira Press - http://www.amirapress.com/ And check out their blog for info about new releases - http://amirapresssays.blogspot.com/

Cobblestone Press - http://www.cobblestone-press.com/ You can learn a lot more about them here - http://www.cobblestone-mainstreet.com/forums/

Ellora's Cave - http://www.jasminejade.com/default.aspx?skinid=11 This is their sister site - http://www.jasminejade.com/default.aspx?skinid=13

Samhain Publishing - http://www.samhainpublishing.com/ And their blog - http://authors.thesamhellion.com/

New Concepts Publishing - http://www.newconceptspublishing.com/

Liquid Silver - http://liquidsilverbooks.com/ Read their blog here - http://www.liquidsilverbooks.com/blog/

Loose Id - http://www.loose-id.com/

Ravenous Romance - http://www.ravenousromance.com/

And I've already mentioned Carina Press in another post.

Enjoy!

Excerpt from For the Love of the Courtesan

2010-08-16T03:57:00.000-07:00

Below is an excerpt from my manuscript, For the Love of the Courtesan, currently seeking a home with an epublisher.

The loud, firm knock on the door resounded through the atrium startling the yellow songbirds in their cage. They flew off their perch, chirping, their wings fluttering. Chloe’s own heart leapt though she had been expecting this summons, had been waiting for it. Belthus, her longest-serving slave, emerged from a side room but she waved him away and hurried to the heavy door. She knew who it was even before she opened it. A tall, slender man the color of burnt almonds stood in front of her. It was the third time he’d come. The third Monday morning in as many weeks.

more of Ovid's advice to lovers

2010-08-08T03:59:00.000-07:00

"I advise you, if it is feasible, to have two mistresses at the same time, for thus one passion shall moderate the other. Rivers lose their force when they split and branch off, and the fury of a fire can be disminished by making several small ones out of a big one...If you have been so foolish as to retain the affections of but a single mistress, lose no time to find another immediately....If you are troubled to find them, read my Art of Love. Voyage out upon the sea of Love courageously and soon your ship will be laden with beautiful wenches." Ovid, The Art of Love

New Publisher in Cyber-Town

2010-05-15T09:39:00.000-07:00

This post by Angela James, formerly of Samhain Publishing, and now Executive Editor at Carina Press, appeared over at Risky Regencies. I've taken Angela at her word about cross-posting!

Hoop skirts, brocade, feathered headdresses, kid gloves, kid slippers, horses, carriages, talk of locomotion (not Kylie Minogue's!), Queen Victoria, cowboys, discussion of women's suffrage, ratafia, corsets, chemises, calling cards, pelisses, peers of the realm, cutthroats, Mary Wollstonecraft, six-shooters, hothouse flowers, wallflowers, parties lit by candles, cowboy hats, bluestockings, hunts, hounds, masquerades, horses, operas and operettas, tours of Italy, grand tours, wars (Napoleonic, Crimean), revolutions (French, Russian)...

Do you love these things? We do, and we want to read more about them—and share them with our readers! Carina Press’s acquisitions team and editors have begged me to find more historical fiction and romance, so I’m putting out the call. If you have a completed historical manuscript, 15,000 words and up, Carina Press would love to see it. We’re looking for both historical romance and historical fiction (with or without the romance subplot) of any steam level (including none, none at all). Historical Victorian, Regency, Western, turn of the century or whatever other time period you’ve chosen to write in, we’re interested in publishing some amazing historical work. Our submissions guidelines can be found at www.carinapress.com/submission-guidelines and we’re working through submissions very quickly, due to the large number of us reading them, so you won’t be waiting until summer (or next year) for an answer!

We hope you’ll take this post and pass it on, post it on your blog, direct your friends to it and let them know: Carina Press is looking for historical fiction and romance!

Want to know more about the people behind the Carina Press acquisitions and their love of all things historical? I asked them to share thoughts about favorite authors, books and just what they love about historical romance and historical fiction in general.

I’ll start (Angela James, Executive Editor): I love historicals for the things I learn. When I was in sixth grade, I visited the junior high, as a kind of orientation for the next school year. We were all assigned a seventh grade buddy, who we attended classes with for the day. In her history class, the teacher asked, “What was Queen Mary’s nickname?” I was the only one who knew the answer was “Bloody Mary” and that was because of the historical romances I’d been reading (yes, in sixth grade). I got mad props from the seventh graders (upperclassmen!) for knowing that answer!

I adore Julie Garwood’s old historicals and have for many years. They’re some of my very favorite re-reads, and books I will never give up because, even after all these years, they still make me laugh out loud, smile, and fall in love with both the hero and the heroine. Despite historical inaccuracies and what some might call a wallpaper-historical effect, I love them and I continue to recommend them to friends for the fun storylines and relatable characters.

Amy Wilkins, Acquisitions Team: I love The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig for its incredible blend of adventure, comedy and romance.

(plus it amused me that the hero and heroine are named Amy and Richard -- my boyfriend's name is Richard!)

Melissa Johnson, Editor: I love Kresley Cole's MacCarrick Brothers Trilogy because one of the heroines is actually not from France or the British Isles, and Cole's heroes are all crazy-hot for the women they love. I don't even mind that the brothers are each crazy-hot in basically the same way.

Deborah Nemeth, Editor: I love the sparkling prose and witty dialogue of Eloisa James. In the Desperate Duchess series she went beyond the typical Regency to the Georgian period, one that I love.

I'd also love to get some historical manuscripts set in the Italian Renaissance and the Tudor/Elizabethan courts that feature political intrigue. The Roman empire between Augustus-Claudius (the setting of the I, Claudius series) would also be good for this type of political story.
I'd also love an adventure story set during the Crusades--perhaps from the Saracen point of view. A romance featuring a troubadour during the time of Eleanor of Aquitaine. I also enjoy the roaring twenties, Paris during the Belle Époque, and England during both WWI and WW2.

Andrea Kerr, Acquisitions Team: You can quote me: "I admit it: I love historicals for the gowns!"

More seriously, one thing I really like about historical romance is that there is built-in conflict. Relationships between men and women were governed by very different and intricate social rules that simply could not be crossed. So it's believable to me that the hero and heroine in a historical can't be together because they are on different social levels, for example, or because they are unable to come out and say how they feel. In a contemporary romance, it takes a LOT more to convince me that two available people who are obviously attracted to each other can't just sit down and work through their differences and be together.

Gina Bernal, Editor: I love the emotional depth of Mary Balogh's historicals, because she takes characters to the lowest of low points and yet makes me believe time and again that love does conquer all. Lately, I've been hankering for a good harem romance and love all sorts of unusual settings and underexplored time periods--from Vikings, Romans and Celts to Caribbean pirates and WWII resistance fighters.
Emily Matheson, Acquisitions Team: I love Eloisa James. Everything she's written. Not only do I love her characters (they're always smart), but I always learn something-- be it about politics in Georgian England or how migraines were treated in the regency period. It's the best way to be educated.

Elizabeth Bass, Editor: I`d love to find an author who could single-handedly bring western historicals back into popularity!

Jenny Bullough, Acquisitions Team: Like most of us here at Harlequin, I'm a huge fan of Deanna Raybourn's MIRA historicals, because as much as I love Regencies it's a treat to read historical novels set in the Victorian era for a change! With Carina Press open to any and all eras and settings, I'm always excited to read submissions that are set in unusual or different eras or places -- from ancient Rome or Egypt to turn-of-the-century America or WWII Japan, from the Salem witch trials to Renaissance Italy!!

Kymberly Hinton, Editor: I love Judith McNaught's rich, evocative language because it makes me feel like I'm right there with the characters, and she's the first author who helped me to realize that "reformed rakes make the best husbands." I also adore Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series because she has a rare ability to make me laugh, cry, and jump for joy all in the same book.

the Horse of Hector

2010-05-15T05:35:00.000-07:00

If you're writing erotica, it's always good to know about as many sexual positions as possible, isn't it?

In the Horse of Hector, the woman is on top with the man lying on his back with his knees up and his feet on the bed or ground. She sits on him with her knees on either side of him and leans back against his thighs. This position allows for really deep penetration.

Enjoy! (Umm, your characters, I mean, they should enjoy...oh, you know what I mean!)

Conflict in romances

2010-05-03T04:06:00.000-07:00

If you're writing a romance and have done your research into the elements of the genre you'll know that conflict is one of those necessary things that an editor or agent will be looking for in your work. Even though I've been published, I have to admit that I struggle with the whole concept of conflict - my characters often instantly like each other and I have to work at keeping them out of each other's beds! It's not easy!

Conflict creates the tension or the suspense between your hero and heroine, the will-they-won't-they quality that keeps readers hooked throughout your story.

There are two types of conflict you can employ - external and internal conflict.

External conflict first - And I'm not talking some simple thing like a misunderstanding that could have been easily cleared up by asking a simple question (my problem with Othello, btw!). No, external conflict is more along the lines of the hero is a spy for Queen Mary Tudor while the heroine's family wants to see Elizabeth on the throne, or, if you're writing fantasy, your hero is a wizard charged with eliminating shape-shifters and your heroine is a wizard whose brother is a werecat whom she will protect at all costs. External conflict gives your readers something to think about and your characters stuff to do!

But internal conflict can be even more interesting. Here is where you can layer the personality of your characters to show what they stand to lose and what they stand to gain depending on their relationship to each other and how they grow or evolve emotionally. A police officer who falls in love with the woman he is protecting from the murderous ex-husband trying to kill her must not only keep her safe but also overcome her natural fear of getting involved again, and her distrust of her own ability to make the right choice. If he, himself, is an arrogant, high-handed bastard then something in him must also change if he is to win her - maybe he can continue to be a bastard to everyone else but her.

And the central conflict between the hero and heroine dictates their actions, their reactions, how quickly the relationship moves and creates different obstacles they encounter on the path to true love. For example, maybe the couple above make some progress and are grooving on each other, that's great but thrown them a curveball - maybe the officer makes an important decision that affects her without asking her opinion - this reminds the woman of her husband's behavior and they're back at square one! So she loses a little bit of her trust in him and keeps a secret from him which puts her in greater danger and so on, and so on. Use the conflict to escalate the drama and add complexity to your characters so you keep your readers guessing till the very end!

public sex

2010-04-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

Great places for your characters to indulge in a bit of public sex - the beach, the park, in the backyard, in the office, under a waterfall, in a car, on the deck of a yatch, in the elevator! Go on, spice up their sex lives. They'll thank you for it and so will your readers!

Bittenbybooks reviews The Mermaid's Mission

2010-04-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

A lovely review of The Mermaid's Mission.

When Antalya proves to Gregory beyond a doubt that her tale is true, she tells him of the damage that his construction and his future plans will do to the environment. Her task as a Gift Prize was to get him to stop everything and let the island resort back to its natural state. Taking a fish eye view of the damage and potential destruction of the reef, the fish and other sea life, Gregory makes a decision that will hopefully keep both sides happy. Antalya must now give her father the answer that Gregory has made and leaves him to go back to her people. Whether this will be enough is now up to the city of Mereid and the King, but will another voice convince the populous that compromise and education of the dangers of urban sprawl can give them all hope to survive?

This short novella was a very smart and spicy tale with an twist. The combination of the paranormal creatures of the water with the cause and effects of urban expansion on the environment was skillfully written and entertaining

advice on seduction from a master

2010-04-19T15:52:00.000-07:00

"If by chance you attend a feast and some charming woman shares your couch, whisper a prayer to the god whose mysteries are celebrated at night, that the wine may not too deeply affect your brain. This is the time when you may easily discourse with your mistress in symbolic terms, the meaning of which will be obvious to her. A drop of wine upon your finger will enable you to draw strange devices on the table, wherein she can discern some proof of your affection. Let your looks bear out the message of these hieroglyphs; the language of the eyes can be uncommonly persuasive.

When she has sipped from out her cup, then quickly seize her goblet and drink becomingly from the same spot that her lips have abandoned but a moment before. If she touches any food upon the common platter, lose no time in picking it for your own plate; and as you reach for it, your hand may softly brush hers. Be polite to her husband." Ovid, The Art of Love

More on Trying to Get a Man…oops, I mean Trying to Get a Publisher

2010-04-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we're sticking with the theme of how trying to get a pubisher is kind of like trying to hook yourself a man and we went over some of the tactics. (Ok, I'm not trying to rewrite Sun Tzu's Art of War but stay with me here.)

You've worked on yourself, you're feeling and looking better than you ever did before. You've got some hot duds for your hot body. Now it's time to research the places where all the eligible (for you) guys hang out. Remember - if you want a mature man spending time at the local college clubs isn't going to hook you any fish you'll want to take home. Want a guy who likes jazz, make a list of the jazz clubs in your area. Interested in the alternative scene, do your research! Find those basement hideaways, warehouse digs, etc..

It's the same when looking for a publisher. Once you've polished your manuscript till it gleams, cut out all the extraneous stuff, made the love scenes zizzle, don’t undermine yourself by putting all your eggs in one publishing basket. Check out a wide variety, make yourself a list of twenty or thirty publishers and submit your queries or partials to them, in batches of five or six. You’re just looking, remember? You’re not out to get all serious and monogamous at this stage. Even if one requests a partial, don't stop sending your queries out. It's like with that hot guy at the club who took your number and, wonder of wonders, actually called on the second day. That's great but you just met, for God’s sake! Wait until signatures have been put on the dotted line before all your writerly hopes and ambitions you do endow.

Okay, so now you’ve been out on a few dates with Mr. Hottie. You’ve had a couple exchanges with a publisher and they’re reviewing the full. It’s a heady time so celebrate but don’t start turning down other dates just yet. Keep your options open until you get a solid offer. Oh, and now’s not the time to turn all needy and start emailing and calling the publisher (or Mr. Hottie, for that matter) to find out what the status is on your manuscript (or the relationship). If they’ve had it for three months without word, you can send a polite reminder. After six months, well, hopefully you’ve been continuing to date other guys, er, to send out queries so the neglect won’t sting as bad.

But what if they loved it and now the offer’s on the table? Now it’s time for you to do your due diligence and go over that contract with the finest tooth comb you possess. Read it over until you can quote it in your sleep. Check out websites for writers (like this one - http://tiny.cc/2df7z) and read any advice you can on publisher contracts. Network with other writers and ask them about any clauses you may be unsure of. You might even want to hire a lawyer who’s familiar with publishing contracts to look it over for you. Getting out of a contract can be even more difficult than a trip to divorce court.

Being single can sometimes suck but choosing the wrong man or the wrong publisher can be even worse. And then again, when you choose the right man and the right publisher, well, life can hardly get better, can it?

Avoiding Rejections or How Trying to Get a Man is Like Trying to Get a Publisher

2010-04-07T07:01:00.000-07:00

Rejections are a fact of life for most writers but there are ways of reducing your chances of getting them. Think of a publisher like how you might think of a potential lover.

Let’s say you’ve had enough of the single life and you’re determined to change things around. One of the first things you might decide is that your usual tee-shirt and sweats wardrobe isn’t doing anything for you and yes, you could definitely stand to lose a pound or two, firm up those pecs and abdominals. You break out the credit card, buy an exercise DVD or two and some weights. After six months or a year, you’ve done it, you’ve reached your goal weight and it’s time to break out the credit card again for some hot duds. You are fit, you are fine, and you are ready to get yourself some!

But wait, you’re asking, is this some kind of Denise Austin pep talk? How does this relate to writing? Well, think about it, silly. You don’t just dash off a manuscript without revising and revising, do you? Do you? No, you don’t. If you want to attract a man, you’ve got to look like you want to – you’ve got to take care of yourself and, to use my grandmother’s phrase, put your best foot forward.

If you want to attract a publisher, it’s the same thing. You want a publisher to know that you care about writing, that you’ve crossed the t’s and know how to use proper grammar. That mean’s revising and revising and accepting useful critiques. A word of caution here – making yourself attractive to a man doesn’t or shouldn’t mean changing who you are. If you hate sky diving, don’t pretend you love it just to please him. In the same way, listen to your critique partners but keep in mind what is true to your story and to your voice and don’t change those things because you’ll be changing a story only you could tell into one your critique group would tell.

Okay, so you’re dressed in the latest designer fashion and you’re ready to paint the town red and collect some phone numbers while you’re at it. Now you’ve got to identify which nightclubs will give you the most bang for your money. Again, this is where being true to yourself comes in again. Target the kinds of clubs that play the music you like and the ones that attract the age group you’re looking for. In other words, you might like jazz but if the club you go to caters for college students and you’re in your mid-forties, you’re probably wasting your time.

Similarly, don’t send your dark paranormal romance off to a publishing house that explicitly states they don’t do paranormals or they don’t do romance. Check out each publishing house’s guidelines before submitting. If a house doesn’t do inspirationals, don’t send yours there. If they tell you they are closed for submissions, try other houses. If they only accept from agents and you don’t have one, skip them.

More to come. Keep tuned! Oh, and while you're at it, check me out on My Space - http://www.myspace.com/tulaneal

sexual tension

2010-04-03T06:41:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a new novella at the moment and struggling with character development, pace, and all those good things. It's set in the ancient world, in and around the Mediterranean and researching life at that time was great. (I love the Eyewitness books for their great pictures and good overview of different time periods.)

But beyond the pace and the plot, what I am really trying to work on is improving how my characters come across and how the tension between them builds. Sexual tension in romances is crucial to how succesful the story is - it can't be too rushed, that is the number one thing to remember.

So in my novella hero and heroine meet in a crisis situation but they take notice of each other - nothing big, no long passages on how either of them look. It is a crisis situation after all but one or two sentences where they take note of something special about each other sets the tone or the foundation. From that initial meeting the chemistry between them builds and once they're out of the crisis and in a more relaxed setting they can begin to get to know each other better and savor the mounting feelings between them.

And them savoring those feelings is key - I've read a few stories where either the heroine is attracted to the hero but you don't really know why because the writer hasn't taken any time to explore the attraction beyond noting his bulging biceps or his piercing eyes or something. No, there has to be more than that. A lot more, at least for me. I like to have the heroine taking note of the hero's sense of humour, the way his veins cord his arms, how he fills out his trousers, how her touch affects him, etc., etc..

I'm baaack!

2009-10-09T07:26:00.001-07:00

Geez! Did anyone even miss me?

Well, never mind. I've had a lot going on in my life recently but things are settling a bit so I'm back. I've even got my page going at Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002BM9H22 Check it out! It's not completely up and running yet but in the next week or so it should be.

That's all for now. I'll keep it short and simple but I am definitely back and will let you know some of the great things I'm working on which should hopefully see the light of day, publishers' willing, of course, next year!

IWOFA contest on now!

2008-12-18T05:01:00.000-08:00

Where would authors be without readers? The holiday season being one of fun,
friends, family and being thankful for what we have, IWOFA (Infinite Worlds
of Fantasy Authors) is giving something back to the readers we love!

Join us from Dec 15th through Dec 31st for the IWOFA Holiday
Contest,
one of four yearly contests IWOFA will be holding. Sponsored by 73 of the
more than 300 IWOFA authors, the scavenger hunt is split into three
sections, to appeal to the tastes of all spec fic/paranormal readers. Sweet
Cocoa is for straight genre, sweet romance and YA books. Spiced Cider is for
traditional to sensual cross-genre romance books. Hot Toddy is for erotic
romance and erotica cross-genre books. Entrants can enter only their
favorites or for all three. The choice is up to you.

The prizes are as varied as the styles of the sponsoring authors. From
t-shirts and bath items through Celtic goodies, stuffed animals, jewelry,
and a fluted ivory vase, that's just the tip of the iceberg. The authors are
offering a sum total of 89 books valued at more than $600, four gift
certificates, not to mention the grand prize of three $100 gift
certificates.

Rules for entry can be found at this
link!
Good luck and happy holidays from the authors of IWOFA.

The Mermaid's Mission - Available Now!

2008-11-19T06:26:00.000-08:00

Princess Antalya, First Daughter of the Nereid King Tushar, is sent as a Gift Prize to Gregory Landau, the owner of a private Caribbean island whose development threatens her undersea home. She needs Gregory to stop construction if she is to save her people, and she will do anything he asks, but Gregory has never met a Nereid before and is deeply suspicious of her. Can he overcome his doubts and act on the attraction he feels for the mysterious woman? Owning an island resort has been Gregory's dream for most of his life but Antalya awakens feelings in him that he's never known before. Can he hold on to his dreams and still have his mermaid princess, too?

The Mermaid's Mission is available now from New Concepts Publishing. Click here for more info -
http://www.newconceptspublishing.com/mermaidsmission.htm

More Time Management

2008-09-16T10:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, so today I’m going back to time management for writers. Previously, I gave you my two best tips – learn to say ‘no’ and do a little something every day. Today I’ll give you some other tips that work for me.

One. Draw up a schedule for your manuscripts. Every six months I make two tables. On the left side of one I write down the names of the manuscripts I’m working on or which I hope to start and then under the headings of First Draft, Second Draft, Third Draft, Critique Group, I write my proposed dates. As an example, let’s say I’m working on a novella - Neptune’s Treasure Box – I might want the finish the fist draft by 30th October, the Second Draft by 1st December, the Third Draft by 30th January, and get it to my Critique Group by 15th February.

My second table will have the names of manuscripts that have been critiqued and amended as per any suggestions I felt were warranted and then the headings of the different publishing houses I want to send them to. Under each heading I’ll put the date I received any correspondence from the houses and the outcome. The schedules help to keep me focused and to know where I need to be with any particular manuscript. Do my schedules get screwed up? Sure, they do. One of my children gets sick, I have to pinch-hit for a co-worker, relatives drop in from out of town and, despite points one and two above, I have to revise the schedules. That’s life. It’s like an exercise program – because I can’t go running for a week or two doesn’t mean I give up and stop altogether – it means I just have to work a bit harder when I come back to it.

Two. Buy an Alpha Smart. I’d been reading about these great little machines on yahoo groups for a long time before I gave in and bought one and what a difference it made! I went away on a business trip that required me to spend a long time in airports and by the time I got back home I was about halfway through the manuscript I’d begun when I left. The Alpha Smart is just a word processor – it doesn’t have the internet and it doesn’t allow you to see more than a few line of script at a time so you’re not constantly double-guessing yourself so it’s just you and your writing. Now I’m not a pantser – I outline everything before I write – and, if the work requires it, I do ton loads of research so by the time I whip out the Alphie, the story is pretty much there in my head. I hear from other writers, however, that Alphie is just as super for pantsers – they can do that whole stream of narrative thing without worrying about whether it’s really coming together on the page. The best thing about the Alphie is it runs on three AA batteries which last and last so you can use it anywhere – even during a blackout.

Yay! Sleep is Out!

2008-09-08T05:48:00.000-07:00

My new novella, The Vampire Oracle: Sleep, is out now from Cobblestone Press. I had a lot of fun writing the story of a New Orleans vampire, captured and taken to Haiti in the 1800s to serve a witch doctor's need for power. Gabrielle and the hero Kai are two of my favorite characters ever. Kai is an ambitious agent with an organization dedicated to paranormals. When he finds out about Gabrielle, the first thing he thinks about is how rescuing her can propel his rise in the organization. But the search for Gabrielle turns into more, much more than he could have foreseen and changes his life forever. The following is an excerpt - the witch doctor has been captured by the organization but Gabrielle has fled from her rescuers.

“I can tell you where she is now, but if you’re down there and she breaks and runs we’ll be out of radio contact, and I won’t be able to help you,” Ivor broke in. “You’ll be on your own.”

“I’ll stay,” Kai said. “But, by myself. Nobody else.”

“What?” Devlin looked at him as if he was crazy.

“Why, Kai?” Ivor asked. “Devlin and his men are experienced in these situations.”

“Yes, but I know her.” Kai was desperate to make them understand. He had to do it alone. “I discovered her and I…I can’t explain it, but I know her.” He couldn’t tell them about the dreams. “I can do it. I can find her.”

“Devlin?” Ivor deferred to the commando’s judgment.

“We’ve captured Vixama, and the zombies who haven’t been eliminated are neutralized so there’s no danger on that front.” Devlin rubbed his chin. “As for the vampire, clearly, she is fearful of us. I think it might be a good idea to let him try on his own. One man is less threatening than several. She might respond better to him.”

“All right, then,” Ivor said, shouting to be heard over the noise of the helicopter’s descent. “That’s it, Kai. We’ll give you twenty-four hours, and then we’ll be back.”

“Thank you.” Kai shook Devlin’s hand, already impatient for them to be off.

“She’s cowering in a cell about twenty feet north from where you found her,” Ivor said as the helicopter rose back into the air. “Be careful, Kai. You’ve seen what she did to Jamal. Be very careful. Make no sudden movements. Avoid contact. Her long captivity could well have turned her mind. You don’t really know what you’re dealing with here. It may be fear or it may be worse.”

“She’s Gabrielle,” Kai replied, plunging back into the dark, chilliness of the citadel. “She was once a beautiful woman, who men desired and women envied.” He said the words aloud, as if repeating a mantra. “Jewels shone in her hair and on her fingers. She wore silks and satins from fabulous lands and ate only the choicest of meats.” Kai sensed Ivor’s worried puzzlement, but the other man remained quiet until a burst of static and then dead silence indicated he’d lost radio contact. “She was as beautiful and mysterious as a dark tropical moth. Her lips were designed for lovers’ kisses, her glances thrilled men’s hearts and stirred their longing.” It wasn’t the Song of Solomon, but it was the best he could do as he descended into the dungeon to look for the woman whose face and body had haunted his nights ever since he’d found out about her.

Time Management

2008-09-01T10:18:00.000-07:00

One of the questions that writers are often asked is ‘how do we manage our time?’ Sometimes my answer is “I don’t; it manages me.” I mean, really, that’s how it feels. I’m a parent, I’m involved in neighborhood activities, I have several hobbies, oh, and, of course, I also have a day job. Meeting all the obligations that those and other claims on my time demand isn’t easy. But writing is what I love. It’s what I always wanted to do from the time I was a child so how do I balance everything?
One. I don’t say ‘yes’ to everything. Some parents wanted me to run for head of the PTA last year and it was something I think I could really have been good at but I knew my writing would have suffered so I had to say ‘no.’ I continue to help out on class trips and I drop in by the school once a month to back up the teachers but I cannot do more. Similarly, some friends wanted to go on a trip this year but I had to say ‘no’ – I would have loved to really, but I needed my vacation time to finish off some manuscripts. Is it easy to say ‘no’ to friends and family, or even to strangers? No, of course it’s not but I’ve got to do it if my writing is going to get the attention it deserves – if I want to finish that manuscript I’ve been working on since Methuselah was a child, if I want to attend writing workshops to improve my craft, if I want to network with other writers and learn all I can about this glorious business.
Two. Every day, I devote time to working on a manuscript. I might only write a page, I might only review an outline but I have to give my Muse that kind of attention or risk her going off in a sulk and refusing to respond when I finally make time for her. It’s not always convenient, sometimes it means that I have to ignore a house that looks as if the Tasmanian Devil swept through, but I have to get it done. Shut the door on your kids and on your man, don’t answer the phone or the door, skip the after-work social. Don’t become a complete hermit, that won’t help your Muse either, but weigh every social engagement to keep your balance. If you went out shopping with your best friend last week, surely she’ll understand if you can’t do lunch this week. And don’t feel you have to use all the time you save on your writing, sometimes sitting on a park bench just watching the pigeons can be as useful to your unconscious as diving into a research book.
I’ll continue these tips in my next entry so stay tuned.

The Scoop on Epublishing!

2008-07-23T05:49:00.000-07:00

Now that I've got a few etitles under my virtual belt, I have a few tips to share with those of you who might be considering going this route. (Of course, most of this advice also holds true for print publishers as well.)

1. Do your research. As with regular print publishers, it's important to know what the particular company is looking for and what they don't accept. Most epublishers will publish erotica for instance but only a few will accept 'sweet' or tame stories with no explicit sex. Checking out the publishers website and being on the alert for special publishing calls will ensure that you submit what the particular editors want. (Special publishing calls often have deadlines so you'll want to be quick off the mark!)

2. Do more research. Not all epublishers are created equal. Some rival small print publishers in their output and sales while one or two have very limited sales and output. In the same way, some publishers have a better reputation for dealing with both their clients and their authors than others. Google the publisher's name, troll publishing blogs, get to know the good and the bad points of any publisher you want to submit to so you can make sure you are making the right choice for you and what you want. (Some epublishers will also put out print versions of books so if that's something you'd like, get to know what the criteria are for choosing which books go to print.)

3. Be prepared to spend time on the web promoting your book and promoting yourself. This includes setting up a website or at least a blog, visiting the blogs of other writers, contributing to your publisher's blog, doing online interviews, getting yourself and your book/s listed on as many writing sites as possible, joining yahoo groups, writing articles, and participating in online discussions. Doing all of this won't guarantee that your books will be bestsellers but it sure will improve your name recognition.

4. If a publisher wants an exclusive look at your story, give it to them but put a deadline on it (a month on a full should be okay). It's my experience that epublishers generally get back to you pretty quickly and you don't want to start hemming and hawing, holding out for another publisher to get back to you, with an offer on the table. Not because the first publisher will lose interest but because there's no point in starting off any relationship like that. The lesson here probably is that you should start with your most preferred publisher and work your way down the list.

5. Stick to your editing guidelines. If the publisher gives you edits and wants them back by a certain time, either do it or let them know why you may have a trouble with the date. They're not ogres, they'll understand if you have some commitments that might make it impossible but you do need to give them some notice. It's the professional thing to do.

Amira Press Release

2008-06-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! Forty-six Days in the Caribbean: A Girl's Guide to Sun, Sand, and Sex is out now from Amira Press! This is my latest release and I'm very excited!!! Basically, it's a sexy take on your regular travel guide so if you've been thinking of a trip to the Caribbean - this is the book for you!

Here's the blurb -

Secret blogger, SexGirl is young, hot and sexy! When she’s assigned to do an in-depth magazine article about a special promotion organized by a Caribbean airline in conjunction with several hotels around the region, SexGirl sees an opportunity to combine two of the top blog genres on the Internet – sex and travel. For forty-six days, she blogs about sex with the men she meets on islands as diverse as Jamaica and St. us while dishing information about the hotels she stays in, the historical and other sites she sees, Caribbean recipes, island aphrodisiacs, and much more.

And here's an excerpt -

"What’s playing on my iPod? “It’s a Punky Reggae Party” by Bob Marley.

My jackrabbit. Check. Sun block lotion. Check. A hundred Elexa ribbed condoms. Check. Three swimsuits. Check. Two dozen warming condoms. Check. That’s right, y’all, I’ve got my first assignment, and it’s a doozy. Forty-six days in the sunny Caribbean! All thanks to the Caribbean Tourism Association and one of the regional airlines, Caribbean Airways. They’ve teamed up with hotels from Jamaica to Barbados to offer a really great island-hopping package. And they want travel mags, like my own dear place of employment, to come on down and check it out! The other writers here are already up to their necks in assignments, so I’m the lucky one who gets to go. Yay! It’ll almost be like going home since my mother is from the beautiful island of Antigua. I spent a couple summers there when I was knee-high to a grasshopper, as Gran used to say, but I haven’t been back in ages. Thank goodness I did like the boss said and got my new passport ready. The old one would have expired next week. Eeek!

More than ten islands in forty-six days! It’s gonna be hectic. B., my coworker, says the local tourist boards will frog-march me from one attraction to the other, but I definitely aim to keep up with this blog.

I mean we’ve got our travel blogs, and we’ve got our sex blogs, big shout-out to my pal, Bacchus over there at Eros, but SexGirl is gonna be the first to combine two of the hottest blog genres on the Net. How cool is that? I’m getting wet just thinking about it. You guys know how much I like a little bit of public sex, a little bit of sex with strangers, okay, a lot of that! A little bit of the train thing, a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, and now, ta-da!— I’ll get to do all those things on a different island every week and blog about it. Don’t hate me, please. I can’t help being lucky! Anyway, I promise I’ll share everything with you."

Good Reviews for The Gladiator's Woman

2008-05-27T05:41:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't blogged in a while but I've been really busy at work and I've also taken on some freelance writing work - who knew it would be such a time-suck?!

Anyway, below are a couple of reviews that have come in for The Gladiator's Woman, my short story that came out from Phaze a couple months or so ago.

"Tula Neal creates a brief but sensual story of violence and love. The characters are easy to envision and are well developed for such a short tale." Nicole, Manic Readers. To read the whole thing, click on the link.
(http://manicreaders.com/index.cfm?disp=reviews&bookid=1215)

"This was a short sexy read that was fun at the same time. Scipio is attracted to Collina from the first time he sees her. Collina’s attraction starts soon after and before long the lovers are together as often as possible. Collina is filled with trepidation when she finds out that Scipio is a tiro, or a rookie, and has never fought in the arena before. Will his first match be his last? There is also the decision to be made whether or not they will follow Spartacus into rebellion." Night Owl Romance (http://www.nightowlromance.com/nightowlromance/reviews/Review.asp?ReviewId=1550)

Toussaint L'Overture

2008-05-08T07:17:00.000-07:00

Gabrielle, the heroine in my upcoming Cobblestone Press novella, Sleep, was brought to Haiti a few years after the death of Toussaint L’Ouverture but he’s such a fascinating man I thought I’d tell you a little bit about him.

Born a slave, Toussaint was more than forty-five years old when he joined the revolution of the Haitian slaves who wanted freedom from their French overlords. At first, Toussaint only attended to the medical needs of the troops but he was an excellent horseman and a natural leader who soon led his own regiment. By 1797 he was in charge of an army of more than 20,000 men. With the help of arms and supplies from his American neighbours, he fought off the British and Spanish troops which had invaded St. Domingue as Haiti was then known. He then went on to crush the coloureds (the mulattos) who’d wanted to divided St. Domingue and establish their own republic in the south.

In two years, he had defeated all his enemies and was recognized as the governor-general of St. Domingue. He encouraged the former slaves to go back to work in the fields in exchange for a share of the profits and persuaded some of the planters to return. He later invaded and conquered the Spanish side of the island, Santo Domingo, but Napoleon Bonaparte was now in power in France and he wanted France back.

In 1803, Napoleon sent his troops in. Two of Toussaint’s black generals, Dessalines and Christophe, capitulated. Betrayed by the men he’d trusted the most, Toussaint also decided to enter into negotiations. He agreed to give up his leadership but the French knew they couldn’t allow him to remain on Haiti, not if they wanted to re-introduce slavery. The French general lured Toussaint to his camp, arrested him and deported him to France where he was imprisoned in the icy mountains near the Swiss border. He died there that same year.

Some of my favorite blogs!

2008-05-01T08:33:00.000-07:00

Thought you might be interested in taking a peek at some of my fave blogs!

http://www.romancingtheblog.com/blog/ - the romance blog for all seasons, writers and readers!

http://phazeromance.blogspot.com/ - the blog to go to find out more about the erotic e-publisher Phaze.

http://pubrants.blogspot.com/ - Agent Kristin Nelson blogs about the publishing industry.

http://crimesistahs.blogspot.com/ - home to some of the best crime writers!

http://vampireoracle.blogspot.com/ - where the writers for Cobblestone Press's upcoming vampire series hang out.

http://dianabold.blogspot.com/ - I just love, love, love those sexy men of the week!

New design!

2008-04-24T06:15:00.000-07:00

Yay! Yay! Yay! I got a new design! Don't you love it?! It was done by the wonderful Luna Stone Designs. Check them out here - http://lunastonedesigns.com/.

It's a whole new attitude, baby!

Happy Earth Day!

2008-04-22T06:39:00.001-07:00

Happy Earth Day!

If you've ever written about wolves or even werewolves, you should check this out. The following is the text of a news article by Associated Press writer Matthew Brown and it's about the legal killing of wolves in the Northern Rockies.

"Feds loosen wolf rules
BILLINGS, Mont. -- A new federal rule would allow state game agencies to kill endangered gray wolves that prey on wildlife in the Northern Rockies.

An estimated 1,545 wolves in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana are scheduled to come off the endangered species list in coming weeks, which would allow public hunting of the predators for the first time in decades.

The rule released Thursday is a separate action that would give the three states more latitude to kill wolves even if their removal from the endangered list is delayed. It was part of a deal struck with the state of Wyoming to proceed with delisting of wolves in the three states.

Opposition to the rule, which could go into effect in late February, came within hours of Thursday's announcement. Environmental and animal rights groups characterized the federal proposal as cover for states eager to kill as many wolves as possible.

An attorney for the legal group Earthjustice, in Bozeman, Mont., pledged to file a court challenge as soon as the rule is published in the Federal Register next week.

The rule would empower state wildlife agents to kill packs of wolves if they can prove the animals are having a "major impact" on big game herds such as elk, deer or moose.

It also would allow hunting guides and others to kill wolves caught harassing dogs or stock animals on public land. Previously, only cattle or sheep ranchers whose animals were being harassed could legally shoot the predators."

If you want to know more about what you can do to stop this abomination, go here -
http://www.earthjustice.org/. According to Earthjustice - ten wolves have already been killed since the end of March.

Hear!

2008-04-17T07:16:00.000-07:00

I’ve been taking a look at the senses and so far I’ve covered touch and smell. Today it’s hearing. At first you might think that this is one sense that doesn’t require much attention when writing erotic romance or any kind of story for that matter but think again. Have you ever been introduced to a handsome man with a reedy voice? Or to a beautiful woman who sounded as if she were talking through a mouthful of gravel? What about the other way around?

I know a man who has the most gorgeous voice – deep and melodious – he wouldn’t even need to talk sex for you get off on the sound of his voice. I first met him over the phone when I was setting up a regional meeting. Months later, still unable to get his voice off my mind, I made a point of looking for him during the same meeting. Well, he didn’t look at all like what I’d expected. I’d kinda imagined Denzil but he looked more like Martin Lawrence. We talked and I liked him as a person but that was it. I was very disappointed but there you go, that’s the power of hearing to fire your imagination.

Use it in your stories – does the hero’s voice sound like rum on the rocks or does it remind the heroine of nails being scraped across a blackboard? Describe it. Does she have a low, sexy voice or is her voice high-pitched? Does she make noise during lovemaking or is she silent? How does this make the hero feel? What is her reaction to his voice? Does he whisper or murmur in her ear?

Think also about the connotations attached to voices – a woman with a high-pitched whiny voice isn’t very believable as a femme fatale. Similarly, a hero who saves a child from a burning building and makes the heroine’s heart go bumpety-bump will rarely have a thin, reedy voice.

Collina, a healer of her time

2008-04-14T07:09:00.000-07:00

In The Gladiator’s Woman, Collina is hired on as a healer at a gladiator school which is where she meets Scipio, her handsome gladiator. Medicine was one of the few professions open to women.

The ancient Romans had a veritable arsenal of herbal and other weapons against illness and disease. A few may have worked but countless others were probably no better than placebos which worked because people believed they worked and not because of any particular inherent value. Some of these so-called remedies included animal dung, human fat, and urine. Clearly the potion that Collina offers the gladiators could have been worse!

After the games, the gladiators’ injuries would have been bandaged after being salved with wine, vinegar, pitch or turpentine, all of which were valued for their infection-fighting abilities.

Collina is half-Roman and half-Aethiopian (most blacks were called Aethiops back then) but many healers were actually Greek. It was really the ancient Greeks who improved the state of medicine in Rome by cutting out many of the old superstitions and quack remedies. In gratitude, Julius Caesar offered Roman citizenship to all foreign-born doctors. Asclepiades was the first of the Greeks to gain fame for his ability to heal. He emphasized a good diet, fresh air, exercise, regular baths and massage – advice that is as appropriate now as it was then!

Galen, perhaps the most famous of Greek doctors, learnt his trade attending to gladiators!

A Short-Short for you

2008-04-10T07:13:00.000-07:00

Izo stretched voluptuously under the firm hands of the masseuse. As the dark-skinned woman’s hands circled her breasts, Izo’s nipples tightened. She squeezed and re-squeezed the muscles of her inner thighs, her eyes closed, giving herself up to the melting pleasure. The woman’s hands went lower and lower, circling, stroking. Izo moaned and opened her legs, an invitation. Would the woman be pleased with her willingness? But she ignored her and mumbled something in her harsh, native language as she went on to massage Izo’s legs, her feet. When she was finished she bathed Izo again.

Izo sighed as the woman poured warm water from the brass jar over her head and then dried her off. It was months since Izo had been captured at the village well and brought to this place, with its high walls, lush gardens and soft, scented women. She had been poked and prodded, made to learn how to pluck the strings of an instrument she’d never seen before, taught to dance, taught to speak their common tongue. In all that time, no-one had spoken a kind word to her or looked at her with anything except detached interest. But today was special, the bath and the massage made that clear.

The woman opened the door of the hamman. Someone outside handed her a silk robe the deep blue color of a peacock’s feather. Izo shrugged it on, marveling at the softness of the cloth. Beaded, matching slippers were passed in next and fit her feet exactly.

The woman motioned her to follow and Izo hurried to catch up as she turned down first one corridor and then another. Izo thought she knew where she was going but it was only when she saw the guards in their white robes, their daggers hanging at their hips, that she became sure. She was in the sultan’s quarters. He had called for her. She’d suspected she’d caught the eye of his Chief Eunuch last week when he’d seen her in the pool and here was the confirmation. The guards opened the huge, double-doors and the woman pushed her inside.

To be continued…

E-publishers, big and small

2008-04-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

Interested in getting your story in front of avid readers and potential fans? This short list of epublishers can help you do it. (Make sure you check out their submissions guidelines thoroughly before sending anything in.)

http://www.cobblestone-press.com/ - their covers just keep getting better and better and I'm truly not saying that because my novella, Sleep, will be published with them in September as part of their Vampire Oracle series.

http://www.phaze.com/ - one of the leading publishers of erotica.

http://www.firedrakesweyr.com/ - new on the block which means they're hungry for stories and authors.

http://www.samhainpublishing.com/ - one of the powerhouses in the epublishing world.

http://www.amirapress.com/ - an up and coming epublisher. (My novel, Forty-Six Days in the Caribbean, a hip guide for those who love to experience the delights of sex travel will be out from them in September.)

http://www.thewildrosepress.com/ - also up and coming.

http://www.ellorascave.com/ - the mack-daddy of the epublishing world.

The Vampire Oracle: Sleep

2008-03-25T07:15:00.000-07:00

Not sure if I’ve blogged at length about it yet but my novella for Cobblestone Press’ Vampire Oracle series will be out in September. Yippeee!

Though it’s told from the viewpoint of the hero, it’s basically the story of this vampire woman who’s captured in New Orleans and brought to Haiti in the early 1800s to serve a houngan or witch doctor. The hero finds out about her almost two centuries later and sets out to free her even as the houngan’s powers grow.

I loved writing this story! I’ve always been fascinated by vodun, the Haitian religion, and this was my first chance to use some of what I know in a story.

To find out more about the other stories in The Vampire Oracle, visit our blog – http://vampireoracle.blogspot.com/

Fetishes!

2008-03-25T07:12:00.000-07:00

Many publishers of erotica and erotic romance such as Cobblestone Press, Amira Press and others don’t accept stories that include certain kinds of fetish sex (and you should always check guidelines before submitting) but there are certain fetishes that are more common than we might think. Today I’ll mention three.

1.) Golden showers. Some people like being urinated on or urinating on others.

2.) Rubber. Rubber fetishists get turned on by the look and feel of rubber and will wear latex underwear or even sleep on rubber sheets.

3.) Necrophilia. They don’t just see dead people, they like to fuck ‘em as well.

A Gladiator's World

2008-03-20T06:29:00.002-07:00

I love history and will use the slightest pretext to dig into my historical research. For The Gladiator's Woman, I delved into all my books on ancient Roman history, visited the library for more books, and surfed the Internet for hours at a time. What all that means is that I became quite well-acquainted with the world of Roman gladiators and with the various terms used to describe aspects of that world. The review at Literary Nymphs reminded me that not everyone is as familiar with the terms I used so today I'm going to talk a little bit about Scipio and what it meant to be a Roman gladiator.

When Collina meets Scipio he is a tiro, a rookie. He's never fought a gladiatorial combat before and he's just learning the ropes. He's been brought to the ludus, the gladiator school by Brutus, the lanista, the trainer who also happens to be the owner. Big, powerful gladiator schools would usually have an owner who was quite separate from the lanista or trainer but Scipio's ludus is a small one where it was common for the owner to double as the trainer.

Scipio goes on to fight in the retiarii style. The retiarus was the least well-armed of the gladiator styles - he didn't wear a helmet and he had only an arm guard to protect him but his lack of armour meant he was lighter on his feet. He also fought with a trident which gave him a long reach and he held a net he could cast over his opponent.

Spartacus, yes, that one, who fights Scipio used the secutor style (discovered this in my research) . Secutors were heavily armed - they wore helmets, a leg guard, and carried a small shield.

Other gladiator styles which I didn't go into in my story were the murmillo who would go into combat with a long, oblong shield, and the thraex or Thracian who carried a much smaller shield and a curved sword.

Gladiators and their lanistas were the social untouchables of the Roman world but, for all that, they could be quite rich and some gladiators were virtual sex objects - lusted after by the wives and daughters of senators and emperors.

Have a great Easter!

Touch!

2008-03-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

I promised I'd write about the five senses and now I'm way behind after doing "Smell" months ago.

So the sense I'm going to talk about today is touch. Touch is crucial to good erotica - you could probably write a really great sexy story and have the hero or heroine unable to smell or taste or see but they've got to have the sense of touch.

First - there are all kinds of touches - feather-light touches, hard touches, stroking touches, etc.. Practice some on yourself or your significant other and pay attention to your reaction. What turns you on? What doesn't? Exactly how does the sensation feel?

Second - rubbing someone's elbow won't garner you the same reaction as tracing light circles around their nipples. If you're writing a love scene for your characters, be aware of the kind of touches they're using and where. Know your characters likes and dislikes. One heroine might like having her clit lightly fingered while another prefers firmer pressure. One hero might go for having his backside lightly scratched during loveplay while another prefers his heroine to pay attention to his balls.

Three - anywhere on someone's body can be an erogenous zone for them. By focusing on the sense of touch you can avoid cookie-cutter sex and have your characters get turned on by touches few of us think of. Having your hero lightly stroke the heroine's inner arm can signal his interest in her and how she reacts to his touch clues him in to whether or not she's feeling him (pun intended)!

The next time you're reading a good love scene, check out how the author uses the sense of touch (and the other senses too) and try to incorporate some of what you've learned in your stories too. It will deepen your writing skills and make for a great one-handed read!

A review for The Gladiator's Woman

2008-03-11T06:05:00.000-07:00

"The Gladiator's Woman is a sweet and sensual read!" - Literary Nymphs Reviewers!

My first review! I'm excited! Well I wasn't so much at first when it seemed that I only got a rating of 2.5 out of 5 but apparently the site coordinator made a mistake. It's 3.5! Yay!

Go here - http://literarynymphsreviewsonly.blogspot.com/ - to read the entire review from Scandalous Minx! (You'll have to scroll down but I promise I'm there.)

Hooray for writing women!

2008-03-06T06:06:00.000-08:00

International Women's Day (http://www.internationalwomensday.com/) is coming up Saturday, 8th March and I think now's a good time to big up all women writers and all the publishers who bring their creativity to us. Let's express our recognition and appreciation for the freedom we have to write what we want. It's a freedom that shouldn't be taken lightly as the story below illustrates so take a moment out from your day on Saturday to honour your favorite woman writer!

India in dilemma over exiled Muslim woman writer
Mon Nov 26, 2007 10:36am GMT

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An exiled Bangladeshi Muslim woman writer threatened by radical Islamists has become a victim of political ping-pong in India, bundled from one city to another in a controversy critics say has shamed the secular state.
Authorities rushed award-winning Taslima Nasreen, who criticises the use of religion as an oppressive force, from her home in Kolkata last week after protests against her by Muslim groups led to riots, forcing the army to be called in.
The riots appeared to be the culmination of years of simmering anger at Nasreen. Some radical Muslims hate Nasreen for saying Islam and other religions oppress women and Indian clerics had issued a "death warrant" against her in August.
After the riots, police moved her to a hotel in the western state of Rajasthan and then she was quickly sent to Delhi at the weekend under police protection.
No one seemed to want her.
"Democratic we may be, but liberal we most certainly are not," wrote Karan Thapar in the Hindustan Times, criticising India for failing to defend freedom of expression enough.
The controversy highlights the delicate social faultlines of India, a nation born out of secular ideals 60 years ago but where communal politics still play a huge role.

Available now from Phaze!

2008-02-26T05:14:00.000-08:00

Yay! My short story, The Gladiator's Woman, is available now from Phaze (http://www.phaze.com/index2.html).

Enjoy the excerpt below.

Collina Flavia leaned on the balustrade that ran around the
central courtyard of the gladiator school and watched silently as
the men went through their paces under the fierce guidance of their
trainers.
It was three days since the lanista-Brutus Aemilius had asked
her to be the doctor for his ludus, and she'd been too busy moving
in and purchasing supplies to pay much more than a glancing
attention to the gladiators who might soon require her services. But
the tall Aethiop with skin the color of night, a man of her mother's
own race, had caught her eye. He wore nothing but a loincloth and
she noted how his muscles rippled and bunched as he performed
his maneuvers. After practice, a masseur would attend to the men.
Collina found herself wishing it was her hands that would glide
over the Aethiop's oiled skin, loosening his tired muscles until he
was as pliable as dough. Then, if he had no objection, she would
massage him elsewhere bringing on the hardness she'd banished
from the rest of his body. She'd find out if what they said about tall
men with long hands was true. With luck, he'd feel obliged to
return massage for massage. The thought sent a finger of fire
snaking upwards from between her legs.
In front of her, the Aethiop executed a particularly complex
maneuver and then sank to his knees, chest heaving, exhausted.
Catching sight of her for the first time, he raised his wooden sword
in a mock salute, grinning as if he knew what she'd been thinking.
Collina Flavia nodded primly at him and hurried away. They had
not spoken two words since she'd moved to the ludus-she didn't
even know his name. Still, she couldn't get the gladiator out of her
mind as she sat in her treatment room that afternoon, pounding her
newly purchased supplies into powders and salves and measuring
them into their individual bottles. She must at least find out his
name, she decided. Maybe even strike up a conversation. How
difficult could that be?
In her mind's eye she saw again his naked, finely-built torso,
the muscles twisting in his arms and back, the look of
concentration on his face as he put himself through his moves.
He'd looked like some onyx statue carved by a master and brought
to life by the breath of Jupiter. She had to meet him.
Her opportunity to talk to the Aethiop came earlier than she'd
hoped. That same night, he came to sit beside her at one of the long
kitchen tables where the gladiators and those who worked with
them ate.
"I never saw you watch us train before," he said, bringing a
heaping spoon of meat stew to his mouth.
Collina paused before answering. She wanted to make sure her
voice didn't shake.
"I've been busy getting the treatment room to my liking," she
said, congratulating herself on the smoothness of her delivery.
"Ah, yes. I think if Tiberius hadn't conveniently died, Brutus
would have fired him. He wasn't all that good. I hope you're
better."
Collina decided not to take offence. "I hope so, too," she said
lightly.
"She's certainly easier on the eye," interrupted the squat, blond
gladiator sitting opposite her.
The Aethiop looked her over, his heavy-lidded eyes sweeping
from the top of her head to what he could see of her legs, while
Collina did her best not to look as uncomfortable as she felt.
"Much easier," he agreed, chuckling.

Tula Neal
The Gladiator's Woman, Available Now from Phaze
http://tulaneal.blogspot.com/

Thursday Thirteen

2008-02-07T07:10:00.000-08:00

Thirteen tropical fruits you might not be familiar with -

1. Tamarind - sweet and tart at the same time. (Except for the Phillipine variety which is just sickly sweet!)

2. Star apple (also known as Carambola) - slice it up to cover your plate with stars.

3. Sugar apple - tons of seeds but totally yummy - refrigerate them for a yummy treat.

4. Mango - lots of varieties - all yummy! And, yes, the skin is edible.

5. Soursop - looks odd but makes great drinks and even greater ice cream.

6. Mamee apple - custardy taste.

7. Guinep - mostly seed but that's no reason not to try them.

8. Banana - high in potassium.

9. Guava - makes for great jellies and tarts or you can just enjoy them raw.

10. Jackfruit - if nominations were open, I would definitely campaign for this to be the King of Fruits! For size AND taste!

11. Papaya - high in beta carotene and tastes great chilled, with a splash of lime.

12. Sea grapes - sweet and tart. Can be found on or near many Caribbean beaches.

13. Passion fruit - makes a great drink but I don't know that it'll do anything for your love life - some Caribbean men claims it cuts their nature (makes it hard for them to get an erection).

You can soon learn more about these in my upcoming book from Amira Press - Forty-Six Days in the Caribbean: A Girl's Guide to Sand, Sun and Sex! Isn't that just the hottest title? I'll let you know more about it, maybe even do a giveaway or two as the release date approaches.

Fun condom facts!

2008-02-01T10:07:00.000-08:00

* Charles Goodyear obtained the first patent on a crepe rubber condom in 1844. And our sex lives haven't been the same since!

* Gabriele Fallopio, the Italian anatomist after whom Fallopian tubes are named, claimed to have invented the condom in 1564 in order to prevent syphilis. He may not have known it but condoms of one kind or another were in use around the world long before then!

* The number of condoms estimated to be used every year worldwide hit the 5 billion mark a couple years ago. And continues to climb even as you read this!

* Young Malcolm X, he of "by any means necessary" fame, supplemented his early income as a shoeshine man by selling condoms. Woowee! Malcolm could have sold me one any time!

* In 16th century Europe, condoms were made of linen. A ribbon sewn into the open end allowed for it to be drawn snugly around the man's cock. The ribbon may also have helped add to the woman's pleasure!

Bet you didn't know...

2008-01-25T14:00:00.000-08:00

That in their temples the ancient Greeks used stone dildos to deflower high-born virgins? That’s when the priests weren’t doing it themselves, of course!

Just a quick tip to tide you over the weekend!

Cobblestone Announces Contest

2008-01-11T08:26:00.000-08:00

Wicked LineLength: 5 to 10k Contest : January 2 – 19, 2008 Be wicked for us.

They're looking for short story erotica with a very high level of sexual content within five to ten thousand words. HEA or romantic content not required. First and third person accepted (male or female POV).

First place winner will receive a standard contract, first publication slot for the Wicked Line and $100. Other entries will be considered for publication.

The contest is open to all authors currently unpublished with Cobblestone Press, LLC. They are interested in the following genres: contemporary, historical, paranormal, BDSM, multicultural, science fiction, and fantasy. Absolutely no fan fiction, forced seduction, rape, purple prose, pedophilia, incest, bodily functions, snuff, bestiality, and necrophilia. Submissions should be sent to: submissions@cobblestone-press.com.

Formatting. Use either Times New Roman or Courier New, 12pt. font 2. All paragraphs should be indented (without tabs-preferred). Double Spaced. One inch margins.

Attach the manuscript as an RTF file (no other format will be opened)Include a cover letter in the body of your email, please put WICKED CONTEST in the subject line5=.

On the first page of your manuscript include in the upper left corner the following: Title of Manuscript, Word Count- Calculated by your word processor program, Genre (or Line), Full Name, Pen Name (if applicable), Mailing Address, Phone Number, and Email Address

My new cover!

2008-01-10T08:09:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited about the cover for my Phaze short story, The Gladiator's Woman. The graphic artist, Stella Price, did a fantastic job! To learn more about her, check her out at - http://www.stellaandaudra.com/

The Gladiator's Woman will be out in February so make sure to get a copy!

Story excerpt

2008-01-04T05:09:00.000-08:00

One of my short stories is available free on the Phaze.com. Look for free stories on the menu at left here - http://www.phaze.com/index2.html

The excerpt below gives you a pepper-hot taste!

Noelene folded her arms and waited. People got kidnapped nearly every week in Brazil but she wasn’t afraid.

The houses glowed pink-gold as the sun rose to reclaim the sky. Small gardens in front of each house flaunted blooms in hot, tropical colors. Somewhere in the neighbourhood, a radio played. A woman’s thin voice floated over an insistent drum beat. Noelene was pleased her Portuguese was good enough to follow along.

The song told the story of a happily married woman who fell in love with a beach boy, the same age as her only son. Noelene had never heard it before but she hummed a few bars, experimentally, as if testing her affinity with the adulteress.

She leaned forward until her head rested on the seat in front of her and closed her eyes. Darkness dissolved behind her eyelids. She was not Noelene. She was the woman in the song. Older, her skin looser, her belly marked by pregnancy. She lay on a bed in a light-filled room and heard the boy’s quickened breathing as his smooth, lithe body jerked over hers. She watched his face contort, looked into his eyes, dark with need and a gloating sense of his own power over her.

“Bite me,” she whispered. The boy bent his head to her breast, suckled her nipple, bit down on the hardened flesh.

He was her obsession. The life she lived with her husband and her family became a dream. She came to life only with the boy. When she was not with him she yearned for him with every fiber of her being. When they were together she could not stop touching him, loved to tear his clothes off. He was a pool of clear water into which she dove again and again, rising naked, her hair slicked back, her loins trembling, a raunchy Venus.

Last day of Phaze sale!

2008-01-02T04:58:00.000-08:00

Now through January 2, save 25% on all Phaze paperback romances! Sizzling works by Bridget Midway, Leigh Ellwood, Jade Falconer, Robin Slick, and the Coming Together volumes.

To get the discount, enter OHOHOH in the coupon code box when you check out.

http://www.phaze.com/

All the best for the New Year!

2007-12-28T07:10:00.000-08:00

Hope you're having a wonderful holiday season and wishing you all the best for the New Year!

I won't be blogging again until the week of January 8th so check back with me then!

Words in Motion Conference

2007-12-20T05:51:00.000-08:00

Announcing - WORDS IN MOTION 2008 The International Affaire for Romance Writers & Readers

Theme: Romantic Suspense

January 2nd-6th 2008

Lamplighter Conference Center Main Street Community Forumswww.cobblestone- mainstreet. com Hosted by Cobblestone Press, LLC Free to attend and participate! !!!

Words In Motion (WIM) is an annual online conference developed to offer support, marketing, and networking within the romance and erotic romance industries. Our goal is to provide affordable and convenient opportunities for authors, publishers, and other professional individuals. Authors, Publishers, Agents, and Groups such as RWA chapters, review sites, and writing groups are encouraged to attend and participate in this exciting event. The theme this year is Romantic Suspense and we are currently scheduling special guest speakers, tables for authors, publishers, groups, and agents – agents will be offered private chatroom to set up meeting with authors they meet during the conference. We are also scheduling group chat parties as well.This is going to be the largest online event for the romance industry yet and we hope you will join us to celebrate!

It's absolutely free and the best part? You can show up in your sweats and nobody has to ever know (wink).

To condomize or not to condomize!

2007-12-05T06:52:00.000-08:00

A few days after World AIDS Day and at a time when health experts are reporting that there are a whole lot more new HIV infections than previously thought, it's probably a good time to bring up the topic of condoms.

A lot of writers worry about introducing rubbers into their stories but there’s no hard and fast rule.

Some publishing houses take the view that their books are fantasies and who would fantasize about condoms? So they don’t require it. Who wants to think about sexually transmitted infections when they're getting their groove on?

Other houses, concerned about any messages they may be sending about unsafe sex, require writers to, at least, mention that their characters are using condoms. How the writer chooses to introduce the topic is up to them. It could be a one liner where a character mentions using it or discarding it after sex or it could be something lengthier where putting it on becomes part of the sex play.

So whether you choose to condomize or not really depends on the writer and their particular publishing house. I don’t mention condoms in The Gladiator’s Woman, not because they didn’t have condoms in ancient Rome, they did, but because it being a historical I didn’t feel the pressure to do so. People just weren't as worried about those diseases back then and there was a lot more ignorance about signs and symptoms. In a contemporary, I probably would bring up condoms. In another life, I was an HIV educator and I'd feel I owed it to my readers.

What you do depends on you and on whether the publishing house you're targeting would allow it. If you're unsure, look up the guidelines, read other books they've published, or, just ask the editor.

Smell!

2007-11-21T06:51:00.000-08:00

Whether you’re writing erotic romance or erotica, you’ve got to employ the five senses if you want to paint a picture for your readers, one that will have them gasping along with your protagonists.

One of the most important senses to convey in your work is the sense of smell – if you’re in the heroine’s viewpoint tell us how her lover smells to her or vice versa. His hair, his skin, his balls, his feet – all of these will have a smell. When you’re writing, think about your characters – what would you like to convey about a particular character in your description of the way he or she smells? Someone who smells of vanilla and milk for instance is probably going to be a softer, more gentle and innocent person than one who smells of musk and cardamom. Similarly, in readers’ minds someone who smells of the earth after a rainfall may be a better person than someone who reeks of some cheap cologne.

Scientists tell us that pheromones, our scent markers, can determine if we like or dislike someone. Think about that the next time you’re dreaming up your characters and, if like me, you’re one of those people who do a detailed description of your characters before then be sure to include how they smell too.

Not just philosophy and great architecture!

2007-11-13T06:49:00.000-08:00

The Romans built great bridges, roads and public buildings. Their philosophers are still read and re-read. What is less known is that they were a randy lot who had no problem paying for it!

In pleasure-loving ancient Rome, brothels were perfectly legal. Known as lupanars or whorehouses, some were quite grand with gardens and fountains while others were little more than places to flop down on a mattress and have at it.

Most had paintings on the wall designed for the inspiration of patrons. The variety of positions suggested included woman on top, doggy-style and one requiring some athletic prowess with the man standing and holding on to the woman’s butt while she held herself up off the bed by the arms, her legs draped over the man’s shoulders. Guess they weren’t into vanilla sex!

Ten Kegels a day!

2007-11-05T09:28:00.000-08:00

I’ve read a few erotic romances and my fair share of erotica but I don’t remember reading any where the woman knew about Kegels and practiced them several times a day. Pity because ten Kegels a day may not keep the doctor away but they’ll sure keep those orgasms coming. If you don't know what I'm talking about, keep reading!

To find the right muscles, the next time you’re peeing, try stopping the flow. Those are the muscles you want to strengthen. (As a bonus, it’ll stop those annoying squirts when you laugh too hard!)

The next time you’re sitting at a stop light or standing in a long line, squeeze your Kegels for ten counts. Do ten sets of ten. Then do a quick set of pulses – ten will do to start with but as your muscle gets stronger you can go up to fifty or even a hundred.

You'll notice the heightened sensation when you’re with your guy or enjoying a bout of solitary lovemaking. Just squeeze your muscles and enjoy the thrills!

(One more tip – several online sex shops sell Kegel exercisers you might want to check out.)

Three sexy jobs for your characters

2007-10-31T09:43:00.000-07:00

Are you plotting a new contemporary and having trouble coming up with a hot occupation for your hero or heroine? Below are three you might want to consider.

1.) Car designer. They give a car that look, the one that says to you, "buy me," "buy me." They're usually paid well, they drive hot cars, and they're smart - what's not to love?

3.) Freelance photographer. They travel all over the world on assignment for all kinds of magazines so they are never at a loss for conversation and they always know the best places to go on vacation.

3.) Stunt double. The guys and gals who do a lot of the real work in action-adventure films - they're usually in top shape, good-looking and unafraid of danger.

Hot Reads!

2007-10-25T07:51:00.000-07:00

Really busy this week but if you're interested in some free sexy reads, check these out.

http://www.phaze.com/phazeflare.html

Book Covers

2007-10-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

You know, I was browsing through my bookshelves last night and something struck me - I only have a few books with a couple on the cover. Funny, I not only write romances, I read them too, and that genre is known for its clinch and couple covers. How have I managed to escape them?

It seems I tend to pick up books with neutral covers - no people at all, just maybe a ribbon or a rose or a piece of lace or something like that. A ship or a castle in the distance. If there is someone on the cover, it's most likely a woman and her face is turned away or she's got her back to the reader - like in Kushiel's Chosen, for instance. If it's a man, and this is less likely, he's staring off into the distance.

I don't know what this says about me - maybe that I like some mystery about the book or that I don't like the characters presented to me because I want to imagine them for myself. Hmm, now I think about it, I guess those are my reasons.

What about you? What are your views on couple covers?

Do you write erotica?

2007-10-12T06:53:00.000-07:00

If so, I've got just the tip for you. Burrow Publishing (http://www.burrowpublishing.com/) wants your story! See below for details.

Burrow Publishing is seeking submissions for the hottest and rawest erotica compilation to drop in 2008. Stories should prominently feature men of color (e.g. Brothas, Papis, Caribbean men, etc.) And the various types of men (e.g. Thugz, Bears, etc.) Stories should be fresh, unique, and sex-filled, but also have an engaging storyline and character development. We are open to various writing styles, content, and sub-genres. Only one requirement. You know what turns you on. Unleash what you got and show us your skills. Non-fiction stories will also be considered.

Stories must be between 2,500 and 5,000 words. The deadline for submissions is December 31, 2007. Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for a response to your submissions. Email submissions will not be accepted. However, email inquiries are okay. info@burrowpublishing.com
Please note: Stories that have been previously published in any format (including postings on the Internet) will not be accepted.

If you are interested in submitting a story, write your best story and submit to:
Burrow Publishing, LLC
P.O. Box 7091
Princeton, New Jersey 08743
United States

REQUIRED: Please include your contact information and a brief biography. Your contact information should include your full name, current mailing address, phone number, and an email address. You must be 18 years or older.

Yay!

2007-10-10T06:55:00.000-07:00

Yay! Yay! Yay! I'm doing a wild dance over here. I got the release date for my short story, The Gladiator's Woman. It will be out January 28 from Phaze.com and then I've got an interview set up with an online review site for February 2 so you know I'm just rearing to go!

Hopefully by the time it comes out I'll have figured out more about posting pix and banners and what not to this blog so you'll get to see the cover.

Basically, The Gladiator's Woman is about a healer who joins a ludus (gladiator school) and falls in love with a black gladiator who comes up against Spartacus just before the latter's famous rebellion. I love history and the history of Rome and Egypt in particular so you'll see more from me set in those times. And yes, blacks or Aethiops or Nubians as they were called, were definitely around in ancient Rome. They were soldiers, merchants, scribes, gladiators, slaves, traders and prostitutes among other things. Apparently, Roman men found black women quite alluring!

Cobblestone's Blog Party!

2007-10-03T05:42:00.000-07:00

(excerpted from the Cobblestone Blog)

Monday, October 01, 2007

Octoberfest Blog Party!!

It's October already and you know what that means...yes! It's time for Cobblestone Press' 2nd Annual Octoberfest Celebration.Shifters, vampires, ghosts, and everything in between. Octoberfest is about celebrating all things paranormal and in celebration of their Octoberfest releases the authors of Cobblestone are having a MONTH long Blog Party.You know what happens at parties, right? There are gifts and this party will be no exception. Stop by an author's blog during thier week and comment and you'll automatically be entered to win a copy of their Octoberfest title! Woot! And you'll be able to read excerpts, some that may not be seen anywhere else.So let's get to the good stuff. Here's the schedule. Starting us off with releases this coming Friday, October 5th are Sable Grey, Ericka Scott and Shelli Stevens.So from today October 1st to Friday, October 5th stop by their blogs and leave them a comment. The winners will be announced Friday, October 5th here on the CP Blog and on each authors blog.

Click here - http://sablegreysdragonflies.blogspot.com/

And here - http://www.erickascott.com/

And here - http://shellistevens.blogspot.com/

for your chance to win!

Good luck to all!

The last book I read

2007-09-27T09:13:00.000-07:00

I read about sixty or seventy books a year and I read in all genres - historicals, fantasy, thrillers, mysteries, literary, and, of course, romance. Non-fiction also takes up a significant percentage of the books I read.

If I start a book and I don't think it's very good, I stop and go on to another book. Soem books I get to a certain point and I flip to the back - if I can figure out how the characters got from where they were to where they are at the end of the book, I'm usually not motivated to read it. I guess that means I like surprise endings, and twisty, unpredictable plots.

A few days ago I finished Season of Storms by Susan Kearsley and I absolutely loved it- it's about this aspiring actress who travels to a very special villa in Italy to take on a role written for her namesake a century before. Why is the villa special? It was the home of the playwright, a known libertine, who, late in life, fell in love with the actress for whom he wrote his most famous play. A mystery surrounds the place and danger waits but our heroine finds love and creates a family for herself away from home.

Well-written and well-paced, the book is an example of the kind I'd like to write - though with lots more, ah, smut!

A serious moment here

2007-09-20T07:02:00.000-07:00

Greece is one of those places that seem made for romance, particularly of the erotic variety! All those beaches and ruins! But there is a dark underbelly to sex that many visitors don't even guess at and that certainly doesn't come up in romances set in those fabled isles. Read the following (taken from the Amnesty International website) and then take action - forced sex and the erotic don't go together!

Protect the Rights of Trafficked Women in Greece

Greece has been a transit and destination country for trafficked persons since the early 1990s and has seen a continuous increase in the number of women and girls trafficked and forced into prostitution. The women mainly come from Eastern Europe and Africa. They often believe they are being brought to Greece to make a living but rarely know that they will be forced to work in the sex industry.

Many trafficked women remain unrecognized as such and face detention and deportation on charges such as unlicensed prostitution or immigration offenses. Only a few manage to overcome obstacles to being recognized as "victims of trafficking" by the authorities. Even then, the protection and assistance available to them comes at a price: they must "cooperate with the authorities" by testifying against their suspected traffickers whatever the risk of reprisals. In practice, the protection offered to them is often inadequate.

Trafficking of women and girls into forced prostitution is a human rights abuse and a crime in international and Greek law. The Council of Europe's Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings outlines the measures states must take not only to bring to justice perpetrators of this crime but also to protect and assist its victims. It is not yet in force, however, because it has not been ratified by the required number of states. Greece has signed but not ratified this Convention. Similarly it has signed but not yet ratified the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (the "Palermo Protocol"). Write to the Minister of Justice and ask him to protect the rights of trafficked women in Greece.

To learn more, click here - http://www.amnestyusa.org/index.html

Writing Sexy

2007-09-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you want to write, you've got a story in mind, you've got your characters but the story just isn't coming so what can you do to get the juices flowing?

Here are three tips that tend to work for me -

1.) Put some great music on the stereo - you know, something sexy to help you get your groove on. Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" and Hot Chocolate's "You Sexy Thing" are perfect (can't beat the old school jams) and you should also check out Bob Marley's "Waiting In Vain" and "Kinky Reggae". Sexy songs will get you in a sexy frame of mind and can help your writing flow. Try it.

2.) Read in other genres. That's right - reading a great thriller or a horror can give your muse the kick in the pants she needs. Try a genre you haven't read or go back to an old favorite. Here's a secret - reading poetry helps make my writing more lyrical and gets me thinking about word choices I might not ordinarily use.

3.) Write out the summary of your plot and think on the theme or themes. Doing this kind of prework gets you thinking more deeply about your story and helps you to go from the beginning to the end. This isn't to say you mightn't change a plot line or two along the way but that's okay.

Good luck!

Sleep! From Cobblestone Press!

2007-09-07T09:06:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd tell you a little bit more about my upcoming novella, Sleep, which is going to be part of Cobblestone Press's Vampire Oracle anthology. (Read more about the series here -http://vampireoracle.blogspot.com/)

I check the submissions sites of epublishers periodically but had never gotten up the nerve to submit to any until I saw Cobblestone's call for submissions for this great series. Vampires! The Tarot! I was in!

I hadn't checked Cobblestone in a while and it was one day before the deadline when I did. I remember staring at the cover for Sleep - a woman lying on a bed, her dark hair like a pool of ink around her face. The card signified freedom and movement and I had to include those themes in my story. At first nothing came to me but then I thought ok, what about if somebody the vampire loves is trapped somewhere - could I make a story out of that? I could but how about if it's the vampire who's trapped? Then, who would have the power to trap a vampire? For a long time I've wanted to write a story about voodoo, how could I work that in? What would such an entrapment do to a vampire, to anyone?

And slowly, slowly, the story started to take shape. See the blurb for Sleep below!

When Kai Duncan discovers a cache of old papers he finds a reference to a female vampire from the American South. The woman, a beautiful mulatto, was supposedly ensorcelled by a powerful Haitian houngan in the early nineteenth century and taken away from her New Orleans home. Kai is intrigued and begins to dig into the story. He finds out enough to convince him the abduction really happened and sets out for Haiti to discover what happened to the vampire. His search leads him to the houngan and a violent battle ensues to free the captive vampire. Kai wins but he fears the woman he saved may be beyond his help. And beyond the reach of his love.

Gabrielle has been brought to the edge of madness by her long captivity. The houngan made use of her for his own dark and twisted purposes. Now another man has rescued her but can she trust him? Can she believe in Kai and surrender to the healing power of love?

When did she find the time?

2007-09-03T10:01:00.001-07:00

No one knows for sure how many lovers Catherine II of Russia had but all agree it was more than a few. Serge Saltuikov, a Russian noble, became her first lover when Catherine the Great was just twenty-three. She had already been abandoned by her husband, the Grand Duke Peter, who took twelve years to consummate his marriage vows but who had once planned to divorce Catherine and marry his mistress. Peter went on to become Peter III but he was deposed in 1762 and replaced by Catherine.

Catherine went on to have several more affairs, including with Gregory Orlov who helped her to seize the throne. Gregory Potemkin, another of her lovers who assisted with the coup, went on to become her procurer after his own time in her bed had ended. (That means he identified willing, able and suitable young men who could offer her the pleasure he once had.)

She took her last lover, Plato Subov, at the age of sixty and he remained with her until her death in 1796.

During her reign, Catherine extended Russia's borders by thousands of miles and made the country the dominant force in south-eastern Europe. A great lover of the arts, she did much to support writers and painters. The Hermitage Museum now houses most of her personal collection.

Get your groove on with these aphrodisiacs

2007-08-28T10:48:00.001-07:00

Sex has been around since, well, since Adam and Eve and so have drinks and foods designed to give you that loving feeling. (That's right before there was Viagra there was raw turtle eggs!)

Here are a few well-know aphrodisiacs from the Caribbean. Check 'em out and let me know if they help!

1.) Raw turtle eggs.
2.) Guinness Stoutt mixed with milk.
3.) Goat-head soup.
4.) Pepper sauce.
5.) Cow-cod soup. (soup made from the penis and testicles of a bull)
6.) Peanut porridge.
7.) Seamoss.
8.) Fish-head soup.
9.) Coconut water.
10.) Linseed oil. (not clear whether you drink it or, um, apply it.)
11.) Bois bande. (a tea or liqueur made from the bark of a tree and also called maubi in some islands.)

So there you have it. I can't guarantee that any of the eleven will put the pepper in your sauce but try them when you're writing and who knows what heights of eroticism your stories might reach!

Girl gets guy, then what?

2007-08-23T06:34:00.001-07:00

Romance novels usually end when the hero and heroine finally get together - maybe with a wedding or just with the promise of one. Now the happy couple has to slog through their marriage. If they were hot and heavy for each other before the wedding, will they keep it up after the honeymoon? If they were chaste but full of longing, will they be able to maintain the spice after the novelty of sex wears off? Will lust drown in a sea of familiarity and tedium after fifteen or twenty years? How can you keep your spouse interested?

Hmm, these are worrying questions. I mean, living with someone day in and day out, isn't for the faint of heart. Quirks materialize that you never suspected. Beauty secrets are revealed. Questions of hygiene arise. Suddenly, the happily ever after looks doubtful. Well, never fear, Tula is here to help you keep your lovelight burning long, long into the night! How, you ask. Easily. With some tips and advice to get you and your spouse thinking carnally again.

1. Keep your aura of mystique. Have you ever seen Brad Pitt take a piss? Or Sandra Bullock sitting on the toilet taking a crap? No. And there's a reason for that - we just don't want to know. Take a lesson from them. Now that you're married, there's no reason to leave the door open while you do your business in the bathroom. I can't think of anything more likely to chip away at my lust for a man than seeing him evacuating - you know, what I mean. And that goes for flossing, too!

2. Part of the way we ratchet up sexual tension is by employing anticipation - we do this as writers and we should also do it as halves of a couple. Call your lover and promise him or her a special treat of the physical kind when they come home. Leave a sexy note for them where they can find it. Email your lover an erotic poem. As he's going out the door in the morning put a picture of you in edible underwear in his hand and tell him you're expecting he'll take it off that night. Be creative!

3. Read some sexy stories and poems to each other in the evening. Hot authors to look for are Anais Nin, Zane, Kate Douglas, Kayla Perrin, Saskia Walker, Lyric James, Eileen Wilkes, Nancy Madore and a host of others. Reading about other sexy couples will put you and your lover in the mood and may even give you some new ideas!

4. Titillate your spouse! When you're at a formal function with your partner, let him know you're not wearing any underwear. Expose yourself to your woman while you're driving but don't let her touch you, no matter how much you both want her to. Perform a strip tease.

5. Buy a sex toy and try something new. Here are a couple websites you can check for teh wide range available - http://www.xandria.com/, http://www.tabutoys.com/, http://www.goodvibes.com/.

So, there you have it. I hope these will keep the spark alive. (Oh, and one thing, don't wait until your partner is dead tired to try these out.)

How I got started

2007-08-17T07:02:00.000-07:00

Where do my story ideas come from? That's one of the top questions my friends and others ask me. Sometimes, depending on my mood, I'm tempted to be snarky and say something like "from a story box I bought on eBay." I usually explain, though, that stories can come from anywhere - from a painting, from a song, from a news story, from an overheard conversation. You've just got to be alert and receptive and, most importantly, ready to write down or, in some way, record whatever you heard that caught your attention.

I'll give an example - the story of Spartacus has always intrigued me. A hero who fought against the odds, willing to die for his freedom, who inspired the loyalty of thousands of men who believed in his dream. Whenever I came across something about gladiators, I'd make sure to jot it down and keep it in an ideas file. But the months and years went by and I didn't write anything remotely to do with Spartacus or gladiators.

Then I hit a publishing slump, I'd gotten an agent but she couldn't sell the novels I'd written and I began to doubt my future as a writer. So I decided to just go completely out on a limb and do something totally different from what I'd written before - the result was The Gladiator's Woman which will soon be forthcoming from Phaze.

It's a short erotic story about a woman who falls in love with a gladiator on the eve of Spartacus' rebellion and, for it, I, finally, used some of the information I'd collected over the years. Spartacus appears in the story but he's not the focus. He was the spark. If he and his struggle hadn't fired my imagination so long ago, it's doubtful I'd have ever written The Gladiator's Woman.

An Introduction - Ta Da!

2007-08-16T06:54:00.001-07:00

Hi - I'm Tula Neal, a writer of erotica and erotic romance. This is my first effort at starting a blog but stay tuned - here you'll find excerpts from my stories, info about publishing events, tips to spice up your love life, sex in history, advice on writing hot, and lots, lots more!