Year in Review!

2007 was a very busy year for me professionally!

On January 31, 2007, Anastasia's Style was released in e-book. That EC Quickie Valentine's tale was so much fun to write. It was followed in March by the print release of The Return of Patrick O'Rourke.

Spring came and with it came the e-book release of Three Swords, One Heart--my contribution to the EC Torrid Tarot series.

In June, Tapestry Dreams was released in print. This single volume contained the first two books in the Tapestries series--Christina's Tapestry and Bakra Bride.

July--Summer came and so did the e-book release of Woven Dreams, book 3 in the Tapestries series.

September quickly followed with the print and e-book release of the Ellora's Cavemen: Seasons of Seduction III anthology, which featured my short story "Sunshine for a Vampire." Also released in print that month was Summersville Heat, which contains my EC books Annabelle Lee and Heat Wave, the first two books of the Summersville Secrets series.

October saw the print release of Feral Fixation from EC, which contains my EC Quickie, Drakon's Treasure. On Halloween came my final e-book release for the year--Eternal Brothers, Book 4 of the Dalakis Passion vampire series.

And that was just the releases for the year! In between that and doing edits and promoting my books, and generally having a life, I managed to write a few more. Actually, Eternal Brothers was finished in January 2007, so tecnically I was writing it this year.

Besides that, I wrote Amethyst Moon, a novella which will be out in February; Jackson's Jewel, the next book in the Awakening Desires series; Lily Blossoms, the next Summersville Secret book, Threads of Destiny, book 4 in the Tapestries series, a short story for the 2008 Cavemen anthologies, and another book that I'm still waiting to here back on from my editor. And that's just for Ellora's Cave.

I also wrote The Seduction of Shamus O'Rourke for Samhain Publishing, which will be releasing tomorrow, January 1st! What an exciting way to begin the New Year! I'm looking forward to the year ahead.

Thank you to all of you who read my books. You've helped make my dreams come true.

May 2008 bring you happiness, health, and prosperity!

January Newsletter is now Available

The January issue of the Awakening Desires Newsletter is now available. I put it out a couple days early because I figure we'll all be celebrating or recovering from celebrations on January 1st!

This months newsletter contains all the latest news--and boy is there a lot of it--and contest information, as well as an excerpt from The Seduction of Shamus O'Rourke, which is releasing on January 1st!

There is no interview this month. Instead, a few of your favorite authors stopped by to let us in on their hopes for the coming year.

Hubby is back for 2008 with his popular column--Confessions of a Romance Author's Husband. As always, for more information on any of my books, check out my website .

Contest!

I've got a quick contest running on my website until Monday, December 31st at 2 PM EST.

If you'd like a chance to win a download copy of The Seduction of Shamus O'Rourke, releasing on Janauary 1st from Samhain Publishing, just go to my website and click on the "contests" page for details on how to enter!

Love Romances Nominations!

I'm thrilled to announce that Love Romances and More has nominated two of my books for their 2007 Awards! The announcements are posted over at the Love Romances Cafe and voting starts on January 1st!

My Ellora's Cave book, Eternal Brothers , is nominated for the best Vampire Romance for 2007. Also from Ellora's cave is Ellora's Cavemen: Seasons of Seduction III , which is nominated in the best Erotic Anthology category.

The past two weeks have been incredibly exciting with an Eppie Nomination, two CAPA nominations and now two nominations from Love Romances Cafe. What a wonderful way to bring in 2008 and cap off an incredible year.

The Morning After

Good morning, everyone!

I hope you and your family enjoyed Christmas Day. I had a wonderful day. I love the way that life slows down on December 25th and there is nowhere you have to go and nothing you have to do. I spent a lot of time on the phone talking with my family, cooked a big dinner and ate too much, and curled up with my hubby and watched Scrooge. Does it get any better!

Today, we plan to take in a movie at the local theatre. Later we'll eat leftovers. *g*

The best present of the season is the gift of slowing down and taking a moment to remember what is really important in your life. May this holiday season bring you all health and happiness.

CAPA Nomination

I just found out that I'm nominated, not once, but twice for The Romance Studio Cupid and Psyche Awards (CAPAs).

My Samhain contemporary, The Return of Patrick O’Rourke , has been nominated in the Contemporary Romance Category. The Seasons of Seduction III anthology, which contains my EC story "Sunshine for a Vampire", has been nominated in the Erotic Anthology Category.

What a wonderful early Christmas present.

Congratulations to all the nominees and thank you to The Romance Studio!

Happy Yule!

The Winter Solstice is upon us. It's the shortest day, or longest night depending on how you look at it, of the year.

From this day onward, the light will begin to return slowly, but surely, as we head toward spring.

For now, winter has arrived with all its snowy magesty.

Light a candle, sit back and enjoy. Take a moment to reflect on the season past and the one just beginning.

New Cover!

I'm part of the Jewel series that will be released by Ellora's Cave in 2008. Each month will have books that feature the birthstone for that particular month.

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My novella, Amehyst Moon, will be out sometime in February.

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Check out my new cover!

All in Time By Ciana Stone
Book 1 in The Hussies series.

Sara had searched for answers her entire life — why had she been abandoned as an infant and why did she possess the ability to paint things that foretold the future? What was she supposed to do with her ability? Exactly what was her destiny supposed to be?

Help comes from an unexpected source. A mysterious woman from a time long past offers her the opportunity to find the answers. But to do so, she has to locate and protect a man who is fated to play an important role in mankind's destiny.

Sara never imagined that her task would bring her face to face with a man she'd idolized for years. That their meeting would spark a passion so hot it threatened to consume them. Or that her mission would be one that demanded only one of two outcomes. Succeed and live, or fail and die. Will love be strong enough to save them or will the price of failure be both their lives? The answers will be revealed. All in time.


All In Time by Ciana Stone is the first book in "The Hussies" series and it kicks it off with a bang. Rich description and details enhance this paranormal tale. Morgan is a man with a horrific past who is struggling to make sense of his life. Sara is a woman with a destiny that she has only just begun to understand. The passion between them is immediate and compelling. This is a fast read. You'll want to keep turning pages until your done. I'm looking forward to more books in this fascinating series.

Five Minute Fudge

Christmas baking!

We all have our special treats that we make for the holidays and one of mine is Five Minute Fudge. This is an old recipe from a Carnation cookbook that I've been making since I was a kid.

It's easy and fast, and I thought you might enjoy it.

Place 2/3 cup of Carnation Evaporated Milk and 1 2/3 cups of sugar in a large saucepan. Bring to boil. Boil for five minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Add 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips (semi-sweet dark are my favorite), 1 1/2 cups of white mini marshmallows, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla flavoring. Stir until smooth and then pour into greased 8x8-inch square pan. Cool and cut into squares. Eat and enjoy!

This years batch was made with extra dark chocolate chips. And OMG it was so good I bought more to make another batch. :-)

Primal by Nathalie Gray

Primal By Nathalie Gray

Lycan Warriors, Book Two

Check out Primal by Nathalie Gray

He's the worst of the bad, the deadliest weapon of them all, except to her…then he's the gentlest teddy bear.

Liberty was the first member on the lycanthrope team of soldiers-for-hire. Her specialty is technology. She's seen every member join, some of them to stay, others to leave — permanently. One colleague has always managed to make her lose her legendary cool.

Unlike her, Cupcake hails from a humble background, hasn't a credit to his name and lets people think he's just a mountain of muscle, all brawn and no brain. Liberty knows better and has lusted after the quiet, towering lycan with the serious eyes for years, silently wishing he'd just make his move. But he hasn't so far, even if there are days she swears there's a bit of fire in his pale eyes, a hint of longing in the way he glances at her when he thinks she's not looking.

Who could resist a book where the hero is a take-no-prisoners, mountain of a man with a murky past, named Cupcake? I know I couldn't.

Futuristic, action-adventure at its best! Nathalie Gray creates a future that is frightening and all too real and very raw. Liberty is one kick-ass heroine, who can hold her own against any enemy. Cupcake is a man whose past comes back to haunt him. The result is PRIMAL!

This is the second book in the series, but can be read as a stand-alone book. Powerful, emotional, and just plain fantastic.

Coming into this century!

We finally did it.

We went from dial-up to high-speed internet. And what a difference!

I know. I know. I should have done it months, if not several years ago, but I'm slow to change when it comes to technology. Hubby finally convinced me to say yes and he had it switched before I could change my mind. LOL

Now, I'm able to watch videos and book trailers, where before it was impossible. And I'm not even going to talk about how fast pages load. Amazing! I figure I'll chop about 6 hours off my work week in just answering emails and checking out my yahoo groups.

So far, so good. I'm enjoying the change.

EPPIE FINALIST

I received a wonderful letter this morning informing me that my Ellora's Cave book, Craving Candy, has been selected as a finalist in the 2008 EPPIE AWARDS Competition in the category of Erotic Romance Contemporary/Suspense/Mystery.

I'm absolutely thrilled!

Eternal Brothers Featured

The cover for my book, Eternal Brothers, is the feature cover this week over at Erin Aislinn’s Website . It was nominated by a reader. Check it out!

Sights of the Season

This time of year you never know what you might see when you're walking down the street. People wear Santa hats and reindeer antlers on their head and do all sorts of things that they wouldn't do any other time of year.

This past Sunday, hubby and I were walking home from the movie. As the light changed at a crosswalk, and we started across the road, I glanced at the car stopped at the lights. There was Santa Claus, white beard, red suit, and hat, driving his nice red car. He waved and we waved back. LOL

I love this time of year. Anything is possible!

Cherry Cake and Christmas Trees

This weekend was a busy one. The tree is now up in the living room with its lights twinkling. It looks so pretty with popcorn and homemade ornaments, some of which I made when I was about 8 or 9 years old.

This will be the twenty-fifth Christmas that my husband and I have spent together. We weren't married for all of them, but they have all been memorable, this one more than most, but not for a particularly great reason.

This is the first year that we've ever had an artificial tree. Not that I have anything against artificial trees, but I love real ones. We've had big, bushy trees, skinny trees, and even a tiny 3-foot tree. The only reason we have an artificial one this year is that our apartment building is under new management and they have forbidden real trees. Needless to say, I won't be in this apartment next Christmas. But December 1st was too late to even consider a move.

So, we have a borrowed tree and will enjoy it all the same. I am planning on getting a wreath though, because I need that fresh, pine smell in the place, mixing with the aroma of popcorn. Hopefully, I'll be able to pick up a wreath when I'm out shopping later this week.

In the meantime, I've started holiday baking. Where it is hubby and myself most of the time, I tend to make one treat a week for the month of December. Last week was rice krispy treats, this week is cherry cake. I made it yesterday and hope it will last until at least Thursday. LOL It isnt' a huge cake, only a loaf one, but it is very yummy, if I do say so myself.

Next week will be fudge and the week after will be short bread cookies.

What are you baking for the holidays?

Shameless Self-Promotion

If you're looking for an escape from the hectic holiday rush, check out my Ellora’s Cave Christmas Quickie, Jessamyn's Christmas Gift.

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It's sure to put you in the holiday mood. *g*

BLURB:

To Do List

He wasn’t part of her balance sheet. But one week in his bed could tip the scales.

Since she could pick up a pencil, Belle Taylor has used lists and charts to map out her life. When she achieves a goal, she marks it off her to do list. Simple. But now, just steps away from her corner-office, name-on-the-letterhead goal, she realizes that the life she thought she wanted may come at too high a price.

Exhausted, she retreats home for Christmas vacation to rethink her life, complete with all-new lists. What she hadn’t expected is Rafe Bettencourt, her brother’s best friend, the man who she thought only saw her as a pesky younger sister. But when he kisses her under the mistletoe, Belle finds herself with a whole new set of goals to balance with what she thought she always wanted.

Rafe knows Belle is trying to figure out what to do with her life. He also knows he’s done loving her from afar, and he’s not beneath making it as hard as possible for her to choose to return to San Francisco.

Because Rafe can make to-do lists too—and his plan is to seduce Belle back home where she belongs. At his side. And in his bed.

Warning, this title contains the following: Smokin’ hot monkey love and naughty wish fulfillment, a few words you wouldn’t say in your grandma’s presence.

As always, Lauren Dane offers up a book filled with emotion and sensuality. This is the perfect read for the holiday season. Filled with the turmoil of family, holiday celebration, and the sexual attraction to her long-time crush, Belle is in for a Christmas she'll never forget.

The plot is the tried and true one of a woman who's had a crush on her brother's friend since she was a teenager, and now she's getting her chance with him. Lauren Dane pulls it off to perfection! You'll cheer for Belle and Rafe, laugh with their family, and cry when emotions run high.

Give yourself a present this holiday season and check out To Do List when it is released from Samhain Publishing on December 11th!

The Appeal of Holiday Novels

It's that time of year again--time for the Holiday Novel!

Why do we love them so much? Check out my guest blog over at the Romance Junkies Blog for more on this fascinating topic.

Holiday Spirit!

I know that the holidays can be overwhelming and the true meaning of the season can get lost in the bright lights of the malls and the crowds, but there are things you can do to get yourself in the holiday spirit.

This past Saturday, my hubby and I got up early and headed for the movie theatre. At 10 AM they screened a Christmas favorite--National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. The price of admission--a non-perishable food item for the food bank. Hubby and I arrived with our bag of groceries in hand and joined the other early-morning moviegoers for a holiday treat.

There were families, groups of teeneagers, and a surprising number of fathers with their kids. I imagine mom was taking this time to either get some holiday shopping done or having some well-deserved time to herself. Either way, the atmosphere was fun and delightful.

There are all kinds of events like this during the next few weeks. Do yourself a favor and find one. You'll be glad you did.

Guest Blogging at Shelley Munro's Blog

Hey, everyone! I'm guest blogging today over at Shelley Munro’s Blog so stop by and say hi!

I'm blogging about how to survive the hectic holiday season with your sanity intact. I'm also offering up a PDF download copy of Jessamyn's Christmas Gift, my Ellora's Cave Christmas Quickie to one of the folks who posts over there today. Shelley will draw the winning name and announce it tomorrow. :-)

Recommended Read for Eternal Brothers

FAR reviewer Kara T just gave Eternal Brothers 5 Angels and a Recommended Read!

Here's a snippet of what she had to say.

"Eternal Brothers is a riveting story filled with passion, intrigue, danger and hot sex! It will keep the reader on the edge of their seat from beginning to end. The rich descriptions, intense emotions and explosive sexual chemistry are writing at its best."

Thank you to FAR and the Kara T for this amazing review!

Check out Fallen Angel Reviews for the full review.

Awakening Desires Newsletter!

The December issue of the Awakening Desires Newsletter is now available.

This month's issue contains all the latest news and contest information, as well as an excerpt and all the usual features.

The December winner of my newsletter contest is sweetteaandsunshine, who has won a print copy of White Hot Holidays, Volume 3, which contains my EC Quickie, Jessamyn's Christmas Gift!

Check out the December interview with the talented Nancy Lindquist. There is also the regular column by my hubby, "Confessions of a Romance Writer's Husband!

As always, for more information on any of my books, check out my website .