New Year's Kisses!

Join us for a celebration at Kay Berrisford and Tara Lain

More info here: http://kayberrisford.com/2012/12/30/new-years-kisses-party-presents-the-biggest-and-best-romance-prize-ever/

There's lots of hot excerpts so check them out!

Today I welcome Jaime Samms to my blog!

Today I'm welcoming Jaime Samms to my blog so.. take it away Jaime!

As an author, what scares me the most?

What if this is the last great idea?

I believe every writer thinks it. Not very many of us will ask it out loud, though. That just makes the possibility too real.

You always hear writers talking about their craft as something as fundamental to life as breathing, more important than eating or sleeping. (Not more important than caffeine, though. Don’t get me wrong. We do have our priorities.)  But we speak of our stories–our creations–as we speak of our children. With pride, excitement, frustration, but ultimately, with love.

We love what we do. We have pride in our creations. Writing is a part of our fibre, DNA, spirit, soul.

When we can’t do it, we go a little bit nuts. Someone once told me; for them, not writing was the spiritual equivalent to a bad asthma attack. As though their soul was fighting to take the next breath, to let go of the trapped, stale air, but was, instead, suffocating under an invisible weight.

The weight was the weight of nothing: no words. No ideas.

And in that moment of wondering if you’ll ever fill up again, who would dare to tempt fate and ask, out loud: “What if? What if the last story was the last great idea I ever have?” No one dares. Not even me, because I didn’t decide to write this blog until I was once again (thankfully) in the spiritual free-fall of a new idea.

For me, the binding comes soon after I finish something. For a day or two, my mind rests. I’m free of the guilty feeling of not putting words onto the page and I revel in the pride of a job well done. I let myself feel good about not writing. I enjoy the contentment of having completed a project.

Then it begins. I start to feel the emptiness of “what next?” It isn’t that I don’t want to think about what I will write next. I literally can’t. My mind shunts away from looking for new ideas, like a trickster engineer in my brain, continually switching my mental train to a new track for his own enjoyment. It isn’t even that I want to hang onto the previous characters. They have told me their story. I’ve written it down, and they are gone. Moved on. It is me who is trapped on the endless loop of no ideas. The longer and more intense the finished project was, the longer this stage lasts, but every time, it lasts just long enough for panic to set in and I begin to think…”What if…”

You would think by now, I should be able to recognize the pattern, and sometimes, I catch on. Sometimes, it isn’t until I am finally well into the next project that I can appreciate the break for what it was. A necessary part of the process. Down time of the soul. Regeneration.

But holy hell, is it scary when you’re in it.

So if you love a writer, and one day, they look at you, their eyes half-wild and a bit staring, their lips slack, just hug them and whisper in their ear “It isn’t the last one. Don’t worry. You’ll have more stories to write. You’ll be okay.”

Trust me on this. You’ll be their hero for recognizing their distress. You can’t fix it, but you can help them not go off the deep end.

All about Jaime:

Jaime has been writing for various publishers since the fall of 2008, although she's been writing for herself far longer. Often asked why men; what’s so fascinating about writing stories about men falling in love, she's never come up with a clear answer.  Just that these are the stories that she loves to read, so it seemed to make sense if she was going to write, they should also be the stories she wrote.  

These days, you can find plenty of free reading on her website. She also writes for Freya’s Bower, Loveyoudivine Alterotica, Pink Petal Books, Dreamspinner Press and Total E-Bound. 

Spare time, when it can be found rolled into a ball at the back of the dryer or cavorting with the dust bunnies in the corners, she's probably spending reading, drawing, gardening (weather permitting, of course, since she is Canadian!) or watching movies. Well. She has a day job or two, as well, and two kids, but thankfully, also a wonderful husband who shoulders more than his fair share of household and child care responsibilities. 

She graduated some time ago from college with a Fine Arts diploma, with a major in textile arts, which basically qualifies her to draw pictures and create things with string and fabric. One always needs an official slip of paper to fall back on after all....

Website | Facebook | Livejournal | Deviantart | Twitter | Amazon Author page

Jaime and Wild Child Publishing will be awarding a $10 Wild Child Publishing GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.

Please follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better are your chances of winning. Jaime's tour dates can be found here:  ttp://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2012/09/virtual-book-tour-as-advertised-by.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Advertised

by Jamie Samms

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BLURB:

Tyler’s life perked up when he met Jake. So what if long-time friend Marty can’t stand him and his landlady has no use for his new beau. Tyler’s determined not to see the dark side of his lover. It’s his own fault for believing people don’t go around keeping secrets and lying.

Tyler should know better.  He’s an ad executive.  He knows the packaging is what sells, and Jake is quite a package.  His lover is no slouch when it comes to false advertising, either, and when Tyler finds out the truth, it hurts.  Weathering Jake’s lies and secrets gets easier with the help of new friends, Libby and Steven. In fact, Tyler figures that maybe a lot of things would get easier with Steven.

Tyler should have known better.  Not even someone as seemingly perfect as Steven Jessop is completely as advertised.

This time, though, Tyler has to make a decision. After all, sometimes, even if what you see is not what you get, what Tyler’s uncovered in Steven might just be what he’s always wanted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks to Jaime for stopping by!

Immigration Equality... the reason for my dedication in The Long Con.

Today I'm posting because Blogger had a fail! Evil Blogger! But this post had a special place in my heart because Immigration Equality is my pet project, besides the ASPCA. So I'm posting it here.

So please click on the link to your left and stop by and get more info about this wonderful cause.

The Battles That Lay Ahead

I think on my tour I’ve said a few times The Long Con was the book I never meant to write. I went through a lot with this book. Bradley’s story was an old idea from before I was published about two men from different countries who met and fell madly in love. And one of the heroes was from the US, which twisted my gut.

You see, I went through immigration with my British husband, who gave up everything he knew in the UK to come here to the States. We had a routine case (first marriage for both of us, no criminal record and I was in a strong financial position) and were very lucky because we’re a heterosexual couple. I say we are lucky because if we were a gay or lesbian couple, I couldn’t have petitioned on his behalf to get immigration benefits. But we were lucky because of our genders.

In The Long Con, Bradley is with Tony in the US and together they are loving on borrowed time. The clock is ticking; they don’t have forever nor can they have a happily ever after because their borders will keep them apart. And as a writer and someone who went through that horrible separation, it killed me to write those scenes at the end. Because I knew how they felt intimately.

Around the time I wrote the end of The Long Con, gay immigration was suddenly in the headlines with the striking down of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and the fight against DOMA here in the US. A gay couple married in the US in Massachusetts was petitioning for immigration benefits because in their state, now in California, their marriage was legal and the health of one of the men was declining due to AIDS.

Their petition was denied. The non-US citizen was given a deportation order and had a date by which he had to leave. Immigration Equality took over fighting the case but hope for a positive outcome was bleak. In one of the articles, there was a picture of the couple hugging.

S.F. gay married couple loses immigration battle

I looked at that picture and sobbed. Maybe if they had both been healthy, they could have moved to Australia but it was impossible with how sick the US citizen was. The future looked depressing and all I could do was hope that our government would do the right thing here. And sure enough, this year, the couple found their brief respite.

Deportation threat lifted from S.F. gay spouse

To this lovely couple, all my love and best wishes. They became the center of a fight that shouldn’t be happening. Loving whoever you want is a human right, not a political war cry.

But as far as Tony and Bradley? I’ll state for the record, I believe in HEA and everyone deserves one! Their story was a long road and a really tough one for me. I bawled through so many parts of their story. I had to hide so my husband didn’t think I was an idiot for crying over a book.  Did Tony and Bradley make it to ride off into the sunset together? You’ll have to read the book to find out what happens ;)

THE LONG CON by Lori Toland

British Agent Nathaniel Bradley is tasked with bringing home a stolen heirloom. After tracking the Faberge egg all the way to a group of criminals in New York, Bradley infiltrates a ring of con artists and gets sucked into the role of a high priced prostitute.

While hoping for a chance to take back what is rightfully his, Bradley’s sole mission becomes to seduce Tony Terranova, Jr, the heir to a notorious mafia dynasty. Though Tony is strikingly handsome, the usually dominant Bradley is hesitant to submit to the sexual whims of a dangerous Mafioso.

What Bradley doesn't expect is for Tony to fall to his knees so eagerly for him, leaving him blindsided by how intensely their dark tastes complement each other. Now Bradley is caught up in a deadly game of lies and desire, where what he truly wants may not be what duty requires.

EXCERPT:

My heart pounded, and I panted from exertion. Replete and relaxed, I knew my weight crushed him to the bed, but if he didn’t say anything, I wasn’t moving. I dropped a gentle kiss on his shoulder, tasting the salt from his skin when I licked my lips.

I opened my mouth, and my heart slammed against my rib cage when I realized what I had just been about to say. Before blurting out my love for him, I pulled out slowly and stood.

I needed to get my shit together and remember I was on a task, one of huge importance to Margaret. I took a deep breath and let it out. When he glanced at me over his shoulder, I put on the same mask I wore around everyone.

His eyes told me he saw beneath the surface, and that scared me. He was much too perceptive, and from this moment forward, I would have to be on my guard. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah. You almost killed me there.” I laughed it off, but it felt hollow to me. I left him on the bed and walked into bathroom.

I threw away the condom, and when I turned around, Tony stood in the doorway.

“Are you sure?” he asked, his frown worrying me.

I wanted him to drop it, so I just smiled and placed a kiss on his lips. “I’m sure.”

My explanation didn’t seem to satisfy him, but I didn’t stick around to give him the time to question me about it. I flipped on the shower and waited for the water to heat up, a little perturbed about how much I wanted him.

AUTHOR BIO AND LINKS:

CEO by day, erotic romance writer by night, Lori Toland lives in Orlando where the summers are hot but the romance between her characters is even hotter. Writing since the tender age of 13, Lori somehow finds time to play video games and watch movies while taking care of her beloved cats and a husband who will forever be her hero.

Lori’s Website: http://www.loritoland.com
Lori’s Twitter: loritoland
Lori’s Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lori.toland
BUY LINKS: http://www.loose-id.com/The-Long-Con.aspx
Other buy links will appear here as available:
http://loritoland.blogspot.com/2012/02/long-con-loose-id-4242012.html

**********GIVEAWAY**********

A $25 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn commenter from the entire tour.

-Giveaway is OPEN TO EVERYONE!
-To be entered, MUST leave a comment, along with your email addy.
-One commenter will be chosen randomly from all comments made throughout the tour, so the more tour stops you make a comment on the greater your chances of winning.  A list of all participating blogs can be found here.
-Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM CST on 5/4.

Since this is my tour, I'm not eligible to win (well, duh) but please go comment at all my other tour stops which can be found here. 

You can comment on this post as well. Please be aware that all comments are moderated so I will try to keep up with approving them as we go. If you comment here, it will be an entry for the gift card!

I've been on tour the past couple weeks with my new book Trust In Me. Thank you to everyone who has commented. Here is a complete direct list to the posts on the tour:

May 3: Goddess Fish Party Pavillion to Kick off the Tour!

May 4: Interview at Book Junkie

May 5: Blog at Whipped Cream about my fave 13 characters

May 6: Blogging at Rachel Haimowitz's about how I wrote Trust In Me

May 9: Blogging at Shelley Munro's about sexy Beta Heroes

May 10: Blogging at Victoria Blisse's about the trials of writing M/M Romance

May 11: Blogging at Erotica For All about Reigniting Old Flames

May 12: Interview at Forbidden Bookshelf

May 13: Interview at Skylar Kade's

May 16: Blogging at Tami's Ramblings about losing your hero

May 17: Interview at Lisa Haselton's

Thank you to the ladies at Goddess Fish for organizing this tour for me! After Party to come soon! :)