Vixenwriter

Wow, I don’t know what I did to please the heavens but this lovely cover landed in my inbox this morning. LOVE IT!

My story Stripped, comes out in the What Happens in Vegas anthology on May 1 (although I’ll have it to sign at RT, wheee!). Stripped is the story of Dahlia Baker, a small town girl living in Las Vegas to get her MBA and to pay her bills, she works at a burlesque club called The Dollhouse where she meets the owner’s brother Nash Emery. Sparks fly, and you know, sexin, arguing, angst, dancing and HEA.

So I thought for Poetry/WIP Monday I’d give a little glimpse into Dahlia and Nash’s world…

Excerpt behind the cut with a tiny bit of adult content…

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This is why, swan hat or not, I found it so repugnant that a woman like Sherrilyn Kenyon would be attacked and mocked. Let those who are half as good to their fans and self aware of her fortune in life take a moment to think about their own darned selves and stop worrying about others.

Sensual Magic

Not a bad week all told. It’s been fabulous and super busy but I haven’t been writing as fast as I normally do so I need to kick back up to 2,500 - 3,000 a day. I just got my revision letter for Undercover and the edits are fortunately light so it shouldn’t take overly long so once I finish up with Sensual Magic, I’ll get right to that and then on to Unexpected. It’ll be nice to re-visit the Wardens again! And then on to Fallen.

How’s everyone holding up? Checked in over at the Sven blog yet? (link to your right, just click on Sven and he’ll lead you to the light)

What a week I’ve had - working through the tail end of this freaking flu, a call from the principal on Monday afternoon (sigh) leading to much mean momness on my part including the removal of television and DS privileges for a child, trying to catch up on wordcount because being sick put me behind and trying to prepare for a new release I felt like I hadn’t promoted enough. Then bam! I had a new release, I sold a new book, I got an amazing cover and at last, I received my revision letter for Undercover and thank God, my editor did not hate the book. Whew.

I was talking with someone about fear last week. See, I’m scared every day. Scared of failing. Scared of not being good enough, fast enough, of just not being enough period. It’s scary to face this stuff - wonderful because it’s the fulfillment of something I’ve been working for for some time but yet, because I want it so badly, the idea of possibly losing it cuts deep. Sometimes it makes you overthink or freezes you.

But you know, you have to work through the fear or who wins? If I really thought about the stakes I’d freeze up. So I don’t. I mean, in a sense, I’m aware of it all which is why I work so hard at it, but you know, the only cure for fear is facing and working through it. Fear can keep you sharp. It can make you appreciate how far you’ve come and overcoming it can help keep you working and moving forward.

I’m not fearless. I’m human and most writers I know deal with fear. If someone told me they never got a bit shaky when they thought about their first NY release or the manuscript being pitched for that second big contract, or that they never hesitated before looking at that first review for a new release, I’m not sure I’d believe them. Maybe I’m fooling myself and everyone is totally confident 100% of the time about their writing and everything they do, but I don’t think so.

Anyway, just a blather for Saturday while I wait for my kitchen floor to dry. Sigh, I hate to mop! And I cleaned the bathrooms today too and made the penis posse listen to my rants about getting the pee in the toilet and I don’t care how many times they hear it, I’m gonna say it again. My word! Then I’ll get back to writing Sensual Magic, I’m 5K away from being done and SO excited about it. Then I’ll start on my revisions on Undercover (eek!) and get on to Unexpected so I won’t be late and Angie won’t hurt me.

Enjoy your Saturday afternoon and hey, all you folks getting pounded by snow right now, keep warm.

My cover came for Undercover. I’m speechless at how beautiful it is.

Wheee! Sweating away here and I’m close to the end. I haven’t even started my writing for the day so I’m hoping to break 20K or more by the time I shut down tonight. From day one of Sven to last night I’m up over 7K. A little slower than my normal speed but the flu kicked my butt. I’m hoping to get back up to 3K a day now that I’m not hacking up a lung a few times a day.

Which is good because I just learned yesterday that Outshined, a contemporary erotic romance, sold to Berkley Heat! I don’t know when it’ll be coming out at this point but it’s due mid-September so fingers crossed either late 09 or early 2010! I also got word that the proposal for Fallen, book II in my first Berkley sale, has been accepted. That one will be out at some point in 09 so I’m totally thrilled. Fallen is another futuristic set in the same world as Undercover although not with the same characters.

I’m so fortunate. I want to say thank you thank you thank you to my agent Laura Bradford who always kept me going when I felt as if I’d never sell a darned thing and also to my friends who have been so supportive to me - and most of all my readers who are just totally awesome.

It’s a darned good day!

I’m going to be over at the Samhain Cafe today - hanging out, posting excerpts and giving away loot along with many other SP authors. Come by and say hey!

Blurby Bit: For most of his life, Cade Warden has put the needs of his Pack first, setting aside everything else—even the emptiness he feels from having no mate. But Warren Pellini and his thugs have a biological weapon, threatening everything Cade holds dear.

Now it’s Grace’s turn to put her protective instincts aside and stand by, Cade’s life in her hands, as her mate risks everything for his people.

Tomorrow, Standoff, the last book in this story arc of my Cascadia Wolves series, releases from Samhain.

I love this cover! Anne Caine does a great job but I must say I’ve loved every single cover in this series. They’ve all been so pretty and done so well - I’ve had great cover mojo.But it’s over. In the last year I’ve ended two series - this one, my Cascadia Wolves and my Chase Brothers books. I’ll continue on with both worlds. In fact I’ve already contracted Unexpected, Megan’s story for August and I really want to write Nathan Murphy’s story to revisit Petal. But while I love series and the sense of home I can build with a cast of characters readers can revisit time and again, I think it’s best if they don’t drag on too long. I want to end when readers want more, not when they’re reading and thinking, “Gah, she really neededed to stop this series two books ago!”

Series enable an author to really dig deep, to create a world built over many books. What that means is I can take a town like Petal and breathe real life into her. I can give Petal traditions like Homecoming, which I’ve come back to in every story. Or in the case of this particular family, the Christmas proposal or wedding. I love that. I love that as a reader! I love how I can take werewolves and create government. Law and order and lawlessness too. I’ve had four books to build a paranormal universe in, which has been a treat. Four books to build the suspense with the werewolf mafia. I’m spoiled and it’s been a great ride.

I think about Nora Roberts’ trilogies and I think she as the right idea. She builds enough to give readers a sense of something big and sweeping and yet intimate at the same time. Very few authors can take it more than four books in the same story setting and make it work over and over. Kim Harrison can (I just finished The Outlaw Demon Wails this last week and OMG! it was fab), Nora as JD Robb can do it with her In Death books - but in a fully realized romance world you don’t see it as often and after book five, it begins to seem all a big stretch (sister’s best friend’s baby sitter’s brother in law’s best friend). I do love spin offs though! Like I love cupcakes. I’ll eat up every book related to the family Jenny Cruisie introduces us to in Welcome To Temptation (and Davy’s story was so good!), or the Chesapeake books from Nora, or SEP’s Chicago Stars. There’s something really special about returning to a world you’ve loved so much.

What about you all? What do you like best about series? Do you read them? Which ones?

PS - I’ve been lucky enough to get early reviews on this one: 5 Nymphs - I’ll say up front that I loved this story. It has everything needed to make a great book…a well written and plotted ongoing storyline, great secondary characters well integrated from previous books and two sexy, determined and dedicated individuals as our hero and heroine. It’s a thrilling story that pulled me in from the very first words and kept me racing through its pages until I reached the action filled end.

4 1/2 stars from JERR: Lauren Dane has done a magnificent job of combining awesome characters and a sparkling plot. I only hope that this is not the last installment in the Cascadia Wolves series.

5 Blue Ribbons from Romance Junkies: I loved the intensity of this storyline and the emotional connections between the characters, but I especially adored Grace’s honest reactions and willingness to stand up for herself. She does it with such style that I found myself immersed in each heated scene. If you’re reading this book solely for the romance, Ms. Dane doesn’t disappoint there either. There’s tons of red hot steamy sexy scenes and of course with a couple that butts heads as often as Cade and Grace do, there’s plenty of make up sex that’ll leave you hot and bothered. Beautifully written Ms. Dane. I’ll be anxiously awaiting more Cascadian Wolves tales in the near future.

How about an excerpt? Behind the jump…
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