Vixenwriter

Let’s see…I’m getting ready to go to Lori Foster’s Reader Author Get Together next weekend. I’ve never been so I’m really excited about it. I get to finally meet Barb and Pam in addition to many other authors and readers I’ve known online forever so that’ll be wonderful. I also get to see the ever-so-wonderful Anya Bast, who I just love to death and I haven’t seen her since October so I can’t wait! I’ll be at the book signing on Saturday, June 2 from 4 - 6 at the hotel (Cincinnati Marriot North) so come by and say hello if you’re in the area! If you’re attending the get together, please find me and say hello!

I’m blogging my reads in the 10,000 books challenge at eharlequin. I did a count a few days ago but every day I remember other books I’ve read. I should keep better track, LOL. I think blogging them will help me do that. I did make a personal decision not to blog the books I hate. Yes, yes I know some people get shirty about that and I’m sure I’ll be accused of something or other because of it, but it’s a personal decision. Generally, I don’t want to spend time on books I hated over books I love. Now I will talk about books I enjoyed but may have had flaws. But I have my share of wallbangers too, god knows I have preferences just like anyone else. Still, I think I’d rather talk about books I want everyone to read instead of books I didn’t like. I bitch enough without that.

It’s a long weekend, yay! I hope it means a lot of writing but in truth it most likely means breaking up a lot of inter-sibling bickering, laundry and the cleaning of bathrooms.

Ascension will be out in less than two weeks! Whee! And then Making Chase on the 12th! It’s going to be a really good June.

I’m reading Gennita Low’s Virtually His, nearly done as a matter of fact and it’s so good! It’s also movie night for me and my dude.

Okay, off to clean the kitchen…

OH! Anya Bast’s Witch Fire is starting to show up in some bookstores! This is such a fabulous book and Anya is one of my favorite authors so you should go and grab it. If you like paranormal romance, magick, really hot chemistry, sexy heroes and smart heroines - this is the book for you. I’ll be reviewing it later in the week along with an interview with Anya as well.

I’ve been really sick and pushing a few deadlines since I returned from RT so my normal reading pace has slowed to just about nothing. I do want to talk about Chris Green’s Night Rising though! I started the book on my way to Houston and finished it up on my way back and I have to say I enjoyed it.

The nits to pick? I wanted more fleshed out. I don’t think I was 100% convinced that a woman as savvy as Dawn would engage in such an intimate relationship as she did with Limpet without knowing what he was. She asked but I felt like, horny or not, she would have demanded. Now I understand Green is drawing it out, it is a series after all, but I felt off balance. Not because I personally didn’t know but because Dawn didn’t know.

Generally though, Night Rising was an entertaing read. I thought the characters, especially Dawn, were vivid and interesting and kept me reading. I liked the different elements to the story, I liked the darkness in both the story and the characters. I did not expect this to be a romance, I didn’t expect it to be pure fantasy or mystery either so I wasn’t disappointed that it straddled a few genres - in fact I loved that.

Her mythology of vampires is very unique - again I wanted to know more but this is a three book series and I realize she’ll draw more out as we continue on so I can wait.

I’ll be back for book two which Chris/Crystal says will be out in February of 2008 - Midnight Reign.

Today I’m gonna talk about my favorite book of last year that isn’t officially out until May 1 - Megan Hart’s, Broken. All the usual disclaimers apply - I know Megan, she’s my friend and we’ve given each other nicknames and all that stuff. Still, she’s not ensorcelled me so I’m incapable of an actual honest opinion on her book although dude, if she had that power it would be so cool, I’d totally make her use it on my behalf. Anyway, I digress…

Broken is a lot of things. It’s one of those books that stays with you a really long time after you finish because there are a lot of layers to it. In my opinion, it’s the best thing Megan has written and she’s a damned good writer so that should say something. Each time Sadie sits next to Joe and we hear a tale of his latest conquest, we’re really drawing down another layer of Sadie.

Whatever Broken is about, I can tell you what it’s not about - Broken is not about infidelity. I want to make that clear up front. Sadie loves Adam, her husband. But Adam has withdrawn himself emotionally after an accident has left him a quadroplegic. She’s lost him in many ways even though he’s there physically. Her entire being centers around his care and schedule - it isn’t that she hates him or wishes he didn’t exist, it isn’t that she wants to fuck Joe behind Adam’s back. Her life has made her into a mechanism - she takes care of everyone else and she doesn’t get much emotional feedback because her husband has lost himself and she’s helpless to help him regain what he’s lost. So for that one brief time every month, she’s unfettered from all that responsibility and context and she gets to be a woman.

She wants to be held and listened to and those brief times once a month as she sits and listens to Joe tell his stories, she can transport herself elsewhere in her head.

Sadie’s loneliness is sharp and painful at times. Her loss throbbed in my gut as I read. Her connection to Joe, his attraction to her, her committment to Adam and her embracing her life no matter what it has become creates a book that sent me reeling over and over.

Broken is not an easy book. It’s not lighthearted and romantic. It’s an unflinching look into someone’s inner life. I cried when I read Broken. It made me furious. It made me laugh and grumble. It drove me to email Megan a few times and give her what for.

Broken is evocative and deep and disturbing and yet, it’s uplifting too. Because Sadie can be any of us, you know? And she survives and rises and finds her way in a world that could easily drive her to give up for let go of the things that anchor her - to her life, to her husband, to everything she finds important. She’s not a saint, she doesn’t take care of Adam because she loves the hairshirt, she takes care of him because he’s her husband and she loves him and it’s the right thing to do and she believes that. That makes Sadie a character that rises above so many other characters in books. She’s flawed, yes, but she’s *real*

Broken is erotic, yes. The sex is integral to the story as a vehicle for Sadie’s mental escape and also as a glimpse into Joe. The story is in first person but I really felt I knew Joe and his insecurities as he told his stories. In them he’s not a sex god, his vision of himself is interesting and pretty unflinching. The moments between Sadie and Adam are heartwrenchingly beautiful and skillfully done and the connection between Joe and Sadie is powerful as well.

I’ve gone back and forth writing this, it’s hard to distill what Broken is because I think everyone will read Sadie with their own filters. And because Broken is a complex book. It’s not easy. But it’s worth it. Broken is, without question, an amazing book and I truly hope it gets the attention it deserves. Technically, it’s mindblowing. As an author, when I read it, I was floored by the skill Megan used as a writer. The story is marvelous but she tells it perfectly.

Go. Buy it. Read it. You won’t be sorry.

I’m doing book stuff twice this week because, well, because I can and because I’ve had a few books I’ve really wanted to talk about and haven’t had the space I felt they deserved so there.

First up - Vivi Anna’s Blood Secrets. This is, IMO, the best book Vivi has written so far and my very favorite Nocturne from the line as of yet. Vivi uses some excellent worldbuilding, strong characters and really wonderful sexual tension to create a memorable paranormal romance with substance and heat. I never got the sense that Vivi rushed or pulled a romance fast one to put the characters together. I will most definitely be back for the next book.

I loved Caine and the hints of his pain and struggle with his feelings about humans and his growing feelings for Eve. We’ve got a vampire who isn’t afraid of his otherness at all. He’s not an emo vampire who bemoans his existence, he’s who he is and I quite enjoyed reading him.

In Eve we get a woman who compared to the others she’s working with is fragile and deals with a great many setbacks. They get to her, she’s not perfect, she’s not a superhero at all. She’s human which is a fabulous contrast in Necropolis. She faces a lot of crap but doesn’t give up even when she’s visibly shaken, which is a nice thing. She’s no doormat but she also realizes she needs help in some situations.

Fabulous sexual tension and Anna uses every word to build it to the time when Caine and Eve finally consummate their relationship. It takes skill to not rush and to let things build so the reader is as impatient as the characters are and Anna succeeds here.

You can check out what Vivi is up to next at her website (also designed by Frauke!)

And then there’s Sasha White’s Lush. This is a three story anthology of erotic romances and as always, I was drawn in by Sasha’s voice immediately. Sasha has some indefinable quality that shines through and I always connect with it, no matter what it is she’s writing about.

But in Lush, she exceeded my expectations. Last week I talked about BDSM in writing and how so many writers failed to get into the heads of the characters? Sasha kicks ass with this in Principles of Lust, the first story in the anthology and my personal favorite. We’ve got a strong woman who isn’t afraid of or ashamed of her sexuality and a strong man who knows what he wants but isn’t afraid to admit he’s been presented with something he didn’t even realize he needed.

I think her writing with Principles of Lust in particular although all three stories are smart and sexy, is deft and clever. Novellas are damned hard to do well. You’ve got a lot to communicate in a short span of words but she does it and she does it well. We get into Zack’s head as he’s attracted to a woman but knows she’s way too aggressive for his appetites. The scenes where he’s topping her are sexy and not overdone. He’s not a stereotype and neither is Teal. I appreciated the strong woman who gives up control aspect of the story and also the struggle of what it means to give up power and what submission truly given is. This novella will forever be one that I’ll point to when people ask about what kind of BDSM writing I like.

Passion Play - the second story is told in alternating first person between the hero and heroine. Again I think the power behind this story (and all of them in the antho) is how White takes unlikely romance characters and makes them into wonderful romance heroine and heroes. First person can be risky but I think she gave us a great glimpse with the alternating chapters and POV.

The last story, Sexual Healing has a fantastic wounded hero and another woman unshamed of her sexuality. I think that’s what I enjoyed the most - I’m pretty bored with the “oh I hated sex until he came along” heroines in romance. I loved that each woman in Lush loved her sexuality even as she learned more about herself through her interaction with the hero. All three women are interesting and quirky and I enjoyed each one of them and well, I can’t complain in White’s use of dominant alpha males as heroes, they’re my favorite and she writes them in vivid strokes (heh) instead of making them cardboard jerks who claim to be alpha.

Lucky for everyone, Sasha’s got more books in store. You can keep track at her website.

Okay, got some caffeine in me now…

Last night I finished Kat Richardson’s Greywalker. Holy smokes! What a marvelous book this was. I had it in my TBR pile and I kept getting interrupted over and over and finally I got to it again and once I started reading I couldn’t stop. Richardson’s world is rich and interesting and Harper is a great character. I’m biased because I live in Seattle of course, but I think the setting was perfect and the choice of Pioneer Square as a hang out for loads of ghosts and dark things was marvelous. Great action, fabulous worldbuilding, just a great book.

I checked Kat’s webpage and she says the second book, Poltergeist is coming out in August and I’m definitely going back for a second helping of Richardson’s world.

I also finished Nalini Singh’s Visions of Heat and was every bit as enthralled with this installment as I was with Slave to Sensation. The thing with series is that each book should be connected but tell a different story. I don’t want the same book over and over and Singh manages to give us a totally new story while remaining on a course the first book set.

I wasn’t sure about VOH at first, I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about Faith but in the end, I liked Faith a lot, even more than Sascha who is a great heroine. And Vaughn? I love how barely leashed he was but always with her. He pushed and listed to his inner voice and he wasn’t a woman in a man suit like some romance heroes tend to be.

The chemistry was well done, unfolding nicely and believably. Singh’s world of Psy and Changeling is ultimately rich and fascinating and I’m definitely looking forward to reading Judd’s book later this year.

I want to write about Sasha White’s Lush and Vivi Anna’s Blood Secrets but they need more page space because I loved them both so much and well, because I think Sasha and Vivi deserve the time too. For now, I’ll say I highly recommend both books, I’ll follow up with more detailed reviews soon.

Sadly, I had a few DNFs this last week but I won’t go into what they were.

A few weeks back I read No Rest For the Wicked. Admittedly, I loved the world but I came in without having read book one and the heroine wasn’t someone I ever connected with. I thought her resistance went on too long and then her turning to the hero felt too sudden and with her resistance lasting so long, I didn’t find myself convinced. Aside from the Bride aspects, I had to wonder at times just why he was attracted to her. In fated mate stories, which I quite like, I still want to know they’d be together at the end despite the magic of the bond. If not, it seems like their connection is suspect and you’d always be doubting it. Still, I liked the hero and like I said, I think Cole’s meta story about the Lore is a really interesting one.

I hadn’t planned on picking up A Hunger Like No Other but it came into my hands and I thought I’d give it a look and I was hooked instantly. In A Hunger Like No Other, Cole gives us an uber alpha male (literally) we can sink our teeth into (and we want to). He’s bossy and arrogant but there’s a reason for it. I LOVED the way Cole dragged out Emmaline’s reluctance to give in to her feelings. She has reasons and that was important. If Emma had just flopped her thighs open and given in on the third day, I’d have put the book down. It’s a hard line to walk and I think Cole did it perfectly. The chemistry was wonderful, the hero was oh-so-delightfully tortured and the heroine has major self esteem issues and she comes into her own through the hero but not because of him. Anyway, I loved the book and I’ll be back for the next installment.

Kitty Takes A Holiday I love this series so very much. I love that at the end of every book so far, I’m never where I imagined I’d be but I like where Vaughn takes me anyway. It’s creative and smart and with each book, Kitty grows as a person and as a wolf. I was very surprised with several directions the story took but Vaughn kept me fascinated at every turn and of course I’ll be rushing out to grab Kitty and the Silver Bullet. What I absolutely love is when the end of a book comes and I want to weep that I’ll have to wait months and months for the next one. These are not romances so Vaughn gets to take more risks and break some rules. I loved every page.

This week I read several delightful books! I keep hearing people say they’re having a hard time finding great paranormals to read and I have to disagree. I’ve read so many fabulous paranormals and urban fantasy novels in the last few months I’m energized by the new voices (and not so new voices) in the genre. Paranormals and Paranormal romance is not dead, there are some amazing books out there!

First - Kim Harrison’s For A Few Demons More - Oh, gasp! Did I hesitate for even five seconds before ordering this in hardback? Nope. I loved it. I thought it took Rachel to some new places and it ended on a totally shocking note. I was miffed at first but as I believe Harrison is a fabulous writer, I’m choosing to believe she’s going to take us somewhere new with Rachel now that Rachel has been dealt some big losses. As long as it wasn’t done to clear the way for something! I know, that’s not specific but I don’t want to give spoilers.

Then I gobbled up Keri Arthur’s Full Moon Rising - this is what a total deviant I am - I read someone talking about the sex in the book and how it bothered them that until werewolves found their soul mates they got busy with loads of other people and I said, “oooh, must check that out.” I know, I’m terrible! But as it happens, it was a fabulous book and when I finished it I ordered the rest from Amazon and I’m nearly done with Kissing Sin (which came yesterday). These are not romances so I don’t apply romance rules to them. The need to have sex during the lunar phase each month is not an issue for me, it didn’t squick me or shock me and the meta universe Arthur has created is really interesting.

Patricia Briggs - Moon Called and Blood Bound - Mercy me (okay such a bad pun, sorry)! I love love love these books! Mercedes Thompson or Mercy is a skin walker/coyote shifter who was raised by werewolves for a large part of her life. She now lives in the Tri-Cities in Washington state and she’s a mechanic. Into her life we see Fae, werewolves, vamps, etc. Briggs has really written a series to be devoured - I love Mercy - she’s not a superhero, she’s scared but she does the right thing. Samuel, Adam, Stefan, Zee - all the other characters are interesting and three dimensional and I was sucked in right away.

I just got Lush in the mail yesterday so hopefully I’ll get to read it this weekend. Next Friday I’m going to talk about Vivi Anna’s Blood Secrets which I loved and as I told her yesterday, I think it’s her best book yet!

What’s everyone reading now?

First, I got a fabulous 4 1/2 star review from RT for Tri Mates. Gail says in part: Dane’s intricate world of werewolf culture and pack politics only gets better with each book. Her fans will love revisiting familiar characters and new readers will be hooked. The Warden family is so real that they jump off the page. Their teasing, bickering and overprotectiveness is endearing, but there’s plenty of heat as well. This story focuses on Tracy, who finds love with not one but two hot alphas. Their sexual encounters, whether as a couple or a threesome, are very erotic and tremendously arousing, and a glimpse of sexual interaction between the two alpha males is tantalizing. The secondary characters play important roles as well and fill in any back story. Readers will be panting for more.

Wow! I’m so excited and happy about this review.

And I also got a review for Chased from PNR that was unexpected but no less wonderful. Jan said in part: Chased is a great story. Liv and Marc’s relationship builds to such a peak that every woman will identify with. The characters are great. Liv is so sweet and her emotional battles are ones that I identified with right away. Marc would be any woman’s dream. He’s so thoughtful and watches the little things. The supporting characters of Marc’s family are great too. The changes that Liv and Marc go through pull the reader through this book by their heartstrings.

But best of all? One of my dearest friends finally met her daughter and she and her husband have completed their family. How wonderful is that? When I saw the pictures this morning when I got online I cried for them - they look beautiful together and it’s been a very long wait so their journey is just beginning. All my love goes to them!

OH! And speaking of dear friends and love - Today is Megan Hart’s birthday. I first met Megan online gosh, nearly three years ago and in person two years ago this June. Megan is just a wonderful person and an extremely talented writer. She’s been a wonderful friend, a fabulous crit partner and someone who makes me laugh on a regular basis. Happy Birthday, Sparkles!

Titilating Tuesday excerpts up at my messageboard, by the way!

Have a great day folks!!

(Just a note - I’ve loved Alison’s writing from the first Blaze of hers I picked up - The Sweetest Taboo (in the Men to Do series where I discovered other favorites like Jo Leigh), then I found her Girl Gear and she did the first SG-5 book, The Bane Affair which remains a favorite to this day and I could go on but then I’d probably scare her with my squealy fangirlishness at the fearless way she writes. That’s the key for why I come back to her books over and over - she just puts the story out there and she’s always pushing the boundaries.)

LD: One thing about you as an author that always appeals to me is that even when you’re writing category you’re taking risks. Risks with characters and storylines and my favorite of all, risks with sex. Is it just me or do you push the envelope on purpose?

AK: I don’t push in that I think about doing it. It’s just the way I write, and I do take a lot of hits from romance readers who don’t want to go where I’m going but still want to read what I write. I understand that because I have authors whose stories compel me, but with twists and turns that make me uncomfortable, even as they work for the book.

I wrote my first published novel in 1993, and during the editing stage had one scene cut completely because it was too raw – and this was fourteen years ago, so this isn’t something I’ve done for a market or to sell books. It’s just how I write. I never liked closed bedroom doors in the books I was reading. I wanted a detailed a look at the intimate moments between the characters as everything else. So that’s what I set out to write.

LD: Tell me about The Perfect Stranger:

AK: I started THE PERFECT STRANGER years ago, 1994 maybe? It was before I made a sell to Harlequin, but after my first sale to Meteor. I had read AMAZON LILY and loved it so much that I wanted to write my own story of “jungle love.” I still have the coolest rejection letter from Carrie Feron of Avon that she loved my writing but couldn’t do anything with a book set in the jungle. Then Denise Little wanted to buy it for her “Denise Little Presents” imprint at Kensington, but was on a buying freeze at the time.

I put the book away, used tidbits of it (Hank Smithson) when I started the Smithson Group series for Brava, and then finally had the chance to tell Jackson Briggs’ story. He’s the SG-5 chopper pilot, but he’s not one of the group’s operatives, so his is a personal story when he meets Jillian Endicott during a humanitarian work project on a Caribbean island. Though . . . meets isn’t really the right word since she drugs him and kidnaps him for reasons of her own.

LD: What makes a hero compelling? And a heroine?

AK: For me, any character needs intelligence to be compelling. I don’t mean education or experience, but common sense and what my husband calls “snap.” As a reader (or an author) I need a character to be pro-active, never passive, and part of that requires the intelligence to reason their way through a situation – even if they make bad choices. I don’t care about characters who allow a plot to happen to them. They have to belong to it and shape it logically, and that requires a good head on their shoulders. I don’t have to like what they do. I don’t have to agree with it or think it’s the best thing under the circumstances. But I do have to understand it.

LD: How many books do you usually write in a year and is there a process for what you decide to write and when?

AK: Lately, too many, and so I’m cutting back a bit. I’m probably comfortable writing three, with at least one of those being a shorter project, whether a novella or a category book. And the process consists of looking at how far out the deadline is and whether or not it’s time to start the next book. I have new ideas popping up constantly, so sticking with what needs to be written first isn’t always easy.

LD: I know you didn’t start writing until you were 30 – what made you decide to do it?

AK: I picked up a book and said, “I can do this.” I might even have been one of those horrible people who said, “I can do better than this.” I remember the book, and no I’m not going to mention the title or the author because it’s humiliating enough that I ever thought writing a successful book couldn’t be all that hard! But what I said above about closed bedroom doors. I wanted more of that physical relationship in the books I was reading, and so set out to write just that.

LD: What’s the best thing about writing?

AK: The end. And hearing from readers. It can be what they liked, or what they didn’t like. It’s interesting to hear both sides, and I’ve had some great “a-ha” moments after hearing from a reader that she didn’t like a choice I’d made, or how I’d constructed a scene.

I’m not a natural storyteller, so the process of writing is excruciatingly painful for me. The ideal writing situation would be complete solitude from page one to page last while I *am* the book – but who can live like that?

LD: Anything you want to add?

AK: Just a big fat thank you for having me visit and for sharing THE PERFECT STRANGER with your readers!

You can see my review of The Perfect Stranger here and read an excerpt here.

I’m a techno dumbass, Alison has a fabulous trailer for the book, she sent me the code but it won’t work so I’ll link you.

This last week I read Nalini Singh’s Slave to Sensation and I absolutely loved it.

She’s created a paranormal universe that is fresh and interesting, her characters are three dimensional. I love the chemistry between the hero and heroine. The sex was extraordinarly well written and integral, the storyline was clever - Slave to Sensation was definitely worth the hype. Absolutely fabulous book (and so of course I had to grab Visions of Heat from amazon and I hope it gets here today)

I also finished Lucy Monroe’s Ready

I’d been told by several people that I should check her Bravas out so I grabbed Ready, Willing and Able.

Ready was an entertaining contemporary thriller. The suspense plot wasn’t overly heavy but it was interesting and I liked how Monroe used the elements in Lise’s past to create the stalker.

The mercenary stuff - well here’s the thing, big tough men are sexy. They are! So take the thug out, give em an air of mystery, some money, and make them good guys but shadowy instead of criminals and it’s a winning formula. That’s what Monroe does and it works.

It did make me think a lot about use of language in sex scenes and how my own perceptions have changed over the last few years. I may write about that later…

I’m about 3/4 through Jackie Frank’s Jacob and I’m finding it hard not to want to put away the laptop so I can sneak off to read it. I’ll write more about this one next week after I finish but it’s another really unique take on paranormal romance.