Hey, y'all! Have you missed Tim and Bevin Capshaw? Fret not! I just posted up a collection of short stories featuring the Capshaws. Two may be familiar to you while one is completely new. I'm trying a new publisher/distributor, also. Please let me know if there are any issues. I hope you enjoy and thank you so much for your support!
"The First Weekend" Timothy Capshaw celebrates his first weekend in Charleston and sees someone he knows will make his trip more worthwhile than he'd ever imagined.
"Always Sweet" Bevin Moore's act of charity unsettles her in delicious ways.
"Welcome Home" Tim's return to an empty house from a three-month mission overseas wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind.
For the first time in a long while, two of my works in the Somethin' Cookin' are in one paperback collection. Both Thelma's Eatery and Cook's Choice are available in trade paperback from Mocha Memoirs Press. Both titles are also available in ebook format (.pdf) too.
Title: Somethin' Cookin ISBN: 978-0-557-55278-8 Genre: I/R Erotic Romance, Multicultural Erotic Romance Publisher: Mocha Memoirs Press Paperback $16.00 Ebook: $6.49 Blurb: The cooks, waitresses, hostesses, and owners in the pages of this book do more than take orders. What they cook up isn’t always on the menu. Find out what’s really cookin’ in this collection of saucy and sexy interracial romance stories! This collection includes RaeLynn Blue's highy reviewed Thelma's Eateryand a follow-up story, Cook's Choice.
Lady Rienne's rise to power continues. Just how does she steal Baptiste from her cousin? The next installment of the Chevalier prequel, Ties That Bind Part 3 is on sale now on my website exclusively. http://www.sharaazod.com/ebook/ties-bind-iii.html
Have you ever read a story or a series of stories and become so connected to the characters that you feel as if you know them? This was a thought running through my mind recently as a I finished a book where not only did I connect with the characters and fall head over heels in (book) love with the hero, but the hero had brothers! Maybe the premise is to your favorite soap opera. If you don’t currently watch the soaps, I’m sure most of you grew up with parents who did. The twists and turns, the failures and successes, the love and drama, the soaps can pull you in so far that you find yourself speaking about the characters as if they live two doors down from you. As if every other Sunday you’re going to each others house for a cookout.
Some books can do that for us. The women become our friends and we connect with them because we see ourselves in them. We understand the challenges they are facing, whether they are falling in love for the first time, healing a hurt caused by a former lover, or fighting for a life—a love—that is like nothing they’ve ever felt before. We often times cheer for them as they find courage and strength, while at the same time yelling at them to “just give him a chance.”
With these stories, the hero is inevitably someone who epitomizes the type of man, husband, lover, father, we all wish for. While he may have his flaws and failings, they can be forgiven. Why? Because he loves his family more than his own life and he would die to protect them. Because he is strong enough and badass enough to make sure it never comes to that. And when he finds the woman of his heart, he recognizes this and will do whatever it takes to keep her. These are the type of men that draw us in and keep us connected to their life long after the story has ended.
I have a few books in library that impact me this way. I can picture the characters so vividly that I can build a “movie” as I read the story. This is a sign of a great storyteller. Not necessarily someone who is simply good at putting words to paper and writing a book, but a true, blue “storyteller.” They build and weave this other reality and while we all recognize doesn’t really exist, the hopes and dreams of the characters seem real to us and we never want to let them go.
Do you feel the same way? Have you ever felt a bond with a story or character that you felt as if you knew them? Tell us about it.
As a writer of paranormal, fantasy, and science fiction you may find the title of this blogpost strange. It’s not really. Most of my audience are women, and the heroine must be real—even if her environment may be purely fiction.
Don’t worry. None of my heroines come from anyone real, but her behaviors must be. If you read Reana’s blog post about what books make it to her keeper shelf, you noticed the first entry into that list is not a weak heroine.
So, how do I keep each heroine realistic?
I attempt to think in terms of her being a real person. Take for example, Sienna of Cook’s Choice. I thought long and hard about her background, her family, the fact that she’s bi-racial, that her father died and that she lost her mother earlier in her life. All of these factors become her profile and I began to visualize her as a real, breathing person—something Sienna’s very proud of. From there she guides my hand as to what she will and won’t do.
The same holds true for each of my characters—both hero and heroines, and I attempt to allow them room to talk to me. That is easier said then done sometimes.
But here’s how I keep them realistic:
1. She must have a history and a background including family, friends, and employment. 2. She must have a voice and something to say that women will identify with. 3. She must be ripe—Ready, Intelligent, Poised, and Excited to tell her story. 4. She must be entertaining—at least to me.
This is a rough list of what I mentally go through in order to create a realistic character.
Do you agree? Did I miss something important? Which of my characters do you think are the most realistic?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / PERMISSION TO FORWARD GRANTED
Twelfth Annual EPIC EBook Competition (July 15-Aug. 15, 2010) EPIC’s ebook competition, the oldest continuing competition honoring ebooks and the e-publishing industry, is a premier event for authors and publishing houses. It opens for submission entries on July 15, 2010, accepting entries through midnight (CST) August 15, 2010. Entries must be e-published between June 1, 2009 and May 31, 2010. The Competition Guide will be on EPIC’s website (www.epicauthors.com) on June 1.
Judges consist of active EPIC Members and guest judges, all of whom are either published authors or publishing professionals. Entries are judge in two rounds, with finalists announced during the first week of November 2010.
The 2011 New Voices Young Writers Competition (Aug. 1 – Oct. 20, 2010) EPIC’s membership supports ebook education within public, private, and home school environments with this popular global competition for young authors. The New Voices Young Writers Competition opens for submissions from August 1, 2010 through October 20, 2010, and introduces young authors to the exciting world and possibilities of ebooks and e-publishing - the wave of the literary future.
We invite middle school- and high school-aged authors, ranging in ages from thirteen through eighteen years old, to submit essays, poems, and short stories in this growing competition. If you are a young writer, with a desire to fine-tune your craft with constructive feedback from industry and education professionals, please consider entering our competition. The guidelines will be found on the New Voices website: http://newvoicesyoungwriters.com/ in July 2010.
If you are a parent, teacher, or librarian, you may request brochures by email from epic.competition.chair@gmail.com. Please supply your name, mailing address, best email contact, and contact phone number as well as the quantity you desire. Mailing takes about 3 weeks, so please be patient.
EPIC's 2011 Art Competition (Nov.1 – Nov. 15, 2010) Also in its twelfth year is a competition that honors the finest selection of cover art for electronically published books. Details will be available on the EPIC website (www.epicauthors.com) the first part of October 2010 with entries accepted from November 1, 2010 through November 15, 2010.
Covers go through two rounds of judging by EPIC’s membership, with finalists (in category) awarded the ARIANA before moving on to the final round. The ultimate winner, the artist whose work receives the most membership votes, is celebrated with EPIC’s highest honor for art - the QUASAR.
EPICon Conference (March 10 – March 13, 2011 in Williamsburg, Virginia) All awards, other than those for the New Voices Young Writers competition, will be presented during EPIC’s 2011 EPICon conference's gala award ceremony March 13, 2011 in Williamsburg, Virginia. The New Voices Young Writers awards ship to winners, and their indicated schools/libraries, within six months of EPIC’s conference.
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EPIC – Electronically Published Internet Connection is a non-profit, professional organization for published and contracted ebook and print authors that was established to provide a strong voice for electronic publishing—the major publishing marketplace of the future.
No woman had ever filled his arms the way Kimber did. No woman could ever make him hard as steel, just by being there. He had been hard since she flung open the door. The bulky shirt she had worn earlier was gone, leaving her in the flowing skirt and a camisole. As he had suspected, her body was a dream. Full breasts pressed against the silky fabric, outlining nipples he remembered as being full, a little on the long side, and when she was excited, so erect and sensitive, perfect for suckling. There was a womanly sway to her walk that hadn’t been as pronounced when she was younger. The promise he’d only glimpsed at in high school had been fully realized- and then some.
He still wanted her. Had he ever stopped? It had taken three years for him to start dating again after her father had shown up at his parent’s house with the baby, claiming not only did Kimber not want the burden of being a single parent, but that she didn’t want to raise a mixed child. That had hurt worse than anything ever could. How many nights had they talked on the phone or in each other’s arms planning how many children they would have one day, what they would name them, the type of home they would build? And yet, there had stood Dr. Knowles claiming Kimber had rejected all of their hopes and dreams. That she had left knowing she was pregnant, with every intention of getting rid of the child as quickly as possible.
Holden, in his childish hurt had believed him. He had swallowed every lie and let it foster a bitter hatred at the woman he thought had threw his love back in his face. He should have known better. In a way, he had. Maybe he had never admitted it to himself, but Kimmie wasn’t the type of woman to lie about her feelings. She had always been an open book to anyone willing to read. Dr. Knowles had never been willing. He had wanted to create his daughter in his image. He wanted to mold her in to his ideal of a woman. And Kimmie had been far too loving and kindhearted to push her father away. She had always tried to be the daughter Dr. Knowles had wanted her to be, but had always fallen short in the older man’s eyes. And Holden had always hated him for that. Yet, he had taken their daughter and in essence, kept the baby away from her mother. He was every bit as guilty as Dr. Knowles in a way.
As much as he loved his daughter, there would be no little Kimmie without the big Kimmie. He hadn’t realized how much he missed her until now. He hadn’t realized how empty his arms had been until she had dove on him. Over time, there had been other women. At first, he only dated women who were the polar opposite of Kimber, trying to drive her out of his mind and heart. That had been a disaster. It didn’t matter what color the woman was, her profession, her background or upbringing. There was only one woman his mind and body craved. Sex itself had become an empty bodily function; so much so, Holden hadn’t had a physical relationship in two years. He couldn’t take it; the cold emptiness he felt afterward. It didn’t matter how long he actually dated before trying to start a physical relationship; it was always wrong somehow. He couldn’t bring himself to sleep all night with anyone. He couldn’t shake the eerie feeling he was being unfaithful.
In more ways than one, Kimber’s return was a Godsend. He hadn’t realized how much until the truth smack him around a little. He was never going to love any other woman the way he loved her. Holden was becoming colder and colder to the outside world. Only his daughter could make him smile. He felt isolated, cut off from those around him. His entire life had been his daughter and his job. There was no room for anything else. Not because there was no time, but because he could not bring himself to join the outside world. He had fewer and fewer friends, he was curt and standoffish on the best of days. He was freezing from the inside out.
One look at Kimber and his heart began to thaw-no, more like the frozen casing had scattered completely apart, leaving the organ bleeding and raw, but just as hot has it has always been for her. His resentment and acrimony that had been a mainstay in his life for so long started to slip even before he had seen her again; in Dean Whittaker’s office, he had known what awaited. He had starting to feel again. He had started to hurt again. Only Kimber could ever take him to heights of pure ecstasy or drag him down to desolate despair. Oh, how he loved this woman-still.
This was it for him. She always had been it for him. Holden had loved Kimber most of their lives, had realized it when they shared their first kiss at thirteen in his garage. They had never even considered dating anyone else all throughout high school, being attached at the hips as best friends and evidentially as lovers. It had taken three woefully awkward tries before losing their virginity to one another on the beach after Homecoming their senior year. They had explored their burgeoning sexuality together; reading about techniques and then trying them, until they found what the other liked the most. Up until the time her father snatched her out of school and moved them away, they had spent every available second together.
No doubt the reason for Dr. Knowles taking the position in Boston was because he had finally noticed how close she and Holden had become. Little did any of them know about the baby.
What kind of fool was he not to realize when Dr. Knowles was a lying snake? He was still having a hard time coming to terms with that.
As soon as their bodies collided, a long dormant switched was flicked on in his psyche. He had only meant to hold her, to comfort her in some small way. But feeling Kimber in his arms again, Holden’s carefully erected walls came crashing down.
His hands twined in her hair of their own accord, pulling her head back and her lips open. Nothing could have stopped his mouth from descending on her soft pouty lips, not even the sharp crack of a hand across his cheek. Had she resisted, he probably would have backed off. It might have been the hardest thing he would ever have to do, but he really would have.
But she didn’t resist. Instead she went all soft and pliant in his arms, receiving the probing of his tongue with a soft sigh. Damn, she tasted so good! He didn’t just kiss her, he took full possession of her mouth, her lips, her very breath with all the pent up frustration he felt from their forced separation. No other woman had ever tasted like this.
“Oh God, Kimber, I missed you so much,” he murmured against the soft flesh of her throat as his lips traveled everywhere his frantic hands could bare her flesh.
She had on too many damn clothes! Pure need pooled in his gut, crude, gnawing hunger demanding to be fed crawled underneath his skin. He tore off her clothes, ripping anything that could not be easily discarded. White noise filled his ear drums, the center of his focus only on her, only her.
“Holden, Holden…”
Her mournful cry tore at him, spurring him on. It was primitively base, the need to be inside her, but Holden could not shake the feeling if he didn’t bury himself deep, become a part of her in a way denied for far too long, he would explode. His lips never left her body, traveling across the smooth skin of her face, back to her neck, her shoulders, and returning to her lip. He wanted to howl in victory when he felt her small hands tugging on the fastening of his pants. He wanted to assist her, but he couldn’t stop touching the woman who had always ruled his heart and mind.
When she finally freed him, Holden’s mind blanked.
Acting on pure instinct, he rolled them over, parting her thighs with the width of his body. He drove his throbbing length deep inside her in one stroke, burying himself to the hilt.
*****
Kimber didn’t know what she expected when she opened her eyes to find Holden looking down at her, but she never dreamed of this! One touch, that was all it took and she was transported back in time. Warmth, hope, love, all these feelings she had never hoped to feel again, not like this, came back in a rush. It was almost as if she had never left. He completed her now so much it was as if they’d never been apart at all.
But this was not the slow, gentle lover of her youth. Holden the man was forceful, demanding, and he felt so damn good inside her. His face contorted to look more primal than she’d ever seen, he powered inside her, shaking her body and soul. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. All the words she would’ve loved to say came out in primitive grunt and moans. Later she would allow regret and allow distrust to seep back into her consciousness. This wasn’t real, not anymore. As for now, all she wanted to do was feel. He was thicker than she remembered, filing her to the point of pain. Her inner walls clamped down on the strangely hard, yet smooth shaft, demanding that he move- do something-anything to relieve the burning ache.
“Please, Holden!”
She should hate him for making her beg, and tomorrow she probably would. Right now she needed him to drive into her over and over, so hard she forgot her name. Forgot the cold emptiness that waited for her after he left. And he would leave. She couldn’t take it otherwise.
“Look at me, Kimber.”
Her response to the fierce growl was immediate, sending tiny shivers of sweet, agonizing anticipation down her spine at what she saw. When had he grown so commanding? His eyes glittered with an emotion she couldn’t identify. His chiseled jaw was set in determination; his mouth slightly swollen from his own bruising kisses was drawn into a grimace. He was gloriously male. So much more than he had been at eighteen. She didn’t know this man that was inside her now. This wasn’t the sweet, gentle boy she loved with desperation. This man was so far outside her scope she felt a tingle of fear, even while her body melted for him, opening completely for his exploration. How was possible to feel so deeply for man she didn’t even know? This was not her Holden. A slight niggling doubt echoed in the recesses of her mind. Oh, God, was he married? What the hell was she doing?
“Don’t you dare try to leave me,” he rasped while holding her head still so she couldn’t look away. He seemed to have read the doubt and fear in her eyes. As if to reinforce his order, his hips rocked into her without withdrawing first. The broad head of his penis brushed against her g-spot, sending bursts of lights to dance in front of her open eyes.
Her fingernails dug into the solid flesh of his arms as she canted her hips, desperate for more.
“Do I have you attention now?”
All Kimber could do was nod. Did he ever!
“I am so sorry, baby. I didn’t know. I should have-” Funny how his voice had gone all deep and smooth. No less male, but no longer growling. There was earnestness in his gaze that made her want to believe. If only she could. “I can’t make it up to you, but I swear I will spend my life trying.”
No, he wouldn’t. She could never allow that. She would not know where to begin to try and handle this man buried inside her. And now was just not the time to contemplate such things. The last things she wanted right now were to have this conversation. And thankfully she didn’t have to. Their bodies seemed to have taken over for the both of them, urging them to continue the mating dance as old as time.
Whatever reply Kimber could’ve possibly come up with was lost in the urgency of his thrusts. Fear, anger and even love drove her to push back just as hard, arching into his carnal embrace. More, more until she was no longer woman and he no longer man. They were one, wrapped in a blanket of bliss, surrounded by sensations too raw, too base to survive it. She thought she might’ve screamed, she couldn’t be sure. Her body shattered, sharp edges of ecstasy ripping her to pieces before slowly melting her back together, while but forever changed.
“I love you, Kimber.”
How she once longed to hear those words. How she had dreamed of that same whisper, said at a time just like this. But that time had long since passed, and those dreams were never going to come true. Her heart couldn’t take it. So she said nothing, working up the courage to do what she knew needed to be done.
