Sunday, September 30, 2012


Sizzling Sunday
with Ann Gimpel



1.                   How did you make the decision to become a writer? It wasn’t a conscious process. Stories have always run around in my head while traveling in the mountains with a pack on my back. After one trip in 2008, I decided to do something different. When I came home, I sat down at the keyboard and started writing. I’ve been writing ever since. It’s addictive.



2.                   Who is your favorite author? Favorite book? That’s a hard one. I really like Karen Marie Moning, Patricia McKillip, Ursula LeGuin, Tolkien and Terry Goodkind. I don’t know that I have a favorite book. But I like most anything in the fantasy romance genre. I like sword and sorcery fantasy, too. And some urban fantasy, though I’m think vampires have been overdone since Ann Rice popularized them.


3.                   Where do you get the inspiration for your stories? In the mountains, specifically the Sierra Nevada range. I spend as much time as I can rambling along trails and taking photographs. I’ve also always been a voracious reader. I think it helps spur the imagination.

4.                   Do your characters come first or the does the plot come first?’ I’ll have an idea that involves both a character and a specific world, since I write fantasy and science fiction. I’m not sure which comes first. Characters are easier for me than world building. I find most of my editing is cleaning up the nitty gritty details of my alternative settings. Characters probably come easily for me  because of my background as a psychologist.


5.                   Have you ever fallen in lust… I mean love with one of your characters? Oh my, yes. Some of the guys are impossibly hunky. I mean who wouldn’t fall for a tall, muscular guy with long, coppery hair and intense eyes burning into your soul? Who wants you to be his, and his alone—forever.

6.                   When it comes to your sultry sex scenes – where do your ideas come from? Hmmmm…can I take the Fifth on this one? Let’s just say I’m married to a Scorpio!


7.                   Have you ever been turned on by something you’ve written? Of course. If it doesn’t turn me on, why would I expect a scene to do anything except lie there on a page practically screaming ho hum when a reader picks up one of my books or stories. I’ve spiced up more than one romantic scene because it didn’t do much for me on reread.

8.                   If you had the opportunity for a one night stand with one of your characters who would it be and why? It’s a toss-up between Angus MacTavish in A Time for Everything and Trevor deGroot in the Transformation Series books. Both men are gorgeous. Angus is dark with ever-so-green eyes. He’s a nineteenth century Scottish laird. Trevor is blond with blue eyes. He’s a twenty-first century guy who can do just about anything. Both have classically handsome features, but Angus is more, uh, feral looking. Maybe that’s because he’s from deep in the past. Both men are sure of themselves and know what they want. And both are willing to pull out all the stops for the women they love. Pssst! Don’t tell anyone, but it’s reassuring to think that a man can actually take care of you.


9.       Tell us about your current novel. That would be Psyche’s Promise, just released by Gypsy Shadow Publishing. The blurb on the back cover is:

The Transformation Series is about finding out who we truly are when the chips are down. About what is real and what is illusory. About what matters and what doesn’t. It’s easy to show our best side when everything is going well. How about when the world is disintegrating around us? What happens then?

In this final book of the Transformation Series, Lara and Trevor’s relationship undergoes stresses that threaten to annihilate them. Constantly hungry, besieged by dark forces, they need every resource they’ve developed as a couple to keep from ripping each other apart. With Lillian and Raven— two ancient Celtic Sidhe— off fighting their own war against Goblin hordes, Lara has only herself and her half-baked magic standing between survival and certain death for herself, her love and their child.

The remote location that was supposed to solve all Lara and Trevor’s problems has done anything but. Though she works diligently, Lara’s crash course in magic proves woefully inadequate. When Trevor is captured by demons, Lara curses her decision to leave Seattle. “If only I’d known,” she cries, convinced she can’t go back. Or can she?


10.               Is it a stand alone story or part of a series? If it’s a series what can we expect in the next chapter? It is the final book of the Transformation Series. So, all three books are available now in print and eformats.

11.               What can we expect from you in the future? Any new books in the works? I have two novels making the publishing rounds. Fortune’s Scion made it past the Angry Robot gatekeeper since they asked for a full manuscript. That one is a YA contemporary fantasy with romantic elements. The other, Earth’s Requiem, is an adult contemporary fantasy with romantic elements. It’s under serious consideration by Samhain.  I have a novella, A Time for Everything, coming out soon from Liquid Silver Books. And another novella, Gabrielle’s Cauldron, that’s about ready to submit to them for consideration. I really need to get moving on the sequel to Earth’s Requiem. Finishing that is my next major project.


Psyche’s Prophecy
Book One of the Transformation Series
By Ann Gimpel



What if your psychotherapist could really see into your soul?  Picture all those secrets lying hidden, perhaps squirming a bit, just out of view.  Would you invite your analyst to take a peek behind that gossamer curtain?  Read your aura?  Scry your future…?

Classically trained at the Jung Institute in Zurich, Doctor Lara McInnis has a special gift that helps her with her patients.  Born with “the sight” she can read auras, while flirting with a somewhat elusive ability to foretell the future.  Lara becomes alarmed when several of her patients—and a student or two—tell her about the same cataclysmic dream. 

Reaching out to the Institute for answers, Lara’s paranormal ability sounds a sharp warning and she runs up hard against a dead end.  Her search for assistance leads her to a Sidhe and ancient Celtic rituals blaze their way into her life.  Complicating the picture is a deranged patient who’s been hell bent on destroying Lara ever since she tried to help his abused wife, a boyfriend with a long-buried secret and a society that’s crumbling to dust as shortages of everything from electricity to food escalate.




Sunday, September 23, 2012


Sizzling Sunday
with LA Jones


1.     How did you make the decision to become a writer?: When I graduated from high school, I was inevitably forced to confront the prospect of having a career. For a while, I thought only about success hence why I decided on a business degree. I failed at that miserably. School has always been exceptionally hard for me. I didn't realize until after I failed at the business degree that I should be more concerned about what I love to do rather than success. What I have always loved to do was write, and create stories. I have always wanted to become an author but really drove me was my Uncle Steven Pressfield. He wrote the Legend of Bagger Vance, and the War of Art. It was that last book that inspired me to finally write the book series I had always dreamed of writing. I haven't stopped writing since. 

2.     Who is your favorite author? Favorite book?:  Needless to say, my favorite author will always be my Uncle Steven Pressfield. He inspires me in so many ways both with his books and his advice. My favorite book will be always be War of Art. My second favorite book is Matilda by Roald Dahl. The story of a young girl achieving success in the face of adversity. 
3.     Where do you get the inspiration for your stories? I get inspiration from everything and everyone. My friends, family, and the experiences of my life all play a major role in my stories. My friends inspire me with their dreams, hopes, love lives, and more. My family has always pushed me to achieve the best I can so I definitely get inspiration from them. My experiences as a bully victim, an Aspergers Syndrome kid, and world traveler help to shape my characters and what my plots.
4.     Do your characters come first or the does the plot come first?: I come up with both at the same time and sort of add on to it later. I look at the process a lot like cooking. I add ingredients like depth, character traits, plots twists, and so on. After I am done, everything becomes a delicious dish.
5.     Have you ever fallen in lust I mean love with one of your characters?: I look at my stories as if they were my babies, my children so to speak. The way I look after them, and try to improve them and believe in their worth is like one would encourage a child. Yes, I love my characters especially my novels but not like a lover. It is more like a parent loves a child. 
6.     When it comes to your sultry sex scenes where do your ideas come from?: I have always said that people don't depict sex as real as they should. They also neglect to mention things like condoms, the pill, and so on. I never do. I describe the foreplay, and the actual sex as best as I can. However, I never fail to mention taking precautions.
7.     Have you ever been turned on by something youve written?: Sometimes the guys I describe I become so enthralled with that I start fantasizing about them. I must confess that sometimes I imagine having sex with Dax, and Roy at the same time. They are both so wonderful. 
8.     If you had the opportunity for a one night stand with one of your characters who would it be and why?: I think it would be with all five of Aradia's love interests at the same time: Dax, Roy, Tristan, Lamont, and Jayce.
9.     Tell us about your current novel: My current novel is the beginning of my Tales of Aradia the Last Witch series. It introduces the main characters and how the dynamics of the story works. Most of all, it describes the main character Aradia the last witch alive! 
10.  Is it a stand alone story or part of a series? If its a series what can we expect in the next chapter?: It's the first of what will be a ten volume series. You can expect to see the true direction of what path Aradia takes for the next novels. In the second novel, she discovers a mission that she must complete or at least achieve. Among the hiddens there is still segregation and Aradia who grew up in the human world is not used to that. She learns that as the last of her kind she hold a lot of political power and decides to use it to promote tolerance among the hiddens.
11.  What can we expect from you in the future? Any new books in the works?: Right now, I am focusing on finishing my Tales of Aradia book series. I hope to make it into a franchise similar to Harry Potter. Afterwards, I plan to write a book series about guardian angel aliens.



"Unknown to the humans who hanged innocent people at the Salem Witch Trials, real witches of the hidden race were slaughtered on the belief that they had betrayed the hiddens to the humans. Not one witch survived the genocide, or so it was believed for more than three hundred years. Until one day a girl named Aradia moves to Salem, Massachusetts, and all that changes."

Sunday, September 16, 2012


Sizzling Sunday
with Amy Gregory





1.       How did you make the decision to become a writer?
I have to admit freely, I didn’t actually make the decision to become a writer.  It chose me.  To be honest it wasn’t very long ago that it happened either.  Based on a sport we eat, live and breathe in our home, it came to me in a dream.  One that wouldn’t let go until I started writing it out long-hand.  For several nights more details came, the visions so clear it was like watching a movie.  After filling several notebooks with hundreds of words, I figured out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.  


2.       Who is your favorite author? Favorite book?
Asking who my favorite author is up there with asking me which one of my kids is my favorite!  J  I LOVE to read.  Now having said that, I’m stuck in two genres and don’t enjoy anything else.  I also really prefer to read books that are built in a series.  I like knowing what else happened after the last page was turned on the first book.  I guess I’d have to say among my top favorites are Nora Roberts, Mari Carr, Susan Mallery, Sylvain Reynard, and E.L. James just to name a few.  

3.       Where do you get the inspiration for your stories?
Inspiration.  For me it comes at the most odd times while I’m doing the most ordinary tasks.  My first book was based on a dream.  The next three books that follow in that series just flowed so it was easy to take a mostly formed character and give them their unique issues and history.  The next series is lead off of a character out of my first book that I unintentionally fell for.  I knew I wanted to know more about him so I combined him with the aspects of a small town I used to live in.  I have several stand-alone ideas that I jot down in a small notebook that never leaves my side.  But it can be as simple as a really cool truck stopped at a stop light.  Seeing that exact scene is one of those ideas that will be the spring board for a future book.

4.       Do your characters come first or the does the plot come first?’
For me, my characters have all come to me first.  I have a snippet of an idea.  I start to think about them, their jobs, their past hurts, their fears.  As I start to type the story then unfolds.  I never know what will happen before it is typed.  It’s the characters that push it along, their personalities and needs that tell the story.  I’m just along for the ride.

5.       Have you ever fallen in lust… I mean love with one of your characters?
Oh boy…I wanted this to stay secret.  Have I ever fallen for one of my guys?  As I roll my eyes and turn bright red…YES.  All right, I admit it.  Yes I did.  TWICE!   First is for Eli.  He’s the main character in book three of the Racing to Love series.  There is just something about him.  I love the guys all the same, but you know every once in a while there’s just something special.  I think it’s his quiet soul, or maybe his spit fire determination to make Honor his.  That is really the theme with all of the books, but Eli has more to worry about than just one heart.  That and he has this freaking hot tattoo across his shoulder blades that is …uhhh – so yummy!  

6.       When it comes to your sultry sex scenes – where do your ideas come from?
My sex scenes…  Well…I wish you all knew me better.  This question has a thousand answers on the tip of my tongue!  Okay, I’ll be serious again, sorry.  To be honest, it isn’t anything I think about ahead of time.  Just like in real life, to make it feel organic it has to just happen.  I’ve read a thousand books, and no scene is exactly the same.  But you can get a kernel of an idea.  I mean really, there are only so many ways to describe sex.  However, it is that build up, the connection and fire that you want to make the reader feel.  That is unique to each book.  It was something I actually worried about myself as I was writing the second book.  What am I going to make them ‘do’ in the next book.  But when I was writing the third book--Eli’s story, it just flowed and there’s some stuff in there that is…oh…yeah!  

7.       Have you ever been turned on by something you’ve written?
And then this leads right into the next question.  Set myself up for that didn’t I? J  Um…as I blush profusely.  I guess the best way to answer if I’ve ever turned myself on by something I’ve written…  If I don’t turn myself on…chances are it won’t turn anyone else on.  Funny how for writing sex scenes multiple times now, I can still get incredibly shy answering ‘real life’ questions about it!  But if you feel something, feel that connection, that spark, the characters’ need for each other, than it is working and that’s a good thing. 

8.       If you had the opportunity for a one night stand with one of your characters who would it be and why?
One night stand with one of my own guys…let me think.  Wow, this is hard.  Well, I’ve already discussed my abnormal love affair with a fictional character!  I do love Eli, for sure.  Actually I love all my guys. However, I’m writing about a cop right now and it’s ah…um.   Well, it’s a cop—need I say more? 

9.       Tell us about your current novel.
From the outside, Molly West had everything, beauty, brains, and a career she’d retired from not once, but twice.  Being in the limelight and in a sport that was male driven, she was often surrounded by men.  She ignored first the boys, and as she got older, the men.  Her cold shoulder and patented not a chance in hell look were usually enough to get her point across.  Molly had no plans in changing what was a perfectly good system. That is until she walked into the pits. 
Carter Sterling had traveled the racing circuit since he was a boy.  He’d heard all the old standbys, She’s out there somewhere, love comes along when you least expect it.  Good things come to those that… Yeah, he’d heard them all.  The last place he expected to meet the love of his life was on a pro track.  All she did was smile, and he knew, looking into her sapphire blue eyes, Molly West was his.  Forever. 
If it was only that easy.  From the moment he laid eyes on her, he had a gripping feeling in him.  An overwhelming need to protect her—a girl he’d just met.  Carter had learned a long time ago that gut feelings are almost never wrong.  Molly now held his heart in her hands, but it was going to take a lot more than just love to protect her from the past she thought she’d buried a long time ago.



10.   Is it a stand alone story or part of a series? If it’s a series what can we expect in the next chapter?
I've actually got several projects going at the same time.  I’m writing the fourth and final book, Alex’s Destiny, in the Racing to Love series.  I wish I could say more about it, but there are some twists that I am so excited for the readers to have for themselves!  In the meantime, I’m also writing the first in the series about a small town, my hot and handsome cop is the first character to have his story told.  What’s not to love about a muscled man with a badge whose eyes land on a girl from out of town. 


11.   What can we expect from you in the future? Any new books in the works?
As far as the future holds, I have so many ideas crowding the space in my head!  I have several stand-alone ideas, but truly love a series project.  I also have another story that is partially written, but, well, that one will have to release under a pen name! 

Links to buy a book or contact Amy...








Sunday, September 9, 2012


Sizzling Sunday
with Rosanna Leo


  1.       How did you make the decision to become a writer? 
Well, Charlina, to be honest, writing chose me. I began university with the intention of becoming a writer, but was sidetracked by my classical singing career. It was years later that my passion for writing flared. It wouldn’t be ignored any longer. When my kids were babies, I’d write while they took naps.

2.       Who is your favorite author? Favorite book? 
      I love Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. Each and every one. The romance between Jamie and Claire Fraser touches me in a way not many have. You just root for them, and want them to live and love.

3.       Where do you get the inspiration for your stories? 
      Many of my stories are paranormal. The supernatural world has always been my inspiration, even since I was a kid. I love the idea of a normal, mortal woman being swept away in the buff arms of an immortal Alpha male! Vamps, Greek gods, selkies…bring them on!

4.       Do your characters come first or the does the plot come first? 
      Characters. For me, it’s always the characters first.  That enigmatic person has to exist in my head. I can then decide what sort of journey he must be on.

5.       Have you ever fallen in lust… I mean love with one of your characters?
      Oh, would it be awful to say I’ve fallen in lust/love with all my heroes?? LOL! I think, as a writer, you have to. If you don’t love them, no one else will. I write the men that drive me crazy, and who also drive me insane with desire.

6.       When it comes to your sultry sex scenes – where do your ideas come from? 
      They come from the characters themselves. Oh yes, I’d love to say all my sex scenes have been inspired by real life, but I’m private about my relationship with hubby, so none of that goes in my books! No, my sex scenes are derived from how I believe those characters will interact. They whisper the naughty things they ought to whisper. They touch each other as they were destined to touch each other. I love sex scenes because they really write themselves.

7.       Have you ever been turned on by something you’ve written? 
      Oh, gosh, yes! Again, if it can’t turn me on, I can’t expect it to turn anyone else on. There’s a particular scene in The Selkie in the pub that always stands out in my mind….oh, and the one in the stable’s good too!

8.       If you had the opportunity for a one night stand with one of your characters who would it be and why? 
      Ack! How to choose?? Well, if it had to be a one-night-stand, I’d pick Calan Kirk from The Selkie.  Because selkie men are reputed to be awesome lovers, I think I’d like to take him for a spin! J

9.       Tell us about your current novel.  
      The Selkie is the story of Maggie, a Canadian woman who is having the worst time of her life.  Everything is going wrong, and I mean, wrong. And then her Scottish grandmother passes away, leaving her a strange inheritance. Maggie must travel to Orkney to organize her grandmother’s estate. While there, she meets a strange character, a man named Calan who professes to be an immortal selkie, and her grandmother’s drinking buddy. Maggie and Calan must work together to find a bizarre relic, a seal pelt. However, someone else wants the pelt too and will stop at nothing to get it. 

10.   Is it a stand alone story or part of a series? If it’s a series what can we expect in the next chapter? 
      It’s a stand alone story, although I have hopes to develop more selkie books about Calan’s brothers in future.

11.   What can we expect from you in the future? Any new books in the works? 
       Yes, I’m currently working on another manuscript about a Greek god- this one about dishy Apollo!


Blurb:
This was supposed to be her year. However, after losing her job and discovering her fiancé cheating, Maggie Collins has her doubts. When her grandmother dies, she hits rock bottom. Maggie travels to her grandmother’s home in Orkney, Scotland to sort through her gran’s things, only to discover the old woman has left her a seal pelt as her inheritance. She also learns that others are after the pelt.
To add to her frustration, Maggie’s dreams are filled with luscious images of a long-haired man, images that draw her to the magical beaches in Orkney. Although she’s lost her trust in men, this dream man inspires her with a lust she’s never known before.
Calan Kirk has also been dreaming. Dreaming of Maggie, the mortal woman who arouses him as no other woman ever has. Meeting her in the flesh when she arrives in Orkney is nothing short of spontaneous sexual combustion. But she is a human, and not to be trusted. He needs the seal pelt, not a red-haired temptress.
As a thief ransacks Maggie’s grandmother’s house, Maggie and Calan are thrust together. They must search for the animal skin, a mythical relic which once found, will either bring them together or rip them apart forever.

Excerpt:
She was attempting to stand on her wobbly legs, only to fall back down on her bottom, when she heard the sound of splashing water. Thinking it was her seal, Maggie turned to look.
Her breath caught in her throat. It wasn’t the animal at all.
It was a man. He was rising out of the waves, walking toward her. She froze. He was nude, utterly nude, and was staring at her with overflowing intimacy. As if they’d had, God help her, relations.
And she realized, with sudden panic, they’d had! In her dreams. He was the seal-man from all her sex dreams.
No. Impossible.
Her first instinct was to call for help, but there was no one near. And then she realized with frightening awareness that she didn’t want any help anyway. Glued to her spot, she couldn’t help but drink him in.
He was beautiful, if unnervingly wet and naked. He had long, shiny, brown hair that hung down past his shoulders. His face could have belonged on an ad for expensive cologne, and he had a body to match. Sculpted shoulders gave way to arms corded in muscle. His defined chest was blanketed by a smattering of sparse, brown hair that led tantalizingly to his rock-hard abs.
Maggie held her breath as her gaze traveled lower on his body, taking in trim calves and thighs a quarterback would envy. And, she noted with simultaneous hunger and horror, his penis was the biggest she’d ever had the pleasure of seeing. It was thick and long and glistening with the droplets of water that yet cascaded over his body. And it seemed to be reaching for her. She gulped, and forced herself to look back up at his face.
There was a faint glow about his skin, a shimmery aura. Dismissing it as a trick of the moonlight, she shook her head.
He was almost upon her, and his full lips were taut in a teasing grin. Maybe he was a surfer who’d lost not only his board, but his shorts in the waves. She knew she should be frantic, but wasn’t. There was something in his brown eyes that was so familiar, so soothing, even as they swept over her own body with lustful appreciation.
He stopped in front of her, and stood boldly, unashamed of his glorious nakedness. She managed to spit out one hushed word. “You.”
“You,” was his equally awed reply.

Buy Links:

Rosanna Leo’s Bio
Rosanna Leo has her degree in history and literature, as well as in classical singing. She currently resides in Toronto, Canada. Her favorite things are her family, libraries, and her mother's gnocchi. Rosanna loves it when the geeky, awkward girl gets the hot guy, and has made it her mission to see this happen in her books as much as possible. She is also the author of four books published with Liquid Silver Books: For the Love of a God, Up in Flames, Sweet Hell and The Selkie.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Sunday, September 2, 2012


Sizzling Sunday
with D.X. Luc





1.      How did you make the decision to become a writer?

I didn't. The ability to write has been with me for as long as I can remember. Of course, it took the wise words and belief from friends that allowed me to take the next step.
2.      Who is your favorite author? Favorite book?
Homer's The Odyssey and any work from Edgar Allen Poe.
3.      Where do you get the inspiration for your stories?
Everyone and everything works to be my inspiration. Touch of the Gods: The Wager came from my daughter's idea. Hot Shots came from a conversation with a friend.
4.      Do your characters come first or the does the plot come first?’
Characters come first for me. I see them and they tell me their story. Of course my muse Sam helps out immensely. (Yeah, I named my muse!)
5.      Have you ever fallen in lust… I mean love with one of your characters?
Every single time. I love my heroes because they're just so damn sexy.
6.      When it comes to your sultry sex scenes – where do your ideas come from?
My dark and naughty mind. I'm telling you, if anyone decided to dive into my brain, they'd end up either running out in a panic or feeling sated after a fun time. It's all twisted up in there!
7.      Have you ever been turned on by something you’ve written?
All the time. If I didn't, then I'm not writing my scene correctly.
8.      If you had the opportunity for a one night stand with one of your characters who would it be and why?
Well, I'm a naughty girl so we know exactly what I'd do. But I want to give a shout out to two characters that I'd totally enjoy. Hades from Rosanna Leo's Sweet Hell. I'd lick him until he saw the light. You know, because there's no light in the Underworld. And Tony from The Portrait by Charlie Daye. I've been known to turn bad boys into begging sex toys! (Charlie laughs here... I'm sure Tony would love to take a bite out of you too!)
9.      Tell us about your current novel.
At the moment, I'm actually editing/revamping/fleshing out a previously written novella that is turning into a novel word count wise. It's a non romance, paranormal fiction titled The Replacement. I have started the sequel to the Touch of the Gods trilogy as well.
10.  Is it a stand alone story or part of a series? If it’s a series what can we expect in the next chapter?
The Replacement will be a series most likely. Following the main character Jackson McFlaurey as he learns more about his job working for Death.
11.  What can we expect from you in the future? Any new books in the works?
More to the Down the Yellow Road saga, Touch of the Gods, and many more to come. I never stop coming up with stories to write. 

Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Touch-Gods-The-Wager-Volume/dp/147762242X/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/The-Wager-TOUCH-GODS-ebook/dp/B0080S7PS4/ref=tmm_kin_title_0

Blurb: 

When love and war make a little wager, what could possibly go wrong?

I am Hephaestus. God of inventions, blacksmiths, and volcanoes. Sounds like I'm awesome right? Well, I'm not. In fact, I'm the loser of Olympus and a new bachelor to boot. Living the single life is great until a decade passed. Honestly if my divorce from the Goddess of Love wasn't bad enough, I am still being rejected by the other women of my home.

Because of an incessant need to make me a pawn in his game, my brother, Ares convinces Eros to make a little bet. A wager that puts my lack of love life to the test. Sent to Earth, I'm skeptical, when suddenly I lose myself in the sensual scent and beauty of the full bodied Vanessa. She is my everything, my perfection.

Sadly, from a single caress upon her silky flesh, I sent our lives into a downward spiral of hell. To save her, I must get beyond my demons of the past. And to save me, she will have to decide if I'm worth giving up everything for.