Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Sizzling Sunday
with Danita Minnis
1. How did you make the decision to become a writer?
I think my
characters made that decision. J
I had daydreams of my hero Falcon in life-threatening situations. After about
three weeks of him almost getting run over by a car, stabbed with an ugly
serrated blade and thrown into a fiery pit, I succumbed. Falcon wanted his
story told!
2. Who
is your favorite author? Favorite book?
Do I have to pick
just one? It’s a tie between Anne Rice and Jude Deveraux. J I love any of Anne
Rice’s vampire Lestat books and her Mayfair witches. I also can’t do without
Remembrance by Jude Deveraux and her recent Edilean series.
3. Where
do you get the inspiration for your stories?
Suspenseful,
haunting movies really affect me. I’m drawn to romance and horror, a common
theme in my stories. Fascinating topics
like reincarnation have been a big influence in my happily-ever-afters.
4. Do
your characters come first or the does the plot come first?
My characters
definitely came first! I saw Falcon clear as day in my mind while people were
trying to kill him. One day I went to the hair salon and there he was staring
up at me from a Dolce & Gabbana perfume ad.
Male model David Gandy was Falcon before I knew he was David Gandy!
Angel is a little quirky like Zooey Deschanel, and similar in looks. She’s
sexy but doesn’t really know it at the age of twenty-one.
5. Have
you ever fallen in lust… I mean love with one of your characters?
All the time. I
have three on my mind right now, including my heroes of book two and book three
of the Cardiff series. They are hot. That’s what I call inspiration!
6. When
it comes to your sultry sex scenes – where do your ideas come from?
Ummm…me. I’m just
a naughty girl, what can I say!
7. Have
you ever been turned on by something you’ve written?
All the time!
Hotness = Inspiration!
8. If
you had the opportunity for a one night stand with one of your characters who would
it be and why?
Falcon…no, Roman
from book 2…no, Xavier from book 3. Oh, forget it, who am I kidding? All three
of my heroes!
9. Tell
us about your current novel.
Falcon’s Angel is
a labor of love. As I mentioned earlier, I knew Falcon, what he looked like and
how he was even before I started writing this story of reincarnation. Falcon
and Angel met in eighteenth century
France. With the devil-worshipping cult il Dragone after them, it was a
murderous time. In present –day Italy, Falcon and Angel meet again. They don’t
know who they are, but il Dragone remembers and wants to finish what they
started. If Falcon and Angel can remember the gifts of the past they might have
a chance to beat il Dragone in this lifetime.
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?
Falcon’s Angel is
part of a series but each story stands alone. Each novel has its own conflicts
to be worked out. The characters all have their own special dilemmas to
conquer.
11. What
can we expect from you in the future? Any new books in the works?
The Cardiff series
continues with book two where we get the story of Angel’s parents and their tangle
with il Dragone. They
wait somewhat impatiently to explain her unique ancestry in this second
novel. In book three, her
uncle Xavier is
on the verge of becoming immortal for love. He and I are still debating that
outcome. At the moment I want him to be able to have children. Xavier
doesn’t care about that as he never had a liking for children. To his point,
Xavier’s immortality would aid in the battle against il Dragone. In the end,
the characters write the story, so we’ll see how it all works out.
Excerpt
Naples, Italy
Falcon stood in the shadowed courtyard of the Naples
Conservatory.
She left the building right on schedule. She had arrived
early and stopped by the panetteria to pick up breakfast. She preferred the
sweet rolls. When she left the music school, it was near dark.
Her schedule of classes wasn’t that bad. It was the time
she spent practicing alone in whatever unoccupied classroom she could find that
kept her there all day. She was dedicated, and very beautiful.
She had bumped into him in the hall two days ago on her
way to class, “Scusi, Signore.” He did not know which was more shocking; the
sound of her rich contralto or those huge liquid gold eyes, a striking contrast
to the midnight waterfall
rippling down her back.
He had purposely stepped in her path that day to confront
her about the Stradivarius she carried. When he got a better look at her, he
smiled “Perdonami,” and let her pass. Her lithe form glided down the hall.
If this goddess is a
thief, she won’t have to take anything from me. I’ll give her whatever she
wants, and more.
Although he allowed her to see him just that once, he had
been watching her ever since. He did not know her name yet, but he called her
Angel. Her unusual eyes made her seem like a fairy. Her fluid grace only
enhanced the impression of an ethereal wood sprite.
The warm breeze lifting her summer print skirt silenced
those thoughts.
Damned if he was not holding his breath waiting for the
end of those legs before the gentle curve of her hips.
She crossed the darkening piazza and her full breasts
danced under the white camisole top, making his mouth water. She was on her way
home now.
She was staying at the Casa di Città on Piazza Avellino
and now so was he. The apartment, a few avenues away from the Conservatory, was
in the cultural Greco-Roman district, where the buildings themselves looked
like archaeological finds.
Falcon emerged from the cluster of fig trees in the
courtyard. He stopped when a man exited a side door off the Conservatory. The
man started walking behind Angel.
Turning toward the fountain in the courtyard, he gave the
man a head start. He fell in step behind the man, who carried no books, no
instrument. Is he a teacher, or a lover?
No, not a lover. The man didn’t even call out to the girl. He did not know her.
Falcon strolled along, looking into shop windows he
passed. The man ignored a streetlight, but Falcon stopped, making sure no one
followed him. With an idle shift from side to side, he waited for a car to
cross the intersection.
Across the street, a teenager sat on the steps of a closed
shop. He’d been there for the last few days. The car stopped at the curb in
front of the teenager.
Someone should pick him up.
He would not jeopardize his cover for drug trafficking. He
would leave that to the local polizia.
The light changed and Falcon crossed the street, satisfied
that the man following Angel was alone.
They were walking through the ancient Roman marketplace,
which was deserted now. When the girl got closer to the church built on the
site of an old temple, the man began to close the distance between them.
Falcon shook his head as she reached the church corner.
She never noticed the man who was just a few feet behind her now. When the man
pushed her into the gloom around the church corner, they were lost from his
sight. The girl screamed.
Sprinting, he rounded the corner. About ten feet away, the
man was trying to wrestle the violin case from her against the wall.
Falcon pulled out his gun and aimed. “Let her go.”
The man turned toward him, and the girl pulled at his ear.
The man bent, holding his stomach. He made an inarticulate sound before running
away along the side of the building into the darkness.
Falcon darted past the girl and followed the man into the
shadows.
What the hell?
Something flitted overhead, darker than the darkness in
which he now stood alone. He pointed the Glock upward even as a figure walked
up the side of the building. It looked like a black cloud but more solid than
it should be.
Before he could get off a shot, the darkness disappeared
over the side of the roof.
Staring at the dead end in front of him, Falcon put his
gun away. No doors or windows on either side.
Where is the guy?
Must be a hidden door somewhere, he’d check it out later.
Falcon turned back toward the girl. Beyond her, across the
street, the man he had been chasing got into a car.
“No way,” he murmured as the car sped off. No way could
the man have gotten past him in the alley.
The girl had both arms wrapped around the violin case in
front of her. She was leaning against the church wall, crying.
“Did he hurt you, Signorina?”
She looked up. He lifted his gaze from her heaving chest.
“Grazie,” she whispered, wiping her face with the back of
her hand. She shook her head. “I am fine.”
“You should not be walking alone at night.” The harsh
reprimand in his voice surprised him. She was very young. Her tears wrought
such vulnerability that he softened his tone when he came to stand in front of
her. “Do you know that man?”
“No, I have never seen him before. But ... he knew me.”
“What did he say to you?”
She looked down at the violin.
He stared at her until she looked up. Ah, she had just
found her story. It was in her eyes, and it was not the truth. The fear in her
eyes told him that story would never change.
“He didn’t say anything, but the way he looked at me...”
Her chest heaved again. He almost smiled; she was having a
hard time with this lie.
She stared at him. “You are from the Conservatory. I saw
you the other day.”
“Antonio Russo, Tony to my friends.” She did not hesitate
to shake his hand, and he did smile then. She might be lying to him but at
least she did not see him as a threat. She continued to stare at him. She must
want more. “I’m taking classes at the Conservatory,” he added. “I play piano.”
“Oh yes, I’ve seen you in Signor Gattano’s class.”
He had signed up for the class because it was right next
door to hers. So, she had noticed him, too. He smiled wider.
“Signorina, I could call you Bella, but that would not
satisfy my curiosity.”
She lowered her eyelashes over cheeks flushed the color of
the terracotta tiles on his mother’s sunlit patio in Tuscany . She tanned well for one so light.
He almost lifted his hand to touch her cheek. There would be little
satisfaction in knowing her name now that her skin was singing a siren’s song
to him.
“My name is Angelina Natale.”
“Ah. You are an angel, after all. I have not seen you
around here for very long. Did you just fall from heaven?”
He watched her full lips while the sound of earthy
laughter, though shaky, amped up the adrenaline coursing through his veins. A
vision of her lying naked beneath him, her golden eyes glazed in passion,
teased him.
“I am from England .
I’m here for the symphony.” Her Italian was excellent.
“Angelina Natale, I would be honored if you would let me
escort you home.”
She put the violin case under one arm. “I would like
that.”
There was blood on her closed fist.
“Are you hurt?” He moved closer.
She moved her hand behind the folds of her skirt and
backed into the wall.
He waited, leaning his hand against the wall above her
head, inhaling her perfume. A beguiling combination of ... amber, apples and
musk. The scent suited her, organic, delicious. He wanted to lift her skirt
right now and take her against this wall, those long legs wrapped around him.
Angelina examined the buttons on his shirt that were in
such close proximity. Stepping away from him would be cowardly, and he would
guess she was made of sterner stuff. When she looked up it was with the
defiance he expected from a cornered tigress.
He held her gaze, reaching behind to bring her fist out
from the folds of her skirt.
The bloody gold in the center of her palm was a heavy
medium-sized loop engraved with a stylized dragon. She had pulled it from the
man’s ear and he had not made a sound.
“A memento?” He whispered in English close to her lips.
“I don’t want it. You can have it,” she answered in her
native tongue. Now, that was the truth. Her British accent was tinged with a
weary sadness. He wanted to pick her up against his chest and carry her home.
She had courage. Even while his mind worked to figure out
what her role was in the mystery of the Stradivarius, he admired that.
He couldn’t leave her alone now. Not on a street where men
escaped him when cornered in an alley and black clouds slid up church walls.
“Are you hungry?” Their lips were inches apart and he
wanted to kiss her, but that would have to come later.
“I forgot about lunch. I had caffe at four. I’m starving,”
the beautiful tigress admitted.
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Saturday, August 11, 2012
Friday, August 10, 2012
This Sunday on Sizzling Sundays...
This Sunday (Aug 12th) Author Rosanna Leo will be joining us where she will fill us in on her latest book and her favorite sexy hero!
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
New Book in the Works
Started working on a new book called Her Last Request. It's about a beautiful plus size woman who catches the eye of the angel of death. Intrigued?
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Sizzling Sunday
with Tom Covenent...
CD: How did you make the decision to become a writer?
TC: It isn't something
that I decided. I didn't wake up one day and think 'I'm going to be a writer'
and start writing, but I'm sure you know that isn't how it works. I don't
really think of myself as a writer at all, I'm just someone who writes! When I
was a boy, I used to write, not stories, just prose. It was only very recently
that I actually completed a story.
CD: Who is your favorite author? Favorite book?
TC:
I dont really have
a favourite author, I have favourite books, favourite stories. 'Dont Look Back', Daphne Du Maurier, some HP
Lovecraft works, some Stephen King but not all, I loved 'Lord of the RIngs and
read it more than 5 time, I buried myself in his world.
CD:
Where do you get the inspiration for your stories
TC:
An interesting
question! From life, either as it is or as I think it could be!
CD:
Do your characters come first or the does the plot come first?’
TC:
Characters first.
My stories develop on their own, I like to be surprised, just as the reader
does. Sometimes I wonder where the line is between reading and writing!
CD: Have you ever fallen in lust… I mean love with one of your characters?
TC:
No, never. They are
usually my escape, they do things I don't do. I dont respect them - but I enjoy
them immensely.
CD:
When it comes to your sultry sex scenes – where do your ideas come
from?
TC:
Experience of
course. I'm kidding! Usually I just take things further than I ever did in real
life, go to places I never dared!
CD:
Have you ever been turned on by something you’ve written?
TC:
All the time!
CD:
If you had the opportunity for a one night stand with one of your
characters who would it be and why?
TC:
I'd run a mile!
Seriously, they are far to daring for me!
CD:
Tell us about your current novel.
TC:
Well, it's not a
novel. Its a collection of short erotic stories.
CD:
Is it a stand alone story or part of a series? If it’s a series what
can we expect in the next chapter?
TC:
They are stand
alone stories but I intend following all of them up, the characters have much
more to give.
CD: What can we expect from you in the future? Any new books in the works?
Here is a description of Tom's book along with the link to purchase a copy of your very own!
A summary...
These six hot erotic tales are shaped just right to spice up those lonely nights alone, or maybe add a little extra fun to those not so lonely nights with your partner. Why not snuggle down to read together? Wives, husbands, lovers, everyone will find a story to suit, in this hot first volume.
Six erotic tales for the nights you find yourself alone.
1. Amateur Porn Wife
When their sons work colleagues come to call, they find Frank and Carol prepared for a Friday night of passion. After watching a TV channel dedicated to amateur porn, their visitors convince them that they could do better. Soon it’s lights, camera – and action!... (Read more) Six erotic tales for the nights you find yourself alone.
1. Amateur Porn Wife
When their sons work colleagues come to call, they find Frank and Carol prepared for a Friday night of passion. After watching a TV channel dedicated to amateur porn, their visitors convince them that they could do better. Soon it’s lights, camera – and action!
2. A Greek Orgy
It was the first time he had seen her go topless on the beach, he never imagined it would be like this!
3. Walking in the woods
To escape the boredom of a Bank Holiday, they take a walk in the woods. Another couple may have had the same intention, but their walk turns out to be far more far more interesting.
4. A Husbands Tale
She didn't know what dogging was, but she does now!
5. A MILF Exposed
She went along to support a project, only to find she was the project.
6. Coming out
A fetish shared is a fetish doubled.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Reviews!
Ok people! I really appreciate the fact that you all take the time to write reviews about my books after you read them but let me explain what a review is... A review is your opinion of the story - the plot, the characters, etc. It's not to beat down on the author because Nook or Kindle has reformatted what was actually written to fit their systems. I realize at times this can be an issue but is no fault of the authors. Please keep that in mind when you write your reviews! And please do not write a review unless you've read the book!
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