It's Time to Party!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

WooHoo! A chance to celebrate is always welcome at our house and since Mexican food is a particular favorite, it’s definitely time to party. I can’t think of a single holiday that isn’t celebrated with a feast and today I’m inviting everyone to attend. I’m also inviting everyone to share a recipe that they have shared to Pinterest. Just tell me where to find it and I’ll follow you!

Not on Pinterest? Just tell me about your most memorable party snack!

Is there anything that’s more fun than a party where everyone contributes a favorite dish? As the hostess, I’m going to be making the Ceviche and Guacamole so that everyone can get started with a fun little appetizer while I’m whipping up a few Margaritas and waiting for everyone to arrive.

Years ago, a friend of my mom gave her a wonderful recipe for Ceviche that I’m still using. Hubby is quite the fisherman so instead of halibut or any other firm-fleshed white fish we usually just use fresh crappie. The lemon juice actually cooks the fish and is a fun, fresh way to prepare it.

Ceviche

1 ½ lbs. fresh fish sliced into small, thin pieces

1 C. lemon juice

2 canned Serrano or Jalapeno chilies (rinsed, seeds removed and chopped)

½ C. minced onion

2 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded & chopped

1 t. salt

¼ C olive oil and/or white vermouth

Place the fish in a glass bowl (metal will react with the acidity of lemon), stir in lemon juice and refrigerate for 4-6 hours. Drain and reserve the juice. Pour juice into another glass bowl and toss with all remaining ingredients. Strain and add this to the fish. Chill for 2 hours, garnish with avocado slices and green olives and serve very cold. I usually place the chilled mix inside another bowl filled with ice. You can use tortilla chips to scoop this up but I much prefer the mix on a fancy cracker.

Guacamole

2 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted and diced
1/2 white onion, chopped

1 chopped tomato

¼ C. cilantro leaves, chopped

Salt to taste

 
Tortilla chips or fresh veggies, for serving. This recipe is supposed to serve 4-6. I usually double it for that number.

***In a pinch, I’ve been known to use prepared salsa instead of chopping the onion and tomato and if you use the kind that already has cilantro, you don’t have to add that either. I do like my guacamole a little chunkier so I’m not real big on mashing it to bits J

Classic Margarita

Lime wedge, plus two lime wheels for garnish

1 T. coarse salt for glass rims

4 oz. Tequila

2 oz. orange liquor (Cointreau)

1 ½ oz. fresh lime juice (from 2 limes)

I did mention that I love a party where everyone brings a tidbit and you can manage to make a meal from appetizers. To add to the festivities today, if you have a Pinterest page with a favorite party recipe, please share. Anyone contributing a pin or a recipe suggestion will be entered to win your choice of either a Kindle copy of my erotic romance novella, NO HOLDS BARRED or the Romance Books ‘4’ Us, ENTICE ME boxed set that includes my story, I’LL BE SEEING YOU.

Let’s get this party started!

Paris Brandon

http://parisbrandon.com

https://www.pinterest.com/parisbrandonaut/

Entice Me/I’ll Be Seeing You: http://www.amazon.com/Entice-Me-Luscious-Love-Stories-ebook/dp/B015YEHP9U/

No Holds Barred

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1082166501

Kobo:  https://goo.gl/XiBjFw

Barnes & Noble: http://goo.gl/7Oyq4j

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CF5X75M

The Gunslinger Principle

There was a time when e-book publishing was compared to the Wild West. The attitude was if you were fast enough, you could be the best. The problem with that was that even during the west's wild and woolly days when gunslingers were the elite, accuracy was the key. It didn't matter how fast you were, if you couldn't hit what you were aiming at, you didn't survive long.

While a good story is key, I think of accuracy in an e-book in terms of correct spelling and grammar and formatting that doesn't drive the reader crazy. I use every tool available to make sure that my books are accurate but the law of averages always makes me wonder if I haven't missed something. Lately, there's been quite a lot of discussion on the self-publishing group I follow about Amazon instituting a new rule that investigates reviewers complaints when a book has too many spelling errors.

How many is too many? How long will it take to convince Amazon that your character is speaking in dialect and that the word isn't really misspelled? How many complaints will they accept from any given reviewer before the reviewer is questioned? I believe this is a fairly new policy so only time will tell.


Nobody said this would be easy. I wouldn't have believed them if they had. My only plan at this point is to just write the best book I can and keep moving forward.


While I work on new projects, I'm revising and self-publishing my back-list. Last year's experience with the Romance Books '4' Us author boxed set, ENTICE ME was so much fun that I decided to try it on my own. NO HOLDS BARRED is an erotic romance novella first published in 2009 and now available at Amazon, iTunes, Barnes & Noble and Kobo. The sparkly new cover design is from SelfPubBookCoversCom./Shardel.


Blurb:

      What's a woman to do when the sexy younger man she can't forget tracks her down after a night spent celebrating her fortieth birthday? Charmed into a year of long-distance Sunday morning calls, Raphella Dotti agrees to spend a sensual week with Jake Truhorn, exploring all of her no-holds-barred-anything-goes, fantasies.
       Jake doesn't understand why anyone would suggest that Ella diet, get a nose job or change at all. She's smart, funny and an artist's dream. She's also the challenge he's been looking for his entire life. He isn't wasting one minute of the seven days he has to explore every one of Ella's desires and convince her that she's the woman he wants forever.

Snippet:

 She’d been leaving first for a long time now, before anyone could suggest a diet or a nose job or her personal favorite, liposuction. Before she fell into the trap of loving someone so much she allowed herself to become their latest project. And she could fall hard for Jake Truhorn. How ridiculous would that be? How dangerous?

She spent the next twenty-four hours convincing herself that she’d done the right thing, all the while frowning into mirrors at least once an hour, trying to smooth the crinkled little creases around her eyes and the laugh lines that she hadn’t paid any attention to before.

From now on she was just going to celebrate the anniversary of her fortieth birthday. And she was probably going to stop looking into mirrors. At least until she found a really great industrial strength night cream.

Two days later Jake Truhorn laid siege to her email, her phone and her sense of humor. She very gently informed him that the ten-year age gap was a problem. He made a joke about being the only one who’d be able to keep up with her in her old age, smoothly transitioning the conversation into their shared love of campy B-movie horror classics, ethnic food and a single-minded, obsessive passion for their work.

One year and innumerable emails and phone calls later he was still making jokes, still charming her—and he knew it.

“Where are you planning on celebrating your forty-first birthday?” he asked during their latest regular Sunday-morning-brunch-with-the-phone-to-their-ear-conversations.

“I’m not. I’m only going to celebrate the anniversary of my fortieth from now on,” she quipped before she thought better of it. The moment of silence that followed felt as if it lasted ten minutes. When he finally said something he sounded as if he’d been holding his breath.

“Then I say do it right. Spend a week with me. We’ll do all of the things we didn’t have time to do a year ago.”

Jack and Ella will always have a special place in my heart. I hope they've found their way into yours:)

Have a wonderful month!

Paris Brandon

http://parisbrandon.com 

No Holds Barred

Available now:

 

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1082166501

Kobo:  https://goo.gl/XiBjFw

Barnes & Noble: http://goo.gl/7Oyq4j

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CF5X75M

 

My Two Favorite Words: On Sale!

I love getting anything on sale and since books are my favorite form of entertainment hearing about a sale will make me smile faster than just about anything. If books on sale make you happy enough to smile, you might want to check out two of my older Ellora's Cave titles.

Happy Reading!

Assassin’s Kiss- Erotic Romance/Paranormal/shapeshifter

By Paris Brandon

Copyright 2009

Ellora’s Cave

On Sale now!

Kira, a two-natured jaguar shifter in heat, desperate for sex with her own kind, is moments from death at the hands of a band of rogue shifters when another jaguar rescues her.

Sebastian, a lone Jaguar Council Assassin, knows he’s in trouble when he chooses to neglect his duty to kill the rogues he’s been following and instead rescues the female whose scent intoxicates him. He can’t resist the first touch of her naked flesh or her heated demands for the sex they both want.

But Kira is the forbidden halfling of prophecy, the key to a secret that the Jaguar Council will kill to keep and their ancient enemy, the Brotherhood, will kill to possess. Tortured by a desire that neither can deny, even sex with Sebastian becomes dangerous for Kira, they fight their way through a growing list of enemies for the chance to be together.

Excerpt: http://www.jasminejade.com/productspecs/9781419924088.htm

"Brandon has created a detailed world and provides a well-crafted plot filled with action, danger and great characters..."
–Romantic Times Book Reviews

"...Assassin's Kiss is a must read for fans of suspense, action, shifter and erotic romance genres"
–Just Erotic Romance Reviews

"... As a rule, I usually enjoy stories of this genre and Ms. Brandon totally brings the idea to the next level"
–Romance Junkies

Ellora’s Cave: http://www.jasminejade.com/p-7641-assassins-kiss.aspx

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Assassins-Kiss-ebook/dp/B003ATPPQM/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_ke?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314443307&sr=1-1

All Romance ebooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-assassin039skiss-443467-144.html

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/assassins-kiss-paris-brandon/1100323443?ean=9781419960390

No Holds Barred- Erotic Romance/Older Woman/Younger Man

By Paris Brandon

Copyright 2009

Ellora’s Cave

This novella is on sale now at EC ($.99), Amazon and All Romance e Books (ARe)

Raphaella Dotti fights the urge to run when the handsome, sexy artist she can’t forget tracks her down after a one-night stand to celebrate her fortieth birthday. Charmed into a year of long-distance, Sunday morning calls, she agrees to celebrate her next birthday with him, exploring all her fantasies in a week of no-holds-barred, anything-goes sex.

Jake doesn’t understand why anyone would suggest that Ella diet, get a nose job or change at all. She’s smart, funny and an artist’s dream. She’s also the challenge he’s been looking for his entire life. He’s determined to fulfill every one of Ella’s desires and convince her that she’s the woman he wants, forever. It’s all about trusting herself…and him. Because losing Ella isn’t an option.

Excerpt: http://www.jasminejade.com/productspecs/9781419921285.htm

Ellora’s Cave: http://www.jasminejade.com/p-6931-no-holds-barred.aspx

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/No-Holds-Barred-ebook/dp/B0031TZ97G/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314443104&sr=1-2

ARe: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-noholdsbarred-480316-144.html

Paris Brandon

http://parisbrandon.com

http://twitter.com/#!/ParisBrandon

Other Ellora’s Cave Titles

Cross My Heart-NOR Top Pick

Head Over Heels-5 Hearts, The Romance Studio

Assassin’s Kiss-4 Stars Romantic Times Review