Did you ever want to just shake things up?

“I aim to misbehave.”

                  Captain Malcolm Reynolds

One of my favorite quotes from SERENITY the Joss Whedon movie that wrapped up the loose-ends left dangling when people of limited vision cancelled his television show FIREFLY. Celebrating the idea of a band of independent-minded citizens that challenged an authoritarian government who cared nothing about individual freedoms, sort of seems fitting this month. I know, I’m a day late for the real party but I celebrated by having a FIREFLY/SERENITY marathonJ.

I get a kick out of people who challenge authority or simply the status quo. I like characters that push the envelope and aren’t afraid to explore the question “what if”. About a year ago, I looked at some of my erotic romance stories and as much as I still loved them all, I thought it might be time to push the envelope and delve into a subject that might challenge me and inspire something new and different.  

Nope, I didn’t stray into the BDSM realm, I leave that for authors who have taken the time to research and understand the practice. I have a wonderful critique partner, Francesca Hawley. She explains whatever I don’t understand but alas, my muse has not supplied me with any BDSM story ideas. I will however, keep you posted. With her, I never know what to expect.

I thought that D/s was where she was going when she suggested BEND OVER, COWBOY. How was my audience going to react to a hero who was willing to let his girlfriend use a strap-on to fulfill one of her fantasies?

My muse had the audacity to flip her feather boa at me before she told me to suck it up. Then she dared me to write the story without straying into the realm of D/s. Did I mention she knows how to push my buttons?

I have to tell you that before this story was released I was a little worried about my readers. They were used to an entirely different kind of story. I didn't need to worry. Apparently, readers thought any man who loved his girl-friend and was up for a little experimentation was their kind of hero. 

As a reader, have you ever been tempted to read something outside your comfort zone? As an author, has any subject outside your comfort zone tempted you to write a story? Leave me a comment and as part of my ongoing celebration of the month, I’ll award someone one of my back list titles.

An Excerpt From: BEND OVER, COWBOY

Copyright © PARIS BRANDON, 2012

All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.

Whether he was wearing jeans and a denim shirt or the tailored tuxedo that covered his lanky frame tonight, from the top of his wavy, pitch-black hair to the tips of his custom-made, size-thirteen, hand-tooled leather cowboy boots, Tyler “Tall” Garrett was the sexiest man Kitty Jones had ever come across.

She’d “bought” the rodeo cowboy two years ago at Marcy Pennington’s Auction for the Arts benefit. It had been lust at first sight and it had taken every penny in her checking account to outbid Livy Winthrop. But damn. The man’s smile could light up a room and it didn’t hurt that he was four inches taller than her five-foot-ten. He was one of the few men around whom she didn’t dwarf when she wore her favorite stiletto heels.

She could still call up the memory of the sparkle that had lit his baby blues that first time, when the gallery lights over the temporary catwalk weren’t shining in his eyes and he could put a face to her voice. The dinner date she’d purchased had turned into breakfast and before the month was out she was pretty much staying at his ranch outside of Fort Worth every weekend.

She got wet every time she thought about sex with Tall Garrett. She got even wetter when she thought about bending her very tough, pleasure-seeking cowboy over and riding him until he screamed for mercy. Less mercy than he might need at the moment, cornered by Livy Winthrop and her herd of dutiful sorority sisters.

She’d bet money that the clueless woman had asked him once again what size his feet were while her little clique tittered. Any minute now she and Tall would be wishing everyone happy Valentine’s Day and ducking out for some real fun. As much as she loved the gallery owner who’d thrown so much business her way, Marcy’s party had become more about tradition for them than a social obligation and she couldn’t wait for their private festivities to begin.

And that would be as soon as Tall flipped a coin to decide which one of them would be rewarded with the fantasy of their choice. All she had to do was win. He finally broke away from the group and as he strode toward her his scowl was something to behold. “I need me a longneck beer and a woman who knows how to behave herself in public,” he announced as he sidled up to her.

“Poor baby, all I have is this,” she said, holding up her champagne flute. “And don’t you dare ask me to snag you one of those imported frou-frou beers that Marcy serves because I don’t like wrapping my tongue around the names and having waiters look down their pointy little noses at me,” she grumbled good-naturedly and smiled when he stepped closer.

His gaze latched on to the top half of her bare breasts. The other half was held up by a glittery silver swathe of some space-age material that was supposed to be as sturdy as chain mail. “I like that dress,” he drawled and stayed focused on her very generous cleavage, peeking out of the scooped neckline of her slinky gown.

“Grabs your attention, does it?” she asked, not bothering to suppress her grin. Hell, she wore her gowns low so he would look. The test was if he brought his gaze back up to hers and was polite enough to look properly appreciative. Which he always did. No woman wanted to be under appreciated, whether she wore a training bra or needed miracle support for her double-Ds.

He was looking around but no one was paying them any mind and she grinned full-out because he’d moved slightly to block her from view. “Uh…yeah.”

“This woman who knows how to behave herself in public—would you want her to do that in private, too?” she asked sweetly.

“You plan on misbehavin’ anytime soon?” he asked, sounding hopeful as hell. His sexy grin made her want to drag him into the nearest dark corner and rub up against him like a cat but she’d just caught Livy’s confused what-the-hell-does-he-see-in-your-big-butt glare.

For someone as astute as the beautiful marketing executive usually was about business, she didn’t have a clue about personal relationships. Livy, with her lithe little cheerleader body and her surgically perfect profile, was a trophy hunter and she couldn’t seem to wrap her mind around the fact that Tall didn’t have any interest in being part of her collection.

Bless her heart.

Kitty had had about all this party she could politely stand and she could tell Tall was getting itchy when he reached into his pants pocket. “I think it’s time for our annual coin toss,” he suggested, pulling out what she knew to be the same quarter he’d used the first time they’d cut and run from Marcy’s annual to-do.

She knew because he kept it on the dresser in his bedroom. “Toss away, cowboy. I call heads,” she said sweetly and watched him flip the coin into the air, catch it and slap it down on the back of his hand.

His lips twitched after he lifted his palm and she knew she’d won again. “You are the luckiest woman alive.”

“Don’t I know it,” she bragged and couldn’t resist winking at him. She’d been flirting with the idea of how this night was going to end since last summer’s Fourth of July impromptu photo shoot when she’d posed him naked except for his chaps and boots. And that raggedy-ass cowboy hat that was almost as battered as he was after surviving riding bulls and anything else he could get his hands on during his ten-year stint on the rodeo circuit.

She smiled and he looked wary, but as usual, very eager. “Are you going to tell me what I’m in for or are you just going to smile all night and make me guess?”

She leaned in close and breathed in the sharp tang of his cologne that reminded her of crisp, dry leaves, earthy moss and sun-warmed leather. “I want to take you to bed and not let you out for days. I want to tie you up and watch your face while I take you every way you can imagine and some I hope you haven’t even thought about yet…

I hope you enjoyed the excerpt! Don’t forget to leave a comment and until next month,

Happy Reading!

Paris Brandon

http://parisbrandon.com

Bend Over, Cowboy-5 Stars, Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews

Petting Kitty-Ellora’s Cave

Cross My Heart-NOR Top Pick

Head Over Heels-5 Hearts, The Romance Studio

Assassin’s Kiss-4 Stars Romantic Times Book Review

A Brief Stroll Through Ancient History with Sybil and Rose

Last night I was trying to come up with an entertaining post for this, my second on the RB4U. There's always the one man's ceiling is another man's floor factor that gets in the way. And being a writer, of course I had a dozen possibilities in my head! This morning I had one more about the 4th of July. Oh well maybe next year for that one.

Even as a child I could entertain myself. My imagination was always active -- I'd draw, sculpt, carve, color, and cut paper for hours. Because of that innate desire to create, my mother always harbored the wish I'd be an artist of some sort. Intent on helping me find my niche, she supplied me with all sorts of tools and materials. She also she loaded me up with books on famous paintings and the Chicago Art Institute was just minutes away. I never followed the tangible arts, I went in another direction entirely. I wonder what she'd think of this author business!

Anyway, I once had a marvelous book about Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel, and I spent hours poring over the details. The artist was a master at painting perspective and tromp l'oeil, Impressive considering he painted much of the whole enormous ceiling on his back. Of all the images from the Sistine Chapel, one in particular caught my eye and compelled me to learn more. It was the Delphic Sybil (Sibyl) better known as the Oracle At Delphi.

Just prior to the Sybil coming on the scene, a goatherd tending his flock on the slope of Mount Parnassus noticed his goats bleated strangely when grazing near a certain fissure in the mountainside. Drawing nearer, he was seized by what he referred to as divine presence. Unknown at the time, the mechanics of this presence involved plate tectonics, those mobile rocky plates forming the earth's surface. The two that came together there, the Eurasian Continental Plate and the Aegean Plate, created the fissure. It was here through the porous rock along the crevasse that methane and ethane, two toxic hydrocarbon gasses, were released into the air. 

This mountainside soon became one of the most important religious sites of the ancient world. A stone temple dedicated to the god Apollo was erected in a natural amphitheater. They had a feeling the airs of the temple had special properties so a small alcove was built to catch the fumes from the fissure and the CO2 from the rich waters of a sacred spring deliberately channeled through the temple. Inside the temple walls sat the Pythia -- specially trained women who dedicated themselves to Apollo. They became the Delphic Oracles.  

After preparing herself through fasting and cleansing, the Oracle sat on her special tripod stool and breathed it all in. Wracked with spasms, she fell into an exalted state of mind. From this toxic trance, she responded to questions and gave advice with prophetic wisdom directly inspired by Apollo himself. It was said at times she was spot on in her prophecy, but occasionally she babbled and didn't make sense. At times her answers were clear, but were beyond the understanding of the questioner.  It's curious to note she only divined on special days. To do otherwise would prove deadly. On at least one occasion the Pythia was forced from her divine schedule, and sure enough, she went into seizures and died a few days later. I've wondered about this for more than half of my life. There was significance to the schedule, but how was it one day was safer than the next? The oracles spoke at Delphi for a thousand years.

I hope you've enjoyed this little walk through ancient history. Sybil plays an important role in my work in progress. if you'd like to sample first chapters of my other books just ask and I'll send them on.

Speaking of art...Loving Leonardo, my unusual Victorian polyamorous love story with a touch of reader-interactive art history, won 2nd place in the International Digital Awards through the OKRWA (Oklahoma chapter of Romance Writers of America). I'm happy. Reader-interactive art history is as close as I get mom!
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Rose-Anderson
 

Rose is multi-published author and dilettante who loves great conversation and learning interesting things to weave into stories. She lives with her family and small menagerie amid oak groves and prairie in the rolling glacial hills of the upper mid-west.
Main Blog:
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http://calliopeswritingtablet.com/

My Links Page -- oh so many
http://calliopeswritingtablet.com/links-links-more-links/ 

Guest Blog: Sharon Hamilton: Writing Damaged Heroes

My next SEAL Brotherhood book, SEAL Under Covers (Book 3), will be released the end of July. The hero, Armando Guzman, is a SEAL sharpshooter, raised in Puerto Rico. His mother brings him to the LA area when he is an early teen after the death of his father.

I wanted to explore the PTSD side of military service, how some of the men who come home find it hard to adjust to “ordinary life.” I imagine on the Teams in real life, survivor’s guilt can be huge, and that’s part of what I explore. In combat situations, freak accidents and circumstances happen. The SEALs are trained to improvise, and always be on the lookout for signs others would miss, as a means to stay alive. But when they come home, family issues and financial pressures can sometimes cause a “war zone” around them. Suddenly even the best-prepared warrior is stuck feeling they have few options.

I recently visited the Navy SEAL/UDT museum in Ft. Pierce, Florida. In this fine museum, founded and run by Navy SEALs as well as other volunteers, there is the actual lifeboat Captain Phillips was held captive in by Somali pirates. A team of Navy SEALs later rescued him. Three snipers simultaneously took out the pirates in a precision move on wavy seas. They had only one chance to do this. Failure was not an option. This amazing story is told here:

http://youtu.be/e3bXlXtcHTY

When you consider the time and training it takes to pull off one of these missions, it truly boggles the mind. But likewise, when someone who is so well trained comes back home to the vanilla land of milk and honey, one can only imagine the difficulty that causes, where the enemy is not well defined and the objective less in focus.

And when you add to the mix falling in love, it can spawn a variety of problems and unintended consequences. That’s where the story lies, in that messy stuff around the relationship between the hero and heroine.

And here’s something I feel the need to point out. I’m a storyteller, not a historian. These are not facts I’m writing, but fiction. I make changes as I see fit as a writer. I don’t claim to have a 100% factual accounting of everything that may have happened in real life. I take the parts that I’ve heard, or read about, or seen, and make them part of my own stories, much like a painter does when he looks at a beautiful garden and paints a landscape. It won’t be an exact replica of the original. It is one facet, as seen by the painter, of the original.

I think that’s what I like best about writing SEAL Romance. These are real life flesh and blood Team Guys who do miraculous things, and then go home to their families and try to be normal. But they are far from normal.

And that’s why we want to read about them. I hope that I have brought justice to one tiny aspect of their existence, and pay the proper honor that is their due.

BIO:
Sharon’s award-winning spicy Navy SEAL stories in the SEAL Brotherhood series have consistently made best sellers lists and review sites. Her characters follow a sometimes rocky road to redemption through passion and true love.

Her Golden Vampires of Tuscany are not like any vamps you’ve read before, since they don’t go to ground and can walk around in the full light of the sun.

Her Guardian Angels struggle with the human charges they are sent to save, often escaping their vanilla world of Heaven for the brief human one. You won’t find any of these beings in any Sunday school class.

She lives in Sonoma County, California with her husband, and two Dobermans. A lifelong organic gardener, when she’s not writing, she’s getting vera vera dirty in the mud, or wandering Farmer’s Markets looking for new Heirloom varieties of vegetables and flowers.

Life is one fool thing after another.
Love is two fool things after each other.
http://sharonhamiltonauthor.blogspot.com
http://www.sharonhamiltonauthor.com
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSharonHamilton
https://twitter.com/#!/sharonlhamilton

The Dog Days of Summer are Here ~ and the World of 1984!

The first day of the Summer Solstice 2013 began June 21^st, and the sweltering sun and heat came in with a roar. At least here in the U.S., the Dog Days of Summer have hit us. And hard. We’ve had a few named hurricanes, and more are predicted. The crazy weather started with the devastating storms raving parts of Oklahoma. We’ve only just begun. Wasn’t that a name of a song by The Carpenters? Good grief, I’m dating myself.

In a couple of days, for those who do recognize and celebrate the day, is the Fourth of July—Independence Day—and here in Central Florida, we’ll be hot, humid and more possible thunder bumpers. Not sure how that will play out for the fireworks events happening around the area, but hopefully everyone, everywhere will be able to enjoy them. Exercising our patriotic spirit once a year is good, not to get political here, but with what I’ve seen the last year is frightening. I don’t know if I would have noticed what was happening with our rights as U.S. citizens if not for the interaction I’ve been involved with since starting my writing career. Trademark infringement issues, something all of here on this blog are quite familiar with, was an issue last year. Amazon doing wonky things with their new algorithms making it difficult to search for erotic/a romance as a category, and most recently in the past few weeks Facebook has decided to take down pages where there is questionable degradation toward women. 

In theory, the action sounds like a good thing, but they are targeting many and one which is BDSM groups and even author pages. Whether you like the sub-genre or not this isn’t that different from the PayPal fiasco last year. We, as authors, have enough to deal with on a daily basis and to continually be bombarded with one more avenue by which we try and connect with readers, we have to make sure we’re not offending women? We are women, at least the majority who visit this blog, and I’m frustrated yet again. These things side-track me. All I want and love to do is just create sexy stories. I swear, I’m about to say forget all the social networking, keep my nose glued to my laptop and forget about everything else around me. I may not make any money, but I won’t be stressed anymore about the BS going on.

Oh, and Blogger has also changed their terms of service as of June 30.

Please be advised that on June 30th 2013, we will be updating our Content Policy to strictly prohibit the monetization of Adult content on Blogger. After June 30th 2013, we will be enforcing this policy and will remove blogs which are adult in nature and are displaying advertisements to adult websites.

If your adult blog currently has advertisements which are adult in nature, you should remove them as soon as possible as to avoid any potential Terms of Service violation and/or content removals.

I’m don’t have links on my blog to adult sites (I read the notice like Adult Toy Shops, Porn, etc.), but what if this eventually is interpreted as even the books we write and the on-line retailers one can purchase our books?

This is getting to be scary stuff.

What are your thoughts? Am I being paranoid? Are you concerned too? Should we just ignore what’s happening? Is this 1984 but coming a little later than George Orwell wrote about?

Okay, my monthly rant is over. If you want to find me on social places other than my personal blog, here are the links (if I haven't been banned or I gave up and took the pages down).

Website: http://cynthiaarsuaga.weebly.com
Publisher Page: http://store.secretcravingspublishing.com/index.php?main_page=products_all&filter_author=1&zenid=7ea916acb5075615d6f30b6f25e77c3e
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CynthiaArsuaga?ref=tn_tnmn
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#%21/CynthiaArsuaga
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4715026-cynthia-arsuaga
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/cynthiaarsuaga/
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/cynthia-arsuaga/30/101/49b
Vampire Book Realm: http://www.vampirebookrealm.com/cynthia-arsuaga.html
Amazon Author Central: https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/profile?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0 

Go out and enjoy the fireworks!!!

Cynthia Arsuaga

Erotic Romance Author

http://romanticwordsbycynthia.blogspot.com

Tell Me How You Did In Last Month's Challenge

Welcome to Romance Books 4 Us everyone. I'm your tour guide for the day, Nicole Morgan and as some of you may have noticed I drop by with a new post on the first of every month and either ramble like a fool or amaze you with my intellect. LOL. Okay, yes that last one was a stretch, but...I've got you smiling now, don't I? Now that you're good and loosened up, go ahead and kick your shoes off, sit back, relax and enjoy!

Happy July everyone! The USA will be celebrating it's Independence Day in just a few days which should definitely give us all reason to cheer and spread good tidings. But, before we put on our patriotic hats and light our sparklers I wanted to check in with everyone about their special assignment from last month. Does anyone remember what I'd asked? Do you remember the virus I warned you all about? You know the one, the one that is so contagious that it can be spread from a mere smile??? That's right! I'm talking about KINDNESS!!! It's a sneaky little bugger but once it gets into your blood stream you become this happy person who enjoys life and tries to spread their smile to others. 

For those of you who missed last months post you can find it here: http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/2013/06/june-challenge-spread-contagious.html 

So, tell me how did you all do? Did you wrangle some fuddy duddys? Did you rain on the poopy parade of negative nellies? Did you make someone's day by simply offering them a smile? Whatever it was you chose to do allow me to say thank you for being a part of a movement which will hopefully infect many for years to come. 

Leave me a comment below and tell me your tales of kindness. I love to hear stories of random acts which bring only joy.   XOXO 

Nicole Morgan is an author of erotic romance novels, which more often than not have a suspenseful back story. Erotic romance mixed with good old-fashioned whodunit. While she's written everything from contemporary to paranormal her leading men will more than likely be wearing a uniform of some kind. From military to police officers, she has a love for writing about those who protect and serve. From her very first novel (which turned into a four book series) about Navy SEALs to her more recent releases you will be sure to find a few twists and turns you were not expecting.

She also has a recurring monthly column in Book & Trailer Showcase's eMagazine, and is a proud member of the Romance Books 4 Us Gold Authors. 

Find out more about Nicole and her books by visiting her website, blog, Google + Page, Twitter, Facebook and her Yahoo Group, Nicole’s Think Tank.

Until next month my lovies ~ Nicole