Book of the Week: Vampire Slayer

Jazz is one of my favorite characters that I’ve created. In his words:

You see, my real job is vampire slayer. Yeah, yeah it’s also not normal for satyrs to hunt vamps. We’re easily distracted by beer, boobs and bands, but beneath our three in the afternoon hang-overs, we’re good guys who can be pushed to our limit like everyone else.

Jazz is actually one of the first characters I created way back when I was taking writing classes. In the first story, the surprise reveal at the end was Jazz being a satyr. My teacher told me that audiences did not like “gotcha endings.” So then I tried to write it from the perspective of the love interest. The hope was audiences would be surprised in a good way along with Kyra when Jazz revealed himself as a Satyr. But I didn’t like that version. Several years later, I was invited to enter a story in an anthology (an “achievement unlocked” moment for me) and I decided to make one more attempt with Jazz. I did it in first person POV with him being straight-up with the audience about being a satyr. I love this version.

Vampire Slayer is a humorous, adventurous, and romantic way to start your week! Download today from Amazon for only $.99!

Reading Habit

Today when I was waiting in the drive through for my daily coffee, I was looking for new books on my phone. When I got to the window, the guy asked me what I was reading next. Clearly, I had not had my coffee yet because the question startled me. But I was excited to hear that he was trying to get back into the reading habit. Of course, I was sad when my name was not listed as one of the author’s he was reading πŸ™‚

Shhhhh….I’m Back

I feel a bit of chagrin with this post since my last post was titled “Hello World, it’s been a while,” and that was dated October 2017. Has it really been that long?

My absence is a result of needing money. I’m a musician which pays a lot better than being a writer, at least for me. I know there are writers out there who make big bucks or even enough bucks to live on. I pretty much make coffee bucks with my writing. However, I love to write. I have never entirely given up on my stories, or on learning how to be a better writer. Ironically, I have been in a crit group for the past five years.

What I truly gave up on was branding myself. I tried various things with book covers and blog posts and giveaways. But I never really understood how to package myself. For one, I’m very eclectic. As a musician, I play jazz, classical, pop even Irish music and that’s normal. But in the book world, a writer writes modern romance. Or they write fantasy. Or they write mystery. If they write all three, they often have three different pen names. I like to write romance. I like to write fantasy. I don’t want to create two different brands because I’m not a marketer. I’m an indie writer.

And I love to write. And I’ve missed the frequency with which I used to write. And I’ve missed sharing stories with readers.

So I invite you to join me again! If you like contemporary romance, I welcome you. If you like a little magic with your romance, I welcome you. If you are looking for something a little different, I welcome you.

I’ve been sneaking some of my old stories back on to the Amazon shelf, and I even added a new one. I’ll write some blogs about them soon…I promise πŸ™‚

In the meantime, I would love for you to check out my Amazon Page!

Masked Hearts Chapter 4b

Masked Heart FOR WEB

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Mark felt her body yield against him and begin to shiver. God, it’d been too long since he’d fucked. So long that restraint was near impossible, and he pressed himself fully against her with his cock showing his craving.

He broke off the kiss and whispered words that he hoped made sense through his haze of desire. β€œI would love to take you out on dates and slowly fall in love with you over coffee and bouquets of roses. But it’s been two years since I’ve had sex, and if all you want is a physical relationship, I’ll take it.”

He kissed her neck while he waited for her answer. When his lips nuzzled her below her ear she quivered again, and her hands slid up his back, drawing him even closer. Unfortunately, her words were contrary to her actions. β€œI can’t do that with a parent of one of my students. It’s unprofessional.”

His lips had strayed down to the base of her neck. He wanted to tug her shirt off her shoulder so he could kiss more of her, but he managed a modicum of restraint. He lifted his lips back to her ear and murmured, β€œI’ll pretend there’s nothing between us when I pick up Tyler. I’ll be like every other parent.” Even though the thought of unattached sex fired his drive, he didn’t want to give up on being her boyfriend. β€œAnd if we dated, I’d pretend nothing was going on until you were ready. I’m alone Friday to Sunday. We could date on those nights far away from school.”

Her body stiffened. β€œI don’t want to date.”

He drew back a little and cupped her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him. β€œI think you’re making that decision because you just saw someone who hurt you badly. I’ll text you my address. If you want to watch a movie and eat popcorn like a normal date, come over dressed like this. If you just want sex, wear a coat with nothing underneath.”

He must be out of his mindβ€”what a stupid thing to say. He waited for the slap, but instead, she wrapped one of her legs around his and drew him in for another kiss. He wished they weren’t in a parking lot in the middle of the day.

She broke off the kiss and gently pushed him away.

Without a word, she turned, grabbed her folders, got into her car and waited for him to step back before she drove off.

He watched her going, wondering if she’d take him up on the movie date. He told himself that’s what he wanted. But two years was a long, long time to go without sex.

***