Guest Post & Giveaway: Corrina Lawson

One of the questions I hear a lot is “Where do you get your ideas?”

I assume I get that more often than other writers because my ideas are a little out there. :)

The book I’m offering as a giveaway today, Eagle of Seneca, arose from a whole bunch of different inspirations, including my love of all things King Arthur, reading Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine as a teen and my fascination with history of King Philip’s War in New England, the last significant effort by the Northeastern native tribes to drive out the English settlers.

Add in the inspirations for my characters, which include the varied cast of Lois McMaster Bujold’s science fiction stories and my love of superheroes comics, and you have the mash-up that is the alternate history Seneca series.

The series is set around 900 AD in a world where the Roman Empire survived to colonize North America. For the characters,  I had people from three different cultures:--Native Americans, Romans and Vikings. The fun of writing the romance was to see if couples from such different cultures could overcome the cultural boundaries.  Not to mention the great chance it offered for conflict and angst. :)

All this meant I got to write a Native American princess flying a glider developed by her lover, a Roman engineer, to attack an invading fleet from the European Empire. Not to mention having Viking longships battle the fleet, which is about the level of technology of Revolutionary War era British warships.

Best. Job. Ever.

I think most writers experience the world in a unique way in that everything they absorb--books, movies, television, travel, family, children--eventually rolls around in their heads and becomes inspirations for tales, though perhaps not in the same mosh as mine do.

For example, I was just lucky enough to spend several nights at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills on a press junket for my work with www.GeekMom.com as a mommy blogger. Aside from deciding that being treated as rich doesn’t suck, It’s extremely likely the hotel will become a setting in one of my books down the line. I also got to meet Betty White in person and she made such an impression I suspect a character inspired by her will end up in a book at some point.

So the ideas come from everywhere.

And here’s the best part of that: that means everything you do as a writer can be research or classified as part of the writing process. Want to absorb Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick’s full backlist in a month? Awesome, I can learn how to plot suspense properly as well as be entertained. Watching “How the Earth Was Made” on cable television when I really should be writing? That’s okay. Because something in that show tripped an idea for the basis of magic in the steampunk world in my current work in progress.

About the only thing I can’t use in my writing are my kids, at least not directly. (Okay, I did use one of them for a cameo in a book.) But I think drawing on the joys and frustrations of parenting can really inspire a writer as well, even if only to make them run to a computer to make up stories to escape. :)

So the writers out there, the next time you’re sitting down in front of a television with popcorn and soda to watch a movie instead of write, it’s not being lazy.

It’s called looking for inspiration. :) 

~~~~

Prize: ecopy of EAGLE OF SENECA 

Buy: Amazon

For the giveaway: It is open international, ebook only.

Get your name in the running just answer the following question:

What energizes you up as a writer or a reader? 

(Could be anything from music to comics to books to movies.) 

Learn more about Corrina and her books on her website

Guest Post & Giveaway: Elise Hepner

Tapping into Creativity

Despite my enjoyment while writing erotica and erotic romance, sometimes I need to do other hobbies that get my creative juices flowing in a different direction. A change of pace is good for my ideas as well as a needed mind refreshment when I’m on a tight deadline. Some of my epic adventures include sewing, crocheting, calligraphy, and beading. But none of them really stuck like writing. While my husband does everything from chain mail to building his own computers, somehow I’m not too good with my hands unless they’re flying across a keyboard.

It’s not for lack of trying either—for the most part I can’t shut off my brain long enough to completely engage in an activity before I’m thinking about an idea for a story. Maybe that’s a sign that I work too much. Or maybe it’s a good thing because it keeps me in business.

Either way I’d certainly love to have the capacity for focus that I use while writing for painting—or anything else hobby wise. Mainly my brain relaxes while I color. Yes, coloring with crayons in kids coloring books is a really fun, relaxing time for me. I went from painting once a week as a child with my grandmother to coloring once every couple months in Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony coloring books.

Where most other hobbies failed to capture my attention for long enough than a week, there’s something about spreading pretty colors across a page without having to think about design, structure, or content that is freeing for me. I’ve got nothing to worry about but whether I’d like to use green or blue-green on my sunflower. In fact, I should probably do it more often. Working a job where I dictate what happens, what things look like, and how they come off on the page down to the smallest detail, it’s very nice to not have to worry about the little things when I’m creating in any genre.

I’ve talked to other authors about their need to create other things beyond their books and the inherent need to create textiles outside of our books is a recurring theme. What do you like to create in your spare time?

I’ll be doing a random drawing of anyone who answers in the comments section to win either their own copy of Finger Paintings or a copy of one book from my Ellora’s Cave backlist, winner’s choice. The giveaway will run until the 30^th of February.

Blurb:

When Calliope finds out about her surprise Valentine’s Day gift—a painting session with a bunch of third graders—thrilled isn’t exactly the operative word. Shot to hell are her dreams of sexually reuniting with her overworked, overstressed longtime girlfriend, Michelle, who hasn’t had time for anything other than a quickie in months.

With one foot in the classroom, Calliope’s floored by the naive, chipper school teacher, Miss Havard. Even better when she gets a firsthand look at the flirtatious way Michelle fawns over the new woman. Yet, Calliope soon finds out that there’s more to her girlfriend’s seemingly innocent V-day surprise. A salacious fantasy unfolds putting their communication—and their bodies—to the test.

Fingers can do much more than paint and sometimes teachers teach much better outside of the classroom.

Warning: This work contains mild D/s play, an f/f/f scene, and explores voyeurism in an elementary school hallway and the backroom of a classroom while kids are at recess.

Excerpt:

Calliope took a quick step forward digging her fingers into the soft flesh of Michelle’s shoulders pressing her girlfriend tighter to the wall. A quiet “squeak” from her girlfriend’s mouth raised the small hairs along Calliope’s arms. With little grace, Calliope forced her upper thigh between Michelle’s legs. So fast Michelle didn’t have much time to react before she was pinned to the wall.

Calliope relished the heated pressure of her girlfriend’s pussy through her panties. A not so subtle tease against Calliope’s jean-clad inner thigh as she tried to keep her head in the game. No matter what happened, Michelle wanted her—that was self-evident. Calliope grinned with slow burning anticipation. She removed her fingers from her girlfriend’s shoulders and slammed both of her palms against the concrete block wall on either side of Michelle’s head.

“What are you going to do now?” Calliope taunted.

Michelle barely flinched. It didn’t take a genius to notice the undisguised lust widening her alert green gaze. True, they hadn’t played Michelle’s favorite dominate and submissive sexual game in a while—but that’s only because after the brutal rebuffs Calliope grew sick of doing all the work only when and where Michelle wanted it. Now Calliope didn’t give a damn, she’d do anything to get them going in the right direction.

When Michelle trembled Calliope sensed every movement against her upper body and savored her girlfriend’s instant submission like a fine wine. She leaned in—close enough to taste the perfume on Michelle’s skin— roses and a hint of coconut sun tan lotion. Michelle’s hands clamped onto Calliope’s waist against her tank top, her little fists twisting into the fabric. One slow, seductive trail of her tongue from below her girlfriend’s jaw, down her neck, and across her skipping, frenzied pulse point left Calliope more than eager for a second, longer taste.

Michelle shuddered tight against Calliope’s leg with a sigh that tickled tiny wisps of hair sticking out along the crown of Calliope’s black ponytail.

~~~ 

Elise Hepner Erotica/Erotic Romance Author
WebsiteEllora's Cave
Excessica
Twitter

Guest Post & Giveaway: Hailey Edwards

Will Write For…

Although writing is its own reward, sometimes a girl gets a little tired of meeting that daily write goal. Everyone needs a push now and again, and once I heard about my friend Sasha’s reward program, I was ready to sign on the dotted line. 

Sasha and I have a thing about nail polish—we buy it like it’s going out of style. Her reward program is simple. As new polishes are released that tickle our fancies, we make notes of the ones we want most. Instead of indulging in an impulse buy, we hold firm until we’ve accomplished something writing-wise that earns us our polish of choice.

While this program is tailored to maximize our rewards…it also maximizes our motivation.

One new bottle of polish for each project finished, and one new bottle of polish for each project submitted. Two bottles for every revision request, two bottles of polish for every contract received, and sometimes up to five bottles per rejection. That last one depends, doesn’t it? Some rejections require more glitter/flaky/duochrome polish to get over than others.

The funny thing is, and it figures my husband would be the one to notice and comment, but it also saves money. Nail polish can be expensive (anywhere from $2 to $20 or more a bottle). Since it takes an average of three to four months for me to produce a novel, he supports the reward program (and months without tiny boxes arriving in the mailbox) wholeheartedly.

I’m halfway through the first draft of my current work-in-progress and my eyes have already started to wander. I’m thinking if I hoard all those rewards, I ought to have enough points saved upon completion of this manuscript to purchase the full set of five flaky polishes by Finger Paints. Much like shiny new story ideas, I fall victim to the temptation of flashy polishes.

But, as much as I love all things sparkly, I’m afraid my characters prefer getting their hands dirty. Emma, the heroine in my newest release, Evermine, never wears polish, makeup, gowns or jewelry by choice. She does, however, have beautiful lavender tattoos covering her entire body. While the effect is lovely, the tattoos serve as a reminder of who she was, what she was, and that the only male she’d ever loved risked his life to make her all she could be.

He can be a slave to his past…or allow her love to free him.

There’s such a thing as too much change. Emma’s sister is mated. Revolution is brewing in her home realm. The last straw: her would-be mate is back from the dead and back under her skin—yet when it comes to the last five years, he’s not talking.

Desperate for a chance to start her own life, she answers the queen’s call to ensure equality for all of Askara’s newly freed slaves. It’s the perfect opportunity to escape a heartbreak in the making named Harper.

Harper loses a piece of his fractured soul when Emma walks away. His lies were meant to protect her from torturous years that drove him to the point of madness. Instead, when he comes to her a year later to help avert a crisis in a freed-slave community, the wedge those lies drove between them is firmly in place.

As their new lives collide with old wounds, they race to stop a threat that could not only destroy the queen, but send Harper back to the hell he escaped. Emma must decide if the man she still loves deserves equal rights to her heart.

Warning: This title contains torn pants, ripped gowns, and sand in uncomfortable places. It also includes one overcompensating villain, one gnarly priest, and two battered hearts willing to give this thing called love one last chance.    

Click here to read an excerpt from Evermine. Click here for more information on my upcoming releases, including the third book in the Daughters of Askara series, Eversworn.

In celebration of Evermine’s release, I’m giving away one digital copy of Everlong and one digital copy of Evermine to one lucky visitor. Leave a comment below on your favorite impulse buy or your favorite writing reward, and you’ll be entered for a chance to win! 

Contest ends on 2-26! 

Guest Post & Giveaway: Gabriella Hewitt

Aztec Myths that Enchant

The second novella in my Shadow Warrior series comes out March 20^th from Samhain Publishing. Yeah! I’m counting down the days until release.

Writing is never easy, but in a paranormal romance, there is the extra aspect of world building. While SHADOW VISIONS is a contemporary story, it weaves Aztec mythology and culture into the plot making for a rich storytelling experience.

Aztec mythology isn’t as well known as the Greek, Roman or even Norse myths. Although people may be familiar with Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec sun god, they probably have never heard of Ehecatl, god of the wind. Aztec names are not the easiest to pronounce, are they?

The wind god plays an important role in this story. In the Aztec creation myth, when the fourth sun was destroyed, the gods gathered to decide what to do. Two gods jumped into a sacrificial fire. One became the sun and the other the moon. However, it wasn’t until Ehecatl blew on them that they were able to move. Thus, his other name is Yohualli Ehecatl, the One Who Moves Matter in the Universe. In fact, it is said that Ehecatl has no corporeal form.

There is another myth attached to Ehecatl. It is one of love and passion and tragedy. There is a goddess called Itzpapaloti who was feared greatly by the Aztecs. It was said that she wore a necklace of human hearts, and during a solar eclipse, when the moon swallowed the sun, the goddess would come down and devour all humanity. Now, Itzpapaloti had a mortal granddaughter named Mayahuel, a beautiful young maiden that she kept hidden in the farthest corners of the universe. Mayahuel was lonely and longed for companionship. One day, Mayahuel felt the caress of the wind god and became enchanted. Every night the wind god would visit the young maiden and transport her to different parts of the universe. Within the wind’s embrace the two lovers became one. However, Itzpapaloti discovered the two were meeting and became enraged. She sent her tzitzimime, celestial demons, out to search for them.

Mayahuel and Ehecatl embraced and combined to form a plant. One side became the feminine side and the other the masculine side. The plant took root in the desert, where it stood solitary and proud. The tzitzimime discovered the hiding place of the lovers and broke off the branch of Mayahuel, tearing it into pieces. After they left, Ehecatl became the wind once more. He grieved for his lost love and buried the pieces. At that spot grew the first maguey plant. It is from this plant that they syrup agave is produced, not to mention Pulque, a favorite alcoholic beverage of the gods.

Researching Aztec myths is fascinating. Threading them into my shadow warrior tales has been fun and challenging. I’ll leave you with a blurb and an excerpt from my first shadow warriors novella, OUT OF THE SHADOWS. I hope you enjoy it. Don’t forget to stay tuned for the next installment, SHADOW VISIONS, coming very soon!

You can always find out what I am up to by visiting my website at www.GabriellaHewitt.com . Check out my other series and my free recipe booklets.

In celebration of the 2^nd book in the SHADOW WARRIOR series, I am holding a contest. Anyone who comments in this post will be eligible to win a copy of my first Shadow Warriors novella, OUT OF THE SHADOWS. In your comment, please put your email address, so that I can contact the winner.

EBOOK Order
Available everywhere ebooks are sold
Book One – OUT OF THE SHADOWS
When the last shadow warrior falls, so will all humanity.
With each demon he vanquishes in service to the Aztec sun god, Tomás fulfills his duty to defend humankind—and surrenders another piece of his humanity to his wolf spirit. All hope seems lost until a mission leads him to the door of the one thing he thought he’d never find…his spirit mate. The only woman who can save him from oblivion.
When Carolina hears the wolf’s howl, it pierces the very core of her lonely heart. Yet she dare not answer. As the last guardian of her land and the secret it contains, she is haunted by the mistake that cost the lives of her family. Never will she repeat that mistake, especially with a warrior who is more beast than man.
Chasing away the demon is easier than breaching the barriers around the heart of the young woman who possesses a strange power over water—and his very soul. But if they are to survive the night, he must convince her they are destined to stand together.


***EXCERPT***
A wolf’s howl pierced the desert silence, causing the animals to stir restlessly in their stalls. Wolves had been reintroduced into Arizona, but she had yet to see or hear one so close to her ranch. Was it an omen?
Carolina paused in her chores to stare out the open barn door into the gathering darkness.
For a moment, she let herself get caught up in the long, solitary note. It felt like a kindred spirit. She knew loneliness intimately. Only her loneliness did not come from the vast miles of the sun-parched Sonoran desert that surrounded her, but out of the necessity to protect her goddess, her land’s secret. As one of the few amongst her people to become a guardian, her choices were limited.
The one occasion she’d invested herself in another, he’d betrayed her. She’d foolishly placed her hope and trust in Billy and she’d paid a horrendous price. Her desire to find someone to share the workload, her joy and sadness, and the burden of her secret—just as her parents had done—had blinded her to the trap she’d walked into. By the time she understood what was happening, it was too late. Her parents were dead.
Her heart weighed heavy in her chest as if it had happened recently and not five years ago. The memory of her parents lingered too close to the surface today. This had been their land, their dream, and now it was hers to fight for. She’d vowed never to fail them again. Above her own needs came the higher purpose of protecting her goddess at all costs.
Her mare, Mariposa, snorted and reared up, pulling Carolina from her thoughts. The animals had been growing edgier with each passing minute. They sensed the evil that blew in with the warm desert breeze. She berated herself for not paying more attention to them.

Goose bumps prickled her skin. Her tattoo, a gift from the goddess, began a slow burn on her shoulder, a sure sign that evil was approaching. She felt the heat radiating through the fabric of her denim shirt. The last time she’d experienced the odd sensation, her world had fallen apart.
Cautiously, she turned her head, seeking the source.
Her breath came out in a gasp.
Less than ten feet away sat a magnificent gray wolf, watching her. Waiting.

Guest Post & Giveaway: Hillary Seidl

The Mysterious-Flying Towel

By Hillary Seidl

            Hi Everyone!! Thank you Melissa for having me today!  My name is Hillary Seidl and I’m obsessed with the paranormal.

            At age nine I had my first paranormal experience with a ghost.  I was staying at my grandparents and I had taken a shower.  While finishing my nightly ritual, I turned to see my wet discarded towel fly a good five feet out of my grandparents room and land by the washer.  I wasn’t frightened because I thought my grandma had done it.  So I yelled, “Sorry, grandma!”  Less than ten seconds later I walked to her room. My grandma was snoring.  It hit me then she couldn’t have thrown the towel. 

I stood there confused.  I replayed it in my head a couple of times.  My brain didn’t want to accept it so I woke up my grandma and asked her.  She had no idea what I was talking about.  My sweet catholic grandmother doesn’t lie and why would she about a towel?

That incident is what started my paranormal journey. 

            In high school, I learned all I could and did all my papers on the paranormal.  I was in ecstasy when The X-Files caught my attention and I made my family watch every Friday night.  That’s when I discovered fan fiction.  Writing back then was like a compulsion.  I took other people’s characters and made them my own.  (With a disclaimer—of course) I had a 300-page fan fiction when I was sixteen.  It was pretty bad, but I knew I wanted to be a writer. 

            I ignored the calling to try and be normal.  I know, I know, I shouldn’t say that.  But I had no idea what to do with my life thinking being an author was out of my reach. Then it happened… Supernatural!  Love the show and the characters. I even went to a convention in Vancouver to meet the actors. Completely awesome!

Writing Supernatural fan fiction came easy to me and I realized through that that I knew what I wanted to do.  Paranormal romance.  When I found my local chapter of RWA, the Colorado Romance Writers I finally found where I belonged. It was like coming home!

            My first novella, Finding Ms. Wright: Sia is out from 5 Prince Publishing.  You can find it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

 SIA: Paranormal hunter Andrew Grant has less than a week to locate a stone and thwart a wizard's bid for ultimate power.  Sia holds the key to his success, and to his heart.  Only together can they discover love and save the world.

Have you ever had a paranormal experience?  Do you believe ghosts are real? 

Thank you so much for having me, Melissa Schroeder!  I would love to give an ebook away to a lucky commenter!  (U.S. only.) 

Guest Post & Giveaway: Cassiel Knight

Many times since Key of Solomon was released, readers have asked why mythology and archeology?  What led me to write a book with these elements?

For as long as I can remember, which, sadly, isn’t all that far but far enough back I can recall devouring books and stories with mythological elements. Before I knew better, I thought Greek and Roman mythology with some Viking thrown in were the only mythology that existed. As a teenager, I think I read every story and knew all of the major gods and goddesses and a lot of the minor ones. As paranormal started to take wing, I knew I’d found a place I could indulge in my love of mythology.

When I first conceived the idea of this story, I knew I wanted to work in some kind of mythology with paranormal elements but I didn’t want to do what everyone else was doing (meaning no vampires or werewolves and, despite their popularity now, demons/angels hadn’t taken off by then). 

During my research into that elusive “something different”, I discovered the mythology surrounding King Solomon. I was raised on the Bible and knew all about Solomon. Or, I thought I did. I was so intrigued with the notion that he was supposed to be a magic user and had a ring given to him by God that allowed Solomon to control and compel demons. And his famous temple? The stories say it was built by these same demons. Key of Solomon just took off from there. And I loved writing the scene in the book where he uses the ring to compel the demons into the bronze jar.

Archeology was easy as I think I was an archeologist or explorer in another life. <grin> I’d always loved history, much more than I love the present. It’s funny, because I like the future too. Or at least, envisioning what the future might look like. For the past, I’m fascinated by what our ancestors accomplished with what they had. The beautiful and magnificent structures. Sure, we build magnificent structures now but there are few I would call beautiful.

I think the past is much more appealing even with the lack of computers and assorted technologies. And since the assorted technologies have allowed me to armchair travel to the past, I get to indulge my love of history and archeology in my stories. In fact, the story I’m shopping now is fully immersed in archeology and Egyptian mythology with a tomb raiding heroine.

I'm offering up reader's choice of a print or ebook of KEY OF SOLOMON. Just answer the question in the comments and you're entered.

As a reader, do you find mythology and archeology interesting? If so, why does it intrigue you and what kind of mythology would you love to read more about?

************************************************************

BLURB

Key of Solomon

Samhain Publishing

Book 1 of the Relic Defender series

Trust no one…except the one who walks in the dark.

Anthropology PhD candidate Lexi Harrison never bares it all when she belly dances for a strip club crowd. She doesn’t have to—she’s that good. Every performance earns money toward her degree, and restores the sense of power her painful childhood ripped away.

Something is different about tonight. A man whose silver gaze seems to touch her skin beneath her veils. When a rowdy customer crosses the line, he comes to her rescue with the speed of a hawk—complete with wings.

Mikos Tyomni has never seen anyone dance like Lexi. Trust his tormentor, Archangel Michael, to put him in close contact with the cause of his downfall: a mortal woman. Particularly this mortal woman. The Defender. He has only thirty days to win her trust before Hell’s deadliest demon attempts the mother of all prison breaks.

No matter how sexy the messenger is, Lexi’s career plans don’t include some crazy idea she’s the last line of defense against the forces of evil. Until her university mentor’s murder leaves her holding the key to Hell. And fighting a losing battle against a passion forbidden by Heaven.

Cassiel Knight 

Buy the BOOK at:

Amazon.com – Kindle
Amazon.ca – Paperback Pre-order
Amazon.co.uk – Kindle
Barnes & Noble – NOOKBook
Samhain Publishing
Lulu – eBook

Guest Blog & Giveaway: Juniper Bell

In Alaska, where I live, winters are long, hard, cold and snowy. Enter our local hero: The Plow Guy. Ploy guys are tough, rugged, undaunted by the worst of weather. They arrive on their mighty steeds -- otherwise known as exhaust-spewing machines -- freeing terrified residents trapped behind snowbanks. Walls of ice collapse before their unstoppable force. Roads become passable, fuel can be delivered … lives are saved. The allure of the Plow Guy has even made it into TV land. Remember the sexy plow guy who romances the uptight New York editor in Men in Trees?

Certain Alaskans (with the initials J.B.) have been known to make cookies for their plow guy. Another friend of mine offers more adult treats to hers. It doesn’t hurt, of course, when your plow guy is a young, hunky guy like ours. Or when your plow guy works in tandem with his equally hunky brother.

Yep, we’ve got two sexy brothers plowing our road. A ménage a plow, so to speak. As you can imagine, our road is very well-plowed. So far, the brothers have only come separately, but maybe one day, after an especially bad blizzard, they’ll both show up for a double plowing.

(Had enough plow double entendres yet?)

As an erotic romance author, it seems natural to imagine how I can put a plow guy or two in a story. So here we go – just a couple thoughts. 

Plowed. First they get snowed in, then they get plastered. A woman, her plow guy, and one unforgettable night.

A Tale of Two Plows. Two brothers vie for the affections of a local beauty. But does she really have to choose?

Deep Plow. A plow guy is recruited by a porn producer and becomes a sensation.

Colters’ Plow Guy. The latest installment in the popular series. (Sorry, Maya.)

And Plow Guy Makes Three. A married couple expands their family in an erotically unexpected way. 

A Little Harmless Plow Guy. (Sorry, Melissa.)

My Three Plow Guys. Why settle for one plow guy, when a girl can have three?

Nobody’s Plow Guy But Mine. A plow guy finds himself locked in a fem-dom’s dungeon. (Sorry, Susan Elizabeth Phillips.)

Plow Guy and Prejudice. In a reversal of the classic tale, a local heiress disdains her plow guy even as she finds herself drawn to him.

And now the floor is open. Any other Plow Guy story suggestions? Give me one in the comments and I’ll put you in the running for a choice of any book from my backlist.

Plow on!

Juniper Bell is a bestselling author of erotic romance for Samhain and Ellora’s Cave. Her next release is Beautiful Obsession, coming soon from Ellora’s Cave. You can connect with her on her website, Facebook, or on Twitter as @AuthorJuniper.

Guest Post & Giveaway: Kelly Jamieson

Hello! For any of you who don’t know me, I’m Kelly Jamieson and I write “romance with sweet heat”. Some of my romances are sexy contemporary romances, some edge into more erotic romance featuring elements of BDSM or ménage à trois relationships. My most recent release, Rule of Three, is a ménage story.


For many of us, loving someone makes us feel...possessive. As in, “that’s my man, hands off, bitch!” Maybe the reason we sometimes have that possessive feeling about someone we love is because we have the ingrained attitude that you can only love one person at a time. So if some girl is coming on to my man, the deep-rooted fear is that he might be interested in her more than he’s interested in me. Because he can only love one person at a time. Is it possible to get past that, to believe that someone can love two people at the same time, and therefore not feel threatened by that idea?


The principle of compersion might help us understand that. Wickipedia says that “Compersion is a state of empathetic happiness and joy experienced when an individual's current or former romantic partner experiences happiness and joy through an outside source, including, but not limited to, another romantic interest. This can be experienced as any form of erotic or emotional empathy, depending on the person experiencing the emotion.”


In other words, loving someone so much that you feel their happiness. Maybe even feel their arousal.


In some ways, we all know what that’s like, right? Most of us have felt that kind of love, where you’ll do anything for that person, where their happiness is more important than your own. We make sacrifices for love like that. This is what makes the world a better place. This makes that “possessive” attitude seem almost selfish.


I think there are “open” relationships where the participants can explain their feelings using compersion, but I’ve never written a story about an open relationship. Rather, my ménage à trois stories always involve love and exclusive commitment, whether it’s between two of the people or all three.


This is how I got inside the heads of my characters in Rule of Three, out this week from Samhain Publishing, when they had to deal with a three-way attraction. Here’s the blurb for 


Rule of Three:

If you follow the rules, you miss all the fun...

Kassidy is a good girl who wants to be bad. Dag is a bad boy who is very, very good. And Chris? He likes to watch…

When wicked-sexy Dag returns to Chicago to catch up with his old college buddy Chris and meet The Girlfriend, none of them are anticipating the unexpected turn of events that switches a loving twosome into a scorching hot threesome. As old feelings resurface, and new attractions are explored, a storm of sexual sparks is unleashed that leads them into forbidden areas.

Always the good girl, Kassidy blossoms under the attentions of two loving men, but neither she nor Chris are expecting the ménage to take a quarter turn toward Dag…and his feelings for Chris. When it’s revealed that Dag’s attraction to Chris is one big reason he left town, a tangled mess of old hurts and new feelings might destroy friendship. Love. Might destroy everything.

---

Product Warnings

This book contains a couple already in love, a couple falling in love and a couple in love who didn’t know it; also multiple scorching sex scenes including girl with boy, girl with two boys, boy with boy and two boys with girl...whew!

Leave a comment on what you think about jealousy vs. compersion ― possible in real life or just a fantasy? One commenter will win a download of Rule of Three ― I’ll draw the winner Friday evening (February 17). Remember to include your email addy! (Contest is open to international readers)

If you’d like to know more about me and my books, here’s where you can find me:

Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads.

Guest Post & Giveaway: Jenn LeBlanc

Ahhhh!!! Here I am! I am so excited to be here today because Melissa is one of my favorite authors. Not only is her harmless series just amazingly hawt and saucy but she’s just good people.

So, me, my name is Jenn LeBlanc and I am a new author. My first book, THE RAKE AND THE RECLUSE was released last February and has caused a ruckus. It’s illustrated. The whole thing. It’s like a romance cover on steroids.

It wasn’t published quite the way I wanted to so I’ve worked hard all year and I started republishing it, with a new edit, new content and images as a six part serial novel. The first four parts, FREEDOM, FOUND, TAKEN and RUINATION are already available, and SUBMISSION just came out on the 14th. YAY!!

SO as Mel likes my photography I figured I would bring a selection of images from my books, and from my cover stock photography. Because who wants to listen to me talk anyway when I can supply hawt men?

Yeah. I thought so. So without further whatevers:











Melissa! Thank you for having me over for some coffee and smut. It’s been fun! Can’t wait to have you out to my studio in person. That will be fun. :)

I am giving away a full set of the serial ebook! All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment here, ASK ME ANYTHING!! Include your email address, you’ll also be entered to win the grand prize on my tour as well!

See you all around the internets!!

Jenn


Where to find me: Twitter | Facebook | Author Site | Blog | Tumblr (NSFW)
And please come find me! I LOVE to chat with readers!

And what follows is a bit about the books:

Trailer:

http://youtu.be/RSW_LyFR5To


Blurb:

A woman out of time.

A man stifled by propriety.

A nemesis determined to take her away.

A brother to the rescue.

How will a powerful Duke deal with a woman who doesn't know her place? How will a woman used to the 21st century survive in time where she is considered property?

Francine Larrabee woke up on the wrong side of the century. She was fairly certain she went to sleep in her own comfy bed, but she doesn’t quite seem to be there now. Only adding to her problems is that she has no voice, is constantly being glowered at by a large, stunning man who is obsessed with propriety, and she is apparently betrothed to another horrid little man, determined to ruin her, and any other girls that get in his way.

How does she find herself in the past, when she couldn’t even find herself in her present? How does a self sufficient businesswoman survive in a time when women were still considered property for the whole of their lives and what is she going to do with this man who draws her to him so fiercely.

Where to get the books:

THE RAKE AND THE RECLUSE

FREEDOM : Part one brings Francine to the world of the Duke of Roxleigh, clashing worlds in first installment of the completely revised novel, with all new material.

Available now from these ebook retailers:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

All Romance eBooks

iBookstore for iThingys

FOUND : Part two finds Francine in the world of the Duke of Roxleigh. The clashing of worlds in first installment of the completely revised novel continues as Francine finds her footing, discovers secrets about her elusive host, and learns more about herself than she ever thought possible.  

Available now from these ebook retailers:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

All Romance eBooks

iBookstore for iThingys

TAKEN : The Rake And The Recluse : Part Three

Part THREE brings Francine and Gideon closer than they ever imagined possible, until the unimaginable tears them apart. What will Gideon do if he loses her, this time, forever?

Available now from these ebook retailers:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

All Romance eBooks

Goodreads

RUINATION : The Rake And The Recluse : Part Four

Part FOUR is full of revelations, celebrations, protestations and one surprise that will have you holding your breath for the final chapters. What has Perry done?

AMAZON

BARNES AND NOBLE

ALL ROMANCE EBOOKS

GOODREADS

SUBMISSION : The Rake And The Recluse : Part Five

Perry leaves Roxleigh House without a backward glance only to be tossed headlong into one of the most difficult trials of his life. How will he protect the very thing he is dedicated to pursuing? How will a man dedicated to the pursuit of pleasure survive a woman who refuses to relent, when he knows he cannot have her.

YESTERDAY!!

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

All Romance Ebooks

Goodreads

RETRIBUTION : The Rake And The Recluse : Part Six

Perry must find the woman who has managed to capture his heart, then he must find a way to keep her. Someone else is on the hunt, someone from her past who doesn’t appreciate that she still lives and breaths.

Coming February 28, 2012

NOW it’s your turn, remember to answer the question to be entered to win the full six-part serial novel as it is released, and thank you for stopping by. You will ALSO be entered in the grand prize #WICKEDblog tour, which will be given away on March 1, 2012. Don”t forget to include your email address in your comment or you can’t be entered into the grand prize drawing.

Rules can be found HERE. A full list of all the posts in the tour can be found HERE.