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Sunday, September 30, 2012

It's a Jessica E. Subject Weekend!!



Today we are lucky enough to get Jessica E. Subject back again with us and have her tell us about her other new release "Crash Landing.



How Crash Landing Came To Be
Crash Landing started much the same way as my first published erotica story, The Power of Three, through an email conversation. I was finishing up edits on Satin Sheets in Space, and my editor, Kate Richards, and I were joking around about the blue aliens in many of my stories.
The conversation started like this:

Kate: ...I was giggling thinking about your blue heroes.  You can make even blue dudes sexy. :) 
Me: What do you mean? Blue dudes ARE sexy. LOL
Kate: You know I hear indigo is an especially hot color for outer space guys...not turquoise NOOOO
Me: …yes, indigo is for space aliens. Turquoise is for underwater hunks. Oohh, new story idea. LOL
Kate (after a bunch of other emails that day): Can you submit the ms by dinnertime? Oops it is dinnertime, ok you can write the next one by the morning
Me: What ms??
Kate: The indigo space guy,,,or the turquoise underwater guy!
Me: Oh, that ms. Well, it's going to have to go onto my list.
Kate: OMG, can you see the indigo space guy and the turquoise water guy doing the deed? Are the plot bunnies hopping?
Me: Yep, yep, yep... LOL
And so Crash Landing was born. I submitted the story 18 days later.

Crash Landing

Crash Landing 

As his ship plummets toward Earth, Cael believes his life to be over. His last ditch effort to save himself ends in a fiery crash. When he wakes up, he believes he’s entered the afterlife, but his surroundings indicate otherwise. He made it to Earth. But who saved him, and what do they want with him?

Now available from Decadent Publishing and other ebook retailers.

More information and Buy Links here: http://www.markofthestars.com/wp/?page_id=10879




Here’s an excerpt from the beginning of the story:
Cael gripped the cushioned arms of the captain’s chair as his ship tumbled bow over stern. The console flashed a blinding red in front of him. Piercing alarms drilled into his mind and he lost focus. The seconds raced by as he plummeted toward Earth. He’d fucked up this mission of peace. Contact with his home planet had ended months ago. No one from Narien could save him now. His death was imminent.
The water below wouldn’t soften his landing. At its current speed, his ship would disintegrate on splashdown. The planet’s gravity pulled him down faster.
He coughed; the acrid scent of fried electronics stung his nose and the back of his throat. Please let my death be quick.
A rattling to the left caught his attention above all other noise. The handle on the cabin door shook. Freedom. It wasn’t his time to die, if he could get out.
The altimeter on the dashboard read six thousand meters, high enough to jump and land safely with his chute. Only to land in frigid water and die of exhaustion or hypothermia from treading without any hope of a rescue.
“Shit.” But he’d die if he stayed. He had to take the chance. Yanking off his safety harness, he pulled himself to standing and strained to reach the recess where his pack hung. Stretching up, he fingered the cloth strap. Not close enough to grab hold of it.
The ship jolted and flung him to the stern. He weaved his arm through the straps of the pack on his way past, dislodging it from the hook. Yes.
His triumph was short-lived as he flew starboard, smashing his shoulder against the wall. He groaned when an electrifying spasm shot down his arm to the tips of his fingers. The ship lurched again, and he tumbled back toward the console. He grabbed the door, his feet dangling in mid air. If he didn’t get out now, he’d forfeit any chance to survive.
The ship righted again. He planted his feet against the bottom of the door and twisted the crank. The latch snapped open, filling him with a sense of hope. Careful to keep at least one hand on the handle at all times, he slung the pack over his shoulders.
All set. Time to jump. Pushing off the floor, he slammed his uninjured shoulder against the door. It blew open and tore away from its hinges, lost to the sky.
Cael teetered on the edge before plunging out of his failing ship. Wind whipped all around him as he twisted to catch his bearing during freefall.
Glancing down, he spied crystal blue lake, much closer than he’d expected. Too close.
He jerked the cord on his chute–several hundred feet lower than he should have. At least. His feet skimmed the cold waves just as his chute caught the current and heaved him back into the air.
The ship splashed into the water beside him, disintegrating into millions of pieces. He raised his hands in front of his face as shrapnel flew at him. Tiny shards sliced into his arms and legs, but the extreme heat from the cloud of steam billowing up at him stung the most.
From the moment his toes touched down in the once frigid water, his skin sizzled. He screamed in agony. His death would have been quicker and less agonizing if he’d remained in the ship.
A hard piece of his spacecraft smashed down on his head, and he welcomed the darkness.


Giveaway!!

For your chance to WIN a $10 Amazon gift certificate, simply leave a comment (with your email address) on yesterday and/or today’s post to be entered. Winner will be drawn the morning of October 1st , 2012. 

Bio:

Jessica E. SubjectJessica Subject started writing to encourage her daughter to read. Now she writes to keep herself grounded. Although she reads many genres, she enjoys writing Science Fiction Romance the most and believes everyone in the universe deserves a happily ever after. She lives Southwestern Ontario, Canada with her husband and two kids and loves to hear from anyone who has enjoyed her stories.
Website/Blog / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

Saturday, September 29, 2012

It's a Jessica E. Subject Weekend!

This weekend I am happy to be hosting author Jessica E. Subject! I first met Jessica when I started following Decadent Publishing. Jessica has some great stories and I have actually just picked up one after looking over her blog preparing for this post! So I won't keep you and I will let her tell you what she has to offer you.

Jessica E. Subject

Jessica Subject started writing to encourage her daughter to read. Now she writes to keep herself grounded. Although she reads many genres, she enjoys writing Science Fiction Romance the most and believes everyone in the universe deserves a happily ever after. She lives Southwestern Ontario, Canada with her husband and two kids and loves to hear from anyone who has enjoyed her stories.




Thank you so much, Dawn, for inviting me back to your blog! It’s been an exciting month for me with two releases. Today I’ll talk about Sudden Breakaway, and tomorrow I’ll be back to talk about Crash Landing. Plus, I’m giving away a $10 Amazon.com gift certificate, so be sure to read on...
Sudden Breakaway is my fifth story with Decadent Publishing’s popular 1Night Stand series and released at the beginning of September. It’s a little bit different from most of my other stories, in that while there is some science fiction involved, none of the characters you meet are aliens. The hero and heroine are both from Earth, and the date takes place on this planet, at a hockey game. Here are some fun facts about the story starting from the initial idea to the final published product.

10 Fun Facts About Sudden Breakaway

  1. I had originally planned this story to be an M/M story with the Space Service recruiter mentioned in Unknown Futures, and Jared. But that Space Service recruiter wasn’t cooperating, and Paige appeared, more than willing to go on a one-night stand. Jared had no objections.
  2. Once Paige appeared, so did Jared’s niece and nephew. Then the story fell into place.
  3. Although not mentioned in the story, the hockey game Paige and Jared attend is between the Washington Capitals, and the Ottawa Senators (my favorite team). Since the date takes place in Washington DC, that would make the rink at The Verizon Center.
  4. I wrote one scene (excerpted below) after a particularly trying day with a bunch of kids in my house (not all my own).
  5. A Break From the Past was the original title of the story. But since the date takes place at a hockey game, I thought Sudden Breakaway was a more appropriate title.
  6. During edits I learned that the custom to automatically take off one’s shoes after stepping into someone’s house is not common everywhere else. Must be a Canadian thing since we don’t want to track winter snow through someone’s house. We even take our footwear off at the doctor’s office. LOL
  7. One of my awesome critique partners, DL Jackson, helped me with military terminology and more. She knows what she’s talking about from personal experience.
  8. The hero’s name, Jared Barnes, comes from a combination of two guys I had crushes on as a teen. Though I’m happily married now and haven’t seen those guys since high school.
  9. If you want to get a general idea of what the suite that Jared and Paige have their date in looks like, you can visit: http://verizoncenter.com/lexus-suite-level-rentals/
  10. Perfect was one of my overused words in this manuscript.
Sudden Breakaway
Sudden Breakaway Blurb
Dressed in her black designer suit, Paige Brown recruits men and women for the Space Service. After the end of her marriage, and several failed recruiting missions, she yearns to find a way out of her lifelong contract to live a normal life. To find love again.
Jared Barnes’s life had been flipped upside down by two little kids. When his former Commander’s wife shows up to give him a reprieve, he jumps at the chance for a break, and to visit his former squad. But it is not his buddies he meets in the private suite at the Washington Capitals game, instead a woman who has been the star of all of his recent fantasies, fulfills his wildest dreams except the one that binds his heart.
Has Madame Eve made a mistake or can two lonely hearts overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles?
Now available from Decadent Publishing and other ebook retailers.
More information and Buy Links here: http://www.markofthestars.com/wp/?page_id=9958


Here’s an excerpt:
What have I done? Jared yanked Dylan off the top of the fridge, holding him under his arm as the kid tried to wiggle free. “Superman can fly. You can’t. If you jump from that high, you’re going to get hurt.”
Once the boy stopped squirming, Jared set him down and rushed over to his niece, who had decided to scribble on his white cell phone with a marker. “Madison, I know you love everything pink, but my phone does not need a makeover.”
He grabbed the marker and she squealed, escaping under the table and down the hall clutching his phone. His morning had just begun. He couldn’t even take a leak without the kids finding some kind of trouble. Yes, they went to daycare while he worked, but beyond the hours of nine to five, they were all his, and on weekends, he had no pardon. Why on Earth had he thought he could raise two preschoolers on his own?
The doorbell rang.
He glanced down the hall toward the bedrooms, where an ominous silence reigned. With the children quiet, they had to be plotting their next mission to destroy his sanity. Or perhaps they’d already started. Shrugging, he headed for the door, risking a future disaster to see who stood on his porch.
Dylan came charging at him, his dark eyes wide, reminding him of his sister when she was a child. “Someone’s at the door. Who is it, Uncle Jared?”
The boy skidded straight across the slippery linoleum, his body slamming into Jared’s knees.
Jared stumbled back, trying to regain his balance, and grasped the doorknob. The latch clicked open. Losing his footing again, he stumbled to the floor, his nephew landing on top of him. Groaning, he glanced up at the woman standing above him; his former commander’s wife. “Can I help you, Mrs. Collins?
She lifted Dylan and balanced him on her hip. “From the look of things, I think I can help you.” Slipping off her shoes, she lined them on the mat beside the rest of the footwear and continued into the house. “I’m giving you the day off.”
What? He’d dreamed about time to himself since the day after his niece and nephew had arrived, but had accepted that would never happen. Not until the preschoolers were old enough to stay on their own, anyway.
He hopped to his feet, shut the door, and followed them into the living room. Madison had materialized out of nowhere, to join her brother, the pair of them sitting on either side of Mrs. Collins, their lopsided halos balancing atop their horns. Why couldn’t they sit as still when no one else was around?
Slumping onto a chair, he leaned back and sighed. “How do you do it? How do you make them turn off?”
She chuckled. “I’m a guest. Trust me when I say kids always behave better around people they don’t see every day. Back to why I’m here. My daughter says every time she sees you grocery shopping, you look ready to explode.”
He didn’t remember seeing the commander’s teenage daughter, but any out-of-the-house excursions with the kids resulted in him trying to get back home as soon as possible. He tried to avoid running into anyone he knew. “I’m still getting used to having Madison and Dylan here. It’s been quite a change.”
The woman wrapped an arm around each child and snuggled them closer to her. “I always found I was a better mother when I had time away from my kids. I came back to them with a new focus and less stressed. But I had family around to take them here and there. Since you don’t, I’m here to give you a break.”
As much as he needed the respite, he worried about leaving his niece and nephew with someone else. What would they do to poor Mrs. Collins? “I don’t know….”
“I raised three kids with Ernie in the Marine Corps. Two are away at college, and my baby is a senior in high school. I’ll be fine.”
He stared at the children, resentful of their sudden change in behavior. He needed to get away for a couple of hours. “Okay, you’re right. I’ll go get groceries and return right after.”
She shook her head. “Not today. You’re taking the rest of the day off. You need it.”
“No, I—”
“Think of me as part of your team, Jared. That means you have to show some trust. I’ll be by every Saturday to give you some time to yourself. Today, though, I’ve planned something extra special for you.”

Giveaway!!

For your chance to WIN a $10 Amazon gift certificate, simply leave a comment (with your email address) on today’s and/or tomorrow’s post to be entered. Winner will be drawn the morning of October 1st , 2012. 

*Remember to stop come back tomorrow for more from Jessica E. Subject!!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Anju Gattini - Duty and Desire -Contest

About author Anju Gattini:

Anju was born in India but grew up in Hong Kong. Her Indian upbringing and British education worked together to strongly influence her writing.

Anju’s fiction explores how the distinct mindsets and traditions of different cultures permanently shape people’s values, thinking, and behavior patterns—for both good and evil—despite the “leveling” effects of 21st century communications and travel.

Anju earned a Bachelors degree in English Literature in India and a teaching degree in the United Kingdom. She has also studied creative writing.

Anju has lived in Singapore, Australia, India, New Jersey and Connecticut. She now makes her home in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and two kids. Anju is a columnist for a multicultural magazine in the USA. She is also an avid guest blogger, who loves to share her experiences in health and fitness, food, self-empowerment and great fiction reads.

Duty and Desire is her first novel.

Visit Anju at www.anjugattani.com

Find the Author:


Duty and Desire
Title: Duty and Desire
Series: Winds of Fire #1
Author: Anju Gattani
Genre: Family Saga
Publisher: Greenbrier Book Co.
Ebook/Paperback
Pages: 304

Purchase:


Book Description:

How Can Happiness Survive When Duty Clashes With Desire?

Sheetal Prasad has it all: youth, beauty, wealth and education. But when this modern Indian woman surrenders love for honor and marries into India’s most glamorous ‘royal family’, these very advantages turn against her and she is stripped of her freedom.

Meet the Dhanrajs — a powerful family bound together by a web of lies where infidelity, greed, secrets and hidden identities lurk beneath the lush tapestry. The Dhanrajs have plenty to hide and will do what it takes to mask the truth from the world.

As Sheetal peels back the layers of deceit, she confronts a haunting reality and is threatened by the blazes of passion she ignites.

Excerpt:

“She loved him. She reached out to touch him and soothe his anger. “I risked everything just coming here to be with you.”         
“Not to be with me. To tell me. You came to tell me you’re marrying someone else. And you expect me to do nothing?” That’s exactly what she did expect, because society required a woman to marry the man her parents chose for her.
Arvind grabbed Sheetal by the shoulders and gazed into her eyes. “Do you understand how much I love you?”
She understood. “I have no choice, Arvind.” Sheetal took a long, deep breath and clasped her fingers together. “Love isn’t enough for my father. Money, reputation, class and status. That’s what matters to him.” Until now she had ignored the imitation suede shoes on his feet and the ripped, beige, front pocket of his shirt; things she would have never have noticed if her mother hadn’t brought them to her attention a while back. “My father wants me,”—she bit her lip, knowing her words would hurt him—“well taken care of.”


~Fragrance & Flavors~

Have you ever wondered about the flavors and fragrances of the places you’ve been to? 
What memories trigger those senses? 
What aromas bring that ambiance alive?
Having lived in Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Australia and now the USA… I guess I’ve had my fair share of moving around.  I’ve also had my fair share of foods and flavors.  And considering I’ve been a vegetarian all my life, you’re probably thinking that I’ve missed out the best there is.
The truth is I’ve had the best of both worlds in grains, dairy, fruits and vegetables! 
A whiff of the salty, ocean breeze – I’m transported to Hong Kong, a city bustling with fresh seafood (I’ve never had), the Hong Kong Harbor with its famous boardwalk, the sound of water lapping the famous harbor walk and string of 5 and 6-star hotels along the periphery. 
The sight of lavish greenery, the sound of busy lawnmowers, and I’m in Singapore.  A peace-loving city that’s also famous for seafood (again, I’ve never had) and moreso fantastically manicured and pedicured flora where trees in a row are identical to one another and every blade of grass is cut down to the precise length.  I’m not joking.  You’d think the greenery was cloned!
So sometimes it’s not just foods or flavors that take me to another time and place, it’s the sounds, sights and triggers that transport me back in time.
When I see clouds nestling on a mountain range and I’m walking through its mist, I feel like I’m back in the Blue Mountains, Sydney, Australia… with the koalas and kangaroos.  The slight sound of an Australian accent and I swear I was beginning, once, to talk like them too… rounding off harsh consonants to a friendlier tone. 
What about India, you ask?  Well… hmm… let’s see.  We eat Indian food about thrice a week… supplemented with Italian, Mexican, Chinese, American, European cuisines, of course.  All home-cooked and all veggie delights!  You can tell, I love to cook, right?  Wrong!  I love the ‘cooking’ bit… not the prep and clean up after.  After all, I’m human, right?  So we have India right at home, beginning with our doorstep.
As for the USA?  Hmm… I’ll have a fries and veggie burger anytime… or a pizza, my favorite!  And what about the famous ribs and steak most Americans love?  Well, I’ve never had them, so I don’t really miss it (or its fragrance).  Jalapeno Poppers?  Anytime.  Bagels?  Bring it on!  Donuts?  Don’t count the calories.  I could go on and on…
But I won’t. 
I’ll wait for you to share what foods you love and what aromas trigger the tiniest memories. 
Your turn!

 Don't forget to check out the other stops on this tour!!

September 10th- My Seryniti
September 11th- My Escape
September 12th- Beach Bum Reads
September 13th- Crazy Four Books
September 14th- Simply Infatuated
September 15th- Bookluvrs Haven
September 16th- Lizzy's Dark Fiction
September 17th- Reading with Holly
September 18th- FireStarBooks
September 19th- Tricia Kristufek
September 20th- Juniper Grove
September 21st- The Avid Reader
September 22nd- A Bit of Dash
September 23rd- Black Hippie Chick's Take on Books & The World
September 24th- SnifferWalk
September 25th- A Bibliophile's Thoughts on Books
September 26th- Mallory Heart Reviews
September 27th- Day Dreaming Book Reviews
September 28th- The Bunnys Review
September 29th- I am, Indeed