WOOHOO…I got chosen for one of 12 Christmas Stories at EC! CHRISTMAS KING IS MY HOT PARANORMAL..Here is a very unofficial BLURB! I only have 20 days to write it so I have to get on it…

Alexis Gray is about to a Christmas present she will never forget… Her dream lover come to life and her past unveiled. But does she dare believe she is a princess who must make love to her prince to become Queen…and to acquire the powers she needs to protect herself from a dangerous enemy.

Now one of my SUPER talented hot author friends from the new ALLUREAUTHORS.com (coming soon!) Delilah Devlin! If you haven’t read her you are missing out! Visit her at www.delilahdevlin.com

VAMPROTICA 2005
featuring Darkest Knight
by Delilah Devlin
ISBN # 1-933400-46-3 (e-book)
ISBN # 1-933400-45-5 (trade paperback)
Published by Chippewa Publishing
http://www.delilahdevlin.com/books/anthology/vamprotica-exc.htm

While hiding her true identity, Maddie must seduce the mysterious Lord Garon to cement their marriage contract to assure she won’t be returned into her lecherous stepfather’s care.

Fresh from Crusade in Palestine, Lord Garon has a secret he must hide, a hunger that must be fed, and a dark and uncertain future. Having shed himself of a fiancé he never met, he’s home to lick his wounds. The only thing he wants is a warm-blooded meal–but the new housekeeper is strangely insistent on giving him much more.

Excerpt (unedited)

Maddie shivered at the creaks and groans as the portcullis slowly rose. The wind carried the noises and filled the silences in between with a howling that sounded like the hounds from hell had arrived at the castle gate. And in a way, one had.

Shouts outside the curtain wall had alerted them only minutes before of Lord Garon d’Angerville’s arrival. With time to throw only a bliaut over her sleeping shift, she stood on the first step of the keep, holding a tray with a goblet of wine, ready to render a proper greeting to her overlord.

“Are you sure this is the way you wish to go about this, M-Maddie?” Egbert asked, fidgeting at her side.

She swallowed against the sudden dryness in her mouth and nodded.

“It be on your head, then,” he said, his always mournful tone dire as one of Father Ansel’s Sunday sermons.

The clatter of many hooves on the cobbled bridge beyond the gate was thunderous. From the encroaching darkness, the sounds were as deafening and ominous as the dark shapes looming on the gatehouse walls. The torches she’d ordered lit sputtered and flared, distorting their forms, elongating them so the men riding through the entrance appeared as giants.

Already tired and on edge from the days-long wait, Maddie’s fevered imagination painted them darker still.

“Be they devils?” Egbert asked, his narrow shoulders shaking. “No one travels on a night with nary a speck of light in the sky.”

“Hush!” The storm whipping at her clothing, and the fatigue from months of worry over this very moment, combined to make her own hands shake and dampened an already foul mood.

The horsemen entered the bailey and large shape separated from the contingent that approached the keep. As he drew closer, her fears weren’t eased one whit. The warrior sat atop a huge, black destrier, forcing her to raise her gaze quite high to seek his face.

He wore a helm that left only his square jaw exposed. His eyes were concealed in the darkness cast by the metal nose guard. Only his mouth gave hint of his mood–a thin straight line with the corners crimped downward.

Aware he stared, Maggie’s knees trembled, but her tray never rattled. She squared her shoulders and shot a glance about her at the castle folk. “Stephen!” she called to the stable master. “See to their horses.”

In moments, boys scrambled to accept reins and the air was filled with the creak of leather and the clank of iron.

The stable master stepped close to the dark warhorse at the foot of the steps, but the warrior’s gaze never left Maggie.

She licked dry lips with a dryer tongue. “Lord Garon?” she asked, although there could be no question who led this contingent. All gazes remained on his intimidating figure. “Please come inside, milord. Your people will see to your comfort and that of your men.”

His mouth twisted in an alarming sneer. “And who will see to mine?”

Maddie’s heart leapt to the back of her throat. “I will, milord.”

A long pause indicated he looked her up and down. “Who the blazes are you?” he asked, his voice a deep, hollow rumble.

Maddie remembered to curtsy, and then straightened, girding herself to speak the lie aloud. “Your housekeeper, milord. I take care of things now.” The last at least was the truth.

Lord Garon grunted. Without a glance at the stable master, he tossed down his reins and dismounted.

When he turned, Maggie’s breath caught. Lord, he’s a tall man. I thought it was just the horse!

Maddie lifted the ornate chalice from the tray to deliver her much-rehearsed welcome.

Instead, his lordship’s lips pressed into a tighter line and he brushed past her.

She was left gasping on the bottom step. “What a rude ogre!” she exclaimed, annoyed he hadn’t fallen in with step one of her plan.

“Watch your tongue, madam” an accompanying knight said as he followed the lord up the steps. “He has exceptional hearing.”

“M-Maddie?” Egbert said, nodding toward the door.

She shoved the tray at his belly and grasped her skirts high to rush up the steps.

The plan had seemed so simple. All she needed was to get him alone, addle his sight with a little wine and ale so he’d not care she wasn’t the comeliest creature in the keep. Then she would seduce him.

And the sooner, the better. For the longer she took in losing her virginity, the greater the risk he would discover her identity. The truth was, she’d rather copulate with the devil himself than be returned home.

However, this business of copulation, which had seemed a simple, messy, perhaps even enjoyable act according to the laundress, now boded a daunting trial.

After all, the lord of the keep was a giant and dour as a priest at confession. The thought of being naked with him and accepting his manstaff into her body frankly petrified her. She rushed through the massive doors, hoping her preparations would meet with his approval. Nothing else could mar her well-thought out plan.

Inside the hall, his lordship stood in the center, hands on hips. Unlike his men, he wore no chain mail, no leather hauberk to protect his body. He’d removed his headgear, revealing hair black as midnight and a face hard as carved granite.

His gaze narrowed, and she looked around to see what might have displeased him already.

Around him, servants scurried delivering warm food to the men-at-arms as boys eagerly divested them of their armor. If she hadn’t been observing him so closely, she might not have detected the change. He scarce seemed to notice the din of activity. His mouth lost a little firmness. His hands unclenched on his hips and his chest rose and fell deeply.

In that instant, Maddie lost a measure of her fear. Here was a man savoring his first night home after a long absence. He had a heart, and cared for something at least. Perhaps he wouldn’t be a complete troll when making her his wife.

By Charlotte Dillon
www.charlottedillon.com

When I completed my first romance novel and faced the intimidating task of trying to
find a home for it, I soon realized that I hated to submit work to publishers or agents
– that only allowed writers to send in a query letter. I mean, come on! How can
anyone judge how well I write fiction, just from a query letter? At least give me a
chance to show I can tell a good story! BUT… You knew there was a BUT coming,
didn’t you? Of course you did.

As it happens, some years went by, and in doing critique work for others, I had the
chance to read over a number of query letters. That’s when I realized how much I
picked up about each person’s writing ability even when I had nothing to go on but
that letter.

Okay. Now, think of a skilled editor — or agent — with a full query letter in hand. She
has probably seen thousands of them. Think of how much she can learn about your
writing style and your manuscript from that one page query letter. With little more
than a minute, an editor will know if she can toss that query to the reject pile if…

You sent it on lovely pink paper with small red print that promises to cause her to go
cross-eyed after the first paragraph. (Use a good grade white paper instead, and try an ordinary font and very readable style and size print in your every day basic black.)

You addressed the query to Dear Editor, and then rambled on for four pages when the
guidelines stated plainly that you were to send in a one-page query letter. On top of
that, your novel is a 100,000 word historical, and the house you queried only
publishes 75,000 word contemporaries. (A person who has the time to write a whole
novel, can surely take the time to do a little market research.)

In reading half of the query, she’s already found one spelling error and two grammar
mistakes. (First impressions do mean a lot. A query letter should be lacking in one
thing - mistakes.)

While reading, the editor finds herself needing to go back and read a couple of
sentences over, to be sure of what you meant. (Your writing should be tight and clear.)

When finished with the query, she still doesn’t know the word count, setting, or the
line the writer is targeting. (It is best to make sure that somewhere in those first few
sentences you answer those questions and mention that the manuscript is complete.)

If the writer who sent this editor the query letter didn’t even bother to do this much
right, what are the chances that a manuscript from the writer will be any better? Most
editors don’t have the time to take chances.

In the Beginning
Completing and scanning your query shows you have never sold novel-length fiction
before, then she can probably toss your query to the rejection pile. There are 200
other query letters sitting there from writers with completed manuscripts and perfect
query letters.

On to the Middle
Next in the query letter is your pitch about your story. You have to make this short
and sweet, and still grab her interest. Think of this as being the blurb on a novel. How
many times have you read a book’s back cover and set the book down or placed it into your shopping cart, making that decision solely from those couple of paragraphs? If the editor doesn’t like your writing style, or if she has just bought a story with the
same plot line, then she can toss this query too. Reading further won’t do her any
good, or you.

The End
Last in your letter are a few lines to brag about yourself as a writer. Come on, you
have something positive you can add. I know you do. Have you published any thing?
Been writing for seven years? Are you a member of RWA? What about part of a
critique group? Have you had something place in a writing contest? Maybe the
heroine in your story is a nurse, and so are you? Anything good at all you can add to
give you a little edge, is perfect for here.

Some things that will probably get your query tossed during this part are if you add
things like… I know you will think this is the very best book you have ever read! Or… My mom and sister both loved this story so much, they said it just has to be published and should sell millions of copies!

So you see, that simple little query letter, only a single page long, that most of us hate with a passion to write, can tell an editor (or agent) every thing she needs to know about you and your manuscript — at least every thing she needs to know to decide if she should use her precious time to read chapter one.

By Charlotte Dillon
www.charlottedillon.com

Building a fictional character is the same thing as meeting a stranger and getting to
know her. Take that meeting one step at a time, or as the old saying goes, peal that
onion one layer at a time. With each layer you’ll get to know more about that
stranger, and your character will become a fully developed person to you and your
readers.

With a first meeting you get a first impression–we might not admit it, but we usually
judge people right off within seconds of seeing them for the first time. Maybe it’s
completely physical judgment, or maybe it’s their surroundings, but we take a quick
snapshot and make up our minds about this person, at least to a certain point.

Some of the first things we probably notice in that quick snapshot are gender, age,
body build, and hairstyle. That first snapshot is all we need in our minds to lay the
groundwork for a strong character, but remember, it’ s only groundwork.

Clothing gives you your second impression. Is she wearing jeans and a cowboy hat, is
he wearing a suite? You take a better look at the clothes and notice if they are
wrinkled, faded, expensive, in style, bold, or even a work uniform. What about a
cheap watch, or a glittering, huge diamond ring? Each of those things can tell you a
little, and sometimes a lot, about the character this person is and the life this person
lives.

It’s been seconds, but you already have an idea in your mind about who this person
is, their station in life, and even how you feel about them. The same is true within
seconds of that character introducing him or herself into a writer’s mind.

Now take a look around this stranger–your character–and other impressions might
influence your opinion. Surroundings can tell you a good deal. Is she standing on a
street corner waiting for a bus, is he standing next to a police car, is she sitting
behind a high-polished desk in a big office or sitting on a Harley Davison? What
about any possessions you can see? Just step back, pull away and look closer. Does
he have a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist? Does the building she is standing in
front of look like the rent would cost enough to support a small county, or does it
look like her neighbors probably spend as much time in jail as they do in their little
cramped apartments?

Now look at how the person is standing, the expression on her face. Body language
can color in some more blank spots. Is she smiling a fake smile, are his fists
clinched? Does she walk across a room like she owns it, does he stand stiff and tall?
Does she glance away and avoid prolonged eye contact, does he cross his arms over
his chest and stand as far away from others in the room as he can? Or maybe her
smile even shines through her eyes, or he reaches out to grasp the hand of anyone
he says hello to?

What about voice? Accent, choice of words, tone, volume, all tell us a lot about a
person, even before we count in what they are saying. How a character speaks may
often tell us where they are from, how educated they are, something about their
temper and even their lifestyle and job.

Okay, we’ve met our stranger, and we’ve heard them speak. That little bit and we
already have a bunch of layers pealed away from that onion. But if we want to get to
know this person better, it’s going to take a lot more time and work. If we were
talking about a real stranger, one we hit it off with or had to spend time with even if
we didn’t, we would get to know about them little by little, maybe over a period of
years. We would learn about their jobs, their friends, their family, their likes, their
homes, their dislikes, their habits, even their childhoods.

We need all of that same info to build a believable character, but we don’t have years
to fill in all of the dots.

With speed in mind, and detail, take that snapshot back out. It was a good starting
point, but I bet we can get a little more out of it. Maybe there are other things in the
picture that you didn’t see the first time or didn’t really pay any attention to. Maybe
she is holding flowers because she loves to work in the yard and grow her own.
Maybe there’s a framed photo on his desk of him and two children but no wife.
Maybe she is holding a couple of law books in her hand because she is a lawyer, or
in school studying to be one. Just keep expanding that little snapshot, maybe even
take a couple of more if needed, fitting a few more people into the frame, until you’ve
got everything from them that you can.

You’re doing great, but now it’s time to get really personal.

Strangers become friends, or sometimes not friends, after we spend time talking.
Even if they ask a question and you are the one answering, they often comment back
in some way that reveals some piece of who they are to you. Of course it’s not polite
to meet a person and start asking questions, much less asking question after
question. But since we are building a character here, we can get away with it. So ask.
Ask lots of questions of this character who popped into your mind. (Be ready to write
down the answers, either with pen and paper, or the keyboard.) You need to know a
lot about him or her. Everything almost.

As you do your interrogation find out where he lives, who her friends are, who’s
missing from his life, how close she is with her family, who his enemies are, what
kind of possessions does he value, even if she is a morning person or needs two cups
of coffee to speak hello.. Don’t forget about things like her favorite food, worst
nightmare, pets, secret dream, fears, worst mistake, and all of the rest. You don’t
want to just find out what his job is, but how does he feel about it, how did he get it,
who he works with, and whatever else you think of.

Every question you learn the answer to is one more layer of that onion, one more
thing that will help your character become flesh and blood to you. Even things from
her childhood are important here. We are a combination of everything we experience
in life, so the kind of childhood your character had made him who he is and causes
him to react to things the way he does. Everything I mentioned above, when you hold
the answers to them, are pure gold when you are writing a story. It’s all of these little
details that will make a character come across as true to your readers, and not just a
half-formed apparition that walks across your pages doing what you need for each
scene, out of character or not.

One final note: Don’t add everything you know about your character into your story.
There will be lots of things that you get answers to that you need to know because it
helps you understand how this character will act or react to any situation, but that
doesn’t mean the reader needs to know all of it. If you add in that many details and
that much back-story, your reader is likely to fall asleep in the middle of the first
chapter. None of us what that result after all of our hard work.

By Charlotte Dillon
www.charlottedillon.com

“I discovered that rejections are not altogether a bad thing. They teach a writer to rely on his own judgment and to say in his heart of hearts, ‘To hell with you.’” ~ Saul Bellow

They Didn’t Give Up

Okay, you’ve gotten a rejection letter from an agent or editor. It feels awful! Maybe it was your first. Maybe it was number sixteen. Whichever it was, don’t despair, you’re standing in really good company, so don’t give up. These authors didn’t.

If you are a romance writer, and maybe even if you aren’t, you’ve probably read — or at least watched — Margaret Mitchell’s story, Gone with the Wind. Over 20 publishing
houses tuned that little story down before it sold.

Who hasn’t heard of John Grisham in this day and age. Did you know that the fist
manuscript he wrote, A Time to Kill, was rejected 45 times before it was accepted?

Famous western novelist Louis L’Amour has sold countless books over the years.
Many of his stories have been made into movies, like The Quick and the Dead — the
old one, not the newer version. His stories earned him over 300 rejections before he
ever sold a book.

Mary Higgins Clark is well known by mystery fans all over the world. She kept wiring
and sending out her novels, even after 40 rejections rolled in.

If you have children, you’ve probably spent at least a few hours with a Dr. Seuss book
in hand. He was the proud owner of nearly 30 rejections, and that was just from one
story.

Aren’t you glad they filed those rejections away, and then kept on trying?

Rejection Letters Have Some Good Points

Getting a rejection from a publishing house — or agent — might leave you feeling
depressed, sad, angry, and more. That’s okay, let yourself sink into the biggest pity
party known to man. Eat a ton of chocolate, watch a sad love story and cry your eyes out, sit around in your PJ’s until noon, but don’t spend too much time on that party. You have things to do, another publishing house to research, a new agent to check out, and that manuscript to get back in the mail. There is also that new story you should be working on.

Believe it or not, there are some good things you should remember about rejection.
What good things? Let me list a few. Oh, and let me add congratulation on that
rejection letter. You should be proud!

1) That rejection letter means you are a REAL writer.
2) You completed a manuscript. A whole story.
3) You wrote both a query letter and a synopsis; something that can be harder than
writing an entire novel.
4) When you were done, you looked through guidelines and found a publishing house
that printed your kind of story, or an agent who accepted the genre you write in..
5) With dreams overflowing, you addressed that envelope and mailed your baby into
the cold, hard world.
6) You used up more patience than you even knew you possessed, watching that mail
box and waiting to hear something, anything…probably for months.
7) When you got that rejection, you didn’t give up, or you wouldn’t be hear reading
this.

The Steps on the Rejection Ladder

When you at last get brave enough to send out your manuscript, the rejection letter
you might get could be the standard form letter. When I sent my first MS off about ten years ago, I thought it was filled with great writing! Now looking back, I know it was awful! It did get me my first rejection letter though.

Dear Author,

Thank you for thinking of DreamOn publishing, but at this time we feel your story does
not fit our needs. Best of luck placing your work elsewhere.

The Editors

Notice I’m an author, but they don’t use my name, nor do they mention the title of my
MS, the real reason it was rejected — it sucked dirt — or even list an editor by name.
Oh well. I kept writing, joined RWA and went to some meetings, started learning what
I was doing wrong, did a little rewrite, and sent that baby out again.

Next rejection, please, one step up.

Dear Ms. Dillon,

Thank you for thinking of GettingBetter publishing, but at this time your story, Love at
Last, does not fit our needs. Best of luck placing it with another house.

Assistant Editor, April Noname

Lots of work later, I made it to the top step of the rejection letter. Ah the glory of it all. (Smile) Hopefully, sites like mine will help you skip at least the first kinds of rejection letters.

Dear Ms. Dillon,

I enjoyed reading Love Again, and find you have an impressive writing style, but I’m
sorry to inform you that we can not accept your story at this time. Although you have
strong characterization skills, and a powerful use of description, too much narrative
slows your overall pace throughout the story. If you have any other manuscripts
available, I would be happy to consider them.

All the best,
Senior Editor, Pattie Loveme

Allure Authors has now become an exciting adventure for eight authors! We hope readers will think so as well!! To get you as excited as we are each of us are posting excerpts on our blogs for 8 solid days!!! Each for another author! Follow the trail of ALLURE authors to more fun and excerpts! Our site is coming soon and so are prizes and fun!

Here is my first guest author excerpt!
GYPSY HEART
By Sasha White, sashawhite.net

Sale Link: http://www.liquidsilverbooks.com/books/gypsyheart.htm

Excerpt:

They said their good byes to everyone, and Gage steered her toward the vehicles parked nearby. When he stopped next to a yellow Dodge Dakota, Sable laughed out loud.

“What?”

“You just happen to have the truck of my dreams.” She threw a wink at him. “Think it means anything?”

He opened the door for her and waited while she climbed in, his lips tilted in a small smile, but not saying a word. While he walked around to his side she saw Miranda climb into Jake’s Jeep and felt relieved her friend didn’t have to walk home alone in the deepening twilight.

Gage opened the driver’s door, tossed his bag behind the seat and climbed in. She breathed deeply as his scent filled the small confines of the truck cab, and lust unfurled in her belly.

An image of him standing naked, still dripping from a shower, burst into her mind. She licked her lips and pressed her thighs together at the thought of licking those water droplets off him.

The truck engine turned over, and with a start Sable realized Gage was looking at her expectantly.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi there,” he responded after a moment of silence. “I need your address.”

Ugh! Feeling like an idiot, she gave him directions to her apartment. Before she could get too distracted by the sight of his bare, muscular thighs so close to her own, she asked the question foremost in her mind.

“So, where did you disappear to last night?”

“It was late when Jake and I finished our game, so I thought it best just to go home.”

“And you invited him to play ball with you guys tonight?” He’d made plans with Jake instead of her?

His hands fidgeted on the steering wheel, the muscles in his forearms jumped, and so did her pulse rate. She’d never found a man’s forearms sexy before.

“Yeah. Our talk turned to ball, and he mentioned he used to play so I invited him along. Are you and he very close?”

“Me and Jake?” she squawked.

Gage laughed at her surprise. “Yes, you and Jake.”

“Not really, no. I mean we work together almost every night, and we get along good. But we’ve never really talked. We’ve never had the need to.”

“What do you mean ‘the need to’?”

“Well, he runs the kitchen, and I handle the bar. We each do our thing, and everything goes smoothly. Why?” Was he jealous? Did he really think she would hit on him if she had something going with Jake?

“No reason, really.” He shrugged. “He just seemed pretty protective of you last night, so I wondered. Here we are.” He slowed the truck to a stop and put the parking brake on.

Sable’s brain was still stuck on needs. All the naughty needs that had started to build inside her the moment he’d stepped into the pub.The need to taste him, to feel him. To have his hands cup her breasts, his fingers pinch her nipples, his tongue in her mouth, his cock buried deep inside her.

“Would you like to come in?”she asked, her voice husky.

He grimaced, as if in pain, when he answered her. “I better not.”

“I’ll feed you.” When she saw him hesitate, she continued to tempt him. “I make a mean chicken stir fry. As long as you like it hot and spicy.”

Heat flashed in his eyes at that, and Sable felt a shiver run down her spine.

“Hot is definitely a favorite of mine, but I have to say no thanks.” He studied her intently for a beat and then continued. “Look, Sable, you’re a beautiful and intriguing woman, but I’m at a place in my life right now where I want more than a casual relationship. And I get the feeling that’s all you’re looking for. So . . . I think it’s best if we just leave things the way they are.”

Just her luck. She finally decided she wanted to have hot fling, and the guy she wanted to do it with is looking for a relationship.

She’d consider a relationship, if she didn’t suck at them. But she could barely handle a relationship with her family and they had to love her.

She looked into the depths of his eyes. His desire was clear. His words might have told her he didn’t want her, but his eyes told her he was lying, and she felt the rightness of them in her gut.

Determined not to let him go without something to think about, she reached a hand up to cup his cheek and softly pressed her lips against his.

She’d meant it to be a quick kiss, a tease, but the instant their lips touched, hunger swamped her. She ran her tongue across his full bottom lip, seeking entrance. His lips parted and his tongue darted out to duel with hers. Sliding her fingers into his hair, she pulled him closer and deepened the kiss. Her heart thumped against her chest, her breathing became ragged and all thoughts fled as they tasted each other for the first time.

Needing air, she pulled back a bit, nibbled at his lips and kissed the corner of his mouth before sealing her lips over his fully once more. When his hand cupped the back of her head, she tightened her grip on his hair and pulled her mouth away. My God, she was practically on top of him!

Resting her forehead against his, their panting breaths mingled in the small space between them. She looked into his eyes and felt her chest tighten with a foreign emotion.

“If you change your mind, you know where to find me.” Not bothering to keep her disappointment from showing, she pulled away completely and exited the truck before she said something she’d really regret.

Something like “Take a chance on me.”

And check back tomorrow! I will have another Allure author guest spot and excerpt!!