Blatant Self-Promotion

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S TO EVERYONE!

This morning while visiting my usual rounds of blogs while I had my coffee, I found an extremely generous offer at Cassandra Carr’s blog. (http://booksbycassandracarr.com/wordpress/?p=889#comment-1841)  She is offering writers the chance to promote their work on her blog. Wow! What a hugely generous gift.

Since I am always in search of new reading material, I thought I would borrow her idea and offer you the same chance here. Leave a comment in the comments section below. Tell us about your story, where to buy it, length, publisher, blurb, and tell us about your website too. In the spirit of giving, it would be nice if you returned the favour, but I don’t require it. (Don’t forget to thank Cassandra too.)

Don’t forget to stop by your favourite e-publisher and pick up The Gift.

Come of folks, lets share the wealth and find us some new authors to worship.

(I'm off now to check out some new books. I hope my visa can stand the strain. *grin*)

Hugs

Katie

(Okay, I've been to dozens of sites offering this generous gift. My to-be-read list is getting longer and longer. What a fabulous time I am going to have reading all these new-to-me authors. WOWSERS!)

Resolutions

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. Mine was fabulous. I spent the day with my husband and daughters (and their husbands.) It was a fun filled day of games and good food, and a visit from my brother-in-law. Good times were had all around.

Today things start anew. I got up early and hit the treadmill. I’m backing off the sweets and junk now and getting back into healthy eating. Although I confess that I will never be a fan of vegetables. So I shall have to focus on fruits instead.

This is the time of year when people start making New Year’s Resolutions. I’ve basically stopped doing that. I never follow through on them anyway, and end up feeling bad about it later on. Oh, I know that there are many things in my life that need improvement, but over the past couple of years I have tried working on small changes as I notice things that need improvement or tweaked.

My current focus, which started last summer, is to get healthy. I am working out on a fairly regular basis. (Not as often as I should, but more often than I used to.) I am eating healthier. I am trying to reach my goal weight. But I am not dieting; I am just focusing on smaller portions, less junk and healthier foods. I try to hit the gym six days a week, but usually only make it four times. Still, that is a huge improvement over the way things have been for the past twenty years. With these small changes, I have managed to lose 35 pounds. I have another 35 or 40 to go, but I feel confident that they will slip away as well. I just need to keep on with the changes I have made, and slowly work those portions down from gargantuan to reasonable. I admit it; it is nice when someone notices that I am shrinking.

But back to the resolutions … no I am not going to make any actual resolutions. But here are the top ten things I know need work.

1.      I will swear less.

2.      I will eat healthier.
3.      I will hug my friends and family more often.
4.      I will try to control my temper.
5.      I will work out regularly.
6.      I will do some housework. (Note I said some….not a lot. LOL)
7.      I will indulge in some random acts of kindness.
8.      I will let my loved ones know I appreciate them.
9.      I will try to be a better person.
10.  I will write more.

Are you making any resolutions this year? Any big changes planned? Any small changes? I would love to hear about them.

Hugs

Katie

Friday 56

I’ve recently stumbled across a posting idea from a writer I love, Shiloh Walker. It is called Friday 56. You can find Shiloh here…. http://www.shilohwalker.com/website/

So here we go…..The book? 206 Bones by Kathy Reichs. Here is a teeny tiny exerpt from page 56 of Kathy's book. (Just to get you interested.)

“A man I work with.”

“A policeman?” One of my nieces was peering past us through the storm door. With her dark hair, green eyes, and ivory skin, Allie showed not a hint of her Baltic gene pool.

(Interesting how that small clip is descriptive but doesn’t really say much about the book. So far, I am enjoying this book immensely.)

 About the Friday 56

• Grab the book nearest you. Right now
• Turn to page 56.
• Find the fifth sentence.
• Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
• Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
• Don’t dig for your favourite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Now that the Friday 56 is finished….. Let’s move on to something else

            Fabulous Friday to each and every one of you. Merry Christmas one and all. While I may be surfing the net tomorrow, I know that I won’t be posting anything here. After all Christmas is a time for family and friends so for the next three days I’ll be knee deep in good food, good friends and tasty alcohol.

            Today, I think I’ll bake a couple of apple pies and maybe some Snickerdoodles, listen to some Christmas music and drink coffee with my friends. Of course, I will have to do some writing too, because as I have mentioned before, I have to write …. if I don’t my head would explode from all the ideas racing around in there. So I’ll be doing some serious plotting on the next couple of novels and working away on my short story for my friend with the foot fetish.

So, Season’s Greetings, Merry Christmas and a stupendous New Year to you. Take care of you!

Hugs

Katie

Christmas Reading

I thought I would write a post about spicy holiday reads today.

You have to check out The Smutketeers Blog and read all about Four For Christmas. I’ve read the excerpts and it is going to be one very hot read. I can hardly wait to read the rest of it. R.G. Alexander is one of my new favorite authors. Check her out; you might even win a copy of her new book.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my own first my own novelette…The Gift. It is a very hot story of love and carnal bliss.

Another good place to check out holiday stories is the e-topia blog and Goodreads. (You will find both R.G.'s story and mine here.)

For upcoming reads, I am working on a couple of short stories, which I will post here. I’m also slaving away on a couple of steamy romances … (when I’m not knee deep in flour and sugar making cookies.)

Hugs Katie

Favorite Things

Around this time of year, I haul out some of my old favorite movies and watch them. Usually while I set up the tree(s) I watch Christmas movies, and The Sound of Music, which always makes me think of my favorite things. *grin*

Some of the movies I love to watch at Christmas are (in no particular order)

The Sound of Music
Flash Dance
Dirty Dancing
Miracle on 34^th Street
A Christmas Carol (Original with Alistair Sims)
Scrooged (Love that Carol Kane)
Bed Knobs and Broomsticks
Godzilla
Adventures in Babysitting
Goonies

My favorite Christmas CDs are Boney M and The Irish Rovers. How can you resist Gramma Got Run Over by A Reindeer? My favorite holiday treats are eggnog, shortbread cookies and white chocolate candy cane bark. Oh, and let’s not forget sweet potato casserole with marshmallows melted on the top. Yummy.

But my favorite holiday treat of all time is (cover your eyes kids) sex under the Christmas tree. Mm dark room with the only light coming from the tree, my sexy man, a cold beverage and some smoking hot sex on a soft blanket on the floor. So hot, so romantic.

Hugs

Katie

Holiday Preparations

It is confession time again...

I love Christmas! I love everything about it. The decorating, the tree, the lights, the music, giving gifts, getting gifts. All of it. I even like....shopping. This is the one and only time of year that I enjoy the mall. Okay, maybe I like lingerie stores all year. Oh and the 'adult toy' store. : ) But that's a side note. I also enjoy the baking, the cooking but mostly I love how everyone makes that little bit of an extra effort to be kind to each other. I wish we could be kinder all year long. (Yeah, I know I am as guilty as the rest of the world that way.)

Wow...that star is
really crooked!

Now, my trees are up. Yes I have two trees this year. One in the front entry for my clients to enjoy. The other in the family room, half buried under gifts. The house is decorated and smells deliciously of baking. No I have not yet started my baking. Sigh! I'm cheating with scented wax and a couple of Scentsy burners. LOL. The baking starts on Monday. I've finished my  commissions in my real life, and have all next week to play in the kitchen. And I will enjoy every minute of it. Well except for that one pan of cookies that I will forget and burn to a crisp. (Seems I do that every year.)

Fuelling my enthusiasm for the holidays are all the blogs I read each morning. I am totally addicted to writer's blogs. (Oh Crap! Was that another confession?) A good number of them are, naturally, focused on the holidays. I am particularly partial to http://www.smutketeers.com/ . They are having a holiday giveaway right now. A Twelve Days of Christmas thing.  They have inspired me to write my own version of that famous song.... I'm not saying it is good, but it does relate to romance and erotic novels. I'm not gonna list it all out, but here is the gist.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my writers gave to me....

Twelve darling damsels

Eleven vampire vixens
Ten tangled triangles
Nine lads a licking
Eight merry positions
Seven sexy studlings
Six whips of leather
Five glorious orgasms
Four erotic writers
Three French kisses
Two tangled lovers and
A super hot love story.

Okay, I admit it, it is not that great. But it makes me smile and that's all that matters.
Now, I'm off to write something naughty.

Hugs
Katie

Mmm Men

Let’s be up front right away here. I like men. I like the way they look, I like the way they smell, I even like their crazy Neanderthal behaviour. Many women don’t like attending sports functions, but I love it. I love watching MMA (Mixed Marital Arts), all those well-built sweaty men wrestling around. Well it just gets my hormones going.

I also love to watch lacrosse, both the pros and the masters. Again, hot-sweaty men having a good time, I’m not made of stone you know. I adore it when men act all tough and macho and tease each other ruthlessly to hide their true feelings of friendship and caring. I think it’s sweet, but I would never tell them that I am onto their deceptions.

Masters lacrosse is always interesting, the teasing the crude jokes and taunts, I find it all highly entertaining. Then there are the men. Mm mm, Delicious! For a while I didn’t go watch the games, but recently started again and re-discovered the fabulous world of scantily clad sweaty men. I also discovered that I have a thing for men’s calves. I like them sleek and toned with nice muscle definition. Not too bulgy though. I’m not even all that fussy about their length as long as they are in good shape. Just thinking about some of the ones I’ve seen over the years makes me tingle in all the right places.

Masters Lacrosse Legs. Yummy.

I know there’s no need to mention the half-naked men running around the rink. Physical trainers working on mostly naked men making them groan in agony or delight, does it get any better than that? Of course it does silly. Men flexing and stretching their barely covered bodies, some of which is real, but much of which is simply them showing off their stuff. Mmmm.  Let us not forget the buck-naked men wandering past open change room doors either. Love those backsides.

I’ve watched a lot of master’s games over the years and let me tell you there are a lot of really fine men out there. Some with fabulous bodies that just make you drool and think naughty thoughts. Cute ones and a couple of drop dead gorgeous ones too. Of course there are quite a few who are nothing special to look at, but once you get to know them you just want to cuddle up to them. To a man they are always sweet to me, talking to me keeping me company between games and generally being nice. I love it. Quite simply, it makes my day and fills my dreams with enticing and erotic images.

There really is something about being the only woman amongst a whole building full of men that makes a girl feel special. Again, I have to be honest ... I love being the centre of attention. What girl doesn't. LOL

Hugs

Katie

Publishers

I've just found out that in addition to Amazon and Barnes & Noble my book is also available at....

All Romance Books (Here you can buy it in many formats....Adobe Acrobat, Palm DOC/iSolo, HTML, Mobipocket (.prc), Mobipocket (.mobi), Epub)

It has also been sent to Kobo, Sony, and iBookstore, where books normally take several weeks to start appearing. (I'll post these links when it is available.)

 In other news, I've been busy working on my next erotica novel ...also known as Cliterature. LOL. As well, I'm deep into a more traditional romance. (Of course it will have some steamy scenes too.) For that I'll need another pen name if it ever gets to the publication stage. After all I wouldn't want my nice readers to learn about my naughty work. Of course, I've read that getting your second book published is harder than the first.  I guess the tendency is to rest on ones laurels and not put that much effort into the second one. So its up to you,  my fans (LOL), to keep  me motivated. Got a good idea for a story or a hot scene... e-mail it to me. (12curious@gmail.com)

Hugs
Katie

The Gift Has Arrived

Here it is folks...my first published novella. I am almost beside myself with excitement.
Buy it on Amazon
Buy it at Barnes & Noble

(Sorry about the typo on the cover, I'll get the corrected version today.)

Blurb:
     Sammy Jarvis is harboring a secret fantasy and desperately wants to make it a reality. Finally she finds the courage to ask her adoring husband for a special Christmas gift, one that will make her dreams come true. She wants Nick to help her find a woman to make love with.
     What is a man to do? Stymied, Nick turns to his old college lover Carl. While brainstorming the problem, Nick and Carl take a trip down memory lane to the time when they were lovers. With their rekindled desires satisfied for the moment, they devise a plan for Sammy to meet Carl’s girlfriend Gina.
    When Sammy and Gin meet, clothing begins to fly. Being with Gina is everything that Sammy had imagined, but now she wants more. She’s set her cap on Carl as well.
     Sammy’s heart is big enough to encompass them all, but is there room in her marriage to Nick to accommodate her new-found love for Gina and Carl, or will this tangled lover’s heap destroy them all?

Have a great day folks and enjoy your read.