For the next seven days I’ll be running a contest here and give one lucky commenter a birthday swag pack. Who’s birthday you ask? Well mine! That’s right, for my birthday next week, I’ll give someone a download of both Flash of Dark and Midnight’s Ghost, along with cover flats of each book and an assortment of other swag.

So leave a comment here before 6 pm on June 8th to be entered!

Welcome to the Romance Writers Behaving Badly Blog Tour! You should have arrived here from Gem Sivad’s site (http://gemsivad.wordpress.com). In case you’ve stumbled upon my post and don’t know what’s going on, I’m part of a group of romance authors who have a blog together. We’re holding a blog tour this weekend where we will give away some great books – our own!

I’m Sara and I write paranormal, fantasy and science fiction erotic romance. My first paranormal (Fae and vampires), Flash of Dark, is one of the eBooks up for a prize.

If you want to start at the beginning, head on over to Jeanne’s site (http://jeannestjames.blogspot.com). Just follow the list, commenting on each post and that’s it.

Now, part of what you came for is eye candy – right? Since one of my characters in my book is particularly fond of rope, I managed to combine that was the theme of our blog tour – springtime. When I hear springtime, I think of flowers.

What do you think of when you hear springtime?

When you’ve left your comment (please remember to leave a comment at each site on the tour), you can continue on to the next blog on the tour: Lissa Matthews (http://lissamatthews.blogspot.com)

Psst…before we move on to the hotties, there’s another contest happening here for my upcoming release on Monday, Jan 18. Don’t forget to enter for a chance to win a download of my book and a goodie pack of promotional stuffs!

Okay – what you came for! I like themes and we’ve got one today – say hello to some celebrity hotties. Or more accurately, say hello to those biceps and even a few abs! *wolf whistle* These men know certainly know how to take care of themselves and boy do we appreciate it!

In case you’re wondering who you’re saying hello to: Hugh, Ryan, Vin, Chris & Thomas

* Just a reminder, the blog tour closes @ midnight EST. So get your entries in!

On with the tour! Jeanne St. James

Paige Tyler
Stephanie Adkins
Tina Holland
PG Forte Chatting
Sara Brookes
Jeanne St. James Chatting (AM)
Gem Sivad Chatting
Sandra Sookoo
Juniper Bell
Jeanne Barrack
Saranna DeWylde
Ella Drake
Alanna Coca Chatting
Pinching Abe
Christa Paige Chatting (1p EST)
Trina M. Lee Chatting
Annemarie Hartnett and Lexi Ryan
Rae Morgan Chatting 2p EST
Savanna Kougar
Kayelle Allen
Madison Scott Chatting
Keira Ramsay
LSB’s Silver Expressions
Annie Nicholas Chatting
Olivia Brynn Chatting

You can either email fodcontest(@)sarabrookes.net (Just remove the brackets around the @ symbol first) or leave a comment.

If that’s not enough, there’s also going to be another opportunity to win free eBooks (23 of them!!! and one of which is mine) during the blog tour I’ll be participating in just two days from now. And then, swing back by on Monday, release day, where I’ll be participating in Excerpt Monday and will have a new sneak peek from the book.

Mark your calendars now for January 15, 2010. See some hot bodies to warm you up in these cold winter months and win books. Now I call that a WIN WIN if there ever was one!

~*~

You can find everything you want to know about my upcoming release, Flash of Dark over here. But there’s an added bonus – for New Release Monday, not only do you get a peek at upcoming releases but you’ll be entered to win these titles as well and yep – my book is included.

In addition, come join my personal celebration where I gift you with the entire first chapter. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think and don’t forget I’m running a release day contest here at my site and you can enter that here.

On to the excerpt!

~*~

Links to other New Releases
Note: I have not personally screened these releases. Please heed the ratings and
be aware that the links may contain material that is not typical of my site.

Once again, it’s that time again. Blog Tour time. If you’ve made it here by not starting at the beginning (and you’re all about order like I am) the Blog Tour starts over at Trina’s site (http://trinamlee.com/blog/). If this is your first time to my site, I’ve got an upcoming release and you can find information about it on my books page (http://www.sarabrookes.net/books/). Now, on to the tour…

RULES: The rules are simple. Visit each blog on the tour and leave a comment at each one. At the end of the day, the winner’s will be chosen at random and prizes abound!

While the Blog Tour runs from midnight to midnight – there’s an added bonus this time. Some of the authors will be participating in a chat that you can cozy up in at the end of the tour. So from 7 am to 7 pm EST be sure to pop your head in there and say hi!

Wanna know what you could have a shot at winning? Just take a look at this list:

Preja Vu by Alanna Coca
3 paperbacks from Emily Ryan-Davis and Elise Logan
For a Price by Olivia Brynn
Wolf’s Tender by Gem Sivad
Once Bitten by Trina M. Lee
Bound by Deception by Christa Paige
Rocky Mountain Heat by Vivian Arend
Banged Up by Jeanne St. James
Endangered Hearts by Jolie Cain
Flesh and Blood by Tina Holland
Between Heaven and Hell by Stephanie Adkins
The Challenge by Serena Shay
Three Holiday-themed books by PG Forte
Protective Custody by Paige Tyler
Human Nature by Cat Kane
Any backlist book by Dee Carney
Semper Fi ~ Magnus by Jambrea Jo Jones
Red Lioness Tamed by Savanna Kougar
The Spirit of the Place by PG Forte
Iron by PG Forte
In the Dark by PG Forte
Winner’s choice of any book by K.Z. Snow
Six Foot Hero by Shea McMaster
Book (TBA) by J. Morgan
Hearts Afire December by Emily Ryan-Davis, Elise Logan and Ella Drake
Intimate Strangers by Gem Sivad
Backlist book by Vivian Arend
Signed print copy of Destiny’s Magick by Rae Morgan
The Omegas by Annie Nicholas
The Extremist by Juniper Bell
Tastes of Pleasure by Shara Lanel

Now that you know what you can win, bet you want some hotties huh? Well – wait no further. Like the Halloween tour, there’s a theme here at this blog. It’s pretty easy to figure out, so don’t get yourself too tied up in knots about it.

So, now that you’ve gazed upon some hotties that are all tied up and need a mop for all the drool, you can head on off to the next stop on the tour, Savanna’s site (http://kougarkisses.blogspot.com/).

One December 11th, I’m participating in an author blog tour just like the one back at Halloween. 26 (!) authors will be taking part and there’s going to be a bevvy of books that will be given away.  The rules are the same as the Halloween tour, but for anyone that’s new, here are the rules again and their easy!

The tour will start with the first author. She’ll offer up some eye candy for everyone to drool over. Just simply leave her a comment and follow the link to the next blog on the tour where you’ll be greeted with more eye candy for you to leave a comment and follow the next link for even more. You’ll follow the trail, commenting as you go and in the end you’ll have a bevvy of delicious eye candy and be entered to win free books.

It’s as simple as Rinse. Lather. Repeat.

****

For my first foray in Excerpt Monday land, I thought I would go with something that I’m working on editing up for a Freebie Story here on the site. It’s actually one of two shorts (very, very shorts) that I sat down and wrote out one day. The first is called Room with a View and the second, the one this excerpt is from, is called Room for Binding. They don’t fit in with anything else that I currently have working and there isn’t any character development, plot or real point to the short. Doesn’t mean that one can’t enjoy it, however.

WARNING: F/F story with a naked women at a table and references to bondage in this excerpt – DO NOT continue if you are not of legal age.

****

Celia had never been bound.

She had no idea what she was missing. There was something to be said about thick leather surrounding your wrists and the creaking sound of them that drove through you while your arms were raised over your head. The feeling of helplessness was so overwhelming that at some point, when you least expected it, it became intoxicating. It was amazing how quickly that sensation became addicting and you found yourself craving it every moment of the day.

I wanted to give that to her but knew she wouldn’t surrender easily. Nothing with Celia was ever easy, but that’s the way that I liked things. I was always up for a challenge. I suspected she wasn’t even aware of how it would make her feel despite the way I had seen her balk at the pair of leather cuffs that had been on display at the adult bookstore downtown. Sure, she may have outwardly turned her nose up at the idea, but I had seen the spark of interest in her amethyst eyes. A bright fire that she had smothered as quickly as it had flared to life. She thought she had fooled me, but I knew better. If she truly believed that I was going to ignore what I saw then she deserved every bit of what I had planned for her. I had thought this out, figured there were several ways to approach this. Ultimately, the direct approach won and those same cuffs now sat on the dining room table in front of me.

I was waiting for her to return from a long day of work and was looking forward to the evening and the prospects that lay before me. Rain splattered on the fire escape out the window and I knew it would slow her commute.

It wouldn’t matter to me; I was nothing if not patient. At least when it came to matters like this. I had had enough tenacity to not give up when Celia hadn’t thought herself capable of an orgasm. I had shown her just how very wrong she was.

Delightfully, she didn’t keep me waiting too long and opened the front door about fifteen minutes later. I said nothing, watching as she shook a little the rain from her coat and dropped her briefcase to the ground. Keys were dropped to the table with a loud bang and she ran her fingers through her rain dampened hair. I enjoyed watching this little nightly ritual she had. The light overhead snapped on as she hit the rocker switch with a knuckle and she gave a little shout, jumping when she spotted me. “Rachel. Christ, you scared me. Why the hell are you sitting in the dark?” Even as she asked, her eyes narrowed as she noticed that I sat at the far end of the table completely nude. Those dark eyes of hers narrowed even further when she saw the twin circles of leather in front of me. “I thought we discussed this.”

I tipped my head forward in agreement as I shifted my position on the chair. “We did and I respect everything you said. I even understand your stance. I once felt that way myself.”

Her arms crossed and I could tell she knew I was up to something. She just couldn’t tell what and that was obviously frustrating the hell out of her. “Then why are those here?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the tone of her voice, at the accusation lying thick on each word as she said them. “I bought them today.”

“No shit,” she said dryly. “I asking why they’re here when you know I have no interest in that sort of thing.”

I smiled and reached forward, hooking one of the cuffs over my finger as I pushed away from the chair. “Because it’s not your interest I care to discuss.”

She started to automatically retort but stopped when she realized what I had said. That I wasn’t talking about her pleasure in this, I was referring to mine. The chains joining the two strips clanked together as I pulled them off the table, the noise punctuated by the silence that had suddenly blanketed the room. The cold metal slapped lightly against my skin as I walked towards her and a shiver trailed up my leg at the sensation. Slick, shiny metal against bare skin had always gotten me off. That I wanted to share this with her made it even sweeter of a sensation.
She swallowed hard as I stopped in front of her and raised the cuffs between us in offering.

She seemed hesitant at first, afraid to touch them because it would mean she was confirming my suspicions. That I had been right all along about that lustful flash I had seen in front of that bookstore. The artfully displayed cuffs in the window hadn’t been about how she would feel bound. No, it had been just as I thought.

She wanted me bound.

****

Links to other Excerpt Monday writers
Note: I have not personally screened these excerpts. Please heed the ratings and be aware that the links may contain material that is not typical of my site.

Jamie Babette, Fantasy Romance (PG13)
M.G. Buehrlen, YA Fantasy (PG13)
AJ Chase, Paranormal Romcom (PG13)
Stephanie Draven, Paranormal Romance (PG13)
Heather S. Ingemar, YA (PG 13)
Cynthia Justlin, Romantic Suspense (PG13)
Kaige, Historical Romance (PG13)
Julia Knight, Fantasy Romance (PG 13)
Nadia Lee, Paranormal Romance (PG13)
Jeannie Lin, Historical Romance (PG13)
R.F Long, Paranormal Romance (PG13)
Shawntelle Madison, Paranormal Romance (PG13)
Christa McHugh, Paranormal Romance (PG13)
Debbie Mumford, Fantasy Romance (PG13)
Bria Quinlan, Rom Com (PG13)
Megan S, Paranormal Romance (PG13)
Dara Sorensen, Historical Fiction (PG13)
Melissa Aires, Futuristic Romance (R)
Kendal Ashby, Contemporary, (R)
KB Alan, Contemporary Erotic Romance (R)
Carly Carson, Contemporary (R)
Cate Hart, YA (R)
Felicia Holt, Contemporary Romance (R)
Ali Katz, Historical Erotic Romance (R)
Inez Kelley, Contemporary Romance (R)
Annie Nicholas, Paranormal Romance (R)
Christa Paige, Paranormal (R)
Mary Quast, Contemporary Romance (R)
Alexia Reed, Paranormal Romance (R)
Ella Drake, Historic Paranormal Romance (NC17)
Angeleque Ford, Dark Urban Fantasy (NC17)
J. W. Hankins, Dark Fantasy (NC17)
Kim Knox, Erotic Romance (NC17)
Elise Logan, Contemporary with Paranormal Elements (NC17)
Dawn Montgomery, Paranormal Erotic Romance (NC17)
Kirsten Saell, Erotic Fairy Tale Romance (NC17)
Bryl R Tyne, Erotic Sci Fi m/m, (NC17)

I’m not perfect.

Whew, glad that’s out of the way. Why am I talking about not being perfect? Because, once upon a time – a very long, long, long, long, lo…you get the point – I thought I had to do it all right the first time. This didn’t just pertain to my writing either, this was everything in my life. I scolded myself for answering questions wrong in school. So much so that I stopped participating in class all together just for fear of saying something wrong. Needless to say, my grades suffered all through high school and I graduated only by the skin of my teeth. In my writing, I chastised myself if it wasn’t perfect the first time, tossing things casually to the side that, at one time, may have held some potential. Writing wise, I even walked away from it for the longest time because I got that frustrated with myself.

To be honest, to this day with my writing, it’s rare that anything is ever to my satisfaction. I didn’t get over it, I learned how to be okay with it. It causes me to make pass after pass after pass through my WiP’s, but that’s not such a bad thing when you look at the bigger picture. Each time I make a pass, the story gets better, the characters richer and more dimensional. Okay, I HOPE that’s what happens because I learn something about my writing each time I do that. I just have to know when enough’s enough and step away from it.

I still have a long way to go and I’ll probably never learn everything there is about writing, but that’s okay too because I don’t want to know it all. I like learning and growing from experiences, from seeing what to do and what not to do. Everyone goes through that and that is something that took me a very long time to learn and accept. It’s made me a better person and a better writer, bringing me to a place where I found enough courage to even be able to think about sending that I had hacked out to a publisher, let alone publishers.

So, I’m perfectly fine with being perfectly imperfect.

Just a couple of notes: Don’t forget to stop back by here on Monday, 10/12, for my first foray into Excerpt Monday.

Also, should I be able to find some time for it in the next few weeks to take a scrub through things, I’ll be posting some free reads up on my Free page. Just a few shorts that don’t really fit anywhere to speak of and are too short to really even be called shorts in the first place. *g*