What can I say? It's #tattooTuesday all you #romance writers out there, muses #amwriting

Not able to credit this pic so if anyone knows who this gorgeous male model is , do tell

From the lens of Gilles Crofta Photography pic found circulating on Facebook 

https://www.facebook.com/gilles.crofta

http://gillescrofta.com/

#Coverreveal for soon to be released #vampire romance The Confession Box, what really happens in the VIP room ? pre-order now

A Club Coven story

What really happens in the VIP room?

On pre-order discount now

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V7IQXM8

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Confession-Box-Club-Coven-Story-ebook/dp/B00V7IQXM8

18+ book

Writing #Sci-Fi , a guide to building worlds and alien language #newrelease from @kayelleallen

Creating Alien Languages by Kayelle Allen

Author of the Tarthian Empire Companion, an illustrated World-Building Bible and Guide to Writing a Science Fiction Series.

I'm not a fan of changing basic terms for the sake of making them sound alien. For example, we "inch" along, not "millimeter" along, so I apply the same principle in my books. Diamonds are diamonds. Water is water.

Language, however, is malleable. Considering how far in the future my own stories are, there would be few (if any) words in English that we'd recognize. Being the practical sort, I kept many current terms.

What better way to describe rock music than to call it rock? Why call a flashlight a "mobile light source" or some other phrase for the sake of sounding different? It comes across silly and pretentious instead.

People shorthand words and phrases to things like OMG, LOL, BFF, deets, and probably one of the most famous shortcuts of all -- the abbreviation for "more of the same" -- "etc." I prefer to use natural, understandable language whenever possible.

If you create a language, write down the words you use and keep a definition handy. This will keep you from later misspelling or contradicting yourself. You should also create a phonogram chart (list of sounds). This will help you create a richer language.

Slang

What terms do your characters use for slang? Define these and list them so you have a ready reference for future books. List how and why the words became slang. This not only helps you maintain consistency in creation, it also helps you with creating future slang you might need.

Here is a list of Kelthian Street Slang. It's used in limited places, and there is far more listed here than I used in my actual books. However, I wanted a big list from which to choose a term.

Cobber is Kelthian street cant (characteristic language) used on Kelthia by slaves and gangs.

Boastin';  mess with, put on a front, tease, etc.
Clinkers;  great, fine, no worries
Going all Kin;  becoming feral, unruly, wild
Hawkin';  watching from the sidelines
Junk me;  pay no attention to me
Leave me sly;  forgive me, let me off
Lipped;  said, explained, told
No new coins;  same stuff different day, nothing new
Notta boasted you clean;  shouldn't have messed with you, or shouldn't have put on a front with you, teased you, etc.
Ride my pocket;  Follow me, stay on my tail
Right clinkers;  perfectly fine, totally great
Royal;  excellent, top notch
Scam-butt;  cheater, scam artist
Scat these taggers;  get out of these clothes, undress
Screech, the;  sickness of any type
Seein' you slip;  noticing you're not doing well
Smacked;  happy, pleased
Smackers;  general swear word with unspecified meaning. Dang, damn, hell, etc.
Sotted;  drunk
Spacin' me;  In my space, close to me
Space me;  give me some room, move away
Street freak or freaks;  homeless person or people
Street;  the street in general. Culture of the street.
Tawkin';  looking for action
What's down;  what's up or what's new
You skinnin';  you're skin and bones
Shake out those taggers;  what's under those clothes
Taggers;  clothes

Taken from the Tarthian Empire Companion, an illustrated World-Building Bible and Guide to Writing a Science Fiction Series. The worldbuilding magic that makes Kayelle Allen's Tarthian Empire tick, the Companion shares 10k years of future history, peeks behind the curtain of scene and character creation, offers a quick tour of the empire, and dishes up a surfeit of secrets for fans, all in one illustrated volume. Original art by Jamin Allen and Kayelle Allen.

Where to Buy

Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/526971

Amazon http://bit.ly/companion-az

Smashwords http://bit.ly/companion-sm

Goodreads http://bit.ly/1DtIrOR

Coming soon in print

Giveaway

Download the free "Top Stops" edition of the Companion and visit the most popular sites in the Tarthian Empire. Illustrated, 24 pp

http://kayelleallen.com/media/kayelle_allen_tec_topstops.pdf

Kayelle Allen is a best-selling, multi-published, award-winning author. Her unstoppable heroes and heroines include contemporary every day folk, role-playing immortal gamers, futuristic covert agents, and warriors who purr.

Homeworld http://kayelleallen.com Mobile site http://kayelleallen.mobi

Unstoppable Heroes Blog http://kayelleallen.com/blog

Twitter http://twitter.com/kayelleallen

Facebook http://facebook.com/kayelleallen.author

Pinterest http://pinterest.com/kayelleallen/

There's a guest author visiting today with a newly released #contemporary #romance welcome Tanya Vought

TITLE – Granted Wishes SERIES – The Granted Series AUTHOR – Tanya Vought GENRE – Contemporary Romance PUBLICATION DATE – 2/3/15 LENGTH (Pages/# Words) – 234 PUBLISHER – Booktrope COVER ARTIST – Shari Ryan

A decision that will change her life forever.

After the loss of her husband, Gracelynn Calhoun has struggled with her life and career. Forced to take a four week vacation or be fired from her job, she surprises everyone including herself and agrees to the vacation.

The owner of Antonetti Suites, Giovanni works hard and doesn’t have time for relationships or love. That is until he literally crashes into Gracelynn. She brings back all the feelings he thought he would never feel again.

With the odds stacked against them in every way possible, will they forge ahead together or will this be the end of the road for their newfound love? Will the whispers from above bring them together or will misunderstandings ruin what could be an amazing second chance at love?

AMAZON KINDLE US – AMAZON KINDLE CA – AMAZON KINDLE UK – BARNES & NOBLES NOOK – GOODREADS

EXCERPT

“Wow. You’re a vision, you know that?” He practically drools all over. She wears a pair of blue jeans and a low cut green sweater with a white scarf wrapped around her neck. Her hair is up, and she wears light make up.

She chuckles. “Like what you see?” She smirks at him, daunting him. The little vixen can come out and play when she wants and he is enjoying this side of the sexy Gracelynn.

He decides to play dirty himself. “Want to see how happy I am to see you?” He smirks back at her. “Let’s make a wager, shall we?” he asks competitively.

She grins at him. She intently twirls a strand of her hair that she left down by her face between her fingers, licks her lips and stares at him. She looks him up and down, making him even more drawn to her.

He gulps. The damn vixen knows how to play dirty.

“Well, what is the wager? Because if it is staring at each other all night, I could do that and then some.”

Copyright © Tanya Vought. All rights reserved.

AUTHOR BIO

Tanya Vought is a hopeless romantic. She loves reading, writing, singing and doing crafts with her children. What started as a lifelong dream became reality. She’s overjoyed that readers will get to read her debut, Granted Wishes. She loves her characters sexy and sassy. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two amazing and imaginative children.

WEBSITE / BLOG – FACEBOOK – TWITTER – GOOGLE+ - GOODREADS OTHERS – Instagram @writer2015

GIVEAWAY PRIZES 1 eBook Copy of Granted Wishes

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This Blast Was Organized & Hosted By

#ManCandy Monday and they're fully dressed. Clothed men can be so sexy.

#foundpics for Man Candy Monday above probably found on Facebook

and below posted on Facebook by my friend writer Katalina Leon

Yum yum

That moment when you delete the last ten thousand words of your WIP #amwriting

I left a story on my computer for six weeks half-written, and suddenly decided that I wanted to finish it. So this weekend I forced myself not to sign into the various social media sites and read the story so that I could continue it.

As soon as I'd finished reading I knew I no longer liked what I'd written. The rest of the story that was in my head wouldn't fit with what was already there. What to do. Be ruthless I told myself. Just cut out what you don't like. The word count swam before my eyes. Was I ready to delete ten thousand words, words I used to like? I took a deep breath. I could copy them onto another document and save them just in case, but no, I know once I fall out of love with my writing it just has to go. 

I deleted ten thousand words, well ten thousand and five words.

I feel much better. Thankfully this doesn't often happen to me, because usually a story drops into my head and I simply write it. I flows down, but my day job has interfered a lot with writing time this last couple of months. I've also been promoting my last story from Evernight Publishing. Promotion takes so much time and energy. I don't know any other author that doesn't feel the same as me about promotion.  

Sometimes writing is such a treat, a joy, and time to write is precious. So I need to take my own promo advice, when I see a chance, take it ...

 Here's a beta (unedited) snippet from the romance WIP, Taking Chances 

Erin was going to have lunch with a couple of work colleagues. They walked down the high street to the café on the corner. She wondered if she should pop into the bookshop to say hello to Hannah as she passed. The older woman was so nice. Then she decided that she’d drop into the shop on the way home instead.

Her colleagues found a table near the window that would seat them all. 

The café was busy, and thankfully, there were three service staff instead of the usual two. Erin ordered soup and a toasted sandwich. As she gazed out of the window waiting for her food, she thought she saw the young man who'd been handing out flyers. He was on his motorcycle moving along slowly. She watched. It is him.

He parked in the spaces specially designated for motorbikes outside the bank on the opposite side of the street, and took off his helmet. The breeze blew his dark hair back. It showed off his angular jaw and the sexy planes of his face. He unzipped his leather jacket as he strode up the sidewalk and went into the big double doors of the bank.

Erin gazed at him longingly. He was so attractive. His dark jeans and mid-calf, black biker boots gave him a dashing air. Erin sighed as she took in the sight of his muscular thighs and his cute ass. The jeans fit perfectly, and there was a frayed rip halfway down the left thigh. He looked good enough to eat. 

One of her colleagues asked her a question and Erin smiled, tearing her thoughts away from the gorgeous young man.

Copyright Elodie Parkes

#TeaserThursday with private detective, Jake Snow #booktrailer

From Jake Snow

Jake was convinced the only reason he didn’t feel nervous about the fashion show was the venue. It was the enormous, flat roof of a very tall building in the city, a hotel with lots of facilities for conferences and events. When he attended the final rehearsal, he had kept away from the edges of the roof. Penny, the model he was walking with, laughed at him, but Jake grinned.

“I didn’t know I was nervous around heights, but obviously I am. Wall or not I’m staying in the middle ground here.” He glanced at the meter high wall of the roof garden thinking it wouldn’t stop anyone falling. Now the place was decked out like a tropical paradise. Tall foam palm trees were dotted around the AstroTurf and fairy lights strung between them. Huge spotlights were directed at the catwalk. Three rows of chairs lined each side and the end of it, where it seemed the most important guests had seats with extra gifts on them.

Jake had looked into the pink and dark blue gift bags placed on the seats, before the guests began arriving. They contained perfume and a silk scarf. Some contained cologne or a silk tie and Jake grinned as he recognized the style. It was the same as the one he’d wear that evening.

His hair had been spiked up a little and he had face powder patted onto his nose. They lined the bottom lid of his eyes with navy blue kohl and Jake made a sound of disgust, until Pixie who was managing parts of the show came over.

“Jake, hell you look gorgeous, so sexy.”

He saw what she was wearing now, close to the start of the show. Her dress was like an opal, a little blue and a little green, and shimmering. It was held up by thin shoulder straps and clung to her as she walked. Her heels were like towers and consisted of three green leather straps and a silver heel that looked lethal. She had more makeup on than Jake had seen her wear before and her hair was down but ruffled somehow. She looked good enough to eat.

“So do you…you’re beautiful.”

The makeup artist standing alongside him smiled at them both and walked off. Jake caught Pixie’s hand and pulled her to his side. He stood up and kissed her on the side of her mouth. “Better not smudge that lip gloss.”

Copyright Elodie Parkes 

Private detective, Jake Snow, is tired of working alone. Bethany his sister and former colleague married two years ago. Now he chooses less high-powered cases, as he decides against teaming with another partner from the Black Agency.

Gradually, Jake realizes he wants the kind of love his sister found, and a different job...

Just before he’s due to take his requested extended leave, he’s sent on what he thinks is a simple surveillance assignment. What he finds is a tangled web of lies, and a fashion designer in trouble...

The question is will he also find love.

With steamy love scenes, and a twist of fun, this book is 18+ available All Amazons, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords now

#SundaySnippets from Evernight release, A Fairy Tale Romance

‘A Fairy Tale Romance’

The story is contemporary, fantasy romance. It’s set along the coast in the sumptuous Mediterranean, and bathed in warmth, which I felt was a fitting venue to contrast with the stark misery of my hero’s predicament.

The story is modelled on old fairy story motifs, where there is a fairy godmother style character, a prince and a princess. I so enjoyed writing this story because Thorn Valmont, my hero, is such a lovely, romantic man and deserves to be freed from the curse that befalls him. This is a sizzler of a story with erotic love scenes and threads of fairy tale mystery as we wonder what has happened to Thorn and how he’ll escape his lonely life.

Read the snippet:

Sandy Carson unlocked her office door, flipped the notice secured in the middle of the glass panel to ‘Open,’ and clattered to her desk. Her stiletto heels echoed in the large half-empty space. She employed an assistant who generally started work at nine, and that’s why she’d made the eight o’clock appointment with poor Thorn Valmont. That’s how she thought of him now. At first, she’d regarded him as ‘that totally dishy young man who’d bought the old palace’ but after ten years of knowing his secret, she pitied him. Though he was still gorgeous, his plight was nothing short of grotesque.

She tossed her briefcase down and pushed the button on her computer. Leaving it to boot, she went to make coffee in the back room of the office. Sandy enjoyed the cool, white, spacious office. She’d chosen the minimalist look for it. At fifty years old, Sandy had discarded her unfaithful husband and changed every facet of her surroundings at home and in her business.

She took her coffee back to her desk and checked through the contract again. At last, Thorn was opening up the vacation accommodation he’d made in the old palace. Three self-contained luxury apartments were available within the huge house. Thorn lived in another on the third floor. Sandy had sold him the place and now she was going to act as the agent to let out the vacation apartments. She hoped to involve him in greeting the tenants, but Thorn might do nothing more than allow access to the cleaners at the end of each rental. She sighed, thinking about the sad figure he cut when he did appear in town. Tall, muscled, dark hair, and lovely blue eyes, his handsome exterior still couldn’t hide his pain. Well, not from me anyway ... maybe that’s because I know.

Copyright Elodie Parkes 2014 Evernight Publishing All Rights Reserved