Me, a cougar?

I always pictured cougars as being single women in their 40s, preying on young men in their 20s. Well just recently I told a friend about someone I met who is a young'in (20). I, a married woman of 33, saw myself as just being nice. I can't help it I have a flirty personality. It's just how I releate to people. So now several people are telling me I'm preying on this innocent guy.

I'm not whining, I actually kinda think being called a cougar is funny. I'm of the mind set that I want to play with them not raise them. So for now I guess I should be honored that someone thinks I am capable of corrupting an innocent boy.

Something new

I'm happy to announce the release of the next book in my Dirty Little series -- Dirty Little Girl! This story follows Mary Jane's daughter Jamie Sue as she escapes life in the country and ends up in a big city, Las Vegas to be exact.
One bite and life will never be the same...
Tired of living with her crazy mother, Jamie Sue embarks on an adventure of her own seeking life in a big city. A strange urge prompts her to stop and stay in Las Vegas so she gets off the bus and settles in. When she meets her golden angel, Michael, she believes she’s found the love of her life, but things aren’t always what they seem. Will the bite of his love change her forever?
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This story is a lead in to my June 15 release, Dirty Little Demons. I love the cover for it, too:

You can see the trailer for it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKS7sNsJCzw
Dirty Little Girl is available at www.extasybooks.com now!

Happy reading!
C.R. Moss

Shameless Self Promotion

Time for a little shameless self promotion.
 
Wait! Didn't I talk about POS (Promotion Overload Syndrome) last time? Yes! I did, but the truth is, I'm not as popular as some of the greats yet, so I gotta do what a writer does...promote.

Sessions was released this month and this story is especially important to me. No, it's not like that. Get your mind out the gutter! It's because this is the story that originally got me a contract. I know, pretty cool huh? And now my baby is out there for all the world to see. I'm so proud.

As the title implies, it is about therapy, but wait, don't knock it yet! I can just hear it now..."I all ready know the ending." Are you sure? This isn't your typical, girl has problems, girl goes to therapy and therapist fixes it with sex. Well, okay, part of it is any ways, but the story isn't at all what you think and that's what I love about it. I even mixed some B&D in it to help the characters along. Wasn't I sneaky?

If I did a good job with the story, you'll find yourself rooting one of the characters along, and hating the other only to find out that maybe you were wrong all along. Or maybe not, I don't want to give too much away.

Now, as some of you know, I am a lesbian erotica writer because...well, I'm a lesbian. Shhh...did I really just out myself? Krud! I gave it away, didn't I? Here's the thing, you're going to find f/f sex in every chapter, oops, session in the ebook. And its explicit. Oh, one more thing, you can read an explicit excerpt on my website: http://www.anniealvarez.net/ (For mature audiences only, please.)

Now the other side of me is the Paranormal books I've been working on. The Hightower Series.

Book 4, Lustful Torment is actually from Mistress Tamara's POV (Point Of View) and believe me, my vampires don't sparkle!

Oh, where do I begin? How about at the beginning? Book 1, For The Love Of Blood, introduces you to Tamara and Izzy. Again, I say, I am a lesbian erotica writer so you'll find a lot of f/f interactions in this series, too.

I would say that it's a must read series, but that would be tooting my own horn, and I won't do that. Instead, I'll quote my cousin David. "Damn girl, even my wife thinks your girls are hot!

In honor of non-sparkly vampires, we're having a Naughty Little Vamp June Extravaganza, and I invite you all to participate in the festivites! Starting on the 1st of June, stop by and leave a comment and you could win a prize! http://naughtylittlevamp.blogspot.com/

See you next month!

Paco

By A.J. Llewellyn

Meet Paco. He was a lost, homeless dog scavenging for food on a beach in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico when a kind hearted American couple rescued him. Josiah Allen and Erin docking fell in love with this funny-looking, adorable little guy and decided to give him a home. They went through all the procedures of traveling with a dog, took him to the vet, got him treated for ticks, an eye infection and got him all his shots.

They bought a special, airline-approved crate and trusted Delta Airlines to safely load the dog on board for the trip to his new home in Detroit, Michigan.

When the couple arrived, they were shocked to find Paco had not made the flight. Delta staff said they 'forgot' to board the dog but he would be cared for until he was put on the next available flight.

When they called the next day to check on his arrival, nobody knew anything and the story changed.

Delta said the dog somehow escaped his crate.

How?

Where is Paco?

This is a devastating story when it is obvious Paco went through so much before this ordeal.

Now it appears that Delta's changing stories is especially worrisome. To top it off, the airline says they have stopped searching for Paco.

Is he dead or alive?

I've lost luggage thanks to airlines. A friend of mine lost his championship surfboard.

Nothing however compares to the loss of life, especially one that is entrusted to us. I am haunted by Paco's story because I am an animal lover and because I plan to move to Hawaii soon. I will be transporting three animals.

Should anything happen to my dog or my cats, believe me, the airline responsible for screwing up so royally will have more than a petition to deal with.

In the meantime, please consider signing the petition started by the wonderful Care 2 group which is putting pressure on Delta to keep searching for Paco - and to admit the truth about what happened to him. Paco's humans need 10,000 signatures to persuade Delta keep searching for the little guy.

http://www.care2.com/causes/animal-welfare/blog/petition-delta-airlines-to-please-find-paco/

Aloha oe,

A.J.

Writing, Reading and Writing Some More

Hi everyone!

Life has been very interesting this week as my computer decided it was going to have a meltdown on Thursday. Trouble was, it took me two more days to really realize the whole darn thing. Sigh. And it was only in the middle of a chat I realized just how bad it was.

I tried desperately to fix it myself for an extra two more days and finally gave up this morning to call in a PC doctor. And man, did I get my money’s worth. After only two hours, the problem was fixed and I was back to receiving and sending email. Too bad, I have to rebuild some things because I reinstalled some software in hopes of fixing it all. That’s what I get for being impatient. LOL!

But I did an interesting thing on my forced exile from the internet and all my email. I wrote more and read more. Imagine that! LOL! And boy was it fun. I read everything I could get my hands on: books in my to be read pile, magazine that had stacked up and writing manuals I had purchased but never cracked open.

While everything was informative, there were a few standouts I’d like to tell you about. The first is a fiction book called Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch. This book has had me in stitches from cover to cover. I was lucky enough to met Gini at the Desert Dreams conference and she’s an absolute doll. Pick up this book and you’ll see what I mean.

The second was an article in Prevention magazine of all things. I have always read the last page as it by Ardath Rodale, one of the founders of Rodale books and a long time contributor to the magazine. Her column was always inspirational and I always took something away from the words.

So this month, they have a new person, Jane Smiley, doing the column and while her words were quite interesting, they more fit writers than the general populace. The column was titled It’s Nothing Personal and there was a section I found particularly interesting. ““There’s nothing personal going on here – but what is going on is worth contemplating.” Certainly this is a novelist’s mantra. We invent characters whose feelings and actions form into a plot – a plot whose beauties and terrors create a response in a reader’s mind. But it is also a wiser way of understanding the people around you. And how they have their own passions, motivations, and histories sometimes (always) that grip them in ways even they do not grasp – ways you don’t have to respond to automatically.” This woman’s husband had left her and she went back to the one thing she knew intimately...but I’m not sure if what she said is what she meant...and here’s where I’m coming from.

It is my contention as an author every character I create is personal and more likely than not, each of them male or female have something of me in them. It's true, writing can make you better understand your fellow human beings. Now in the big worldview of things, like during a critique session or even a review, it really isn’t you they are looking at but your stories...so in those cases, you do have to remember it really isn’t personal. But it’s my thought until you know a character as well as you know the mole on your own backside, it is personal because you are molding and shaping them into something everyone will love. Until the process is done, it is personal because that part taps into your psyche as well as your character’s. Until they are fully formed and hatched, they are still cooking. And in my mind, they are cooking until everyone, you, your beta readers and crit partners alike, are satisfied with the outcome.

True, you have the final say but if you go into a crit meeting and everyone hates that character, you as a writer either have to change their minds or rewrite the character. Now there are times when you might need to dump the crit group but if your writing is getting better with each meeting, I would sit back and see what happens.

Now the last thing I did more of was editing on my Where’s My Underwear story. And I’m doing a lot of reworking as I discovered some of my characters were not as cooked as I needed. I’ve had to dig deeper into them and since the hero and heroine have a complicated relationship, I had to make it sound possible.

In the not too distant past, a bestselling local author had told me she once had to dump around fifty percent of a book in a rewrite. I was appalled but can now see the truth in the matter. I mean, if the editor or I don’t like it, why would a reader? So in dumping a thousand words here and there, I’ve had to bring in the big guns and make each new section count even more by making it stronger and even more plausible.

What are your opinions on characters and how they come together? Do you all like strong well-developed characters? Or do you like the ones who have a little more fluff and are therefore lighter reading?

I’m interested in knowing what you all think. Until next time...

Lynn