New Release Monday

Yep, its happening again. This time it's the next in the Burning to Ride series to follow on from BURNED BY LUST which is still bundled into the Seven Sinners Anthology.

BURNED BY BLACKMAIL was sooooo much fun to write and it must show because I have been totally blown away by the reviews that have come in this morning. I was keen on a twist on the biker genre - so in this one its the laaadies who get to be all bad ass and my heroine is the biker - complete with her own biker bar. Where as the hero wears Armani. Warning there is language in this one, and it is not afraid of getting it's hands a little filthy ;-) It's out now and on sale this week only.

Happy early Thanks Giving everyone!
x Michele

Happy three book dancing

Or should that be happy leaping? I'm a bit slow of the bat to post here as I've been laid low, very low, by the most evil of tummy bugs, but I think I can safely say I'm out the other side. Phew. So on with the happy leaping because I signed a new book deal with Entangled Publishing - those lovely folk, those fabulous ninja editors - to write another series for the Indulgence line.
Yeay! *dances and leaps*

The second book in my first series - which I can now officially reveal is called the Love on Deck series, comes out this fall, and book two Love Lost and Found is going to be a goody. Promise.

But this new series steps off the cruise ship. Having said that though, it doesn't stray far from the ocean. That's right, who doesn't love a man dripping in salt water? A man dressed in only board shorts, a man whose body is finely tanned and toned from hours spent in the water...Yep, this next one is a surf series. But rather than the all-action boys club portrayed in Point Break, this series is all about the laaadies. And their men. (Oh I had too much fun dreaming these boys up)

I'll let you know more about release dates and the like when they come to hand, but in the mean time...reminisce a while with me - Ah Keanu, what fun we had...

x Michele

Who doesnt want an Italian Affair?!

Today is happy cover reveal day for the fabulous Annie Seaton's Italian Affair from Indulgence at Entangled Publishing. It's the next book after her hit read The Holiday Affair and it's sure to be a cracker. I mean, Italy, shoes, come on people. 
I'm lucky to be part of the cover reveal team so without further a do - here she be, aint she a beauty!

Free-spirited sex therapist Brianna Ballantine has four days to find a fiancé so she can inherit her birth mother’s Italian villa. Commitment is not on the agenda. Writing her sex therapy book and signing legal papers are. And once all is said and done, she’ll return home to Australia.

For finance guru Tomas Richards, relationships have been a bad investment—give him stocks and shares any day. When Tomas offers a marriage of convenience to help Brianna secure her inheritance, the sizzle between the sheets promises an affair to remember, despite family complications at every turn.

But Tom must convince Brianna to stay, and make this Italian affair a lifelong commitment.

You can pre-order with Barnes and Nobel here or Amazon here.  

I'm starting to get super excited about my next book from Indulgence too, Love Lost and Found, the sequel to The Boss and Her Billionaire- so stay tuned for more details.

xMichele

Hacked off with Hackers

I think I've been pretty lucky so far in blogland. Most of the people visiting to check out my chatty chat are genuine readers, those who are interested in what I have to say, or at the very least, who want to know what will be happening next to my characters. But there are a growing number of comments from clearly less well intentioned types.
To start with I replied to some of these smartly messaged comments. They sounded pretty legit, things like
"I am really enjoying the theme/design of your website. Do you ever run into any browser compatibility issues? A number of my blog readers have complained about my website not operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Chrome. Do you have any tips to help fix this issue?" Or even more perfectly tailored to get me interested "Amazing blog! Do you have any tips and hints for aspiring writers? I'm hoping to start my own website soon but I'm a little lost on everything. Would you recommend starting with a free platform like Wordpress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there that I'm completely confused .. Any suggestions? Bless you!"
Sound pretty on topic don't you think? As one so new to the world of romance writing, I want to both encourage readers and writers to interact with me, and I love chatting via comments on other blogs and twitter. But with the links to these commentators own blogs consistently for shoes, website sales tools or just plain gobbledegook, I got wise pretty quick that though the comments about my writing and blogging being flawless might be flattering, they sure weren't legit.
Now, I don't want to discourage people from stopping by here, so I haven't turned up my security settings full blast. But I have made it a touch harder for a non human to bombard me with notes on nothing. If you're a real commenter, I apologize if that makes things take slightly longer, but I'm hoping that a wee burst of this and things will settle down again. Maybe I'll drop off that spam alert database in the sky, or at least, things will go back to a manageble level.
In the mean time, let me know how you deal with spam, on blogs or otherwise. And as always, happy reading!
xMichele

Image from http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

The mojo thief

This is what she looks like isn't it? Warts, curled talons, a hump, red soul-stealing eyes? I haven't pondered the looks of the mojo thief before, but with the progress of this latest book I wonder if she has come a calling. It doesn't help of course that the sun has been sneaking in through my office doors and beckoning me outside. Or that Mr. One and a half has become more insistent when he physically pushes me away from the keyboard (smart little monkey). It's not even that I don't want to be immersed in this book. I love my characters. They genuinely crack me up when I get down to pulling their dialogue out. In fact, when I banish Miss Anti-Mojo into the naughty corner, the words don't have much trouble tumbling out onto the page.
Happily the contract for this one allows me plenty of time to make sure that when I do turn up to the page, the words that come out are good ones, not fiercely whispered "just get on with it" verbs and adjectives destined for the edit cut pile.
I'm not sure I've solved my mojo issue. But sometimes just admitting you have a problem helps resolve it ;-) doesn't it? Although that doesn't seem to have helped with my chocolate addiction.
At least the novel is still coming. I finished the central chapter today, you know, that one where the characters finally catch a glimmer of their love for one another as it runs, like a scared hair, through their minds. Of course my hero hasn't quite got that love rabbit by the short and curlies yet. He's got a ways to go before he realizes that the glimpse is what he's been looking for a long time.
So, my mojo thief put into her corner for the day, I'm going to go crack chapter eight now. Phew. I feel better already.
And what about you? Any tips on breaking your writers block? Do you like to spill your woes and clear your mind with a good vent? Or do you let your mojo thief fester until she fair explodes under the weight of all those warts ;-)
Thanks for stopping by, happy reading.
x Michele

Image courtesy of www.freedigitalphotos.net

Sneak peak

So I've sent off the first draft of Book Two of The Pacific Empress series to my fabo editor and now I'm cracking on with book three. I say cracking on, but with the insanely glorious weather we've been having, I have to admit that the words haven't been exactly flying onto the page at the moment...they will, they will. So in the interim I thought I'd share a tiny sneak peak into life back on board. Enjoy and do let me know what you think!
x Michele

"Today she wasn’t going to take any crap from Captain A-hole Atkinson. Staring over the head of her boss and the well stacked minion he’d taken to having tail him all the time, Felicity sought a glimpse of the ocean out the window. Better. She disliked the way the bulk of the ship disrupted the glorious view of Port Villa, but really, there wasn’t much to complain about. Vanuatu was definitely a tropical island paradise, and gazing at turquoise water was way better than having to watch Captain Atkinson’s face pout through his pep talk.

“He really shouldn’t pick such massive bodyguards, makes his short-man syndrome even more obvious,” she whispered to her neighbor.

            “Careful,” the Cruise Director, standing to her, left hissed back.

            Bugger. Felicity almost bit her tongue, literally, as the Cruise Director glared at her. Professional reproach poured off him, his body stiff, his lip stiffer. Bugger again.

            Must. Remember. New Cruise Director. Is. An. Ass.

            Darius Miller was about as far from her friend and the ship’s previous Cruise Director, Michaela Western as it was possible to be. Gangly. Uptight. A complete slave to authority.

Felicity sighed. Working for Adventurer Cruises was supposed to be relaxing for herself as much as for the passengers. Sure it wasn’t exactly a holiday, but it wasn’t massively taxing and when Michaela had been around at least Felicity had been able to blow off a little steam by providing snarky commentary about all and sundry on board. Damn Michaela for falling in love with investment billionaire Dylan Johns, leaving to take on the world at Head Office and have beautiful green-eyed babies.

Felicity sighed again. The new Cruise Director was no eye candy, and he was not a fan of her witty repartee..."