It’s that time of year again. The yearly summer visit of my sister and nephew. Her hubby is still unsure if he can make it this year. I am excited they are coming for the summer. I don’t get to see them as often as I would like. I talk with them almost everyday but it isn’t the same as actually seeing them. Whenever they come we do lots of things. I become a tourist and see the sights of New York. I am counting down the days for there arrival while I’m preparing for their arrival.

There is always so much to do when they are coming. Besides cleaning the house and shopping for their favorite foods I like to plan fun things for us to do. We usually go to the museum, zoo, and aquarium and so on. Each year I look for something new for us to do. I’m still racking my brain on what to do this year.

My sis and I will have a gab session to catch up. I love when they come and visit. We chat, cook, laugh, and hang out. And most importantly we shop. Power shop. LOL. My wallet will be crying for mercy when they leave but it is all worth it.

Time and fun with family is priceless.

Happpy Reading!
McKenna Jeffries
http://www.mckennajeffries.com
…. sensual, edgy, unexpected

Blog: http://www.mckennajeffries.com/blog
Chat Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/McKennaJeffriesList
Free Reads Site: http://www.satinnotes.com

Conquering Jazz - What’s a woman to do when she unwittingly makes a tantalizing proposition to her best friend?

Be brazen, bold and set some ground rules.

Her offer. One night of carnal bliss. No emotion allowed.

His counter offer. A continued affair to fulfill all their sexual cravings.

His hidden agenda. Conquer to make sure their affair never ends.

Buy here at Liquid Silver Book.

Blood Moon Rising is about a vampire mother who must save her dhampir son from death by finding the blood of his human father before the next full moon.

Although Blood Moon Rising is a paranormal romance, the romantic elements of the plot interest me less than the mother/son dynamic.  In this age of divorce, blended families, and single-parents, the relationship between a parent and child often comes before or between a romantic interest, whether that romantic interest is a one-night stand or a marriage.

Valkyrie’s abandoned by her lover before the novel opens, but she has her son, Anthony, whom she’s had since birth.  That bond between them is strong, probably a lot stronger than it would be if Valkyrie had a mate.  But parenthood is not designed to hold the same tension as a romance, and eventually the friction between Anthony’s desire for independence and Valkyrie’s desire for connection threaten to tear them apart.  Anthony’s illness and his need for his mother to locate his father only complicate matters, as does Valkyrie’s growing love for Bill, a human, who may or may not be Anthony’s father.

If you’ve ever struggled with maintaining a love relationship amidst parenting obligations and enjoy the paranormal, this book is for you!

Blood Moon Rising can be purchased directly from my website: www.angelalamturpin.com

or directly from the publisher, Eternal Press:  www.eternalpress.ca

Leave a message below about a challenge you’ve experienced trying to combine parenting and romance.  One lucky commentator will win a FREE PDF copy of Blood Moon Rising!  Don’t have children and/or a love interest?  Don’t worry.  Leave a comment about what you love or hate most about vampires for your chance to win!

Character Development: On Being Human by Belinda McBride

“To err is human, to forgive, divine.” 

That’s been running around in my brain for awhile, not so much the concept of forgiveness, but the nature of being human. It’s had me a little puzzled, because frankly, the bulk of my writing revolves around people who aren’t human. I write about fallen angels and Fae, werewolves and aliens, and the few humans that make it onto my pages tend to be extraordinary in some way. Why worry about their humanity?

Years ago, I had the opportunity to meet Majel Roddenberry, the widow of Star Trek pioneer Gene Roddenberry. She was an extraordinarily sweet woman, and in a talk she gave, she shared something with us that Gene insisted on during the creation of Star Trek. It was a little piece of trivia that stuck with me and guides much of what I write even now.

Star Trek is full of people of various races, creeds, and even species. Some of the aliens are extraordinary in appearance, but Gene insisted on something in particular. No matter how outrageous the alien, it must have human eyes in order for the viewer to relate to the character.

As a writer, I paint pictures with words. My task is to draw a character that the reader can connect with. Whether the character is an alien or an angel, it’s my goal to bring out human elements such as jealousy and lust, compassion, charity and love. I strive to bring out the humanity in every character.

 In reading Soul Keeper, you might not like the centaur shifter Kendra, but she’ll make you angry and frustrated at her bad behavior, just like that cheerleader you knew in high school. You might also get a peek at Kendra’s inner fears and desires. She’s not human, but oddly enough, she is.  In Belle Starr, alpha were Armand de le Croix is outwardly confident and in control, but has doubts and fears that no one but the reader will share. And Annie Tanaka in Dragon’s Blood is a cop, strong and competent, but every day she rides a boat to work, fighting her phobia of the water as she does so.

Developing a character for a story is a process of taking a flat, undeveloped name and physical description, and bringing them off the page, complete with strengths, fears and quirks. There are countless methods of doing character development using charts, index cards and storyboarding. I have to confess, I’m not that organized. I just jot out notes as I write.

On occasion, I will skim photos online, looking for a physical inspiration. Other times I sit at the computer, staring at a blank page and letting the character take shape in reaction to the situation, or to their hero/heroine. As a general rule, I start a separate page and list their names, physical description, and then a list of questions about the character: What do they like to eat? What is their secret shame, their kinks, their greatest joy and their greatest fear?  Their addictions? What is the worst thing you can do to that character? Those details are where you draw your conflicts from.

So in Belle Starr, the worst thing that could happen to Belle and Armand happened. She became pregnant, uncertain what sort of child her hybrid genes would produce. And Armand regained his memories, pulling him away from his lover and into the demands of his pack.  Her conflict was internal, his was external.

  You want your characters to have depth, to be complete, rounded humans. And like your friends and family, you will anticipate their reactions to a given situation, and on occasion, they will take you by surprise. Whether you are a plotter or a pantster, intimate knowledge of your characters will keep the story moving.  You will be less likely to get stranded in the middle of the story, because even if the story stalls, the characters will want to continue forward.   

Belinda McBride is a multi-published author of erotic romance. To find out more about Belinda and her books, visit www.belindamcbride.com 

Now available at Loose Id: Belle Starr!

 Blurb: Marshal Annabelle “Cowgirl” Oakley is the best law enforcement officer in Interstellar Coalition Enforcement. With her wolf Tucker at her side, Belle is clearly the best man for the job. Unfortunately, the job comes with hazards, and one of those hazards comes in the shape of tall, mysterious Armand.Armand de le Croix is a werewolf with amnesia. He has no idea how he came to be living in Coalition space, he doesn’t know where his people are, or why his inky black hair is now snowy white. He just knows that the tall dangerous redhead is all that he wants, and he means to have her regardless of what he must do to win.When they meet, it’s magic. When they part, it’s mayhem.http://www.loose-id.com/prod-Belle_Starr-934.aspxNow available at Changeling Press: Bad Angels: Falling

 Blurb:Just what exactly happens when an angel goes bad?Stripped of his voice, his memories, and his divinity, Rion Hunter falls to Earth in a fiery blaze. After crashing into a muddy sheep pasture in
Scotland, the disgraced angel finds himself face-to-face with an unlikely rescuer: a sidhe-born farmer named Rex.

Rex finds himself rapidly falling for the beautiful angel, which can be risky when the object of your affection just might be psychotic. And if that isn’t enough, the men find that they’ve come to the attention of a ravenous succubus, who has developed an appetite for Scottish farmers.

Falling isn’t so bad… it’s the landing that hurts.

http://www.changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=1135

Bad Angels: Burn is a Recommended Read at Joyfully Reviewed!

By Debra Mullins 

What makes a romance hero?  Well, you take a hunky man, add a dash of danger, a smidgen of sexiness and a streak of kindness…mix well, then insert into book. 

I wish it were that easy. 

One of the reasons I love writing romance is because of the hero.  What woman doesn’t love to fall a little bit in love with a guy who is protective, strong, vulnerable, loyal, kind-hearted, smart and has a great sense of humor?  He might be dashingly handsome or homely-yet-attractive, but it’s the heart of the hero that captures us as readers.  We cheer for him even as he makes mistakes.  We want him to be worthy of our heroine. 

When I create a hero, it usually starts with an emotion.  Whether I get the inspiration from a song or a movie or some other place, it starts with that intangible feeling, whether good or bad.  It might be that the hero has to learn to deal with the bad emotion or that he has to learn how to earn the good one.  That’s where the heart of the hero lies. 

In my new book, TO RUIN THE DUKE, the hero is trying to avoid feeling the pain of the recent loss of his wife and unborn child.  Especially the unborn child.  Yet in order to grow as a person, he needs to deal with these emotions.  So how better to make him do that than to bring in the heroine, who shows up with a baby on his doorstep? 

Watching Wylde resist the lure of the innocent baby—a child the heroine insists is his, though he knows it’s not—tugs at the heartstrings even as we watch him ruthlessly track down the man who has been impersonating him all over London.  The heroine—who was friends with the baby’s mother before her death in childbirth—is determined to make sure Wylde takes responsibility for his child.  She does not believe his protestations of innocence. 

The one thing Wylde always wanted was a family of his own.  He desperately wishes his son had not died.  And now here is another little boy who needs a home, a son everyone believes is his yet isn’t.  Wylde can hardly bear to be near the child because it reminds him so painfully of what he lost.  He is tormented by the situation, yet being a good guy he does not turn Miranda and the baby out into the street.  He provides for them until he can discover who the father is—especially since it might very well be the same man he has been hunting down. 

The thing that makes a great hero is a man who doesn’t get going when the going is rough.  Wylde sticks around despite his personal torment.  He does the right thing by helping Miranda, who has nowhere else to go.  And forced to deal with his own dark emotions, he eventually does find peace with the situation. 

Does he make mistakes?  Sure.  Does his personal torment sometimes make him act less than noble?  Of course.  But he learns from all of his missteps.  He immediately regrets his actions and seeks to make amends.  And this turns him into the man the heroine can fall in love with. 

This turns him into a hero. 

Romance heroes linger in our minds because they are the men who prove themselves worthy of love.  By finding the courage to show their vulnerabilities and their strengths, they open up their hearts…and steal ours.

Who are some of the heroes who linger in your memory?