MySpace

I'm now on MySpace! Literally, since Wednesday I mean. I have all of 3 friends so don't judge me by that. I had a co-worker manipulate the background with my first cover. It's a little dark, you can't see everything I want, but I'm working on that. I prefer Facebook - clean lines and no background nonsense, it's just easier. So I'm on both, and feel free to friend me on both!

www.myspace.com/isabelroman

or on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=1658970906&ref=profile

Dark Desire of the Druids I: Murder & Magick is available in downloadable and audiobook form now. Dark Desire of the Druids: The Tryst, the prequel to Murder & Magick is available to download.

Conflict

External conflict is fun. Bad guys resulting in a chase, hunts, explosions, all those things that happen in movies or Robert Ludlum books. They're fun, sometimes necessary, and when they take you to exotic locales, even better.

Internal conflicts are the best. Not contrived stuff like oh he isn't talking to me and then not talking to him thereby going around in a convoluted circle of silence that could be fixed by a good shout of "WTF?" No, I'm talking serious issues. Things that cause you to cringe because you're not sure if they'll ever get resolved.

Historicals are great for this, the conflict is inherent and the taboos more prevalent. I love that about them, though contemporaries are also great. The more things change and all...just because women have more rights now, more say in our own lives doesn't necessarily mean smooth sailing for relationships. In fact, it means choppy waters. A 2 career household is difficult to maintain unless compromise is key. Getting to that compromise can be ever so fun, however.

Short Story Marathon

I've said here before how I (currently) love writing short stories. There's that race against word count to get everything into it, the plot, the development, the sex, the resolution. I'm in the midst of detailing each chapter of Dark Desire of the Druids III: Desert & Destiny and need a break. I love the story but the minutia before I even begin writing is driving me bonkers.

I think this weekend I'll take to finish my Wicked Seduction series. I have 1/4 of Starlet finished, just need to layer it with atmosphere, and hope to have it all finished by tonight. I'll edit it next week, after I let it simmer a bit.


So this weekend I'll do Passion for Fashion (1950s) and Cherrie on Top (present) then move onto the next in my Four Birds series.

Slip into Something Victorian

I'm blogging over at Slip into Something Victorian today. Drop on by, leave a comment.

BTW: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans was good. Not great, not fantastic, but really good. You were certainly never bored and Michael Sheen is such a wonderful actor it's a shame he hasn't won recognition for it yet.



Dark Desire of the Druids I: Murder & Magick is available in downloadable and audiobook form now. Dark Desire of the Druids: The Tryst, the prequel to Murder & Magick is available to download.

Historical blogging

Tomorrow is my bi-monthly blog over at Scandalous Victorians. I have a topic, one close to my writing heart, but haven't done anything with the actual writing of it. Philadelphia. I love the city, living in NJ I consider Philly the place to go, not NYC. Philadelphia is steeped in history from early 1700s through today. They've got museums and tours and bars & pubs and the Reading Terminal Market (which is so so beautiful during Christmas!)

Specific to this blog, 1882. There were a lot of fires in Philly during that year. They play a part, a minor one, in Morgana's story. This is a year in the life timeline of Philly for 1882. It's amazing what goes on in the life of a city. This is only an overview of things that happened and the people of the time are always that much more interesting. But check it out. And if you live in driving distance, spend the weekend sometime. You won't be disappointed.

Monday Mornings

Aren't as horrible as they're made out to be. Why? I think all mornings are horrible. If I could sleep through them, I'd be that much happier. I much prefer staying up all night anyway. Always have. What's this have to do with writing? Everything. I can't get started yet on any writing.

My goals today are to finish editing Scars and sending it out to Ravenous well before Sunday's deadline. (Yippee!) And to begin Starlet, the next in my Wicked Seduction Series. Set in 1930s Hollywood, a movie star seduces a gambler/gangster. What happens when he wants more than one night?

Audiobook on now: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. Meggie kind of annoys me, but it is a children's book, she is only 12, and it is her story. I'll give it more time, I'm only on chapter 5.

Reading now: The Wild One by Denise Eagan. I love her characters, very real and the story is very sensual.

Listening to now: Sharpe's Soundtrack which has music for all occasions: angst, battle, jolly marching, you name it.

WS: Scars & Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans

I'm not a big horror fan. Freddy gave me nightmares as a child and is the only still-scary horror creature today. Jason? Passe. Michael Myers? Only those original 2 were worth seeing and now not so much. Freddy, however, came in your dreams. You don't go to Crystal Lake, you don't live near an insane asylum where escapees aren't caught by the police. But you have to sleep.


But there's something about vampires & werewolves that has me reading and watching them over and over. Buffy & Angel. So so there. Read Twilight long before the movie. Adore L.A. Banks new werewolf series and even though vampires are kind of overcrowded at the moment, I still find myself drawn to them.


Tonight, I'm going to see Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans. The first rocked, the second not so much. But this prequel looks excellent. We'll see about 7:40 tonight when the movie starts.

In the mean time, I'm finishing up Wicked Seductions: Scars and plotting out Wicked Seductions: Starlet. Tomorrow: writing Starlet and more plotting, this time of Book 3 in my Dark Desire of the Druids Series: Desert & Destiny. Gareth from Raven's story, (Dark Desire of the Druids I: Murder & Magick) finally gets his own story. Set in London and Egypt, this is going to be a fun book. The research alone is extensive, and if I put everything I learned into this story, it'd be a dissertation. Still, I'm looking forward to plotting it chapter-by-chapter,

Scars (3rd in the Wicked Seduction series) and the short story

I have recently discovered I love writing short stories. Until August, when I sent in In the Shadows my Civil War Anthology submission to Wild Rose Press, I would have told you my shortest story was 75,000 words. Until August, my shortest story was actually 22,500 words (my beloved wolfie story now with an actual title, Shadow State contracted with Wild Rose Press).


Now? Thanks to Ravenous' 2500-6250 word count limit on their short stories (they call it a Ravenous Rendezvous...whatever) I'm in love with the short story. No, in no way does this mean I don't want to do longer stories, I love those too - there's much more to say in them, you can have more conflict, more angst. More sex. But in the short story, it's almost a race against the bad guy (word limit) to reach the ending first.

It's a poor explanation but I can't explain it any better. You have plot, sex, beginning-middle-end, and conflict. Lots and lots of conflict. It's fun, what can I say.

So today I'm working on my 1918 Rendezvous, Scars. A returning English WWI vet goes to the local pharmacy to buy the ointment needed for the scars he received on the battlefields of Flanders. What's the beautiful pharmacist to do but seduce the poor man?

And yes. I did my research. There were female pharmacists as far back at the 1860s in England. Not a lot, but they were there and voicing their opinions. I'll look for the link if anyone's interested.

All Romance e-books & Free $5 gift certificate @ Ravenous

I just got an email from All Romace eBooks and my first full-length story, Dark Desire of the Druids I: Murder & Magick is now available on their site! This is pretty exciting, and no not because I'm easily excited. Well maybe. I'd heard about Fictionwise, but not this. Man, they have a lot of cool books I'd love to download. My TBR pile is huge as is, this just upped the ante.

Off to explore!

Now on to Ravenous:

I've heard a lot of negative things about Ravenous Romance over the past few months. I'm not sure what the exact problem is, but it seems to boil down to a new player on the block and people don't like it. I don't know why, exactly, but I'm not going to debate it here.

What I do know about Ravenous is that they've treated me well. They stick to their deadlines, edit my stories to catch what I've missed, are professional and courteous, and are always accessible via email.

They're also giving away a $5 gift certificate between now and January 31. Simply email them requesting your gift certificate. There are no strings (and believe me I looked).

Dark Desire of the Druids I: Murder & Magick is available in downloadable and audiobook form now, as is Dark Desire of the Druids: The Tryst, the prequel to Murder & Magick. Use the gift certificate, buy Murder & Magick (or Tryst or any of the other short stories I have out including the first in my Wicked Seduction series, Complicated Courtship) and let me know how you like them.

Hump Day

I always wondered why they called it that. Yes, I get the reference, but it's such an odd saying. And yes, I wonder about other odd saying, too. Like you're so cute I could eat you up. What? While I'm sure I could spend the rest of the morning coming up with odd saying I don't really understand, my news for this fine (frigid) Wednesday is that I'm finished Morgana's story!

I am seriously doing the happy dance, which doesn't help my typing. Luckily, Blogger has spellcheck.

Morgana's story, also known as Dark Desire of the Druids II: Sex & Subterfuge, takes place in Philadelphia 1882. I love Philly, it's history, it's museums, Reading Market, the Colonial stuff in Old City. Their bars. Not their sports teams so much though the Phillies managed to break the curse. The Eagles & Flyers...we won't talk about them.

After immersing myself in Philadelphian culture for months now, I've finished Morgana's story. It's sad, I so enjoyed her character. Strong, no-nonsense, bold when she wants her man, willing to take the responsibility herself when necessary. A strong woman for the times. And Lucien, not one to let her do things on her own, especially when they're dangerous, he knew when to let her be and when to stand by her side.

I love their romance. Going to miss it. Going to have to take a trip to Philly now, and see all the wonderful places I've written about. Oh, been there before (I live in the area) but it's been a while since I've really seen it. And now, I have other areas to explore, areas I've written so much about in Morgana's story.

Here's a blurb:
A master magicker, Morgana Blackthorne has a tenuous hold on her following. When a strange Englishman arrives on her doorstep with news of other druidic magickers, and magicker problems, she’s intrigued but suspicious. There hasn’t been contact between the American and European druids in over a hundred years. Plus she has her own worries and doesn’t need the handsome earl adding to them.

Lucien, Earl of Granville, left England to seek out the Blackthorne Druid line and discover what they’ve been up to since contact was lost. Once he and Morgana meet, their mutual attraction distracts him from his puropse. Embroiled in her problems, he finds himself more concerned with her welfare than is practical for a passing affair.

When I invited you into my bed, it never occurred to me I wouldn’t want you to leave.

There are darker forces at work and the hunger of a weak magicker desperate for power. Will Lucien convince Morgana of his true feelings before things spiral out of control? Or will the surrounding subterfuge tear them apart?

Book 1: Dark Desire of the Druids I: Murder & Magick is available in downloadable and audiobook form now. I love and adore the cover to Murder & Magick, Raven's story.

Power Plays

Today is Inauguration Day here in the US, the completion of November's free election. To celebrate today, Ravenous put out a Politics & Sex anthology: Power Plays. I have a short story in the anthology, Whispers.

Olivia Adair is a junior senator having an affair with the Department of Justice liaison, Ryan Granger. Neither want to give up their careers, but aren't willing to give up each other, either. Leaving her senate office late one night, Ryan overhears an aide talking about the death of a senior senator. He investigates, but when Olivia is hurt in a car accident, he wonders if the aide is now after her. Will he give up his position to save her life or is already it too late?

Wicked Seductions

As I posted yesterday, Complicated Courtship is the first in my Wicked Seduction series now available from Ravenous. In this series of (so far) 6 stories set in various time lines strong women are the focus of the story. This doesn't mean the men are wimps, far from it, but the plot revolves around the women. They want what they want and will do anything in their power to get it...in this case, him.

In Complicated Courtship, Kirsten St. Clair, a Bostonian during the early stages of the Revolutionary War, wants her fiancée, James, back. He's ignored her these past months and she doesn't know why. What's a woman in love to do? Seduce him of course. It's not as easy as it sounds and she's never done anything remotely like that. With the help of her stepmother, and James' need for her, she sets out to get what she wants.

Wanton Woman, the second in this series will be available soon. There, a proper English widow wants her roguish neighbor. Click here to read a blub.

Sunday News

Over at Unusual Historicals, the winner of a free copy of Desire of the Druids I: Murder & Magick is...Teresa! Please contact me with your snail mail address for your free download of my story - or a gift certificate if you'd like to download it yourself, your call.

The first in my Wicked Seduction series, Complicated Courtship is now available from Ravenous.

As the turmoil for America boils over, can a complicated courtship survive an unwanted guest?
Kirsten St. Clair isn’t the proper Bostonian she’s expected to be. She’s fiercely for the American Cause. But when she believes her fiancée loses interest in her, the only thing she can do is remind him with her kisses and body.

James Montgomery is a smuggler, fending off British taxes and his own uninvited houseguest all for the sake of freedom. When Kirsten sets out to seduce him, he’s helpless to resist. Captured by her innocent fire and lustful determination, James teaches her the ways of the bedroom. Will passion and love, clear the way?

I've been tagged

Thanks, Nic! OK, I'm supposed to write 6 things that make me happy, link to the person who tagged me, post the rules, tag six others and let them know I’ve done it, tell the person who tagged me when my entry is up.

I'm not 100% sure I KNOW 6 non-tagged people with a blog. Does it have to be a blog? Thinking, thinking...nope. I don't know that many people I'd send this to. I really need to expand my circle of blogging friends. *sigh*

Here goes:

1. The beach. Rain or shine, sleet or snow, it's still the beach. Grated, I like it better in the blazing sun in August, but I'll live there anytime.
2. A nice cup of tea under a blanket with a good book
3. Time with the family.
4. Chocolate
5. Writing a great scene that I then can think "Wow, I wrote that!"
6. Email (or mail) from a friend I haven't heard from in a while.

Dropping the ball

I hate the middle of book 2 in my Druids series, Dark Desire of the Druids 2: Sex & Subterfuge. I hated it so much I gutted it last week and wrote fresh. It's still not great. I don't know what's wrong, the first 1/3 has humor, sex, sexy banter, devious villains and their nefarious plots. The ending is full of heartbreak, climatic scenes, more sex, and lots of magick.

But the middle? Not so much.

I'm still in the process of polishing it, and I know it'll ever be PERFECT, but I hate to have anything less than stellar. So I forebare, going over scenes, cutting, adding, tweaking, and hoping the middle turns into something half-way great.

It's how I'm spending my Thursday night. At least it's too cold out to do anything else!

DON'T FORGET: Leave a comment on my Unusual Historical blog between now and Sunday 1/18/09 and enter to win a free copy of Book 1 in my Druid series, Dark Desire of the Druids I: Murder & Magick

Guest Blogging today

I'm over at Slip Into Something Victorian with Part 2 of my Great Depression Blog. You can find Part 1 here. The Great Depression 1873-1896, otherwise known as The Long Depression. You'll learn some surprising parallels with today.

And don't forget, my environmental romance, Hot Water is out in Ravenous' Green Love Anthology!

Dark Desire of the Druids: The Tryst
Dark Desire of the Druids I: Murder & Magick

Hot Water now available!

My environmental story, Hot Water, is now available from Ravenous in the Green Love Anthology.


Aidan Tierney is the owner of Geo-Solar Dynamics, the first geothermal plant in America. His head engineer and lover, Elizabeth Hastings, is a tireless worker for the environmental cause. With their live date rapidly approaching, Aidan entices her into a private spa grotto for stress-relieving sex. Even while he's buried inside her, Aidan realizes there's something wrong. She's holding back from him and he doesn't know why.


With the bliss of climax still heavy around them, he confronts her. Elizabeth, having dreaded this moment, tells him she's leaving and heading to China and the geothermal plants Geo-Solar Dynamics is setting up there. Aidan isn't willing to let her go but Elizabeth needs to do this and is the only one who can.


Will she leave him? Or can they find a compromise.

Unusual Historicals

I'm doing a book giveaway over at Unusual Historicals today! Just leave a comment any time during the week and next Sunday (January 18, 2009) I'll randomly chose a name for a free download of Dark Desire of the Druids I: Murder & Magick.

Not as easy as it sounded

Once upon a time, being published sounded so easy. It was fun - the book was done, people bought it, end of story. Until the next. I'm on the next. It's not fun. Re-reading Sex & Subterfuge I realized the middle sucked. It was stilted, awkward, tedious, you name it, it was it. Except for exciting. It most definitely not exciting. It's now on the cutting room floor, so to speak, and I'm rewriting it.

Did I mention it's due January 15?

Yeah.

Stupid edits. Make me realize how awful my story is.

Back to the grind. I'm not getting any sleep tonight.

Unusua Historicals

An excerpt of Dark Desire of the Druids I: Murder & Magick is up at Unusual Historicals. Now I know this isn't exactly an 'unusual' time period, but the Victorian Era isn't as popular as other time periods, so I guess it was close enough.

Slave driver

I am, I admit it. I push and push until it's all finished and on time, and it really doesn't bother me that I get dirty looks and grumbles. I think I was a general in a previous life.

I push myself just as hard. Usually. These past weeks haven't bee quite so productive, but I'm happy to say that I'm back in the groove and writing away. I amassed a huge pile of research on Philadelphia 1882 including the docks, Chinatown, Old City, and what's become known as Main Line.

I put it all in a neat pile ext to my computer so I don't have to waste precious time searching for it when I need it. I cleaned that area by my computer (so as not to lose anything) and have dived back into the story.

Just when I wondered if why I bother writing anything since it's all drivel, I realized that this is a great story! I'm kind of impressed, actually. The scenes came pretty easy, the path ever so clear! WOW, I can write!

Looking back, I suppose that break during Christmas & New Years was just what I needed. Sure it was a pain in my lazy way as I wondered why I wasn't writing even as I lounged o the couch. But now, with all this energy back, I'm thinking it was only a good thing.

This week is dedicated to Morgana and a rewrite of Love Birds, the weekend to edits, and all next week to more Morgana. Gotta get that book finished by the 15th!

First post of the year

I thought about what to write for this most important post, my FIRST ONE OF 2009 how I'm going to stick with my 2009 goals, what I've done so far, all this energy, enthusiasm, so on and so forth; ditto, ditto; Et cetera, Et cetera...You don't what to know what I've done with the first 4 days of the new year. Nope.

There's been very little energy, some slight enthusiasm, little actual work, but over all, mostly Richard Sharpe and his various movies because of which I'm now reading Bernard Cornwell's books. I did finish a short story for Ravenous, Love Birds, a Valentine's Day story.

Promised to get off my lazy arse and write something else, but yeah, that didn't happen. And I have a deadline January 15 for the 2nd in my Dark Desire of the Druids series, Sex & Subterfuge. That's pretty well done, but I do have to finish it then edit it, but I have great faith in this weekend. Which conveniently gives me this week to finish reading the Sharpe books. *G* Yup. I'm addicted. It's a thing.

I did manage a blog for Unusual Historicals on Professions: Female Writers in the 1800s. Will start working on part 2 of y Panic of 1873 blog for Slip into Something Victorian, too.