Thursday 13 :: Summer

13 Things – I Love About Summer
(Because I’m cold and dis-like Winter with a passion)

  1. Laying by the pool with a book in my hand.
  2. Wearing Flip-Flops!
  3. Trips to the Beach.
  4. Backyard BBQ’s.
  5. Pool Parties.
  6. The smell of tanning lotion.
  7. Listening to the Cicada’s while watching the stars.
  8. Lounging on the back deck while sipping an ice cold sweet tea.
  9. Playing outside in the sun – (I hate being cooped up in the house!).
  10. The County Fair and Home Town Parades.
  11. Watermellon after an extremely hot day.
  12. Tanning away the ‘winter white’.
  13. And the thing I love MOST about summer…It’s NOT COLD!!!

There’s my 13 for this week. I really shouldn’t have posted this yet because now, I’m dreaming of Summertime! So what’s your favorite things about Summer? Tell me in the comments!
All material &copy2005-2012 to Lily Graison

Writer Wednesday #3 :: Where Do My Story Ideas Come From

I don’t usually talk much about ‘me’ or my writing process because frankly, I don’t think readers would find it very interesting. They’re here for the books I write and probably don’t care much about my daily routine but I had a reader, Regan, ask me last week, over on Facebook, where I came up with my ideas for stories and since I started the Writer Wednesday feature to talk about my writing progress from the previous week, I figured this was a good time to get into my writing process since I was asked specifically for it.

Most of my stories are nothing more than a desire to ‘read something’ I either can’t find or want more of. The Willow Creek series came about for this very reason. I LOVE westerns, historical more than contemporary’s, and I’ve devoured all I can find. Some leave me wanting more while others, I think I would have been better off not even reading.

My desire for more cowboys led my muse into fantasizing…and the distinct vision of an outlaw popped into my head. An outlaw who kidnaps a girl, falls in love with her and… well, you’ll just have to read my upcoming book, The Outlaw, to see where my thoughts went after that.

I knew when I had the idea that one story wouldn’t be enough so, I thought my Outlaw should have a brother, one completely opposite from him. The Lawman. More siblings joined in and I had an entire family, each brother as different from the next as one could get and a father who was afflicted with something no one knew how to cure. I imaged the town they were from, what the air smelled like and saw the mountains rising in the distance.

The stories came to me quickly, the plots screeching through my head so fast, I had a hard time getting them down quick enough. When all was said and done, I had 4 stories, fleshed out inside my head with tons of scribbled notes.

I also had the beginnings of another story, set in the same town, with a new set of characters. That story originally, would have been first. An introduction to the town, but halfway through the story, I knew it would be too long. It was a novel and those characters needed time to flesh out their story without having to stop and create my fictional town so readers could see it in their mind. That could be done in the novellas, in small pieces, so His Brother’s Wife will be book 5.

My other stories came about in the same way. The Night Breeds series, my paranormal romances, was a thought after reading a paranormal series years ago. In that author’s world, everyone knew vampires and shifters were real, and I wondered then, what did all those people ‘do’ when they found out? How did they react? Who was the first vampire/shifter to make himself known?

The idea was born from no more than those 3 questions. What would the world do if they woke one morning to find out the world of the supernatural existed? That the tales of monsters weren’t stories just to scare children, but were real. That the monsters were real. I set the stage for those questions to be answered in the first 2 books of the Night Breed series, The Calling and The Gathering, and we’ll explore the ramifications in book 3 and 4, which I’ll begin writing later this year.

Other stories weren’t so ‘deep’ in the planning. Most of the time, its just a ‘what if’ scenario. What if you’ve dreamed of a man your entire life then saw him one day, in the flesh? And what if he’s been dreaming of you, too? I explore those ‘what ifs’ in the book, Destined Hearts, which was the first original story I ever tried to write. It took me 3 years to complete and is one of my favorites. It’s not an overly ‘sexy’ book like most of my others are but its more of a classic love story filled with romance and a hero who gives up everything to have the girl of his dreams.

A Touch of Heaven was nothing more than a naughty mind wanting a little adventure and what better place than a male strip club? *grin* But seeing men strip isn’t much of a story so… what if the man you’d been ogling was actually the nerdy geek you teased in high school? He’s not a nerd now and he’s out to prove it, one sexy dance at a time!

I don’t know of any writer who doesn’t have several dozen story ideas just waiting to be written. I do. I even have a handful of stories already started that stalled for one reason or another, two of those totally 40,000 words. I’ll get back to them one of these days but in the meantime, I’ll work with what I have and hope my readers follow along on my journey.

There’s always a story whispering itself to me and it doesn’t take much to trigger another. A conversation or picture can lead to a simple What If and before you know it, the muse, Benny, is screeching through my head, demanding I stop what I’m doing to jot down some notes. Too bad he’s not happy after that. He’s always eager to start writing and pitches a fit when I don’t. He’ll get over it though. He always does.

So, there’s my ‘process’ for creating new stories. If you have a question you’d like answered, leave it in the comments and I’ll tackle it on Writer Wednesday someday in the future!

Until next time,
Lily

All material &copy2005-2012 to Lily Graison

Tuesday Teaser – Wicked: Leather and Lace – Contemporary Romance book

Welcome again to Tuesday Teasers! I have a small excerpt from Wicked: Leather and Lace today, which is book 2 in the Wicked Series. This scene takes place on a crowded dance floor and rock star Luke Harris doesn’t like taking no for an answer!

Roxy Carlisle is on a mission. She’s been in lust with Luke Harris, lead guitarist for the band Wicked, for two years. When her best friend, Holly, hooks up with the bands lead singer, and asks her to tag along to New York with her to meet the band, Roxy couldn’t pack her bags fast enough. The chance to meet Luke in person was a dream come true. Even better if her ultimate fantasy of finding herself in his bed were to happen. One way or another, she was determined to have him. That is, if Holly’s hair-brained idea of playing hard to get doesn’t backfire in her face.

Luke Harris loves women and they love him. All he ever has to do is speak to them and they fall all over themselves to be the lucky lady of the night. That all changes though when a feisty brunette comes barreling into his life and changes all the rules. She’s immune to his usual charm, or so it seems, but something in her eyes tells him otherwise.

Has Luke finally met a woman he can’t seduce? Can Roxy follow her plan and not give in when Luke sets his sights on her? When sex is all you’re after, can you walk away when your heart demands more?

Excerpt

“Okay, maybe I didn’t make my self clear,” he said, cradling her body in his arms.

“About what?”

He nuzzled the side of her neck and Roxy felt light headed. He ground his hips into her backside and she was pleasantly surprised to find him excited. The obvious bulge pushing into her butt caused her knees to go weak.

“About you coming back to the hotel with me,” he rasped in her ear.

“Oh, I’ll definitely go back. I’m staying there too.”

“In my bed?”

Roxy laughed. “Only if you’re a good boy.”

“Oh, I can be very good,” Luke promised, leaning down to brush a kiss on the side of her neck. Roxy’s eyes closed when he placed a series of warm, wet kisses to her skin and shivered at the feel of his tongue stroking her flesh. “It’ll be an experience you’ll never forget.”

“I’m sure it will,” she whispered.

He kept a firm grip on her waist but lowered one hand, skimming her hip before reaching the edge of her skirt. His fingers danced along her thigh, light, gentle strokes teasing her flesh. They swayed to the music, Luke’s breath warm against her skin and Roxy raised her arm, wrapping it around his neck and closing her eyes. She lost herself in the feel of him. The warmth of his body ignited her senses and his free hand roamed her flesh until goose bumps pimpled her skin.

She opened her eyes when she felt his fingers brush against the front of her panties and tried to control her breathing. She glanced around at the other dancers, looking to see if anyone was paying any attention to them, but to her amazement, no one was.

His probing fingers found the edge of the silk covering her and she gasped when one lone digit crawled under the edge of her panties.

“Someone’s a naughty girl,” he whispered in her ear, rubbing the soft bare skin between her legs. He gave her a brief, wicked smile before he captured her lips, forcing his tongue into her mouth.

Her body sagged against him. She drank in his kiss, letting him take what he wanted and she gasped when his curious fingers found her clit, rolling the small bundle of nerves in small circles.

He turned her suddenly, and ground his obvious erection into her hip. Reclaiming her lips, he crushed her to him, one large hand tangling into her hair and holding her to his hungry lips while the other did the most delicious things to her clit. It was more intense than any fantasy she’d ever had about him.

Luke Harris was definitely everything his image portrayed. He was sex. A walking orgasm just waiting for a place to happen. Seconds turned to minutes and Roxy broke the kiss with a gasp. She stared up into lust filled eyes and drank in the sight of it. His pale gray eyes had turned sparkling silver. Fire burned in his gaze and it was directed at her.

He placed a soft kiss on the side of her mouth, his tongue darting out to trace her bottom lip and she felt the small touch to the soles of her feet.

“I want you, Roxy. Now.”

Oh god. Roxy took a shuddering breath and tried to think around her sex-addled brain. Sleep with him now and chances are she’d be yesterday’s rubbish. Continue with Holly’s plan and… and what? Prolong her misery? Leave her with another lonely night with nothing but her fantasies to keep her warm?

The hand between her legs was still there. His fingers burning a trail over her inner thigh and she could only imagine the heights this man would take her. Three minutes with his fingers buried in her panties and she was undone. What if she had all night?

Luke wanted her. He wanted her! How could she refuse? She’d done more stupid things in her life than she could count. This wouldn’t be one of them. She smiled up at him and said, “Lead the way.”

The smile he gave her made things low in her belly tighten with anticipation.

“Follow me,” he smiled, turning and leading her through the crowd toward the front door.

“Luke! Luke, wait.”

Roxy turned her head when Luke stopped and did the same. A man approached them wearing a suit that looked as expensive as the dress she’d splurged on. His hair was thinning on top and was sprinkled with gray. He looked to be in his late forties. He carried an air of authority around him and she knew whoever he was, he was important. She raised a curious brow at him before looking at Luke. From the look on his face, she could tell he didn’t like the man.

“The reporter I said was coming finally showed up. The other guys have already talked to him. It’s your turn.”

“Can’t this wait?” Luke asked.

The man turned his attention to her briefly and Roxy couldn’t be sure, but she thought he rolled his eyes.

“No, it can’t. I promised the interviews and you agreed. Your friend can wait in line with the other groupies.”

Roxy’s mouth fell open. Groupie. Did she look like a groupie?

Luke glanced at her before saying, “Give me ten minutes, Curt, and I’ll be there with bells on.”

Ten minutes? Ten minutes! Oh hell no! She was not a no-tell motel for his cock.

Wicked: Leather and Lace
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Words: 24,203 – Novella
Released: March 2009
Rating: Sultry
Price: $2.99


BUY THE EBOOK FROM:
» Buy at Alinar Publishing
» Buy at Amazon Kindle
» Buy at Amazon Kindle UK
» Buy at Amazon Kindle DE
» Buy at Barnes and Noble
» Buy at Sony Reader Store
» Buy at Diesel eBook Store
» Buy at Smashwords
» Buy at Kobo

Also available at the Apple iBook Store

BUY THE PRINT BOOK FROM:
» Buy at Amazon.Com
» Buy at Barnes and Noble

All material &copy2005-2012 to Lily Graison

Six Sentence Sunday – The Outlaw – Historical Western Romance book

This week’s 6 comes from my upcoming Historical Western Romance, THE OUTLAW which is due for release on March 12th!

“Why did you kiss me?”

“So I’d stop thinking about doing it.” He reached for her, wrapping his hands around her waist before lifting her to the horse. He put her in the saddle this time and climbed in behind her. She wiggled her bottom to give him more room and gasped when his arm clamped around her waist and he pulled her back into his chest, his head lowering until his breath was warm against her ear. “And if you don’t stop wiggling that ass around on me I’m going to do everything else I can’t stop thinking about, too.”

To be notified when this book is released, sign up for the Lily Graison Newsletter by filling in the form below!

Check out the other Six Sentence Sunday participants or follow the #sixsunday hashtag on Twitter.

All material &copy2005-2012 to Lily Graison

Friday 56 :: Keeper Of The Heart by Johanna Lindsey

This weeks 56 comes from the book Keeper Of The Heart by Johanna Lindsey, another book sitting in my To Be Read pile.

She had a warrior who admitted he loved her. But no other warrior would admit it. Even Challen’s friend Tamiron, who cared deeply for his lifemate, staunchly maintained warriors didn’t feel the strong emotions women did.

About the Friday 56

  • Grab the book nearest you. Right now
  • Turn to page 56.
  • Find the fifth sentence.
  • Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
  • Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
  • Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Now its you turn! Grab a book and post your 56. If you don’t have a blog, just post yours in the comments.

(I saw the Friday 56 over at Shiloh Walker’s blog. Be sure to visit and read her 56.)

All material &copy2005-2012 to Lily Graison

Thursday 13 :: Travel

13 Places I want to Visit Before I Die

  1. Scotland  – I know the possibility of falling through the standing stones and finding my very own hunky Scottish highlander is slim but I still want to try!
  2. Greece – I want to see the ruins and walk on streets older than I can imagine.
  3. Rome – Ruins! Enough said.
  4. Hawaii – It’s Hawaii! Why wouldn’t someone want to visit?
  5. The Grand Canyon – Nature as its most spectacular.
  6. Ireland – The photos I’ve seen are so breathtaking, I want to see it for myself.
  7. Tombstone Arizona – Come on, it’s the Old West! Imagine the plot bunnies I could find there.
  8. Louisiana – Mardi Gras looks like so much fun. Besides, isn’t that where all the vampires live?
  9. Paris – It’s the City of Love. What better place to be?
  10. The Northern Lights – This isn’t a place but I still want to see them.
  11. Russia – One of my favorite books takes place in Russia. I want to see the landmarks I read about in the book.
  12. The Bermuda Triangle – I want to see where I end up! LOL
  13. Australia – Come on, you’ve seen how hot the guys are down under (no pun intended!)
There’s my 13. What places are on your bucket list? Tell me in the comments below.

All material &copy2005-2012 to Lily Graison

Writer Wednesday #2

The past week has been filled with anxiety, even though my family crisis from last week was finally cleared enough I was able to get back to my story, The Gambler. Of course when I did sit down to write, the muse balked. I sat staring at the page for ages, knowing ‘something’ was wrong but just couldn’t put my finger on what. I was ready to trash it (all 10K of it) and start over. Which would have been like a knife to the gut.

Whenever I run into story problems, I always run to my go-to girl, author Candy Nicks. She always sees what I don’t and after a day of just talking it out, I realized my hero and heroine were just too…nice. Squeaky clean, nice, and honestly, what’s so exciting about that?

Nothing, according to my muse so, I rewrote the story instead of trashing it, which took 3 days to do. Every scene had to be ‘fixed’, the character motivations tweaked and finally, I had a story that was much more exciting and my muse was dancing and asking for another shot of whiskey. I even manged to write the back cover blurb for the story, which I’ll be sharing in the coming weeks.

My deadline for this story was Jan. 31st. I didn’t make it. I’m only 20K in and the story will end up around 40,000. Not making my deadline isn’t a huge issue but it messes with my timetable a bit. It throws the edits for The Outlaw back by a week and I’d really not prefer to do that but see little choice at this point. I’ll just have to work harder to catch up but if I weren’t running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I’d think something was wrong.

I managed to write 50,000+ words for the month, which is a record for me. I put a lot of things on hold in order to get my daily words done. I shot for 3K a day and most days I hit it. Some, not so much but it all worked out in the end. I wrote every day but 7 (the weekends) so all in all, I’m quite proud of what I ‘did’ do.

Besides working on the new story, I managed to write an obscene amount of blog posts (11 to be exact) and I have to say, having those things written, and scheduled, in advance is such a life saver. I’m not sure why I didn’t always do them this way. Having them done in advance just frees up so much time for me. I can write/goof off until around 6 pm and spend my evening watching TV with the hubby while working on blog posts or marking off things on my To Do list, which seems to grow by the day.

Speaking of the To Do list…I have a few print books on there, one of which is an Anthology of all 4 Wicked books. I’m hoping to release that come end of year. The book is formatted and a proof copy is in the mail. I still have to read it, front to back, and make sure everything came out all nice and pretty but I have loads of time for that yet. I’m not sure about you, but I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Its huge…nearly 400 pages and having all four of my guys in one books is just a little bit intoxicating. I have some book swag on order for the re-release as well so you Wicked fans out there…there’s goodies in your future!

Until next week,
Lily

All material &copy2005-2012 to Lily Graison

My Book Boyfriend :: Hot Alpha Werewolf!

Thank you, everyone, who stopped by the blog and participated in My Book Boyfriend giveaway hop! I loved all your comments and wish I had the time to reply to everyone but, I have read them all even if I couldn’t respond.

The winner has been chosen via the Rafflecopter form and that person is…  Gena R! Congratulations, Gena.

ReadingBetweentheWinesBookClub

My Book Boyfriend Giveaway Hop Hosted is by Reading Between the Wines Book Club and As the Page Turns. The hop will run from 12:01 AM February 1st through to 11:59 PM February 5th, 2012.

What better way to celebrate the month of LOVE then with your favorite book boyfriend? Whether you have a valentine or not, the swoon worthy heroes we find in romances can’t be matched anyway! So why not put on those naughty underwear and curl up with one of these steamy reads this year instead? Make you Valentine’s Day perfect by joining the My Book Boyfriend Giveaway Hop where fellow bloggers offer you the chance to win some of their favorite book boyfriends!

PRIZE ON OFFER:

1. A signed and personalized paperback copy of my paranormal romance, The Calling, which features the very scrumptious alpha werewolf hero, Garrett Kincaid, 
2. One eBook copy of, The Gathering, sequel to The Calling.




HOW TO ENTER:

  • Subscribe to this blog via email using the form below.
  • Fill in the Rafflecopter form once you’ve subscribed to the blog.  Follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter form completely for your entry to count.
  • Comment on this post and tell me what paranormal ‘creatures’ are your favorites!
  • For extra entries, Like my Facebook page and/or follow my Twitter page. (make sure you click the rafflecopter form again on those items for them to count!)

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All material &copy2005-2012 to Lily Graison