The Man, His Pants and the Plots He Spawns.

The Man, His Pants and the Plots He Spawns.

The man? David Beckham.

Years ago I was not interested in this man at all, and yet as time went on he aged, growing more and more attractive. Oh, and he got ink…I mean A LOT of ink and that’s where my infatuation went crazy.

Anyone who knows me knows of my love of tattoos. I have many, most of them large pieces, and plan of more. It’s my strange little hobby. So when it comes to men, I like them inked too. Beckham therefore gets my knickers in a real twist!

His pants? Well…take a look:

Now… the white ones? Well, if I saw them on the bedroom floor I’d be thoroughly unimpressed, but on this man they’re hot. I don’t know what it is. (Did I mention the ink?) He seems to turn whatever his touches into gold. Goddamned glistening gold!

The stories he’s spawned? Now, Mr. Beckham will have no idea he did this but one night I sat down, watching the Olympic Opening Ceremony and I saw this:

The smirk did me in. I melt. I swooned. I melted some more, but then BAM! The story started to evolve, all based around Mr. Beckham, his ink, his smirk and that boat. That’s all it took for my fingers to be worn to the bone as I typed like never before.

It just over two weeks ago that I saw him deliver the torch and in that time I’ve written a third of a full length novel.

Stay tuned for the outcome…

Mr. Beckham, I thank you!

M.A. Stacie

xx

At the Beach with Jaye Shields

Are you ready for Beachwalk Press' next FREE anthology. Yep, I said FREE!

Over the next couple weeks, the At the Beach Anthology Tour will give readers a glimpse into the free anthology.

I'm going to start you off with just under 800 words of Sacred Sands, an erotic urban fantasy.

Archaeologist Anna Kroskouriaff is about to discover that some ancient myths are, in fact, real. A sensual God from Greek’s past is about to prove it to her. And then some.

Warning: Flaming hot Greek God on Human Female sex…

Sacred Sands

   A short by Jaye Shields

The sun descended over the archaeological site, casting shades of rainbow sherbet across the dirt-smeared stone of the acropolis. Lying beneath the Sithonian hills, an ancient Greek city became unearthed after thousands of years in hiding.

Anna Kroskouriaff tore down the hill, the thick soles of her boots sliding here and there over loose stones. Even if she would have fallen, the smile wouldn’t have left her face. The discovery of the long sought-after site would make her career. Finally, she’d live up to the standard set by her grandmother, a famous archaeologist.

As she hiked down the hill, beads of sweat dotted her forehead and her t-shirt clung to her ample curves. A hard day’s work under the sweltering Greek sun had been thrilling. Working the dig was a dream come true, and with the manual labor involved, she might even lose a few pounds in the process. Not that the Greek men seemed to mind.

Her grandmother may have been an expert rendering the sites by drawing, but Anna loved the good old-fashioned art of digging in the trenches. Her baggy shorts were smeared with enough dirt to prove it. As a matter of fact, her whole body was smeared with it. Instead of blush or lipstick, Anna wore smudges of soil and cinnabar dust on her cheeks, her lips a natural, pale pink.

More beads of sweat formed on her upper lip. Although the sun was slowly descending, the hot day had already taken its toll on her body after long hours of working in the sun. Anna’s long blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but loose strands clung against her cheeks, dampened by sweat.

Anna knew she needed a shower, aware of the fact that she probably smelled of ancient history and BO. Yet she couldn’t help but explore the area now that the day’s work was done.

Trees dotted the rocky hillside she scaled. Anna couldn’t see the bottom, but she knew what awaited. The ruins built atop the cliff had revealed a breathtaking view of the Gulf Kassandros. Now, to find the hidden beach. As she continued down the steep hike, Anna realized that the uphill return might not be so easy in the dark.

Heat stroke will make a girl loopy, I guess.

As flora became more abundant on the rocky hill, Anna knew she was nearing water. Finally, her feet reached a flat surface. Dirt gave way to sand, and Anna stepped onto the hidden beach. The water that stretched out before her would have been transparent turquoise during the day time. But as the sunset disappeared on the horizon, the waves became tantalizing shades of pink and teal.

The sand glittered an exotic shade of orange as the sunset lingered, and Anna quickly bent over to tug off her boots. The socks came off next, and soon her toes were free to feel the gentle massage of the tiny grains against her feet.

Anna threw back her head and relished the success of the archaeological discovery, and the simple bliss of the beach wash through her. Her eyes closed as she stared up at the sky, the salty scent of the ocean mesmerized her senses. Sun, sand, and success, what more could a woman want?

“You have reached a sacred beach, woman.”

The deep-voiced advisory had Anna’s head whipping back down. What she saw stilled the blood in her veins. A man ascended from the depths of the ocean. As he strode toward her through the water, the ocean waves splashed against his exposed torso. His eyes locked on hers, an intense shade of turquoise that would rival the ocean water even as it shimmered in daylight. His hair was black as raven feathers, and clung against his tanned angular face, soaked from the sea.

He continued toward her through the water, more and more of his body becoming exposed. Anna’s heart stopped as she watched a long hard body slowly revealed. Shadows framed deep cuts of muscle into his torso. The man rivaled some of the statues she’d discovered in her digs. He was perfect.

Yep, heat stroke was a bitch.

Anna shook her head, hoping to knock some sense into her.

I just need some water.

“I’m glad you have come. I have been long without company.” The sensual walking statue spoke to her. He stepped onto the sand, fully naked before her eyes. His manhood was very, very real, but big enough to make her doubt her sanity once more.

Her jaw dropped at the mouthwatering image. “Best. Mirage. Ever.”

To be continued...

Don't forget to follow the trail of blogs and return for more. Things were just about to get hot...

Up next at bat, talented author  Kaylie Newell.
Check her out on Friday at www.kaylienewell.com for the beginning of her own steamy short.


Also up on Friday is Pepper Anthony. Find her yummy beach short at www.pepperanthony.com


 About Me: Born and raised in the grunge capitol, I took my love of music and poetry from the Pacific Northwest to California. Now I live in Alameda, a quaint island town in the Bay Area. Graduating this month with a degree in Anthropology with an emphasis in Archaeology, I'm just itching to climb some more pyramids. When I'm not in school, I'm either working at VW or taking long walks along the Alameda beach and gazing at the the outline of San Francisco in the distance.
Oh yes, and I'm a travel nut. Let's all go to Paris...

Confessions Of A Sex Demon

And how the heck I became an erotica author

By Jaye Shields

When I was just a young girl with blonde pigtails and Mary Janes, I already knew I wanted to be a writer. Even my kindergarten teacher told me I’d be a famous author some day. If you would have told my beloved teacher the title of my first book would be called Confessions of a Sex Demon, there’s no way she would believe it. Hell, I wouldn’t have believed it.

So this is how it happened.

Any writer knows that with finishing a book comes months upon months of rejection. If you can even call it rejection. In my case, I’d wait months to hear back from an agent, just to have my query letter receive an automated rejection. My favorite ones were the emails that apologized for the “automated response”. At least pretend to be real! That’s what gives us sensitive writer types hope!

Okay, so fast forward. In my first year as a dedicated writer (and by dedicated I mean writing novels during my day job at a car dealership) I wrote three full length urban fantasy novels. I thought they were so awesome. They were my babies. I’ve never given birth, but I’d go to war for these manuscripts.

And to war I went! This is my note to fledging authors. If you enter any sort of writing contest which involves critique, be prepared to come out bruised and bloodied on the other side. But what happens when you get in a fight? You learn how to scrap better next time…

So I threw myself into heavy edits for the trilogy until I reached the point where I doubted every single word that I typed. Brutal contest feedback will do that to you. I read just about everywhere that after finishing a book, one should wait at least a month before editing. Like a stubborn nit-wit, I ignored this advice. Finally, my critique buddy hammered the point home.

“Give yourself a break, woman! Write something new and fun to give yourself some time before going back to edit. Write an erotic novella.” Or something like that…

“An erotic novella?” The idea was thrilling.

For those who don’t know, a novella is a short novel, between 15k-40k words generally. I guess this makes me a sex freak of some kind, but the story came to me immediately and I wrote it in a few days while at work. Just for fun. I had absolutely no intention of trying to publish it. Then, crit buddy read it, and LOVED it. Said it was my best work ever.

“Erotica is your calling!”

Seriously?

In the spirit of her enthusiasm, I queried for my sexy little urban fantasy. I sent a query, synopsis, and full manuscript to four e-publishers. Incredibly, I heard back almost immediately. Okay, now let me tell you how stunned I was to receive something other than an automated rejection.

Subject title: Contract offer – Confessions of a Sex Demon. Whoa…

So what do I do now? Besides jump up and down at VW and proceed to tell everyone in the dealership, I mean. Because you know, they all ask me why I’m constantly smiling at my desk.


My response: I’m writing a flaming hot love scene where someone’s strapped to a table and they’re getting their clothes cut off…My second thought, time to tell my family that not only have I written an erotica novella, that it’s getting published. That should be interesting.

Okay, back to business. My next step was contacting the other publishers I’d queried to inform them that I’d received an offer. I received another immediate offer, followed by two replies that they’d never even received my submission.


So, let this be a warning to fledgling authors. ALWAYS CHECK FOR THE AUTOMATED RESPONSE THAT THE PUBLISHING CO. HAS RECEIVED YOUR SUBMISSION. I guess this would seem like a no-brainer, but it was my own personal blonde moment.

I’m happy to announce that I went with the first offer which is why I'm lucky enough to be blogging with the lovely ladies of Spicin It Up.

There’s nothing more thrilling than the moment of realizing someone believes in you…

So what have we learned today?

1. I've got a rather devious side and I'm not afraid to put it to creative use.

2. Don’t let bad feedback defeat you. Let it motivate you to work hard and bring your vision to life.

3. Taking time off before you start your editing rounds might be a good thing. You might even get a novella published!

4. Always check your inbox for receipts of submission from queried publishing companies and/or agents. (Since 2/4 of mine never even received the submission)

5. I'm lucky as all get out to be surrounded by such talented, charming ladies at Beachwalk Press. My family have been equally supportive and even my grandma gets a kick out of the fact that I'll be published in erotica very soon.

Do any of you have publishing or querying woes? Feel free to use the comment box below to vent…

Coming Soon:

Confessions of a Sex Demon

Sex Demon Zahra Aniron is a closet romantic. Too bad she spends her time having hot kinky sex with paying strangers. But the sex demon has to work with what she’s got to save her sister from her debt to wizard thugs. Then again, there could be worse things than getting paid for pleasure since a sex demon needs climax to survive.

As a blacksmith, Lennox Aegros puts his fury to good use pounding steel into swords. His real cause for moving into a new town isn’t to sell weaponry, it’s for revenge. When he finds the succubus he’s been searching for, her beauty means he can mix business with pleasure. But the jokes on Lennox, because as he succeeds in torturing his victim, he realizes that Zahra's slow demise means the breaking of a heart he never realized he had.

About Me:

Born and raised in the grunge capitol, I took my love of music and poetry from the Pacific Northwest to California. Now I live in Alameda, a quaint island town in the Bay Area. Graduating this month with a degree in Anthropology with an emphasis in Archaeology, I'm just itching to climb some more pyramids. When I'm not in school I'm either working at VW or taking long walks along the Alameda beach and gazing at the the outline of San Francisco in the distance.

Oh yes, and I'm a travel nut. Let's all go to Paris...

A Quickie

This is going to be a quickie, ladies and gents - oh yeah!

You see, it's a beautiful morning and my writing room is out at the sunny end of the garden - but, my internet connection is at the indoor, shadowy end... so - unless I was smart enough to schedule a blog or write it in Word and upload it later (which I'm not) - I'll have to be quick to get out there.

This doesn't mean I won't treat you to the full ramblings of my brain - no, not at all! It just means, I may not edit it quite so carefully... - which leads me on to the theme - a quickie! When I'm writing a saucy scene (which happens usually about once a chapter, and I try to write a chapter a session) - I can always tell if it's going to be a good un or not, depending on how many errors on the spell and grammar check there are.

If it is mistake free and Word is not chastising me all over the place with its red and green squiggles, I know I have not been taken over by my own imagination. I know I have been over thinking and taking too much care with my editing.

However, if there are searing red slashes and bits of words here and there with no coherent structure and utter editing chaos - I know it's going to be hot! I know my poor keyboard has had to keep up with my visual brain and whatever it throws out. When this happens, with erotic writing, or a love scene, I love to go back and iron out the nonsense, making it readable and understandable.

And so, as I look out the window to the clouds now forming over my writing shed, I must make a mad dash out there...

What makes you go too fast for yourself?

See you next week
T x x x

A year in romance

Hi there,
More congratulations and big love to Pepper, Lacey and Kd Grace who all launched this week!


And an even bigger thank you to readers - I hope you enjoy these new treasures.

I am having an exciting week myself as on Thursday I will be celebrating one year as an erotic romance writer.

I was just about ready to throw in the towel on the old writing business (after minimal success and about a hundred rejections for my mainstream titles) when I happened to check my email for the last time before bed. And there it was - the very first acceptance for my short story, Retail Seduction which was included in Xcite's Kinky Girls anthology. It was enough of a thrill to re-ignite my writing passion and now here I am with several more shorts and a novella (Mia's Books).

Alongside the stories I've made some very supportive friends and colleagues who make everything seem much better - writing can be lonely and demoralising, what a difference it makes to nip on to Twitter for a chat and boost.

I have also been introduced to the art of blogging and blog tours and all sorts of shenanigans - and will be taking part in the Whipped Cream Haunting Halloween Blog Fest on 10/29 and 10/30.

Sorry for the late hour of this blog, but life happened all day! Thanks for reading x

Ladies Who Launch!

Hello and thanks for dropping by! This is the launch week for Spicin’ It Up and I’m really excited to be part of this Spicy Authors’ group.

I will be your Tuesday Girl – Oh, I love the sound of that. I would love to have guests, giveaways and interviews, so if you’re game, fill in our form.

So this first blog is all about me… yikes! I find it much easier escaping into imaginary worlds than talking about the real one. I asked my man since high school, what shall I talk about? He said, ‘Why not talk about me?’

And since he is my biggest inspiration to write naughty romance, maybe I will (a little). Last year I was finishing a novel of mine which had some bedroom scenes included. I daren’t read them at my writing group so I tried them out on my man. He thought they were fine, great in fact, but how could I know he was being objective? With his encouragement and to make sure I could write sex well, I submitted a short story to an Xcite anthology. Imagine my delight when a couple of months later, I got a contract through. When I saw my story in print, I was hooked! I still finished that novel but I realized, while the lovin’ was good, the rest of it was a little dull. I decided to stick to the steamy romance. After some more short stories came my paranormal novella, Mia’s Books, which Beachwalk Press published in July. I am so delighted to be part of the romance community. Everyone is so helpful, friendly and enthusiastic. And the gals on this blog are no exception!

So what about my man? The one who listens endlessly to chapters and drafts of my stories and books without complaint? Well, tomorrow we celebrate our anniversary and to tie in with this new blog, we’re Spicin’ It Up old school with a curry in town.

As a thank you for joining me on my first spot, I have a copy of Mia’s Books to give away – simply leave a comment and I’ll pick a name out of a hat – or a stocking! PS. adults only ;) by commenting, you agree to this.