Of power outages and new releases...

Normally, this is Tara Nina's turn to blog but Sandy went and put her big foot into it and Tara and I have switched places in the line-up.

First of all, Tara's fine. Many of you know she lives in New Jersey. Yes, she's one of many without power but, luckily she does not live along the coast so she still has a house. She and her husband also have a generator, so she's warm, dry and tells us she has plenty of food.

What she is running out of is gasoline for the generator. We've all seen the lines snaking around corners and doubling back on itself as people wait for their turn at the pump. :(

Since there's no way to mail her a gallon of gas, please consider donating to the American Red Cross or the Salvation Army, two organizations that are helping so many people right now.They're bringing hot meals to to those who need it, providing shelter for those who have no homes, and yes, helping to coordinate getting fuel to those who have run out. Donate blood if you can to keep the supply levels up, donate money or time if you have it. The aftermath is often worse than the storm itself.

And in the midst of all this, the newest Sweet Spot story released this week! Nothing like curling up inside with a good, hot read to keep you warm. TIED TO HOME centers around Matt Carter and Wisteria Penny Lane (can you tell her parents were hippies?). After several years apart, their interest kindles when they realize they both like their sex on the kinky side - the BDSM kinky side. :)

Here's an excerpt to whet your appetite:

TIED TO HOME by Diana Hunter
All Rights Reserved

Matt Carter sauntered in, taking a moment to look around. Wisteria Penny Lane. She’d taken a lot of heat for her name when they were kids. Hippie parents who didn’t have a clue the teasing they’d saddled onto their only child. He wondered if they still had that commune outside of town.

He’d seen the ropes, of course. And the marks around her breasts. She’d been tied up pretty well. Who knew when they lost their virginity together in the barn on her parent’s farm that the girl would grow up to have kinky tastes? Or that he’d grow up to have them as well?

Now she stood, defiant and proud, her wrists held out before her in challenge. She’d  thrown a book at his head the last time he’d seen her, as he recalled. If Brian had told him whose lock he was going to fix, he doubted he’d have come.

“Let me see what I can do. Have a seat.”

There was a small chest on the floor in front of the window and he gestured to it.

“I’d rather stand.”

“I’m sure you would. But I need steady hands and that’s easier to do when I’m kneeling.” He smirked. “And you always did want me down on one knee, as I recall.”

“You bastard. Get the fuck out of my house.”

He drew back in mock astonishment. “Wisteria Lane, such language!”

“I don’t want you here. Tell Brian he sent the wrong man.”

Matt studied her face. A war went on there. One moment she seemed fully in control, the next she was a breath away from breaking down into full-blown panic mode. Fascinated, he watched the control side take over again. When she spoke this time, her voice was more leveled.

“Go away, Carter. I meant what I said the last time I saw you.”

“Yeah, I remember. That you never wanted to see me again. Well, here I am. And you’re stuck and I can get you free.” He held up the small case of tools. “Picking locks is something I do.”

Wisteria sat down hard on the chest, her wrists still held out before her. “Turned to a life of crime?” She sounded bitter and Matt recognized she felt defeated.

“Worked with a security firm for a while,” he explained as he knelt down before her and opened the case. He pulled out a dark blue roll of felt and unfolded it as he spoke. “They had a master locksmith as part of their crew and he taught me a few things.”

“Security firms are supposed to keep people out, not get them in.”

He snorted. “You’d be surprised at how often people lock themselves out of their own systems. First thing they taught me was how to break into a car with a slimjim.” Carefully, he reached for her hands. “Now, let me see.”

She said nothing to him as he examined the problem. The first piece caught in the lock of the handcuffs came out easily enough with a small tweezers. The second proved more difficult and he had to twist around to work the lock from her side of it. That put him uncomfortably close and her perfume distracted him.

Pretending his shoulder didn’t touch hers was another distraction. And that string bikini wasn’t helping. He remembered those breasts, how soft they felt in his hands, how he could make her purr by licking her nipple…

The piece sprang free and with a twist, he opened the handcuffs, totally shocked by the feeling of disappointment that washed over him. What was he thinking? Wiste wanted no part of him. And, if he was honest with himself, admittedly not one of his strong points, he didn’t really want a complication in his life right now. He’d just left one in the desert of Las Vegas, he didn’t need to pick up another one here in Connecticut.

“Yes!”

Her exaltation was immediate. He didn’t say a word, only putting his tools away, re-rolling the felt and putting it back in its case. Wisteria jumped up and brushed past him as if he didn’t exist.

“Em, he did it. Emily? Em!”

But Matt knew Emily had left. He’d heard her sneak down the stairs before he’d even gotten his tools out. For reasons of her own, Emily Baker had left them alone.

Like it? TIED TO HOME comes in all ebook formats. You can find the links to what you like here. If you prefer a hardcopy, the paperback is coming soon.

Please consider a donation to the Red Cross or Salvation Army!

Diana

To Romanticon...or not

Many of the Scribes will be away from their desks next weekend, attending Ellora’s Cave’s yearly meet up of authors and readers: Romanticon. Cait, Ruby, Lynn, and Tara will all be there, holding a workshop on “The Nuts and Bolts of M/M Erotica” – with an emphasis on the nuts and bolts :). Don’tcha just want to be a fly on the wall in THAT talk!

Of course, it won’t be all fun and games in Ohio this year. Many of you know that one of EC’s top models, Angelo, was killed last week. There is a tribute planned for him on Friday night. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. Tina Engler wrote a fitting eulogy for the Romanticon website.

Tielle, Cat and I, however, aren't attending this year. For various reasons, life has conspired to keep us home. One of these days we’re going to an event where all seven of us can be in the same place at the same time! To date, we have never done that. All our conversations are done through email with our brainstorming sessions for The Sweet Spot series taking place on a private wiki we've put together for our use.

But isn’t that wonderful, too? That seven people, all living in different parts of the world, can form a group, work together on various projects, and become friends, all while rarely seeing each other face-to-face? I’ve met all the Scribes – eaten dinner or shared drinks and conversation with every one of them. Just never at the same time in the same place.

I can tell you one thing...if we ever DO manage a group-wide, face-to-face meeting? The country that hosts us will never be the same! Some among us are party-ers who love to dance, others are quiet and don’t say much except for an occasional zinger that keeps us laughing long into the night.

I’ll miss getting to see the four at Romanticon and am making a resolution now: Before the end of another year, we’re all getting together in one big group. We’ll swap news about our families, talk about writing and tell dirty jokes till the sun comes up and goes down again. We’ll laugh and cry, rail at the world then solve all its problems. And we will act like what we have become: Scribe Sisters.

Love ya, Ladies! Have a great time at Romanticon; we'll leave the lights on for you :)

Diana

When real life gets in the way

Robbie Burns was right. "The best laid plans o' mice and men oft' gang agley..."

And boy, did I have it all planned out. Because of an illness in my husband's family, he and I cancelled our trip to Maine and Nova Scotia, a trip initially planned for last week and this. Spending those two weeks at our cabin in the mountains of southern New York was our second option and I made a list of all the local places we hadn't been yet. We'd stay at the cabin and do smaller day trips in between trips home to check on his mom in the hospital. This way, he could also get a good deal of painting time in and I could finish my Sweet Spot novel that releases in November. A good compromise, right?

And then life happened. We had to come home not once, but twice, because my husband got an interview for a directing job (he directs live theatre). We had to come home three more times because of an ill relative who needed care 24/7 for a few days. The silver lining was a chance to do a load of laundry, but really? It's hard to vacation, write or paint when you keep coming home!

So, after six days, we totaled one day of vacation and five days of life getting in the way. I wrote less than 3000 words all week and my husband painted only two paintings worth talking about (and one we're just going to pretend doesn't exist. Love you, honey!). We were so busy traveling back and forth, there just hasn't been a lot of down time.

The one day trip we managed was to Corning, NY. We've been to the Corning Glass Factory nearly every year since the kids were little. It's a wonderful place, but we've been there a lot, so we skipped that this time and went to the Rockwell Museum of Western Art, a huge collection of western American art. What makes it unique is it's location -- in the East! Three floors of incredible paintings, sculptures and historical artifacts. My favorites were the pieces by Frederick Remington and N.C. Wyeth. Afterward, we ate lunch at an excellent bistro at the end of Market Street, then shopped the entire street before heading back to the cabin. And yes, I did, at least, get a start on my Christmas shopping!

What this is the long way of saying is that...I'm behind on my novel. I'd hoped to have it finished before we left, but I got stuck on a plot point (I'm past it now). My second self-imposed deadline was to be done by the end of these two weeks. Now I'm hoping to be done before September first. I want the first draft done before I have to start back at school. With five classes and five preps this year (and two study halls to babysit), I'm worried about not having enough mental capacity left at the end of the day to do anything more than edit.

So yeah. Life gets in the way sometimes. Okay, most of the time. We're going to try again this week, hoping to salvage a few days for relaxation and creativity. Maybe finishing a novel isn't such a crazy dream after all...

Play safe,
Diana