Fun With Splashes

I do love my new splash brushes...

Angel's Fall

I'm procrastinatinating again:) Kinda channeling Luis Royo who is my Nora Roberts in terms of art.

What's in a name?

Character names can make or break a story. I personally have had instances where a story wouldn't flow because a character name just didn't sound right, and yet I couldn't find a better alternative. Like a story title, a character name sets up a mood -- a jaded man, a sweet but vulnerable woman, a bitchy coworker who blames everyone else for a mistake while sounding sugar sweet to those who hold some power.

One approach in finding character names is trolling name generator sites until something just "hits". My personal favorites are Sevent Sanctum (http://seventhsanctum.com/) and Serendipity (http://nine.frenchboys.net/) . Warning -- could be a big time waster!! You can generate first names, last names or combination of both, male and female, until something hits right. Baby naming sites, sites depicting popular names by culture or country can work well here as well -- this is how I found names for my characters in Sexsomiaic.

Another approach I've recently stumbled upon involves SPAM. No - not the kind you eat, the kind that clogs up your inbox with offers of blue magic pills, miracle diets and business offers that you simply can't refuse -- just send them your name and Social Security.

The names that appear as the sender could be great starting points to character names and personality sketches if we're willing to sift through our bulk folder. A few examples from my own : Shelly Marino - maybe a female NY cop with attitude a mile long and a soft spot for chocolate ice cream .Perry Poole - doesn't he just sound like a bespeckled older gentleman who may just have a dark side? Jan Oneill, John Deleon, Ellen Wells, Jim Crowe...

Next time a character name eludes you, you may just find the answer no further then your own spam box.

Of course, it'll mean looking at clever subject lines such as - You Grow, She'll Blow.

New Release: Sexsomniac

After seven false starts, its ALIVE!

Lacey Savage was very kind to post an interview with me about Sexsomniac at her blog.

New Release! Snowbound: Troika

Excerpt from SnowBound: Troika

Blurb:

Selina comes to a remote village in Alaska to organize a wolf sanctuary in the snow-covered wild. She doesn't pay attention to the full bright moon or this sudden urge to howl at it. She doesn't believe the two gorgeous men claiming to be wolf shifters or that she's of their blood. But when she is snowed in with Mikhail and Christian who are intent on loving her until she howls in her true form, how much more convincing can a woman take?

http://changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=806

Urban Fantasy is Released!

I'm super excited about this one. It really was a kick in the pants and I am really thrilled with how it turned out.

http://changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=741

Oh, and I got a GREAT review from JERR on Urban Myth.

...Give me a book that mixes the paranormal with an ass kicking female and I will be in heaven. Reading Urban Myth provided more than enough of the two and threw in some fantastic erotica. Taina is an independent, self sufficient loner that needed nobody. Having been betrayed, she had decided that the only person she could count on was herself. Rayan took her heart and froze it when he left with no reason and seeing him at the compound was like having it thawed out. The lust was instant, tangible, and there for all to see. Only Rayan was just as affected by her presence. The reasons he left were admirable, however, instead of telling her what was going on, he just left. And men wonder why we women bash them...Anyway, he is just plain and simple HOT. He is a physically fit, sexy specimen of a man, one that I could just jump on and go crazy with. The sexual tension between these two is obvious and I could not wait for them to jump one another. I was NOT disappointed. The sex was blatant, filled with hunger and repression, and it just exploded. They had me squirming and wiggling with my own desire to play, but the desire to read overrode that. Fiona Jayde did a fabulous job with the writing and storytelling aspects of the story, and the editing was just as wonderful. Plenty of action, sex, and emotion made Urban Myth a must read.

Stacey Landers
Just Erotic Romance Reviews

Of Swords and Vampyres

Urban Fantasy is coming along. Not nicely - plenty of twists and bumps in the road, but if I don't have conflict with my characters they would be dull to write.

I never reveal deets before I finish -- but here's a little sneaky visual preview. Its not the official cover but I had fun making it when I was stuck in the middle of the plot. Of course I ripped up half of the said plot (and may again before this thing is done!) but I'm beginning to realize thats part of my creative process.