Sorry y’all, it’s been awhile, hasn’t it? Since we last spoke here on the blog, Christmas has come and gone, and so has New Years Day! It’s 2012 now, and I have a few things up my sleeve for this year. Unfortunately, my other pen names will keep me just as busy, so you might not see as much from me in ’12 that you did in ’11. But I hope you’ll keep coming back for more, because I still have a lot to give!

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So let’s start off the year right with a hella hot cowboy. He can yee my haw anytime.

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Elise is talking about something I love very much…holiday themed books! Let’s hear what she has to say…

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Today I’m talking mood lifting holiday romance. Tis the season for mistletoe, covert, dark corner kisses, and a yearning that forces two people together come ruin or rapture. All the hallmarks of a good romance—or anything dramatic for that matter. Here are my Top Five holiday reads for the year in no particular order:

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1.Little Women—Okay, so this is far from classic romance, I don’t even know if it classifies as romance so much as a coming of age story, but damn it, I love it. And I love reading it every year around this time. Most of the time I even break out the movie.

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2. A Man for All Seasons by Heather Macallister—Not only is this a friend’s to lover’s classic, but it’s my favorite HQ Blaze that I’ve ever read and I’ve read a lot of them. I could read this book every other month it’s so good. It gets me in the spirit every single time.

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3. The Christmas Box Collection by Richard Paul Evans—This one is a tearjerker, first time I read it was when I was about 13 and it still makes me ball like a little girl.

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4. It Happened One Christmas by Leslie Kelly—Who doesn’t love a quirky Christmas party stories with a hot happily ever after? I’m a sucker for a drunk co-worker and creepy Santa ties.

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5. Naughty or Nice? By Sherrilyn Kenyon—This anthology has a little bit of everything, not to mention that geek stories make me so happy!

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Thanks for sharing, now you’ve got me wanting to go back and re-read Little Women again. For the millionth time! Here’s a little info for our readers on Elise’s brand new release, Not So Pure! And while you’re checking that out, why don’t you tell us what YOUR favorite holiday read is?

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White runs from her prison of a past and enters into a sexual deal with seven men that alters the course of her life for eternity. Caught between her need to take control and making up for her serious lack of good sex, she enters a wonderland of kinky possibilities with men who show her that Prince Charmings come in all shapes and sizes. For White and her men—once upon a time doesn’t cut it—three or four times sound just about right.

 

With each partner—not always one at a time—White beats back her trust issues. But the shadow of her past comes back to haunt them all. Now she must introduce them to her personal battle, hoping they’ll fight beside her as their sinful nights turn into hellish days. Happily ever after isn’t by the books anymore.

 

Excerpt:

Links:

Website

Goodreads

Facebook

Blog

 

Today was the first day for learning. In the morning, I attended a workshop on cowboys, given by a few EC authors who write western romances. We talked as a group about what made cowboys so freaking sexy, and what we’d love to see more of with western romances.

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Then came one of the workshops I was really super looking forward to…burlesque dance class! A woman came in to show us a few moves we could try out to make our significant others wild. How to put a little extra pop in your step, swivel in your hip, arch in your pose. She was funny and energetic and made us laugh. And made us move! We got up and worked it along with her. Burlesque class was absolutely not a spectator sport. My heels couldn’t keep up…I had to take them off and work it that way.

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In the afternoon, after lunch (which was not provided…I had snacks in my hotel room and rested) I attended a workshop called 31 Flavors of Sex. It covered the different kinds of sex and positions you find in erotic romance, why readers like them, and what they want more of. Very informative as a writer.

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And the last workshop of the day was a BDSM workshop. We watched a flogging, got to ask questions, and just had a nice open panel. Questions were asked about BDSM clubs, introducing a reluctant spouse/partner to the lifestyle, toys/equipment, safety tips, and more.

 

This was also a casual day, I wore jeans and a decent top. I carried a sweater with me, luckily, because some rooms were freezing and some were pretty warm. Just the way it works with hotels.

 

And then came the party at night. The theme for Friday night’s party was the past…aka the caveman era. Saw a lot of animal prints, a lot of fur (fake!) and some other interesting elements. I’m not a costume person, and don’t worry! I’m not alone in that, and it wasn’t at all weird to not be dressed up. My jeans and nicer top fit in just fine, no problems. We ate dinner, we drank, we listened to the opening speeches, we watched the Cavemen dance (yes, dance…they had little performances for us!) and then we broke it down on the dance floor. The party ended around midnight, but I know people hung out at the bar and in each other’s rooms for long after that. I was exhausted, so I headed back to my own room to get a good night’s sleep.

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Below are a few more pictures of the evening, captions included. Come back again for another round of Romanticon wrap-up!

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Thursday’s Rundown

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This was a day for checking in, getting settled, meeting up with people and the meet and greet.

First off, let’s discuss the gift bag. We were given a bag that included cotton candy (num!), some books, our name badge, a yummy calendar, the conference book (which had notes for the workshops, space for autographs and a place to keep track of awards. Oh, and also a keychain that said “I got BONED at Romanticon 2011” … but the cool thing is that it popped out and had a condom!

I set up my baskets that had my promo items in it. There were tables set up where the workshops were located and you could drop off your promo for convention-goers to browse throughout the conference and pick out what they wanted. I loved looking through the offerings, seeing what other authors had to show off. My promo included military-themed rubber ducksies and also pocket tissue packs. One fun, one practical.

Then was the meet & greet for the night. Ellora’s Cave had their own wine as “favors” with EC labels on them. The cavemen mingled, I got to meet one of my favorite EC authors (Mari Carr…such a sweetie!) and it was a good intro to the entire event. Also, this was the night I met my editor, Grace Bradley. It’s funny how you can work with someone for over a year and not even know what their voice sounds like. But Grace was as awesome in person as she has been online. If you don’t follow her on Twitter…you should! @GraceBradley

Overall, Thursday evening was a great opportunity to meet up with people I had talked to on Twitter or on author loops, check out the caveman man candy, and get used to the surroundings. It was a casual event (I wore jeans, flip flops and a simple tee).

Check back in the next day or so for another installment of Romanticon 2011, and how it went!

 

Today is my one-year anniversary of being a published author. On November 5th, 2010, Songbirds was released by Ellora’s Cave. A huge day for me, as a writer. I still remember the anticipation. The countdown in my mind. The confusion. The horror. The absolute bliss the minute the book went live on the website.

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I want to relive it. Sort of. So I’m doing a day-long giveaway. I’m doing little bursts of gift giving on Twitter, so if you have a Twitter account, go ahead and follow me! @authorKJReed. But I’m doing a full day* long giveaway here, if you don’t have Twitter, so don’t worry! All you need is an email address for where to contact you, and that’s all.

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I’m going to give away my first paperback, Come Together.* It’s like three books in one, since it has my three novellas of the Come Together series. Just comment here about you own favorite anniversary. Is it your wedding anniversary? The anniversary of your own birth (aka your birthday)? The day you started some amazing journey in your life? Let me know, and you might win a signed copy of my Come Together paperback!

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And remember, follow @authorKJReed for ebook giveaways throughout the day!

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* Contest on blog ends 11:59 EST.

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** Should an international poster should win, I will send them all three ebook novellas that comprise the paperback. I apologize, but the international shipping would kill me! (Darn not having the ability to send things mentally…)

Today, my first of five Dirty Bits releases. Dirty Bits are erotic short stories from the erotic line at Turquoise Morning Press…Sapphire Night Books. Last week I posted an excerpt. I really think this is a fun little mini-series that is easy to read on a lunch break or while you’re waiting in line at the DMV or in the carpool lane. Here’s the blurb and the buy links!

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Following an impulse, Charlotte shows up on base with a surprise to rock her husband’s world. After a long seven months, this deployment is about to end with a slam-bang homecoming. Right. Now.

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Buy Now: Amazon :: Barnes & Noble :: Smashwords

All Romance eBooks :: BookStrand

Turquoise Morning Press

An excerpt from my Dirty Bits short erotic story, The Heels Made Me

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The people parted, just enough for him to catch a glimpse of Charlotte. Standing so far back, her body language almost uncertain. Timid. Shrinking back into the shadow of the building instead of running to him, arms wide open. What the hell? She had to know he was here. The busses were already pulling away. So why didn’t she come racing at him? He lugged his bags a little ways, farther from the activity. When he knew that he was out of everyone’s way, he dropped the luggage to the ground and walked over to her. His boots thudded on the grass, then across the cement as he crossed the sidewalk and around to the back of the battalion building.

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   Still, she didn’t move toward him. Just stood, expectantly. Beautiful eyes darting back and forth.

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   Her hair was down, curled like he always liked. She wore a light trench coat, thin looking. And must be wearing a short skirt because nothing showed under the jacket’s hem except an excellent pair of legs ending in the mother of all sexy heels. Red. His favorite color. Damn, that was unbelievably erotic.

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   ”Babe, why’re you all the way back here?”

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She smiled and reached for his hand. He gave her his, not sure what else to do. Then she tugged until they popped into the side door. She was running now, almost at a sprint–or what would be a sprint in those heels–down the empty hallway. It was a Saturday, and everyone was heading home with their loved ones. Nobody would be there but the Marines on duty, and they were on the other side of the building in the duty office.

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“Char, what the hell are you doing? My shit’s out there.”

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“Everyone’s busy. Nobody will touch it,” she called back and ducked into a dark room. When he followed her in, she shut the door and turned the lock.

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He whirled on her. “First, you don’t even bother coming up to greet me at the bus, then you barely talk to me. Shit, Char, can I even have a hug?”

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She smiled again, red lips glistening like she’d just swiped her tongue over them. “How about one better?” Slowly her fingers started working down the buttons of her coat. One after another popped open to reveal smooth, creamy skin, unntil she hit a lacy black bra.

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She wasn’t wearing a shirt?

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But she wasn’t done yet. Removing the sash around the waist, she undid the last few buttons of the jacket to show the only other thing on under that was a pair of matching black lace panties, and nothing else.

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“Do you want a hug, Jeff? Because, personally, I’d rather you fuck me. Now.”

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The Heels Made Me. On sale October 31, 2011 from Sapphire Nights Books. Available wherever ebooks are sold.

I’m having the theme song from Carmen San Diego playing in my head now. Can you just picture me slinking around in a trench coat and huge sunglasses? Yeah. That’s me. Anyway… This week Ju Dimello interviewed me for her blog! And as a special treat, I’m giving away a signed copy of my paperback, Come Together, to one lucky commenter. So head over there and check it out.

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And naturally, I’m blogging this week at Passionate Reads. This one came with a little sarcasm and zombie flavor. Wait, zombies? Yeah. I’m actually talking about zombies. me. The one who hates scary movies. But it’s cool, cause it’s not focused on that. Don’t let that freak you out!

As I prepare for RomantiCon (picking out outfits, packing, gathering my promo items) I am getting more and more excited. To the point where I went ahead and created a video of what I was looking forward to from the conference! See below for the video.

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Also, this is the reminder that I will be blogging about the conference. I should split each day up to a new blog post. So if you are curious what goes on during a RomantiCon…check back next weekend to find out!

Now…for the infamous video…

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That’s right, I’m cheap! (Hmm. That doesn’t sound right…oh well. Moving on!) For those of you who are interested in my books, but you didn’t want to pay the higher price at your favorite vendors like Amazon or Barnes & Noble, the wait is over! Ellora’s Cave has dropped the third party price of most of their books, and that includes mine! Of course, my books are still available directly from Ellora’s Cave’s website. But you can go ahead and check out my books at their new prices here:

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Amazon :: Barnes & Noble :: Sony :: All Romance eBooks