A handful of historical authors brave the wilds of unusual settings, times, and characters to create distinctive, exciting novels just outside of the mainstream. Join us as we chronicle the trials and rewards of our quest - from research and writing to publication and establishing lasting careers.
Contact Amanda to give her your address. The book must be claimed by next Sunday or another winner will be drawn. Please stop back later to let us know what you thought! Congratulations!
Elizabeth Lane has just signed contracts for two new Harlequin Historicals, the first a 1920 Western, the second set in 1850s California. Congratulations!
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Keta Diablo's LAND OF FALLING STARS, a Civil War erotica novel, was awarded a Top Pick by Night Owl Romance, calling it "a beautiful and haunting love story full of passion, deception, danger and the epic War Between the States...."
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Join us tomorrow when Christy Hubbard, a new pseudonym for historical mystery writer C. C. Harrison, will join us to talk about SAGE CANE'S HOUSE OF GRACE AND FAVOR, set in an Old West Colorado mining town.
Women needed guts to live in the Old West and Sage Cane had an abundance. Finding herself penniless and in debt after the death of her father, then abandoned at the altar by a fortune-hunting scoundrel, she headed for Colorado gold country to take possession of the hotel she inherited from her Aunt Hannah "Honey" Wild. When she arrives, she is shocked to discover the hotel is really a bordello called Wild Mountain Honey Pleasure Palace. She announces her decision to close it down, but meets resistance from sexy Sheriff Bridger Norwood who is convinced it has to remain open in order to keep the peace in the rough and tumble mining town.
But Sage wasn't born to let adversity keep her down or men control her destiny.
It was a town of, by and for men with nothing for women. Not a slip of silk or froth of lace could be found anywhere outside the bordello. While the men mined for gold, drank in the saloons, gambled at the card tables, or visited Wild Mountain Honey, the wives were left behind to scrabble together a home in tents, huts and dugouts. That is, until Sage Cane secretly opened a charm school to teach them how to dress for adornment, whisper into a man's ear, and practice the fine art of seduction.
SAGE CANE'S HOUSE OF GRACE AND FAVOR vividly brings to life the hardships and dangers women faced in the rugged frontier towns that catered to men. Secrets are revealed and secrets are kept, but women did what they had to do to survive in this story of a town forced to rise to the standards of its women.
And stay with us through the coming weeks when we'll be featuring authors who write everything from erotica to inspirational--but all unusual historicals! Blythe Gifford, and Maureen Lang, Jean Adams, and Leanna Renee Hieber will be our guests. We hope you'll join us!
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Have a good weekend! If you have an announcement to make for next week, email Carrie. See you next week...
This week we're welcoming Harlequin Spice author Amanda McIntyre as she talks about her latest erotica historical, TORTURED, set in 500 AD Britannia. Here's a link to the excerpt and trailer, and here's the blurb:
In a time of chaos, darkness, and violence it is better to live only in the moment, lest your memories eat you alive.
A young woman blessed with "sight" seeks vengeance against a tyrannical lord responsible for her mother's murder. Forced to become an executioner's apprentice, she encounters a Roman prisoner who offers her a away to escape her prison and find a future. Torn between desire, duty, and the chance for revenge, her choice to live or die leaves her TORTURED.
"Vivid descriptions and steady rhythm of the story made for one disturbingly touching tale of hope, love and survival. A recommended read for any Medieval lover." ~ BookWyrm Reviews
"Well plotted, with vivid characters and a strong sense of time and place." ~ RT BOOK Reviews
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How did you come up with this idea of a woman executioner?
The idea for TORTURED came out of the blue after reading an obscure bit of historical information that there were only one to two female executioners during the medieval era of Britannia (now England). You have to wonder what type of woman could emotionally and physically handle such a job--or even want to!
But what if…she had no choice?
In making your protagonist--especially your heroine--an executioner, what steps did you take to make her sympathetic?
While it seems perhaps obvious the direction an erotic romance author would go with having a female executioner, I chose a slightly different path and made my heroine the prisoner of a barbaric Saxon ruler who had brutally defeated the last of the Briton kings. Having lost her family, she carries a guilt that she could not protect her mother, who'd been hanged for treason, and her younger brother, who is cast out of the kingdom and left for dead.
She alone is spared because of her gift of "sight." Britannic kings relied heavily on spiritual magic for guidance. But due to her aggressive nature, the king sentences her to a life imprisoned as his executioner's apprentice.
Part of her sentence requires that she look like a boy. The king orders her hair cut and forces her to dresses in breeches, but a few years later, when she comes of age, the king sees the potential of her womanly attributes being a benefit in extracting information from prisoners.
Now your hero is Roman-Celt, yes? How does he figure into the drama in Britannia?
Rumors of rebel armies gathering against the Saxon lord make him paranoid and when a Roman warrior is captured who likely has crucial information about the rebellion, the king orders my heroine to persuade the truth from the resilient warrior.
In the process, she determines that he is the one man who has all the right stuff (as it were) to help her escape this miserable life. She partners with him to plan a grand escape and helps him lay a trap to ambush the Saxon king and his army.
Kept secret however, are the images she "sees" when she touches him...images that give her reason to believe that he holds answers to the past she thought was dead and the promise of her future.
Their journey to freedom is riddled with danger and obstacles that they must overcome and as passion heats up between them, the risks grow greater and their time shorter.
What is next for you? Are you working on another novel?
Yes, my current WIP is called THE MASTER AND THE MUSES, a lush Victorian-set erotic tale of three women, all of whom posed for the same artist. Loosely based on the lives of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, it features Thomas Rodin--icon, rebel, unabashed romantic. With a single look, he is able to convey the ecstasy of creativity and the pleasures awaiting the woman who can fuel his artistry.
Here is a sneak peek at the back cover blurb. I'm savoring the cover art and bow to the gods who work on the Harlequin Spice cover art team!
The Innocent What did this master artist see in me? Genius abided in his soul, rapture in his flesh--I doubted not. To refuse him...my folly. To surrender...my sensual salvation.
The Upstart I chafed at the bonds of servitude until he set me free. I turned my back on all that I knew to follow him and found myself between two men--master and student--one whom I loved with my heart...the other with my body.
The Courtesan I understood, perhaps better than any, his needs. I stoked the fires of his soul, the spark of his creativity--he made me a legend. But never could I forget his searing touch...
Three transcendent tales of women bewitched by a master of seduction--a slave as much to his art as to his boundless passion.
Bestselling, internationally published author Amanda McIntyre has sampled everything from an office career and motherhood to being a newspaper columnist turned fiction writer. She is the author of over two dozen novels, novellas, short stories and anthologies. Her highly sensual and character-driven work covers several genres including paranormal, historical, and contemporary romance, as well as non-fiction. She currently writes historical erotic romance for Harlequin Spice. Her debut novel, DIARY OF COZETTE, was released in October 2008, followed by TORTURED in August 2009 and "Winter Awakening" in the WINTER'S DESIRE anthology in November 2009. You can find all of Amanda's web locations and newsletter subscription at her website.
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If you'd like to enter for a chance to win a copy of TORTURED, please leave a comment or question for Amanda. I'll draw the winner next Sunday. Good luck! And thanks again to Amanda for stopping by today!
Carrie Lofty received the printed ARCs for her January release, SCOUNDREL'S KISS. You know there has to be a contest forthcoming, right? And she also wrote a post for 1st Turning Point about how to make a group blog successful...a blog like this one!
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Join us Sunday when author Amanda McIntyre will be joining us to talk about TORTURED, her sexy erotica romance set in the 500AD Roman Empire ! You can read an excerpt here.
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We'll also draw the winner of Mingmei Yip's PEACH BLOSSOM PAVILION. You still have time to throw your name in the hat, if you haven't done so.
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And stay with us through the coming weeks when we'll be featuring authors who write everything from erotica to inspirational--but all unusual historicals! Christy Hubbard, Blythe Gifford, and Maureen Lang will be our guests. We hope you'll join us!
***
Have a good weekend! If you have an announcement to make for next week, email Carrie. See you next week...
This week we're welcoming Harlequin Spice author Amanda McIntyre as she offers up an excerpt of her delicious erotic historical, TORTURED, set in the Roman Empire of 500 AD. Stop back on Sunday when Amanda will be joining us to answer questions and give away a copy!
In a time of chaos, darkness, and violence it is better to live only in the moment, lest your memories eat you alive.
A young woman blessed with "sight" seeks vengeance against a tyrannical lord responsible for her mother's murder. Forced to become an executioner's apprentice, she encounters a Roman prisoner who offers her a away to escape her prison and find a future. Torn between desire, duty, and the chance for revenge, her choice to live or die leaves her TORTURED.
Saxon Shore A.D. 500
"Dunna ever be afraid, Sierra," her mother's voice whispered in her head. "Fear will be your downfall, as it is mine."
Sierra shoved her body against the dungeon's heavy, wooden door. With the dense smoke from the executioner's chamber still clogging her throat, she breathed deeply of the rain-soaked smell of earth and moss. The clouds above were gray and ominous, covering the sun and offering little hope of warmth in this most unholy of places. Her eyes rose to the hill overlooking the outer wall of the castle. Once occupied by the Romans, the fortress was now home to Britannia's Saxon king, Lord Aeglech. Nine years ago, his tribes had taken over, obliterating all that was once a thriving Britannia. Those who did not accept the new Saxon rule were killed. Those who did became Saxon property. In some ways, Sierra considered herself lucky to be alive. She owed her life to her mother, and to the threat of a Druid curse that her mother left on Lord Aeglech and his guards in the moments just before she was hanged as a traitor.
More than once over the years, Sierra had wished she had not been allowed to live. Or that her mother had not left her with the gift of sight passed down on the maternal side of her family. She had never wanted the gift, seeing the life of servitude it had enslaved her mother to. Untrained, Sierra was not able to summon her sight at will, but over the years, she had managed to use it well enough to stay alive. And if she could stay alive, perhaps she had a chance of one day finding the brother who had been taken from her the night their mother died. If nothing else, living in the Saxon fortress had served to strengthen her in odd ways. No longer did she despise the sight of Lord Aeglech or look upon him as a murderous barbarian. Nor did the cries of anguish from Balrogan's torture chamber--where she grew from a young girl to a woman--make her vomit, any longer.
For nine years, she'd lived in this Saxon hell, clinging to her mother's last words, "Dunna fear." It was her f irst and last thought each day. She had long ago learned to void herself of the things inside of her that could lead to fear. It was all she knew. It was how she survived.
Sierra choked on the cold air that filled her lungs. Blinking the wetness from her eyes, she squinted at the Saxon gallows up on the hill. Placed there for all the village slaves to see, it currently stood empty, gently blowing in the breeze and patiently awaiting its next guest. She absentmindedly touched the lavender wristlet on her arm. Her mother had given it to her once long ago.
"Sierra!"
Careful not to respond too quickly to her birth name, she glanced toward the nearby stable from whence the whisper came. There beneath the eave, with his arm braced above him, stood Cearl--her lord, her savior--the boy who started as friend and who'd now grown to a handsome man. The one and only boy she had ever given herself to. Sierra waited a heartbeat and checked around her before she hurried toward him. She gripped the water bucket as it slapped hard against her thigh, and let it tumble to the ground so she could leap into Cearl's waiting arms.
"'Tis good to see you as well, Mouse." He laughed and clamped his mouth down on hers. She savored his lips, the sharp taste of mead on his tongue, the feel of his arms secure around her. When she was with Cearl, the dark world she lived in faded away, if only for a few moments.
"Is Balrogan expecting you back soon?" he muttered, dropping her to her feet and wrestling with the knotted belt at her waist.
"I have a little time, not much," Sierra replied and turned her head to allow his fervent kisses on her neck. In truth, Sierra did not know what Cearl saw in her. Sentenced to aid the executioner, as his apprentice, she was ordered to keep her hair short and wear men's clothing. It was part of her punishment to have no identity, no gender. Yet Cearl did not seem to mind that she was covered in soot and f ilth.
"Take care when you call my birth name aloud," she reminded him as his fingers fumbled with the leather knots of her belt. "It is dangerous out here. Someone might suspect that you are familiar with me."
"Is it not true that I am?" He grinned and brought his mouth down hard on hers, before refocusing his efforts on his task. "What shall I call you, then? My wench?"
He laughed and grabbed her buttocks through the thin breeches she wore as he pulled her tight against him. Sierra knew they took a great risk. Lord Aeglech's decree for himself and his guards was that no Saxon was to join with a Briton woman. He did not want the bloodline marred by a Celt bastard; if one of his guards disobeyed his rule, the woman would have to be killed. Though Cearl was not a guard, she feared what would happen to them if they were found out. "Your wench would imply that I serve only you," she teased.
He stopped, his hands pressing into her upper arms as he studied her face. "Another is pleasing you, then?"
She cupped his unshaven jaw. Cearl was such an innocent. Though his body was that of a man, he often thought like a young boy. "Nay, Cearl, only you do that."
"All right then, let it remain so."
He gave her a smile before he captured her mouth. She knew the routine well, and she accepted the rough manner of his tongue delving between her lips. Sierra's breasts tingled beneath her bindings, and she longed to remove them so she could again feel Cearl's hands on her
naked f lesh, but today there was not enough time. She felt safe around him. In all the years of her imprisonment, she had never had reason to fear him. Cearl had not the rules of the other men in her life. He had no need to dominate, perhaps because his place in life was to serve those of higher rank. He was the handsome son of a Saxon villager and helped in the kitchen, in addition to crafting the drums the Saxons used in battle. His hair was a mass of golden curls, the color of the summer sun, and his blue eyes danced with mischief when he was aroused. His smile was the only bright spot in Sierra's dreary existence.
Elizabeth Lane has just signed contracts for two new Harlequin Historicals, the first a 1920 Western, the second set in 1850s California. Congratulations!
Join us tomorrow when Christy Hubbard, a new pseudonym for historical mystery writer C. C. Harrison, will join us to talk about SAGE CANE'S HOUSE OF GRACE AND FAVOR, set in an Old West Colorado mining town. 
We'll also draw the winner of Amanda McIntyre's TORTURED. You still have time to throw your name in the hat, if you haven't done so.
Bestselling, internationally published author Amanda McIntyre has sampled everything from an office career and motherhood to being a newspaper columnist turned fiction writer. She is the author of over two dozen novels, novellas, short stories and anthologies. Her highly sensual and character-driven work covers several genres including paranormal, historical, and contemporary romance, as well as non-fiction. 
She currently writes historical erotic romance for Harlequin Spice. Her debut novel, DIARY OF COZETTE, was released in October 2008, followed by TORTURED in August 2009 and "Winter Awakening" in the WINTER'S DESIRE anthology in November 2009. You can find all of Amanda's web locations and newsletter subscription at her website.
We'll also draw the winner of Mingmei Yip's PEACH BLOSSOM PAVILION. You still have time to throw your name in the hat, if you haven't done so.