In the holiday spirit

It's actually beginning to feel festive around my house these days. Last year, we visited family overseas so there was no decorating done at home. This year, we're here, so I put away the autumnal decorations and pulled out some of the ol' red-and-green. We even got a tree yesterday, which we haven't done in about four years. I LOVE IT! Pretty multi-coloured lights and a moose puppet as a topper. (Hey, you have your traditions, and I have mine.) I plan to get more accoutrements out later today to continue festive-ing up the place. :-D

And since it is almost Solstice, I think you should go check out my old holiday freebie short story with Jimothy and Ricky (stars of my first novel The Ballad of Jimothy Redwing). It's called Wand'ring Home and if you click that title, it'll take you straight to the pdf. (Ignore the cover art. It's fine, but it's generic, and the only thing it has to do with the story is that boys kiss each other. I've been so busy I've not gotten around to updating it.)

Happy Holidays!

False Dawn Re-release

Good news! I re-released my space opera novella False Dawn this past weekend! I'm quite proud of the cover I put together. I loved the original one so much that I did my best to honour the original image. I hope you like it!

Here's an excerpt, too, and it's not the one I usually use for this book. It's a bit steamier than that. ;-)

***

"Hi!" Galen barely got the greeting out before Dayan was through the doorway and on him.

Dayan grasped him by his broad shoulders and pulled him into a searing kiss. Startled but willing, Galen opened his mouth to Dayan's searching tongue, and Dayan took full advantage. He swept his tongue along Galen's teeth and tickled the roof of Galen’s mouth, reveling in the taste and feeling, the warmth and the wetness.

When at last they came up for breath, both men were panting. Galen's brown eyes were nearly all pupil, and Dayan was more than ready to fall into them. He'd waited all damned day to show his lover just how proud he was of that promotion.

"Congratulations, Detective," he said, his voice a husky purr of desire.

"I take it you don't want to go out to celebrate." Galen's expression and tone were wry.

Dayan returned the look with a lascivious, one-sided grin. "What do you think?" He pressed his hard, aching cock against Galen's thigh, just below the hip joint, and rolled a little from one side to the other. Galen groaned and leaned in for another devouring kiss. Dayan happily obliged.

Again, they only parted when they had to stop for air. Gasping, Galen smiled broadly. Dayan loved that wide mouth, those straight, white teeth, and dove in for more before either of them properly caught their breath. His head felt light, but whether from lack of oxygen or overload of lust, he didn't know. Didn't care.

Dayan pushed against his lover until they were brought up short by the couch that stood against the outer bulkhead. Dayan released him again and gave him enough of a shove that Galen lost his balance and sat heavily. Without a pause, Dayan straddled him where he sat and began to undo the buttons on his new dress shirt--as much an indication of his new rank as the badge that glinted at Dayan from his belt.

The release of each button was followed by a kiss, a nip, a bite, of Galen's dark, smooth, muscled chest. When Dayan reached the waistband of Galen's tailored black trousers, he tugged the shirt tails up and out, found the last button, and, bent double over his lover's lap, placed a kiss over Galen's navel. He alternately circled it with the tip of his tongue, flicking at the little indentation, and sucked a mouthful of flesh around it. Galen squirmed and shook, just as Dayan knew he would.

Dayan sat up straight, one hand on the clasp of Galen's belt, the other fondling his lover's balls through the taut fabric of his slacks. The outline of his erection was hard pressed just to the left of the fly, but Dayan held off from grasping it. He's been anticipating this all day; he had to take a little revenge and make his lover wait a bit, too.

He leaned in and whispered in Galen's ear. "Is there anything you particularly want tonight?" A gentle squeeze on his sac that made Galen gasp and groan.

"Any...requests?" A tender nibble at the shell of his ear. "Or do you trust me..." Nip. "...to make you..." Nuzzle. "...scream?"

Galen's breath came in short gasps, and Dayan knew he had him. They'd played this game many times, and Galen had never once turned down that particular offer. He looked up into Dayan's gaze and grinned, equal parts defiance and fervor.

"Dare you."

***

You can buy it now from Amazon or for your B&N Nook!

Client Privileges now for NOOK!

For those of you who are on Nook from Barnes & Noble, I have good news. My re-release of Client Privileges is now available for you! Just follow the link below to buy your copy today!

Client Privileges by Maia Strong - now on Nook!

And for those of you who want to know a little more about the book before you buy it. You can read an excerpt over on my website. One warning: You might not want to read it at work. I wouldn't want you to get into trouble. ;->

Client Privileges Excerpt

Go forth, read, and buy! Then read some more!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Podcast update

For anyone who was waiting for the podcast I was on to become available on iTunes: It has! Go download it for free, and subscribe so you don't miss out on future episodes. These guys are a riot! I hope they let me come hang out with them again sometime. :-D

Here's the iTunes link.

Don't wait! Download today!

Podcast fun!

Hey there, hey there! I am pleased to announce that the podcast I participated in last weekend is now available! I am quite chuffed to have been the first guest ever on Black and a Half. :-D I hope you'll give it a listen. I think I acquitted myself reasonably well with these two smart, clever, and funny gents. You'll have to be the judge of that. Here's the link. I'll be sure to post when it is also available on iTunes.

I hope they let me come back sometime. It was fun and the guys were great hosts!

Peeking out from under the covers

I'm spending as little time as possible online today. I'm also avoiding any television more taxing than Disney Channel. I hate election season, and this year I fear election day. I haven't been this scared since '88, and that year I watched "Apocalypse Now" because it was less frightening than watching election returns. I do not want to have to bust out my "America is scary." t-shirt tomorrow, but I will if I have to. It's been in figurative mothballs for four years, and I'd like to keep it that way, thanks. If you're in the US, for the love of freedom, GO VOTE! NOW!

Countdown to Halloween

Halloween is by far my favourite holiday. I mean, okay, yes, I'm an actor and, therefore, I get to dress up in costumes a lot. But it's not the same as Halloween! Halloween is the day when everyone gets to be whoever they want to be for (at least) one day. How fun is that? We can be so mired in the day-to-day, wake-work-sleep routine that the opportunity for such blatant frivolity and living fiction is almost necessary to keep a mind sane. ... Or is that just my mind? ;-)

My costume is essentially done already. Of course, I chose not to pull from my stock this year. (What? Doesn't everyone have a personal stock of costumes?) I just had to build a new one. *rollseyes* Fortunately this one wasn't too tough and a friend of mine generously came over to help. It looks pretty damned cool, if I say so myself. I'm just waiting on the one item I had to order, and I'll be good to go! Good thing, too, since I have two parties to attend this weekend. (Making up for not going to any for the past several years.) If I get a good picture, I'll post it to Facebook.

I love October!

October? You're sure about that?

There are only two clues to the fact that it is October in the Pacific Northwest.

1) No more baseball. (Playoffs only count when one's team is involved. It's been a long time since mine was involved.)
2) My car, house, and person are being bombarded by horse chestnuts.

Cliff Mass promises rain (FINALLY) late this week. I sure hope so. We need it to wash the air clean and wash the stupid out of the people. I wouldn't complain about the sun and the warmth if only we'd had any precipitation in the past eight weeks. Honestly, it's getting hard to think or focus. When I say "wash the stupid out of people," I am including myself.

Still, October, whatever the weather, means it's nearly Halloween, and this is good!

But still... Rain? Please?

Guest blogging with the Nine Naughty Novelists

Hey there! It's Foodie Friday today and I have a recipe posted over at the triple-N blog. It's my own creation: Molasses Ginger Scones! Check it out! Plus, Kinsey Holley has a recipe for Emeril's Crawfish Pie. It's making my hungry just looking at the ingredients list! Is it lunch time yet? ;-D

NOW Available!

That's right. We have a link! Client Privileges is now available for purchase! Just click that link and you'll be whisked to amazon.com. Enjoy the ride! ;-)

Almost Available!

I know, I know. That's not nearly as exciting as "Now Available!", but I'll take it! Client Privileges will very shortly be available again from Amazon Kindle! Here's a little reminder of what this book is about:

On the surface, Jonas Vaneau's life is ordinary: days working at the law courts; evenings relaxing at home with his cat; and countless Sabbath dinners with his parents and an endless string of potential brides. But his routine life cannot provide what he most desires--at least not as long as he must continue to pretend to be the person his overbearing parents want him to be.

An unusual encounter with a seemingly ordinary brothel client causes Micah Hartshorn considerable consternation. When Jonas inexplicably bursts past his emotional defenses, Micah finds himself involved in a drama that is far beyond anything for which his professional skills have prepared him.

Their mutual attraction grows with each encounter, but, foreseeing too many obstacles, both hide their true feelings. Jonas must face his parents before he can find happiness. Micah cannot imagine that Jonas could love him and at the same time accept his profession. As the men grow closer, all personal problems are swept up in political unrest when new laws threaten both men's livelihoods. When even greater troubles send Jonas's world spinning beyond his control, it's up to Micah to save him from his downward spiral--if he can.

 **

I can't tell you how excited I am to have this book back out in the wild after a year of hibernation. Now it's just that last (hopefully short) wait for it to go live on amazon.com. I'll be back to post a link as soon as I have one.  In the meantime, I'm happy dancing! Whee!

It's official!

We have achieved cover art! And I do me "we". I'd have been lost without the help of my Photoshop wizard friend, S. Thanks, lady!

Okay, here it comes. [insert drum roll here]

Whee!

My goal is to re-release the book later this month, so watch this space for more news and announcements!

Rerelease cover art!

I'm working hard to get my novel, Client Privileges, back on the ebookshelves. Towards that end, I've been working on new cover art with a friend of mine. Here's what we have so far.

I'm no graphic artist, but I think it's pretty. What do you think?

Okay. Back to the grind. I'm re-reading the manuscript since it's been a while and I want it to be perfect for everyone. Such a rough life. ;-)

Little Free Libraries

There's an article in today's local paper about Little Free Libraries. I have a vague memory of this from I don't know when, but I can't say I really knew about them before. They are just what you'd think: little libraries where people can take a book for free. I love this idea! I want to build one and put it in front of my house! (Of course I would learn about this after I sold off and donated a metric buttload of books, but c'est la vie.) You see, I have a confession to make. I prefer print books to ebooks. *ducks and hides* I know, I know. It's silly, given my profession, but I can't help it. You know Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer? When Jenny asks him why he still researches in old books instead of by computer? The conversation goes something like this:

Giles: "It's the smell."
Jenny: "Computers don't smell."
Giles: "I know."

Mass-market, trade-paper, hardcover, new, old, worn, mint. I love me a BOOK. So I'm putting this on my project list. I don't know that I'll get it done any time soon, but I think I need to build a library. :-)

Little Free Libraries pop up in Puget Sound area

New Interview

My interview with Top 2 Bottom Reviews is up! You can check it out here: Top2BottomReviews.

The results are in

The Torquere Press social media contest is concluded. Now I just have to figure out how to contact my winner. Sadly, there's only one free copy of Rose & Thorn going out. I was overly ambitious in my goal of 100 Facebook "likes". Still, it's good to see new people!

Win free ebooks!

There's a social media contest being hosted by Torquere Press on both Facebook and Twitter. Go over and "like" their FB page and then check out "Recent Posts by Others". You'll find posts from Torquere authors there about their latest releases and other titles. (I'd give you the Twitter feed/hashtag/thingamajig, but I don't tweet so I don't know it. I'm sure any tweeters out there can figure it out.) Now here's the best part: there are free ebooks to be won! I quote the Torquere page, "Make sure you are checking the Recent Posts by Others box for posts from your favorite authors about book giveaways. You must like and/or comment on their post to be entered to win." It's that simple. I'll be giving away a copy of my latest, Rose & Thorn, through the contest. AND, if my own FB page, Maia Strong, Author (which I am admittedly dismal about promoting) reaches 100 likes by the end of the contest, I'll give away a second copy. The contest runs through the 15th of this month and lots of authors will be participating. Stop on by and check it out!

ETA: Link to my FB corrected.

x-posted from Slash & Burn

There's a contest a-coming!

Facebook

Reading is FUNdamental!

I was lucky enough to have a mom who read to my brother and me when we were little. It sparked my love of books and reading at a very young age. Every kid should be so lucky!

Birthday Traditions

It's my birthday today! In that vein, I'm looking for birthday traditions people celebrate. For example, my dad, for decades, always gave me flowers on my birthday. Another example, family friends whose tradition was for the birthday person to cut the first piece of cake for him or herself from whatever part of the cake and in whatever shape he or she wanted.

So what are the birthday traditions in your family? Or how about one you've heard about that you'd like to try yourself?

What makes you stop reading?

This question occurred to me yesterday evening when I closed a book about 200 pages (not quite half way) in and said, "I'm done." This morning, I decided I would skim ahead a little to see if what irritated me enough to stop reading the book would be swiftly rectified and the plot advanced in a non-irritating direction, but yesterday I was ready to put it down and never pick it up again. I realized, too, that what pissed me off so much this time was the same thing that had pissed me off a while back in another book that I put down and have never picked up since: a broken promise. I don't mean something trivial like "I know I promised to leave you the last piece of cheesecake, but I ate it anyway". I mean a heavy-duty promise that is part of the foundation of the story being told. In the previous case, it was a promise one MC made to himself. He did that, and I said, "You suck. You're an idiot. Why should I read about you any more? I'm done." (Of course, I didn't like the other MC anyway, so it was that much easier to walk away.) In this case, it was a promise between the two MCs, and one is trying to be noble and clever and protective by breaking it. Uh...no. Stupid and intolerable, IMO. I had no idea broken promises bugged me so much, but there does seem to be a pattern emerging, doesn't there.


So I'm curious. When a book is well-written and the genre/subject is one you generally enjoy, what makes you stop and put a book down and say, "I'm not reading you any more."? Or do you soldier through, trusting that the author will correct the issue?

I Want To Know What It's Like

I hope to have the chance to see the full documentary.

RIP, Davy

I am very saddened by this.

Davy Jones, Monkees Heartthrob, Dies at 66