Merry Christmas!
It’s July and the heat index must be over 100. My daughter is sun burnt from our visit to the pool a couple days ago. My AC bill’s going to be sky high next month.
But the Christmas movies are coming out of storage and I’ll begin writing Christmas stories and doing Christmas shopping and celebrating Christmas in July.
The Romance Readers and Writers are having a big Christmas in July celebration and contest. In conjunction, I will be giving away a copy of my new book “Carnal Lust”, an erotic historical vampire romance published by Total-E-Bound at www.total-e-bound.com
To win a copy, please leave a comment on my blog that you would like to be entered to win "Carnal Lust". To get additional entries, let me know you're a follower, retweet my contest on Twitter, or leave a reader review of one of my books on Amazon (and tell me of course so I can find it). I'll award an additional entry for each thing (as long as you let me know).
I'll award two pdf copies of the book July 31, 2010.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Christmas in July - celebration and contests
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Contest: Win a pdf download of "Bad Conduct"
To win a pdf file of "Bad Conduct" leave a comment for me on my blog, tweet about my contest, follow me on Twitter or this blog, join my newsletter, or all of the above. Leave a comment on my blog before midnight Sunday April 18, 2010 letting me know which one(s) you've done. You'll receive an entry for each.
http://www.ashleyladd.blogspot.com/
www.twitter.com/ashleyladd
(Ashley's newsletter) http://bit.ly/cxthFh
Ashley
Bad Conduct - blurb
When Captain Ty Gibson comes home from a tour of duty in Iraq to marry Bianca, their sometimes third lover Brendan stirs up a mess of trouble.
Captain Ty Gibson has made up his mind. He loves Bianca and he's going to marry her. But when he comes home from his tour of duty in Iraq, their sometimes third lover Brendan fights for Ty. Although Bianca once enjoyed their occasional ménages, she's ready to settle down with just one man and wants that one man to settle down with just her.
Brendan's troublemaking jeopardises everything in Ty's life – his future with Bianca and his military career.
Reader Advisory: This book is best read in sequence. It is the sequel to “The Perfect Gift”. It also stands alone. Although this story is about two men and a woman, it does not have a ménage scene in the story.
Recent posts you might like to read:
Author Interview: Marcia James
Author Interview: Elaine Hopper
Weathering A Bad Review
What Do You Want in a Romance Hero & What Do You Want in a Real Life Husband?
Rejection: Where Do You Go Next?
Procrastination
Cliche or Coincidence?
Incognito: free short story
Dedicating Books
You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
To enter contests or not to enter contests
I entered the Eppies last evening. For those of you that read this post and aren’t familiar with the Eppies, it's a prestigious e-book contest held annually and sponsored by Epic, a writer’s group for electronically published authors.
Thus, there’s a lot of talk in my world right now about this.
I haven’t entered every year because either I didn’t have the money or because I didn’t feel I had a book worthy enough to win.
Back in 2004 my book “American Beauty” finaled in the Eppies. It’s been my best seller and still continues to sell at
I don’t know if it’s because it has the Eppie logo identifying it as a finalist or because it’s a good book, which is why it finaled. I suspect some of each.
On one of my author email loops, some authors are questioning if entering contests helps or if they’re a waste of money. In the case of the Eppies, fellow authors judge and no critiques or other feed back is given. A certificate and a trophy are presented at the Eppie awards at the annual conference.
So are contests worth entering? Is it worth the time and the fees, the nail biting and the dashed hopes if we don’t win or at least final?
I think so. Like I mentioned above, my book that finaled has done well. It was also very nice to be honored. After this I also received offers from other publishers to submit my future work.
Other authors I know who entered other contests where agents and publishers were the final judges landed book contracts or agents that later led to big book contracts. It doesn’t always happen even if you win first place, but sometimes.
I have a good friend who recently won first place in a contest with a wonderful book. She 
says that the publisher or editor that was the final judge wasn’t at all interested in looking at her book for a possible publishing contract. Thus she’s soured against contests.
You never know.
I look at contests as further exposure. As long as the contest is run fairly, which most are, and hurtful, unhelpful comments aren’t allowed to be made in the feedback (that happened to me once), I think they’re useful.
That said, I can’t afford to enter many. Now that I’m published, there aren’t as many contests that I’m eligible to enter.
But I entered one book this year: my latest release, “Heart and Soul”. I think it’s a contender. I also know the competition is stiff, stiffer even than in 2004 as more people enter every year.
But it’s worth a shot. Hopefully next year I’ll enter more than one book. We’ll see.
Good luck to everyone who’s entered in a contest, my competitors included.
What’s your opinion about contests? Are they worth the money, time and effort, and the possible heart ache of losing?
You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)Sunday, July 20, 2008
Blog comments
I just received an email from a friend who said " I would have posted a comment, but I understand that you don’t do comments any more." Um... I don't get it. I not only "allow" comments, I love comments. In fact, whenever I can, I sign on to see how many comments I have. Does that mean I have an addictive nature? I also like to check my publisher's Top Ten Best Seller List a gazillion times a day and Fictionwise.com rankings and anywhere else I can find rankings. I'm going crazy that TEB hasn't put back up their top seller list. Definitely leave me comments. I LOVE comments! Isn't comments what make blogs so wonderful? That we can interact, share ideas, make friends, get to know one another, and learn new things? I've learned so much from blogs. I've made new friends by blogging. I've also gained weight by blogging when I should have been exercising... Oh well... This particular friend doesn't have a blogger profile so he used to comment as "anonymous". Has blogger stopped allowing "anonymous" comments? I wonder if that's what he means??? So, y'all, leave me many many comments. Talk to me! I'm grateful to all of you who do. Believe me, so often you make my day. I know this month I've been sporadic answering as first I was on vacation for a couple weeks and then my computer fritzed out (I'm still begging to borrow the daughters' computer and so have to share and can't spend hours upon hours on it like I'm used to), but soon as my computer's back, I'll be more regular - blogging and commenting that is. :) If you see regular blog posts from me and so are sitting there thinking, this is baloney - the part about me not commenting - it's because I'm using the nifty little feature to preschedule my posts. I'm actually writing "Sunday's" post on Saturday. I'm going to try to post for the rest of the week this weekend. I know it will be another gruelling, brutal week at the day job, and I probably won't get home again till 8 or 9 pm every night, and I won't feel like doing anything except grabbing dinner and falling into bed. Plus, the girls look so woebegone when I ask to borrow their computer. As it is, they fight with each other over sharing it. I know, they're so deprived having only one computer between two people. Poor things. And now they have to share it three ways. Don't forget! My newest book "Liquid Heat" in TEB's sizzling summer Heat Wave series will be released this Monday July 21st (TOMORROW!!!!) at www.total-e-bound.com If you like M/M romance or just plain hot stuff, don't miss it. I really enjoyed writing it and re-reading it. There will be several other Heat Wave stories releasing also tomorrow at TEB. So if you're in a summery mood or you're in the Southern Hemisphere and want to warm up and pretend you're in summer, run, don't walk to TEB to check out these gems. Also, I think Amarinda's and Anny's contest is still going on so run over to their blogs and find out how to enter. That's Amarinda Jones and Anny Cook.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Thirteen Thursday edition 12:
|
1.... Vanilla French Chew - I used to eat these while in summer camp as a kid. I'd not seen them in years and then Cracker Barrel started carryng them so I was so very happy. Chocolate French Chews are pretty good, but not nearly as awesome as the vanilla. Usually, I like chocolate more than vanilla, so I'm surprised. 2.... Strawberry Starbursts - Cherry and orange Starbursts are okay, but what I really love are the strawberry. Maybe it's a good thing they don't sell only bags of strawberry Starbursts alone or I'd each way too many. 3.... Milky Way bars - they're the best frozen on a hot day. I used to love to eat them while drinking an ice cold Mountain Dew during a day of waterskiing on the Ohio River with Dad. 4.... Strawberry Twizzlers - It's too easy to eat the whole bag, so even though they're a fat free candy, they're dangerous. 5.... Milk Duds - this is my favorite movie candy. Twizzlers come in second place. 6.... Carmello Bars - I love milk chocolate and caramel. These aare the best. 7.... Nestle Crunch Bars 8.... Tootsie Roll Pops (cherry, chocolate, and grape) - These only cost one Weight Watcher point each and they're so very tasty and long lasting that I love these. I can eat these without feeling guilty. You'll see me at the daughter's ball field sucking on these almost every game. Then I'm not as tempted to order a hot dog with big greasy fries. 9.... Fudge - Christmas fudge is the best. 10....Plain Chocolate M&M's - Only plain chocolate, never peanut M&Ms. I'm not a nut lover. 11....Chocolate covered carmels - Reisins but in particular Graters' of Cincinnati. I mentioned above I love milk chocolate and carmels and I particularly love the combination. 12...Chocolate Easter Bunnies 13...Hershey's Kisses So there's the list of my favorites. What are yours? |
Wait! There's more today.
Be the envy of all with two hand made hair piks to adorn your locks. But wait – there’s even more! How about munching on a delicious care pack of Aussie treats? One lucky reader will win all of this. How do you win this fantastic prize? Go to http://www.annycook.com/ andhttp://www.amarindajones.com/ and answer an easy question - If trapped on a deserted island what two things could Anny and Amarinda not live without? The answers can be found on the websites. As soon as you have them email amarinda_jones@yahoo.com.au with your answers – there will be 4 in all. The contest starts 18th July and closes midnight 23rd July 2008 (USA EST). The first correct entry drawn at random will win the prize.
Don't forget my new book "Liquid Heat" which is one of TEB's sizzling summer Heat Wave stories comes out Monday July 21st.
Joshua Daly never dreamed he’d fall in love with a man, but when he’s stranded in a nudist colony, it's the super sexy Paul Norris that he wants.When Joshua Daly wrecks in Georgia, aka Hillbilly Hell, he’s put up by his rescuer, Paul, while his car’s being repaired—in a nudist colony. He thought he’d be turned on by all the heavenly female bodies, but to his surprise Paul’s beautiful bod is the one that turns him on. It’s not his fiancée Carole who makes him hesitate to shuck his clothes and give up the corporate life; he’s not sure a Yankee will be welcome in the deep South.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
TWO contests for April - here's the deal - what is your favorite fantasy that you'd like to live out if you had a holodec?
In honor of my soon-to-be released book WILD FANTASIES, I'm going to hold a second contest for the month of April 2008.
Tell me what fantasy you'd like to live out if you had your own holodec? Would it be to make love with a werewolf? A vampire? Or something completely different? (Mine are listed quite vividly in WILD FANTASIES. :) )
Whoever has the most fun or erotic fantasy (as judged by the most votes in the poll) will win a $20.00 gift certificate to Amazon.com from me. I'll post your fantasies in a poll for the month of April for my readers to vote on. Whoever gets the most votes, will win. I'll announce the winner at the beginning of May. Email it to me at: chinara@aol.com or leave it in a comment on my blog at: http://www.ashleyladd.blogspot.com/ (As my email box fills up some days I'm at the day job, make sure you get a reply from me or resend again if you haven't heard from me within two days. The sooner you get your fantasy in, the more votes you can accumulate. This means tell your friends and family to come and vote for you, too.)
Also, don't miss my regular monthly contest at my blog. To win a free download book, leave me at least one comment during the month of April on my blog at http://www.ashleyladd.blogspot.com/. It's that simple.
I look forward to receiving a lot of entries and having a big vote. So, send me your fantasies and I'll get the poll up. I can't wait to see what they are.
Blurb:
In her futuristic holodec sessions, one magnificent hero fulfils Jala's many wild fantasies, but can he be her hero in real life?
Lieutenant Jala Janguardo can't have her Captain Adam Carrington in real life so he becomes her werewolf in London, her Arabian sheik, and her intergalactic bar patron in her holodec fantasies. In real life, she might as well be part of the equipment for all he notices her. Or does he?
Excerpt from: Wild Fantasies
“It’s criminal to hide those supple nipples. I can’t believe I never noticed how sexy you are.” Captain Adam Carrington drugged Lieutenant Jala Janguada with erotic kisses, unzipped his pants, then fit her atop him without breaking the kiss. Strong, calloused hands helped her slide down his swollen, pulsing cock.
Unable to wait a second longer to mould her body to his, to be united body and soul, to rub her nipples over his, she tore off his shirt, delighting when the buttons shot across the room.
His incredible muscles rippled beneath her hungry hands. She massaged, teased, and titillated him until he pumped her as feverishly as she yearned to ride.
He quivered beneath her touch and she knew he was all hers. How heady the power! How earth-shattering the passage!
What a dream come true. Literally. And yet, still merely a dream. A holograph.
If only it were the real man making love to her, moaning in her ears, suckling her breasts, pulsing inside her. Not that she could imagine anything more erotic than how the holographic Adam made her feel, but she longed for the real Adam to love her with all his heart in return.
Of course, no real man would put up with her working as a topless waitress in an intergalactic bar, or let her parade around wearing an ultra-mini skirt without a pair of panties underneath, just begging to be fucked and fucked hard—in front of a room full of zringtwats and treaks—as she did on the holodec.
Nor would he whip out his cock and fuck her unconscious in front of them. The real Adam would be possessive and demand her all to himself.
In the privacy of the holodec, however, she could do anything at all, and no one would ever know. Holographic images didn’t tattle. They didn’t judge. They existed to fulfil her every whim and did they ever.
So she indulged in her hedonistic desires as often as she could schedule the deck. She could make wild love to the man—or even men—of her dreams anywhere, to her heart’s desire.
This particular program brought her the greatest pleasure—parading topless, practically naked in front of the most dangerous, sexiest men in the galaxy in only her scrap of a skirt and teetering high heels. She could even have two or three men at a time if she so wanted and she had played out that intriguing fantasy more than once.
She loved how their gazes devoured her naked breasts, how their cocks swelled so huge in their pants their jeans almost ripped apart, and how their hands crept under her wisp of a skirt to fondle her clit, to slide their finger inside her and make her come. There wasn’t a better fantasy job in the entire universe.
What she loved most, however, was how holographic Adam filled her with his hot cock, how he thrust in and out of her pussy as he was doing now, and how he intoxicated her with his all-consuming kisses. He drank of her as if he was dying of thirst.
She rubbed her burning nipples against his furry chest, wondering what it would be like to make crazy love to a howling werewolf under a full moon. Next fantasy, she promised herself she would program Adam to be a werewolf, even more of an animal than he was now.
On the brink of complete ecstasy, she raked her long nails down his back as she impaled herself on his sex. Her juices sheathed his cock so slickly she was able to slide to the tip of his shaft, then ram down hard on him and tighten her vaginal walls around his dick.
For a hologram, he was very sensual and very in tune to her primal needs. Much more so than the other holograms she’d screwed before getting the courage to program her own Adam.
Even when she’d taken two lovers at a time, one inside her pussy and one inside her mouth, they hadn’t come close to satisfying her the way Adam did—and they had been pretty awesome.
“I never dreamed you were such a vixen,” he murmured around a mouthful of her breast. “Every treak in the joint would pay monsonas to be me right now. They’re lining up to be next.”
The lava boiling inside her was about to erupt. She licked his ear as he so loved, and massaged his tight buttocks.
A wild man now, he growled and thrust impossibly deep just as she burst forth in climax, screaming. Good thing the holodec was soundproof and her programs were scrambled so that no one else could decode them.
When she caught her breath, she murmured against his ear, “I can’t wait till next week to make love to you again.”
His chiseled lips quirked into the most deliciously evil grin she’d ever gazed upon, and it made her stomach flip-flop. “You don’t have to wait another moment.”
He lifted her off his still pulsing cock turned her over and to her surprise, bent her over the table.
She squirmed against the tip of his velvety cock dripping with pre-cum.
“You’re so tight and wet, babe, just perfect to slide in and out. How bad do you want it? Bad enough to beg?” So he wanted her to beg? He wanted to hear how hot she was for him? Was he doing this to fulfill her fantasies, or had the hologram evolved sufficiently to have his own? Either way, she was thrilled.
** I'll be checking my blog and email for your fantasies. The games are on! Let's have fun!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Don't miss the Ultimate Blog Party
I just discovered this great new site: 5 Minutes for Mom Be sure to stop by and check out the information about the upcoming Ultimate Blog Party. It’s a great way to meet some new bloggy friends and to hopefully gain some new readers at your blog. It is being held the week of March 7-14, so you still have time to decide if you want to participate and what you want to do if you do participate. As you can see, I'm participating. I'm always up to meeting new friends, promoting, and visiting new blogs. As a mom who also runs my own business from home (writing romance books) and who needs to promote, I think this is brilliant. According to 5 Minutes for Mom "Mr. Linky will go live at Friday March 7th, 12:01 am Eastern Time and participating bloggers who have their party post up can add their link any time during the week of the party. (The Linky will stay permanently in the post, so you can come back later and catch up on any blogs you may have missed.)" Okay, now I have to figure out where to find Mr. Linky. "Mr. Linky" - that makes me chuckle. Now onto a mom-type post. (Even though I've done the control I-thing, the italics won't disappear, so please ignore them if you can) I have five children - three boys, two girls. The order is: boy, boy, girl, girl, boy. The oldest three are now bona fide adults although two still live at home, eat my groceries, and hike up my phone bill. The youngest two are 17 and 13. Today, I'm focusing on the 13 year old. My youngest constantly tells me he's too sick to go to school. He did this so much, the school began protesting his many absences. After consulting with my son's teachers', we decided he can only stay home if he has a bona fide fever. Well, I couldn't find the thermometer this morning and lo and behold, he said he was too ill to go to school. He didn't have that "I'm telling the truth tone" and he didn't feel hot so I told him to go to school anyway and if he got ill later in the day, to call me. So, he went to school. Right before my lunch hour, he called "I'm sick mom. Come get me." According to him, his initial stomach ache had gone away but now he had a headache. I still didn't really believe him plus it would have been very awkward for me to leave today as my boss wanted to speak to me about something very important concerning my customer service/day job career. Thus I told him to eat lunch and then see how he felt. He didn't call back and we're both at home and he seems fine. I bought a new digital thermometer tonight which I think I'll keep in my purse as my boys have a habit of breaking and losing "accidentally" important items like thermometers, and lawn mowers. (We've had to buy so many lawn mowers as "mysteriously", they break soon after we purchase them - believe me, I'm fuming!) In fact, if the child misses a day of school and I don't call him in sick - they're going to send the truant officer to get him - with my blessings. In fact, I've threatened to call the truant officer myself to scare him to start behaving and attend school. Has anybody else had a problem child who tries everything to get out of school? He used to do this with karate, too. He was sick almost every single afternoon right before time to go to karate. Also, his just-washed uniform came up mysteriously missing, if we didn't buy the sick thing. I thought my oldest was an extremely hard child to deal with. The youngest one makes the oldest seem like a total angel (of course, I've not begun to scratch the surface on the 13 year old's exploits). Or maybe it's just that I'm 15 years older and tireder than when the oldest was this age. Suggestions anyone?
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Guest Blogger: Author Christiane France
Please welcome my friend and fellow anthology partner, Christiane France. I hope you'll ask her a lot of questions and check out all her books. Be sure to enter her contest.
1) Please tell us how you came to move from England to Canada. Please tell us if there’s a big difference in the two countries and what they are.
When my husband was demobilized from the Royal Air Force, work was hard to find in the UK. Our chances seemed better in Canada, so dh got a job here and we came over. We lived first in the Ottawa Valley, the small town of Renfrew, but once his contract was finished, we went to Montreal and lived there for ten years. Then, a work-related issue brought us to Hamilton in the Niagara Escarpment where we're only 40 miles from Niagara Falls and the US border and Buffalo.
There are, of course, many differences between the UK and Canada, but we've been here so long now, I don't think about them much any more. One thing I do recall is that I hated Canadian chips--I thought they tasted like salted paper, because, for those who're familiar with Miss Vicky's chips, that's how they were in England. Also, fruit and veggies in North America (and that's both Canada and the US) do not have the depth of flavor of their English counterparts. It apparently has something to do with dampness over there.
2) What is your normal day like? Do you have a writing routine?
Now that I'm officially retired, my days are anything but routine. I envy people who do so many pages or hours of writing per day, but that's not me. I have to make myself write and that's not always easy. So, I get up when I feel like it, have breakfast, play with my 2 kitties, check my e-mail, and then I do a little housework, or I go shopping, or some days, if I'm on a deadline, I go straight to writing. And then there are those days when I just hang out.
3) What do you do to relax when you’re not writing?
Read, knit, shop, watch TV.
4) Which do you prefer to write? Mysteries or erotic romance?
I really prefer to write mysteries, but there's not much market for them at the moment, unless you're with a NY publisher and your books are in the bookstores, so I'm happy thinking up romantic entanglements for all my imaginary characters.
5) What are you working on now?
My next erotic romance is due out in February - Double Delicious is a menage story about an out-of-work radio host and announcer who meets her two very hunky and handsome neighbors, can't figure out which one she likes best, and then, joy of joys, discovers she can have them both.
March will see the release of Sabotage - another erotic romance, but this time the setting in WWII England and the main characters are an MI5 agent and an Italian prisoner of war.
I then have five more erotic romances contracted for this year--one will be a regular contemporary romance and the other four will be gay m/m. The one I'm working on right now, involves a a gay man twisting between some very conflicting emotions--guilt for starting an argument which he feels contributed to his partner's accidental death, self-directed anger for giving in to instant attraction and not realizing the man was playing him, and fear at the thought of moving on with his life in case he repeats his mistakes.
6) Do you have any tips for new writers?
Yes! Competition is fierce, but you need more than a well-written, exciting story to achieve your dreams of publication. You need to put a smile on the acquiring editor's face and to do that, I suggest you use your spell check--and if you use M/S WORD pay attention to any green underlining which identified grammatical problems; do your research--do not assume because you don't know something the reader won't either; try to learn the difference between "telling" and "showing"; watch out for too many passive sentences, e.g. "He/She was walking/driving/running etc." or "They were..."--too many passive sentences slows the story down to a crawl. And finally, before you submit your story to a publisher, go through the manuscript very carefully, figure out how many times you used the word "that" and take out at least half of them.
7) What are your goals for the future?
To win the lottery. Make the NY Times best seller list. I don't know, I just try to take each day as it comes and be grateful for what I have--a wonderful husband, a good life, two wonderful kitties aka The Boys, and a total of 18 published works.
Cool mysteries and hot romance - http://www.chrisgrover.ca
Latest Release: INSEPARABLE - http://www.amberquill.com http://www.myspace.com/185513895
http://chrisgrover2.bebo.com/
Thank you, Chris, for being my guest blogger today. I enjoyed chatting with you. I hope you’ll come back. Good luck with your many books.
Inseparable When Alison Palmer flees to England to escape the financial mess left by her late, philandering husband, she is, to use her own words, plain flat on her ass. With no money and no job training of any kind her future looks pretty grim—until she gets a job house-sitting Foxton Hall and meets handsome Nick Berringford and his deceased, identical twin brother, Nathan. Nick and Nathan’s parents once owned the Hall, and the twins were planning to buy it back. But before that could happen, Nathan was involved in a freak accident and died. Now, rumor has it Nathan’s ghost not only haunts the bedroom where he died, but the ghost is gaining a reputation for making love to any woman who happens to sleep there. At first, Ali thinks she’s having sexy dreams about the live twin, Nick, until Nathan introduces himself, and Ali realizes she’s as much in love both the ghost and his twin, and the trio are quickly caught up in a ménage a trois. Nick knows Nathan’s spirit is trapped in the Hall and that’s why he’s also never left the village—he won’t desert his brother. They are, in fact, inseparable. But what will happen if Nick’s bid to buy back the Hall is successful? Will Nathan’s unfinished business cause him to disappear out of their lives for good?
by Christiane France
ISBN-13: 978-1-60272-134-0 (Electronic)
Posts
