Saturday Snippets: Arrivals

Today's theme for Saturday Snippets is "arrivals".

When I thought about this I thought about the arrival of a new child. But it can mean other things as well.

My morsel for you today is the arrival of the demi-God Leo, as in Leo the Lion. He's tired of being in heaven and wants someone fun to celebrate his birthday with so he skips down to Earth. His father Zeus is mad at him of course and wants him to learn a lesson so he can't get home without help. Meanwhile, without Leo's guidance all his earthly Leos start to run amuck and chaos ensues.


This was a fun story to write and I was thrilled when Ellora's Cave selected my story about Leo for their month of August Zodiac story in 2006. It's still available if you want to read the entire story. :)

By the way, I'm a Scorpio and my birthday is today. My moon is in Leo, however, and if you know anything about the Zodiac, I'm on the cusp of Sagitarrius.

This story began as a story directed at Scorpio - the heroine's a Scorpio like me with her moon in Leo. But Ellora's Cave asked me to write it for Leo babies and I was happy to oblige. I hope you like it.

So here's my birthday present for you.

Hubby gave me a new laptop for my birthday this year and I love it! However, it has a different version of Word and everything including blogger is acting wonky. I don't know if my links will work. I'll have to fix them after my daughter's softball tournament game which I have to run to now. If they don't work please stop by again later so you can also visit all the other authors in today's group to read their excerpts.

An Excerpt From: HEAVENLY HIJINKS
Copyright © ASHLEY LADD, 2006

All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.

The bell tinkled again and Clestie slumped against the counter and breathed a sigh of inordinate relief. “Hallelujah! She left.”

Then a duet of voices interrupted the blessed silence, and Clestie’s heart skipped a beat. She clawed at Elizabeth’s wrist. “Hurry. Lock the door. They’re multiplying.” Like an invasion of locusts and all the other frightening biblical stuff in Revelations.

Her cousin rolled her eyes and shook off her death grip. “Our aunt was revered.”

Clestie could go for a little mediocrity about now. “Do I have to go out there?” She’d rather face a swarm of locusts.

“Afraid so.” Elizabeth patted her back.

She wished Elizabeth had a canister of oxygen as well. She might have to purchase an inhaler of her own. Truly, she’d have to practice her deep breathing exercises as soon as she could get a few minutes to herself. The way things were going, she’d have to lock herself in the bathroom to get any private time. “Save me.”

Her cousin cracked a smile. “Welcome to the joys of entrepreneurship.”

Clestie checked her watch and almost groaned when it only emphasized how many hours of daylight were left. “You mean the headaches.”

The bell tinkled again…and again. By the time Clestie ran to the front, a mini mob had formed. She dragged in several deep, cleansing breaths. “I’m sorry, but we’re not open for business.”

“But we’re lost. We need guidance.” They started chanting, “Sun. Moon. Sun. Moon.”

A tall blond man with golden tresses cascading down his back pushed through the crowd. And he was only wearing a loincloth! But he moved oh-so sensually, with leonine grace and assured strides, that he could be forgiven anything. “Perhaps I can lend assistance. I am a master of reading the zodiacal charts and prophesying fortunes. I also read the tarot.”

Really needing that oxygen desperately now, Clestie was about to hyperventilate as her gaze took in the nearly naked Tarzan. Mesmerized by the man’s godlike beauty, Clestie’s skin tingled in decadently scandalous ways and she prayed that mind-reading wasn’t another one of his many talents. Her respiration shallowed and perspiration beaded heavily on her brow, threatening to run into her eyes. She dabbed at the tiny droplets with her fingers as she searched for her voice. After several muffled attempts, she finally croaked out, “You can?”

Elizabeth hissed, “Mr. Chippendales is stealing our business. Kick him out.”

Ignoring her cousin, Clestie stepped forward, trying not to ogle the man’s hunky bod. But his rippling muscles and shimmering hair made her pussy clench and her nipples peak so tightly that she was about to orgasm without anyone touching her. His intensely golden eyes and sparkling smile stole her breath. “Are you applying for a job?”

Heavenly Hijinks is available at: Ellora's Cave

Vivian Arend
Leah Braemel
Taige Crenshaw
Shelley Munro
TJ Michaels
Juliana Stone
Eliza Gayle
McKenna Jeffries
Jody Wallace
Lauren Dane
Juliana Stone
Kelly Maher
Shelli Stevens
Victoria Janssen
Moira Rogers

Snippet Saturday: Weaponry

Today's Snippet Saturday excerpts are about weaponry. I haven't seen 

the other authors' excerpts for today as I post this, but I imagine

most of their "weaponry" are classic like swords and guns.

My weaponry is a bit...different. Read on, you'll see.

This is an excerpt from my romantica comedy "Purrfect Justice" 

available at Ellora's Cave. 

“Officers in trouble at
Commercial and 44th!” Cole’s voice barked from the scanner.
Gunshots ricocheted in the background. “Need immediate assistance! Send
backup! Sniper on roof!”



Haley almost fell off her chair. Oh,
God. Her stomach flip-flopped as she stared at the little black box
crackling with static. Why did Cole have to keep getting into these dangerous
situations? Did he have a death wish? Or maybe she just worried about him more
than the others, and so it seemed that way?



She could help him again. A thrill
shot through her as she recalled the previous evening’s escapades. She’d
enjoyed thwarting the bad guy and saving a handsome man.



But she didn’t have the authority
to interfere. She didn’t have a badge, and she never would. Neither Superman
nor Batman had ever had a badge, nor any of a host of other superheroes. Not
that she was a superhero—just a concerned citizen. When she got right down to
it, Superman and Batman were just glorified concerned citizens, right? No one
had ever denied their help. Why should they deny hers? Cole had seemed grateful
the night before. Surely he’d be grateful again.



She studied herself critically in
her bedroom mirror, turning this way and that, pulling faces. She stuck her
tongue out at herself. Would he recognize her in this get-up? Could she get
away with it again? Should she change back into her Catwoman suit? 



“Car 85 is on the way. Estimated
arrival is ten minutes.” Sheila’s voice vibrated over the radio. Haley
would recognize her nasal voice anywhere.



Cole swore. She knew that he knew he couldn’t swear over
the police airwaves, but his voice was distant as if he’d covered the radio. “We’ll
be mincemeat in ten minutes! Get someone here sooner!”



“Will try.” An edge sliced
through Sheila’s professional tones.



Haley lived right around the corner. She could make it
sooner if she went as she was. She’d pray he wouldn’t recognize her wearing the
wig in the dark. She’d stick to the shadows. Stopping only to grab her keys,
not even her purse or identification, she ran to her car. But the stupid thing
coughed and spluttered. “Don’t you dare throw a hissy-fit now, Missy,” she
ordered, slamming the flat of her hand on the steering wheel. She cranked the
engine again, encouraging it to work. “Cole’s depending on us! You can do it.” 



But Missy either wasn’t listening
or didn’t care. Or maybe she was afraid of doing a little police work. Missy
backfired and died. A plume of smoke curled up from the grill that smelled
oily, gagging Haley.



“What now?” Cole needed her.



She spied Sher’s motorcycle. Did
she dare borrow it? Would her friend let her use it? Haley had learned how to
ride one in her academy training. She ran back to Sher’s apartment and banged
on the door.



Haley cut Sher off when she opened
her mouth. “”Keys now! I need your wheels. It’s life and death.” She held her
hand out, palm up under her friend’s nose. “I know how to ride a cycle. I
promise I won’t put a scratch on her.” She crossed her toes, hoping neither she
nor the bike got caught in crossfire. “I’ll owe you big time.”



Sher cleared her throat. “You
already owe me big time. So who’s dying?” 



“No time. I’ll fill you in later. Thanks!” She snatched
the keys and raced away, praying her impulsive friend wouldn’t follow her.
That’s all she needed was for her to get in the way or stop her. She jumped on
the cycle, and it purred to life as soon as she turned the key in the ignition,
thank God.



A few revs of the engine later, and she closed in on Cole
and Brad. It was another moonless night, so she could barely make out their
shapes huddled behind their unmarked brown sedan. At least she presumed it was
the cops and not the robbers. She stopped and hid the bike in a grove of palm
trees, and then slunk along the sides of the buildings so as not to be seen, so
she could scope out the situation. 



Someone had barbecued in one of the
nearby apartments and the scent lingered on the muggy air. It mingled with the
odor of several fast food restaurants dotting Commercial Boulevard, almost
nauseating her. The oil from the burger joints almost clogged her pores it was
so thick. She covered her nose and breathed through her mouth. 



Gunfire rang out, and she stopped
dead, not daring to breathe. The flash of flame had burst forth from the roof
of the mall. It was only a one-story structure, and she had a good view of the
man from her position. His focus was on the cops, and he hadn’t glanced her way
even once. She could sneak up on his rear and startle him long enough for Cole
and his partner to get the drop on him. Then she could sneak away, and Cole
wouldn’t even know she’d been there. 



Crouching low, she wound her way
through the maze of buildings until she came up on the sniper’s rear in the
alley sandwiched between the strip mall and a dark, eerie canal. Moonlight
glinted off a hubcap, beckoning to her. Even though it lay in a circle of
light, she chanced retrieving it. It could serve many useful purposes—a shield,
a weapon, or a noisemaker to distract the gunman. 



“Throw down your guns and come out
with your hands up,” a strange voice commanded, followed by an evil laugh that
cut straight through Haley. It wasn’t a voice she recognized, so it had to
belong to the shooter. “Do it now, or I’ll shoot! I have you in my sights.”



Heavy metal clanged on the asphalt.
Then the sound repeated. 



Oh, no. Both Cole and Brad
must have followed orders and were now at the criminal’s mercy. She didn’t trust
the man not to shoot now that he had the men at his mercy. Time was up. She had
to do something.



An idea popped into her head. She
banged the hubcap on the ground so that it sounded like a cymbal, and then
shouted, “Drop your weapon! We have you surrounded!” When she got him in her
sights, she flung the hubcap like a Frisbee with all her might. It knocked the
gun out of his hand as the bullet exploded in her direction.



She ducked and felt the bullet whiz
by her temple. Seconds later, she heard the gun clatter to the pavement,
followed by pounding footsteps and men’s urgent voices. 



“Get him!” Cole shouted as
footsteps hammered the ground closer and closer to her. He rounded the corner,
and she knew how a deer trapped in headlights felt. She froze for a split
second before panic propelled her to run. 



“Hey, you! Stop!” 



She’d sooner be kidnapped by aliens
than have him capture her. Adrenaline burst through her, catapulting her
forward. 



“Halt! By order of the police!” 



 Haley’s heart was about to burst, but she kept
going. She dragged the bike out of the bushes, hopped on, kick started it, and
sped off, kicking dust and rocks behind her. 



"Purrfect Justice" is available at Ellora's Cave.

Anya Bast
Vivian Arend
Ashley Ladd
Leah Braemel
Jaci Burton
Taige Crenshaw
Shelley Munro
Sasha White
Jody Wallace 
TJ Michaels
Victoria Janssen
Elisabeth Naughton

Writing and Reading Short Stories and Novelettes vs. Novels

I'd like to segue from yesterday's post about my short story "Brazen" published on East End of the Web. Yesterday I explored comments about is romance too unrealistic and if fantasies are bad or good as well as women's vs. men's fantasies. The comment I mentioned yesterday begs another, totally unrelated question. "How much do readers expect writers to put into a short story?" If a story is publicized as a short romantic story, I'd expect a quick romance, or at least a quick reconciliation. "Short" really does mean "short". Right? In the world of romance reading, "short story" is different from "novelette", "novel", and "super". The majority of readers are savvy about the terminology and thus what to expect. In case you missed yesterday's post (of course you could just scroll down and read it now :) ) here's the comment that made me ponder all this: "Very mills n boon.sappy n unreal.thts not romance.women always write fantasy stuff instead of finding romance in real life daily stuff.no wonder girls get their heart broken everyday,its cause theyre brainwashed by such material.all in all i didnt enjoy it cuz it makes u less hopeful in fallin in love.n perfection doesnt exist.love is so much more than fantasy n lust" I don't begrudge the reader his or her comment. But it seems unrealistic to me that someone who reads a short romantic story wouldn't expect it to be on the fantasy side. Unless it's a recant of a real romance, then a short romance would have to skip a lot of things so it can be short. Recently, (which you may have noticed) I've been writing a lot of short stories. I work full time and the kids tug at me a lot to cart them around to Halloween bashes, trick or treating, getting costumes, scouts, softball, etc. etc. There's only so many hours in a day and personally, I like to produce a lot - I think it's the ADHD in me. Short stories and novelettes releasing several times a year feels like a big accomplishment vs. one or two releases a year if I solely concentrated on longer stories. (However, I do have 3 full-size novels on submission with publishers right now, so I've not given up on them.) I like to write meaty stories that get deep into relationships, too. I love to read them. But sometimes, if I'm tired, but not too tired to go to sleep yet, I just want to read a short piece all in one sitting and get my romance fix. Writing short isn't easy, believe me. Now that I've had more practice it's easier than I once found it. I used to find it way more difficult to get everything into a short story instead of having the luxury of 50,000 words plus to get it all down. I really struggled to pare down short stories to under 15,000 words, in particular if they were also in the erotic romance genre. Perhaps it looks easy while reading it if you've never tried to write one, but it's not. Not for me, anyway. And not for some of my writing buddies who would much rather writer longer 100,000 word stories than stories of 15,000 words or less. Obviously writers earn more per story in royalties from a long story as the publishers charge more for the book. However, my biggest seller and biggest royalties ever came from a short story in the anthology "And Lady Makes Three" published by Elloras Cave. That's when I decided that my time would be well spent writing shorter. After all, my business training taught me to work smarter, not harder. That's not to negate what I wrote above. Short stories, at least until my mind set and skills were honed to write short, were much more difficult to write. However, they still took less time than writing a 100,000 word story. I guess I didn't get my MBA and bachelor's in Accounting for nothing (for a few years I seriously wondered about that). Also, so many stories are tugging at me to be written, short and long, it's almost impossible to decide which one gets the honor of being written next. Prioritizing which story to write next should be another separate topic. Here's a short excerpt from "And Lady Makes Three" published by Ellora's Cave.

An Excerpt From: PIRATE’S BOOTY

(from the "And Lady Makes Three" anthology)

Copyright © ASHLEY LADD, 2005.

All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.

Keir’s warm breath tickled her neck. “Something troubling you, Princess?”

Her hand grasped her throat in shocked alarm.

“I have a name. Would it hurt you so terribly to use it?” She exhaled slowly as she turned to find him barely kissing distance away. Lifting her lashes slowly, she gazed up at him. Not as tall as his colleague, he was the perfect height, his nose level with the top of her head. His lips rested at her eye-level and from this distance, they looked ideal, too. Usually, she couldn’t see them for his full beard, but at this distance, she could see them very clearly.

“Melena.” Keir caressed her name as no other had before him. It rolled off his tongue like the richest Synkethian milk chocolate.

Mesmerized by his dark, sultry voice, a minute gasp escaped her lips. Quivers of lust racked her, and a strange twinge resounded between her legs. It might not hurt him terribly to use her given name, but apparently it made her ache. But it was too late to take it back now.

Realizing she stared as if he were her last supper, she cursed silently and forced herself to act nonchalant. She was chained by a thousand different prisons and had no right to quiver at his nearness or devour his lips with her gaze. Too late to act as if everything was sunny when she probably looked as if she were about to go nova so she confessed to the partial truth. At least, he wouldn’t hear a lie in her voice. “What if we’re never rescued?”

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she swept her gaze wide in an all-encompassing arc around the glade where they’d moved their camp. Lifting her chin high, she tried to sound confident, but her voice emerged strangled. “What if we spend the rest of our days on this planet, completely alone, except for the three of us?”

Keir raised his hand as if to stroke away the stray wisps of hair from her heated face, but it hovered mid-air and then dropped limply to his side. “We have to be optimistic. We can’t give up hope.”

If it were only the two of them, she and Keir, it could be paradise. But three? She worried her bottom lip between her teeth. Someone would be the odd man out and that spelled trouble.

Uncomfortably hot, bored, and frustrated, she glared. “Why? Shouldn’t they have found us by now if they were searching? My people must think me dead from the explosion. They may not have launched any missions of rescue.”

Keir slid a finger under her chin and forced her to look him square in the eye. His were deep, murky pools that she could happily drown in. “Because we’ll go crazy if we give up. Because you’re much stronger than that. We’re not just going to lie down and die…”

Published by Ellora's Cave

Which book do I write next? (and answers about the Alpha Smart)

I stayed home from work ill today. I'm feeling quite a bit better, but am still relaxing. Actually, I'm blog hopping again. I'll start editing in a few minutes and do some writing later if I still feel okay.

For those of you who are writers, how many stories do you have running around in your head right now? How many do you have started that you have to finish?

I have approximately twenty stories started that I need to finish. There's at least ten more that I'm itching to write. I'm not sure which one to finish or start next.

It's a real dilemma. Help me out here.

Of course I have to do my edits on the book scheduled to come out April 7th at www.total-e-bound.com. That's a given.

But then what?

I'm going to Lori Foster's Readers N Writers' Get Together in Cincinnati this summer where I have one editor and one agent appointment set up. I still have some polishing to do for that manuscript so it will be ready. Right? Of course! It's almost done - I hope. That depends on what my critique partners tell me about the last few chapters. It's a sweet Harlequin-Silhouette contemporary type novel, and I hope "the one" to break me into the big time publishers and round me up an agent.

Then, however, is the sequel for an Ellora's Cave book - to Make-Believe Lover.

Then there's other sweet Harlequin-Silhouette books that are sequels to the one I'm going to pitch in June.

Then there's a sequel to a story I wrote for NCP that I'm dying to write.

Oh! There's another sequel almost done for an Ellora's Cave book also, that I need to finish and spice up. I've only been working on this one going on ten years. That's all. It's about time I finish this one.

But then there's also the erotic romance stories for TEB which I'm on a roll with. I hate to slow down my momentum there, either, but I need to speed up my momentum again with Ellora's Cave and NCP.

What to do?

I have vacation scheduled from the day job next week. I hope to get some quality writing time in (and not blog hop all day long every day). Of course, if things go right, I will get my hearing implant next Wednesday so I won't be in any shape to write, edit, or play on the Internet (at least I doubt it) for the rest of my week's vacation. By next Wednesday night, I hope to be part Borg. :)

By that for you non-Trekkies and/or who haven't seen my earlier post about the BAHA hearing implant, there will be a metal post sticking out the back of my head about the size of a hearing aid battery. Since I'm a woman and wear my hair long, it probably won't be discernible once my hair grows back. I'm sure they'll have to shave a bit of it to do the surgery. Waaa! I finally get my hair the way I like it and it'll get ruined. But it's a small price to pay.

So pray for the insurance company to get their head out of their asses and approve my surgery. They denied it three years ago because they thought it sounded like a hearing aid. It's not a hearing aid. I didn't fight it last time. This time, I'm fighting it. I could kick myself for not fighting it before - but I'm older and wiser now. As I mentioned, they denied it again, but I'm fighting.

Back to yesterday's discussion so I can answer your questions.

For those of you who wonder what an alpha smart is, here's a pic. I found it at: www.alphasmart.com. This model goes for $350. They have more expensive models.



This model of the Alpha Smart includes:

•	Rechargeable battery pack
•	AC adapter
•	Documents To Go Professional (Provides compatibility with Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint®)
•	USB cable
•	Getting Started Guide
•	Palm™ Desktop Software
•	Additional applications, fonts, and other bonus software
•	Stylus