Jace Everett - Bad Things

It Was All Coming Together

It Was All Coming Together

My list went as follows:
Carrie Bradshaw /like
Joan Wilder/ like
Anne Rice (A. N. Roquelaure) / love
Books that taught, inspired, or assumed you knew something already/disliked!!
Let me explain...
Carrie Bradshaw wrote about her everyday life, her ups her downs, her weird friends, she had a way of being nurturing and outspoken at the same time. I could do this!
I had been in retail for the last 15 years i was queen of the back handed compliment.

Joan Wilder she wrote about being rescued, by someone with muscles.

A.N. Roquelaure she wrote "The Sleeping Beauty" trilogy....Wow where do i start? I remember the fist time i stumbled upon her writing. My kids attended Beverly Hills High School and my husband was an Agent. I was a housewife with time on my hands. I could walk to century city mall from where we lived and often strolled through the mall for my daily exercise. On this morning i decided  to pick up another romance novel, I loved romance novels. For all you local people this was before the remodel when the books store was on the first floor tucked behind the movie ticket stand (and bookstores did not come with coffee shops!). Well anyway..i was looking thru the selection and no book covers were jumping out at me, so i decided to ask for some assistance.
I no longer remember his name but he had long hair and looked like he would be more at home at a record store.He didnt see me walking up to him because he was absorbed in the book he was reading,
Hi, can you help me? I said
I was looking for a book and coudnt find anything i hadnt seen before.As he bookmarks his page he asks well what kind of book were you looking for? The gardening section is to your right and the cooking section is next to the kids books.
I stood there for a moment just silently staring at him and then said "where is you bored housewife who just wants to escape for an afternoon dept." Well where is that section?!
Sitting there behind the glass counter it was his turn to stare at me, he did so as if he was trying to make a decision.
He asked me with a very serious tone "how bored are you"?
Looking him in the eyes returning stare for stare i replied "very".
He gets up and walks around the counter saying follow me. We go to a place tucked into the corner and the men who are in that section clear out. The sales clerk selects hand me 3 books. I protest saying i only need one not three. Its a trilogy he said handing the books back to me. Well i dont want to buy all three, what if i dont like the first one?
You must buy all three because you will not be able to bring yourself back here and ask me for the other two.
I held the books looking at the covers and thinking they are very plain and boring.
How can you be so sure i asked him.
He didnt really answer me he just kind of smiled.
Fine give me the damn books, i said.

He was right i devoured them! And i would of never been able to ask for the second book had i not purchased it. I had no idea the written word could be so erotic, and as i read and reread every line A.N. Roquelaure brought me to my first literary orgasm.

Of Stalking Legolas and The Gift of Surrender

 There are times when I must admit that I go beyond being crestfallen about the pace toward my career goals and drift toward being a touch homicidal. Worry not, my gentle readers are not guilty of anything that would cause such violent feelings from me. However, these people who occasionally infuriate me do inhabit my orbit and have known me for at least a decade. And it's not like I keep my various pursuits a secret. Still, I have well meaning souls coming to me with great excitement and telling me things like 'I just saw something called a book trailer. You should make those to promote your books.' I have four of them online at this moment. This is the latest one I did for the Demonspawn books. Ultimately, I didn't start yelling over this advice, because I haven't pushed the book trailers as far and wide as some of my other marketing efforts.

The latest observation and advice is all about 50 Shades of Gray and its author EL James. I've had a number of people writing me about how this author went from writing fanfiction to writing successful fiction that sprung from the fan works and have a bdsm emphasis. Perhaps, they suggested, I should be doing something like that, too? EXCUSE ME??? In my earliest blogs (SIX years ago), I talk about my creds as a romance fan  and that of a fanfiction writer in the creation of my first book. Geez! What does it take? Okay, I'll grant that I tend to write in niche markets. And perhaps I don't toot my own horn a lot. But I was in a feature film documentary (Trekkies) talking about writing bdsm fanfiction while wearing a corset !!

Okay, that blog was a long time ago. And it was very brief. Maybe I didn't make myself clear. Back in 2005, I was very much in the throes of an obsession with Legolas Greenleaf of he Lord of the Rings (LOTR) trilogy. Legolas was everything I adore in any given yaoi character – lithe but very strong and incredibly beautiful while absolutely masculine. I had seen the films almost often enough to recite them, but wanted to do more. At that time I was reading LOTR fanfiction. Most of it was awful. There was some very good stories, but they were still not satisfying. For a long time, I toyed with writing my own fanfiction. I would be entering another fan arena where I was not very well known. Those who knew me would be expecting a certain bent to my fiction – humor mixed with bdsm. I didn't really want to write that sort of thing for my Legolas inspired fiction. Beyond that, I had sold a feature film. I could no longer justify taking the time away from professional creative endeavors in favor of writing fiction for its own sake.

Thus, The Gift of Surrender was born. I created a realm called the Hanyanoor (a Finnish word for The Known Lands). On the Eastern end of that realm was a prosperous kingdom where the King was weakening with each day. He could not really function must past noon on any given day. The kingdom is at peace with its neighbors, but anyone of them could exploit the king's state to overrun it. Princess Sarianna, the sole heir to the throne is persuaded to marry to strengthen the throne. Though she agreed, Sarianna knows nothing of men and is terrified that marriage would be the end of her personal freedom and the right to have any say in the running of her own kingdom. The prospects do not look good.

Sarianna rode long and hard every day following the departure of her first suitor. She rode until her horse was exhausted. She drove the sentries mad keeping up with her. There was no help for it. Riding was the only way the Princess could blot the previous fortnight out of her memory. The thunder of the hooves and the howl of the wind kept his voice out of her head. The jarring, breathless rides made her forget the feel of his hands on her skin. The problem was that the rides ended throwing Sarianna into a spiral of anger and despair. She was a thundercloud when she was not on her horse. For days on end, the Princess said nothing that wasn’t absolutely necessary.

On the fourth day, when Sarianna stormed from the stables, she found Neuvoja waiting instead of Hanna. While she didn’t want another silent, tense bath with her chambermaid, the Princess really did not want to talk to her advisor.

“I cannot hear any words about my demeanor right now, Neuvoja,” she muttered. “Please go. We shall speak in the morning.”

“Princess, I come with news,” the advisor replied. “A messenger from Ritvala arrived with news that King Magnus is journeying here with his three sons.”

Sarianna found her legs had no strength. She sank onto the nearest chair. “Three? When will they arrive?”

“Two days hence at the most,” he replied.

The Princess sighed heavily. “Tell me of these sons of Ritvala.”

“They are accomplished warriors all and said to have their father’s fine looks and bearing,” Neuvoja replied. “The youngest one was born of the Suurimetsa.”

“The Forest People?” Sarianna asked. “I thought no one from the Hanyanoore ever had contact with them.”

“King Magnus did and took one as a hostage bride,” the advisor replied.

“I am to meet three warriors whose father has taken a bride and made her bear him a son,” Sarianna muttered.

“Ritvala would be a good alliance for Arinpera,” Neuvoja said.

“But you still think Rowsdower would have been a better one,” the Princess pointed out.

“I am sorry, Princess,” he said quietly. “I was thinking that they are close to our borders, and the Queen is an ally of your father’s. Perhaps among the three princes there could be a suitable match.”

“Please, say no more of it. I must find a way to do what is required,” she said quietly.

“All the kind words and advice cannot change the fact that I must face these… suitors… alone.”

“Princess…”

“Have their chambers been made ready?”

“Yes, Highness. All is ready for their arrival.”

“Thank you, my dear teacher. Please, send Hanna to me.”

“Princess, it breaks our hearts to see you in such a state.”

“It is the way of things. You had your trials to test your knowledge. Warriors must tax their bodies to prepare for battle,” she said. “There is little being asked of me by comparison. We can talk further in the morning. I grow weary.”

There was much more he wanted to say. Sarianna knew this. But she could not talk about what had happened to anyone. If she talked about it, she would dwell on it. If she dwelled on it, she would never be able to face those brothers.

Neuvoja relented. “Very well. Sleep well, Princess.”

“I will try.”

Meanwhile, Prince Nikulainen or Niku, is not any happier with this situation. He had thought he'd get to choose a mate for love as he was third in line for the throne at best. He and his mother were, as far as he knew, considered hostages at worst. Despite the songs sung by many travelers about Princess Sarianna's beauty, he was loathe to compete against his older brothers for the hand of a woman he'd never met. But his mother told him that things were never what they seemed between them and King Magnus, and Niku always wanted to please his father. Still, he never expected his life to be upended in one instant.

“Highness, help me close the stable! We are under attack!” He shouted.

Sarianna quickly closed the heavy wooden window shutters as Minos closed the great main doors to the stables. Sentries arrived as they finished. The Princess knew they were startled and upset to find her so far from the main building. It could have been far worse. She could have been out riding.

“Don’t try to get me back,” Sarianna called out to them. “There is too much open area. As far as strangers know, I am a stable girl. Go!”

The men took positions nearby to defend the back entrance and the King’s horses. Sarianna didn’t expect an attack there. It was nearly inaccessible to those who were not very familiar with the roads. And the terrain was such that no heavy weaponry could get through. Still, Minos picked up a short sword and gave Sarianna a large hunting knife. They anxiously looked though narrow slats in the door toward the main gate straining to hear what was happening.

The noise was not coming from that far gate. The walls near the back entrance were being scaled. Whizzing arrows viciously struck down the sentries on those walls. The battle was engaged before anyone from that gate could sound an alarm.

“This is madness,” Sarianna hissed. “Who would attack in such a manner?”

“Assassins,” Minos replied with quiet certainty. “I feel it in these old bones. They know you are here or would be nearby.”

“What are we to do? No one has sounded the alarm from this gate!”

“This building will hold. If they try to burn it, help will arrive,” he said.

The Princess looked at him balefully. “Burn?”

“Worry not, Princess. I do not think it will come to that,” he said.

Suddenly, black-clad men with bows and swords dropped down from the wall where the Sentries had fallen. There were ten of them with more on the wall. The guards near the stables were soon overwhelmed with fighting them, leaving the Princess completely vulnerable.

Just as suddenly, the assassins on the wall were falling with arrows in their chests. Sarianna saw a flash of someone running along the wall shooting arrows with incredible speed. Swift footsteps were heard crossing the stable roof. Then, the figure was in the middle of the battle in front of them with a sword drawn. He was very tall with long, pale golden hair. That was all she could see, for he moved so quickly dispatching the assassins two at a time. Her own guards had fallen, but were not dead. This stranger kept killing blows from them. He took up the horn of alarm and sounded it when his last combatant had fallen.

“He is here to help!” Sarianna exclaimed, moving to the door.

“Nay, Princess,” Minos whispered urgently. “It may be a ruse.”

“He has sounded the alarm. I shall meet him before others arrive,” she stated. Minos opened the door, but kept his sword and stood close to her.

Sarianna stepped out of the stable as the young man turned toward the movement. In the light of the sunset, he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. He had a tall, lithe body, but he was muscled where Rowsdower had been soft. He had large, expressive dark eyes, fine high cheekbones, a firm jaw and a well-formed mouth. He was masculine indeed, despite the long, thick fall of pale gold hair. Yet, he was very beautiful. The man gazed at her for a long moment, and then he sank gracefully onto one knee.

“I am your servant, Princess,” he said in a quiet, rich voice.

“She is my stable girl. The Princess is not here!” Minos exclaimed.

“Do not fear me, milady,” he said softly.

Sarianna found she did not. “What is your name, sir?”

“I am Nikulainen, son of King Magnus and Lady Reija of Ritvala,” he replied.

She found she liked listening to him. She found it would be hard not to look at him. Her breathing became more difficult. Her cheeks colored, but her gaze never wavered. “I am Princess Sarianna, and I owe you a great debt.”

He smiled then, and her breath quietly caught.

“Nay, Princess. ‘Tis my honor to serve.”

Don't worry, these aren't big spoilers in this epic romance. There are intrigues upon intrigues and betrayals that are painfully close to the couple. And of course there is humor. The book is far from a comedy, but it clearly has a sense of humor. And, of course, there is a twist to the romance. Though Sarianna falls in love with Niku in an instant, she fears his physical power and that of his father. He eases those fears by surrendering his physical power to her. Thus, I still get my D/s twist in there. You'll just have to read the book to see how.

Meanwhile, there is a very tasty excerpt HERE. Warning! Explicit Erotic Content!

The Gift of Surrender is available on all Ebook formats at Smashwords.com HERE .

For Paperback or Kindle, go to Amazon.com HERE.

The reviews are in! 4 out of 5 stars!!

Its been a wonderful journey so far.With people from all over the world buying my book and "LIKING" my Romantica by Marguerite face book page. Last week i asked you to please write a review and honestly  i  had no idea who would respond and what would be said. So far any one who has ever commented on my book were friends and business partners, in other words people who might not want to say they didn't like it in fear of hurting my feelings.
The public reviews that were posted on Kindle and Amazon were from complete strangers, and the first one was from a man! Your kind words have truly touched my heart.
Ive always felt because i was the oldest of 7 children and my sister didn't come along until sibling 4, I relate to men better than women.
If i was asked to go shoe shopping with a bunch of girlfriend, or go after work to have a beer with the guys , I'm having the beer!
My gay friends fall somewhere in between. But when i do pal with the ladies they are women with history, scars just under the skin, stories to tell or secrets to keep.
They are smart women, women who survive, woman who know the importance of being a friend.
Its from the many men and women in my life that i find my characters.

But like all things there has to be a beginning so i thought i would show you how "the Intern" began.

This is my original story line, from this skeleton "The intern" was born.  

TREATMENT

He was just out of college when she met him; he worked at her office as an intern.

It was odd at first this young man so eager to please so good at interpreting her next move. Had she not clawed her way to the top and secured secrets on everyone in the office, she might have been concerned that this young upstart would be after her job.

So it was no surprise that William was assigned to her in the morning meeting.
DAM IT if she didn't detect the ever so slight smile cross his face! Lisa locked a dead stare at William and they shared a common thought. GAME ON!! 

Lisa wasn't top sales person for nothing. She worked long hard hours. She had to. She put in the extra time so that others thought she was effortless. Lisa was a Bitch, she knew it and so did everyone else. So when William was assigned to her, she vowed to send another intern crying and running for the door.


Everything about Lisa was a calculation from the black stilettos pumps to the black stockings and garters she wore. She liked the way it made her feel. A woman in a man's world.

For the next month they were inseparable, try as she may she could not shake him, from coffee runs to picking up her dry cleaning to making last minute dinner reservations she was wicked to him but he was always the ying to her yang.

She started to notice William, the way he worked, the way he spoke, even the way he never yelled. He was cool and polished and she liked that about him

He grew on her and she didn’t mind. She had no time to figure it out there was always too much to do.

Mr. Solomon had just died and the widow wanted the property sold. Every Realtor in town was after that listing.

William and her would take the widow to dinner and secure that listing!

WILLIAM! WILLIAM! Where is he now? She turned and almost ran into him. He was standing there with her coat draped over his arm and her keys in is hand smiling at her. Lisa paused for a second and then turned to get her purse. Oh No she snagged her stocking on the desk.

William reached into his briefcase and pulled out another pair. William what did you do, how did you know! Those are Chanel and you can only get them in Paris! William just smiled and said "were going to be late". She let him lead her to the office to change and then out to the waiting car.

But William knew everything about her. The way she took her coffee, how she twirled her hair when she was nervous, even her favorite French perfume. But most of all, he knew her body, the way it curved, moved, and smelled. He could close his eyes and still see her. He loved everything about her. She was a woman, his kind of women.

He purposely walks behind her just to take her in. She would be his, of this he was sure.

William hand picked the restaurant. It was exclusive and darker lit than most. He made arraignments to sit in the back and whispered to Lisa it was better for business. 

The meeting went flawlessly. Lisa was a pro. William enjoyed watching her mouth move her mind respond to every objection. To him she was beautiful.

The dinner was concluded with the signing of the contract, and Lisa walked the widow to the car. When she returned William had the champagne waiting. Why not ...they had just scored the golden ring away from everyone else in town. She was in the mood for champagne!! The evening was filled with laughter and at the end of the bottle she was snuggled next to him with his arm around her. She thought they made a great team and together they could crush the competition.

As they left and walked back to the car Lisa leaned in and kissed him. Maybe it was the champagne, the moon overhead or maybe just maybe she had met her match. She didn't know or care. They rode back to the office in silence each afraid to speak for fear the magic of the night would be broken.

As they entered her office he closed the door behind them she heard the click of the lock. Lisa was afraid to turn around. Back at the restaurant was one thing but here in her office? She was frozen. She couldn't move.
William came up behind her; ever so gently he kissed her neck, softly nibbling her ear. She was melting. She turned around and fell into his arms.

William was tall, and muscular he walked her backwards and laid her back on her desk. He unbuttoned her blouse and slipped off her skirt. She looked like he pictured her sensuous and full of curves.

She reached out for him and he came closer kissing at her neck and working his way to her breasts. Her back arched with the attention he gave her breasts and as he worked his way down her stomach she let out a soft whimper. Lower and lower he went until he was driving her crazy with the movements of his tongue. Her fingers entangled in his hair, pushing his head in rhythm with her hips. Just when she thought she would go mad he stopped and helped her to a sitting position. Her fingers quickly undoing his belt as he pulled his shirt over his head. Lisa dropped to her knees and now it was his turn to hold onto the desk and moan she held him in both her hands as she licked and used her teeth to nibble him into surrender.

Lisa stood and pushed him onto the floor and straddled him. Riding him slowly at first and then more frantically until he rolled over on top of her. They were both mad with passion, Lisa scratching at his back and grabbing his bottom. He pumped wildly into her until they both came in each others arms.

They lay together for a while and then got dressed.William went back to Lisa's house where they made love again. This time slower and more deliberate. Early that morning they enjoyed breakfast, but soon they were dropping their robes, they ravaged each other in the kitchen and again later in the shower.

William never left......both had found what they were looking for.

As always i thank you for your continued support .

Sincerely,

Marguerite

xoxo!

Blog, Blog, go away, come again another day!

Alright ill be honest....i have been avoiding this blog like the plague.
I have no idea why.
Maybe because i have nothing pithy to say. Week's been very boring.
I guess i can tell you whats on the horizon?
Ohhh, i know what did happen, so for those of you that have read the book. I ran into Lalo!
Well in real life his name isn't Lalo but he is every bit exactly what i wrote about him , AND THEN SOME!
I've known this gentleman and  Santero Priest for maybe 20 years and even though i call him friend i had avoided time and time again to tell him he was in my book. YIKES!
Oh God please don't be mad was all i could  keep saying again and again inside my head.
But instead he was flattered and overjoyed!
As he yelled for his assistant "Charlie" to come and hear the great news. I had to explain all over again to both of them that i had written a romance novel and i wrote a character based on him and his faith.
I changed his name because its really not him but based on him and then a healthy helping of my imagination.
I don't think either of them heard or cared about what i was saying.
The only feed back was that i didn't write enough about him!Wow that could have gone so wrong ...you have no idea!
Next he requested that i  autograph a book for him of which i did. Im sure its going on one of his special alters.
So if starting this week my book sale jump through the roof, ill have a sneaky suspicion i know why.

Alright so i guess my week wasn't so boring.

So that's what happened this week and hopefully this week coming i will start work on my second book "Roxanne". Whereas the first book i considered romantic i consider this next book erotica!
But ill explain more about that later.

Sincerely,
Marguerite

Please Help!

Attention bloggers and followers of bloggers.
I have a new Facebook page and i really need YOU and your friends to "LIKE" it please.
When you are a new writer trying to build a brand, ads can only do so much.
What is still needed is good old fashioned grassroots word of mouth.
so the page name is "romantica by marguerite"
Thank you!!

Too Hot for Facebook!

Too Hot For Facebook

No, this is not a joke, and yes my book cover for “The Intern” was rejected.

It started innocently enough with a Facebook ad campaign my daughter Sunshine built for me.

With the intention to promote not only my “Romantica by Marguerite” Facebook page but also to continue to build sales and exposure for my 1st book.

That’s when we received the email…..We had violated Facebook’s decency clause! 

At first I was hurt, then angered.

A few hours later and after a glass of wine, I was kinda “ ok “with it and actually laughed thinking  well if they only knew what was inside!

Didn’t I want to be “Too Hot for Facebook” and actually I did.

But the craziness continued and Facebook had us look at the following criteria (see link) before they would have us try again. (Face book had sent the dirty ladies to detention. Imagine if they knew we were mother daughter)

http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=250509391644213

  

Ok call me crazy but my book cover didn’t show anything! Yes they were naked but it was waist up and not even cleavage could be seen.

Now, im not the kind of person to back down and even if I had been thinking it, being told I was rejected and their refusal to take my money PISSED ME OFF.

Alright plan “B” get another cover.

We started to look at images on line but I didn’t want to purchase any more artwork only to find out we would get rejected again.

So since the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, I asked my daughter what sexy boudoir pictures she had. FYI, nothing my daughters love more than sexy outfits and a camera shoved in their face!

And yes these are my daughter Sunshine’s legs!

We held our breath and submitted the new advertising book cover to Facebook and a few hours later we received the official email, “Congratulations your ad meets with our standards and you are approved”!

So the lesson learned here is “covered up nakedness is still naked” but “a silent come hither invitation to peek up ones raised up skirt” is good wholesome fun.

This concludes our class on “Mixed Signals” of advertising.

See you next time.