Not that I don’t love my kid lots, because I do. She’s actually pretty fabulous. And we have fun doing things together like hiking, exploring the city, shopping, etc. And just look at how she helped me out making promo chocolate (over 300 of them might I add!) for the Emerald City conference coming up shortly. Of course this is something she actually LOVES to do. It’s her idea of a good time.

Anyway, back to school again tomorrow. Then I can hit the gym and write some more (though I’ve gotta say I kicked butt this weekend doing writing sprints with some Twitter friends!). Hope everyone’s having a great week!

]]> http://www.shellistevens.com/blog/2010/09/06/three-days-off-too-many/feed/ 0 http://www.shellistevens.com/blog/2010/09/04/snippet-saturday-world-building/ http://www.shellistevens.com/blog/2010/09/04/snippet-saturday-world-building/#comments Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:03:05 +0000 Shelli Stevens http://www.shellistevens.com/?p=3160 Welcome to another Snippet Saturday! Today’s theme is World Building. When I write, I like to show my characters having fun. Doing something outside the norm. Here’s a fun little scene that shows my futuristic world in Need Me (my Kensington release that come out over the summer!). After you read my snippet, be sure to check out the others!

Nika has trained her body into a deadly weapon—the better to take what she wants from any world, especially the well-protected planet Belton. But the moment she sees Lt. Brendon Marshall, her weapon is turned against her. A man like him could incinerate a woman’s priorities with one look. And since he’s guarding the very object of her desire, it could be so simple to use him and never look back. As long as she can ignore a more intense pleasure than she’s ever known—and a wilder need than she’s ever imagined…

WARNING! These is a REALLY HOT book!

EXCERPT

The lift jerked to a halt and she swallowed hard.

“Time to go down now.”

Go down. The way he said it left no doubt of the double meaning. And at the moment, for the first time in her life, she actually had the desire to take a man’s cock in her mouth. Not any man’s, but Brendon’s. Never with her owners had she enjoyed the chore. Quite the opposite.

“Come, love.” His heated gaze ran over hers. “Let us slide and be on our way back to your room.”

Her cheeks heated and she gave a quick nod, turning and exiting the lift onto the slide.

The sudden realization at how high up they were sent a wave of dizziness through her.

“Gods, we are quite a bit in the air, are we not?” she asked, her voice tight.

How had she not realized her fear of the height would be so great?

“Easy, love. I’m right behind you. Just settle onto your bottom, and I’ll slide my legs on the other side of yours.”

She sat gingerly, gripping the edge of the slide’s high walls. Truly, there was no danger of falling off, but still, being able to see under her and over the slide—since it was clear—sent a wave of excitement and terror through her.

Brendon sat down behind her and the slide wobbled slightly, ripping a gasp from her.

“It’s all right. It’s quite safe.” He slid a hand around her waist and urged her to lean back against him.

She did, letting her head rest against the hard curve of his shoulder.

“Ready?”

“No, but I don’t suppose I have any choice now.”

“Not at all, seeing as the toddler is again on the lift at this very moment.”

She bit out a hoarse laugh. Surely if a child could do this, then she could.

“One,” he began. “Two.”

Before he could say three, he’d pushed them free and they swept downward on the slide at breakneck speed.

Nika shrieked as the ground rushed closer with each passing second. Her hair whipped back from her face and her nails dug into Brendon’s legs. The exhilaration and fear combined to make her pulse race and give her a complete feeling of being weightless.

She yelled the whole way down, clutching Brendon until they came to a stop at the bottom.

“Gods!” She laughed and scooted to her feet, pressing a hand against her chest. “That was amazing.”

Brendon’s face was alight with pleasure and he laughed, glancing back at the slide.

“I haven’t a clue the last time I went down that thing.”

Nika laughed harder. “You lied! I thought you went down daily.”

“Hardly. A grown man visiting the play equipment daily?” He made a face. “How scandalous.”

She swatted his chest and he caught her wrist, pulling her close.

“Shall we go down again on the sky-slide?” he murmured, sliding his hands down to her waist. “Or are you hoping for another sort of ride?”

The air escaped her lungs on a tiny puff, as moisture gathered heavy between her legs. “Most definitely another sort of ride.”

TJ Michaels
Shelli Stevens
Lissa Matthews
Lauren Dane
Ashley Ladd
Vivian Arend
Taige Crenshaw
Shelley Munro
McKenna Jeffries
Mandy M Roth
Jody Wallace

Anyway, I came home and was inspired to check my Amazon statistics. I found myself in a very lovely Lora Leigh/Jaci Burton and Nora Roberts sandwich in the top 100 romance best sellers. Amazon is fickle and changes pretty quick, so why yes, I did take a screen shot (you can click to make it big!). I’m still bouncing.

This is my cat Neo after the kidlet has play time with him…

I’d say I have a pretty patient cat. :P

Highborn Anna Arrington has been “following the drum,” obeying the wishes of her cold, controlling cavalry officer husband. When he dies, all she wants is to leave life with Wellington’s army in Spain behind her and go home to her family’s castle in Scotland.

Sergeant Will Atkins ran away from home to join the army in a fit of boyish enthusiasm. He is a natural born soldier, popular with officers and men alike, uncommonly brave and chivalrous, and educated and well-read despite his common birth.

As Anna journeys home with a convoy of wounded soldiers, she forms an unlikely friendship with Will. When the convoy is ambushed and their fellow soldiers captured, they become fugitives—together. The attraction between them is strong—but even if they can escape the threat of death at the hands of the French, is love strong enough to bridge the gap between a viscount’s daughter and an innkeeper’s son?

Buy links:

Direct from Carina Press

Amazon Kindle Store

Though the contract isn’t signed yet and there will likely be some changes, I posted a peek at the premise of my book (or the blurb I sent when I submitted!). Of course I’ll keep you updated on when this’ll come out and all that good stuff!

“Lingerie heiress” Brandy Summers is trying to live the simple life. But when her boyfriend Gordon suggests a quickie wedding while they’re in Vegas, complete with Elvis impersonator and inflatable arch, Brandy has second—and third—thoughts. Being thirty and single has to be better than marrying a reality show dentist who only loves her for her perfect teeth.

Kyle Vargas has given up the rat race to open a bar with his friend—determined to live a more uncomplicated life. Until he’s hijacked by a runaway bride who takes over his motorcycle…and starts to take over his life. He swore he wasn’t going to get involved, especially with a good girl wanting to turn bad, but he’s finding Brandy harder and harder to resist.

Now they’re both on the run from Gordon, who’s become surprisingly aggressive in his pursuit. As Brandy starts to let loose, she realizes that maybe being a bit naughty isn’t as horrible as she thought. But how long can a good girl be bad? And is Kyle really all he seems?

http://www.thebradfordbunch.com/

Holding Out for a Hero, Book 1

Eleanor Owen needs to get out of Chicago and quick. It’s not that she doesn’t want to obey the subpoena to testify against her drug-trafficking ex-boyfriend. It’s making it to the witness stand alive, should a dirty cop make good on his threats.

Tiny, remote Wyattsville, Oregon looks like the perfect place to disappear, but it’s hard to blend into the woodwork when one of the town’s infamous namesakes sends her heart racing. Worse, Mr. Tall, Hot and Packing is the town sheriff, which means she should stay as far away from him as possible.

Tyson Wyatt is positive the sexy new girl in town is hiding something. Question is, what? He vows to feel out her secrets—including what she feels like beneath him. Preferably naked. Until then, he’s not buying the story she’s selling.

Their chemistry is sheet-melting hot, and Ellie realizes much too late that the man with the badge is as dangerous to her heart as her ex is to her life…

Now Available at Samhain Publishing

Buy on Kindle

Buy at Books on Board

Buy at Barnes and Noble

EXCERPT

After climbing out of the patrol car, Tyson headed to the shop and then ducked slightly to get his tall frame under the pink overhang that was supposed to resemble the frosting on a cupcake. He entered just in time to hear his brother begging for food.

“Come on, Kate, just one chocolate cupcake,” Todd pleaded with his most charming grin. “Besides, have you supported your local firefighter today?”

Tyson rolled his eyes and approached the counter, wondering how many times his brother had used that line to get free food from Kate. Although, it probably didn’t help that Kate had been nursing a crush on the youngest Wyatt brother for years now.

And Kate’s scowl wasn’t convincing, because her cheeks were flushed as she muttered, “I support my local firefighter every day of the week! If I give you cupcakes all the time, Todd, I swear to God, I’ll be working for free.” Still, a moment later, she reached for one of the frosted treats.

“I’ll support the firefighters today,” Tyson intervened with a grimace. “Just put it on my tab, Kate.”

“Ty, when did you get here?” Todd turned away from the counter, cupcake in hand and flirting with Kate forgotten.

“Just dropping in for a few,” Tyson murmured, feeling a twinge of sympathy for Kate when disappointment flashed in her gaze. But then she lowered her head and busied herself with something behind the counter.

“Coming in for breakfast?” Trevor, the oldest Wyatt brother, called out from where he sat by the window, reading the paper. He’d driven down for the weekend from Fort Lewis in Washington State, where he was currently stationed in the Army.

“I would, but some of us work for a living.” Tyson grinned and scratched the back of his neck. “Got a question for you guys, though. Anyone know anything about the new gal renting the Bakemans’ place?”

Trevor shrugged, but didn’t lift his gaze from the paper. “Heard she’s hot.”

“Wait, what’s this about a new hot chick in town?” Todd asked, pulling out a chair at the table.

Annoyance had Tyson’s smile tightening. Usually the fact that Todd flirted with anyone with breasts amused him, but thinking about his younger brother dropping by Ellie’s place wasn’t quite as funny this time.

“Don’t know much about her. But I’m planning on remedying that,” Tyson admitted.

Trevor lowered his coffee mug as his brows rose. “Interesting. I do believe our brother just staked claim on the new chick.”

“Suck it, Trevor. I’m just saying—”

“That you think she’s hot and we should back the hell off. We got it, bro,” Todd inserted before taking a huge bite of his cupcake.

Tyson stared at them in disbelief, heat stealing up his neck. Staking his claim on Ellie? Hell, he didn’t even know her. All he knew was she was a stranger in town who ran from law enforcement. Which was not a good sign.

“Shit, you guys are impossible,” he grumbled. “Let me know if you hear anything about her.”

Then he turned to leave the shop and head back to his patrol car to see what dispatch had discovered.

Lauren Dane
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Shelley Munro
Taige Crenshaw
Vivian Arend
HelenKay Dimon
Jody Wallace
Shelli Stevens

So here’s the break down of my trip. I took the kid and niecelet over to Eastern Washington. We camped at Wenatchee State Park which was just beautiful and had a great lake! Yes, I dragged them away from the campsite daily to shop in quaint town of Leavenworth where I could also get my Starbucks fix. We did some mini hikes, went swimming, the usual camping stuff. And one day, we decided to drive for an hour or so to visit my niece’s grandma in Lake Chelan. Heck, I hadn’t been in awhile and it’s beautiful there, right?

Well…it was. Until these weird dark clouds started rolling in. And we’re like…hey, those kind of look like thunder clouds, but they weren’t in the forecast, were they? Yeah…anyway. So we decide to head back to the campsite. That’s when the thunder and lightening start. And then the rain. And it’s raining hard and fast. Soon we hit the main highway andtraffic starts to slow way down. I look to the side of the road and what do I see? These giant crates just floating–floating–down the street. Or pretty much river.  And within minutes, it’s pouring into the street.

It was kind of surreal, because I recently wrote a flash flood in one of my books. So I’m staring at this going WTF? Then I went…oh my god. I know what this is! And cars were turning around and trying to drive through it. And this river of mud was just pouring down the street. And I’m in this small Honda while all these trucks around me are just thinking they’ll wait it out. After a bit of panic I manage to steer through it and you can see the side of my car from the result. I’ve realized I’m a bit of a reporter, because as I was doing this, I was taking tweeting and taking pictures with my phone, or having my niece do it (kid (6) was freaking out in the back seat).

So we turn around, make it back to Chelan and try to wait it out in a pizza joint. But it never stops. And we come across some lovely people who offer to lead us on another road out (because the road we knew was soon closed due to the flash floods).

We made it out, driving in massive thunder and lightening and rain storms. And it was so fascinating and exciting. And not as scary once we weren’t trying to drive through a flooding street. My niece took pics of the beautiful sunset and now wants to become a storm chaser (yeah, my brother thinks I’m GREAT now).

But we survived and I’m totally excited to share the pics and blog! Yay!