My Sexy Saturday -- Happy Halloween!

This week's My Sexy Saturday blog hop postings are supposed to revolve around Halloween. Excerpts are supposed to come from spooky, scary, frightening, or chilling adventures where your hero/heroine meet and get into a lot of hot water or they're being chased by brain-eating zombies, etc. For those of us who tend to write more romantic-comedy than horror fiction, this can be somewhat of a challenge!

Here are seven paragraphs from my romantic-comedy Leaving Who... A scene where things get a bit on the scary side for Cici Connors when she sees her friends John Smith, Captain Mac and Babbling Brook as they really are and not as she normally perceives them.

Leaving Who
from Mojocastle Press

After touring the universe with the sometimes inept time traveler John Smith, Cici Connors wants one more thing—to go home. Will the imminent destruction of Earth throw a kink into her plans? 

“She looks different than when she first came through the door, you mean,” I repeated. “Please tell me she is one of your lot.” Before the words had left my lips the figure in front of me blurred and reformed into the image of tattered dress-wearing Idris, better known as the Doctor’s wife. “She’s… she’s done it again!”

Captain Mac sat beside me and put an arm around my shoulders. “Don’t fight it, Cici. Your mind is trying to find the best way to represent what she is. She’s a tough one to get a handle on—even for us.”

“You mean you see her as a multitude of personas, too?”

“I mean I see her like I’ve always seen her—like how I see John and myself. We’re not human so we don’t have to visualize each other as humans would.”

“You’re saying you don’t even remotely resemble the way I’ve imagined you?”

I looked at Mac’s hand resting on my arm. Suddenly the hand lost its five fingers as they melted together and began to curl upwards, rapidly changing from a human flesh tone into a bright mauve color. The arm became a tentacle and flowed into a solid blob instead of a torso. I willed myself to look into his face and then at the faces of John and our female guest…morphing and blurring into a pinkish, purplish, grayish mass of endless eyes and tentacle-like appendages and fangs dripping saliva and…

I passed out for the second time in as many days.

Leaving Who and Loving Who are available in e-formats and print from Mojocastle Press, Amazon and wherever fine ebooks are sold online. (Coming soon: Losing Who--is it the end for Cici and John Smith, or has Cici just lost her mind once too often?)

Enjoy the rest of the My Sexy Saturday excerpts!

http://mysexysaturday.blogspot.com

Down Home Love...An Excerpt from Country Boy, City Girl

Country Boy, City Girl

Veronica "Ronnie" Hawthorn has found peace at last in the Missouri Ozarks town of Green Springs, excited at the prospect of running her own arts-and-crafts store in an old farm house. But when city girl Ronnie "falls" into her handsome neighbor's arms, she is surprised to discover that country boy Dave Darden is one of the most eligible bachelors in America.

From Mojocastle Press:
http://www.mojocastle.com/country-boy-city-girl.html

"Readers will not be disappointed...You will be rewarded with a down home love story that will long be remembered."--Bridges Magazine

An excerpt from Country Boy, City Girl...
 

It feels good to be up to my elbows in mud again.

Ronnie sighed. Self-imposed pressure faded away as the rhythmic thump, thump, thump of the clay hitting the table surface over and over again lulled her into a blissful state of relaxation. The overwhelming strain she had endured these last ten months was forgotten as she vigorously kneaded the firm white clay in her small, yet capable, hands.


"Small hands, big heart," her mother had told her time and time again. Mama's heart had been big, too, but not strong enough to survive her last heart attack. How Ronnie wished Mama could have live long enough to see Natalie born.


Now was not a time for regrets. The stiffness in Ronnie's shoulders, the small pain at the base of her neck which usually signaled a tension headache coming on, simply vanished as she and the clay became one. A woman alone starting a new business venture, Ronnie felt every bit as malleable as her chosen medium.


Her full, rosy lips came together in a hum as she worked the clay ball over and over until the last of the air pockets were worked out. She rolled it over one last time, then unceremoniously plopped it onto the center of the wheel. She adjusted her work apron and sat down on the low stool, tucking a few stray blue-black hairs behind her ears before wetting her fingers in the jar of slip. A moan of pleasure sprang forth from deep within her as she sank her thumbs into the clay's cool center, gently nudging and pulling it to form the sides of the bowl.


Today was the first day of her new business and she wanted to always remember it as a happy one. The pitch of her humming soon matched the whine of the electric potter's wheel, tuning out troubling doubts and painful memories. The dusty, earthen aroma of the clay transported her thoughts back in time. She could almost pretend she was still in art school, long before she met Jim, fell in love, got married, had Natalie and buried her desire to become an artisan under a "soccer mom" facade. The Green Springs Arts and Crafts Gallery opened a new chapter in life for both her and Nat. Ronnie made a silent vow--this story would have a happy ending.


The haunted-house creaking of the back screen door instantly alerted her to another's presence. A little girl's giggle gave her would-be assailant away.


She grinned. Silly, Nat! She's sneaking up on Mommy to play "Guess who?" It was nothing short of miraculous. In the few short days since they had moved from the city to Green Springs, Natalie had left the sadness of her father's recent death behind and rediscovered her childhood. Ronnie couldn't wait to spring a surprise of her own on her playful six year old daughter.


Ronnie bent further over her work, pretending not to hear Natalie's approaching footsteps as they were heralded by the squeak of the old farmhouse's pine floorboards. Squeak, squeak, squeak. . . She stifled a laugh and kept her eyes focused on the clay, her reflexes readied for her own response. She sprang into action the instant a tickle of warm breath brushed against the back of her neck.


"Got ya!" Ronnie cried, spinning around on her stool, grabbing her attacker by the collar and planting the biggest, wettest, sloppiest kiss she could manage.


 Z-Z-Zap!


A jolt of electricity raced from her lips and traveled along the nerve highways of her body, awakening places inside she had believed were dead and buried along with Jim. Her eyes instantly flew open.
Surprise! These lips didn't belong to her daughter!


Stunned, Ronnie pushed with all her might against the stranger's wide shoulders but found herself held fast in his powerful embrace. She began to pound against him with her fists but her actions only caused him to crush her womanly curves closer to his muscular chest. His tongue entered her slightly parted portal and enticed an immediate response from within her, frightening in its intensity. Her mind was spinning so fast that she toppled off the stool and landed like a bag of clay into the newcomer's formidable arms.


It seemed an eternity before the stranger lifted his lips from hers, releasing her from his daring grasp. Ronnie melted onto the floor, her power even to protest this despicable interloper's brazen behavior vanquished.


"If this is how you greet all your male customers. . . then I'll lay odds this place turns a profit its first month..."

Country Boy, City Girl is now available from Mojocastle Press:
http://www.mojocastle.com/country-boy-city-girl.html

Country Boy, City Girl has come home at last!

Just released, my contemporary romance full-length novel, COUNTRY BOY, CITY GIRL

Veronica "Ronnie" Hawthorn has found peace at last in the Missouri Ozarks town of Green Springs, excited at the prospect of running her own arts-and-crafts store in an old farm house. But when city girl Ronnie "falls" into her handsome neighbor's arms, she is surprised to discover that country boy Dave Darden is one of the most eligible bachelors in America.

From Mojocastle Press:
http://www.mojocastle.com/country-boy-city-girl.html

Another Excerpt from Preachin' to the Choir

Happy Valentine's Day! Have you ever experienced a time when you wanted to to tell someone how much you liked them but dared not? Kat finds herself in this quandry in this scene from my latest contemporary romance... Enjoy!

Preachin' to the Choir 
by Cynthianna

A love story of "heavenly" proportions! Jonathan is preachin' to the choir, but will pretty choir director Kat let him? 

Available in all e-formats at Mojocastle Press:
 http://www.mojocastle.com/preachin-to-the-choir.html





In this excerpt, Kat goes jogging to get away from her thoughts about Jonathan, but somehow she can’t escape them...

“Get over it,” Kat muttered as she jogged across the field toward the entrance of the walking trail. Nestled in a small valley along scenic limestone ledges in a grove of live oak and ash juniper, the track
had quickly become the favorite pathway for pedestrians. She fell into an easy loping stride and allowed her mind to wander.

Tuesday’s piano lesson had had a mesmerizing effect on Kat. The feel of Jonathan’s arms around her waist, his hands touching hers, his breath warm and sensuous against her neck... She shuddered. Here it
was ninety-plus degrees, and she was actually shivering. Shivering with desire at the recollection of how Jonathan had made her feel Tuesday evening.

No man had ever made her feel so keenly aware of her body’s responses Kat realized, not Dirk, not B.B.not anyone. What was it about Jonathan that made her feel so alive? She had never seen Jonathan Rawlins in such a light before. Now he was practically all she could think of.

Kat halted and grabbed her knees, gasping for breath, at the first park bench located a dozen yards along the trail. God should strike me dead for such wicked thoughts, she moaned inwardly. She was lusting after
a man who was still mourning his late wife, his late wife who was a saint by anyone’s standards, and was still sorely missed by one and all. She should feel ashamed of herself. Really she should.

Yet, somehow, she didn’t.

Kat started jogging again. The exercise would purge her of these impure thoughts or at least make her too tired to act on them.

“You know, it wouldn’t be too forward of me to ask him over for dinner some night,” she reasoned aloud. “I could just tell him I wanted to make sure he was eating right.”

You could tell him that he’d never have to eat another meal alone. Ever.

Kat gulped and blinked hard, hastening her pace. Good Lord, her estrogen levels must be completely whacked. She was acting like a silly teenager who harbored a secret crush on her teacher. She was
fantasizing about becoming Jonathan Rawlins’s main squeeze.

“I’ve got to get over this.”

Kat tilted her head back and let the rays of dying sunlight streaming through the trees bathe her face with their warmth. She focused her concentration back into the tempo of her footsteps falling on the
path... Right, left, right, left, right, left... Up, down, up, down over the rolling hillsides...

Her breathing slowed. Presently, she felt a calming blanket of sanity wrap itself around her raging hormones. Her mind began to solve her present dilemma. It was all so simple. She was an adult—he was an adult. Two adults having the occasional dinner together was a perfectly natural, perfectly wholesome activity. Hadn’t he invited her out to eat
once before? She could say she was returning the favor. It wasn’t anything to be ashamed of.

“Look out!” a familiar male voice shouted, rousing her from her daydreaming, but it was too late.

Kat tumbled top over bottom over the large, man-shaped obstruction in her path. Sliding and tumbling in an unladylike jumble of limbs and legs among the carpet of woodchips, only to land spread-eagle on her
well-bruised backside.

“Kat? Are you all right?”

Jonathan’s voice sounded like it was coming from somewhere near her right temple, but Kat couldn’t be too sure. Was she hallucinating? After all, hadn’t she been thinking about Jonathan a moment before she
fell?

A large hand tenderly caressed her cheek. “Kat? Speak to me, please.”

Kat slowly opened her eyes and looked to her right. Jonathan Rawlins’ face hovered mere inches from her own.

Preachin' to the Choir is now available at Mojocastle Press
http://www.mojocastle.com/preachin-to-the-choir.html

Available at All Romance eBooks
https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-preachin039tothechoir-1404592-149.html

Available at Amazon
www.amazon.com/Preachin-Choir-Cynthianna-ebook/dp/B00I115J3I/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391552292&sr=1-1&keywords=Preachin'+to+the+choir

An Excerpt from Preachin' to the Choir

Preachin’ to the Choir

by Cynthianna
Available at Mojocastle Press

Jonathan could do nothing to aid his wife’s losing battle with cancer. With twenty years into the ministry, he can’t believe the Lord would leave him suddenly with both an empty nest and empty spot on the other side of the bed. 

Katrina, music teacher and mother of grown twins, feels settled in small town Texas. Life may be dull, but at least it’s predictable–unlike her life with her late ex-husband. “Kat” has come to the conclusion that if nuns can live celibate for years, then why can’t she make it the next fifty? 

One Sunday Jonathan sees a golden beam alighting upon a radiant Kat as she directs the singers. He hadn’t noticed how beautiful she was before! From here on out he knows that he’ll be preachin’ to the choir. But will Kat—and his congregation—let him? 

Excerpt: Kat tries to give a piano lesson to Jonathan, but everything seems to go wrong…

Kat caught herself the second before she practically threw herself into Jonathan’s lap. What the heck got into her? Was she openly flirting with her student? For some unknown reason the room had become stifling hot. She reached to open the top button of her blouse, then thought the better of it.

“Excuse me a second. I need to go check the A/C. Why don’t you go over the same measure again and try to make the notes sound more even, more connected this time.”

Kat dashed straight to the kitchen, where she promptly gulped down a large glass of water. Had it been the touch of Jonathan’s hands as they met hers, or the way he had looked deep into her eyes, like he could read her mind, that had affected her so?

Maybe this was all something hormonal? Her doctor did tell her the last time she came in for a Pap test to be on the look-out for hot flashes. More than likely the heat she felt pulsing through her frame, lingering a little longer than necessary in her belly, was simply caused by a power surge blanking her programmed thermostat and shutting down the air conditioning. She went into the hall, hit a few buttons and checked the read-out on the climate control panel. Funny, it seemed to be doing its job.

Rubbing the cold glass against her warm forehead, Kat intently listened to Jonathan’s playing in the next room. It sounded like he was trying to pick out the melody of Amazing Grace.

“You didn’t tell me that you could play by ear!”

Jonathan started at her entrance, but continued with his hunting and pecking. “No, I’m just using my fingers like I do on a keyboard. It’s not the most efficient way to play a piano, I’ve discovered.”

“You got that right. It does help, though, if you have some notion as to how the song you want to play goes already.” She crossed to stand beside the piano once more and waited patiently as he finished his impromptu concert. “There’s a beginner’s book of favorite hymns I think you’ll want to get. After a few pointers on how to read the music, you’ll be able to play a more recognizable version of Amazing Grace before you know it.”

His eyes widened. “You could tell what I was trying to plunk out?”

“If I can tell someone’s playing Mary Had a Little Lamb while missing practically every note, then I certainly can make out what you were attempting to play.”

“I’m that good, huh?”

Kat felt drawn to him like a magnet to steel. Her gaze settled on Jonathan’s full lips as he spoke. Would their touch be as electrifying as the feel of his fingers sliding over hers across the keyboard? “Good?” She blinked twice to break the warm, damp fog settling in her brain. She really needed to finish her nap. That explained it. She was sleep deprived. “Yes, I think you play quite well.”

Kat’s eyes drifted toward Jonathan’s lips again, then lower. Six foot three with hands that could easily reach twelve keys and possessed an almost magnetic touch… What kinds of things could he do with those hands?

Kat nervously pounced on the stack of sheet music Jonathan brought to the lesson. “Um, would you like me to play the version you brought?”

“Please do.” 

She sorted out the copy from the others and opened it across the music stand. “Sorry, but we need to switch places. I need to sit where you’re sitting in order to play properly.”

Jonathan stood and side-stepped over to the left to give her access to his stool. Kat flashed him a grin in gratitude and sat down without looking. Immediately she found herself deposited on her rear end. “Ouch!” she cried, rubbing her bruised tailbone. “I missed.”

“You seem to be doing quite a bit of falling on your backside lately.” Jonathan chuckled. Placing his large hands under her arms, he lifted her to her feet in one easy motion. “There you go. You all right?”

“I… I’m fine,” she managed, taking a step back. The warmth of where his palms contacted her bare flesh lingered, sending tingles of awareness down her arms. “I just need to adjust the height a little.”
Kat bent to twirl the stool in order to raise the seat. To her horror, it stuck.

Jonathan grimaced. “Did I break it? I apologize if I did.”

She straightened slowly and shook her head. “Don’t worry. It isn’t broken. It probably needs to be greased a bit. Why don’t we try relocating the bench?”

Jonathan swiftly removed the stool. Kat grabbed the bench and started dragging it into position. Without a word, both promptly seated themselves side by side, thighs touching.

Kat shuddered inwardly at the delicious sensation of Jonathan’s near presence. This isn’t the appropriate time or place for playing footsies, but wouldn’t it be nice sometime? Swallowing hard, Kat focused her attention on the music.

Just as she was about to turn to the first page over, there came a small moan of wood, then snap! The wounded bench decided it couldn’t handle their combined weight any longer. A back leg collapsed. The seat tilted left, throwing her against Jonathan’s hard body as they tumbled to the floor.

Preachin’ to the Choir now available in e-formats from Mojocastle Press and All Romance eBooks.

Preachin' to the Choir--now on sale at Mojocastle Press

 

 

 

 

A love story of "heavenly" proportions! Preachin' to the Choir now on sale at Mojocastle Press  

 

 Jonathan could do nothing to aid his wife’s losing battle with cancer. With twenty years into the ministry, he can't believe the Lord would leave him suddenly with both an empty nest and empty spot on the other side of the bed.

Kat, music teacher and mother of grown twins, feels "settled" in small town Texas. Life may be dull, but at least it's predictable--unlike her life with her late ex. Kat has come to the conclusion that a happy, committed relationship with a male is impossible thing, so she makes peace with herself and with God. If nuns can live celibate for years, then why can't she make it the next fifty?

One Sunday Jonathan sees a golden beam alighting upon a radiant Kat as she directs the singers… Why hadn’t he noticed how beautiful she was before? From here on out he knows that he’ll be preachin’ to the choir. But will Kat—and his congregation—let him? 

 

Preachin' to the Choir

by Cynthianna

Jonathan could do nothing to aid his wife’s losing battle with cancer. With twenty years into the ministry, he can't believe the Lord would leave him suddenly with both an empty nest and empty spot on the other side of the bed. Katrina, music teacher and mother of grown twins, feels settled in small town Texas. Life may be dull, but at least it's predictable--unlike her life with her late ex-husband. "Kat" has come to the conclusion that if nuns can live celibate for years, then why can't she make it the next fifty? One Sunday Jonathan sees a golden beam alighting upon a radiant Kat as she directs the singers. He hadn't noticed how beautiful she was before! From here on out he knows that he’ll be preachin’ to the choir. But will Kat—and his congregation—let him? - See more at: http://www.mojocastle.com/preachin-to-the-choir.html#sthash.euNixdC8.dpuf

Jonathan could do nothing to aid his wife’s losing battle with cancer. With twenty years into the ministry, he can't believe the Lord would leave him suddenly with both an empty nest and empty spot on the other side of the bed. Katrina, music teacher and mother of grown twins, feels settled in small town Texas. Life may be dull, but at least it's predictable--unlike her life with her late ex-husband. "Kat" has come to the conclusion that if nuns can live celibate for years, then why can't she make it the next fifty? One Sunday Jonathan sees a golden beam alighting upon a radiant Kat as she directs the singers. He hadn't noticed how beautiful she was before! From here on out he knows that he’ll be preachin’ to the choir. But will Kat—and his congregation—let him? - See more at: http://www.mojocastle.com/preachin-to-the-choir.html#sthash.euNixdC8.dpuf

Jonathan could do nothing to aid his wife’s losing battle with cancer. With twenty years into the ministry, he can't believe the Lord would leave him suddenly with both an empty nest and empty spot on the other side of the bed. Katrina, music teacher and mother of grown twins, feels settled in small town Texas. Life may be dull, but at least it's predictable--unlike her life with her late ex-husband. "Kat" has come to the conclusion that if nuns can live celibate for years, then why can't she make it the next fifty? One Sunday Jonathan sees a golden beam alighting upon a radiant Kat as she directs the singers. He hadn't noticed how beautiful she was before! From here on out he knows that he’ll be preachin’ to the choir. But will Kat—and his congregation—let him? - See more at: http://www.mojocastle.com/preachin-to-the-choir.html#sthash.euNixdC8.dpu

Jonathan could do nothing to aid his wife’s losing battle with cancer. With twenty years into the ministry, he can't believe the Lord would leave him suddenly with both an empty nest and empty spot on the other side of the bed. Katrina, music teacher and mother of grown twins, feels settled in small town Texas. Life may be dull, but at least it's predictable--unlike her life with her late ex-husband. "Kat" has come to the conclusion that if nuns can live celibate for years, then why can't she make it the next fifty? One Sunday Jonathan sees a golden beam alighting upon a radiant Kat as she directs the singers. He hadn't noticed how beautiful she was before! From here on out he knows that he’ll be preachin’ to the choir. But will Kat—and his congregation—let him? - See more at: http://www.mojocastle.com/preachin-to-the-choir.html#sthash.euNixdC8.dpuf

 http://www.mojocastle.com/preachin-to-the-choir.html

 

 

 

 

 

LEAVING WHO has finally arrived...

LOVING WHO has finally arrived and is ready for sale at Mojocastle Press. Once again, here are the short synopsis and link:

LEAVING WHO
by Cynthianna
Mojocastle Press
http://www.mojocastle.com/authors/cynthianna/leaving-who.html

After touring the universe with time traveler John Smith, Cici Connors wants one more thing--to go home. Will the imminent destruction of Earth throw a kink into her plans?

You can read excerpts from LEAVING WHO at Mojocastle's web site and at this blog, in the posting right before this one.

Also, you can read a very nice interview I did at Wanton Reads this week. Find out why I write what I write (if you dare). ;)

http://wantonreads.com/author-cynthianna-shares-their-story/

Enjoy your week! (I sincerely hope your spring weather is as nice as ours was today, too.)

A Sneak Peek at LEAVING WHO

Welcome to another "Sneak Peek Sunday" excerpt! Since tomorrow is Earth Day, and the release date of my long-awaited sequel to Loving Who, Leaving Who, I thought I'd share a few paragraphs from it to whet your appetite. (Get it? Earth Day--Doctor Who is always saving the Earth from disaster so we chose Earth Day as the release day? Okay... keep reading and possibly you'll catch on.) :)

Leaving Who is available from Mojocastle Press

 
After touring the universe with the sometimes inept time traveler John Smith, Cici Connors wants one more thing—to go home. Will the imminent destruction of Earth throw a kink into her plans? 
 
Excerpt:

“You want…more than…me?”
 
His wide eyes and quivering lip betrayed how stunned John Smith was by my revelation, but somehow he still sounded indignant. The depth of his self-love knew no bounds. I could see the first Doctor booming such an arrogant statement to his companions who, of course, would reply apologetically, “Right you are. You know what’s best, Doctor.”
 
But he didn’t always. And neither did my traveling companion. Sure, watching the embers of the universe flicker until they were no brighter than a dying campfire did bring a tear to my eye—but so did a good chick flick and PMS. After so many wondrous sights, I’d become jaded and bored. My Doctor substitute didn’t seem to get it. I took another stab.
 
“Yes, I need more than just endless travels, endless fascinating sights. I need structure and routine occasionally.” I spun around on him and gestured wildly. “I need to be with people who love me for who I am—and don’t try to pawn me off on an interstellar slave trader in payment for a rickety transmat booth.”

He glared down his nose at me. “I explained that to
you thoroughly, Cici. It was an attempt to get him to lower the price. No one should have to pay that much for such substandard transport.”

“You’re damn right!” My voice rose an octave, echoing off the transparent dome above us. “It was worse than substandard. I’m still picking the splinters of wood bark out of my hair. As much as I love to hug trees, rematerializing inside a trunk isn’t something I ever want to attempt again.”

 (To find out if Cici makes it home without splinters, you'll have to purchase the book!) ;)

By way of explanation about this fantasy romantic-comedy series: I'm a big Doctor Who fan and have always wondered what would it be like if a time traveler did visit Earth and ask me to come along with him on an adventure. Things wouldn't work quite as smoothly as they do on TV, of course, and my romantic alien time traveler might have a few foibles and habits that are hard to get use to... This is what Cici discovers in the first book of the series, Loving Who. In Leaving Who, Cici makes a decision--she wants to go home. Somehow, with her alien friend John Smith and his colleagues Captain Mac and Babbling Brook, you know it's just not going to be easy, but it will be funny.

Enjoy the rest of the fun reads on Sneak Peek Sunday!
http://sneak-peek-sunday.blogspot.com/ 

Update: Due to technical factors beyond even a Time Lord's control, the release date for Leaving Who is now scheduled for April 28, 2013. My apologies for the wait.  And remember, fezes are cool. ;)

Rebirths and Renewals

The last week of winter turned into a beautiful spring-like fest in the Midwest. It has greatly revived my spirits.

I’ve always liked the springtime. Spring is the season of rebirths and renewals. The tiny crocus flower pokes its tender green shoots above the cold soil, promising delicate purple blossoms within the week. The daffodils and lilies soon follow heralding Easter, the celebration of the resurrection of our savior—the ultimate rebirth, the victory of love over death itself.

On a more ordinary level, March brings a novel release from yours truly, the re-release of my romantic-comedy of errors Scrambled Eggs. The story starts out on a windy early spring day where our heroine Sharlene literally runs over the hero Zack on a street corner with a baby carriage. Yeah, you got that right--a baby carriage. I think the whimsical cover art depicts the scene pretty accurately, with equal amounts of humor, attraction and embarrassment evident.



To buy Scrambled Eggs head over to Mojocastle Press. You can read a short excerpt as well there.

Speaking of new releases, I’ve got a new domain name for my non-fiction site. The "old last name" is no more, since I've been married for almost nine joyous months to fellow author Adrian J. Matthews. The new domain name is CindyAMatthews.com and I have another re-release coming soon from Smiling Assassin Productions. My funny writer’s guide, The Curse of the Manuscript-Eating Slushpile Monster, which is currently available in e-formats from Uncial Press, will soon become available in a handy trade paperback print book. Retitled Defeating the Slushpile Monster, it contains the same helpful info as the Uncial Press e-book with the added bonus of a few extra tips from my booklet Straight Answers to Tough Writing Questions. Yes, wannabe writers you’ll get all this along with a great (and funny) new cover, too.



March really is the month of rebirths and renewals. Hopefully my fiction and my non-fiction books will help jumpstart my rather sluggish writing career. March being my birthday month as well, you might say I've "renewed" myself by turning another year older. Hmm... looking at all the candles on my cake, maybe I should have skipped that particular renewal, huh?

Happy Easter, y'all!

Winning Resolutions

Two silly authors mug at the camera on New Year's Eve



Happy 2010 everyone out there in blogland! I admit to being slow getting around to making my list of things I want to accomplish this year. And I have the same ol’ excuses as last year—no time, day job, stress, too much on my plate, etc. If I can suspend reality for a moment and pretend that everything in my “real world” is going smoothly, I can focus my thought processes on the important stuff—that is, creating romantic fiction and sharing it with my readers.

So without further ado…

1. I resolve to have at least one book release this year.

2. I resolve to write at least one new story, screenplay, novel or novella this year.

3. I resolve to keep up better with my online blogs, forum, newsletters, My Space pages, Facebook and Yahoogroups. (If I can ever figure out Twitter, I will try to keep up with that one as well!)

In order to meet these goals, I promise to:

1. Become better organized, particularly with my time.
2. Give in less to anxiety and frustration.
3. Focus more on the joy of writing rather than on the stress of not being able to make ends meet.

I’ve got at least two books coming out this year—so that’s one third of my resolutions met already!

Scrambled Eggs will be a Mojocastle Press release written under my "Cynthianna" pen name. Scrambled Eggs knocks the classic “secret baby” storyline on its head. Sharlene has fallen for the father of her unborn child--and she doesn’t even know it’s him!

Sharlene always wanted a baby, but her husband only wants a child to secure his position in his wealthy uncle’s will. A mix-up at the fertility clinic reveals his hypocrisy, prompting a pregnant Sharlene to strike out on her own.

Single Sharlene “runs into” struggling part-time college student Zack and falls for him. Will Zack love a child that isn’t his? And will Zack find the courage to tell Sharlene that he’s a former sperm donor and possibly the real father of her child before she goes into labor?

My second release in 2010, Seven for Seduction (written under my Celine Chatillon pen name), will be a Liquid Silver Books release in the coming months. It’s the story of Jodi and her co-workers in an all female office. One day, her boss hires Brent, a “token male”. Now it’s a free-for-all with every gal trying to get the guy first.

Jodi decides she’s not up for such shenanigans and refuses to play the game. But somehow it’s Jodi refusing to play that turns Brent on the most…

Moral of the story? Sometimes when you don’t try so hard you do win!

Here’s to all of our “winning resolutions” this year. Let me know what a few of your resolutions are, and I’ll toss your name into the hat for a free copy of Seven for Seduction or Scrambled Eggs when they come out. You’ve got nothing to lose playing this game. ;-)