Yep, you read that right. I have written a new novella, full of hot, hot, hot romance and featuring two wonderful characters who are finding their true love -- even if it does come a little later in life.

I know, I know. I said a few years back that Diana was done writing erotic romance. While it's true, I've been focusing on my epic fantasy (which is finished and has a title now! Threads of Earth and Sky, The Companion series, Volume I), sometimes one needs a little spicy romance to keep one's blood flowing.

So let me introduce you to Mary Elizabeth Flynn and Scott Henderson. Here's the blurb:

At sixty years old, Mary Elizabeth Flynn (Maisy to her friends) isn’t looking for romance.  The deep blue of the Mediterranean Sea, the coastline of Italy slipping by...what a wonderful, carefree way to spend a cruise. Maisy is grateful her friends talked her into joining them, especially when she meets Scott Henderson, tall, graying, and definitely handsome. Who is she to say no to a little shipboard romance?

ROMANTIC SEAS is now available for pre-order at Amazon and Smashwords (which has every format available, no matter what your ereader).

You want more? Oh, okay. Read on for a short excerpt:

Ever start thinking about a favorite book and think to yourself, "I wonder what ever happened to these people after the book ended?"

As an author, I'm lucky. I can go ask them.

Which is precisely what I did with Phillip and Sarah Townshend of Secret Submission and Submission Revealed fame (they also get walk-on roles in Services Rendered). I first "met" them in 2003, when I wrote and EC subsequently published my first book. Ten years later, I realized they'd be celebrating their Diamond Anniversary (10 years!).

So I went to see them - and discovered things weren't going so well.

Oh, they're still married and still love each other very much. But life has become...mundane...which makes neither of them happy.

Diamond Submission was the result of my visit. It's a short novella and was published just before EC's demise (EC stands for Ellora's Cave Publishing for those who are new). It was available only for a couple of months, so for many, this is a brand-new book.

And it will be available again for the first time in nearly six years.

You can pre-order a copy at Amazon, at Barnes and Noble, and at Kobo for $1.99 - that's a dollar cheaper than it will be when it goes live on May 29th.

Theoretically, it is also available on Apple Books, but I have never seen a site with such a poor search engine. I can't find ANY of my books there, yet I know I sell some through that platform because Smashwords says I do!

And speaking of Smashwords - they do not (yet) have a way to do pre-orders directly from their own site. If you want to get one from them directly, you'll have to wait until the 29th. Sorry for that. They're working on it. Soon, we can hope, it'll be an option there.

You may have noticed I've included no cover in this post.  That's because I'm doing a cover reveal via my newsletter on Friday (subscribers have known about the pre-order option for about a week - they always get info first, so if you want to sign up - click below). If you only read here, you'll have to wait until next Wednesday to see it. :)


Play safe - and stay safe (wear a mask - they're all the rage, which the BDSM community could've told you years ago!)
Diana

   

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It happens to all of us. We're going along just fine on a story -- the characters are talking, doing, reacting -- and then, BAM! They shut up. They freeze in position like a photograph in time. Everything screeches to a halt. Including you.

Writer's Block.

It happens so often, we've given it a name.

I don't get it often, but when I do -- I can sit on a story for years. Yes, you read that right. Years before I can get it to move again. The order in which books are released has nothing to do with the order in which they were begun.

I'm just coming off a several-year hiatus on my current work-in-progress (wip - an apt name for how I feel about it sometimes). The Companion is a book I started back in the '90's. I wrote several parts of it, changing the name of the main character, changing the setting, changing her attitude - but it wouldn't get off the ground. If I didn't like the story so much, I probably would've abandoned it all together, but the concept really had a hold of me.

But then I got published in the genre of erotic romance and I figured, "You don't want to cooperate? Fine, I'll go write something else."

So I did. Oh, I returned to it several times. Found a new place to start the story and wrote thousands of words on that draft. Even pitched it at a conference to an editor from Avon. She liked the concept enough to ask for the first three chapters (which I had) and a synopsis (which I didn't). I wrote the second and sent it off and she. quite rightfully, rejected it. It wasn't ready. I was still stuck on those early pieces I'd written, trying to work them in so I wouldn't have wasted my time.

Of course, that time wasn't wasted. I know the main character's backstory now and that informs much of what she's planning to do in the rest of the book. Perhaps someday those scenes will get published in a "deleted scenes" type book. That means, however, that I have to finish the main story.

Except that the characters of The Companion had stopped talking. I'd switched points of view (there are three main characters and switching between and among them helped move the story forward when I got stuck in the past. I'd ask myself, "Well, what does Kiera think about all this?" or I'd move to Martin's story and let him take the lead for a while.

That worked for a long time. For 145,000 words, in fact (about 450 pages). I played with format, I played with story arcs, I played with other parts of the story and each time I did, I managed to avoid getting stuck for too long a time. I'd leave one set of characters in their photograph and visit those who wanted to show me what was happening in their lives. Then, when they got tired and froze, I'd go back to the others and (usually) they'd be ready to talk.

And, to be honest, some of the writer's block is BIC problems. BIC = Butt In Chair. Having time dedicated to writing is part of it, but then again, the pressure is on to create. Creativity doesn't always come when you say, "Okay, I'm here. The computer file is open and I'm ready to go. Let's write!" So procrastination kicks in and I clean the house (see this post for more on that), I go grocery shopping, I scrapbook -- I have lots of procrastination tools. The key is not using them and forcing myself to stick my rump in the chair and write. Even if what I write is terrible. It can be fixed later. Just get words on paper.

Neil Gaiman, in his Masterclass, said, "You cannot fix a blank piece of paper," and that has become my mantra. Get the words down and fix them in the next draft. Taking several of the Masterclasses has helped me with the BIC and with the mental challenge of writing such a large story (this is an epic fantasy - and I'm about halfway through the first of what I suspect will be two books).

Yesterday, I went back to a tried-and-true method. I'd been stuck for several days. I knew what had to happen, but I couldn't figure out how to get to that point. I had snippets in my head but no string to hang them on.

So, I printed out the last two pages, pulled out a spiral notebook, made sure I had plenty of sharpened pencils, and got myself comfy in my overstuffed recliner and worked the old-fashioned way - in longhand. I teach my composition students that the brain works differently when holding a pen or pencil than it does when typing. Yesterday, I put that into practice - and wrote over a thousand good words before I was done for the day. Sometimes you just have to go old school.

So, have writer's block? Here are several ways to work around it:

•    Set the story aside and work on something else. If it isn't working, stop beating your head against it. You'll only get a headache.
•    Believe in your concept. That will prevent you from abandoning altogether.
•    Try starting the story (or scene) in a different place or time. Take the character(s) someplace else and see what happens.
•    Change the point of view. Either choose a different character or a different voice (switch from first to third person or vice-versa to get them talking again).
•    Stick your Butt in Chair.. Get the words down, no matter how bad they are. That's what the next draft is for. Keep writing.
•    Know your procrastination tools and don't give into them. They will lead you astray!
•    Go old-fashioned and get out the paper and pen (or pencil). Use a different part of your brain.

So, go write!
Diana

It has taken some time, but I finally have the last of my Ellora's Cave titles reformatted and available! Yay!!!

Services Rendered features Lauren and John, two veterans of the United States military, both of whom are adjusting to civilian life. A Civil War re-enactment introduces them and the sparks start to fly as the two discover love. One of my favorite books to write, I'm so glad this is finally available again!

Services Rendered takes place in the same world as Secret Submission, Submission Revealed, and Diamond Submission and features some of the same characters. One doesn't need to read the previous books, however, as Services Rendered can be read independently.

On a totally different note, I've been very remiss in keeping this blog up-to-date. Last year was a hard year for me. My mom passed away in January 2019 and that really set me back. While she'd been ill for quite some time, one is never ready when Death comes claim someone you love.

Different people handle grief different ways. How did I handle myself this past year? By cleaning.

Yep, you read that right. Cleaning.

First I helped my Dad clean out Mom's closets. Then I helped him move to a different assisted care place (and a much better one than where he was before!). That entailed a LOT more cleaning and winnowing. During both of these activities, I scrapbooked a lot of the documents my mom had saved over the years and created a notebook that tells the story of her life. Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but it helped me come to grips with not having her around. We used to talk for an hour (or more) on the phone once a week or so - more often for less time in the last few months of her life - and creating the notebook helped me with that.

Of course, I also taught classes, went on a glorious vacation with my daughter, spent a lot of time at the cabin with my husband, and learned a new video game from my son (Destiny 2, anyone?), so I lived my life as well as grieved my mom's passing.

What I did not do much of, was write. I needed to find my equilibrium - and took the year to do it.

Now, however, we have a new year, and a bunch of new news. If you haven't read my newsletter, I'll post an update here in a few days. So much to tell!

In the meantime, play safe!
Diana

After a nearly four-year hiatus, Cabin Fever is once again available in both ebook and print formats. It's now available on both Smashwords and Amazon - so pick up this long-lost treasure today!

Every fall I clean out the closet off my study. It's a nook tucked under the attic stairs and used to be a long, narrow, dark space with a pipe for a clothes rod running along one side, peeling plaster walls covered with wallpaper from the 1920's and older, and a door on both ends so one could get at the contents from both the bedroom that's my current study or from the main hallway (Queen Anne Victorian houses have weird layouts with lots of nooks and crannies). Sometime between 1894 (when the house was built) and 1994 (when we bought it) someone decided the drop-down ladder to the attic was "quaint" (which means "old and hard to use") and replaced it with stairs off the hallway side. Too bad they weren't built by a carpenter.

Not only are the stairs to the attic of different heights, but they don't go the full width of the closet, either. Nor are their depths the same. The first step up from the hallway is nearly 11 inches in rise and around 18 inches in depth. The top two steps are shorter (only about 4 inches high) and deeper (nearly two feet deep for the second from the top). Those first steps are the full width of the doorway, but two steps up, they narrow and there's a "shelf" of sorts that is stuffed with insulation and spiders.

Of course, this oddity of a staircase takes up room out of the closet. From the peeling wallpaper that covers the drywall used to smooth out the surface under the stairs, I suspect this work was done in the 1920's, at the same time other major upgrades were made to other parts of the house (upgrades that were then upgraded in the 1970's. I wonder if the workmanship on those other parts was as...interesting...as that of the attic stairs?

The heavy pipe was left in place, running the full length of the closet, although the last foot and a half run in the six-inch space left by narrowing the stairs (why didn't they take out the rod and widen the stairs? It's a question for the ages...). And the old wallpaper from the latter part of the 19th century was left there as well. Only the "new" section of drywall was covered with new paper - and it ain't new anymore.

This was the condition we found the closet in when we moved in all those years ago. Long, narrow, dark, with a pipe running along the side and a rickety shelf above it. A painted wooden floor and the backside of a staircase cutting a diagonal from just over the bedroom door all the way down to the far end. And guess what?

It still looks that way.

I know, you were expecting me to speak of some major makeover and believe me, thoughts of turning it into a pretty space have run through my head on several occasions over the last 24 years. I've thought of taking off the door and lining it with more shelves for books (because, have you seen my study? I don't have nearly enough shelves). I thought of making it reading nook, an efficient storage space, and a playground for the kids (although their grown now and that one's off the table).

But the reality is, it's a storage closet and the place where Mommy (me) hides all the Christmas presents. Funny thing is, the kids have always known there were presents in there. Sometimes I'd post a note on the door that said so and that they shouldn't peek. I asked them a while ago if they did. Peek, that is. Both of them said the same thing. "No, I didn't want to spoil the surprise." I love my kids.

It holds more than Christmas presents, of course. All the physical copies of my books are there - the copies I sell at booksignings when I bring my own books - as well as all promo items that I give away. It also holds boxes of photos I don't want to put in the attic with its extreme temperature variations, spiral notebooks that are only slightly used, folders, binders and assorted puppets (don't ask!).

My hubby and I went to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island this summer (you can read some and see some pictures here and here) and not only bought souvenirs, we also bought Christmas presents. And then we made a day trip  to Corning, NY and walked Market Street - and bought some more. And I've seen some things online, and I recently bought new copies of some of the newer print books, and...you see where this is heading, right?

My book stock currently stands at:

Title	# of copies	cover price
Diamond Studs	5	$10.00
Dominance	5	$10.00
Getting What She Wants	4	$10.00
Hardship and Hardtack	6	$10.00
Love and Learn	4	$10.00
Love Unleashed	9	$10.00
Shooting Star	5	$10.00
Stress Relief	5	$10.00
Submission Revealed	5	$10.00
Table for Four	5	$10.00
Tales from the Temple III	6	$10.00
Tied Bundled	5	$10.00
Winter Studs	4	$10.00
Winter's Tales	9	$10.00

Yep. I'm selling them all at ten bucks a piece plus shipping and handling ($3.00/book). I don't have an online store set up, but I do use PayPal. You'll see some older, EC titles on there as well as newer ones. Two more titles will be added to the list before the end of the month.

If you'd like to place an order for a signed print copy, email me at diana@dianahunter.net with BOOK SALE in the subject line. Include the titles you want to purchase, the number of copies you want, and the address you want them sent to and we'll go from there.

And I promise, I'll look into setting up a decent, easy-to-use, online store. If you know of any, drop a comment below!

So I've taken stock - and put it all up for sale. Merry Christmas!

Play safe,
Diana

Secret Submission began life as a series of short pieces I wrote when I couldn't find any BDSM stories online that showed a loving relationship. All I could find back then (the early 2000's) was porn. Now, don't get me wrong - porn has its place. But it wasn't what I was looking for. When I complained to a friend, he suggested I write my own - and Secret Submission was born.

A few months later, I was looking for a home for an historical I'd written (Hardship and Hardtack) and came across a back page for Ellora's Cave. On it, was the email addy of their new Senior Editor. It got me thinking about that sequential series of stories I'd written that explored a woman's struggles to understand the BDSM lifestyle and why she was so attracted to it.

I sent off an email (which sounds so cavalier - in reality, it took me over an hour to write it as I agonized over every phrase!) - to my surprise, I got an answer about three hours later - on a Sunday night, no less. Response? She wanted to see my manuscript!

Not only was the quick reply unexpected, but I was so used to rejections for my historical, I didn't really expect anyone to want to see anything I'd written. Problem was, the manuscript wasn't organized into chapters, it wasn't even formatted well and it could use a good spellcheck - and it was nearly 10:00 on a Sunday night. What to do?

Call in sick to work on Monday, of course! I took the morning, whipped the first three chapters into shape and wrote a synopsis, and then stared at my responding email for a good twenty minutes before I summoned enough courage to hit "Send." I knew better than to get my hopes up - and the website said there was a 4-6 week period before getting responses, so I promptly attempted to put the whole thing out of my mind. The next day I went off to school, taught all day, came home and opened my email without expectation.

So you can imagine my surprise when there was an email from Ellora's Cave, offering to buy my book. I had pitched it as a two-book series and admitted the second book wasn't written yet, although the outline was. Because it was going to be two books, the first book didn't actually have much of an ending. The editor told me I had to change the end of the first book to a Happily Ever After. And they were only buying the first book. When I wrote the second, they'd consider it.

I was ecstatic! No problem in changing the ending to the first book, since I hadn't written it anyway. Oh, I'd made up an ending for they synopsis, but hadn't actually written it. My husband and I discussed a pen name since he is quite well-known in the community and I was teaching high school English at the time. Neither of us was in a position to let it be widely known I was about to be published as an erotic romance author.

I spent every evening and the weekend finishing the book and putting the rest of the short episodes into chapter form. By the following Sunday night (a week after that first email), it was ready to send to the woman assigned to be my regular editor - Pam Campbell. Pam was wonderful and we worked together on almost every book I wrote for Ellora's Cave. I miss her guidance.

Submission Revealed, which was always planned to be the second book, and for which I'd written the synopsis back in that quick week of May, 2004, didn't actually end up getting written until four years later and was released for the first time in May, 2009. Too many other stories crowded in between, demanding they be told. EC's art department was in transition at the time and I never liked the cover they provided. Secret Submission's cover was striking - and I never could figure out why they didn't do a visual tie-in with the covers so readers would know the two were related.

Hence the new covers for both books. While the design of Secret Submission is much the same as the original, the photo is different (I could've used the original, but the photo quality wasn't sharp anymore, so I replaced it). Submission Revealed's cover now aligns with the first book in the series, so you can tell they're partners.

So here they are, re-covered and re-released - all bright and shiny and new again. Both are available in all ebook formats. Happy reading and, as always -

Play safe!
Diana

PS. Submission Revealed is also available in print. Secret Submission is coming soon in print format.

It may have seemed as if I stopped writing, but I really haven't. I've just taken on a bit more than I wanted this semester and am teaching three classes. Doesn't sound like much, does it? Except they're timed so that I'm out of the house Every Single Day. Grrr. Won't make that mistake again. I retired for a reason - I want to write full time!

It has come to my attention, however, that the purchasing page was woefully out of date. That has been rectified. You can now find the page links to Stress Relief, Love Unleashed (which you can also get in print!), and This Journey We Call Life as well as all my other currently-released titles.

Cyber Monday sale!

Of course, Cyber Monday is coming and we're going to start a day early. Those three titles are all on sale for 50% off from today until Sunday, December 3rd. Just go to Smashwords and use the coupons below to get your discount. Remember, you can download any format you need for any device you use.

Stress Relief - coupon code   FS68Z

Love Unleashed - coupon code  YC24K

This Journey We Call Life - coupon code   HJ94B  
BTW, did you know the cover for TJWCL was painted by my husband? The painting hangs in my work room at the cabin. :)

But wait! There's more!

And if you're looking for Christmas stories, don't forget the 12 Days of Christmas (Bondage) and A Devil in Winter, also 50% off!

12 Days of Christmas (Bondage) - coupon code   HG45W

A Devil in Winter - coupon code FN46E

Once you've read it, please return to the site where you purchased it and leave a review. Remember, we authors live and die by the number of reviews a book gets. Be honest and tell the world what you thought!




And while you're at it, pre-order Stress Relief - which will be available on October 8th - on both Amazon and Smashwords.. This is a full-length erotic romance that couldn't be further away in genre from the short stories. In fact, this might be the most extreme BDSM story Diana Hunter put her name to (the even more extreme belong to Mystic Shade. Woof!).

Happy reading and Play Safe!

Diana

BG #1 - Finish one of the two fantasy novels already begun. They are huge already and there is more to be written.

BG #2 - Re-publish my backlist titles, one a month. Now that Ellora's Cave is officially no more, all my books have reverted to me (that means I own all the rights to everything again).

BG #3 - Write more short stories. Again, one a month is the goal. I'll be happy with ten for the year.


Regarding BG #1 - So far I've worked on both. Still not sure which one I want to concentrate on. Will continue to flip between worlds until I make my decision. But both stories will require multiple volumes (two or three at least). Don't worry, each volume WILL stand on its own. I HATE books that don't end!

Regarding BG #2 - This month's re-release is HOOKED and it's now available on both Smashwords and all Amazon markets. Click the title for an excerpt and for Amazon links in countries other than the US.

Regarding BG #3 - Watch for a brand-new story this Friday - part of the First Fiction Friday series of short stories. As always, it goes live at 12:01 Friday morning and will stay up until midnight Friday night. Read it while you can!

If you miss it, don't worry. All FFF stories will be available shortly in a single collection. Watch this space for more info as we get closer to summer!

Play safe, everyone!

Diana

Cyber-Monday is coming - the online answer to Black Friday - and the best part is, you don't have to leave your home to order the presents you want to buy. Whether buying for your Great-Aunt Mabel or looking for something for your best friend and confidant, have I got something for you!

Okay, that sounds like I'm selling watches on the street corner while looking over my shoulder, waiting for my lookout to cry, "Cheese it, the cops!" It is, however, true. Come Monday, check out my books for some exciting sales.

You don't have to wait until Monday, however, to pre-order (on Amazon and Smashwords) WINTER'S TALES, my newest collection of stories all bundled together into one volume. Three hot stories for those cold winter's nights, each of them featuring characters to fall in love with and sex scenes to set your blood a' blazing.

First up is A Devil in Winter where poor Kevin "Devil" Winter kidnaps the younger, nosy sister of the woman he loves - and then discovers maybe he's been running after the wrong woman after all.

Then starts Winter Break, where Dr. Lynn Bintner, PhD. is sooo ready for the semester to end so she can have some time to herself before she discovers a long-lost love who promises to make her time so much more interesting.

And rounding out the trio comes 12 Days of Christmas Bondage, twelve stories of hot BDSM throughout the ages - from England before the American Revolution through the centuries. Join these men and women as they explore the boundaries of forbidden sex.

Want to get WINTER'S TALES in print to give as a present? You can do that, too - and you don't need to wait until Monday - it's available now!

Check back on Monday for some sweet Cyber Monday deals on my other books, too. In the meantime - pre-order your copy of WINTER'S TALES now!

Play safe,
Diana, who really hopes you'll forgive her poor attempts at being a huckster. Clearly she should not give up writing books as her abilities writing ad copy are...limited. :)

PROMISE FOR NOW, formerly a Quickie with Ellora's Cave Publishing, is once again available for purchase. Yay!

I had fun writing this one (okay, so I have fun writing them all. Otherwise, what would be the point?). Brian and Carol, the two protagonists are not based on any particular person, but their houses are. I have friends who used to live in the suburbs and, when visiting them one day, this story popped into my head. Inspiration can come from anywhere!

Click on the picture or use this link to read an excerpt or to purchase. Available in all formats!

Play safe,
Diana

PS. The rights of several of my books previously published by EC have returned to me. My goal is to republish one a month. Watch for a boxed set in November!  ~ Diana

They're here!

Yes, I used the plural. Why? Read on...

As long-time readers, you know the Sizzling Scribes created the fictional town of Port Clef, Connecticut and then we wrote several stories set there. Each book has, at its core, the two wonderful ladies who run The Sweet Spot, the town's bakery/confectionery shop. My contribution to this series was Tied to Home, a novella where we meet Matt and Wiste, two used-to-be lovers who find each other again.


Upon a re-read of that novella, however, I discovered that Wiste's best friend, Emily, got short shrift. She appeared at the beginning of the book, then dropped out and is never heard from again. Poor Em! To make it up to her, I asked her to tell me her story - and she spoke volumes! In Tied in Knots we get to see, not only how things turned out for Matt and Wiste, but we get to meet Dr. Luke Fitzgerald, a hunky relationship counselor who very much needs Emily's massage therapy.

Because the two books are related, Tied to Home needed a new cover. Many kudos to Lynn LaFleur for designing all three covers.

Three covers? But, Diana! You've only mentioned two books so far!

Oh! Did I forget to mention you can purchase these books bundled together? Since one is a sequel to the other, it made sense (to me, anyway) to offer both books in a bundle in both ebook and print formats. 

That's right! If you'd like a copy of these two books for your bookshelf, you can get them in a single print volume! Of course, you can also get the bundled set in ebook form as well. :)

So, a new cover on Tied to Home, a new release in Tied in Knots, and a bundled set that's available in both ebook and print. Whee!

PLEASE! Once you've read either (or both - or all!) the books, return to the site where you purchased it and leave a review. Good or bad. Reviews help authors get seen. 


Play safe!

Diana

Now that my newsletter readers know, I can announce it to the world, WINTER BREAK, my newest novella, is now on sale!

That's right. Followers of this blog know this story's story. After a second round of edits, Lynn and Tony's story is finally finished, formatted, and ready for you to read.

It was fun writing a story with (somewhat) older characters. These two are in their early forties and have a romantic, sexy, fun-filled past that now comes back to haunt them. Love rediscovered, though, can conquer the mistakes of their youth, right?

Buy links are here, as is an excerpt from the story.

Of course, if you've signed up for my newsletter, you already know there's a sale going on. Click here to get a 20% discount not only on WINTER BREAK, but on several other of my Christmas stories as well. And if you're not signed up for my newsletter (which goes out 4-6 times a year - no inbox spamming!), you can use the form below to subscribe and get these deals faster.

Subscribe to Diana's mailing list

Deciding not to do NaNoWriMo this year turned out to be a good decision. Life has a way of taking unexpected turns, doesn't it? And sometimes decisions you make for one reason end up being the right one for very different ones.

WINTER BREAK was in edits at the beginning of the month and my second Sweet Spot book was half-written. The initial reasoning for not participating had to do with those two stories. A few days in, it had become obvious that the editing time and the writing time would conflict, so I bowed out of the annual, wonderful write-in that is NaNoWriMo.

And then an aneurysm burst in my brother's head and everything else took a backseat.

Editing is easier to do than writing when a crisis occurs. So WINTER BREAK will release before the end of the month, as promised. But the Sweet Spot story? I haven't written a word on it since November 9th, when the world turned sideways.

Mike's not doing as well as we'd hoped. The initial surgery to repair the aneurysm went well - he woke afterward and spoke with the nurses and the doctor in ICU. But a short time later, his brain swelled and they had to take him back into surgery. He hasn't been awake since.

Modern medicine is a true marvel. What they were able to do (and are doing) is nothing short of amazing. But hard decisions are coming on us and it's very difficult to be creative when they loom in one's thoughts.

The upshot? WINTER BREAK will be released in less than a week (Yay! A bright spot!!!), but the still-unnamed Sweet Spot story will be delayed until after the New Year. You'll like it, though. Remember Emily, Wiste's best friend who is her safety when Wiste does her self-bondage? She got short shrift in TIED TO HOME, so I decided she needed her own story. Good thing she meets a hunky psychiatrist who has only recently hung up his shingle in Port Clef...:)

Keep my brother in your thoughts and prayers, if'n you would. Thank you.

Play safe,
Diana

PS. A special treat for those of you who read this far. Click on any of the links above for a sneak peek at WINTER BREAK. :)

I told you this book would be out before the end of the week and I made my self-imposed deadline right on target.  HER MASTER'S VOICE (Book2) is now available on Amazon, Smashwords, and at A1AdultEbooks in all formats (well, except at Amazon where you can still buy only in the Kindle format -- silly Amazon!).

I started these two books on June 30th. Well, I started a book on June 30th. But it got towards the end of July and I realized these two had more story in them than just the one volume. They kept talking, so I kept writing. The result? 99,000+ words between the two volumes of hot sex, intriguing characters and some controversial topics.

Don't forget to leave a review on whatever site you buy the book from. Good, bad, indifferent, reviews drive the numbers, so the more, the merrier!


Play safe!
Diana

PS. If you want to check out Mystic's other books, she has her own page right here.

As you know, I wrote both of the HER MASTER'S VOICE books one right after the other. Originally intended to be a single book of about 55,000 words, the characters had far more to say (and do!) and just kept going. They wanted not one, but two books all to themselves. And, if Emma has her way, she's going to demand another in a couple of months, you watch!

Book 1 of HER MASTER'S VOICE is available in all formats from Smashwords and A1Adultebooks (where it is climbing the bestseller list. A few more sales and it'll reach silver status!!!). It is also available at Amazon, although we'll see how long that lasts. OVER MY ENSLAVED BODY is still banned, although some people seem to find it now and again. I think the page still exists, but you might have to go to Canada to buy it. :)

Book 2 of HMV is also complete as of last night. I'll wait a few days, read it through again for typos and wordsmithing, then publish it at the end of this week. Thought, however, you might enjoy seeing the cover. Obviously Mystic has a style to her covers, making them unmistakably hers. Diana's looking at redoing all her covers so they can be distinguished (branded) as hers as well. One of these days... :)

By the way, Book 2 can be read independent of Book 1, but if you're like me, you'll want to read them in order. It's my OCD coming to the fore. Gotta read from the start of a series straight through to the end. No jumping around for me!

Watch for HER MASTER'S VOICE, Book 2 -- Coming soon!

Play safe,
Diana

HER MASTER'S VOICE (Book1) is now available at Smashwords and Amazon. This is a Mystic Shade title and please, be warned! It is not for the faint of heart. While there are elements of romance in it, it is primarily an erotica book, so there is lots and lots of sex. Lots of sex. Did I say it has sex in it? :)

HER MASTER'S VOICE introduces a new Dom into the world of slave traders. Malachi Montgomery works differently his best friend, Jake Kariola, but his goal is the same: to allow women the opportunity to shuck their worldly cares and enter a life of sexual slavery. His current slave-in-progress is Emma, a web designer who's looking for a way to serve her fellow man.

This was a fun story to write. I started writing this book on June 30th and completed it before the end of July. But these two characters had a lot (a LOT) more story to tell, so we kept going. Book 1 of this new series clocks in at 47,000 words and Book 2 currently stands at 49,000 before editing. FOr those of you following me on Facebook, the word counts I've been posting? Were for these two books.

What??? You're not following me on Facebook? Click the link in the top right corner and join the fun!

So, a whole new series of books that are very naughty, very sexy, very erotic. Just remember that Mystic likes to push the envelope and her stories contain BDSM activities taken about as far as they can go. You've been warned!

(NOTE: Jake Kariola, Malachi's best friend, has his own series. Over My Enslaved Body, Traitor Slave, Fully Owned and Training Two are all his.)

Excerpt? You want an excerpt? Oh, okay...What follows is a tame one, since Blogger would blow up if I posted a truly hot part of the book.

HER MASTER'S VOICE (Book 1 excerpt from Chapter 1)
by Mystic Shade
All Rights Reserved

So on Sunday, I got to the Romanticon bookfair to set up my signing area and ten copies of this book are sitting at my spot. Talk about a wonderful surprise! Print copies were done up just for the convention so attendees got sneak peeks at what's coming.

Isn't this a great cover? I love the starkness...the arrangement of positive and negative space with the title (and my name!) so clearly defined.

Slated to be released on November 14th, this print book contains four, count 'em...FOUR of my shorter works:
Love in the Afternoon, Promise for Now, Hooked and Stitches in Time.

Two of these stories were in print in the past. Stitches in Time contains one of my favorite characters, Seamus O'Brien, a leprechaun of love-making nature. Originally written for the Irish Enchantment anthology, this novella is still one of my favorites (don't tell my other books that!).

Hooked was first a novella released in ebook only, but then was bought by Penguin when they were thinking of getting into the erotic romance market. As one of the books they bought, it was included in the Getting What She Wants anthology, along with stories by Scott Carpenter and Chris Tanglen. I always liked being sandwiched between two men! Hooked is the story of Tania and Jim. One likes it fast and hot, the other prefers slow and sexy. I think you might be surprised which one likes which.

Love in the Afternoon and Promise for Now are both Quickies that pack a lot of heat into a shorter read. The unnamed characters in the first story enjoy a full afternoon of sensuous activity whereas Carol, in the second story, realizes that her recent divorce now gives her permission to explore her options with her sexy neighbor. ;)

Get out your calendars and mark it down...November 14th, this compilation of four stories goes on sale!

Sidenote: the books at Sunday's sale had a misprint on the back cover of the book. Only three of the four stories was listed (Stitches in Time was inadvertently left off). So those of you who bought the book then, hang onto it! There are only ten of the misprinted covers in existence - and who knows? They might be worth something someday! :)

Play safe...and go mark those calendars!

Diana