Tuesday, February 26, 2013

On the road to

As most people know, my husband and I are in the process of adopting a baby. For years, we'd gone through fertility treatments and the process was rough. Really rough! After many of years of this, we decided to give my body a break, not to mention the psychological toll these treatments take on your mind, and spirit, and pursue adoption. Well, if I thought in vitro was grueling, adoption is worse. I truly believe if people who are having natural children went through half of this shit there would be a lot less children in the world.

1. The questions- These people want to know everything and I do mean everything! They grill you on every aspects of your personal life from birth. Have a parent pass away? They want to push and probe you about the whole experience? How did you feel? Why didn't you go to therapy? When we met, supposedly for the last time Thursday, someone had already read the report and had questions. They wanted to know the years my dad and the husband's parents passed away in the report. Why? Can't really tell you? Does that make a difference on what type of parents we would be? Don't think so!

2. The "person" wanted my pen name in the report and what types of books I write. Again, what does this have to do with anything? Don't know?

3. The home inspection- Do you know what temperature your water is set at? Well, they need to know this. When I asked why, this was what I was told. "It's a scalding issue. If the baby turned on the faucet with the hot water, we want to make sure the baby doesn't get burned." If a baby dragged a chair over to the kitchen faucet, turned in on, pushed the knob to the left to activate the hot water, all under the nose of me and my husband in a house the size of shoebox, we don't deserve a child. She didn't get to go downstairs because she herself is 9 months pregnant and we don't have a railing going to the stairs. Oh BTW, we need a railing in case the baby needs to go in the basement. Why would a baby need to go into a basement? So the other day, I inspected the hot water heater, knowing it's on the hottest setting because let's face it. If your hot water isn't hot enough to steam up your bathroom, it's not hot enough for me. I tried an experiment. I turned the water down from "6" to "4". I couldn't even take a bath last night. The water never got above lukewarm.!! Experiment a total failure.

4. Wallpaper. Do you have wallpaper in your house? Because they don't like it. What if the baby starts to peel the wallpaper and put it in their mouth? That's got to go!!!!

5. Guns? My husband is a target shooter and a very good one at that. It's one of his hobbies. You don't even want to know the hoops for this little bit of information. When my husband volunteered this information, I almost swallowed my tongue but he was right, when we were fingerprinted and a BCI check performed on us, it would have come out. Oh, did I forget to mention, we had to have a criminal check?  Yes, you have to pass a criminal check to have a baby! Eighteen years ago, my husband was pulled over for speeding and refused a breathalyzer test. He now has to write a paragraph explaining what happened. I'll tell you what happened. We had a beautiful cherry red Camaro, he was young and thought he could race down a town street! The car went back to the car lot the next day! But really??!!

6. Have any animals? Make sure all of their shots are current!

So basically, my plans for writing over vacation went out the door! But I have a whole list of things to do!

Peace out,
MRD

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day

I know this might shock some people but I really don't like Valentine's Day. I think it's a totally commercial holiday and all hype. Recently I've lost count of how many times I've seen commercials for  diamond engagement rings. The market is flooded with them. You can practically buy roses on every street corner and stores are bloated with red and pink cards professing love. This is a lot of pressure to put on people.

To me, love should be expressed every day and it doesn't have to include a diamond! A handwritten card can express love just as much as a store bought one. Every day actions speak louder than words, or cards, or chocolate.

Cherish each other every day and make every day special!

Oh, and by the way Happy Valentine's Day!

MRD

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

The winner of The Heartbreakers blog hop is...


Hi all,
The winner of the Heartbreaker Blog Hop is ... Kelsey Summer. She wins a copy of Bound in Evil and a $10 GC to Secret Cravings Publishing to buy some books. I will be contacting her to find out which form she needs of BIE.

This weekend was harsh. I missed most of the blog hop and many things going on in the world. We had a blizzard here over the weekend and while everyone got slammed by snow, it appears that my small corner of the state got walloped. We had over two feet of snow. For those of you that know me, you know I detest the stuff. I find it cold, bleak, and not pretty at all. My husband laughed at me as I complained about the first flakes of snow falling. Then one of the worst things happened. We lost power. No power means no heat! By the time my power came back on, the thermostat in my house was registering at 40 degrees. If it was that cold on the outside, I would think nothing of it but when it's the temperature of the inside of your house, it's friggin cold!!! I also have to say that this weekend did not bring out the best in me and Mr. Marie. We fought for at least two of the three days we were without power. It wasn't the cold that broke him. It was the lack of electronic entertainment. Me, it was the cold. You would think that with nothing to do, writing would have been a priority but when you're cold, you think of nothing else than getting warm. So no writing was done but I'm starting to get back into the groove. Hopefully, it will last!

Peace out, 
MRD

Friday, February 8, 2013

Heartbreaker Blog Hop


I can't think of a better time to be a writer than around Valentines Day. A day set aside to show your loved one how much you love them. Of course, in the perfect world this should happen every day and not just on Valentines Day. With love though, comes the heartbreak. You really can't have one without the other at one point or another. 

So welcome to the Heartbreaker Blog Hop!!!! Why do we love these heartbreakers so much? Are they bad men?

In  my newest book, Bound in Evil, my hero Nate is willing to break both his heart and heroine's Meg's heart in order to keep her safe. Now that's my type of heartbreaker. The type willing to break their own heart (and the one they love), not because they are an evil person but because it's something they just need to do. These are the men that we sigh over. These heartbreakers keep us reading romance. They keep us coming back for more. The best thing about these guys is that they will redeem themselves in the end and everything will work out happily.

I hope you are enjoying this blog hop. There are sooo many writers involved and some great gifts being offered.

The grand prizes on this blog hop are:

1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet
2nd Grand Prize: A $100 Amazon or B&N Gift Card
3rd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more!

You can also win here. I'm giving away a copy of Bound in Evil  and a $10 GC to my publisher's website, Secret Cravings Publishing, so you can buy some books all about yummy heartbreakers from some authors that you might not know. Sounds exciting doesn't it.

All you have to do is comment on what you like about heartbreakers. Remember to put down your e-mail address, so I can contact you for your prizes and then continue your way onto the other authors in the hope for chances to win.


Blurb:


For hundreds of years, evil is trapped beneath the ground. It never sleeps. It only waits to return.

A man turns his back against his magical family a long ago and the prophecy predicting a powerful witch with green eyes will release the imprisoned evil into the world. Nathaniel Caswell is determined to avoid the prophecy and the sexy new woman in town who could be his salvation or his downfall.

Meg Costa didn’t realize when she left her urban guidance counselor job for one on the sleepy coast of Massachusetts that she would catch the attention of the sexy green eyed sheriff and be thrown in the middle of a battle between good and evil.

Destiny throws these two together and along with the rest of the magical community, they need to figure out a way to save themselves and the world from being plunged into darkness forever.

Excerpt:

Meg held her breath as he took her hand and led her on to the dance floor, pulling her against his body, and started swaying to the music. As she stood there swaying with him, she felt the hard erection in his pants brushing against her stomach. She pressed her body closer enjoying how his body tensed and trembled against her. He tightened his arms around her so the heat of his body burned her through her clothes. A groan rumbled in his chest under her ear and she snuggled deeper into his tight embrace. The smell of his cologne mixed with his own unique scent filled and intoxicated her senses.

“You’re making it very hard for me to keep my intentions honorable,” he whispered huskily.

Meg leaned back bringing her lower body snugger against his and stared at him hoping the desire he ignited in her body showed in her eyes as it did his. “At least one of us is trying to remain honorable. You must be much stronger than I am because right now my body is screaming for less than honorable things to be done to it.”

She didn’t think it possible but his gaze flared hotter. The desire in his eyes caused her to gasp at the intensity. She felt her body immediately respond.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her from the dance floor. “Come with me.”

Meg stumbled along behind him as he brought her farther and farther away from the light of the square and deeper and deeper into the darkness of the hot, sultry night.

By the light of the full moon, he led her to a huge weeping willow tree silhouetted against the darkness, its beautiful branches bowing low to the ground creating a perfect natural curtain. Meg watched as he pushed the branches aside creating a doorway to an inner private sanctuary just for them.

“Do you trust me?”

Meg took a deep breath. Her whole being wanted to shout, “I trust you with my body, heart, and soul.” Even in a haze of desire, she didn’t think now was the time to confess never-ending devotion. There was something about this man that completely made her forget about her wary nature. She loved how she felt when around him and didn’t want to scare him off.

She firmly entwined her fingers with his and squeezed his hand, unsure if he could see the expression on her face in the darkness. “Yes, I trust you.”

He pulled her into the darkness and dropped the curtain of branches, blocking out all light from the moon. Meg stood there in the darkness, her breathing shallow and heard pounding in her chest. He stood close to her because she could feel the heat of his body and hear his own shallow breathing in the darkness. Since she couldn’t see, Meg closed her eyes and listened to her surrounding with all of her senses. She didn’t know if the darkness or his closeness made her senses feel sharper and clearer. Her body felt electrified.

His hand stroked down her exposed neck and arm causing her to gasp at the trail of sensations and heat his stroke left behind. Meg felt the small tendrils of her hair next to her ear sway from his breath. Her whole body tensed in anticipation of what he would do next. The whispered caress of his soft lips on the lobe of her ear caused her body to tremble.

“Tell me,” he whispered against her ear. “Watching me this afternoon, did it turn you on?”

Meg’s breasts swelled and constricted in the bodice of her dress. She nodded her head in the darkness, not trusting her own voice. His steely arm stole around her waist and roughly dragged her back against his hard body.

“The words, Meg. I need to hear the words. Were you turned on today?” The forcefulness of his words turned her on even more. She arched back and rubbed herself against the hardness nestled against her back.

“Yes,” she moaned. “It turned me on. I thought about it all day.”

His lips played with her earlobe as his hands slid up and cupped her heavy breasts. He tested their weight in his hands before pinching her painfully erect nipples through the fabric of her dress. Meg let out a small shriek as the sensations shot directly down to her pussy causing it to spasm and released a flood of desire between her legs.

The pressure on her nipples increased and a moan slipped past her lips. The darkness and the fact she couldn’t see him amplified all of the feelings within her body. She could no longer think a rational thought except how she wanted his hands on her skin, anywhere, everywhere.

Meg couldn’t control her body anymore. Like a cat, she sensuously rubbed the back of her body against his hard form. It thrilled her to hear his breath catch in his throat. It felt good to know she wasn’t the only one close to losing control.

“Do you want to know a secret?” His lips traced the line of her jaw. Meg tilted her head to give him better access.
            “Yes.”

“I knew you were there watching me and it turned me on more. Did you go home and play with yourself and think about me?”

“No, I took a cold shower,” Meg moaned as his hand brushed the V between her legs through her dress and slowly started to inch the hem up her body.

From the darkness behind her, she heard him chuckle. It’s sensual nature filled with desire and dark promises. Unspoken promises which made the walls of her pussy clench in anticipation. She continued to rub against him trying to provide herself with any type of relief. All she truly accomplished was to feed the flame of their desire.

“My poor, poor, baby. Did it work?” She felt her dress being tugged up inch by tantalizing inch higher and higher.

“No, it did nothing. I think it made me want you more.”

Buy links:
http://store.secretcravingspublishing.com/index.php?main_page=book_info&products_id=496&zenid=fcbb334e9c14ec68a27b2c429378db84

http://www.amazon.com/Bound-in-Evil-ebook/dp/B00B117AFA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1360319195&sr=1-1

http://www.bookstrand.com/bound-in-evil

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-boundinevil-1043019-340.html

I'm also being interviewed over at http://www.awesomesaucebookclub.com/.  Come over and read all about me and how I'm looking forward to being a featured author over at Authors After Dark in Savannah Georgia this summer!!!

Happy Hopping!!

MRD