Source: desiderioardente.tumblr.com via Nara on Pinterest
~
You dip into me
scrawl love notes
in scented ink
across white linen
Unwritten senses
gather at my margins
Your pen transcribes
translating each
quiver, lick, thrust
to oh’s and a-h-h-h’s
Midnight poet
composing dawn’s song
a love letter we write together
on the first page of the New Year
~Nara Malone
This post is also a contribution to Friday Flash 55. Click through to see what others wrote or to join the fun yourself
The little planet Mercury went retrograde July 15th and, so far, it’s been one of the most chaotic I’ve seen in years! The very first day I had three calls from people whose computers or I-Pads crashed and one book review site went down completely.
If you’re not familiar with this astrological term, please refer to the explanation on my site – http://www.marilyncampbell.com/id26.html. However, one aspect that I have not covered before is how does this aspect affect one’s sex life?
Mercury is most commonly associated with f*#k-ups in the areas of technology and transportation, but it also rules communication. What one person says can be very different from what another person hears.
Her subtle “Do me” request may be heard as “Do me a favor and sleep in the other room tonight so I don’t have to listen to you snore.”
His simple “I’m beat” comes across as “I’ve already had sex at the office today and have nothing left for you.”
The smallest comment could become a battle of monumental proportions at this time.
So I have a suggestion for all the lovers out there. Until Mercury goes direct again on August 8, be very explicit about what you want, use your dirtiest most graphic words. Or stick to the writer’s rule of SHOW don’t TELL. Even better, let someone else’s words stand in for your own. Just find a passage in an erotic romance book that describes a scene you’d most like to act out and share it with your partner.
Wishing you all a crash-free two weeks ahead,
Marilyn Campbell
www.marilyncampbell.com; FB: AuthorMarilynCampbell; Tw: marilyncampbel3
SERVING NICOLE, part of the “Passion’s Portal” series, now available at most major e-tailers
Pantheria Island
Games
Got the cubicle blues?
I love to experiment. You probably know that. So I’ve been making games. The hidden object game looks like it has the potential to be the coolest, but I just found it this morning, so I haven’t time to test it to its full potential. It was in moderation the last time I checked so I don’t know if the link will work for you, but it does for me. It takes a minute to load. In my newest novel, Blind Heat, Marcus loses Hella–a hybrid cat with a human brain that he rescued from a research lab. So I had to make a hidden object cat search:
I launched the Therianverse.com site this week and have been adding material from my worldbuilding for the Pantherian Passions series. I’ll be adding material from the mutlti-author Passion’s Portal series too, because all the stories I write for that series will include therians. The first story in the series, Serving Nicole by Marilyn Cambell, will be availalble July 4th. I’ll add material for my Passions Portal therians to Therianverse next month, but in the meantime you can check out all my Pantherian material: a lexicon, a Pantherian primer (will help you with this next game), a virtual replica of Pantheria Island where you can search for the secret Crystal Cave, and more. Keep checking back because I’m always adding stuff. Like a games page going up today 
This next game I made is a word search that includes the names of the eight great Pantherian tribes and animals associated with each tribe. There’s a word list which helps you find the hidden words, but test yourself and see if you can figure out which tribe each animal belongs to. If you get stuck you might find some clues in the Pantherian Primer over at Therianverse.com
The Eight Great Pantherian Tribes Word Search
And here’s a crossword puzzle you can play if you’ve read the book. You might be able to guess the answers if you haven’t. Give it a try.
Giveaways
So to kick-off off what I plan on being a summer of hot reading and fun games, I joined the Summer kick-off blog hop. You can drop in at Therianverse.com and comment here to get entered in a drawing for a copy of the Tiger’s Tale,the first book in the Pantherian Passions series. and then follow the blog hop link at the end of the post to get entered in drawings from other wonderful authors.
And if all that isn’t enough fun and excitement for you, I have an interview with a female werewolf over at the Nara Malone blog today. I met Julianna Morris, heroine of Queen Bitch of Callowwood Pack, in the Metaverse and she agreed to do a taped the interview. Author Siobhan Muir is offering a signed copy of her cover art. Comment here to get in the drawing.
Okay, all that should keep you busy until lunch. Have fun.
A woman who can’t remember. A shifter who refuses to be forgotten. “Blind Heat” by @nara_malone now available!
It’s finally here, the sequel to the Tiger’s Tale. You asked for it, wonderful readers, and I have finally delivered–it’s release day for Blind Heat, the second book in the Pantherian Passions series. It’s a big read with lots of adventure, Passion, and romance. Wonderful paranormal romance author, Siobhan Muir is hosting me today over at The Weird, the Wild, and the Wicked blog. Drop by to learn more about Blind Heat and comment to get into the drawing for a copy of the first book in the Pantherian Passions series, The Tiger’s Tale.
The book the media can’t seem to say enough about, Fifty Shades of Gray by E L James, made the nightly news again last night. The many teasers reminding viewers it would be discussed later in the broadcast all contained the words “dirty little secret”. This all on the same network that ran a spot on America’s Got Talent the evening before that featured a guy getting his nuts smashed fifty different ways. But that was “funny” and acceptable for prime time, family television. While as the news cast finally pointed out, Fifty Shades was being banned from many libraries. Too “dirty” I guess.
I’m not here to argue what Fifty Shades is or isn’t. What really frustrates me is that erotic romance is still the object of so much mud-slinging. Why is a genre that has proven its selling power still treated like a dirty secret? Why is it okay to call it dirt?
I guess they’ll have to call me dirty, because I’m not going to stop telling love stories and I’m not going to pretend that love doesn’t involve sex. Blind Heat releases next week and it goes places that will definitely keep it off the library shelves. As I watched Brian Williams, lift his eyebrows and look down his nose each time he uttered the word dirty, I wondered what he’d think of the candle scene, or how what happens on that altar in the moon garden might alter his definition of dirty. What adjective would he apply to Pantherian fire oil?
If Fifty Shades is dirty, Blind Heat is dirty untamed. Unleashed.
But.
I don’t call it dirty. It’s a love story. It’s a journey of the heart taken by two people who haven’t had a gentle upbringing. They make love the same way they’ve lived life–hard. I don’t know what’s dirty about that.
Allie and Marcus come into this story with secrets. With shame about those secrets. I think when you can share what you are most ashamed or afraid of with a lover, and they still find you loveable, that’s beautiful. That’s magic.
The release date for Blind Heat is May 30, Wednesday. I hope you’ll grab a copy and tell me what you think.
Meantime here’s the blurb and a tiny excerpt that takes up where the excerpt on the EC website leaves off:
Blurb:
Allie is determined to build an ordinary life. To survive she needs to be the sort of woman no one notices. She has a generic job, lives in a generic apartment, and thinks maybe one day she’ll find an ordinary Joe who wants an average Jane sort of woman.
Marcus is anything but an ordinary Joe. Even if humans don’t know he is a shifter and millennial being, he’s the sort of man women notice. A night of passion spent with Marcus is a night any female, human or Pantherian, won’t forget.
But Allie does forget. She repeatedly fails to recognize him even after an intense sexual encounter. Marcus isn’t satisfied until he discovers the source of her problem—face blindness, a genetic disorder with no cure. Marcus decides to use erotic rituals to teach Allie to see with more than her eyes. What he doesn’t count on is that she will see past the man and recognize the beast within.
Excerpt:
Marcus ran his thumbs over rain-studded skin at the edge of her bra. He needed to reel himself in. He’d been trying for the last few hours to keep the inner beast leashed. He’d only meant to come close enough to touch her dreams, thinking then her guard might be down. Few humans had the skill to shield their thoughts from him as completely as Allie. But it hadn’t been hard to track her down a few days after she’d taken Hella. She had routines he could set his watch by. It hadn’t been long before she was back in the park for another run and he’d followed her home. But Hella wasn’t in Allie’s apartment, nor had he managed to get any information regarding Hella in repeated visits to Allie’s office. Numerous suggestions and influences hadn’t penetrated Allie’s mental blockade.
The erotic suggestions he’d sent winging into her dreams had penetrated, stirred her needs, but it had opened no more than her body to him. A body soft, yielding. Her excitement evident to his Pantherian senses. The quick beat of her heart, the welcoming scent of female ready for a male.
A firm tug at the zipper on her running bra accomplished nothing, so he did away with that impediment in the same way he’d dispensed with the shirt. Her escalating arousal had her back arching, intensified the scent of desire. Her eyes went wide and pupils narrowed. He had her full attention now.
Ripe breasts springing free to fill his palms, had his attention.
Prim, shell-pink nipples begged to be licked. She held her breath when he dipped his head to do just that. Flesh tightening under his tongue had his teeth automatically closing around the hard little nub. The soft sound she made in her throat was so mew-like he was tempted to toss her over his shoulder, head back to his truck and keep her. Unfortunately, he was fairly certain that practice had been outlawed in this country a couple of centuries ago.
Sex at dawn in a public park probably wasn’t legal either.
There were only so many laws he was willing to follow.
Mother’s Day is almost here. Plus, I finished edits on Blind Heat–the second novel in the Pantherian Passions series–and I’m in a celebrating mood. So I thought I’d give away a copy of the first book in the series, The Tiger’s Tale.
Love cat shifters? Love your mom? Love being a mom? Tell me about it in the comments and I’ll pick one lucky commenter to receive a copy of The Tiger’s Tale.
Then keep your eye out for Blind Heat. It should be available from ELlora’s Cave, very soon.
Comment Karma: Help Good Luck Find You
21 JunIf you’re at all involved in social media, or blogging, you know that leaving comments on other blogs can help grow traffic at your blog. But there is much more to comment karma than many commenters realize.
First, your comments show up in Google searches of your name. I know when my editor is considering a manuscript or deciding to invite someone to submit, she’ll search their name to get an idea of their writing style and the sort of person they might be to work with. Keep that in mind when you comment. Be certain the things you say on other blogs, on Facebook, and on Twitter are things that represent your best qualities.
Second, comments can land you jobs from places you might not have thought to look. Not long after I first started blogging, and right about the time I had signed my first contract with Ellora’s Cave, I commented in the RWA Online forum that I really wished game developers made romance video games. A member there pointed me to a thread at Smart Bitches Trashy Books where Sarah Wendell posted about game developer Darek Rusin and Orchid Games, who were committed to producing games for romance readers. They were offering up a free game to her blog readers, Heartwild Solitaire Classic (still free at this link), a really clever blend of a loved card game with short stories by loved romance writers. I tried the game, commented on how much I enjoyed it, and mentioned that ever since I played Plundered Hearts–an old eighties style text adventure game by Amy Briggs–I had been waiting for another great romance game to come along.
A few days after I commented, I got email from Darek asking me about Plundered Hearts and how he might track down a copy. I told him what I knew and wished him luck. He later sent me a free copy of Heartswild Solitaire (Author’s Edition) for helping him out and that might have been the end of it, but I mentioned I’d recently found another romance game produced by a new company, Passion Fruit Games–Tiger Eye, Curse of the Riddle Box, based on a novel by Majorie M. Lui. We struck up an email discussion about romance stories and video games. That eventually led to an invitation to submit. One of the stories I submitted, Spirit Walkers: Curse of the Cypress Witch was accepted, developed, and released by Orchid Games this month.
And that’s the story of how comment karma smiled on me. Here’s your chance to accrue some comment karma. Do you know any good romance video games? Tell me below. I’m always on the lookout for a new one.
Maybe now that romance readers are playing games more, more companies will finally invest in this extremely underserved market. Linden Lab, creators of the Second Life virtual world are preparing to launch a modernized version of text adventure games (the format used for Plundered Hearts) in the near future. It’s supposedly a platform that will allow players to write their own stories, so perhaps romance writers will be able to show their stuff and generate interest in games for romance readers.
In the meantime, let’s show Orchid Games some romance reader love for standing by us and continuing to put out the kind of games we love. They have a very generous free trial of Spirit Walkers: Curse of the Cypress Witch on their site. Download the trial, play and tell me in comments what you think. You never know when comment karma might smile on a lucky commenter.
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Tags: Amy Briggs, commenting, karma, Linden Labs, Little text people, Majorie M. Liu, Nara Malone, Orchid Games, Passion Fruit Games, Plundered Hearts, Romance Games, romance readers, social media, Spirit Wlakers: Curse of the Cypress Witch, underserved game market, Video games, women's games