RELEASE DAY & DSDU 2nd Anniversary Blog Hop!

Okay I admit it, I don't celebrate Halloween. I love the sound of dressing into costumes and going trick-or-treating, but...no one else I knows does it in my part of the world so it would possibly be a waste of time going to the effort LOL!
 

 

Instead, I get to celebrate in other ways, with a release  hitting cyber space for the new Hot Down Under collection from Pan Macmillan's new digital line, with my story Beneath the Light of a Silver Moon. And though my story is not paranormal (tsk tsk) it DOES mention the moon (hehe) in the title. And, how does that saying go? oh yes - truth is scarier than fiction.. okay okay - I changed it up a bit, but you know what I mean.

In my story, the heroine's husband is the monster, an abusive alcoholic who doesn't see anything wrong with putting a bruise or two on her body.

 

 

Kristen Treymore isn't living anymore – she's existing.

Trapped in marriage to Jack, an alcoholic who uses his fists to communicate, Kristen has given up her freedom in an attempt to protect his daughter.

When Conrad Doyle, childhood friend and the man whose heart she unwittingly broke, shows up on Kristen's doorstep and offers her a lifeline, she can't refuse.

What she never dreams possible is how much she still wants him—but is that enough to keep them together when terror still beats deep in her heart?

 

 

So...how do you choose to celebrate Halloween?  My 'treat' is reading a good book and delving into another world, usually paranormal, but hey, any genre will do as long as the words pull me into the story and the writing isn't dull. On that note, I have the first two ebooks of my Alien Hunger series, Galactic Burn and Galactic Inferno, to giveaway to a commentator who answers that question and another to someone who 'follow's my blog. (see below)

 

Good Luck peoples and have a Happy Halloween MWAHAHAHAH!!!!

 

Dn't forget to blog hop (people's names below) and help celebrate The Darksiders 2nd year of blogging! Awesome!!!!

  

 

 

The Darksider blog is two years old and in celebration, some of the DSDU authors are getting together and celebrating "Halloween Style" with a blog hop. Just like 'trick a treating' there are lots of goodies on offer, including a 30 dollar gift voucher =))

I'm offering my first two Alien Hunger e-books to a commentator, and a choice of my backlist titles from Ellora's Cave to one person who 'follows' my blog.

 

 

Here are the rules:

1. To be eligible to win a prize on the blogs, the reader must do as what’s instructed on each blog by 11.59pm 4th November Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time.
2. To be eligible to win the Amazon voucher, the participants must comment on each participating blog. Only one comment needed. Multiple comments will be ignored for the purposes of the contest.
3. Have fun!

Halloween Special - 2nd Blogiversary Participants  

1. Eleni Konstantine  2. Mel Teshco  3. Nicole Murphy  4. Imogene Nix  5. Christina Phillips aka Christina Ashcroft  6. Amanda Ashby  7. Jenny Schwartz  8. Shona Husk  9. Maree Anderson

10. Kylie Griffin  11. Lilliana Rose  12. Nicole Hurley-Moore  13. Eden Summers  14. Erica Hayes  15. Sandra Harris  16. Keziah Hill  17. S E Gilchrist  18. DSDU

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Halloween Beings

I'm over at Romance Writers of the Apocalypse blog talking about Halloween and the beings we like to write about.
Come tell me your fav Halloween monster/being/critter and what you prefer to read.
I'm also sharing a little excerpt from my short story Carnal Moon.

Hot Down Under...First Five

Release day of the first five books for Momentum's short collection of stories is approaching fast, including my short contemporary, Beneath the Light of a Silver Moon. 
November 1st these very cool and slightly wicked books will be available for immediate download. In the meantime you can pre-order them at Amazon (just click on the covers and it will take you right there. 
Here are the Covers and blurbs...

 Kristen Treymore isn't living anymore – she's existing.

Trapped in marriage to Jack, an alcoholic who uses his fists to communicate, Kristen has given up her freedom in an attempt to protect his daughter.

When Conrad Doyle, childhood friend and the man whose heart she unwittingly broke, shows up on Kristen's doorstep and offers her a lifeline, she can't refuse.

What she never dreams possible is how much she still wants him—but is that enough to keep them together when terror still beats deep in her heart?

Can an online fantasy ever become real?

When Condamine connects with Esquire in a chat room, neither expect their mutual pleasure and close friendship will become something far more intimate and real. But when the opportunity to meet Esquire in the flesh comes up will Condamine – Caitlyn, in real life – be bold enough to act out her deepest fantasies, or will she hide away from the world behind the comfortable glare of her computer screen?

Natalie has watched as the zombie plague devastated civilisation.

Angus had been a miracle. Twenty-three years old and gorgeous he had appeared like Romeo from the pool area and thrown supplies up to her balcony. But now Angus is gone – he has abandoned her, which is probably for the best. She couldn't stand to watch him die too.

Stranded four floors up and fenced in on all sides by the infected, food and water supplies are running as low as Natalie's spirits. A lingering death from starvation seems inevitable.

But then she sees Angus striding for the pool gate with a sawn-off shotgun in his hands. Can he make it past the infected to reach her? And what will it mean if he does?

Ishari is a djinn – the veritable genie in a bottle.

Her latest master, Caleb Salt, a hot young rock star, has one wish left. The curse of sexual need has nothing to do with the lust she feels for him, but he doesn’t seem to desire her in the same way.

Caleb has used his first two wishes to save his brother. Will he do the same with the last, or will he use it for himself? Either way, once he makes that wish, his erotically sensual genie will be lost to him forever and she’s something he’s just not ready to lose.

In the outback town of Mount Tully, many a man's had to squeeze into a frock after backing the wrong derby cane toad on Australia Day.

But Mount Tully's surliest bartender, Jane Hood, has her steel-capped boots planted firmly on the ground, so there's no way she'd risk her independence to accept a saucy bet from the sexy but bossy pub owner, Luka Belov ... is there?

ITIN V's EIN

public domain pictures.net

I admit it, I went the easy and cost effective route to obtain my EIN (as opposed to ITIN) and rang the IRS to obtain it. 

It was a matter of a five minute phone call (I rang later at night for time differences) and the number was given to me over the phone. SO EASY. Too easy???


For months afterward I dilly dallied thinking I'd done the wrong thing and would indeed need to go through all the rigamarole anyway of filling out all the extra forms and sending away my passport etc etc. Yes, I'd heard on the grapevine the ITIN is the only way to go.

Well I bit the bullet and rang the IRS last night who then  put me through to their lovely and very informed sounding tax guy, who said that's not true. I DON'T need both and in fact the EIN is  preferred and, in his words, is a lot less convoluted than obtaining an ITIN. As long as they get their  5% from the tax treaty, they're happy. The only reason anyone would need to do a yearly tax return is if the publisher doesn't accept the W8 forms.

So...the EIN (Employer Identification Number) seems to be the way to go... BUT please don't take my word for it, I take no responsibility for misinformation!! When you ring the number below ASK the relevant questions and double check. Things might well change.


So how do you obtain an EIN? Here's the number of the IRS if ringing from Australia:

001112679411099

As I said it literally took my five minutes to obtain that tax file number, then I had it immediately to send off my W8 forms to my publishers and Smashwords etc. No waiting for months, no precious money *g* sucked down the drainpipe, aside from the cost of an o'seas call.

Has anyone else in Australia gone this route and had no/any trouble? I'd love to hear =)


*NOTE - Ask your publisher first if they will accept an EIN as one author stated their publisher only accepted an ITIN - it appears that some will and some won't.

Battle Scars

I'm a huge reality tv fan (well, except Big Brother...) and my fav show right now is Australian X factor, with judges Mel B, Ronan Keating, Natalie Bassingthwaite and Guy Sebastian. 

The contestants are amazing, but the judges aren't half bad either lol!

Here's Guy singing his new song live a few weeks ago with Lupe Fiasco - totally love it =)

A New World

public domains pic.net

I'm over at the romance writers of the apocalypse blog asking - what five things would you take with you to a new world? 

Love to hear your thoughts - there's some very practical answers and some very impractical LOL

Song and a Scene

So I've been listening to different songs which seem to help me with different scenes. 

TOO CLOSE, by Alex Clare has been the perfect song for my heroine in Galactic Flame who is lost in the desert on another world and trying to find the wounded hero... (wow, our lives are so 'normal' in comparison) 

Funny though how the actual clip is nothing even close to the scene in my head.

Anyway, back to it...just a couple of K to go =))

Book You'd Like to Read Next?

I'm at the pointy end of finishing book 3 in the Alien Hunger series, but have also had some emails asking about my gargoyles (Winged & Dangerous series).

It's got me asking - what do the readers want exactly? (let's face it, would be silly not to listen!)

So for those who have read my books, I've done a little poll to work out the majority - what would you prefer to read next?

It's always good to know I'm headed in the right direction =)

The poll is on the sidebar, thanks for taking the time to vote!


 

Enchanted Orb

So I'm over at the Darksider blog for their Enchanted Orb segment, talking about what inspires me. Maybe I should have wrote what doesn't inspire me =)
Love to see you there =)

 

Mind Raider

Never hide, never cower and live by your own rules.  Life has taught mind raider Mara Ross to never let anyone break her. Especially not the crime lord who tortured her for her ability to control other people’s minds.  But now her former tormentor has kidnapped another woman and Mara will do anything to save her—including joining forces with a dark, powerful man who is more dangerous than anything Mara’s faced before.

The CIA’s experiments left Callahan with lethal powers he must control with every inch of his will.  As the leader of Haven, a sanctuary for anomalies, he stays focused and alone…until Mara blazes into his life. Cal knows he must keep his distance from the fiery mind raider because she threatens his control…and if his control breaks, people die.

On a mission deep in the wilds of Indonesia, desire explodes between Cal and Mara. But as the two wounded souls are drawn to each other, terrible secrets from Cal’s past threaten to drive them apart.

Read an Excerpt

Amazon | Smashwords | All Romance

And don’t miss the first novella in The Anomaly Trilogy, TIME THIEF.

Latest Update

Pigging out! L-R: Kasey, Tracie, Shona, Mel, Denise

So I'm back from my writers retreat and had a great time! Thanks Cate Ellink, Tracie Sommers, Rhian Cahill, Kasey Channing aka Kaliana Cole, Keziah Hill, Shona Husk, Kylie Scott, Denise Rossetti, Sue W, Susan Childs, Cathleen Ross and Moi, and lets not forget our special day guest, Sami Lee.
And just to clarify, I've never heard so much talking - no pregnant silences with the erotic romance writers - No Way.
Anyway, I managed to get some words on the page (handwritten notes that weren't always left outside to flip around in the breeze - I think Suz captured that on camera lol!)
So I'm on the last 5k of Galactic Flame, which somewhere along the way has decided it wants to be a 50k novel. I'm waiting on edits for Lusting the Enemy - and geez I cannot wait for my cover!!!!! And I've just sent back final check edits for Beneath the Light of a Silver Moon, which is released Nov 1 (and is available for preorder).
What's next??
A few of us at the retreat got excited about a themed story idea, think I'll be in on that one lol!! But will keep it quiet until it's official-like =)
For now I have Galactic Flame to finish off and Dimensional to write. Should keep my bum in seat for a bit yet...
 

Real Life Paranormal

Do you love hearing about real life paranormal stories? Over at Darkside Downunder the members and occasional guests are sharing a once monthly story about their experiences, be it ghostly, alien, psychic or whatever. Some very interesting reads coming up!
If you've got a real life story to tell, please email me at sidebar address =)

Coffee Time Romance

You can find a handful of the Hot Down Under authors at the Coffee Time Romance blog where I've offered an e-copy of any one of my Ellora's Cave backlist for a commentator, all you have to do is tell me what you love about a romance novel (of any genre).
Too easy!! =))

Release of Flesh!

Kylie Scott's debut book FLESH is out now! If you love zombie apocalypse stories then you will love this read, I totally recommend it!

Blurb:



Ali has been hiding in an attic since civilisation collapsed eight weeks ago.

When the plague hit, her neighbours turned into mindless, hungry, homicidal maniacs.

Daniel has been a loner his entire life. Then the world empties and he realises that being alone isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Finn is a former cop who is desperate for companionship, and willing to do anything it takes to protect the survivors around him.

When the three cross paths they band together; sparks fly, romance blooms in the wasteland and Ali, Daniel and Finn bend to their very human needs in the ruins of civilisation.

Lust, love and trust all come under fire in Flesh as the three battle to survive, hunted through the suburban wastelands.