When the brain is too fried to come up with posts…

MFH-new-cover ... Post book covers!  Yeah, that’s the ticket! So presenting the cover for my new eBook version of Murder for Hire: The Peruvian Pigeon, my very first published novel.  I thought I’d try my luck with the eBook rights and dabble my toes in the waters of self-publishing with the help of the lovely and talented Judi Fennell, writer and format queen extraordinaire.

  I have been in a serious fog/funk/OMG, my deadline is past type mindset the last few months and posting has not been much of an option for my already overtaxed gray cells.  I also find Facebook makes me lazy; why write an actual post when you can spit out a few sentences here and there or share cute cat pictures? Bam!  Immediate gratification with little, if any, thought.

I think I fried my brain a little during the publicity blitz for Plague Town.  Don’t get me wrong, I had a blast writing posts and doing interviews for the book, and I’d do it again (I certainly hope to do it again for Plague Nation!) in a heartbeat. But between doing book events for Plague Town, writing Plague Nation, and dealing with a mangy Plague Dog at home… well, it’s been a Plague-filled time, with shape-shifting jaguar shamans thrown in for variety( Fixation for Ravenous Romance).

Did I mention I have a full time day job too ? Not too unusual for a writer these days. Very few of us have the life of leisure many people imagine belongs to published authors.  Hell,the writers I know fortunate enough to write as their day job don’t have lives of leisure because they’re too busy writing their butts off (there’s an image for ya) to make their deadlines.

Sometimes the writing comes easy.  My muse is close by, doing that thing that muses are supposed to do . Y’know, be all inspirational and help the words flow.   Most of this year, though, my muse has been off on vacation, no doubt knocking back copious amounts of champagne while lounging in the sun somewhere. So I’ve been hacking my way through an overgrown jungle of prose, plot and characters, trying to clear a path to the end of book two, with little if any help from my lazy-ass, champagne-o-holic muse.  And … I think I’m nearly there. 

I sure  as hell hope so ’cause when I’m too tired and frazzled to even post cute animal pictures, it’s definitely time for a change. 

Now I wonder if I buy a bottle of Veuve Cliquot if my muse could be tempted back to San Francisco from whatever tropical island she’s using as a retreat…  

Champagne available in Paperback!

That’s right!  Our sexy-torso endowed garden gnome (you KNOW it looks like a garden gnome with the castle turret right there) is now available in paperback here.  Champagne is a book I’m especially proud of because it really pushed my limits and comfort zone as a writer to create a story with a: no mystery, and b: no zombies.   🙂

Product Description

“Well-written with Ms. LaVey’s usual flair for humor, sex and fun, Champagne is a wild ride through France. Ms. LaVey has a way with words and humor; she never fails to leave a smile on my face.” –Bookwenches (4 stars)

 

“Champagne by Inara LaVey is a witty, fun, informational and erotic adventure through France’s wine country. I look forward to reading more work from this talented author.” –Dark Divas (4 “delightful divas”)

 

Jeanette Wilson is an American girl on the trip of a lifetime to the wine regions of France. Unfortunately, she’s trapped with her soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend Daryl, a self-absorbed, self-aggrandizing, self-styled wine expert bent on swirling, sniffing, sipping, swishing, chewing, swallowing and occasionally spitting his way through the wineries. Between his endless lectures and insufferable putdowns, her insignificant other is quickly turning her dream vacation into a nightmare. But things change for Jeanette once they come to the zenith of their French road trip, the Champagne house of Chateau Roux-Dubois. Their hosts, Amaury and Marie-Elise Roux-Dubois, turn out to be both charming and attractive, and go out of their way to extend a warm welcome to her. And they make it very clear that it is she, not Daryl, who is their special guest, particularly when the striking Marie-Elise takes Jeanette down to the wine cellar for a very personal tour, followed by an unusual French lesson from Amaury. When she and Daryl are invited to stay and participate in the harvest festival, Jeanette finds herself caught up in a ménage a trois with the Roux-Dubois, both intent on teaching her many things…and not just about wine.

 


Tomorrow is…

Ravenous Wednesday on Un:Bound with guest author Lana Griffin!  Come and join us for another entertaining post and subsequent lively discussion in the comments thread!     

In further Ravenous news, I’m happy to announce that my alter-ego Inara LaVey’s book CHAMPAGNE placed #11 in the romance category on the Predators and Editors Poll.  Oddly enough, it was not listed under erotica, which is kind of ironic considering it features a menage a trois.  Nice to know whoever nominated it did see the romance and there IS a ‘happily ever after’ ending.  Or ‘happily for now,’ as it were. Also Champagne is the Book of the Day at Ravenous Romance today!  Woot!   And see nice things reviewers have said:

“Well-written with Ms. LaVey’s usual flair for humor, sex and fun, Champagne is a wild ride through France. Ms. LaVey has a way with words and humor; she never fails to leave a smile on my face.” –Bookwenches (4 stars)

Champagne by Inara LaVey is a witty, fun, informational and erotic adventure through France’s wine country. I look forward to reading more work from this talented author.” –Dark Divas (4 “delightful divas”)

Other Ravenous authors who made the top 20 in erotica and romance were Lisa Lane, C. Margery Kempe, Ryan Field, Sandra Cormier and Lexi Ryan.  Congrats, all, on this well-deserved recognition!  For more details courtesy of the lovely Lisa Lane, go here.

I’m Being Interviewed Tonight!

That’s right, my first radio interview!  I’ll be talking to Phoebe Jordan on her Blog Talk Radio show, “Talk About My Favorite Authors.”     The times are: 6-7:30pm PST/8-9:30pm CST/9-10:30pm EST.  The call in number if you have questions you’ve been dying to ask me is:

(347) 857-2123

 Go to the link above for more information and I hope to see…er…hear you there!  

Champagne – Cover Art and Release Date!

Champagne cover

My latest Ravenous Romance book is coming out next week, with a tentative release date of Tuesday, September 28th!   You’ve all heard (or read about) me grebbling for the last six months of how tough this one was to write.  Well, it’s done, it’s coming out, and I am very happy with the final result. We don’t have acknowledgment pages in the Ravenous books (something I hope will evolve!), so I’m going to do the thanking right here and now! 

Hats off to Jen Safrey, amazing copyeditor, and many thanks to Holly and Lori for their patience and willingness to extend my deadline.  

 Much love and thanks to the Lurking Novelists, Best Writing Group Evah! I owes ya all champagne!

Most of all, thank you, David Fitzgerald, for your enthusiam for this particular book,  your support, and your love through all of my writerly angst and depression.  I could NOT have written it without you.  This one’s for you, angel! 

 

 (REMINDER: Tomorrow is Ravenous Wednesday on Un:Bound!  Please stop by and visit Sephera Giron!  And while I’m at it, I want to give a special thanks to Adele/Hagelrat at Un:Bound for her energetic, enthusiastic support of me and the Ravenous gang.  Jack, you’re on my thank-you list too, for always being a part of our antics and being so supportive of ALL my writing!) 

Ravenous Romance on HSN!!!

Okay!  My book, Ripping the Bodice, is part of the Escape with Romance collection featured on HSN tomorrow.  Ravenous co-founder Holly Schmidt will be live on HSN at 8:35 AM and 4:35 PM on Monday, September 14th, and at 3:00 AM on Tuesday, September 15th, talking about the 4 collections (paranormal, historical, contemporary & sampler pack). These times are eastern standard time, btw!  And yes, I know they have my name wrong in the Contemporary list. I am NOT Keta Diablo. But my heroine IS reading her book, Land of the Falling Stars, on the cover of MY book.  So it’s kind of a funny mistake!

I’m delighted to be included in this  opportunity and a hearty congrats to my fellow RR authors, and to Holly, Lori and Allan!   Please go check out the link to see the other authors and titles featured!

From the HSN Web Site:
“Voyage to a distant land where fantasy and passion ignite. The Escape with Romance Exclusive 6-Book Collection is a fascinating compilation of stories filled with infatuation, excitement and of course, love. These tales will evoke the internal fires that burn deep within us all. Choose from the 3 collections; the romantically nostalgic Historical genre, the futuristic and supernatural of the Paranormal genre, or the modern-day heroines of the Contemporary genre. Plus, if you can’t decide choose the Sampler, which includes 2 books from every genre, so you can get a little bit of it all. Suddenly, reading just got a lot more interesting.

Ravenous Announcements!

Champagne

1. I am happy to say I finally finished my novel CHAMPAGNE, which will be released in the near future by Ravenous Romance under my pen name Inara LaVey.  If you’ve been following my posts here and on Facebook, you are no doubt familiar with my grebbling miserably over my inability to finish this particular project.  Well, WOOT!!!!   It’s done!!!  At least until line edits. 🙂

 2. Tomorrow is Ravenous Wednesday on Un:Bound, featuring RR author Dawn Jackson.  Dawn shares her creative process and answers the age-old question ‘Where do you get your ideas?’  Please join us – the post is a hoot and it’s always fun to hang out with Adele and the gang at Un:Bound on Ravenous Wednesday!

3.Thursday is the release date for the Ravenous Romance anthology I KISSED A GIRL, edited by the lovely and talented Regina Perry.  I know I said I’d do a proper post on this topic several days ago, but schedule and out-of-town visitors made me decide to do the announcement properly on the day of the release.  In the meantime, sneak preview of the cover!

Awwww, I am adored!

Well, nice!  Check out my review from the BookWenches, one of my favorite review sites out there!  And NOT just because they give me good reviews.  Please go check out their site for fun reviews, author interviews and other nifty stuff!  


Title: Succubusted.
Author: Inara Lavey
Author’s website: http://www.danafredsti.com/
Publisher: Ravenous Romance
Release Date: December 2008
ISBN: 978-1-60777-102-9
Length: Short Story
Format: Electronic
Genre: Contemporary Paranormal
Sensuality Level: 3
Rating: 4.25

Reviewed by: Teagan S. Boyd

Being part human and part succubus pretty much sucks. No long term relationships; no staying in one place for very long. Lil draws her energy from sex with men, which leads to the men not being able to get enough of her, and the last thing she wants is to kill them with her libido…or theirs. A day at the carnival just might change all of that. One sexy carnie named Damien might have a surprise of his own.

********

Succubusted is short, sweet, and to the point. I loved the story and I loved the characters. The humor is delightful and makes the story pop. The sexual fun is combustible and not to be missed. Ms. Lavey paints a picture with wonderfully descriptive words. Her knack for storytelling is unique and addicting. My only complaint is that I wished it was longer; I wanted more.

How can a person not just adore Inara Lavey? She has a fabulously quirky sense of humor, and she never fails to make me giggle. Inara…MORE!

Me again!  Tomorrow I will be posting info on I KISSED A GIRL, a new, soon-t0-be-released anthology from Ravenous Romance.  I have a story in it (the original short story version of CHAMPAGNE, my soon-to-be-finished-and-released novel for RR), as does my favorite Irishman, Kilt Kiltpatrick!  It’s edited by the fabulous Regina Perry, author of PLAYGIRL amongst other things, and…well, more on this tomorrow.  Look for links on my sidebar for all of the authors included in I KISSED A GIRL as well and please visit their websites and show ’em some love … as soon as I get those links up!  Today, I hope.  I’ll also be previewing the cover for IKAG (I loves my acronyms, I does…) tomorrow.  

A few weeks ago I posted about ROCK, PAPER, TIGER,  Lisa Brackmann’s upcoming book with Soho Press.  Click here to see the cover for RPT, truly one of the best covers I’ve ever seen….

Four and a Half Cherries, with Whipped Cream on Top!

Ripping the Bodice just got an awesome review from Whipped Cream Reviews and Dana/Inara is happy dancing again.  Time for Angry Torso Man to ‘glare’ at you (his nipples are really eyes, see, and he’s glaring with them) again!  

Here’s a teaser…

Ripping the Bodice is clever and witty in its use of the romance genre to explore how too much of a good thing can twist a woman’s expectations, landing her in hilarious hot water.

 Please read the rest and leave a comment on the review site if you have a sec!  And thank you, to the lovely  Xeranthemum, for her more than kind words about my writing!