Secret Cravings Five Favorite Things Contest

This weekend is where Secret Cravings Authors share their five favorite things. It's a bit hard to settle on just five things but I think I've managed it. I must say I felt a bit like Oprah when picking my favorite things but I doubt my choices will have the same reaction I've seen on her shows from the past. There definitely won't be any screaming, crying or joyous rapture as I announce them. Well unless you feel like it, and I'm only giving one thing away, not one of everything to everyone who visits the blog, but enough about my giveaway later.

Lets start with my favorite things list, these are in no particular order by the way. Deciding on five things was difficult enough, ordering them from one to five would be an impossibility.

1: Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey
2: Laying in bed on a cold rainy day reading a great book.
3: Bacon with...well, anything really, because bacon makes anything taste better :)
4: Han, cheese and tomato toasted sandwich.
5: Seducing a Cougar (my fourth novella in the Sydney Cougar Series with Secret Cravings Publishing).

For those of you who would like to win a PDF copy of Seducing a Cougar leave me a comment and visit the Secret Cravings Readers Group Page on Facebook. All the participating SCP authors will be listing their favorite things on the Facebook page as well as their blog over the weekend so drop on by and see what other great books are also up for grabs. 

The competition runs from 15th December to midnight on the 16th December. In your comment why not tell me what some of your favorite things are. Good luck everyone. 

Seducing a Cougar

It's release day. Seducing a Cougar is now available for sale through Secret Cravings Publishing with other ebook sellers like Amazon and B&N to follow soon.

Apart from when my first book, Finding Angel, came out this is the most satisfying book release to date. As some of you know my SO recently passed away. I had just starting writing this book, the final in the Sydney Cougar Series when Shane was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Everything went on hold. Throughout his illness and ultimate death I had no idea how I was going to get this finished and to the publisher on time. I also had Playing Jax and Healing a Cougar's Heart going through edit and proofing at the time, both of those books were released on time, one just before and the other just after Shane's passing. The success of having two more books come onto the market was bittersweet and I didn't have the physical or emotional strength to do much of anything on the promotion and publicity trail.

Seducing a Cougar is different for many reason. It's the first book written without Shane bringing me an endless stream of cups of tea and coffee. It's the first book I've written when really all I wanted to do was hide in bed and stay away from the world. It's also the only book in the Sydney Cougar series that's dedicated to BDSM. Yes the other three have had kinky moments in them, but this is the story of a sub reconecting with her BDSM roots after many years of denying her true sexual needs and desires. I think a lot of readers will relate to the book, whether they read BDSM novels or not. My heroine, Susan, walked away from what she knew was right for her in her twenties and, after trying to be what she though other people wanted her to be, she makes the decision to follow her heart and be the woman and submisive she always wanted to be.

Starting again isn't an easy thing for anyone to do, I can atest to that. Seducing a Cougar gives me hope that change doesn't have to be scary or life destroying. Change can lead you to a new life that is beyond your wildest dreams. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens for me, because my dreams can be pretty wild...lol.

I hope you all enjoy reading Seducing a Cougar.

Purchase Seducing a Cougar

Healing a Cougar's Heart

Purchase Now

Healing a Cougar's Heart will be released on April 27th through Secret Cravings Publishing. I'm so excited about the release of the third novella in the Sydney Cougar Series.

Isabelle O’Connor never considered herself the type of woman who needed a knight in shining armor to come and rescue her, until one does. Well he’s more a knight in blue jeans and white shirt. After all, it is modern times. Unfortunately, her perfect hero has a flaw... he’s a cop.  Isabelle decided years ago never to become involved with a police officer again, and she isn’t going to change her mind now.

Mark Dean loves being a cop. He also loves the hot redhead he rescued from a creep’s unwanted attention at a local nightclub. Mark knows that before he can gain Isabelle’s affection he has to convince her of something. Being a cop has nothing to do with her reluctance to date him. Isabelle’s heart never healed after the death of her husband and Mark makes it his mission to help heal this feisty Cougar’s heart.

It's all Happening - New Releases



Purchase Now

What a week I've had. Apart from some personal dramas things have been busy writing wise. The second novella in the Sydney Cougar Series was released on Friday. Catching a Cougar is the story of Justin and Katie. They hooked up for a few week but then Katie pulled the plug on the relationship and ran away like a scared little kitten. Justin designs a plan to catch her again and recruits some of their friends from The Cougar Club to help. If you're interested in purchasing the book click the purchase now link and it will take you to the publishers website so you can grab a copy.

The other exciting thing going on is Finding Angel is due to come out in paperback within then next four to six weeks. I'll keep you posted on the exact date and post the link as soon as it's available. I know some people have been waiting for the physical book to come out so I hope you'll be as pleased with the news as I am.

Happy Anniversary Secret Cravings Publishing

I love a celebration, I mean who doesn't? Special occasions remind us of the things in life we need to appreciate and be grateful for. Loved ones, family, friends, things we've achieved, and even the lessons we've learned from our failures. We can celebrate anything, and I know in Australia we often do. I mean the whole country nearly closes down on the first Tuesday of November each year for the Melbourne Cup (for those of you who don't know, it's a horse race). I see all my overseas friends sitting in front of their computers with stunned expressions. I kid you not, we celebrate a horse race. It's a huge day, workplaces stop to watch or listen to the race. The only movement in the whole country is people jumping up and down screaming at a TV screen.

My point is, celebrations are a great thing. For the last month, authors who are part of the Secret Cravings stable (I may as well stick with the horse theme now I've started) have been blogging and giving away prizes because it's Secret Cravings Publishing's (SCP) First Anniversary. I'm only new to the world of writing and publishing but so far it's been a great experience for me, much of it due to SCP. My first novella in their Hot Flash Line came out this month, three more in the same series are to follow this year. I'm thankful to be able to participate in SCP's first year and the anniversary celebration. Congratulations on being an excellent publisher. I hope your success continues to grow and that you keep putting out quality books for years to come.

Happy Anniversary Secret Cravings.  

Win a Copy of The Cougar Club.
My first novella, The Cougar Club was released through SCP just this month. I'm giving away a PDF copy as part of the celebration. So, for your chance to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on this blog (along with you email address of course). I'll be announcing the winner on the 16th for those who participate.  

Also if you participate in the competitions and make blog entries on all the celebration blogs you can go in the draw to win the major prize from Secret Cravings Publishing. for more information about how to win the major prize visit the link below.

http://secretcravingspublishing.blogspot.com/2011/12/one-year-anniversary-blog-hop-starts.html

Sydney Cougars

It's nice when you start seeing your work come together in a way that makes it real. After all the writing, contract signing and edits, an author can start to wonder why did I decide to do this. Then the book cover arrives, and you let out a little scream of delight. Yay, now I know why I do this, because I love writing and creating stories that might entertain and interest others. For me it's not until I see a cover that I realise I'm actually doing something tangible. I'm not just spending endless hours sitting at my computer playing author. I'm actually being what I want to be.

So, today the cover arrived for The Cougar Club, the first novella in my Sydney Cougar Series. Unlike the initial cover art for Finding Angel (which made me cry, because it was just so inexplicably horrid. It did get revised, thank god.) I screamed with delight when The Cougar Club cover landed in my inbox. Zeke looks like I imagined him and so does Jasmine. The are soooo sexy. I just want to hug them both. Well maybe I could do a bit more than just hug Zeke :)

Life sometimes takes you on a bit of a curve. You can go off on a tangent that sometime works out, other times the tangent leads to disaster. The Sydney Cougar Series, more specifically The Cougar Club was a tangent for me. I was trying to get Finding Angel contracted with a publisher. It seemed like that would never happen. As I was looking at submission guidelines for different publishers, I found Secret Cravings Publishing (SCP). They had a call out for submissions for a new line of books. Their new Hot Flash imprint. Stories about older women and younger men. Cougar stories up to 20,000 words. I decided to give my self a break from the endless grind and worry, write a story, then submit it and see what happened. Jasmine and Zeke came to life, so did the club, and there crazy friends. I had the best time working on the novella, it just basically fell out of my head onto the page in about 4 days. I submitted it, expecting a huge wait to hear back. OMG, a week or so later I had a contract. My first publishing contract. I decided it was fate. It was meant to be. I could use this as a learning experience for when Finding Angel got a home. It didn't work out that way exactly, because Angel got published and came out before this, but, oh well. I've still learnt a lot from SCP, they're a terrific company to write for.

And SCP is continuing to be a first for me. My tangent is paying off, they recently offered me a multi book contract. Three more of the Sydney Cougar Series novellas. I didn't intend for The Cougar Club to be part of a series, but it has. The secondary characters from the book grabbed my attention. They needed their own story. I wanted to let people know what happened to some of Jasmine and Zeke's friends. I mean 20k words doesn't give a lot of detail, inquiring minds (like me) needed to know more of what was going on. When I submitted the second novella, Catching a Cougar, to SCP they asked how many more were in the series. I replied two more unnamed titles. I know who they will be about, but as for how the stories will unfold, that's still jottings on paper. So, SCP offered me a multi-book contract for the remaining three novellas. How cool are they, and how excited was I? I'm still smiling.

I haven't got a definite release date for The Cougar club yet, but it is in February, so only a few weeks to wait. If you'd like to have a sneak peak at what the books about, visit my website. The link is on the right hand side of the blog page. I hope when your read The Cougar Club that you find it's just the right amount of good storyline and wickedly sexy fun.

Join the Cravings Club

As you know Secret Cravings Publishing (SCP) has contracted my Sydney Cougar Series, the first novella in the collection is due for release in February 2012. I've just finished the second round edits and the book is great thanks to my gifted editor, Kyle. There are some amazing authors being published through SCP and the company has just set up their readers club. The Cravings Club is the eClub for Lovers of reading and romance.

SCP is inviting readers to become a Charter Member of the Cravings eBook Club and receive Taming The Cougar* by Sandy Sullivan and Hunting Jaguar** by D. McEntire absolutely FREE!

As a club member, you receive four BRAND-NEW EBOOKS, specially selected by the Editorial Director, every month for a total price of only $9.99 for all four. This comes out to barely $2.50 per book, much less than the retail price and you’ll be able to enjoy your books even before they hit Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

As a club member, you will also receive:
· a monthly newsletter
· sneak previews of new books
· exclusive interviews with your favorite authors
· special offers not available to the general public

It's only $9.99 per month, once you join the program, you are charged automatically, through Paypal, every month. Your books get shipped within one day after the PayPal payment has cleared. You get to tell SCP what you like to read and a few other things at membership sign up. It's a great way to discover new authors and books that you may not find out about otherwise. You can cancel membership at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe button located on the Cravings Club tab at the bottom of the SCP website and you keep the FREE BOOKS as a gift.

It's easy steps to join to join. Just click on the link on the right hand side of my blog page and it will give you all the information you need.

About the free books:
*Taming the Cougar - a western, erotic romance:
Marla isn't looking for love or anything else from a man. Can Marla put aside her distrust of men for a younger man? Can Chris convince her he's not like other guys?

**Hunting Jaguar- paranormal erotic romance:
Rachel Hayes' Father set out to prove the existence of the Miloni temple and the Jaguar people. Tumi is a descendant of the Miloni race and is sworn to protect their secret with his
life. Will he be forced to uphold his vow at the cost of his heart and Rachel's life?