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I’ve had a few emails asking me why I haven’t been posting. Well, actually, I have been posting, but on my current blog attached to my website. To visit my current blog please go to http://maddybarone.com

Halloween Blog Hop

Happy Halloween! Welcome to Maddy Barone’s blog. I write paranormal werewolf romance with a twist. My current series, After the Crash, takes place in the future, but this future is after World War III has destroyed technology and reduced the female population to a precious few. So when a plane from our time crashes the female passengers are both coveted commodities and precious mates to the werewolves in that world. The first book, Sleeping With the Wolf, will be released by Liquid Silver Books in the near future.

The Halloween Blog Hop runs Friday at 7am EST thru Sunday at 7pm EST. Don’t forget to join us for chat at Gem Savad’s Chat Room at these times:

 Friday 10/29 at 7pm EST
Saturday 10/30 at 3pm EST and
Sunday 10/31 at 5pm EST

Since Halloween is the time for playing dress up and handing out candy, I’ve put the two together for you here. Which of these yummy pieces of eye candy guys would you like to go to a Halloween party with?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

  

 

The Hero From my book, Taye Wolfe

 

Fireman

 

 

 

The Tracker

 

 

Teh Hawaiian Fire Dancer

 

The Barbarian Warrior

 

The Scotman

 

Miss Bramble and the Leviathan by Kristin Painter

I have recently fallen in love with all things steampunk! The dress, the technology, the fact that females are generally allowed freedom not found in historical romance. This book by Samhaim has it all. Give me a brainy heroine anyday!

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The last thing she planned to steal was his heart.

The Company. Military institution, protector of Praeton and the nation of Grand Isle. Dirty rotten thief.

When Pandora Bramble steps aboard the Company’s premiere airship Daedalus it’s not for the exclusive VIP tour. It’s to secure proof that the Company stole the regulator valve her father designed—even if it means tearing the engine apart. Foiled by the unexpected appearance of a handsome crew member, she despairs of ever getting another chance—until he kisses her.

Captain Theolonius Hatch, sentenced to engine room duty for refusing to take part in the Company’s fleet week activities, never dreamed a woman like Pandora existed. Her brains match her beauty, a combination that adds up to more trouble than he ever expected.

As Pandora allows Theolonius to sweep her into a whirlwind courtship, her wildest dreams come true. As do her greatest fears, leaving her to decide what matters most. Loyalty…or love.

The clock is ticking.

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Product Warnings

This book contains airships, mechanical owls, women who are good with tools, men in and out of uniform, steam generated by engines and people, and some hot carriage scenes.
BUY IT HERE

Writing … It’s Not For Pansies

At this time last year I played at being a writer. I wrote for fun, with only vague expectations of submitting a story “someday”. Now I have a book that will be coming out in a few months, and I have other books planned for the series. I have no obligation to write more, but I want to.  Those characters need to have their stories told too. Last March and April I could hardly wait to get home from work so I could write. I spent too much time at my desk at work mentally writing scenes.  I wrote 75,000 words in 6 weeks. I absolutely was driven to write. And I loved it!

But now I have to FORCE myself to write. It’s like I’ve lost the joy of writing. It’s not Writer’s Block. I know the story I’m telling (occasionally my characters throw me for a loop, but still, I know what main events have to happen to tell the story) but I have to force myself to sit at the computer for hours to write a measly 500 words. Where has my joy and drive gone?

Maybe every writer goes through a phase like this. What was once a delight, a mere hobby for fun, has become a job. And I already have a job, monday through friday, from 7am-3:30 pm (unless we’re on overtime, which happens regularly. In fact, overtime starts again this coming week and goes through Christmas) I don’t have to write to support myself. Plus I have other hobbies like reading, knitting and spinning, costuming and the SCA to fill my free time. Writing is no longer one of those hobbies that I can do when I feel like it or abandon for something else.  Except, that it could be that again if I wanted. I have no contract for the sequels, no obligations. I could, if I chose, go back to being a hobbyist. But the very thought of that makes me rear up and say: No! I want to share my stories. I want to keep being published. Not just for the money, although I’m looking forward to the royalty checks, but because I want people to read my stories. I want to make lots of money for my publisher and myself.  But even more I want people to find a little escape through my writing.

Over on Romance Divas there is a thread where several successful authors have posted about how many books and novellas and short stories they have coming out this year and in 2011, and I simply stand in awe and envy.  Envy because they keep selling their stories, and awe because wow! how do they do it? A couple have said that they have contracts to fulfill and deadlines to meet, so they have to write so prolifically, but that next year they are slowing down so they can have some times for their families and themselves. I don’t ever want to get to the point that I have no time for anything but writing. But I hope I get past this feeling that writing is a chore.

This is why writing ain’t for pansies. It is work. Sometimes it is hard grinding work with nothing to show for it. Do other writers ever think about giving it up? Sometimes a story flows out of me like water from a wide open  faucet. Some times the story is  forced out of a clogged faucet in drips and drabs. It takes longer to write that way, but at least it’s writing. I’m not quitting. I just hope I’ll find my enthusiasm and joy again. Soon.

Baron Berwyn’s Tunic

A friend of mine is going to be elevated to the Order of the Pelican next month. For those who are in the SCA you will know what a huge honor this is. For those who who aren’t in the SCA, never mind. Just know that is is a pretty cool thing. I am arranging a vigil for him, and making him a new wool tunic. I’ve chosen a deep burgundy-purple wool for the tunic, and dark green linen for the pants. I have a light tan wool for the neck facing. I’ve used my poor drawing skills to trace an embroidery design around the keyhole neck. His device is acorns, so I’m using acorns as the focus in the design. I hope to use my handspun wool embroidery thread for most of it, but I will use a bit of commercial black silk to outline the motifs, and some store bought wool for the broad band of couchedwork at the edge for a border . Berwyn has an Anglo-Saxon persona from after the Norman Conquest. He’s not rabid about authenticity, so I think the pattern I have chosen will work. Now I have three weeks to embroider the collar and sew the tunic and pants. Wish me luck!

Thursday 13

Hello, this might be my last post in this blog. The wonderful Ria Ritchey is designing a website for me. It is up, but is only in the bare bones stage while she works on some extras like a contact page, importing this blog to the blog on the website and adding some photos. So here are 13 things about my new website:

1. The first thing is the web addy: www.maddybarone.com

2. I like my tagline: “Unlock Your Imagination” It covers more than just paranormal romance, since almost any book involves using your imagination. Someday I’d like top write other types of stories besides erotic romance.

3. The door with its iron scrollwork sits in mist, making me think of dreams, and the key hanging by my name hopefully invites the visitor to unlock the door.

4. I want visitors to feel like they can let go of everyday life and relax with my stories.

5. My “About Me” page may have to change. I’ve decided that a list of facts isn’t very interesting.

6. I haven’t gotten the final cover art for my book yet, so my “Books” page isn’t very inviting. I hope when I get the cover art it will immediatly draw the reader in.

7. I would like a side bars on every page. On the Home page I’d like to have my book with a purchase link in a sidebar so the visitor doesn’t HAVE to click every tab to find the important things.

8. I need to learn how to maintain and update my website myself.

9. I need ideas for what should be on my home page.

10. I need to know how often I should update the website.

11. I wonder how much does a website help an author sell books? Is it important?

12. I wonder if there is a way for me to add moire pages under my Books page in the future. Hopefully I’ll have a whole bunch of books on there someday.

13. I’m very excited to have a website!!

Poisoned Kisses by Stephanie Draven

Doesn’t this sound good? I love the Nocturne line from Harlequin because we get great characters with paranormal stories that edge outside the box. Stephanie Draven has written several for this line and they are all good with interesting plotlines. Not the same old, same old.

Coming October 2010

Buy from:

• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• Borders
• Constellation Books
• Indiebound
• Powell’s

He can wear the face of anyone who has ever hurt him…

This former soldier-turned-gun-runner thinks his true identity is safe, but a mysterious woman is about to force him to face the tragic past he thought he left behind.

She can disguise herself as the only woman he’s ever loved…

It’s not easy to be a Daddy’s Girl when your father is Ares, Greek God of War. To thwart her father and all those who serve him, Kyra intends to assassinate a modern day hydra. To kill him, she needs to seduce him, but Marco Kaisaris isn’t the monster she thinks he is–and even if he doesn’t break her heart, he may still be the death of her.

Can they see past each other’s masks to find a love that’s more than skin deep?

Adventures In Bathing

I’m not up to doing the Thursday 13 this week. Instead here is a post about my night. Sigh.

So I haven’t washed my hair since Sunday and I decided I couldn’t bear it any more. I thought I’d have better chance of controlling the water on my finger in the tub rather than the shower. So I filled the bathtub with warm (not hot) water and set the shampoo and conditioner on the ledge and the towel close to hand. I took the metal splint thingie off, made sure the bandage completely covered the stitches and the rubber finger thingie they gave me at the clinic was over all of it, and sat in the water. Then I stuck my right hand in the air, laid back in the water, submerged my head and came back up, streaming water and hair like a mermaid, only less gracefully.

I awkwardly squirted shampoo into my palm. Well, I tried to squirt shampoo into my palm. Most of it hit the bathwater. Blast, and assorted other mild cusswords. Tried again. Lathered part of my head. Couldn’t reach the other side. Well, good enough. Went back down to rinse. My hair is down past my waist and the water was just up past my waist, so about 8 inches of hair was floating in the now slightly scummy water. ick. Quick, use conditioner. W/out conditioner there’s no way I’m getting a comb through this mess. Now the water is even more scummy, and I can tell I didn’t get the conditioner rinsed out very well.

By this time my finger is hurting a bit. Did you know that when you curl some fingers they all want to curl? Yeah. More cursing, less mild now. Well, conditioner left in the hair wouldn’t hurt anything. And that bottom eight inches floating in the scum? Well, I’m doing my best, so hush.

I looked around for the soap so I could try to wash my body (at least the parts of it I could reach). The soap was way up there, where I can reach it when showering. $h*t! Fudge! Well, my body got wet. That’s something, right? I scrambled out of the tub, spraying scummy water everywhere. The cats looked at me like I was a monster emerging from Tokyo Bay, and scuttled out of the bathroom as fast as they could go. I tried to wrap my hair up in a towel using only one hand. Boy, is that a trick. Once I had it precariously wrapped in a towel/turban I pulled my nightgown over my head. Unfortunately, that dragged the towel down, and it was trapped under my nightie at the top of my back. While trying to wrestle the sodden (not sodding, although, that word is … Never mind) thing loose, I caught sight of myself in the mirror. I was appalled at my likeness to Quasimodo.I hurried to yank the towel free. Washing my hair was supposed to make me feel better about my appearance. With my arms up I also noticed that my armpits are growing a rain forest. Oy!

I tried to comb my hair. Really. Then I tried to braid it. Can you say Ouch? And other less polite four letter words. Repeatedly. At top volume. I put the finger brace back on and tried again to braid it. The velcro on the finger brace now has a nice collection of three foot long strands of hair. I have a loose, uneven braid of snarls, a sopping wet bathroom, three terrfied cats and a finger that hurts like a b*tch.

Tomorrow I’ll try the shower. It’s GOTTA be easier.

Bloodsong by Eden Bradley

BLOODSONG, Book Two Eden Bradley’s Midnight Playground series, is out today from Samhain Publishing! You can find it at MBaM, Amazon, and other retail outlets!

An ancient vampire, an ancient grief…a love that makes his blood sing…

Midnight Playground, Book 2

London, 2069

Aleron is ancient, powerful, immortal…a vampire who idles away his time playing at his favorite haunt, Midnight Playground. His favorite toys: beautiful young men. His game: BDSM, experiencing through the minds of his partners the sensations he can no longer quite feel himself.
The one thing he has vowed to avoid at all costs is love, especially for a woman. In a hundred years he has never been tempted to break that vow—until a lovely mortal woman enters his dungeon to watch him play. And his blood hums the ancient song of long-forgotten desire.
Raised in the Indian slums of London, exotic dancer Meeraj enters Midnight Playground a woman with nothing left to lose, numb to all but the most extreme forms of stimulation. As she watches Aleron’s blood play, she knows only his razor-sharp skills will satisfy. And she catches an odd mental glimpse of the grief that shadows his heart.
From their first touch, they are caught up in a whirlwind of exquisite agony that releases their emotions from the weight of the past. Exposing them to risks they’ve both fought to avoid. Love…and loss.
***
Visit the Smutketeers blog for contests running all week long to celebrate the release of BLOODSONG!

Three Stitches Later…

Monday was the first official day of my long-awaited vacation! Friday was just an extra day off for my birthday. So yesterday I woke up late, made coffee, knitted while listening to Il Divo. It was lovely. The cats were well behaved, taking turns sitting in my lap while I maneuvered the cardigan in progress around them. Then I got dressed and cleaned the bathroom thoroughly and did laundry. About 1:30 I began reading all my correspondence and replied to those i needed to. It was good to get that taken care of. After all that, I opened my long neglected WiP (book 2 of the After the Crash series) and re-read and began doing some editing as i went along. After  I finished reading I got up to make supper and while I did that I plotted the next chapter. Home made chili is a favorite for cold evenings. Too bad we’re having a warm spell right now. But it was tasty. After eating I began to bag up the garbage to take out. I still needed to clean up spills on the stove, unload the dishwasher and load up the supper dishes. I hoped to have an hour to write before Dancing With the Stars came on. I forgot or maybe just didn’t notice that the empty kidney bean can in the garbage had a sharp lid.

O. M. G.

At first I didn’t feel anything. I noticed a dark stream of some liquid running down my arm. I was surprised to see the blood splatter on the white garbage bag and the kitchen floor. I followed the red path to my right forefinger, which was belching out an amazing amount of blood. And then the pain hit. All thought of my characters and their soon-to-occur separation fled from my mind. I grabbed paper towel to try to stop the bleeding. No go. Maybe  I should go to the clinic?  I called several friends, but none was available to drive me to the clinic. I grabbed the whole roll of paper towels, threw on a sweater and hustled out the door.

In retrospect, the choice of the white cardigan may not have been the best…

The flu season hasn’t really started yet so the walk in clinic was nearly empty.  I got three stitches, a honking big tube of antibiotic cream, a finger brace and I would have gotten a tetnus shot if I hadn’t had one just a year and half ago. I got home to an apartment of dried blood, scattered trash, and a kitchen full of the debris of chili making. The cats got one whiff of the hospital stench that clung to me and hissed. Boy, did I feel loved.

What were my plans for my vacation? Knitting, sewing and writing. How many of those activities require the use of the right forefinger? Hm. Let me think. Happy vacation to me. Actually, I can knit, very slowly, but my tension is flooey. And I can type, but it too is slow, and I have tons of typos. And it hurts. The handsewing? Well, not so much.  I guess that means I have to read for my own entertainment. I can do that with my injured hand raised like a kid in school who has a question.

I had no idea how much I use my forefinger.  Try brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand. Comb your hair? Trim your finger nails? Open a can. Brush your cat. Shift gears in your car. Write a rent check. Use your phone. Stir pancake batter and make pancakes. Sweep the floor?

Sigh. I will still try to write, but I’m adjusting my goals to take rest breaks into account. It could have been worse. The slice is across the top of the finger, and the was no tendon damage. I just have a perfect excuse to not sweep my floor or do any more housework. Right?