TAGGED: The Next Big Thing

My lovely friend and fabulous romantic suspense author, Cathie Dunn, has tagged me on The Next Big Thing. I hope I can live up to the expectation of being 'the next big thing' :-)

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What is the title of your work in progress?

Beguiler. It's the second book in The ABCs of S-E-X: Love by the Letter Series.

Where did the idea for the book come from?


The ABCs of S-E-X: Love by the Letter Series does what it says on the tin. Each story in the series has a title that starts with a letter of the alphabet. A for Awakening, B for Beguiler, C for Conquered, D for . . . Well, you get it.

I wanted this second story to stand out from Awakening and since getting satellite tellie, I've fallen in love with ghost programs. So I thought a ghost story would be fun. I got my inspiration from some of the ghost hunting programs and developed my story. The hero is a ghost hunter and has his own show on tellie. He's known as The Beguiler because he has a knack for attracting all sorts of paranormal activities when he's on the job. Thus, his show is also called Beguiler ;-) 

What genre does your book fall under?

Definitely paranormal. But because it's also one of my stories, it's also erotica. I wonder what naughty things my hero can get up to on a ghost hunt!
 
What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Oh my! Let's see --

My hero is known as The Beguiler so he has to be beguiling . . . a real charmer. My beguiler also has to be sexy, strong, inquisitive, up for a challenge,part snake oil salesman and part snake charmer.

Who wouldn't see all these things looking at Chris Helmsworth, recently from the movie Thor?! Yeah, I could be lured into believing anything this sweet face will tell me, then not be surprised when he pulls out the handcuffs! Oh, man!

So yeah, Chris Helmsworth is my beguiler.

And he'll have to be part snake charmer too if he's going to coax my heroine out of hiding. She's a fiery haired temptress called Maire Rua, the Irish for Red Mary (because of her fiery red hair) who found herself in difficult circumstances.

You see, Maire is, or was, a healer, in her day. But some say she was also a witch.

Well, one thing led to another and she found herself in a place that only our beguiler hero can get her out of.

Oh, my actress heroine would be this version of Shirley Manson. Shirley is a Scottish-born singer, but starred in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I love this look. Very hawt! 

What is the one sentence synopsis for the book?

A fable leads the Beguiler to Ireland to discover the truth of the legend about the Woman in the Wall.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Tirgearr Publishing holds the exclusive on this series.


How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

I'm embarrassed to say that this book is long overdue. It was meant to be out in June and I'm still writing. You know, research and all!! December is my NaNo month so I'm hoping during those few weeks we'll finally put Beguiler to bed . . . so to speak.


What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Compare? None, darling. I'm an original ;-)

Who or what inspired you to write this book? 

My love of ghost hunting or ghost stories inspired this story.

What else about your book may pique the readers' interest?

I hope all of it. It's set in Ireland at the ruins of an old haunted castle. The hero is a hunk, the heroine gorgeous. Lots of mystery, a legend, and lots of naught antics. What more do you want? :-)

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Okay, so it's my turn to tag some writer friends whose writing, voice and attitude I admire. 


C. Margery Kempe
http://nightsofpassion.wordpress.com
The Queen of Erotica Fairy Tales! 

Isabo Kelly
http://www.isabokellyrambles.blogspot.com
Not technically erotica, but her love scenes are hawt and her heroes are creamy . . . I mean dreamy! {fanning self}  

Azura Moonlustre
http://www.azurasmoonlust.blogspot.com
Azura is new to erotica but boy-howdy can she write a rollicking good scene!


 Have fun girls!

•❤•

Accolades for Awakening!

A massive thank you to stellar reviewer Sharal Hunter for her amazing review of Awakening. Whooo hoooo!

I’ve never really been a fan of the erotica genre, but historical romance was my first favorite genre. Even if you aren’t a fan of erotica romance or have never read the genre before, Awakening by Scarlett Valentine is a good place to start. In 12th century Wales, women are viewed as nothing more than property and vessels to birth heirs. If women even survive the childbirth process, they have no rights, no voice. Our heroine, Ysbail, knows this and knows she has no choice when she is given in marriage to Bedwyr, one of the King’s bastard sons, who has a reputation as a blood-thirsty warrior. Most people are afraid of him. I didn’t get the sense that Ysbail was afraid of him, however. My first impression of her was that she can be quite defiant and stubborn in her own right. She proves this when she has to deal with some trouble makers while Bedwyr is away. She possesses inner strength and determination that will serve her well in the surroundings she has been forced to live.

The rumors about Bedwyr are all absolutely true. From childhood, he has been groomed to fight and kill in a kill or be killed environment. He has learned to stifle emotions like mercy, compassion and love and live without them. There is no place for them on the battlefield. When he is told that he is to marry, obviously he isn’t happy but acquiring property as part of the arrangement sweetens the deal and he agrees. Bedwyr is no fool and he realizes how fortunate he is when he meets Ysbail for the first time and experiences a fiercely strong desire and sexual hunger for her.

The story begins after the wedding and the wedding night has commenced. A fortnight has passed and Bedwyr and Ysbail have arrived at their new home and Bedwyr wants to introduce his new bride to the sensual side of marriage. Ysbail is a quick learner, though at first, I thought she would resist. The bedroom scenes are very intimate and explicit without being overly graphic or obscene.

Awakening delivers a good story outside of the bedchamber as well as inside. Strong characters and coherent dialogue make the story flow so smoothly that I found myself surprised when it was over. If you are looking for something a little different than your usual reading choices, give Awakening a try.

Whipped Cream Winners!

Congratulations to Maureen for winning my $15 Amazon gift card from my recent week at Whipped Cream Reviews!! {click here for a list of stops}

Also, congratulations to Wanda who won one of my very own hand knits from Monday's visit.

Thank you ladies, and everyone else, who joined me at Whipped Cream last week and posted some great comments and questions. I had a lot of fun and I hope you did too.

Thanks you also goes to Whipped Cream for hosting me last week and letting me talk about things I enjoy when I'm not writing, but also how my hobbies inspire my writing.

A big THANK YOU goes out to Goddess Fish Promotions who arranged all my tours through November. You ladies rock!

Thank you also to everyone who followed my tour stops, even if you didn't post a comment. I hope you enjoyed my articles and maybe learned a little something along the way.

Don't forget you can find me on Facebook and Twitter. Drop over and give me a poke or a tweet.

Also as a reminder, I'll be revisiting Rachel Leigh on the 20th. I've met someone very special and got an exclusive interview just in time for the holidays. So be sure to drop over. Bring your jingle bells!

~ Scarlett
'What's a little bondage between friends?'
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Awakening on iTunes!

I just thought I'd drop a quick message to say Awakening is now available on iTunes!

Now you can read this great story, if I do say so myself, on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch.

Don't forget, part two of the Awakening virtual book tour takes off on the 28th. I'll be with Whipped Cream Reviews for the week talking about . . . well, you'll have to visit to find out. All I can say is that there will be prizes available to those who leave me messages in the comments.

I hope to see you there!





~ Scarlett
'What's a little bondage between friends?'
@}~~}~~~~~

Awakening VBT Winners

Wow! What a ride this has been. Two weeks of virtual book touring, chatting with people and talking about some really interesting topics. I had a WONDerful time and I hope everyone who participated had as much of a great time as I.

I want to think my second week tour hosts, Asian Cocoa's Secret Garden, Rachel Leigh's Erotic Romance, Erotica for All, Wendi Zwaduk's Romance That Makes Your Heart Race, and Seduced by Books. Thank you for letting me visit with your readers and talk about my book, Awakening. I had a really great time and hope you'll let me come back for Beguiler.

A big thank you, too, to Goddess Fish Promotions for setting up the last two weeks. You gals are THE BEST!

This week, I handed out another spot prize. This time it went to Kathryn Merkel. Congratulations, Kathryn!

I also had a stalker! Actually, I had a couple stalkers, so their names were put into a 'hat' and one was randomly selected. My stalker's name is . . . Mary Preston! Mary followed me all week and posted a message every day. Thank you Mary for stalking me. I hope you enjoyed the tour. Your $15 Amazon gift card has been sent. I hope you find loads of lovely books to buy with it.

So . . . drum roll please . . . {insert drum roll here} . . . the grand prize winner is . . . after having been randomly drawn from all of the names of all the of the lovely people who commented through the tour . . . is . . . {oh, the anticipation!} . . . the winner is . . . Debra Guyette! {insert fanfare, fireworks and applause here} Congratulations, Debra. Your $25 Amazon gift card has been sent. I was going to say "don't spend it all in one place" but I think that's the point ;-) Enjoy!!

Don't forget, friends, that starting 28 November, I'll be visiting all week with Whipped Cream Reviews. Should be a more relaxed week, but there are still prizes! So drop over and join me. Details are on the sidebar.

A special note here: One of my tour followers, Karen Haas, had a birthday on Friday, 11-11-11. I couldn't let this pass, so a special prize went to Karen . . . to let her chose the setting, era and title for the C book, which will also be dedicated to her. Keep your eyes open for Conquered, set in Tudor England sometime in October 2012! Thanks, Karen, and Happy Birthday! I hope your special day was extra special :-)

And if anyone missed the last two weeks, click onto Links and you can read my pieces over the last two weeks and see what we discussed in the comments.

Thanks again to everyone who joined me this last two weeks. It went by SO fast. You can find me on Facebook and we'll continue our great chats there.

Scarlett Valentine
www.scarlett-valentine.com
'What's a little bondage between friends?'
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