Car Repairs & Naughty Writing...

I bought a new car in November. Nothing fancy. Since the day job requires a 100+ mile round trip commute, I don't do expensive cars. I go for good gas mileage and not a lot of money because I'll rack up 30k miles a year and end up with no trade in value by the time I pay it off.

Well, my new little Chevy--now with 8800 miles on it--needed a front end alignment. I know. It shouldn't this soon but it could have something to do with the way I take the curves on the commute. *grins* But that's another story.

Anyway... Yesterday I call the dealership and get an appointment for today. Of course, they don't have weekend hours so I have to miss work. Brilliant idea! I ask if they have wireless internet access. I can log into the office and get some much needed work done! The answer is yes. I should have been more specific. Yes, they have it but no, I couldn't access it. Secured.

So here I am with my computer and a couple hours to kill. Hmmm... I open up my latest WIP and start writing! About the book... it's male/male and it's explicit. Well, duh... But I thought I was safe. I wrote a long sex scene last night. I needed to transition to another scene--one that wasn't erotic. Well, my characters didn't behave. Yep, you guessed it. They wanted more sex. What's a writer to do?

Now, anyone who writes erotic romance will understand the predicament I found myself in. Let's just say if the scene doesn't get the writer hot, it probably won't do it for the readers either. But the muse demanded I keep going!

In spite of the four or five other customers and half a dozen service people wandering in and out of the waiting room, I wrote a scorching 1500 word sex scene while waiting for my car. Then I went and stood in the rain for a little while...

Now, I have a question. Should I acknowledge the dealership in the credits? *cackle*

PAST LIES Release Date Change!

My editor emailed me yesterday with wonderful news. Ellora's Cave moved the release date of PAST LIES to April 9th! Woo hoo! I posted an excerpt on my wesite. Check out the coming soon page at http://shaylakersten.com/shaylacomingsoon.htm!

New Cover!

PAST LIES

Coming to Ellora's Cave, May 28, 2008


Two opposite men, two different lives, two sets of past lies.

With his twenty year high school reunion looming, Paul Loughton dreads seeing the one person who could tempt him to stray from his path. Small town mayor, lawyer and budding politician, Paul can’t—won’t—admit he’s gay, even to himself. Years of denial and lies are now threatened by an inevitable encounter. With his denial slipping, he has to come face to face with temptation.

Randy Martin left his small town roots behind before the ink on his diploma was dry. The cliquish world of his childhood didn’t have room for the weird kid from the wrong side of the tracks. Rumors of his sexual preferences made life that much more difficult. Now, twenty years later, he should be anxious to rub his wealth and success in the faces of his former classmates. Except with one of them, the urge to rub something else hasn’t diminished over the years.

Another Sven Update!

Well, not much in the word count department since Wednesday. Actually, I've lost words! *cackle*

I finished edits on my EC novella, Longing For Eternity, on Thursday and received another round from my editor early this morning. I just emailed this round back to her. *crosses fingers* Usually my edits are minimal but LFE is the third in a series and I'm having trouble balancing necessary backstory for new readers.

Friday and Saturday I worked on self-edits and comments from my CP on a new manuscript. This is where I lost a lot of words. I hope to finish it tonight. I'm almost there. A little tweaking for overuse of a couple of words. Then it's off to EC as well. *crosses toes*

I also received the cover art for Past Lies! Can we say HAWT boys and girls? I'll post a copy here later. And I have a release date--May 28th!

Now I just have to be a good girl and wait patiently for Longing For Eternity's release date. Of course, patience is a virtue and no one ever accused me of being virtuous! *cackle* *snort*

Shayla

Sven's 70 Days Of Sweat

Update on 70 Days of Sweat!

Well, after reporting in Sunday morning with a big fat zero for Saturday, I managed 2100 words on my 20k novella. I started it before March 1st so I'm up to 4100 words.

Monday was a waste! Didn't leave the day job until 6:30 and my hour commute turned into two due to a power pole across the highway. *pouts*

Last night, my Ellora's Cave editor sent me edits on the short novella Longing For Eternity so I've been working on that ms instead of the new one. I think I'm done but I'll give it another read through tomorrow night.

Also last night, my critique partner sent me a ms she'd finished critting so I need to look at that and get it shipped to my editor.

So...I'll probably not get back to writing on the new one until Friday or Saturday. But it's all writing progress!

For more about Sven's workout: http://70daysofsweat.com/wordpress/

Sven's 70 Days of Sweat!

Sounds like a title for one of my books... *cackle*

But it's not. It's a writing challenge. A little like NaNo but not as strict-you can work on anything you want, more than one or use the challenge to finish a work in progress. Starting March 1st and running through May 16th, a group of writers band together to support each other as they sweat words. Inspirational words and check-ins help push people toward their goals. (http://70daysofsweat.com/wordpress/archives/168)

The March 1st challenge is the third Sven challenge and the first for me. My goals are to finish a 20k novella (18k to go!) and a 50k novel. Only 1k a day is doable. Although I'm more likely to do an average of 500 words a day duriing the week and make up the rest on the weekend.

So tomorrow, I'll wade into the writing workout with Sven. Wish me luck!

Hugs,
Shayla

News!

So far 2008 is lookin' good! January brought the sale of Past Lies, my 2007 NaNoWriMo novel, to Ellora's Cave. Now in February, the sale of Longing For Eternity! I have a couple of submissions out so maybe March will be equally lucky! *cackle* Though I'm not holding my breath!

Longing For Eternity is a short novella, and the third book in The Cost of Eternity series, set after The Rememdiu.

LONGING FOR ETERNITY, Coming soon to Ellora's Cave (Unedited blurb)

Serena Whitmore’s love for Zaki surpassed death but her transformation into a vampire has kept her separate from him for thirty-four years. As much as her heart and body crave him, the natural enmity between vampires keeps their visits brief. Now, fate twists its fickle fingers into her life and teases her with a solution. And a piece of her heart she thought she’d lost forever.

Zaki Bashandi has spent two millennia living by the rules his vampiric nature—alone. Sex was a means to blood, not love, not desire. Until Serena entered his life and enslaved what was left of his soul. Now, his longing for eternity with the one woman who captured his heart may become a reality. If they both survive long enough for the cure…


PAST LIES, Coming soon to Ellora's Cave

Two opposite men, two different lives, two sets of past lies.

With his twenty year high school reunion looming, Paul Loughton dreads seeing the one person who could tempt him to stray from his path. Small town mayor, lawyer and budding politician, Paul can’t—won’t—admit he’s gay, even to himself. Years of denial and lies are now threatened by an inevitable encounter. With his denial slipping, he has to come face to face with temptation.

Randy Martin left his small town roots behind before the ink on his diploma was dry. The cliquish world of his childhood didn’t have room for the weird kid from the wrong side of the tracks. Rumors of his sexual preferences made life that much more difficult. Now, twenty years later, he should be anxious to rub his wealth and success in the faces of his former classmates. Except with one of them, the urge to rub something else hasn’t diminished over the years.

Flash Fiction Sunday, February 3rd!

Come join me for Flash Fiction Sunday at Liquid Silver's SEx Blog on Sunday, February 3!

Flash fiction is 100 word drabbles. Come one, come all and have some fun! No rules this time. We'll be having a posting free for all! Or just stop by and post a comment!

I'll be giving away a choice of a free ebook from my backlist to one lucky poster! The winner will be chosen on Monday morning so everyone has a chance to play!

http://www.liquidsilverbooks.com/blog/

Time flies!

It's been nearly two weeks since I posted last! And January is flying by at the speed of sound! A few great things happening!

First, my latest book, Forever, received 5 Hearts from The Romance Studio. Julia said:

"Forever is an interesting story that had me hooked from the first page. It’s not an easy story to read, particularly if you’ve read the first of the series because then you’d know that Cavan was horribly abused and not really capable of making his own decisions, although with Biton’s help he seems to be able to do for himself in some small ways now. With Cavan’s past, Biton loves him enough to give up his BDSM lifestyle if that’s what it takes. Throughout the book you sometimes wonder if Cavan can make the choice to stay with Biton on his own, but by the end of it you see that he’s grown enough mentally to make his own decision which is one of the reasons this book is so good. The relationship between the two men is complicated and rich, and I felt like I was really getting inside both of them and could see the insecurities they had. I would strongly suggest reading the first in the series Thirty Days, because it would help people understand why both men react the way they do, and why the story goes the direction it does. Forever is fantastic story of two people who live a different kind of life, and at the same time are struggling to overcome a brutal past. It’s definitely going on the keeper shelf!"

Next, my book, Hidden Force, received a Recommended Read at Joyfully Reviewed! The reviewer, Ley, said:

"I really enjoyed this story. Hidden Force grabbed me from the first page and I didn't put it down until I finished. Shayla Kersten did a great job, the suspense kept me glued to the pages. The battle Tony had going on inside himself as he struggled to come to terms with his sexuality and his feelings for Ryan made me feel for him. Ryan's confidence with who he was and his patience and understanding of Tony's struggles just made me love him. This was an intriguing story with mystery, suspense and sweet hot lovemaking, I highly Joyfully Recommend Hidden Force."


Then, I found out that Gaps In Your Soul won a Reviewer's Choice Award from CataRomance! The original review from Heather was 5 Stars and said:

Gaps In Your Soul by Shayla Kersten is marvelous! Miss Kersten has taken issues we face today and crafted a wonderful love story out of it. I fell in love with Jared and Dalton and could feel their emotions as they struggled with everything they were feeling. Gaps In You Soul is a page turner that ended too quickly!!!

There's some kind of voting over on the CataRomance site for book of the year. I'm not politiking but anyone feels like voting, I won't discourage you! I'm happy with the Reviewer's Choice Award!

So this month has been great on the review front! Much Snoopy dancing going on here!

Then, my Ellora's Cave editor emails me with an offer for my NaNoWriMo novel, Past Lies. The unedited blurb:

Two opposite men, two different lives, two sets of past lies

With his twenty year high school reunion looming, Paul Loughton dreads seeing the one person who could tempt him to stray from his path. Small town mayor, lawyer and budding politician, Paul won’t, can’t admit he’s gay, even to himself. Twenty years of longing and hiding is now threatened by an inevitable encounter. Pressure from his family and a stalking ex-fiancée compound his suddenly complicated life.

Randy Martin left his small town roots behind before the ink on his diploma was dry. The cliquish world of his childhood didn’t have room for the weird kid from the wrong side of the tracks. Rumors of his sexual preferences made life that much more difficult. Now, twenty years later, he should be anxious to rub his wealth and success in the faces of his former classmates. Except with one of them, the urge to rub something else hasn’t diminished over the years.

What a great way to start the new year!

Flash Fic Sunday!

My buddy, Kayelle Allen, is hosting Flash Fic Sunday at Liquid Silver's SEx Blog! Stop by and read, post or just play! I'm off to write some flashes! http://www.liquidsilverbooks.com/blog/?p=1069#comment-10343