Three Magical Good Things

There’s so much in an author and aspiring authors’ life which can be really tough to deal with...ya know, that latest rejection. Or, a Muse who goes on strike when a deadline is looming. Not to dare mention life interruptus, itself...hey, kick me through the goal posts of life...isn’t that an old country western tune?
Anyhoo, I thought I’d share three magical good things, which have happened recently, in my life as an author.
The first ~ which made my day magical! Lindsay Townsend, a former guest blogger, and the fantabulous author of FLAVIA’S SECRET & A SECRET TREASURE, wrote a review for ALL SHADES OF BLUE PARADISE.

It’s an Author Discovery on the Siren-BookStrand Authors Blog ~ and yep, here it is ~

Author discovery: All Shades of Blue Paradise by Savanna Kougar
Blurb ~ Destiny and love can be denied for only so long...
Except for her daring equestrienne competitions, Lady Sheridan lives a quiet life caring for her family's estate, staving off financial ruin and keeping her brother's misdeeds from ruining his marriage and the life of her beloved nieces. Despite all his desperate efforts, Baron Zaggry has never discovered why his Sherfantasy broke their engagement. Now, his ruse successful, Sheridan is finally his, his slave lover. He has ten years worth of denied pleasures to make up for, to savor however he erotic chooses.
I savoured every delicious word of Savanna Kougar's ALL SHADES OF BLUE PARADISE. Kougar is a powerful, sensual writer, a poet of language, and the world she creates is richly textured, sensual and voluptuous, with its own language, beliefs and symbols. Blue is the colour of life, of love and of so much more in this alternate world of warring, sensual aristocrats. The pleasures and pains of slavery and of mastery are fearlessly and seductively explored and I was enchanted throughout. Sheridan is a beautiful, complex, caring woman of great dignity, compassion and courage. She is always graceful under pressure - and what seductive pressure Baron Zaggry tempts and teases her with! This is a kind of war between the sexes where all desires are admitted to and expressed but where the 'victor' of each encounter is always magnanimous. Their powerful relationship kept me guessing throughout and utterly enthralled. To be slave-dressed by a man like Zaggry ...
what a wicked, delicious fantasy!
This is the revelation of a decadent, disturbing world, a world of high politics and high stakes, where the fates of many are discussed at elegant yet deeply erotic soirees. In the midst of this sensual, abandoned world, the love between Zaggry and Sheridan remains absolute, although the cruel misunderstanding that has been deliberately engineered between them by their enemies remains until almost the very end of the novel, offering a satisfying conclusion of one of many threads. The end of All Shades of Blue Paradise is also a beginning as another contest has been arranged, with Sheridan about to compete with an enemy and Zaggry determined to protect her.
I await the next book in this intoxicating series with keen anticipation.

Lindsay Townsend
http://lindsaysbookchat.blogspot.com ~

Needless to say, Lindsay, has a very special place in my heart. Not merely because of her splendid review, but just because she’s a great lady, with a great heart.

Okay, the second magical good thing ~ Black Cat Beauty, my Halloween-theme novella, coming soon from Liquid Silver Books, is currently in edits. Yeah, there’s a trademark issue over ‘Superman’, and the usage of superhero terms to be resolved. Truthfully, I would never have written the story, using these terms, except that I’d seen other romance authors using them first. Other than that little issue, the edits are going well. Yay! And big relief.
Bet you just can’t wait for my blurbage...so, actually, I’m hoping you can’t...
Blurb: A private Halloween party in a gothic mansion hidden in the Hollywood Hills. Add one party crasher, Sable Kiki, a naughty black cat with a sexy wild human side.
Her covert assignment from her devious, always-cunning father: use her seductive wiles to find out the truth from Devon Zant, a movie star on the rise to super stardom.
Posing as the superhero actor, Devon Zant, D’Torr has arrived on Earth seeking revenge for the capture of his younger brother, and to assist in stopping a powerful enemy.
The leviathan warfleet of the Altirrux wants rule of all intergalactic trade routes to Earth, endangering the survival of D’Torr’s race, and all the inhabitants of the rare blue jewel, Earth.

Now, the third magical good thing ~ just the pure fun of being an author at this spooky paranormal time of year. On their blog, the Seven Wicked Writers are holding a flash fiction contest. So, if this is your kinda scary creepy story, read the entries, and leave your comments for your faves. And some of the entries are Horror-Scary!
I have no shot at winning this one...but, still, I entered just for my own chills and thrills. To me, that is one of the most magical things about being an author, this kind of let’s-have-a-good-time-together writing opportunity. With prizes for whoever does win.
If you’re intrigued, the info for the contest is below. And, of course, here’s my entry ~

From my WIP ~ Don’t Bite the Fortune Teller

Woo-woo feelings a whirlwind inside her, Solitaire gathered up her cards, listening to the still small voice of intuition. "Oh," she whispered, seeing him. Zhayme.
The whirlwinds increased inside her. Edgy, restless, Solitaire shuffled her cards more swiftly than usual. Not that the man didn’t drive her insides gooey with all sorts of forbidden desires. Forbidden, the key word. He was out of her league. He had an ex something? who probably had the fangs to fight for him. And she didn’t need any man complications in her life. Not one who could obviously devastate her heart.
And here he came. Incomparable. Potent. Charismatic. The description jangled in her mind like a phone during a 60’s suspense movie scene.
Stop. Down. She ordered her yearning rebellious sex juices, already starting to boil over for him.
"Wooh, hot in here," she muttered as he stepped up on the dais. Her hands shook, a true rarity for her.
"Why do you need a fortune teller?" She faced the birthday lion in his den, or her temporary den. Vigorously, she shook back her own long mane.
"My beautiful fortune teller, I have many abilities. However, not your gift." He sat before her, not just sitting, aristocratic, the latent power of a lion-at-ease sitting.
His voice, a melding of brandy and velvet, soaked into her. Add a match, she’d be flambe’ in his arms. In his bed. Oh God, I’m not thinking about his bed.
Her hands still shaking slightly, she fanned the cards. And desperately wished she didn’t look like an unprofessional klutz. "Choose a card, Birthday Man."
"You should know, my Solitaire, I have the ability to choose whichever card I desire."
Ohmygawd, his hand, impossibly beautiful and powerful, with tapered fingers. Solitaire swallowed down her passion, now threatening to steam out her ears.
"Prove it." Ridiculously breathless, she’d murmured the challenge.
"King of hearts," he low purred. Selecting one card with the grace of a magician, he presented it to her.
The King of Hearts.
The card’s face seized her entire being.
Tearing her gaze away from the betraying card, she inanely asked, "Is that a statement?"
"Soon to be ‘truth’." His voice grazed over every inch of her flesh.
"Is that so?" Having knife-flung the question at him, she flung up her chin.
He smiled, trip-tripping her heart.
"I do have a question for the fortune teller who can see our newest project beneath the ocean."
"What? The manner of my disappearance?"
"We will have to ‘disappear’ for a short time, to view the city."
"View the city...?"
"My question..." The dark intensity of his gaze honed in on her eyes like a laser. "Who seeks to destroy me? By sabotaging our restoration?"
The crucial importance of her answer shone in his eyes.
"The invisible man," she blurted out, the words pulled from her, unbidden.
"Make him visible, my Solitaire...to your mind’s eye."
His command was hypnotic. Not to be refused. She wondered at her compliance as the image quickly formed.

Here’s the info for any who dare to check out the entries ~ for the complete contest info click over to ~ http://sevenwickedwriters.com ~
The Seven Wicked Writers will be hosting a Flash Fiction contest starting October 1st. You have until Oct. 30th at Midnight to send them in. The email address for all entries is: contest@sevenwickedwriters.com . The contest winner will be chosen by Tina Haveman, the publisher of eXtasy Books. The top three will each receive a prize by The Seven Wicked Writers. ALL ENTRIES WILL BE NO LONGER THAN 500 WORDS AND MUST HAVE A HALLOWEEN THEME...

Note: Thank you to http://www.oldfashionhalloween.com ~ for the Halloween pics

Now, it’s your turn, what are your magical good things?

Savanna

Savanna Kougar ~ Run on the Wild Side of Romance ~ http://savannakougar.com

Open the Door to Blue Paradise

Enter the World of the Blue Pearl Moon on March 10, Monday. All Shades of Blue Paradise will be available from Siren Publishing.
An invitation ~ Open the door to Blue Paradise...
Excerpt from All Shades of Blue Paradise ~ Savanna Kougar
~ "Lady Sheridan Kayla Woadeir," Clarence intoned in his best aristocratic voice. A broad smile broke over his face, brightening his countenance to near jolly. He widened the door, inviting her entrance.
She stepped into the cobalt and pearl foyer, smiling in return. "How are you, Clarence?"
"Sunny azure days ahead now, Lady Sheridan. He’s up in the grand office. Go on. I’ll ring up your arrival."
Her high heels clicking on the alabaster brilliant floor, Sheridan watched her image in the nouveau shimmer panels. The panels reflected the immense entry room’s light creating a crystalline ambiance.
Sheridan had resorted to dressing in the way he used to passion smolder over. She had no idea if that was still true.
Sapphire blue, gleaming sapphire. The luxury satin dress fit her curves, bared her arms, bared her legs from the knee down to her matching high heels. The pearls around her throat matched the moon’s color of last evening and provided a tiny touch of comfort.
Sliding her fingers along her pearls, Sheridan moved up the long curving sweep of stairs, low steps designed for a woman. Butterflies battled to escape her stomach once she stood at the top on the wine red carpet.
Keeping her feet moving, she glided toward the open office door, as if she moved inside a pocket of air. Reality seemed a horizon away.
He didn’t speak when she entered. He casually leaned back on his chair, one foot propped up on the dark shining wood of his enormous desk. Potent power and grace, he stood, silently moving to one side.
He motioned to a swivel cushioned chair before his desk. His presence had always made her feel sultry. Once his sultry woman. It was no different now. Her whole body was a sultry sizzle rhythm. She felt it to her core as she approached the chair and sat.
Her legs crossed, she steepled her fingers, watching him pivot. Lithe, powerful as a cougar, he returned to his chair. She’d seen the media’s view of him, unavoidable in her ‘horse show’ circle. Confronted with him, her breath demanded freedom from her body.
Like a cougar, the way he moved, his fierce intense nature, that was how she’d always seen him. Cougar in male beautiful form. Cougar spirit incarnated to man.
Goddess behold! She had loved him.
Sheridan didn’t blame the women who wanted him, not just for his status or his wealth but for the primal and the aristocratic blend he was as a man, as a lover, the way he made a woman feel. Pure sensual desire. Pure sensual need. Pure ferocious passion for him.
She waited, knowing that was his cougar-and-prey game with her. She waited, her gaze fondling the burnished waves of his dark mahogany hair, streaked with wild sunlight.
"Sheridan."
The rough grazing purr of his voice made her shiver inside. She met his gaze boldly. Never flee before a cougar. Always stand your ground, even if faced with the most gorgeous eyes she’d ever seen.
Pale emerald, so ice crystalline, his eyes were always startling, always stunning.
"Baron Vettura," she returned, her tone icy cordiality. Sheridan knew her eyes glowed hot. She felt it. She shook back her hair. "It has been a while." ~