literature – Page 2 – Behind Closed Doors

Second Poetry Book Nearly Finished! #vampires #erotica

I’m celebrating a few things tonight. First of all, I finally purchased the domain name for this site so now I feel like an official website/blog owner and author. Whoohoo! You can find this page now by typing in authortammydenningsmaggy.com Can you believe it? I know that may sound funny to some of you, but it’s just one more step making my dream a reality. I have also purchased sassyvixenpublishing.com . It’s going along with our LLC and soon my husband and I hope to get our little publishing house up and running enough to handle more than just me, Lia and Stephanie. Yes all three Sassy Vixen authors are me, but you got to start somewhere right? LOL

Now for the next surprise I’m celebrating. I had thought that I had a complete set of poems for the new book all set and ready to go. I was wrong. Several more ideas popped into my head over the last few days. What’s a poet to do? Keep going of course! I’m still planning on releasing the book on or before February 28th, but just in case let’s all keep our fingers, toes and any other appendages crossed! I thought I would share another poem from the collection and it’s one of the more sensual ones. Most of them are basically telling the story of the various characters in The Kayne Legacy series, but a few like this one, focus more on individuals. Who knows if they will actually end up as additional players in the series? We shall see.

So without further adieu, here is one of my latest finished just this evening.

Encounters in the Dark

The hours of the day pass ever so slowly
Causing my anxiety to rise.
My heart races at the memory of our coupling
From the night before.
Every touch, every kiss we shared only heightened the experience,
Making me feel even more alive.
The heat between us was more than I’ve ever known
And it’s shaken me to my very core.

Over and over again our bodies come together,
Mouths exploring, limbs completely entwined.
With one last feral thrust, you take me over the edge,
Your fangs at my neck leaving your mark.
When asked why must you always mark me so,
Your eyes flash with renewed lust before you whisper in my ear
“So ALL will know you are forever mine.
And although they’ll heal, my brand is upon you
So you’ll never forget our encounters in the dark.

Exhausted beyond belief and yet I still cling to you,
Unwilling to let you go with the approaching dawn.
You possess my heart and soul with one last kiss
As tender as it is brutal and hard.
Just as quickly as you entered my life,
In a flash you were gone,
Leaving me lost and alone with the fading memory
Of our last encounter in the dark.

©Tammy Dennings Maggy

2/20/13

8:25pm

#TheVixen Has Thrown Down the Gauntlet!

It’s been a busy week around here as of late. I have nearly caught up on ALL of my back log and am putting the finishing touches on the special gift package to one special blog hop winner. My hubby and I are both on the mend with his last round of tests showing NO CANCER!! Now it’s my turn for the round robin of testing. With changing up our health plans at work, I have to break in a new doctor. I’m both nervous and excited about it. I’ll get a new outlook from this doctor and hopefully together we can come up with a plan to get my health at 100%. I promised my husband that I would take care of me now.

Of course, having sent my alter egos Lia and Stephanie on “vacation” for the last week has helped me focus on me and my projects but nothing can stop The Vixen! That part of my personality will not stop working and continues to fight the good fight when it comes to defending erotica and erotic romance. Why is it that so many want to “clean up” this genre? It’s separated from mainstream fiction and romance for a reason. Both showcase very explicit and detailed sex scenes. If a novel or short story doesn’t have this sort of detail, then it belongs in the mainstream categories.

The news media has made it an “in” thing to call something erotica or erotic romance. I wish for once, they would do some actual fact checking before they start with the labels. Because of their erroneous descriptions, readers who don’t like the explicit materials have flocked to Amazon and other ebook outlets in order to get themselves some “erotica like that Fifty Shades.” Unfortunately, when they read what really makes up a good erotic romance, they are often appalled and call it “porn” or “blatant smut.”

It doesn’t help matters when editors, authors and even some publishers try to redefine what makes up an erotic romance. No wonder readers are confused! Quite a few discussions have been going on around the Internet via blogs, Twitter and Facebook about this and a few of my fellow authors and myself have been personally attacked and our work more or less belittled.

Well…I’m not going to sit back and keep quiet about it. I’m going to keep defending my chosen genres until there is no longer any debate about it. I’ve started it off with my Sinfully Sassy Sundays with The Vixen spot on Four Seduced Muses. Having the descriptions of body fluids in a sex scene be called “icky” by an editor was just too much for me. Click on the link and see what I had to say. It’s a bit tongue in cheek, but at the heart of it, I’m ticked off that I have to take up this fight in the first place.

You can’t have it both ways. You don’t allow explicit detailed sex scenes in mainstream romances, then you can’t call the mainstream stuff erotica or erotic romances. Taking our genre name away won’t make us leave. We are here to stay!

Dealing With A Bit of Writer’s Block…or am I?

I’ve been having a bit of a time getting back to work on the Now and Forever series. At first look it would seem that I have writer’s block, but that’s not entirely true. I think what’s happening is that I have so many different stories flying around in my brain and so many different characters demanding to be heard, that I’m on sensory overload.

How do other authors do it? How do they handle all of their real life responsibilities and still manage to crank out a book every few months or less? I don’t want to go a year between books, but at this rate, that’s what’s going to happen. Now magnify it all by three and you have my world. Why? I have three pen names now and multiple works in progress (WIPs) with each one of them. There isn’t enough time in the day for me to get all of that done and work on myself.

I’ve let my health slide in the middle of all of this and it’s set me so far behind on things, some of which I’m extremely embarrassed about. I still have to send out all of the prize packages to the winners of the various blog hops and contests I did over December and there is one winner who won during last year’s Easter Hop who still hasn’t received her handcrafted rabbits. I’ve had to make those bunnies four times now and so far I’ve kept the last group hidden from the prying eyes of little nieces who I can never say no to.

To make it up to this wonderfully patient winner (Jean P. this is about you!), I’ve made a few extra goodies to go along with her prize package as well has the paperback versions of all of my books. Just the ones so far? Yep and all the ones in this series as well as the poetry. She deserves it. Not only has she been so patient while I’ve muddled through all of my personal issues, she continues to join in on all of the hops and post. This is the only way I know how to thank her.

I’m thinking that I just have to schedule specific time for my writing and stick to that schedule even if it means getting up before dawn. Many of you know I am not a morning person and would prefer to sleep in and stay up until the wee hours of the morning. Unfortunately, that is getting me nowhere fast. I have to make changes in order for this all to work AND for me to realize my dream of running my own publishing house…Sassy Vixen Publishing.

Well, I had better be off and get some sleep. Tomorrow starts the new schedule. It’s more than a bit scary, but exciting too. My dream of being a successful writer depends on me finding a way to make it all work.

Thank you all for coming along with me on this journey!

~Tammy

Introducing Stephanie Ryan…

As many of you know, I write under different pen names in order to write in many different genres. As myself, I write poetry, erotica and erotic romance. As Lia Michaels I get to explore more of the erotica and erotic romance subgenres by writing menage, BDSM and GLBT pairings. Basically, Lia likes all things most people consider taboo. Now I’ve decided to bring a new personality/alter ego into the fold. Stephanie Ryan will take over my manuscripts that are meant for the young adult crowd, mainstream fiction and romance (nonerotic).

As with my current blogs, both Lia and Stephanie have days to host guest authors. The three of us make up the core set of authors that is Sassy Vixen Publishing. Confused? LOL Sometimes I am too, but overall it’s a blast having these alter egos.

This is the photo I’ve used for Lia Michaels. Her website/blog is called

The House of Taboo

You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+

This is the photo I chose for Stephanie Ryan. I thought one of us should have the long brown hair since both Lia and myself have the short and sassy styles. LOL! Steph’s website/blog is Through Stephanies Eyes.

She’s also on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+

So stop in and tell them both hello and help them build up their followings by signing up for their blogs and spreading the word about them. Thank you all for your continued support of my dream!

Brightest Blessings and Happy Reading!

~Tammy

Want to Share Your Writer’s Words of Wisdom?

On my sister blog Not Enough Time in the Day, I participate in a weekly feature called Writer’s Words of Wisdom. It’s a group of authors who wish to share what they’ve learned on their journey to become published traditionally and the self published route. I’ve learned so much from this group already from Triberr to using Pinterest for promotions. I’ve shared what I’ve found works for me with designing swag and promotions to the fun Add This buttons for blogs.

Are you an author who would like to share your wisdom with new authors? There are two ways you can go about doing it with our group. You can join us on Facebook and sign up to do your own weekly post, or you could sign up with me for a guest spot on Not Enough Time in the Day. You can do as many spots as you’d like or just a one time deal. Either way, you get to give back a little to help support other authors.

Here’s the link to my post for this week. You can search the blog for the others I’ve done to see if WWoW would be something you’d like to do. Here’s the Facebook Page for you to check out as well.

Leave a comment below if you’d like to do a guest spot on my blog and I’ll contact you to work out the details.

Happy Writing and Brightest Blessings to you all!

~Tammy

Chasing The Dawn #poetry from Courtship of the Vampyre

Here we are at the beginning of a brand new year. The last one has brought a few sorrows yes, but the joys outweighed them by far. I’ve continued with my passion of writing and sharing it all with you through this blog and others and through my published works. I’m happy to say that within the next month I will have another book published. The Courtship of the Vampyre is shaping up nicely. It’s taken a turn that I didn’t see coming, but I’ve decided to embrace it. This collection of poetry is definitely a companion to The Kayne Legacy Series and it’s become more of an outline for it. A secondary character I didn’t even know existed decided to jump on in there and ask for his story to be told. You’ll get to learn more about him in other poems and in the series itself, but the poem I want to share with you introduces him.

Enough of the introduction. Let me just share the poem with you and see what you think.

Brightest Blessings!

~Tammy

Chasing the Dawn

Longing to see the brilliant colors explode across the sky,
I risk my life for just one more peek.
When the blazing ball of fire reaches the mountains on high,
My sight will grow dim and my knees will get weak.

It wasn’t always like this,
The fascination with chasing the dawn.
As a mortal, sleeping in until noon was a coveted bliss.
The memories of those days are fading fast,
And soon will be forever lost, simply gone.

Bitten by one filled with blood lust,
I thought death was close at hand.
But he took pity and gave me a choice
That could never be undone.
End this life forever or be reborn
And at his side would I stand.
Together we’d rule the night,
Never again to see the light of the Sun.

Immortality I chose, or should I say it chose me.
I gave in to every need and erotic desire.
I avoided those Immortals blessed by The Three
For fear that they would one day
Toss me on my funeral pyre.

As centuries passed and all that I have ever loved
Had now come and gone,
I sought out the truth from those with whom we had clashed.
Why were we cursed to walk the night
And forever chase after the dawn?

The First Born Cain guards the Essence of the Tree of Life.
This task was given directly to him by the Goddess Fate.
He was commanded to leave all he had ever known
In search of Lilith to be his wife.
Each of their descendants had to take a Royal Fae as their mate.

This part of the story I had heard many times before.
Why was there such hate between the Cursed and the Elite?
Turns out much of what I know was nothing more than Vampire Lore.
All of it beginning when the seventh son of Adam
Sought to avenge his mother’s grief.

Angry and jealous that his elder brother
Should be blessed instead of cursed,
He plotted to take by force what he felt was his birthright.
This angered The Three, making their blessing evil and perverse.

Lucius marked this son of Adam as an abomination
Who would thirst for blood, and forever hide from the Light.
“The Seventh Son of Adam will cease to exist.
Instead a Nightwalker will take his place.
Immortal you shall be, but Our mercy you have not won.
For you bring no honor to your parents, only shame and disgrace.
Nevermore will you see the light of day,
But forever chase after the dawn.”

Cain pleaded with Lucius to spare his brother
From his wrathful decree.
Lucius refused. “What’s done is done.”
“All of this must come to pass in order to protect the Essence of the Tree.
Once the lesson is learned, your brother’s descendants
Will once again be able to enjoy the light of the Sun.”

My sire never told me this part of the tale!
Were we ever taught this lesson?
Who could give me the answers?
Where have they all gone?
I searched the world high and low for any clue.
So far to no avail.
I’ll keep searching.
The answer is out there,
Somewhere chasing the dawn.

New Cover for My Second Book of Poetry

I’m so excited! I’ve been working on the vampire inspired poetry off and on for a while now and it looks like I should be finished with the rough draft this week. Hopefully the edits will go smooth enough so I can release it on January 1st…just like the first book of poetry. Whoohoo!

I was going back and forth with the title as I wanted this book to be a companion to The Kayne Legacy series much like Follow Me: Poetry from the Heart and Soul is for my Now and Forever series. So after battling with myself for a few hours once again last night, I decided on using the title of one of the poems in the collection. In fact, it was the very first one I wrote for this book. Courtship of the Vampyre: Poetry Inspired by the Guardians of the Night is the full title. Here is the cover I designed for it. Let me know what you all think!

All of my books are now on Amazon!

It’s official!

The Island (Now and Forever 2) is available for purchase on Amazon US and Amazon UK. I was expecting it to be there at the earliest sometime next week, but for some reason I decided to check last night and there it was. It’s being offered for $3.99. I’m still waiting for it to show up on Barnes and Noble and iTunes, but within the next couple weeks it should be there along with the first book in this series and my first poetry book.

Starting in about 3 hours is my 24 hour Release Party on Facebook. I’ve got some fun planned at different times during the day so that I can catch people from multiple time zones. Lots of swag and naughty gifts are up for grabs and one Grand Prize for one lucky person. I’ve set up the Rafflecopter for that one to make it fair.

December 14th is going to be another busy day. I’m stopping off at the blog of Miranda Stork as part of the promotional tour for The Island and I’m participating in the Candy Cane Kink Blog Hop on my Sassy Vixen Publishing blog and as my alter ego Lia Michaels on her blog The House of Taboo. Click on the tabs on the menu at the top of the page to take you to those sister blogs on December 14th. You can also find out where the next stop is on the tour by clicking another tab above.

Well, I’m off to get the Margaritas and Mai Tai’s ready for the party! I hope to see you around the tour and the hops over the next few days!

Brightest Blessings

~Tammy

Two Ebooks Are Up For Grabs

There’s only 16 hours left to enter to win two of my books. Where can you do this? Well, I’m over visiting with Jan Bowles. Her blog is the latest stop for the promotional tour for The Island (Now and Forever 2).

Which books are up for grabs? This time I’m offering the ebook copies of my first book of poetry and my latest release. So for one lucky winner, I will be sending them copies of Follow Me: Poetry from the Heart and Soul and The Island.

Go ahead and click HERE to take you to Jan’s blog and the Rafflecopter she set up for the contest.

Good luck!

Cover Reveal for The Island (Now and Forever 2)

I’m so excited! While at work today at my evil day job as a veterinarian, I received an email notification on my cell. Imagine my excitement to see an email from Siren today with copies of my new cover. Whoohoo!

The cover artist, Christine Kirchoff, captured what I had in mind for the island at sunset. Even though the model on the cover has blonde hair and I picture Quinn as a brunette, I think the couple looks perfect! I asked a question on Facebook the other day. “Who did you picture in your mind as Quinn when you read For the Love of Quinn? I got a variety of answers and you know what? All of them were correct. Who I picture in my mind doesn’t have to be the exact version you picture. That’s the whole point of reading books isn’t it? Letting your imagination run wild is more than half the fun, and picturing yourself as one of the characters is the rest of it!

So with that being said, here is my new cover!