Sassy Vixen Publishing – Page 2 – Behind Closed Doors

#ARCs Available for #Reviewers of a New #Erotic #Romance from @dochappycamper #BDSM #bisexual #MyWANA

Welcome to Behind Closed Doors! Today we’re having a bit of an early celebration. At long last, the third book in my Now and Forever series is ready for publication. In fact, the official release date is Friday January 3rd, but at the time of this writing, it’s now live on Smashwords, All Romance ebooks and Amazon. I’m hoping to have the print version live on Createspace on January 3rd, but my cover artist is down with the flu and it may be delayed a few more days.

For those of you who haven’t had the “pleasure” of publishing your own work, let me tell you that some of the sites will drive you bonkers! You would think the same cover I used for the ebook formats would be fine to use for the print. Well, you have to take into account the size of the book and the spine. You can’t just stretch a photo out to fit. I trust Lindsey Kirk with LMK Graphics to deliver yet another fabulous cover in no time!

I had a team of editors on this one and all of them drove me batty! Just kidding! Together they helped me bring out the best of this story and I hope you like it. Continuing the series with my own publishing company is a dream come true. A special thank you goes out to Siren Bookstrand for taking a chance on an unknown with a huge dream. Even though this series continues on, I’ll be forever grateful for the encouragement they gave me to pursue my vision for the series even when it no longer fit into their imprints. For the Love of Quinn and The Island are still available from them and I hope you pick them up if you haven’t already done so.

The Surrender of Julia (Now and Forever 3) takes place at the exact time as The Island (Now and Forever 2). This one is from the point of view of the series “villainess” Julia Santos. She was only supposed to be a very minor character, mentioned only to complete the back story of Jacob Hartley from the first to books. Instead, her tale wouldn’t leave me. The more I delved into it, the more I needed to know. She shocked the hell out of me a few times, made me laugh, and yes made me sob like a baby.

She’s not your typical heroine. She’s a grade A bitch. She loves sex with both men and women and uses it for comfort as well as a weapon to get what she wants from whom she wants. There’s more to her than that. Deep down there’s a little girl, sexually abused by her parents, hidden away from the world until it’s safe to come out again. Julia has had to do some horrible things just to survive and get to the point in her life we find her at the beginning of the story. Her redemption doesn’t come early nor easily. It’s a long road for her and one that puts not only her life on the line, but that of Jacob’s as well.

Here’s the blurb

L.A. artist phenom Julia Santos appeared to have it all. After a nearly two year long dry spell, her creativity was at its peak and she had her muse and model Jacob Hartley to thank for it. He brought the fire and raw sexuality back to her sculptures and into her bedroom, and a sense of security that only one other person in her life had ever given her. At last she had found the perfect balance between her professional and private lives, until the day a single call from someone in her past threatened to tear her world apart.

Fearful of losing all she’d worked so hard to accomplish, Julia delved deeper into the hedonistic lifestyle she’d come to rely on to give her an escape from the horrors of her past. Instead of bringing her comfort, her sexual urges lead her down the path of destruction; not only for herself, but those around her. With Jacob fighting for his life after a near fatal motorcycle accident and Julia on the brink of death herself, Fate and her Guardian Angel Daniel intervene and transport her to a safe haven called the Island.

There she’s given a choice: stay on the Island and wait for her next rebirth, or go back and fight to be with the one who has been there for her through every lifetime. Will she take the easy way out and leave all the pain behind, or will she choose the long and hard road reliving the horrors of her childhood in order to have her happily ever after with the Mistress of her dreams?

Here’s an excerpt that shows just how manipulative and selfish Julia can be. It’s what endears me to her because her redemption is that much sweeter. Some wanted to see it much sooner than it happened in the book, but that’s not how it works folks.

Just as she predicted, her admittance to the hospital went smoothly and no one batted an eye when she explained to them how she cut her arm. Julia told them the truth and then basked in all the fuss and fanfare showered upon her by the nurses and the others in the waiting room. She loved the attention, but she knew all of it was taking a toll on Jacob.

She didn’t put up a fuss nor beg him to stay with her as she’d done many times before. Instead, she pretended to be asleep when he kissed her forehead as he got up to leave. She murmured softly and fluttered her eyes a bit before turning over and snuggling her pillow. She kept her eyes closed and her breathing steady until she knew Jacob walked safely down the hallway. She could guess he stopped one more time to chat with the nurses before going home for the night. Julia wondered if that hot little red headed nurse would be one of her caretakers. What she wouldn’t give for a night alone with that little firecracker!

Instead of enjoying the fabulous fantasy for a few moments longer, Julia’s guilt got the best of her again. Jacob stood by her through everything even when it meant giving up time with his own family. He repeatedly chose her and her needs over his own. Why can’t I do the same for him? Why do I feel so out of control when I’m with Jake?

Her entire life in L.A. started with her taking control of her life and not allowing anyone or anything to steal that from her again, but now she found herself torn between wanting to lose control and needing to be in control. The battle seemed to be tearing her apart at the moment and only one thing could get her centered again. Julia needed the adrenaline rush zipping through her body whenever a certain doctor did what he’d been told and fucked her silly. She’d give him a few more minutes to show up before she’d start paging him.

She pulled her purse out of the drawer in the nightstand and quickly found her contact case. Tonight, she’d worn the hazel lenses and intended on keeping with the theme. Only one other person beside herself knew her natural eye color now. Jacob asked her about her ever changing iris shades on many occasions, over the last two years. She hadn’t told him nor the one she waited for now. This particular person would piss her off if he didn’t hold up his end of their arrangement.

The knock on her door brought a smile to her face as she stashed her purse in the drawer once again. I knew he wouldn’t dare disappoint me.

“Julia, what on earth are we going to do with you?” Dr. Mario Carlos locked the door to the private hospital room and dimmed the lights. “You know how the nurses love to gossip. Eventually, one of them will put two and two together and figure out you’ve been faking all of these so called accidents.”

“Don’t kid yourself. I’ve not faked anything to get here. You know very well I’ve been preoccupied lately and under a lot of stress. I wouldn’t call these things accidents but more like I’ve been distracted.”

“What? Your boy toy-muse not able to alleviate the stress you have?” He snorted dismissively then turned on the charm once again. “You need professional help and I’ve got what you need right here.” Dr. Carlos held up a small green vial of pills and shook them in front of her face.

She raised her eyebrows and licked her lips. “I’m not one of your other patients who come here for drugs.”

Mario shrugged. “You had to have a lot of stitches for that gash in your arm. When the local wears off, you’ll wish you had these bad boys.”

“Fine. If it will get you to shut up about it, I’ll take them.” Julia snatched them out of his hand and tossed them into the drawer with her purse. “I don’t need drugs from you and you know it.”

“Call it what you want but sooner or later, you will end up the hot topic around the nurses’ station. Some may even think you’re doing this on purpose to drum up publicity for your gallery.” Mario moved slowly across the room and stood inches from her.

His subtle musky cologne filled her nostrils and set her skin on fire. She wanted him. Now. “Who cares what those nosy bitches think.” She reached out and rubbed his already hard cock through his scrubs. “I need this pounding the hell out of my pussy right now. So stop talking and start fucking.” Julia didn’t care what anyone else thought and right now, including Jacob. All she could think about was her current lover’s glorious cock filling her to the brim… the one outlet she knew would relieve her of the emotional upheaval the call from her mother set into motion.

Ever since being wheeled through the doors of the hospital, only the anticipation of Mario’s tongue darting in and out of her ass and pussy mattered. Just the flick of his tongue over his own lips made her shiver with delight and soak her thong.

The very same thong the good doctor tore from her body seconds after lifting her up to sit on top of sink in her bathroom. Her fingers wound through his dark wavy hair as his mouth plundered hers, taking her breath away. She loved the power she held over this man. Any time, any place she wanted, he always obliged.

Tonight would be no exception.

Of course he kept her waiting a good half hour after Jacob left before he graced her with his presence.

She wasn’t amused by the delay and couldn’t care less if some other patients required his attention. It’d been their arrangement that whenever she showed up, he’d drop whatever and whoever and come running.

Now finally, he sheathed his dick with one of those ribbed condoms she demanded he wear whenever they fucked.

Julia still felt a bit miffed at him, but the feeling of his hands on her bare ass temporarily cleared her mind of all her complaints and the shit with her family.

Mario spread her legs wider, lifting her from the sink as he buried his dick in her dripping cunt.

Julia moaned and sighed as he slowly pulled out and plunged back in repeatedly. Even through it felt fantastic to finally have him fucking her, she wanted more. She wanted to be pounded until she was a quivering glob of jelly. Then maybe the images of her childhood would fade from her mind’s eye again. He knew what she desired and yet continued the slow pace, pissing her off anew. “Stop teasing me and give me what I want. Now!” Julia pulled his mouth away from hers, but not before she bit down on his lower lip, nearly drawing blood.

“You’ll pay for that, bitch.”

For those of you who’re interested in receiving and Advanced Reading Copy of Julia’s story in exchange for a fair review, please leave a comment below with your contact information. Thank you all for coming on this journey with me!

~Tammy

#Holiday Surprise from @SassyVixPub Authors

Welcome to Behind Closed Doors! Today is the start of a fabulous sale of all the books Sassy Vixen Publishing has put out so far. Of course that includes all of mine except the two I have out with Siren Bookstrand. In just a few short weeks, I’ll continue that series with Sassy Vixen Publishing with the release of The Surrender of Julia (Now and Forever 3)

Before that happens, SVP has decided to offer my poetry, Lia’s novella, Tawny’s novella and the Christmas anthology all for 50% off on All Romance ebooks, Omnilit and Smashwords. To get the discount at All Romance or Omnilit, all you have to do is go to the book’s page on their sites and click to purchase. The price will already be slashed. For Smashwords, you need the individual codes listed in the banners below.

So go on and grab all of our titles while the sale lasts. You have until midnight December 23rd. Enjoy!

Celebrate with @dochappycamper ‘Tis the Season for #Seduction’s Pre-release Party #romantic #suspense #erotic

Welcome to Behind Closed Doors! Today is a bit of a early celebration. As of this posting, I’ll be on my way to Disneyland to celebrate my birthday with my hubby. He surprised me with the trip and I can’t think of a better place to spend my birthday AND a release day celebration.

Since I’ll be out of town, my fellow Sassy Vixen authors decided to throw a pre-release day party to get the ball rolling. Not only can you get a chance to win one of FIVE ebook copies of our new anthology, one lucky winner will also get a $10 Amazon gift card. You can enter every day right up until midnight Monday December 16th. That’s my birthday and we’ll announce the winners in the afternoon.

Here’s the blurb giving you a little summary of each novella. Oh, did I mention that this bad boy is over 350 pages in print? Yeah, it is and you can get it in ebook and print format from all major retailers RIGHT NOW. That’s right. It’s already up and running on All Romance/Omnilit, Smashwords and Amazon/Createspace. Within the next week or so you’ll be able to find it at Barnes and Nobel, Kobo, Sony, and iTunes.

Four Seduced Muses have banded together with Sassy Vixen Publishing to bring five erotic romance stories to life…

Maya DeLeina’s A Winter’s Ecstasy (MF): During a blizzard, Noel finds refuge with Grayson at his cabin. As temptation builds her self-control begins to unravel. Grayson unleashes her passion, but one question plagues her. Why there are no mirrors in Grayson’s cabin?

May Water’s Ski Bunny Blues (MM): Max is unhappy when his job transfers him to New Hampshire. When online dating fails him he meets Shawn who warms his cockles by the fire. Will Shawn be enough to keep Max with him, or will he walk away?

Nicole Morgan’s Christmases Past (MF): After 12 years of marriage, Priscilla has decided to leave her workaholic husband. Refusing to give up, Max sets out to find her before it is too late. Will being stranded in a blizzard be enough to repair their broken relationship?

Tammy Dennings Maggy’s Meet Me Under the Mistletoe (MF): Coast Guard Steve Sanders is called to assist a sinking vessel. His pregnant wife Jolene waits for his return when the rescue mission has goes horribly wrong. Will a miracle bring him back to meet his wife under the mistletoe?

Lia Michaels’s Have a Naughty, Naughty Christmas (MFMM): Candice, Alexander and Gabriel own Candy Kisses, the place to be in Detroit. The business partners have kept their desires hidden. When a wealthy playboy extends an offer that allows them to indulge their wildest fantasies, they embark on a very naughty Christmas.

Sounds fabulous, right? All of us had a great time with these characters and we hope you will too. Here’s the rafflecopter link. Here on WordPress, I can’t show the whole widget, only the link. Don’t worry. The link takes you right where you need to go.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

#OhMy! Monday With a #CoverReveal From @dochappycamper #erotic #romance #suspense

Welcome to Oh MY! Monday here at Behind Closed Doors. This week I’m thrilled to share a sneak peek at my contribution to the Four Seduced Muses Christmas anthology. The release date for both print and ebook versions is December 13th with Sassy Vixen Publishing. In fact, over on both Sassy Vixen Publishing and the Four Seduced Muses blogs, you will find a fun teasing as the cover is revealed with each blurb of the novellas inside.

This is the lineup and the order in which the novellas will be published within the pages of ‘Tis the Season for Seduction.

Maya Deleina’s A Winter’s Ecstasy

May Water’s Ski Bunny Blues

Nicole Morgan’s Christmases Past

Tammy Dennings Maggy’s (mine) Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

Lia Michaels’s Have a Naughty, Naughty Christmas

My novella is an erotic contemporary romance filled with suspense that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Of course there’s smokin’ hot sex too. Can’t have one of my erotic romances without it! LOL

Here’s the blurb.

When Steve Sanders became a US Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer nearly twenty years ago, he knew he’d have to put his life on the line with each mission. Unfortunately, only three days before Christmas, Steve has to come face to face with the real possibility he’d break his promise to his wife and not return back to her and their unborn child.

Jolene Sanders is nearing the end of a difficult pregnancy and looking forward to finally spending their wedding anniversary with her husband. However, her holiday spirits are shattered when a distress call from a sinking fishing vessel calls the Coast Guard into action and puts her husband’s life on the line once again.

Left behind in a life raft during the rescue, Steve’s fate is now at the mercy of the wicked Bering Sea. Will this truly be his last mission, or will a miracle bring him back to meet his wife under the mistletoe?

Intrigued? Would you like to get a glimpse into the world of Steve and Jolene? How about the night they conceived their baby? Here you go!

(April 22nd, Eight months ago Kodiak Island, Alaska)

Steve’s hand slapped her ass one, twice, then three times. “Stop squirming, woman. I mean to have you naked and quivering all weekend.”

She bit her lower lip to prevent from crying out. Her husband knew exactly how to get her wet and ready to be ravished in seconds. She wanted nothing more than to be dominated by him twenty-four hours a day. Before his last assignment, they’d explored more of their fantasies including spanking. He had perfected his technique of the fast openhanded slap, sudden and sharp enough to make the loud cracking sound, but hard enough only to sting and make her ass a warm rosy color.

“Put me down and let me get out of these scrubs first. I’ve been on my feet for over eighteen hours and can’t smell very good.”

He tossed her onto the bed and pinned her there, arms above her head. His lips brushed over hers sending a jolt of electricity slamming through her body. “Mmm…you smell fucking fantastic to me, Jo. I need you now. Three months away from you and your body has been sheer torture.”

She lifted her head so their lips touched and slipped her tongue over his until he moaned. “It’s been hell without you, too, babe, but how about we move this homecoming party to the bathroom? You know how much I love to be fucked in the shower.”

He smiled the slow sexy grin that had captured her heart when they were kids. “Now you’re talking.” He kicked off his boots and sat up. Still straddling her body, he lifted his shirt up over his head while she worked to relieve him of his belt.

Her fingertips grazed over his ripped abdominal muscles and up his chest as he lowered his body back on top of hers. After kicking her shoes off, she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck as his lips crushed hers, demanding and possessive.

He backed off the bed with her wrapped around his body. His arms held her tight against his chest as their tongues continued to slip and slide over each other. He kicked open the partially closed bathroom door as his fingers worked at the clasp of her bra under her scrub top.

She broke the kiss only long enough to lift her shirt over her head.
He pinned her back against the door and scooped both of her tits into his hands. He popped first one nipple and then the other into his mouth as he firmly kneaded each fleshy mound. “Mine.”

“Yes, baby. All yours.” Her fingers ran through his sandy blond hair as he sucked harder and harder, bringing both of her nipples to painful erections. She unwrapped her legs from around his waist as he held her up until her feet touched the floor. She reached between them to find the zipper. Her hands slipped under the waistband and shoved his pants and briefs down over his taut ass.

His jaw clenched and unclenched as her fingers dug into his flesh. “Damn, girl. You know what that does to me.”

“Uh huh.” She moved her hands from his ass, over his hips, and back between them to find his cock bouncing with need for her. Jolene’s fingers wrapped around his hard, throbbing shaft and squeezed as she stroked him. “And what does that do for you?”

“On fire. I want to bury it into your hot tight pussy, but we need to do something about these scrub bottoms.” His fingers jerked open the tie at her waist and shoved his right hand down the front to cup her shaved outer lips. Two fingers slipped through and into her.

“God, yes.” Her voice faltered as his thumb brushed against her swollen clit. She shoved her pants further down her legs until they dropped to the floor.

He removed his fingers from inside her and noisily sucked them. “Nothing tastes sweeter than you when you’re hot and horny.” He stepped out of his pants and tore off his socks.
She reached behind her to turn on the shower only seconds before he caught her up in his arms again. Standing over six inches taller than her five and a half foot frame, he always had to lift her up to keep them face to face. Not that she minded one bit. It was where she felt the safest, free to let just let go and submit completely to his every wish and desire.

He moved them into the two-person shower without breaking eye contact. His dark brown eyes appeared black in an instant, sending shivers up and down her spine. She held his gaze as he pushed her back against the tile and spread her legs wide. A moment later his cock slid into her already dripping cunt.

So, now that I’ve teased you a bit with my own novella, here’s our new cover!

An author’s rant (#Reblog) And Other Musings From @dochappycamper

I found this blog today and just had to share. Samantha Pleasant said everything I’ve been thinking over the last few weeks. Make sure you check out the full article. It’s spot on!

This last week the stress of writing under three pen names, running a fledgling publishing house and working full time as a veterinarian has caught up with me…big time. I’ve had to rethink my priorities and that included marketing and promotions. I’ve looked at my twitter feeds and all of them are loaded with promo. Where did all the fun go? I’ve missed tweets directed at me from my friends and it appeared I’ve ignored them. That’s not true. I just didn’t see them in the feeds.

Even with TweetDeck and notifications to my phone, I’ve still missed messages and interactions with new readers. I don’t want to be an impersonal spam bot promo machine. I want to be there for my friends and fans and make new ones. I want to share the excitement of my new releases and the pitfalls of my works in progress, but I also want to share the rest of what makes me who and what I am. There is more to me than just veterinary medicine and writing/publishing. I love crafts of all kinds, reading, The Real Housewives of any city, Duck Dynasty, and helping out my friends and family when I’m able.

I lost sight of all that in the crazy world of writing and publishing. Listening to people who say I have to get the next book out as fast as I can to keep the readers interested has left me spinning my wheels and digging myself into a deeper hole. Now I’m paying for that with my health. A few days ago I met with my new doctor and had a complete physical including blood work, updating my tetanus shot and a boob squishing mammogram. The results of the blood tests show I’m now a type II diabetic. I had to pick up my glucometer today. As someone who is a major needlephobe, you can imagine what poking my fingers daily is going to do to my psyche.

Along with the diabetes, I’m at least 100 pounds overweight—morbidly obese. The doctor also put me on a diuretic to help lower my blood pressure. Whew! All of this seems a bit daunting but actually I feel relieved. I’m relieved to know I do have a doctor now who’ll support me through all of this. I have a goal and plan to get healthy again. You can say I have a fire under my ass and now I’m ready to fight. Check out my weekly feature on Not Enough Time in the Day called Memoirs of A Forty Something Fat Chick. I’ll be sharing my journey there from now on.

As for my writing, I’m never stopping that but I may push back a few deadlines. In order to be the best author I can be, I have to reconnect with myself and with my fans, friends and new readers. You’ll be seeing a change on my social media soon. Of course I’ll still share the blogs from my fellow Triberr groups/tribes, but you’ll also see more of me around too.

Until next time,

~Tammy

That’s it I quit. As authors we say this quite often. Not because of the writing aspect, not even because of the editing issues, heck we even can get through the rejection letters like pros. Some find them a cheap alternative to wallpaper. While others find it a mark of a real author to be rejected. Whatever your poison it’s not the writing that makes us want to quit.

What is it? You ask. The marketing. Are we under exposed? “You have a book out?” to which the author smashes his or her head against the table because they’ve only posted, tweeted, tumbled and invited this person to multiple events through social media. “Yes, it’s new.” Or has been out for a few years and you even liked the cover art.

We don’t want to bombard people to the point they no longer want anything to do with us. …

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#SaturdaySpotlight is On @HouseofTaboo And Her New Release #erotic #paranormal #LGBT #shortstory

Welcome to Behind Closed Doors! This week has been a flurry of activity in my household. Between edits on The Surrender of Julia (Now and Forever 3) and publishing my alter ego’s very first short story I don’t think I got very much sleep. Trying a new genre frightened the daylights out of me, but these characters just wouldn’t keep quiet. I had to tell their story. Well, I should say LIA had to tell their story.

For those of you stopping in for the first time, I should explain a bit who Lia is. You see, she’s me and I’m her. Lia writes the M/M and menage erotica and erotic romances while I (Tammy Dennings Maggy) handle the poetry, M/F and F/F erotica and erotic romance. There is one more alter ego, Stephanie Ryan. She’s in charge of the “good girl” genres including YA, NA, mainstream romance and mainstream fiction. She’ll get her moment in the spotlight in a few months, but for now it’s Lia’s turn. Let’s take a look at the video Sassy Vixen Publishing made up to introduce her and her blog The House of Taboo.

As Lia, I get to have all sorts of naughty fun and explore the more taboo characters and tales. Through her I’m able to go a bit deeper into the minds of “our” characters. With Forbidden Destiny and the full novel Call of the Thunderbird, I found within the Native American culture, LGBT individuals were historically honored, revered and respected by all members of the tribe. Called “Two Spirits” these beautiful people were not male, nor female but contained the spirits of both. As such, they could connect with others and the Great Spirit and a different level. Because of their spirituality, many were looked to as healers and shaman within their communities. Unfortunately, when the New World was conquered…errrr..colonized, Two Spirits were attacked. The Europeans imposed their morals and beliefs onto the Native Americans. Some tribes ended up shunning the very people they once held in high regard. Sound familiar?

In Forbidden Destiny, we meet Abraham and Ethan. Both are Two Spirit but live completely different lives. Where Ethan grew up accepted and encouraged to be whoever he wished to be, Abraham did not. He had to keep his true self hidden from his family and the local tribe members. Even though Abraham’s tribal Elders embraced the old traditions, his parents didn’t. Because he didn’t want to bring shame to his family, or make trouble for them with the Elders, Abraham did as his parents asked and tried to fit in with the non-Native community.

BLURB

Ethan Quaderer is the Great Thunderbird, the creature of Native American legend. From childhood, Ethan soared high across the land, as one with the majestic bald eagles—only larger and more powerful. Great Thunderbird has one mission, to save the Native American people. But first, he must find his Chosen, his soul mate.

Abraham Tuttle grew up in a household where being different was unacceptable. Forbidden. He hid his true nature, a Two Spirit—not male or female, but both. For many Native American tribes, being Two Spirit is a blessing, one to be honored and revered. Not so for Abraham.

Through the Thunderbird dreams each finds the happiness they long for. One dreams of the Great Warrior who’d someday rescue him. The other dreams of the one he’s searched for through many lifetimes.

Dreams turn into reality when both men come face to face in the real world. Can Abraham find it within himself to let go of his past and embrace his future with Ethan, or will his doubts and fears of who and what he really is cause him to lose the only one who could ever complete him heart and soul?

Want to find out more? Get your own copy of Forbidden Destiny for only 99 cents from All Romance ebooks, Smashwords, and Amazon.

About the Author

Lia Michaels is the alter ego of bestselling poet and erotic romance author Tammy Dennings Maggy. With so many characters clamoring for their stories to be told, the job became a bit overwhelming for one sassy vixen to handle. Lia “volunteered” to explore the world of M/M erotic romance as well as menage. Tammy will still tell the M/F and F/F stories but don’t be surprised if the two of them collaborate from time to time. With Lia, very few topics will be taboo so look for more fantasy and paranormal tales from her. She’ll leave the more contemporary stuff to Tammy but still encourage her to push the limits!

Where to find Lia

The House of Taboo (Website/blog)

Sassy Vixen Publishing LLC

Amazon Author Page

Smashwords Author Page

Facebook Fan Page (House of Taboo)

Facebook Author Fan Page

Facebook Personal Page

Twitter

Goodreads

I Did It! @dochappycamper Is Now a Best Selling Author! #vampires #poetry

Hello my friends! Welcome back to Behind Closed Doors. I come to you today waist deep in the edits for The Surrender of Julia (Now and Forever 3) in order to share some fabulous news. Today, while I was at work at the veterinary hospital one of my poetry books climbed the charts at All Romance ebooks affiliate Omnilit. The Courtship of the Vampyre is now a BEST SELLER!!! It’s ranked number four of thirty-seven and it’s earned the coveted silver star. I had to stop myself from putting more exclamation points after the last few sentences. I’m just absolutely beside myself happy with this news.

It’s been one hell of a busy day seeing my patients and mulling over the first editor’s suggestions and corrections to Julia’s story. I have to tell you, I”m not very fond of edits and when I got them last night I was a bit upset with some of the criticism. Then I took a deep breath and read through the comments and suggestions again. Many made sense and I plan to work with those. Some suggestions just aren’t going to make it in the final draft. The reason is quite simple. They’re not the way I write. They’re not MY voice so to speak. Sure, I can take a few of them and make them into something I’d put to paper, but the others…nuh uh. NO WAY.

Does that make the critique wrong? Nope. It just means I choose not to take all the advice given. That’s what edits are all about. Your editors are not there to rewrite your work. They’re the grammar police and content patrol. They help you see the holes in the manuscript where the story isn’t flowing well, or where sections can be rearranged to create a better experience for the readers. You don’t have to take their advice, but if all of the editors on your project make the same suggestions or similar ones, it’s probably best to go with the consensus.

Having published my first two books with Siren, I had the benefit of working with some fabulous editors. They took the time to read through my work and recognize my vision. They helped me bring out the best in my writing and my characters. Was I forced to accept their changes? Nope. When it came to the Siren house rules on punctuation and grammar, the editors ruled the roost. When it came to my characters and cutting scenes because they were “too chatty,” I fought a bit. Most of the time I won out, but there were a few times, I had to concede they were right. The story did run smoother.

With Julia’s story…hmmmm

I’m waiting on my second editor to finish his run through. I’ll compare the two edits, make any changes and then the whole thing goes to a third editor. Is that too much? Not for me. I don’t think one set of eyes is enough. I want bad girl Julia Santos to get her story told. This is the way to do it properly. She’s not a saint and many readers will be a bit pissed off she’s so selfish. Some may even feel she doesn’t deserve her happily ever after because she doesn’t redeem herself soon enough in the story. Redemption can always come at the final hour. When the Gods believe one of their creations is worthy enough to get their happily ever after, who the hell are we to judge?

This brings me back to The Courtship of the Vampyre. In that collection of poems, the reader follows Cain from the moment he becomes the first Guardian of the Night. He wasn’t punished by the Gods for the death of his brother, but instead given the honor of guarding the legacy of man—The Tree of Life. His brother Malachi on the other hand is cursed with the same immortality, but at a cost. He’s cursed with having to walk the night forever because he dared to question the Gods called The Three. Go ahead and watch this video trailer featuring one of the poems in the book.

Thank you everyone for helping make my dreams come true. Now I can officially call myself a Best Selling Author. 🙂

Until next time

~Tammy

#CoverReveal For the Next Book in the Now and Forever Series by @dochappycamper #eroticromance #LGBT

Welcome to Behind Closed Doors and a very special announcement. As you all know, I’ve been working on self publishing The Surrender of Julia (Now and Forever 3). It’s in edits now but should be back in my hands soon. Until then, I thought I’d share the blurb and the AMAZING cover designed and created by LMK Graphics. Not only did they listen to me when I talked about the characters, they included me in every step of the process. Now my characters have come ALIVE on this cover and I couldn’t be happier. This is the first cover of the very first novel published with Sassy Vixen Publishing LLC. Since all of you have been there with me from the beginning, it seems only fitting to share another milestone with you.

I don’t have a release date just yet, but let’s just say soon. VERY soon!

BLURB

Coming soon from Sassy Vixen Publishing

As One Door Closes…

Today I received the email that many authors dread, the publisher decided to pass on The Surrender of Julia (Now and Forever 3). They didn’t feel that it had an audience. You see, since the heroine is bisexual, she has relationships with both men and women. So with both M/F and F/F pairings there was no “specific” market for it. They also felt that the readers of the first two books wouldn’t follow this one since generally readers of M/F romance don’t like F/F and vise versa.

Yeah you read that right.

If that’s the case, then why is it there are readers of F/F romances searching high and low for the books they want to read? There is a demand for them and yet it’s being ignored. Some publishing houses actually won’t even consider manuscripts with F/F pairings unless it’s minor. The main pair has to be either M/F or M/M. The prejudice towards the all girl action is really annoying to put it mildly. There is no reason to cut out this group of readers other than someone’s misguided notion that women don’t wish to read about other women having sex and getting their happily ever after.

How do I know the sex of the readers of romance? Well, I don’t know that every single last one of them is a female, but the vast majority of them are— even for the books classified as “manlove.” It’s women who write and read the most M/M romantic fiction so why is it so hard to see that there are women who write and read about two heroines getting it on? Times have changed. The rules of romance have and continue to change. Gone are the days where the hero has to be a rich, ruggedly handsome alpha male who chases after the sweet little virgin in her early twenties. Now we have heroes and heroines of all shapes, sizes, colors and species. There are pairings of the usual two and all the way up to five or more. How one keeps track of all the action in the extreme menage pairings is beyond me, but boy is it fascinating to read!

I’ve written many posts concerning the prejudice erotic romance authors get from the romance community in general, but the biggest problem we have is within our own ranks. The large and small publishing houses who carry erotic romances still resist publishing lesbian fiction. If you embrace the LGBT tag for your house’s books, you should embrace all that it stands for: lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. All people, regardless of their sexual orientation deserve to have romance in their lives. Mainstream and erotic romance novels give all of us that escape.

So stay tuned for the news of when The Surrender of Julia (Now and Forever 3) will be released within the next few months from…Sassy Vixen Publishing. Julia’s story will be SVP’s very first novel published with them. So far I’ve only published my poetry listing Sassy Vixen as the publisher. I can’t tell you how excited and just over the moon I am about this whole new venture for me and my writing. Now I can move forward with this series as I see it in my head and not have to follow “the house” rules any longer.

I’ll always be grateful to Siren Bookstrand for helping me to realize my dream. They took a chance on a complete unknown with a HUGE story to tell. The editors and support staff taught me more about the publishing world than I could ever or will ever read in a book. The most important and valuable perk of all? I got to meet and work with some of the most fascinating authors who’ve mentored me, reassured me when I had my doubts, and picked me up when I just wanted to quit. Without them, I would not be starting this new phase of my publishing career and I wouldn’t have some of the best friends any woman could ever have.

~Tammy

Thrilled Beyond Belief! The Courtship of the Vampyre Is Running Up Amazon Rankings!

I am shocked. Literally shocked. I was working on a blog post for Sassy Vixen Publishing and getting a link for one of my guest authors when I decided to check on my books to be sure that all of them made it to my Amazon Author Page. For some reason two of the formats weren’t there last week. I rectified it as soon as I found that mistake and was determined to be sure that it didn’t happen this time with the second book of poetry…and my second self-published book.

What caught my eye right away was my sales ranking at below 130,000. I’ve NEVER been that low for any of my books and sure as heck not on the day it went live on Amazon. My eyes then went a little further to see at that moment in time, The Courtship of the Vampyre was ranked at #20 for epic poetry.

Number TWENTY!!!

Thank you all for supporting me in this and spreading the word. Without you, I would never move up the ranks this quickly. This has just solidified my decision to concentrate on The Kayne Legacy full time once I finish up The Surrender of Julia and get that off to Siren for consideration.

I’m still waiting for Smashwords to finish their review of the book to see if it’s included in the Premium Catalog. Once it’s there, you’ll be able to find it not only on Smashwords, but with Apple, Sony, Barnes and Noble and many other retail outlets. It’s available in print from Createspace AND Amazon as of today too.

Smile on my friends!

~Tammy