Old dog, new tricks

I spent the evening playing with something called Ganxy. You can use it to make a "showcase" for your books, with a nice neat list of vendors below it. Like so: "Mastered by Desire" by Ellymeg on Ganxy It isn't complicated, but if I decide to redo all my sites this way, it will take quite a bit of time. (I already changed the background of my Meg site to white, because it doesn't look quite right otherwise.) I think it looks more professional, and furthermore, it will allow me to eventually start selling directly from my site if I want to. I'm inclined to do it, but every time I mess around with my sites I wind up with a giant hassle. It's the downside of being technically dumb!

New cover

Today I got a shiny new cover for Fantasia from Go On Write, which I think is really gorgeous. I'll be getting the book uploaded to ARe and Smashwords, and will also have my daughter reformat the Kindle version, which is not indenting properly (it USED to indent properly, but Amazon has changed the way formatting works on their system, and some older books require reworking). Fantasia is also available in the collection Touch Me.

Working hard (and hardly working)

As part of my New Years resolution to make myself more visible to readers, I have released three books this month, two as Meg/Gem and one under my other pen name. Two are collections and one is an original novella (Shattered). This has meant a lot of time spent editing and other peripheral duties. But now they're all done, and I'm going to sit down and finish Innocent and Illumination!

Also, Shattered is now up on Smashwords. Hopefully from there it will make its way to iTunes and Kobo fairly quickly.

Free today!

The Wolf Moon is free today on Amazon.

Supplicant

Supplicant is now free on B&N (and on iTunes, too, but I'm not sure how to do a link!).

New cover

I've been working on this book for quite a while, but haven't gotten around to finishing it. Now I shall have to, because I just love my new cover by Cover Shot Creations.

Getting my New Years resolutions done

My big New Years resolution was to get my books up on more platforms. With my daughter's help in formatting, I now have most of my books (excluding two in Amazon's Select program, and a couple that need their covers upgraded) up on All Romance ebooks and Smashwords. Some have already filtered their way through to iTunes. I hope this will make it easier for readers to find me!

The Wolf Ring

The Wolf Ring (an oldie but a goodie, and still one of my best sellers after all this time) is now free on All About Romance and Smashwords.

Supplication

This is the beginning of the rewrite of Supplicant, from Dom's point of view, that I blogged about here. Two paragraphs and various elements of this wound up in Angelic, but the rest was discarded. Once I started writing it, I realized that what I really wanted to do was to go back to the beginning of Dom and Gabriel's relationship:

Being shoved up against the wall was the hottest thing Stephen Dominick had ever experienced.

Stephen-- Dom, as the press had insisted on dubbing him-- was the CEO of Dominick Technologies and a billionaire, and he was accustomed to being treated with respect and deference.

Which was a fancy way of saying the rest of the world generally went out of its way to kiss his ass.

But Gabriel Mason was the one person on earth who'd never kissed up to him. Gabriel had been an intern in Dominick Technologies' IT department last year, and even then he'd never looked like he was intimidated by Dom. He'd been friendly and polite, like the nice young man he was, who'd been brought up to show respect to his elders. But there had been no trace of obeisance in his bright blue gaze, no hint of fear or intimidation in his posture.

From the very moment they met, Gabriel had treated him just like another person. And that was a rare and precious thing in Dom's life.

Right now, though, Gabriel was treating him with even less deference and respect than usual. Which was to say the younger man had him up against the wall, his big hands clenched on Dom's rather nice shirt, his bright eyes blazing with rage.

"Son of a bitch," he growled, right in Dom's face.

Dom was hard-pressed not to flinch. When he'd first met Gabriel, a year ago, the young man had been-- well, lanky was a polite word for it. In fact he'd been outright skinny. The kid had lost his parents six months before, and he'd obviously been grieving too deeply to bother with proper meals. At first, Dom had befriended him mostly so he had an excuse to take the young man out for lunch and make sure he ate properly.

But he'd seen potential in the kid, too. Mental potential-- within five minutes into their first conversation, Dom had realized this was a hell of a smart kid. Despite the fact that he was going to Old Dominion University in Norfolk, he could easily have gotten into Harvard if he could have afforded it. But physical potential, too.

Gabriel Mason was beautiful.

Dom was something of a connoisseur of beauty, both male and female, and he'd had some of the world's most beautiful women on his arm, and, more privately, had enjoyed some of the world's most beautiful men in his ed. But in all his years of enjoying beauty, he'd never seen a face as exquisitely perfect as Gabriel's.

The young man looked like an angel. And yes, that sounded like hyperbole, but it wasn't. He had the sort of spectacular features that could only have been rendered by a great master. His dark, shaggy hair framed a face of stunning beauty, from the brilliant azure eyes to the full lips to the high cheekbones.

Dom had encouraged the kid to work out with him, and before long, Gabriel's body was just as perfect as his face.

Right now, though, Gabriel's handsome face was distorted with rage. "You," he snarled, "told Kerryn that I have the hots for you."

Dom had to struggle not to cringe. Gabriel was six foot four inches of steel and granite, in the first flush of early maturity, and he could probably beat the living hell out of Dom if he wanted to. Dom was pretty sure he wouldn't... but there was a dangerous light in Gabriel's eyes that made him a little uncertain. He tried to cover his uncertainty with a practiced contemptuous sneer.

"You do have the hots for me," he said coolly. "You're just too dense to realize it."

"Don't be stupid." Rage flared hotter in Gabriel's eyes, and Dom felt himself being shaken, the way a dog shakes a chew toy. Gabriel's big paws dug into his shoulders, and Dom realized he might be in real trouble here. "“I’ve been dating Kerryn for three years now. I love her, and when we graduate I’m going to marry her. She knows that, and whatever weird mind game you’re playing is not going to drive us apart, Dom. So cut it out, damn it.”

Was Gabriel really that oblivious? Dom looked into the brilliant eyes-- sweet, innocent, and so damn naive-- and decided he really was. “Kerryn is beautiful,” he said.

"Yes, she is. She's perfect."

Dom felt a little stab of-- could it be jealousy? Well, annoyance, maybe. He thought Gabriel was perfect and beautiful-- and Gabriel thought Kerryn was beautiful and perfect. Damn it, he'd been named one of America's top five bachelors, and had made People's list of the top 100 beautiful people. He wasn't exactly chopped liver.

He let his lips curve into a rather unpleasant smile. "So perfect you've never made love to her."

"She wants to wait till we’re married." Gabriel's hands dug into his shoulders harder, and the young man shook him again, more fiercely than before. The overlong ebony hair tumbled into his eyes, and Dom barely resisted the urge to reach up and gently brush it out of his face. "And I can wait. For her, I can wait."

"Because you don’t really want her." Dom was aware his tone was taunting, but he couldn't help himself. How could Gabriel be so obtuse? Surely he couldn't really be so oblivious to the sexual tension between the two of them. Surely he couldn't really believe he wanted Kerryn, not when he watched Dom with hungry longing every time they were together. He spoke bluntly. "I’ve been watching the two of you together for a year now, Gabriel. Ever since you got that internship with Dominick Tech and worked for me last summer. And I can tell you one thing for certain. You have no sexual attraction to Kerryn whatsoever."

"That's a load of--"

Dom spoke more gently. "It's the truth, Gabriel. It might not be easy for you to accept, but it's the truth."

Gabriel's lips drew back, exposing white, even teeth-- even his teeth were perfect, and that was fortunate, because from everything he'd said, his parents would never have been able to afford braces-- and he shoved Dom harder against the wood-paneled wall.

Dom figured if he had any sense at all, he'd be a little concerned. And his heart was definitely beating faster, but it wasn't because he was scared. He was having a physical response to being shoved up against the wall-- but it definitely wasn't fear.

Gabriel glared into Dom's eyes. He seemed unaware of Dom's arousal, unaware of anything except his own anger. "Let’s say just for the sake of argument that you’re right--"

Of course I'm right, Dom thought. He refrained from saying so, because Gabriel was pissed enough already.

"Which you’re not," the younger man went on. "But let’s say I don’t want to make love to Kerryn. Why exactly would you tell her I want you?"

Dom grinned. He couldn't help it.

"Because it's true."

Lighthouse for sale

In Shattered, Dom talks about how he once thought Thimble Shoal Light, isolated way out in the Chesapeake Bay, would be a great place to live. If you happen to share Dom's way of thinking, here's another Chesapeake Bay lighthouse you can buy--  for a mere $249,500. (The price includes a property onshore from which you could launch a boat to get to the lighthouse.) It's named the Wolf Trap Light Station, it dates from 1894, and it's three miles offshore. It (like Thimble Shoal Light) is a "caisson" style lighthouse, its light still functions (and is operated by computer), and its living area (which hasn't been occupied for some time and would require renovation) is about 1500 square feet.

The picture is from Wikipedia and appears to show the lighthouse in happier, shinier days. You'll notice it looks substantially more run down in the picture accompanying the article.

For me, there are some days when living three miles offshore really does sound like paradise!

iTunes!

Many more of my books are now available on iTunes, thanks to the efforts of my daughter, who's worked hard over her winter vacation to get them all formatted. Angelic (free), Supplicant (free), Domination and Exposure are all up now (Submission and Teaching Dallas are forthcoming).  A lot of Meg books are up, too, including Kiss Me and Mastered by Desire.

Thoughts on Dominance, Part 2-- where did Innocence come from?

How did I wind up writing a second Dom/Gabriel series?

Well, I wanted a free story on my blog, partly as a peace offering to my readers because I was so late getting Shattered done, and partly to help get new readers interested in the series. But I also wanted to delve into Dom a bit more deeply. You see, the Dominance series is tough writing for two reasons. The first, and most obvious reason, is that it's written solely from Gabriel's point of view. We don't get into Dom's head at all, and this makes it hard for the reader (or the writer!) to know exactly what drives him. I felt that I needed to get a bit more of a grip on what made Dom tick before I wrote the big emotional ending scene in Shattered.

Secondly, the really weird thing about Dominance is that it has exactly two dramatis personae. Only two people ever appear on stage-- Dom and Gabriel-- and I intend to finish out the series this way. Gabriel's girlfriend Kerryn is mentioned repeatedly throughout the series, but we never actually see her. Nowhere (I think) is a line of dialogue uttered by anyone but Dom or Gabriel. This is an odd and insular way to set up what will eventually be around a 80,000-word tale, but it's how the story seemed to want to be told. 

Originally I had the idea of rewriting the first part of Supplicant from Dom's point of view. But I realized that since the book was in KDP Select, and thus had to be exclusive to Amazon, they probably wouldn't care for that. So I abandoned that idea and wrote a prequel instead.

This worked out for the best, because Innocence allows me to expand Dom and Gabriel's world a bit. We've already met Sandy, Dom's assistant, and in Innocent we're going to meet the lovely Kerryn. With any luck we'll get a little more insight into her relationship with Dom, and find out what may have precipitated Dom's big blowup with her that set the plot of Dominance rolling. I don't think Kerryn is nearly as sweet and innocent as Gabriel wanted to believe, and I suspect Dom figured that out a lot sooner than Gabriel did:-).

Hi, my name is Meg, and I'm a cover addict

Covers that I found as premade, and bought simply because they were too awesome or gorgeous to pass up. Now I just have to create stories to go with them:

(Credits: 1 Shayne Hellerman, 2,3 & 5 ebookindiebookcovers, 4 Littera Designs)

My writing process

What writing process? I usually start with a brief idea or a single sentence. For example, for Innocent, my current WIP, I started with a single opening sentence that popped into my head: "Gabriel Mason might look like an angel, but he sure as hell didn't sing like one." That's all I had to begin with. Admittedly there were a few vague plot points percolating in my head, but I never, ever carefully work out a detailed plot in advance. I sit down and begin typing, and the story takes me where it wants to go. I admire people who can plot, but alas, I'm not one of them:-).

Thoughts on Dominance, part 1

I wanted to talk about the Dominance series this week, since Shattered is my latest release. First of all, the setting. I am a Virginia native (born in Virginia Beach, now living in Suffolk), and so my books tend to be set in Virginia. Sometimes it's a real place, sometimes it's a made-up town. In the case of Dominance, I decided to go with Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

Norfolk is a medium-sized city with a nice-looking downtown, nestled alongside the Elizabeth River:

According to Wikipedia, it's Virginia's second-largest city in terms of population (the Northern Virginia area is much more populous, of course, but most of it is comprised of counties rather than cities). When I was growing up, Norfolk was pretty run-down in a lot of areas, and not the safest place to walk. It's undergone an amazing renaissance, though, with many old warehouses converted into condos, and lots of new condos and apartments too. There is a terrific art museum (the Chrysler), a good symphony, and a beautiful opera house, and if I didn't have kids and dogs that need space to run, I would most likely have moved to Norfolk when I moved back to this area three years ago. Since I had to live in the suburbs, I moved Gabriel there instead:-).

Dom works in Norfolk, but he lives in nearby Virginia Beach. Most tourists think of Virginia Beach as just the narrow strip of hotels along the oceanfront (the longest pleasure beach in the world, according to Wikipedia), but it's actually a large city-- the biggest city in Virginia, population-wise, and close to the largest land-wise (I think it ranks just behind Suffolk in that regard). Its major river, the Lynnhaven, is beautiful. Virginia Beach looks on the surface like a mass of bland suburban houses and generic shopping malls, but if you dig deeper and drive around the wooded areas near the Lynnhaven, you will find an array of spectacular mansions, some of which are all but hidden down tiny, winding back roads. This is the kind of house I had in mind for Dom.

In Shattered, I had the boys make love on a public beach in Norfolk. There is no such beach as Bay View Beach-- it's a combination of Ocean View Beach Park (confusingly named, as its view is of the Chesapeake Bay, not the ocean) and Sarah Constant Beach Park. (As in the book, you can see Thimble Shoal Light and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel from those beaches.) Ocean View was once the site of Ocean View Amusement Park, and my father remembers the roller coasters there with affection. Oh, and the background of stone on Shattered's cover? That's just meant to symbolize Dom's walls, not to suggest an actual setting. There is no stone to be had in this area, just a whole lot of sand.

And finally, here is a Mustang Boss 429, a car that has played something of a minor role in the series (I wanted the boys to make love on the hood in Illumination, but I'm a little worried the scoop might get in the way!).

A limited number of these beauties were produced in 1969 and 1970, and I understand they go for upward of $200,000-- a bit pricey for me, alas, but pocket change for Dom. I doubt a serious collector would actually drive one of these on a regular basis, so I'm taking a bit of creative license there. But what's the point in having a gorgeous car if you don't drive her? I've always wanted a Mustang (I currently drive a gray minivan, ugh), but even if I had this kind of money to throw around, I wouldn't spend it on something I wouldn't dare to drive. The new Mustang Boss 302, though... ah, that's a different story:-).

So this is me...

Okay, not really. This is the real me: I'm a single mom with four children, ranging from second grade to college age; one elderly father who just moved in with us; two large furry dogs; and three cats. I write as Meg Harris (heterosexual erotic romance) and Gem Frost (m/m erotic romance), and I love Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, Doctor Who, and Castle. I've been struggling with Crohn's disease for years, but (mostly) have it under control right now, thanks to medication. I love writing hot and sexy books, but as I'm currently single and have been for a while, it's sadly written mostly from memory:-).

Hi!

One of my New Year's resolutions was that I wanted to try to interact with my readers a little more, so I'm creating a blog, for both Gem Frost and Meg Harris. I plan to update this several times a week. Part of my New Year's resolution is to create a Facebook page, too. I just have to figure out how. Blogging I understand; Facebook not so much. But I think I can learn... with a little help from my teenaged daughters, anyway!