Ahoy Matey – Talk Like a Pirate Day

So yesterday was International Talk Like a Pirate Day and I totally missed it! I’m so bummed. I’ve written two pirate stories and have a third planned because I LOVE pirates!

Argghhhh (<–pirate speak)

So in honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day I’m giving you a short excerpt from my first pirate story, Wherever You Are.

Morgan sat at a corner table at The Scabbard, a tankard of ale within easy reach and a willing woman on his knee.

The ale he’d come in search of, the woman was an added bonus. Or so he thought. Now, hours later, he just wanted the whore gone, but couldn’t seem to remove her from his knee. That probably had a lot to do with his very advanced inebriated state.

He took a swig of ale only to find the tankard empty and signaled the barmaid for another. The woman on his lap slipped and grabbed his neck for support. She giggled and placed a sloppy, wet kiss on his cheek. He pushed at her, but she was like a barnacle he feared his mates would need to scrape from his body.

Blearily, through a thick haze of alcohol, he noted her once red dress had faded to a dull orange. Her breasts were falling out of the tattered garment. Dirty, brown hair hung in her face. He didn’t even want to think what crawled in it.

Disgusted, he looked away. The Scabbard was one of the most dangerous taverns on the docks. Dank and dark, a smoky haze hung over the occupants. The floorboards stuck to your feet when you walked. More than one patron was plastered to the floor, full-bodied.

It was the type of place those without heart and soul congregated, a sort of hell on Earth and Morgan felt right at home. He fingered the cutlass hanging at his side as his gaze swept the room, searching for trouble. Whether to get in to or out of, he didn’t know.

Kindle | Nook | Blurb

Advertisement

First Lines

First lines are so important to a story. It’s the reader’s introduction to you, your characters and your story. It has to be just right. Authors struggle over their first lines, sweat over them, lose sleep over them, change them, rework them, rip them apart, rewrite them and, yes, sometimes cry over them.

Below are the first lines from my books. As a reader do you have any favorite first lines? If you’re an author, what’s the first line of your current release or work in progress?

“No good ever came from opening a door without looking through the peephole. Or so Kate’s mom always said.” – From DECEPTION

“I hafta go potty.

Aiden’s alarmed gaze swung down to the China doll standing in front of him. He’d been sitting in the shadows of his porch, so engrossed in studying the fine legs of the woman in the driveway next door that he hadn’t seen the munchkin arrive on his step.” – From NIGHT SONG

“The guy at the convenience store told her to take the old logger’s road. Said it wasn’t marked, but she couldn’t miss it. That had been twenty minutes ago. She hadn’t counted on the steep, winding hill, the sheer drop to nothing or the snow the weathermen were saying was a blizzard in the making.” – From REDEMPTION

“Alex Juran’s breath condensed on the cold night air. He adjusted the brim of his John Deere cap and tucked his chin into his thin coat, straining to hear past the sounds of traffic a few blocks away and the mournful horn of a barge chugging down the river.” – From OBSESSION

“Sizzling heat reached out to her. Retreated, teased, scorched. A horrible shrieking sound filled her head. She tried to cover her ears but her arms wouldn’t move.” – From WHEREVER YOU ARE

“The fever was catching up to him. Slowing him down. Killing him.” – From HER DARK KNIGHT

“The babe was dying.” – From A FOREVER KIND OF THING

Sunday Six

From Wherever You Are, which released in paperback this week. Enjoy! And click here for other Sunday Sixes.

“I didn’t set fire to your ship.”

His head tilted, the thoughtful expression deepening. “Didn’t you?”

She shook her head, unable to tear her gaze from his. That whole sense of the unreal descended on her, numbing her. More seconds passed–seconds in which the large man stared at her with eyes that seemed to pick at her thoughts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nook | Kindle | Paperback

Sweet Saturday Sample

This week my historical time-travel, Wherever You Are, was released in paperback. In honor of that, I’ll leave you with a sample from the book. For more Sweet Saturday Samples click here.

Hands curled around the edge of the boat and her rescuer’s head popped up. His shoulders bunched and flexed in the bright firelight. Biceps rippled as he pulled himself over, water pouring off a shirt glued to his sculpted body. Men cleared the way for him to make his way to the bow. He spoke to a few he passed, quiet, clipped words. The men nodded, their expressions grim. His gaze skipped over her before he lowered himself to the bottom of the boat and ran his hands through his long hair, squeezing the excess water out. He pulled his knees up and rested his elbows on them, letting his hands dangle between and focusing his attention on the towering ball of fire floating on the water.

“’Tis reachin’ the magazine,” the man beside her mumbled. A few men murmured their agreement.

No sooner had he said the words than the ship exploded. Night turned to day as flames raced toward the sky. Juliana screamed and covered her head with her arms as bits of fiery debris rained down on them. The ones who’d been rowing began to row harder, their expressions ranging from shock to anger to blank trauma. They were wet and bedraggled and every one of them was armed with knives and pistols. Strange-looking pistols. Old-fashioned pistols. Not the Smith & Wessons, Glocks, and Berettas she was used to seeing in her work as an investigative journalist.

Something inside Juliana turned cold. Colder than the seawater soaking her clothes. Colder than the wind whipping her hair into her eyes.

Nook | Kindle | Paperback

Sweet Saturday Sample

Happy Saturday! Since today is my daughter’s birthday I thought I’d post a snippet of one of my heroine’s birthdays. This is from Wherever You Are, a historical time-travel. Enjoy! And if you want to visit other authors’ samples click here.

“I brought you a present.” He indicated a wrapped package on a side table.

“A present? What for?”

“Have you forgotten, Juliana? Today is your birthday.”

She’d completely forgotten. In fact, she hadn’t been keeping track of the days at all. There seemed to be no reason when there wasn’t anywhere she needed to be.

Morgan placed the package in her hand and stepped back, putting his hands behind him again. “Open it.”

There hadn’t been many presents in her life. More often than not her parents forgot her birthday and Christmas was always hit or miss in her house depending on her mother’s mood. Daniel told her to buy whatever she wanted for her birthday and the one Christmas they spent together, they decided to fore go gifts and work in a soup kitchen.

Morgan’s gift wasn’t wrapped prettily. The paper was coarse and brown, the whole thing held together by twine. She blinked her tears away because it was perfect.

Slowly she pulled the twine and pushed the paper away. Inside lay a book bound in red leather, her initials in gold leaf very discreet in the bottom right corner. When she opened it the pages were blank. She looked up at Morgan in question.

He shrugged as if he were uncomfortable. “You kept pestering my crew for paper and pen. I thought you might like your own journal. To write.”

The tears she’d been holding back leaked out of her eyes and down her cheeks. She hugged the book to her chest and cried.

Morgan’s eyes widened. “I didn’t mean to make you cry, Juliana. Please don’t cry.”

“It’s p-perfect.” She sniffed. “Thank you.” She cried harder, not for the journal, but for everything that happened. Everything she lost.

Nook | Kindle | Paperback available March 2012

 

 

Cutting Room Floor

Welcome to Thursdays Cutting Room Floor, where I post snippets of things that didn’t make it into my books, but I can’t seem to delete permanently. This is from my historical time-travel, Wherever You Are. Enjoy!!

“Juliana.”

She straightened, wondering if she’d imagined the whispered word. His face was closer than before, his dark gaze pinned on her lips. There was something about those eyes, something that seemed so familiar and warm. But thoughts of that flew out of her head when she realized his intent.

Oh, dear God, he wasn’t going to kiss her, was he? No, no, no. He’d had her flogged. Yes, she wanted to be near him. Yes, he made her feel safe, but that was it. There wasn’t more to her feelings than that, and certainly he didn’t think…  But he did. She could see it in his face, in his hooded eyes. He was going to kiss her!

Nook | Kindle | Paperback available March 2012

Cutting Room Floor

<–What do you think of the spider made of scissors? Pretty creepy, huh? ::shudder::

Welcome to Cutting Room Floor where authors are welcome to post those darlings that had to be cut from their works-in-progress. We authors have issues with completely deleting what we term our “babies” so most of us keep them in files. I like to provide a place for those babies to be seen.

So if you’re an author, feel free to leave your darling in the comments section.

Mine comes from Wherever You Are, a pirate time-travel:

His soft words, his understanding and the warm look in his eyes had her anger dissipating so fast she felt deflated. She also felt like a fool and had acted like a fool in front of all these people. They probably thought her crazy at the very least. And maybe she was. After all, how many people could honestly believe they’d traveled through time? When Morgan said it wasn’t her world, he had no idea how right he was.

 

Sweet Saturday Sample

Since its snowing here in Ohio I thought I’d pick a scene that reminds us all of summer. Warm waters, tropical beaches. Hot pirates. Yes, you heard me right. Hot pirates. This is from Wherever You Are, my pirate time-travel. Enjoy!

He pulled her closer, lowered his head and brushed his lips against hers. This is not a good idea. He blocked his mind from the thoughts. He didn’t care anymore. This was Juliana, the only woman he’d ever loved and damn it, he wanted to kiss her. He cupped her face, closed his eyes and tumbled back fifteen years to a time when the only troubles he had was a geometry test he hadn’t studied for.

Her breath caressed his neck. Her warmth surrounded him, drew him to her. She smelled of fresh sea air and woman. He was lost. Lost to a love he’d buried deep inside himself. To a love that had never gone away, never faded, never ebbed.

She was everything he remembered—warm and sweet, hot and demanding.

His hands slid down her face to her shoulders, her arms, and settled on her hips. He drew her closer until she rested between his thighs. Deep within he sighed, finally feeling complete.

Juliana was here, she was his for now. She may not know it but he did and that was all that mattered in this moment. A memory to cherish, to take with him when she was gone.

Her arms wound around him. Her breasts pushed against his chest and he swallowed a groan of need. It could go no further than this, but for now he would cherish her as he hadn’t been able to for fifteen long years.

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Samhain Publishing

Six Sentence Sunday

Today is Six Sentence Sunday which means a group of authors post six sentences they’ve written. My six sentences are from my paranormal historical Wherever You Are. Enjoy and if you want to read other great authors, click here.

“You running from something?”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s the reason most people stow away though I have to admit, you’re my first female stowaway.”

Her instincts told her to keep her time-traveling a secret. They probably didn’t burn people as witches anymore but she’d keep quiet all the same. Better to go with the stowaway story until she got her bearings.

 

 

 

 

 

Buy Links:

Kindle | Nook | Print available 3/12

Read more about Wherever You Are