Manucriptmania

I'm currently working on three new books for my Salacity Series (When Darkness Falls) at Venus Press. I've also got a contemporary thriller and a couple of historicals in the making.

Though I'm not the art director at Venus Press anymore, I'm still doing cover art for them and am working with other publishers as well. Some of my covers can be found at Ocean's Mist Press, Venus Press, Titan Press, and I just signed on with Loose Id as a cover artist. And I'm having a great time!

As soon as my new books go through editing, I'll post an excerpt for y'all. I'm really excited about all my upcoming releases, and hope to have more to add to my coming soon list shortly.

-SG

What' s New

Well, today I received a contract for a short story, Off Duty Romance, from Midnight Showcase. Editing for A Question of Honor, the first book of my mainstream historical romance Redleigh series for Titan Press, starts soon. Yeah! And Sable Grey Designs has hooked up with Cerberus Inc and is off and running.

I'm working on a few stories now...hopefully to have submitted before the end of the year - too many to list.

That's about it. Everything is rolling along wonderfully.

-SG

Holy Cow

Big news today...Piers Anthony...one of my favorite authors...is being published at Venus Press - My publisher! WOW. That says a lot about VP in my opinion since Piers Anthony doesn't take crap from publishers and calls them on their shit...yet he submits to VP. Makes me feel smart and special to be with them right now.

Finished Chasing Shadows, sequel to When Darkness Falls! Yeah for me! I'm really looking forward tothis book coming out in print. I think my editor will have me heat it up a bit...which is fine...cause the plot is a lot better, in my opinion than When Darkness Falls.

Me and Deanna Lee finally tied the knot...online, so to speak. She's my bestfriend and now we have a forum together! Rogue Skirts. VEry cool! I feel honored that she wants a forum with me...we are working on an anthology together called Southern Nights. It's funny..people have thought we are the same person, that we are lovers...but the truth is...as much as I would love to be her...we are bestfriends.

It's good to have a best friend who is in the same business...and quite honestly, I don't know what I would do without her support. I've come to rely on her encouragement...how selfish is that?

I hope she relies on me too.

SG

Featured Cover

The response I've gotten from my new cover art design page (www.sablegrey.net/designs/index.html) has been great! I've had several people tell me I should charge more. LOL I'm pretty certain I "should" but I'm content with the prices I've marked. I would charge more if I was designing a cover for an author but these are premade...a little more creative freedom for me and an alternative for authors who can't afford $200 to $400 covers for their books right now.

So here's the one that I've done that I like best:

Rafferty Jones

This is the pic I have of Rafferty Jones right now. I admit, I'm not completely happy with it but it's pretty close to how I picture her in my head.

Rafferty Jones is the kick ass heroine in the Pirate's Jewel. She's a pirate and when Merrick Cole captures her to take her back to London where she is sentenced to hang, she fights him the whole way - but that's not all she does with him *wicked grin*

oooh ahhh oooh

Okay, so now the background music on the book pages of my website can be turned off! Yeah! And I added a calendar page to my site for visiotrs to find out when I have upcoming events - its very cool - like author chats, publisher chats, interviews, etc. I've also condensed all my links into one page...whoo hoo!

I actually wrote a little bit today as well. My muse has become a stubborn dragon with her heels dug in but I did milk a little creativity out today.

a busy busy little dragonfly

Well I've been working on my website and the new design. I've yet to add the fun page where I'll have all kinds of games for visitors to play.

As requested by a visitor, I'm adding tooltips to all the links. This is going to take awhile. So far I'vegot the main page finished. But in the end, ALL the links on my site will have this feature.

I'm also looking for a script that will allow visitors to click a button to turn off the background music on the book pages since some don't particularly care for the tunes.

I've added a forums feature for the readers and visitors to interact. Very cool.

I'm working on my designs page (not yet linked to my site). I have decided to go ahead and offer my services to those who want them: webpage design, book promotional teasers, and cover art design.

So yeah, I've been busy busy busy :)

Revamp and Vamp Release!

Okay, so I'm redesigning my website, hoping to make it easier and more fun to navigate. I'm nowhere near being finished...working on the art page and the research pages...but the design and most of the links work.

On Tuesday, my book, When Darkness Falls, was released at Venus Press. I'm very excited since all the feedback I've gotten so far has been fabulous. This is a new area for me...vampire paranormal...and I wasn't certain I could really pull it off. Apparantly I did. (I designed the cover myself.)

BLURB:

Nina Nicholas’ mouth has been watering for her hunky cop neighbor, Darq Dillion, since the moment she laid eyes on him. But all her attempts to win his attention have failed. In fact, she doesn’t even know he has an interest in her until she receives a creepy letter and has to turn to him for real help.

Darq Dillion has a secret, one that doesn’t allow him many chances at relationships. The sexy librarian that lives next door in his apartment building makes it difficult to remember that. Things heat up after he’s forced to try to protect her from a stalker that manages to slip around even his acute senses, forcing him to reveal his secret and leave his heart vulnerable.

EXCERPT (ADULT):

Every time he was near Nina, he could feel her hot energy pressing out towards him. It set him on fire. Her aura was easier to read than most. Red, hot, and pulsating. And even without her ploys, he felt her energy get warmer when she looked at him.

As he walked naked into the bathroom, he wondered what scheme she would plan next. Turning on the shower, he imagined her sitting again on the sofa, her robe open around her, waiting for him to join her. He’d known what she’d been waiting for. It had taken all the strength he had, not to give in and to remain standing, afraid if he’d sat down next to her, all would have been lost.

As steam began to drift over the glass door, he slipped into the shower and stepped into the heat of the spray. He ran his hands over his face, attempting to wash away the arousal that had filled his veins. What man wouldn’t want a woman who would go to such extremes to catch his attention?

He turned and leaned a hand against the stall as the water pounded rhythmically onto his back. The image of that damnable outfit burned into his brain. He couldn’t push it aside. God, she’d looked inviting. His hand slid down to his hardened cock. He’d wanted to rip it off of her the moment she turned around and faced him.

Closing his eyes, his fingers wrapped around the shaft of his cock and then ran up the length to its head. Down again. When she’d leaned closer, he’d smelled her natural scent buried beneath the soft scented perfume she’d dabbed at her throat. That scent had pleaded for him to bury his face into her flesh, to taste her.

The rhythm of his hand on his cock quickened as he recalled the softness of her breast against his arm. It had been her nipple, pushing past the lace constraint and the material of his shirt that he’d noticed most.

And when he’d stepped into her bedroom, she’d left several of her unmentionables scattered about. He was certain it had been purposely done and had felt like a pervert when he’d dared to hold one of the silken garments in his fingers. Her eyes had been pleading, hopeful, desperate when she’d offered him the drink.

Agonizing tension knotted in the pit of him as his breath deepened. He worked his hand over his cock, desperate to find release to the need in his body. He turned, leaning his shoulders against the cool tiles of the shower wall, growling low as the warmth that rained on to him only heightened his arousal.

He groaned against the pain that ripped through him, but his hips moved against his hand, and he was unable to slow himself. Tilting his head back, he opened his mouth, allowing his canines room to extend. He fisted his free hand against the raw hunger that tore through him in pinpoints of hot pain.

His skin sensitized so he could feel each droplet of water bounce off the crown of his cock as it slipped in and out his fingers. The steam filled his lungs heavily as he dragged a breath through his nose. His senses became more acute and even over the pounding water, he could hear her moving about her apartment, returning to bed. Would she sleep in what she’d been wearing?

Her bed groaned softly beneath her weight. The covers rustled as she pushed them away from her. A drawer opened and a moment later a soft hum penetrated the walls. His hand stilled momentarily, his entire body rigid. The humming sound muffled, then grew louder. Muffled again. Good lord, he thought with realization. She had a vibrator.

A low growl crawled up from his throat but she hadn’t the senses he did. She wouldn’t hear him. He couldn’t count the nights he listened, waiting for her to pleasure herself. That pleasure often filled his hunger and kept him nourished without the taste of blood.

He never invaded her apartment. He could do it easily by reaching out and stimulating her with his mind. He could devour her sexual energy before it ever left her body. But that would go against everything he stood for as a cop. So, instead, he waited until that energy filled her apartment and eased into her, grateful for the little that soothed his hunger.

Now, his hand resumed its path up and down his cock, this time at a slower pace. He imagined her sprawled across her bed, dipping that battery-operated device in and out of her. A soft moan found his ears and his fingers tightened.

He could hear her breath, pushing her full lips apart. He felt like tearing through the walls between them and leaping atop her. His balls tightened when she moaned again and he echoed the sound with his own voice.

“Come, Nina,” he gritted between his clenched teeth. But she wasn’t rushing to reach her peak. He could tell by the rhythm of the humming. Was she thinking of him? If she was, she had it wrong. He would bury himself deep and fuck the living hell out of her. There would be no lazy in and out. There would be no soft moaning or gentle panting. He would ride her until she screamed.

His body shook with need. He wanted her energy. He wanted to feel its warmth sliding through his veins. His chest pumped in and out as his ragged breath grew deeper. As usual, he felt the first wisps of heat from her penetrate the walls between them and he drew it to him. How many times had he sipped of her sexual pleasure? Too many to count. She sustained him, kept him from feeding on blood. But at what cost? He already felt a bond with her that could be dangerous to both of them.

As her little moans became desperate whimpers, he pushed his doubts from his mind and he allowed his hand to quicken again. He thrust his hips forward, imagining her thrashing beneath him. Blood pumped through his body in a wild rhythm. She would arch into him when he clamped his mouth onto her nipple and drove her into the eye of her pleasure.

Her energy became hot, indicating she was close to climax. It pulsated and Darq drew it into him, groaning at the hunger it fed. He shook as he continued to work his cock.

He could hear her voice tremble as she reached her peak behind the wall and Darq could almost feel her wet cunt gripping him, milking him of everything he had to give, while he milked her of her passion. He jerked forward, finding his own release from torment. Several moments later, he released his cock and rolled his head back against the shower wall, dragging deep breaths into his chest. At the soft click of her lamp, Darq reached up and turned off the water.

Copyright © 2004-2005 Sable Grey All rights reserved.

Trying to raise money for Katrina victims

As most of my readers and fellow authors know, I live in the southern US state of Mississippi. Recently, Hurricane Katrina tore through our state, leaving destruction along the coast and inland.

I have family on the coast where Katrina hit. Fortunately, though their homes were destroyed, my family members survived. They evacuated to other relatives' homes and I can't describe the relief I, and others, felt when we received the news that they were alive!

But some were not so fortunate to have a place to run to or a means to escape. Those that survived Katrina's path remain in need of clothes, water, food, and shelter. My uncle went down to the Mississippi coast and to New Orleans to pass out food and water as part of the relief effort. What I'd seen on television didn't even come close to what he described that he'd witnessed when he'd returned. I won't give you the details but I will tell you that I've cried more in the last month than I've cried in the last ten years.

I can't sit by and do nothing. Though I am not wealthy by any means, I will be donating what I can and asking others to donate to the Salvation Army. My goal is to have raised $1000.00 for these families who need so much through gifts of $5, $10, and $20 donations. - That's not much from each of us, but together, these gifts can really add up to provide food and shelter for families that need it. If each person who reads this message could give at least $5, we could reach that goal easily.

The Salvation Army has made the commitment of "Doing the Most Good" with our dollars so I am joining to help them get those much needed funds. I am hoping you will join me as well as we pull together to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Details of how you can help the victims of Hurricane Katrina by being a part of The Salvation Army's "Doing the Most Good" initiative are clearly noted on my personal page...

Sable Grey Hurricane Relief Page

Please, please, take a moment to visit this page and make a contribution.

You will automatically receive confirmation of your donation via email and I will also be notified by email of your support. Together we can make a difference for those victims that have lost everything.

Thank you very much for your consideration in supporting me and The Salvation Army Disaster Relief effort. I appreciate your taking the time to read this letter.

For additional information about The Salvation Army and the work they are doing toward the relief efforts of Hurricane Katrina visit http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/

New Look For the Blog

I'm gonna try it out and see how I like it. It's VERY red...so we'll see.

I didn't like the look of it before and since I couldn't sleep tonight, I decided to make myself useful.

My favorite Men...top twelve

Okay so I couldn't narrow it down to ten.

My friend Anisa Damien inspired this post. Well she did and Tracey West as well. They love heroes...so I decided to let folks in on which ones I like. Sadly, this list isn't all of my favorites. It took me an hour to narrow them down from over twenty to just the twelve. LOL

So if you want to SEE the twelve men I picked, follow this link:
Sable Grey's Top Twelve Sexiest Men in the Movies.
(Mac users...sorry, you won't be able to view...and dial up users, it'll take a while.)

Enjoy!


Sable Grey's Top Twelve Sexiest Men in the Movies

1. Tommy Lee Jones
2. Sean Connery
3. Jack Nicholson
4. Samuel L. Jackson
5. Gabriel Byrne
6. Harrison Ford
7. Alan Rickman
8. Al Pacino
9. Laurence Fishburne
10. Robert DeNiro
11. Robert Redford
12. Michael Caine

Twins!

As of today I am the grandmother of twin boys. Three grandchildren now! They are so precious!

Also, got a call from family down on the coast...everyone is safe!

So needless to say, I've done nothing for cover art or writing in the last two days! LOL

Rejectimonious

Well I got rejections from two agents so far. *sigh* Maybe I'm writing a crappy query. LOL There are still two agents who've not answered yet...so I've got my toes crossed.

We looked at a house today. And we are looking at another tomorrow. With My DH's very pregnant daughter (twins) and the grandbaby living with us now, we are looking for a bigger house. My husband liked the one we were shown today...but I like the looks of the one we are supposed to be shown tomorrow. Nice backyard for Marshall Dillion (my dog). The one we saw today was nice inside but the backyard sucked.

I'm getting a lil better with poser...well with using PSP with poser. I'm gonna try to start again on creating the Rafferty Jones character from The Pirate's Jewel. If I can get her together, I'll share her here. :)

-SG

The Wind Between My Ears

Hurricane came and went. Thank God there was no damage to our home. So many suffered more than we did. We were out of electricity for a couple of days but we were glued to our battery operated radio, listening to the devastation just south of us. No word on our family from Pascagoula yet - my grandmother's family and I've no news to tell her yet.

I tell you it was pretty scary that evening when the hurricane came through and we only got a bit from the outside. I can't imagine the fear of those who were in its direct path.

On a less important note, my email was a monster when we did get our electricity turned back on. Emails up the wahoo. I still haven't waded through all of them. So much than in those few days my box filled up so much that emails were bouncing back to senders. Not good.

And I've written nuthin. I suppose with all that's going on, I just can't wrap my mind around a plot or character right now. I DID manage to do a lot of covers for Venus Press though. That was a nice way for me to escape and do something productive.

Hope to have something for you guys soon though!

-SG

Covering my Butt

Okay, so I've been redoing covers over at Venus Press for the past couple of days. Lots of them. It's been fun though. Haven't written much. Haven't worked on the MSRW newsletter either yet - eek I need to write an article for the Editor's Desk section.

Got a rejection from an agent I queried several months ago. Glad she at least sent a letter. I've noticed that some agencies don't contact you if they don't want to take you on. Personally I think that is tacky...if they are that busy, in my opinion, then they can afford to hire someone to mail out standard rejection letters.

No word on the agents I sent queries to last week. I'm too impatient. I'm too impatient with everything I think. Impatient with stupid people. Impatient with lazy people. Impatient with indecisive people. Impatient with people in WALMART. Hell, I'm impatient with myself sometimes when I'm writing.

Haven't had time to work on the character images I want to post here. I'm stilllooking a the too skinny version of Rafferty Jones. LOL Mostly, I've just been working on covers.

My Japanese Name

I love quizzes and polls...so here's one I recently took...thought I'd share.


Your Japanese name should be

'Aki'

which means
"autumn".

You can be compared with
autumn, the way the autumn weather changes, is
how your feelings change. You have these mood
swings you can't control; one moment you're
happy, the next you're feeling almost
depressed. You're probably sensitive and
creative.

Which Japanese name fits you best? [females, 9 results + absolutely stunning ANIME pictures!]
brought to you by

okay screw it

I'm ranting...the rest that I said I was gonna blog about will come...but this morning-in the wee hours - I'm ranting.

As I said before I don't like getting involved in the petty arguments between authors BUT

When do people grow the eff up? GAWD. I have more tolerance for idiots that are young...cause they are still discovering who they are. I remember being 21, 22, and 23 and searching for myself...but if you are still searching at 40, 50, and yes 60 give up, sista, you are just effing LOST.

I'm not against continued growth. Don't get me wrong. We are all changing and growing. But, this mud slinging and juvenile b.s. like teens fighting over the jock in highschool is stupid when those fighting are over age 30. Get A Life. Better yet, get an effing hobby. Hell, get a pool boy named Francois that speaks no English...that ought to keep you occupied!

I want to ask some of talk to some of these women...helllo, you have kids? You have a husband? You have stuff you do every day? Yet you can find nothing better to do with your time but spout idiocy over the internet...and especially writers. I mean we battle every day with the world to be taken seriously because we write romance, and then you behave worse than your children do...and in a public forum. Can someone scream time out?

I just want to slap them silly and say grow up.

Okay, enough ranting. I'm done.

I'm gonna talk about something very important now...my characters. LOL Rafferty Jones is giving me grief. Dang. I should have expected it. She's a pirate for almighty's sake. I promise promise promise, I'm gonna break this b**ch. LOL I'm gonna have a pic of her to put on this blog - even if it kills me...or I kill her.

*giggle* Isn't it funny how we talk about our character like they are real people? Mine are kinda real to me. I mean, Will, from Hired Hands, - there has to be a man out there like that. He was too normal not to be similar to someone. LOL Clumsy oaf but damnably sweet.

Off to work on Rafferty now. Nix planted this seed. She has an awesome desktop image of one of her characters and I'm insanely jealous that she was able to do that so easily. Well I assume it was easy for her. It's difficult as hell for me. Maybe Rafferty is giving me trouble and that means the others will be easy...I dunno.

-Sable Grey

bloggedy blog blog

So I read the new issue of RWR and there was an awesome article about blogging. Basically, it says that blogging is a good idea as long as the individual author remembers to find their own voice for the blog. Sooooo, I sat down and tried to think of what I really wanted to do with this blog....

Talk about my writing schedule and what's coming up
And share my characters...since that's my favorite part of writing
And let people know about other great books
And then talk about other projects going on
Maybe a lil bit of my personal life

I ramble so much, that I'm sure I can't always stick to topic...but heck maybe ramble IS my voice.

So right now, aside from doing art director stuff, I'm working on project for this blog - that was inspired by a really cool cover artist, Nix Winter, to try an make the characters of my stories using my art programs. I started working on Rafferty Jones last night - when a tree limb fell and took out our cable and I had plenty of time to try to keep myself busy without internet access or cable to watch - and I've got a good start on her but she's not finished yet. I'll post the pic when I'm finished, a bit about her, what book she's in, etc.

I don't know how interesting it will be for readers...but it will be a lot of fun for me. LOL

Also the article said it was best to blog every day or every other day - ugh...that's gonna be hard for me. I've always sucked at journaling. So I'm really gonna try to stick with this and do it right.

No word from the agents yet...lol...I know, I know, it's only been a few days. I'm so impatient. But I did go ahead and schedule another show with Jewel's Way....it will be in either January or February of 2006. That's gonna be so awesome...the interview I did this month was a blast!

I'm so behind on my writing - finally getting the breath to settle down again. I did 20 covers in the first 3 weeks of being art director at Venus Press...and they were damned good cover, if I do say so myself. LOL So everything is settling down now and we have a kick butt art team. A great group of folks...very very talented, and all eager to work. Makes my job much easier.

So now I've got to finish my second book for the anthology I'm writing with Deanna Lee. I want to finish my second book to follow When Darkness Falls, called Chasing Shadows for Venus Press, and I want to finish The Pirate's Gold to submit to Venus Press.

Lots of great stories to write...and I appreciate all of your feedback on the ones I've already written. I don't do it for the money...though money is nice...those emails where you tell me that you enjoyed a story is why I do it. So my stories get out there to the readers.

I really appreciate the emails about how my heroine's overcoming abusive husbands touched you. I hoped that the messages that I work into my stories would reach you and am grateful and happy that they did. :)

-Sable Grey

Agents, confidence, & what's up in my life

Hi all.

A new blog...of mostly whatever I want to talk about and what's important to me. Those of you who visit here from DeviantArt, I'm still going to write in my journal there and at my blog with RWA Online. I just wanted a space for me me me me. LOL

My search for an agent continues. I queried three agencies yesterday that I'm interested in and that seem the kind of folks I'd like to work with. I'm a little picky - okay, I'm a lot picky. Just as the agent has to determine if I would work well them, I feel obligated to do determine the same about the agents before I submit. So I don't just submit to an agency just because the name sounds good or just because its an agency. It's a process for me. I visit their site, do research on them, see who their clients are and visit the client's webpages if they have one. I look around to see what their reputation is. But that's not all...I read the information that agency provides on their sites to determine if what they have to say jives with my own career plans.

I feel that its only a matter of time before my novels are in print. I've two completed right now and two more very close to being finished. So I think I've got a good start on a book deal that an agent might set me up with.

I don't feel I'm conceited because I know my writing is good. I think I'm confident in what I do. Just as a mechanic knows he can fix a car, I know I can write a good historical. I am sure of where my strengths are and I am constantly working to improve areas that are not as strong. I take my writing very seriously. It is NOT a hobby - it is a passion - and now that I am published and earning money, it is also a business.

My top concerns is my obligation to my readers and doing business with publishers in a professional manner that does not jeopardize my integrity, respect for myself or my work, my basic beliefs of what is right and wrong. This does not make me a snob. This makes me someone who knows who I am and someone who is not afraid of sticking to the things that are important to me.

I don't like getting involved in the little cat fights and arguments that I see going on all over the internet between writers. I don't have the patience for it. True, I will speak up and voice my opinion at times and perhaps defend someone I know to have pure intentions but as far as the ongoing mud slinging, I refuse. It is juvenile and a waste of time. I'd much rather be writing and responding to emails from my readers. Oh sure, sometimes I want to ask these writers how old they are and how they manage to get through their daily lives if they behave like that in other aspects of their life - but the truth is you cannot argue with a two year old on a two year old's level and win. They don't operate with the same reasoning and cannot think outside of the scope of their own emotional turmoil. Basically, it's a waste of time and energy. It's best to ignore them until they see that their efforts are in vain and have finished throwing their tantrums.

Instead, I write. And that is working for me. Last month The Nothing But Trouble Bride from Liquid Silver Books and Christy's Ghost from Loose-Id were released. I've recently received contracts from Titan Press for the first two books of my 9 book mainstream historical romance series as well as a contract from the same publisher for a non romance fantasy.

I've also recently been signed on by Venus Press as the art director in their cover art department. I'm the editor of Psyche's Lamp, the newsletter for my local RWA Chapter - Magnolia State Romance Writers. And I'm currently writing an anthology with multi published author (and my best friend), Deanna Lee.

I hope to have an agent's interest by the end of the year and at least on my way to working out a contract with a print publisher for a multi book deal by the end of next year. And I will continue writing sensual romance books for electronic publication and submitting them to Liquid Silver Books, Venus Press, and Loose-Id.

-SG