CPQ Magazine now FREE

CPQ Magazine is now a free download!

I'm really excited about the magazine being free now. We'd discussed it when we first decided to take the dive with this project but decided that we would charge for each issue in case it didn't take off like we hoped. After two issues, however we could see that the popularity of the magazine would NOT be a problem.

We are keeping the advertising at the same costs and are brainstorming new ideas to give authors more ways to connect to readers. Our advertising now ranges from $5 for a clickable cover ad to much more expensive video advertising. We wanted CPQ to be a magazine that was affordable for every author to use as a marketing tool in their promotions. We also wanted to make a magazine that appealed to authors AND readers. It seems we've acomplished that! And the full page ads that we do for authors...we send the image to the authors for free to use in other promotions for their books. - It's so freakin expensive to have ads designed that we thought that would be a cool thing to do for authors.

For those not familiar with this magazine it's a quarterly publication that includes interviews with agents, authors, artists, and other industry professionals, writing related articles and columns, short romance stories, featured websites, and of course an Around Cobblestone section (it is afterall OUR magazine). But we welcome other publishers to advertise in the magazine as well as authors published at other presses.

One of my favorite features of CPQ is that every cover, link address, and banner is clickable - a direct link to that book page, publisher, or author website. And the book videos play on click...I'm all about the visual...lol

Sooo, that's my big news...what I'm so excited about right now. If you guys are interested in looking at of the issues (did I mention that the magazine is FREE now? lol) you can check it out at http://www.cobblestone-quarterly.com/

Sable Grey
Cobblestone Press, LLC
www.cobblestone-press.com

WIM Conference

Words In Motion (WIM) is an annual online conference developed to offer support, marketing, and networking within the romance and erotic romance industries. Our goal is to provide affordable and convenient opportunities for authors, publishers, and other professional individuals. WIM is a free event, meaning it costs absolutely nothing to attend or participate.

2008 WIM Conference: Romantic Suspense, January 2nd - 6th
The Lamplighter Conference Center, Main Street Community Forums

Special Presentations

Forensics: A Reality Check for Authors - M. E. McCombs
Image Building: Developing a Web Presence - Croco Designs
Workshop for Authors on Marketing - Kayelle Allen
Writing the Convincing Villain - Melanie Atkins

For more information and for details about how to register:
http://www.cobblestone-mainstreet.com/WIM/

In Other Words

So on one of my lists, the use of the "f" word in literature came up...so I made a list:

Have sex
Fuck
Thrust
Ram
Slam
Bang
Coition
Gyrate hips
Deflower
Copulate
Fornicate
Boff
Tup
Consummate
Hump
Shag
Hunch
Make out
Breed
Mate
Making Love
Make Out
Go all the way
Screw
Lay
Procreate
Pop her cherry
Hanky Panky
Boning
Slapping Skin
Milk the Bull
Knocking Boots
Bumping Uglies
Boink

Then with the help of A. L. Debran (http://www.al-debran.com), we searched the internet and found some wonderful resource sites for euphemisms for "having sex"

http://www.starma.com/penis/richardkitty/richardkitty.htm
http://www.sex-lexis.com/
http://www.uta.fi/FAST/GC/sex-scat.html
http://www.gregology.net/Gregtionary/sextionary.php

Okay one of my favorite horror movie lines is from the exorcist "Your mother sucks cock in hell" - I know its horrible. Anyway I was researching for my French Revolution story today and found this:

"Ta mere suce des bites en enfer" which means, yes they had the whole sentence "Your mother sucks cock in hell".

I think its fabulous

Snark This Cover

So I sat down yesterday and created a horrendous cover that would NEVER be approved for a book at Cobblestone Press.

Feel free to snark this cover!

20 Things about Me

Here are twenty things about me that some might not know....

1. I have a thing for priests (I'm not Catholic and I don't think I've ever even met a priest before lol)

2. Mustard and cheese can't be together on the same side of meat on my burgers. The two yellow colors touching gross me out.

3. I use genealogy research software to make timelines for my historical novels.

4. I can't drink milk with ice in it...because ice looks yellow when floating in white milk...gross.

5. While I've written about it in my books for my readers, I do not and have no plans in the future to have anal sex. While I would be up for just about anything else in the bedroom, my ass is my own and I like to keep it for private things like taking a shit.

6. I was born in and currently live in Mississippi but lived in Longmont, Colorado for 5 years.

7. I love history and genealogy research.

8. I have never married a man with a little dick.

9. The first story I ever wrote and completed was called The Duck The Rock and The Fork about a Duck, a Rock, and a Fork that became friends when the duck decided to run away from home. The Rock and the fork convinced him that no place was better than home and so he went back to his home on the farm and they lived happily ever after. I wrote it when I was a child...when my mother told us (the kids) to go write her a story - to get us out of her hair.

10. Before I started writing romance, I read and wrote horror.

11. I took two years of journalism in college.

12. One of my big toes is smaller than the other big toe.

13. I like making beaded jewelry and working with clay, I also like to paint - my favorite is working with watercolor.

14. I drink anywhere from 6 to 8 Diet Dr. Peppers a day.

15. I smoke half a carton of Doral Ultra Lights 100's a week.

16. My favorite color is red.

17. One of my closest friends has been my friend since the third grade.

18. I've cried watching commercials (the one with the dad playing with his kids before work and when he leaves, they stand in the window and watch him go gets me every time.)

19. I started and ran a not for profit organization called AWS Survivors of Abuse for 5 years during which time I scheduled and managed a conference for survivors of abuse, published a monthly newsletter for over 500 members, and participated in peer counseling.

20. Deanna Lee and I are not the same person, we are not lesbians, we do not live together, and I am meaner than she is. LOL

New Release: Something Wild

Something Wild by Sable Grey

Paranormal Historical
Something wild is stalking through London and only one man can stop the killings.

http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/books/somethingwild.htm

London is a city drowning in fear as a barrage of gruesome murders plague the streets in Whitechapel. Detective Baden Sikes is out to find the ripper but gets preoccupied a bit with a young woman he decides to save from a life of thievery in the streets.

Baden wants Cora...wants her bad, but with so much at stake and his own secrets threatening to destroy him and those he loves, can he afford to give his heart to this woman? Or will he leave them all at the mercy of the wild thing that stalks through London?


Content: Erotic Romance
This title contains explicit language, violence, and graphic sex



Excerpt:



Something Wild by Sable Grey

Baden stood in the doorway of the kitchen, sipping his bourbon as he watched Cora make her tea. It was past midnight. He’d heard her weeping earlier, but waited until her sobs had ceased.

Now his gaze slid down the length of her blonde hair to the sleeping gown. It was the same she’d worn when she’d attempted to seduce him with her ripped slipper. Its sheer material slipped around her curves as she moved, and each time she stepped in front of the candle, he could see the outline of her body.

He leaned against the doorframe when she began humming softly.

“Have you enough for two?” he spoke then smiled when she started with a yelp of surprise. Her fingers splayed out against her chest as she breathed out. She turned back to her tea after a quick glance at his glass.

“I’ve more than enough, if you want some.” She nodded and reached for a second cup. He just wanted to be near her. To smell her scent, to have her look at him with those clear eyes, to scold him with her quick tongue. Everything about her excited him, aroused him. He didn’t want tea. He wanted her.

“What did Webber tell you to do to seduce me?”

Her hands stilled and her back stiffened. “You were witness to my failed attempt.”

“But you went back. Did he not give you more advice?” Baden walked slowly toward her, but she didn’t turn to face him.

“It was suggested I use my mouth to seduce you.” Her hands dropped to the wooden surface of the counter.

“Did he show you how? Make you practice…”

She whirled, her eyes flashing in the candlelight. “He did not. I am not so stupid that I would fall for such a ploy even if he had suggested I do so.” She clasped her hands together when Baden halted in front of her. “Besides, I talked mostly with one of the women there. She demonstrated on a carrot.”

Baden didn’t mean to laugh. “And you’d planned on doing what she taught you to do?”

“I’d not resolved if I would or would not.” She visibly shook, obviously affected by him.

Carefully he set his glass on the counter behind her, slanting his gaze down at her when she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply as if she were breathing in his scent, too.

“Why would you even consider it?”

“You’d done so for me…put your mouth on me.” She opened her eyes as he straightened. “And I told you I wanted more of your kiss.”

“And it does not occur to you to respect my wishes?” He raised an eyebrow.

“You want me. I know you do. As I said, I am not stupid.” She licked her lips nervously. “Why should I respect something that is not truly your wish at all?”

“I told you that if I indulged myself, I would keep you.” He wanted to touch her, to reach out and run his finger across the softness of her cheek.

“Perhaps I want to be kept.”

“You think you do, but I am not what I seem. You have not seen me for what I truly am.”

“And what are you?” she asked, her words breathy as if she continued to be affected by him.

“Something wild.” He finally lifted a finger to brush back a strand of her hair. “Not much different than The Ripper…” Her fingers suddenly pressed against his lips; her large blue eyes welled with sudden tears.

“Don’t you ever say that again,” she whispered. “You are kind and generous and decent. You’re nothing like the monster that roams the streets. He has no guilt, no shame, no pain, no conscience. I see all of those in your eyes now.”

“If you only knew, you would not be so eager to win my affection,” Baden spoke against her fingers.

“You hide yourself, sir, but I still see you. You have passion you struggle to control. I knew that the second day I’d known you when you struck Webber. I saw it again that day in your study.” Her free hand rose to his chest, and she closed the distance between them. “I felt the wild in you when you kissed me. It’s what has driven me to seek Webber’s help.”

“I am only half a man.” Baden reached up to wrap his hand around her delicate wrist, pulling her fingers from his mouth. “The rest is…” He stopped when her fingers curled against him. Her gaze reflected deep lust. She would not care if he told her he was half winged demon. Her desire warmed him more than any bourbon, intoxicated him.

“The rest is what?”

He leaned forward, brushing his jaw against her cheek as he inhaled deeply, exhaling on the word “beast”. He might have leaned away. He might have left the room. But that small whimper that pushed from her lips weakened and bound him. So be it.

Something Wild Cover Art!

I've just received my cover art for my upcoming release, Something Wild!

My Queen

Today I'm posting about a remarkable author...the very reason I ever started writing romance to begin with. Picture a girl of 19 who'd only read Stephen King and Piers Anthony her whole life. Now her friend gives her a set of books, a trilogy by Iris Johansen.

Iris Johansen is the single largest influence in my career as a romance author. The Wind Dancer Series, after reading it, was and still is my favorite set of romance books of all time. They are filled with action, adventure, sensuality, and romance. The moment I closed the last book I KNEW that was what I wanted to write.

Now over ten years later, I still strive for the talent Johansen's books are filled with. I open and read the Wind Dancer series atleast twice a year to remind myself what my goal is.

While my set is tattered and I definitely need to buy a new one, they remain the inspiration - that which makes me strive to better myself as an author and strive to accomplish in my books.

Upcoming Release

I'm Sooooo Excited about my release next month at Cobblestone Press.

It's called Something Wild and I've not seen my cover yet but I can hardly wait! Louisa Gallie is doing an original painting for my cover of one of my character and it's killing me to wait like this. The last time I was this excited about a cover, it was my first publication with Liquid Silver Books and I worried the hell out of April Martinez - the cover was for The Pirate's Jewel and it's still one of my favs from April.

Anyway, Something Wild is my paranormal Jack The Ripper story - inspired by the Werewolves Of London and Come Together songs. My book is of course set in London during the ripper murders. Add a couple of werewolves and a woman drawn to the darker wilder side of a man she barely knows and there you have it.

I really enjoyed writing this book...of mixing the historical and paranormal like this. I was very careful not to mess up the historical time line of the actual murders. That's the best part of writing a historical, weaving my fictional story into the actual history.

I did alot of research for this book. As most of you know, I LOVE doing historical research. I knew very little about these murders until I did the research and now I'm obsessed with wanting more and more information. The fact that the murders are still unsolved drives me crazy though...lol.

One of my characters in this book is actually based on a real person. I found him fascinating in my research and knew my that story couldn't do without him. Ripper researchers, can you spot who it is? Thos that are very familiar with the history of the Jack the Ripper history can spot him easily...he's on the very first page and a key character to my story. When you read it, feel free to post a comment to this thread and we'll discuss the differences between my character and the real person.

Aside from my fascination with this history now, these murders were truly horrific. We may never know who this blood thirsty madman was. In my book of course, I reveal a killer to be the ripper - because I like things to be wrapped up. Maybe someday this chapter in history can be solved as well.

What's up?

I've been swamped to be honest. So I'm FINALLY getting a chance to update!

Writing:

Released at Ellora's Cave: The Latharian Review
Released at Cobblestone Press: Hired Hands
To be released in October at Cobblestone Press: Something Wild

WIP:
1. "WISDOM" for the In The Cards series at Cobblestone Press
2. Erotic western romance series
3. Second Salacity Book
4. Second Latharian Book for Ellora's Cave
5. Exiled - another Bieste Book

Publishing:
CPQ Magazine - I've been working hard on getting the September Issue of CPQ ready. Lots of cool interviews and some great fiction in store for everyone!

Deanna Lee and I will be attending a MSRW meeting this month to do a presentation about e-publishers.

Artwork:
I'm working on several projects....some of which will be revealed soon. I finished up all the covers for the Oracle Card series at Cobblestone Press. The authors LOVE them and that makes me really happy.

So yeah, as you can see, I've been busy busy.

Talking Art - Introduction

A youtube thing I'm gonna try to do weekly.

snakes on a plane

OMg...I LAUGHED MY BUTT OFF. This is fabulous. The Christopher Walken one had me laughing so hard I nearly peed my pants.