I have a little bit of everything. At Loose Id I have paranormals and BDSM. At Resplendence I have m/m/f and m/f, with no paranormal or BDSM, and at Changeling it will be paranormal, for now.

I like to try a bit of everything. Next up is Pirate Wench, on Nov. 20. Sweet Silence, part of my BDSM series at Loose, comes out Dec. 4.

You can keep up with me at my blog, The Barron Chronicles, at

http://barron-chronicles.blogspot.com/

Thanks again!

Mel

I’m anxiously awaiting its release, because I  just love Royce. He’s a tiger, and truly, he haunts my dreams sometimes. One of my writing partners, who shall not be named, cough, Maura Anderson, cough, says she wants a scene with Royce in nothing but his pirate boots…

Be still my heart.

Releasing Nov. 20th from Resplendence Publishing

Can a staid, by-the-book journalist find love with a modern day pirate?

Melani Canton is about to find out.  When she travels to Florida to be maid-of-honor at her best friend’s wedding, she takes on an extra duty: taking a good look at Ahoy, Matey, the pirate- themed park where the wedding is set to take place, and writing a story that will attract visitors. While there, she meets handsome swashbuckler, Royce McKenna. Royce is a former lawyer who has given up the courtroom for life on the high seas, amusement park style.

McKenna is the co-owner of Ahoy, Matey. When Royce sees Melani he knows that he has to have her. Melani is not, however, the type to sleep with a man she has just met.

So Royce does what any good pirate would do. He “abducts” Melani and gives her a wild night of passion on his pirate ship, where Melani discovers that being Royce’s pirate wench isn’t such a bad thing. But when the time comes for her to go back to her stoic life, will Royce let her sail off into the sunset? Or will he find a way to keep his Pirate Wench?

Excerpt: In this scene, Royce and Melani are having dinner together, getting to know each other.

“You live on a ship?”

“No, I live on a houseboat. How do you expect to quote me accurately?” He grinned to show he was teasing. “When the park first opened, Russell lived on the boat and used it as a changing station for the performances. Once we went big time and built the hotel, we added new buildings for that and I took over the houseboat. Kidd and I have lived there for years.”

“Kidd?” Melani shook her head as the waitress delivered their meals, along with new glasses of ale.

“My dog, Captain Kidd. He’s an English bulldog. You’ll love him.”

“And you live on a houseboat with him?”

“Yup. He loves the water. He thinks he’s a seal or something. You should see him in there, doing the dog paddle.”

Royce brought his hands close to his body and moved them around in an imitation of the dog paddle.

Melani burst out laughing at the image of a short, squatty dog doing the same thing in the water.

“I won’t tell him you laughed at him.”

“Thanks.”

“You can meet him tonight, if you like.” Royce’s voice was low. He reached across the table and took her free hand, caressing her palm with his thumb.

“Do you pick up all the new park employees?”

“Only those who let me undress them before I know their names.”

Melani blushed furiously.

“That was a, well, uh…”

“Yeah, it was. It got my attention.” He raised his eyebrows up and down.

“I’m not in the habit of sleeping with men I just met.”

“You’ve said that before. Several times. But what about when the man you meet’s a nasty little pirate who’s used to getting what he wants?”

His deep voice made Melani tingle. Her breasts rose and fell with the rhythm of her breathing. Royce’s eyes fastened on them and she felt her nipples tighten. His gaze lifted to hers and she knew that all was lost.

The tension between them was thick, almost like a physical caress. He was so handsome, and the look he gave her made her feel as if she was already under him, his lips trailing across her neck.

“I…we should, uh…”

“Is everything all right?”

Melani jerked back and stifled a laugh when Royce muttered, “crap,” under his breath.

He turned to the waitress, a smile plastered on his face. “Yeah, Jess. Everything is fine. We’re just chatting.”

The young woman turned toward Melani “You’re that writer friend of Ellie’s, right?”

“Yes, I am.” Melani took a drink of her ale.

“Cool. I hope you come in here with your camera. Is this like, a national thing? Is it going to be, like, on TV?”

Royce sat back in his chair and watched Melani talk with Jess. It had been years since he’d felt such a strong pull toward a woman. He flirted a lot, true, but he was very picky about the women he became involved with. Melani easily met all of his standards and then some.

It wasn’t just her curvaceous figure that caught his eye. It was her intelligence, and the way she carried herself with grace and self-assurance. He took a bite of his steak and chewed slowly as Melani promised Jess that she would be back into the restaurant to include the restaurant staff in her story.

When Jess was gone, she turned to him.

“Sorry about that.”

“Me, too.”

“I’m very attracted to you, Royce.”

He grinned. “That’s always nice to hear.”

“But I just can’t go to bed with you. I’m sorry.”

“You’ll change your mind tomorrow.” He took another bite of his food.

“I’m working tomorrow.”

“Not all day. The park events close down at nine. How about you come to the boat about thirty minutes later? I’ll fix us a late dinner, and you’ll be able to meet Kidd and see that I’m a really nice guy.”

“I’m going to have to work on my story tomorrow night. I have to transcribe notes and make sure I don’t forget anything.”

He watched her eat for a few minutes, then leaned across the table.

“It’s the last boat on the end. You can’t miss it. It’s the only tall ship that doesn’t actually sail. It’s built into the dock.”

Melani swallowed, then wiped her mouth with her napkin.

“What else do you do at the park, besides fight with the pirate king?”

Royce leaned back in his chair. “In the mornings I give tours of one of the ships and provide a history lesson on pirates. There’s one at the top of every hour from ten until two. The pirate fights start at four and run until eight.”

“Sounds interesting. I might have to come to one of your lectures.”

“You’ll distract me and I’ll forget the difference between buried treasure and treasure that’s right in front of your eyes.”

Heat spread through Melani’s body. “Well, all you have to do is look for the X, right?”

“I don’t know. In this case I think the treasure may be marked with a Y.”

I agree with you, Bonnie, about making ladies feel attractive, no matter their size, color or age. I hope that my books do that in some small way.

During my freshman journalism class in college, the first thing our professor made us do was write our own obituary. The exercise, he said, was to make you take a hard look at what you wanted in life. It was also to remind young journalism students that the obituary is the person’s final run at life, their last hurrah, so to speak.

In mine, I was a Pulitzer prize winner who had helped solve social problems and written best selling novels. I don’t think I’m going to make the Pulitzer, but I have faith the part about the novels will come true.

That means that in five years I see myself still writing, with my books available in print and entertaining lots of people.

I have lots of stuff in the wings, so to speak. The Pirate Wench comes out Nov. 20 from Resplendence Publishing, and Sweet Silence, my next BDSM title, comes out from Loose Id on Dec. 4.  Pirate Wench will be out in print sometime in December. During the first part of 2008, it’s Wish Me Up, Rub Me Down, from Resplendence, Sweet Awakening from Loose Id, and Garden of Stone from Changeling Press.

So it’s going to be busy. I’ll post excerpts from Pirate Wench and Sweet Silence later in the day.

Thanks for having me!

Mel

I hope that when ladies read my books they can see themselves in them. With that in mind, I’m going to post an excerpt from Nuit Aux Trois, which translates to night with three, a m/m/f menage where the heroine, Quinn, is a TV reporter who has been passed over for a promotion because her body is less than perfect.

Enjoy!

Mel

http://www.resplendencepublishing.com/m8_view_item.html?m8:item=978-0-9797946-2-9

Quinn’s two roommates, lovers Fletcher Covair and Devlin St. Giles, have the perfect idea: Quinn will accompany them on a Halloween ghost hunt at a haunted plantation. Quinn agrees, knowing there’s no such thing as ghosts and thinking the time away will give her time to assess her future job prospects, and if nothing else, a chance to relax.

But the plantation’s resident ghost, Alison, has other ideas. She wants help in righting a long-time wrong, and it seems that the ghost has chosen Quinn, Dev, and Fletch to assist her. While Quinn’s mind is reeling from the knowledge that there are really ghosts, she comes to another shocking realization: Dev and Fletch have more on their minds than ghost hunting, and Alison isn’t the only restless spirit who wants to make contact.

Set up for excerpt. Quinn has just been turned down for a promotion at work because the bosses think she’s too large to sit in the anchor chair. Now, she and her roommates are moving furniture, and talking about life.

Quinn moaned as she imagined the three of them in this huge bed, kissing and touching and making love. She’d been having these thoughts, more and more lately, and knew it wasn’t a good thing.

Dev and Fletch were in love and there was no way she was going to come in between them and propose the three of them have a ménage. Besides, they both played for the same team, and Quinn didn’t have the equipment they liked.

She sat back up just as they came out of the bathroom, still arguing about the pros and cons of visiting Fletch’s aunt.

“No voodoo,” Quinn said. “I appreciate the thought, but no.”

Fletch’s shoulders slumped, then his face brightened. He put his fingers together to where they were close, but not touching. “Jus’ a little?”

“No,” Quinn said, her heart beating faster as they sat on either side of her.

She put her head on Fletch’s shoulder and took Dev’s hand as he tickled her knee.

“I still say you should sue,” Dev said. “You have seniority over the woman they moved into the anchor spot. It’s discrimination because of your…”

His voice trailed off and Quinn sighed.

“Because of my size? Yes, you’re right, it is. She’s a perfect size two and I’m a perfect size fourteen. Not fat, but not thin enough to be the anchor. And if I sue, then I get a bad reputation in the television world, and it’s a small world as the old saying goes.”

“There’ gotta be somethin’ you can do,” Fletch said. He leaned down and kissed her forehead and Quinn wanted to make a suggestion about what they could do. Instead she sighed and shifted her head to Dev’s shoulder, who kissed her forehead, too.

“I’m thinking it would be a good night to drink. I’m also thinking it would be a good night to work on my resume.”

The men stood, almost as one, and pulled her to her feet. It amazed her they were so close they could almost read each other’s minds, such as standing at the same time.
Dev turned her toward him and cupped her face in his hands. He kissed her lips lightly and Quinn’s eyes bulged. She wanted to scream at him not to do that; that it would take them places they probably shouldn’t go. But it felt so good.

When his lips left hers, Fletch tipped her head back and took Dev’s place.

What was going on here? Sure, they’d kissed her before, but never like this. And never in their bedroom, with the huge, comfy bed they’d just moved up there waiting to be initiated into the world of carnal love.

Don’t go there, Quinn, don’t go there. They’re just trying to make you feel better.

“Maybe we should…” Dev’s voice was interrupted from a shout from the staircase.

“We’re coming up.”

“Shit,” Dev said at the same time Fletch said, “merde.”

The three of them moved apart as Martin Vandreen, a friend of theirs and fellow ghost hunter, appeared in the doorway.

“Hi. I’m inviting myself to dinner so we can discuss our Halloween hunt.”

Quinn had to laugh. Martin was sweet, and very fun to be around. He was also a medium who went with the guys on several of their trips. She knew they’d already discussed what they had planned for Halloween and what he really wanted was free dinner, in the shape of Fletch’s jambalaya.

“Yeah, I figured you be here,” Fletch said. “Mooch.”

Martin laughed. “Proud of it. So, let’s eat. I’m starved.”

He bounded back down the stairs and Quinn let out an exasperated breath of air.

“No ghost talk at the table,” she said, looking at her two friends. “You know I don’t believe that crap.”

“You will one day,” Dev said. “And, it may happen sooner than you think.”

Here’s the link:

http://www.loose-id.com/detail.aspx?ID=343

Mel

Noble Walters is known for being one of the best archaeologists in the field. He hand-picked his staff for the dig in Egypt and made sure that Julia was on board. He wants Julia for more than her archaeological skills. Now he just has to convince her of that.

While the pair are working on the dig site, Nob discovers the house of Peneb-Ra, an evil magician that lived 2,500 years ago. Julia discovers a paddle doll, an ancient Egyptian tomb artifact that was used as a sexual companion to the deceased. What they learn, is that this paddle doll contains the spirit of Nebetta, a concubine to Pharaoh Ramesses III.

While Julia and Noble, with the help of his friend Derrick Matthews, try to find a way to free Nebetta from her prison, Peneb-Ra is searching for a body to inhabit. And he wants Nebetta for himself.

Noble helps Julia discover many things about herself and her sexuality, with help from Derrick and Nebetta. But while the trio is searching for a way to break the spell binding Nebetta to the paddle doll, Peneb-Ra’s power is growing. A final face off will determine all of their fates. Or will it?

Publisher’s Note: This book contains elements that may be offensive to some readers: ménage and BDSM sexual practices.

This excerpt is from where Noble confronts Julia after she has snuck into the magician’s home after the dig site is closed for the day. Julia has found an artifact that “spoke” to her, and she’s hiding it from Noble.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Nob’s voice was full of anger.
Julia clutched the box to her chest, and then she ran it down her stomach until she reached her cargo pants and she could drop it into her pocket of her cargo pants. She moved the jars around to stir up the dust and clear signs of the box’s outline. When she was done, she turned to Nob.

“Why, Nob, fancy meeting you here.” She gave him an innocent smile even though her heart was beating a mile a minute. Was it the box that was causing that, or being close to Nob? She inclined her head toward him.

“I asked you a question.”

“I heard. I’m exploring. I did some translations and then I wanted to look around in here.”

“Did I give permission?”

“Did I ask? I’m on the staff, too, you know. I’m not a kid you can boss around.”

Nob ran his fingers through his hair. “Look, Jules, you were right about the spells. I instant messaged Derrick Matthews, one of my best friends, and he said this house could be dangerous. We need to go. Now.”

Julia ran her fingers along the outline of the box. The words master and forever echoed in her ear. Shelter me. Help me.

“So on this Derrick’s word, we’re just going to abandon it? Are you nuts?”

Nob shook his head in obvious frustration.

“I didn’t say we were going to abandon it. Derrick will be here in a few days. His thesis was on Egyptian magic. When he gets here, we’ll come back inside. Until then, I don’t want us messing with anything. Now let’s go.”

Julia fought down the urge to argue with him. She wanted to stay, see if she heard the voice again. But she had the box with her. She knew it was wrong to take the artifact from the house, but she couldn’t ignore the plaintive wail. At the house she could decipher the glyphs on it and try to decide why the box was speaking.

Ha! Speaking. She was losing it.

Help me, please help me! The voice sounded in her mind again and she took several deep breaths. Her palms were sweating. She should turn around and put the box right back where she’d found it. She picked up the lamp and moved across the room.

“Thanks for standing me up,” Nob whispered when she tried to push her way past him in the doorway. He put out his arm to block her way.

She lifted her head and smirked at him. “Feels like crap, huh?”

“I didn’t stand you up that night, Jules,” he said, his voice soft. He ran his hands along her hair and sent dust flying.

Julia moved back into the room. She could see desire in his eyes. Isn’t that what she wanted? What she’d craved? The great Nob Walters wanted to fuck her.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. “Really? What would you call it?”

“I left you a note saying the university guys came in unexpectedly to examine the site. I asked you to join us at the restaurant, but you never showed up. You tell me what you think happened that night.”

“I think that when I didn’t find you at the house, I went to the restaurant and saw you sitting with Carin. Cozily sitting with her, I might add. Two days later I saw you kissing her. I found no note.”

“Yeah, her dad was one of the guys that came in. And I didn’t kiss her. She kissed me. There’s a difference. And I did leave a note.” Nob took a step toward Julia. When she didn’t retreat, he took another step.

He bracketed her face with his hands and raised it to his own. Julia felt her breath catch in her throat. The box in her pocket hummed and warm vibrations flooded her nether region.

When he lowered his lips, she closed her eyes and moaned. His tongue pushed inside and she leaned further into him. God, it felt good. So good.

“Nob? I, um …” She put her hand in her pocket and grabbed the box. It was warm to the touch. She pulled it toward the top of her pocket.

“Yes, Jules?” His tongue traced her lips. “You know, if you weren’t so stubborn, we could have done this months ago. You just need to learn to listen to me.”

She dropped the box back in her pocket and pushed herself away from him.

“You self-centered asshole.”

“Damn, I bet you’re a devil in bed. Like to be on top? I can handle that. I’ll let you do all the work. We can try some kinky stuff too. I like kinky stuff, spice things up a little. Want me to tie you up?”

“You wish.” She stormed past him and went into the magic room, where she picked up the lamps. His laughter echoed through the walls.

“You loved it. You know you did. And you want more. I won’t leave any marks on your wrists. Promise.” He held up three fingers in a salute and laughed.

She whirled toward him. “Stick your tongue in my mouth again, and I’ll bite it off.”

So I planned on doing it this morning, and my newlywed mother (she’s 76) and her husband showed up to say they had to run errands while they were in town and wanted to take me to lunch. Who am I to turn down free lunch?

So, here I am, well fed and ready to heat up your day just a bit.

I’ll start with my stories from Loose Id. I have six titles out there, with one on the way. They include Tales of the Magician 1: The Captive One; Tales of the Magician 2: The Lost One; Graceful Submission; Sweet Vibrations; Sweet Perfection and Graceful Mischief, A Halloween Trick. Sweet Silence releases Dec. 4th.
Most of my titles for Loose Id are BDSM, and there are the two paranormals. I thought I’d give you an excerpt from Tales of the Magician 1, since it was my first contracted book and I absolutely loved writing it. The story came out of my love for Ancient Egypt, and is set in modern day Egypt.

I’ll post the blurb and an excerpt in another post so you can enjoy them! Happy reading.

Mel

I love to go into a bookstore and see who’s perusing the Aphrodisia’s or Berkley Heat’s. One time there was a man on the aisle, and when I turned the corner he quickly put up the book and left. I wanted to say, “Don’t leave. I think it’s great.”
There are other genres that I want to try. I’m trying to plot an Urban Fantasy because that genre fascinates me, too. I also want to try and write cozy mystery and historical romance. You would think that with my love of history historical would come easy, but it doesn’t. I have great respect for historical writers who can get it right and make it interesting.

It’s funny that you picked up about Tut. In the late 1990s, I went to London with a friend. We planned our outings the night beforehand, and when it was time to visit the British Museum, she wanted to visit the Roman exhibits, and I wanted to visit the Egyptian. When I mention mummies her lips thinned out and, although she didn’t say it, I knew she was thinking, “gross.”

We split company at the doors and said, “see you back here in two hours.” It was great fun!

I’ll post some excerpts later tonight and tomorrow. I’ll do past, present and future, just to make sure everything’s covered!

I’m extremely proud to be part of the start-up of Resplendence Publishing. My first short story with them, Nuit Aux Trois, came out in October. It’s a m/m/f paranormal menage which includes a few scary ghosts. I love writing ghost stories and we’ve talked about making it into a series, which I think will be great fun.

My second title with RP will be the novel Pirate Wench, which comes out Nov. 20. I can’t hardly wait for this story to come out. it started out as a short story and ended up as a category. It’s a lot of fun, and I know that you’ll love it.

In December, RP will release Siren’s Song, an anthology that contains my short story Iaha. Other writers in the anthology are Jade Buchanan and Midnyte Dupree. We have a Yahoo group together, along with Maura Anderson, where readers can hear about our titles firsthand and get a taste of our writing with monthly free reads. If you’re not a member, or if you’re just curious, you can check it out here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Eclectic_Erotic_Sirens/

And finally, I’m thrilled that I just signed a contract last week with Changeling Press for a story titled Garden of Stone which centers around a couple’s fight against a warlock who turns witches into statues in order to steal their powers.

That’s just a taste. During the next three days I’ll give you more detailed blurbs and excerpts on my work.

Thanks for blogging with Barron!

Mel

But I’m here now, and very happy to be. As you can see from Bonnie’s post, it’s Blogging with Barron for three days here at Coffee Thoughts. Bonnie, thanks for the welcome.

You’ve brought up one of my favorite subjects, Egypt and the fascinating King Tut. When the King Tut exhibit was in the United States, some friends and I went to Los Angeles to view the exhibit. Talk about fascinating. It’s amazing to me that those artifacts still exist, and that we can see them and catch a glimpse into life in Ancient Egypt.

Yesterday I spent more than an hour looking over the photos posted on the Internet that showed King Tut’s face. While I was examining it, I wanted to be like Hiro on Heroes and be able to teleport myself to Egypt so I could stand in line and see the mummy first hand.

I’ve been interested in Egypt since I was a child, and my dream trip is to go and spend a month there, traveling up and down the Nile, visiting pyramids and temples and museums. Guess I’ll need to sell a few more books for that, though.

I’m happy to be here, Bonnie, and thanks for the welcome!

Mel