Okay, I’m excited, because on Tuesday the second book in my Seattle Steam series Tempting Adam came out!

I wanted to share with my NAS‘ers and give you a taste at a spicier (okay, still on the somewhat tame side) excerpt that hasn’t really made rounds.

The man she wants is the one she must deceive.

Seattle Steam Book 2

Christy Wallace may be a respectable Seattle Spanish teacher, but she’s got a sultry side. She lets it come out to play during the summer, when she moonlights as a Salsa dancing instructor.
Sexy, cowboy Adam wants more time with her than just a fleeting cup of coffee, but she makes it clear that if he wants her, he’ll have to sign up for dance class. Amazingly enough, he does. And Christy finds herself falling for a charming country hick with hands as fast as his feet.

Adam’s no hick, though. He’s the owner of Adam’s Apples, the fastest-growing cider business in eastern Washington. To his own surprise, one night with her has him thinking in terms of forever. That is, until he walks into a restaurant for a family lunch—and finds Christy on the arm of his brother.

Is there a logical explanation? Or is something rotten in Seattle?

Available Here!

Spicier Excerpt:

“Take off your heels,” he commanded softly.

She blinked. “My heels?”

“Please.”

Christy gave him a quick glance, before leaning forward to unfasten the black stilettos. When his hand moved in a light caress down her back, her breath locked in her throat. She kicked off the shoes and raised an eyebrow at him questioningly.

Without responding, he reached down and lifted one of her legs, urging her to sit sideways on the couch so that both of her feet could rest on his lap.

Oh, no, she groaned inwardly. Of course. The perfect man, huh? Here it was, the one big flaw. He had a foot fetish. If he even tried to suck her toes—

“I’m assuming your feet are sore from dancing in those heels all night.” He began using his thumbs to massage over the arch of her foot.

“Oh…” The sensation was orgasmic. “You assumed right.”

Not a foot-fetish man, just a foot-massaging god! Christy closed her eyes and moaned gratefully as he continued to massage both of her feet.

His fingers slid between her toes and delicious shivers rippled up her spine. He must have realized her reaction, because he looked up from her feet and gave her a slow smile.

“Am I doing this okay?”

“More than okay,” she confessed and leaned back against the arm of the futon.

As she sat there, pampered and increasingly aroused, she had a sudden thought. She was in a skirt and her legs were in his lap. What exactly could Adam see? Maybe not enough.

Feeling deliciously wicked, she let her knees fall open and waited for his response.

* * *

Adam swallowed hard, unable to turn his gaze away from the incredible view she’d just given him. Under the black dress, creamy white thighs now lay open with a lacy strip of red between them. Did she realize what she’d just done by changing position?

He jerked his glance up into her face. Oh, yes. Christy knew exactly what she was doing. Well then, game on.

He worked his massage up towards her calf muscles, letting his fingers trail over the sensitive skin behind her knee. She laughed softly and jerked away. There was one ticklish spot revealed.

Hmm. Time to adjust his position. Adam lifted her legs off his lap and came to sit closer to her, folding her knees so her legs were an inverted “V” on the couch. Her dress shifted higher and was nearly at the top of her thighs. He could now see that the red scrap of lace was a tiny thong that left little to the imagination. Blood rushed to his cock and he groaned inwardly.

Adam waited to see if she’d fix the dress, pull it back down, but she made no move towards modesty. Encouraged, he placed his hands just above her knees, pushing them apart. Then he trailed his fingers lightly up and down the tops of her thighs. Her body trembled under the caress.

Needing no further invitation, he angled himself so that he was almost lying between her legs, and then leaned down to kiss her. Her eyes, which had been glazed with arousal, drifted shut as his mouth closed over hers.

Available Here!

I just realized that I’ve never written a blonde heroine. I have no idea why this is, I have nothing against blondes. I, myself, have been one on several occasions. So why have I never been inspired to create a fair-haired beauty? The answer is: I have no idea.

My current heroine has black hair and striking blue eyes. She’s very controlled, very serious. She likes to get tied up and have naughty things done to her. When I picture her with light hair, it just doesn’t work at all. I have no idea why. I know plenty of naughty blondes.

My heroine in I Love Lacy is a redhead. Well, the title says it all, really. She’s quirky and a bit off. Come to think of it, she also likes to be tied up and have naughty things done to her. Could she have been a blonde? Maybe. But what if Lucille Ball was blonde? Not quite the same impact.

Let’s see. My heroine in my Spice Brief has long brown hair. She’s a chef and wears her hair back in a bandana all the time. She needs to be tough; she’s in charge of a bunch of chefs in a top Vegas restaurant. Could she have been a blonde? Maybe, but it works better to have her dark-haired and really serious. (And yes, she likes to be restrained and have naughty things done to her. Shocking, I know.)

So. I could go on, but you get the picture. I don’t seem to identify with female heroines who are blonde. But, I don’t mind a blond hero. In fact, I am basing my next hero on Joe Anderson. He’s yummy.

Anyway, obviously I tend to prefer blonde heroines. Am I the only one with these bizarre hair tendencies?

I’m not quite sure what has happened to me. In the last couple of months I’ve had this overwhelming need to create things. Not just books and stories and characters and stuff but like crafty little things. I can’t stop.

What’s amazing (to me at least) is that I’m making stuff AND I’m writing. A lot. I’m almost wondering if creating all of this fun stuff is helping fuel my creativity overall.

I made excerpt booklets to pass out at the Romantic Times convention (whoo hoo! Next week I leave!), and I added these cute little tags I hand stamped. Yes I hand stamped them! I must be insane. But I had so much fun making them.

I think they turned out pretty cool. And there’s a bookmark inside as well. I hope people like them.

I even blogged about my new found burst of creativity over at Samhain. See? I’m obsessed! I’ve noticed lately I’ve had a lot of obsessions. I knew my little one got it from me.

So I took off this weekend and hit the DARA conference. It was lovely.

I met and chatted with many fabulous peeps including that lady there (nods toward photo). That’s my agent Holly. She rocks–srsly–and she’s cute as a bug! (that photo totally doesn’t do her justice). We were lucky enough to get time to just sit and TALK…about writing and life and where we were from.

I also got to meet the fabulous Nancy Haddock–go buy her book La Vida Vampire. I did–I was even her first autographee

So what did I learn (besides Kresley Cole and Gena Showalter are a circus?) the more things change, the more they stay the same!

Here’s a tip for you, one Kresley stressed many times (one I couldn’t believe people even questioned!)…multiple submit. I even said this in my class last week on Candace’s loop. Your time is valuable. Publishing is ssssssssslllllllllllllloooooooooowwwwwwww, thus, you multiple submit. It’s not so hard really. With agents, it doesn’t matter until you get to the requested material point/crunch time…don’t lie…keep folks in the loop. Most all agents realize you’re multiple submitting and few will probably say anything about it UNLESS you don’t keep them in the loop.

And FWIW Esi (Avon) is looking for good straight single title contemporary or historical and Hillary Teeman would like to find some great women’s fic geared at the younger crowd (this is the genre formerly known as ch*ck lit)

Rules scmooles………so what rules have you broken lately? (rules not laws…if you confess to a felony i’ll have to report you)

Okay, today I’m writing this post as a reader–not as a writer. I’m just plain old Shelli the consumer. And I am a reader. Always have been. From the days I read my first sentence of… Tom ran up a hill or something to the likes, I was hooked. And then when one day into my life of reading, I discovered single title historicals.

I loved them. I bought any damn book with a Pirate on it, or a knight, or a cowboy..jeez I’m getting all weak in the knees just thinking about them all. Now I can’t find them anywhere. But once upon a time (similarly to what someone said in the RWR) there used to be books in the historical market besides Regency. I’m not slamming the Regencies, really, I’m glad you guys have nitch in the market and do fabulous. But for me, Regencies just aren’t my cup of tea.

I loved those ripping bodice books. I love the covers where some chick is bent over a guys arms with her breasts spilling out of her old school (way old school) dress. Where have they gone? WHY have they gone? Okay, maybe they say consumers drive the market, but really? I know I’m not the only one who’s missing these babies. I pillage the used bookstores looking for any book I may have missed in my earlier years. And sometimes, if the premise is fabulous enough, I’ll re-read the book.

I’m a big historical fan (not sure why I don’t write them, lol, but I read them like mad). I love just about any historical premise out there. Maybe even because I’m a history buff, it fascinates me. Show me a romance novel during the Revolutionary War, Western Americanas (I think that’s the term), Anglo-Saxon/Norman, anything in Europe… I love it all. Will it ever come back? Will there ever be a market for it?

So what genre do you miss that’s petering out? Or maybe, on a twist, a genre you wish would go away.

Okay, it’s the Jimmy Kimmel and Richard Simmons video. Haven’t seen it? You don’t wanna miss it :) And watch it to the end because OMG! LOL.

I’m delighted to be today’s guest blogger. I write sexy romances for Kensington Aphrodisia – and I owe it all to two women.

Let’s start with Grace Metalious who, back in 1956, wrote a book called Peyton Place. Is anyone old enough to remember that book? Or the movie (1957, starring Lana Turner, nominated for a ton of Academy Awards) or TV show (1964-69, with Ryan O’Neal and Mia Farrow – the first primetime soap opera)?

My book club just read Peyton Place and I learned all sorts of interesting things. It sold over 10 million copies and is the 4th biggest selling novel of all time. But, more relevant to my blog today, is the fact that when it was published it was considered to be utterly scandalous. It created a whole new – and shocking – image of small-town life, rife with sex and secrets. The women of Peyton Place were the original desperate housewives, and the town harboured illegitimacy, adultery, rape, abortion and murder.

Peyton Place was a “dirty book,” but it was also an exposé of the secrets small-town America had kept buried. Grace Metalious was America’s “naughty girl” but her book had a huge popular appeal. It opened the door for commercial fiction that wasn’t “nice” and “proper.” It said, basically, that sex is an intrinsic part of normal life, and that women as well as men are sexual beings.

And remember, this was the 1950s. The days of white picket fences and Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best and The Donna Reed Show. The days when, if a bedroom scene was shown at all, the man and woman were husband and wife, buttoned up to the neck in PJs, and sleeping in separate twin beds. All I can say is, hurray for Grace!

Now, fast forward to the mid 1990s when a woman named Candace Bushnell wrote a column called Sex And The City, which became a book and an amazingly successful TV show. As with Grace, Candace wrote about a community – this time not a small town (or is it, in its own way?) but Manhattan. And within that community she focused on four female friends who did what young women had never done quite so openly before: experimented with sex and love, and got together to laugh, cry and dish explicitly about it. Again, a writer shattered the conventions and notched up another triumph for the liberation of women – and of female characters in fiction.

Okay, I’m no groundbreaker like either of them, but I love writing about my own Awesome Foursome, four 20-somethings who live in my own wonderful community – Vancouver, BC. These girls are at that magical but stressful age when you try to figure out who you are as a woman. They’re discovering their sexuality, figuring out whether they want sex or long-term love, learning how to separate from their parents without completely disrespecting them, working out how to balance career with personal live. And they’re doing it all as best friends, the same way Carrie Bradshaw and her friends did in Sex And The City. The fourth and final book in my series was released last week. “She’s on Top” is the story of Rina Goldberg, a woman with body-image issues who reconnects with her first love and discovers he’s turned out to be a true hottie. I’m thrilled to bits that it’s an RT Top Pick and has garnered a lot of other fabulous reviews.

I’d love it if you checked out my books (complete with trailers, excerpts, review quotes, and notes on how each originated) at my website: http://www.susanlyons.ca. If you hop on over and enter my monthly contest and say you came from Naughty & Spice, you’ll be entered in a contest to win a copy of “She’s on Top”. I’ll pick the winner on Saturday, April 5.

What I’d like to chat about with you today is: what books, movies, TV shows really rocked your world when you were young? Which were the ones that were scandalous in some fashion – that opened your eyes and made you see the world around you in a different way?