Hello Everyone
I'm here today at "Come Hither Pumps", guest
blogging with Honoria, to promote my latest Breathless Press release "The
Fifth Story". It's a paranormal erotic adventure that takes readers all
over the place: a cabin, a castle...actually two castles and finally a space
ship. It really does make sense, trust me.
I enjoy writing in many different styles just as I enjoy
reading many different genres of books. However, my two favorite authors and
authors that I find have a profound influence on my writing are Neil Gaiman and
Sharon Shinn.
I love Neil Gaiman because Neil is just...well he's
incredible. He can write in any genre and his stories always paint the most
glorious and yet sometimes horrifying pictures.
My favorite of his stories are when the extraordinary comes out of the
ordinary. A normal chap could be busy doing his thing, minding his own business
and then BOOM, he's attacked by a demon over the phone line.
Sharon Shinn is more of a science fiction writer. She sets
her stories on different, but completely believable worlds with beautifully
complex characters, carrying out heart breaking story lines. My favorite of her
books is on called Archangel. In this book, two strangers meet, have to marry, and
although they do not like each other at first, their passion for each other is
ignited through music. The sound of each other's voices sparks their inevitable
love for each other. It wasn't until I considered reading a passage at a writing
group that I realized how sensual the book was. I was always moved and loved
the scenes when she was describing music because the passion was so real, but
when I read one scene I really loved out loud to my couch, I discovered how
sexual it was. "I can't read this out loud!" I said to my cushions
with the smiley faces. "I'd be too embarrassed!" There isn't a lot of
actual sex in the book and now it's obvious why; the music is the sex. It's
really wonderful.
If you haven't discovered these two authors, I highly
recommend both of them—after, of course, you pick up The Fifth Story! :)
Thanks very much to Honoria for having me on today! Now I'll
pass this over to my blurb and my excerpt!
Have a lovely Friday.
Ivy Bateman
Blurb for The Fifth Story By Ivy Bateman
Every day we encounter doors.
Some of these doors are open to us and some of them are closed, but when we
pass through any door, a different truth or mystery lies beyond the threshold.
The night Bryn is pulled into a
world of her own stories by a shadowy being, her reality is changed forever.
Souls and danger, hauntingly beautiful witches, sexy and dangerous vampires, a
soldier with a dying wish; she knows that each door leads to a story and to
outcomes she can't control, but in order to return home, Bryn must complete a
set of tasks for the enigmatic and strangely sensual Darkness.
With four stories to enter,
four items to retrieve, Bryn takes part in plot points so out of character that
she almost loses herself in the tales she's written. More than once she
questions her sanity and curses herself for creating such perilous realities,
but she always remains focused on her goal; the creation of the fifth story.
The Fifth Story, Excerpt
She walked quickly around the counter and
headed to where the sign indicated where the washrooms were, but she couldn't
find the women's room. Then she almost slapped herself with ridiculousness. Who
cared if she went into the men's room? She marched over the door and pushed on
it. Immediately she fell back. The door was stuck. She pushed on it harder, but
could only open it about a foot. Something, or someone, was lying in front of
the door. Bryn squeezed her head through the narrow space and looked down at
the floor. Coran was lying passed out on the cold tile.
Bryn thought maybe something strange had
happened in her story, and Coran was already dead. How lucky would that be?
However, she realized that the story hadn't changed that drastically when Coran
groaned, revealing that he was very much alive. He rolled over, away from the
door.
With his weight suddenly off the door, and
Bryn's weight still being pushed against it, the door went flying open. Bryn stumbled
and fell into the washroom. None too gracefully, she hit the floor with a
satisfying smack, and knocked her head against the tile floor with a hard
clunk.
"Ow," she said, as she rolled on her
back and pressed her hands against a rapidly rising goose egg on the right side
of her head. "Ah" she yelped as the door closed on her foot.
"Are you okay?" asked a voice with a
gentle Scottish brogue.
Bryn turned her head and opened her eyes.
Coran, who looked like he'd been through a rough time, was leaning over her.
His blond hair was a mess and it fell into his gray eyes. He had soot on his
face and he smelled, not unpleasantly, of smoke. He gave her a little smile.
"My dear, are you all right?" he asked her again.
She smiled in return. She was touched by his
concern. The ash on his face and the apparent absence of anyone else in the
castle told her she had come into the story not long after the first time she'd
entered with Darkness. Coran had every right to ignore her and he really had no
time to get involved with a stranger and yet, he didn't seem to be in any rush
at all. Instead, he helped Bryn sit up.
As soon as his hands touched her skin, Bryn
gasped and felt her heart beat quicken. Coran looked embarrassed and quickly,
on unsteady legs, he stood up and got a paper towel. He wet it with warm water
and kneeled down a couple feet away from Bryn. He handed her the paper towel.
"Your face, it's quite dirty."
"Oh, thanks." Bryn said, trying to
avoid looking at him too much. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Why had she
written Coran to have this effect on women? "It looks like I'm not the
only one that's recently been in a bit of a scrap," he said with a
chuckle. Bryn couldn't help beaming at him with amazement. He was just as kind
as she'd written him to be. However, if she was correct, this man should be
putting all chivalry aside and be searching the castle for Melusine. He should
be calling upon the ancient gods to help him in battle with the sea witch, but
instead, here he was, watching Bryn wash her face and being concerned about her
well-being.
"Is your head very sore? Can you
stand?" he asked as he gently touched the bump on her head, but quickly
pulled hand back when Bryn sucked in her breath at the feel of his hand on her
hair.
"Yes, I mean—no, it's fine, and yes, I can
stand," she stammered as she pushed herself off the floor. She again tried
to avoid eye contact with him, but it wasn't helping. Coran was having a
profound effect on her senses—something which she should have remembered could
happen, but had completely forgotten about. In her story, Coran had a powerful
effect on women and it was something he could do nothing about. Whether it was
his aura or his pheromones, no one could tell, but women, upon meeting Coran,
not only couldn't control themselves around him but didn't want to. Their
thoughts would travel immediately down a sexual path as soon as they stood
close to him and they would offer themselves to his every whim. Even the most
reserved women would find their bodies pulsing immediately with desire for the
tall blond stranger. Only those who knew how to, could control their passions
for Coran. Katie, his assistant, was usually one of them, but sometimes, her
guard would slip and she would be overcome with sexual longing for her handsome
boss.
Bryn was finding her own guard was slipping
rapidly and started thinking about very naughty things and wishing that she had
time to explore her hidden bad girl side. Was this happening because she'd
written him this way or was it because he looked so much like Tyler?
Ivy 's Links:
