Favorite things, especially socks, and a Goodreads #giveaway!

First, the giveaway: Two paperback copies of the anthology Improper Christmas Nights, which contains two of my novellas, Under a Christmas Spell and Under a New Year's Enchantment. This anthology is for sale only in the UK and Australia, so I decided to have a giveaway for readers in the US and Canada. It's open from now until Dec. 30. To enter, go here.

(http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/119897-improper-christmas-nights)

Also... today I'm over at Embracing Romance blogging about some favorite things (including socks) to encourage people to enter our contest. The prize is a gift basket loaded with great stuff contributed by the Embracing Romance authors.

(http://www.embracingromance.com/?p=4785)

Barbara

P.S. The link for the giveaway didn't work -- I think I've fixed it. 

Of Alphas and Edinburgh

This is Edinburgh Castle from below:

I visited Edinburgh last month--didn't get a chance to tour the castle, but it sure was impressive from the outside.

Is this castle on a rock a good metaphor for an alpha hero? I don't know...I don't quite understand the alpha hero thingy...so I'm pondering it on Embracing Romance today. If you can enlighten me, whether a little bit or a lot, please come over and do so.

http://embracingromance.com/2014/10/20/of-alphas-and-edinburgh

There will be a chance to enter our monthly giveaway. My question is easy-peasy as usual.

Also, for those of you in the UK and Australia, the Christmas anthology, Improper Christmas Nights, is now available. In contains two of my novellas, Under a Christmas Spell and Under a New Year's Enchantment.

Isn't that a lovely cover? She's definitely harboring improper thoughts! :)

#Giveaway of 2 novellas at Collette Cameron's blog, and... SOCKS!

Today I'm at Collette Cameron's blog talking about what inspired me to write about incubi and succubi--and I'm giving away a download of my two novellas (the top two on the left) about these sexy non-demonic people who send erotic dreams (or at least that's how I see them). Hop on over for a chance to win.

Now for the socks. Ta-da!

 OK, so they're not perfect, but they're my first completed pair of socks. (Please ignore the dirt on the carpet. I vacuumed IMMEDIATELY after taking this picture. No, seriously, I did. I'm a terrible housekeeper, but what with all the snow and melting snow and resultant debris carried in on people's shoes, it really, really needed doing.)

I have a thing about socks. I buy more socks than any other item of clothing. But I've always wanted to knit some, like the ones my grandmother made for us when we were kids, heels (shudder) and all. My first try, years ago, was argyle socks. Really dumb of me! I got so tangled up with various threads that I didn't even make it to the heel. Next try (with one color of wool), I got as far as the heel (argh) and gave up. Then, entirely by chance, I found The Big Book of Socks by Kathleen Taylor.

Yes! Start with easy and work up was the route for me. I made this pair of tube socks. I only dropped a few stitches along the way (and picked them up, too). Onward and upward. :)

Visiting Mia Marlowe with a #Giveaway, talking about Roman stuff

Sometimes I put stuff in a story just because I feel like it. Because I find it interesting. That's why I put some Roman ruins and a buried hoard of coins in my new novella, Under a New Year's Enchantment. It turned out that my Regency characters were just as fascinated with the Ancient World as I am--and sometimes, encouraging a mutual interest is a means to get closer in other ways. :~))


Go on over to Mia Marlowe's blog today to read more and comment for a chance to win a download. Mia's giving away free copies of Plaid to the Bone as well, so it's a double giveaway today.

I don't have any pics of ruins or coins, but here I am (in red) at the Doge's Palace in Venice -- about as close as I can come to a Roman pic today. We didn't get to tour the palace during that visit, but I hope to go to Venice again some day.

Barbara

My #Giveaway at Sharon Buchbinder's - and Thanks!

Just a quick note -- Sharon Buchbinder is kindly doing a spotlight today of my new novella, Under a New Year's Enchantment. Hop on over and comment for a chance to win a free download.

http://sharonbuchbinder.com/blog/?p=3326

Hampshire, 1816

Garrick, Lord Westerly, has forbidden the hanging of mistletoe, yet the holiday house party at his country estate sizzles with sensual desire. And though Theodora Southern decided long ago never to marry, she enjoys the erotic fantasies that haunt her each night—fantasies featuring her handsome, brooding host….

Since returning from the war, Garrick has been in no mood to celebrate. But suddenly the nightmares that plague him are making way for much more pleasant dreams—dreams in which his childhood friend Theodora is very much a grown woman. The question is, has he fallen in love—or under a wicked spell?



 Also, thank you very much to everyone who voted for me in the Paranormal Romance Guild Reviewer's Choice Awards! The Magic of His Touch took first place in Romance Novellas, and Under a New Year's Enchantment took third. The Bayou Gavotte series took second place in Romance Series. :~)

Five Nominations! And a #giveaway...

Imagine my astonishment when I learned I had received five nominations for Reviewer's Choice at the Paranormal Romance Guild! I'm in three categories, so in two of them I'm competing with myself.

Paranormal Romantic Suspense -- Heart of Constantine and Tastes of Love & Evil

Romance Novella -- The Magic of His Touch and Under a New Year's Enchantment

Romance Series -- Bayou Gavotte

I would love some votes from anyone who has the time and inclination. Voting ends on Sunday January 12th at 5 pm. EST.

http://www.paranormalromanceguild.com/2013reviewerschoice.htm

Thanks!

Also, today I'm blogging at the Harlequin Paranormal Romance blog about my new novella, Under a New Year's Enchantment. I'm giving away a copy to a lucky commenter. Please stop by!
http://paranormalromanceblog.com/2014/01/10/who-doesnt-like-a-good-sex-dream-by-barbara-monajem-giveaway/(This post is now up!)

Under a New Year's Enchantment - Release Day

Today is release day (in North America and Australia) for my new novella, Under a New Year's Enchantment. (It won't be out in the UK until February 1st, alas.) It's the sequel to Under a Christmas Spell.

Hampshire, 1816

Garrick, Lord Westerly, has forbidden the hanging of mistletoe, yet the holiday house party at his country estate sizzles with sensual desire. And though Theodora Southern decided long ago never to marry, she enjoys the erotic fantasies that haunt her each night—fantasies featuring her handsome, brooding host….

Since returning from the war, Garrick has been in no mood to celebrate. But suddenly the nightmares that plague him are making way for much more pleasant dreams—dreams in which his childhood friend Theodora is very much a grown woman. The question is, has he fallen in love—or under a wicked spell?




The story picks up where Under a Christmas Spell left off. I had a lot of fun writing it -- for one thing, I got to put in bits and pieces about my current fascination with Ancient Rome -- but it was also a hard slog for me. I made several false starts and did a lot more rewriting than usual. It seems ridiculous that after writing a novella -- not a huge job -- I simply had to take some time off.

But now I'm back again, writing another story in the same universe. I'm using the title The Reluctant Succubus. It's only a placeholder title, but it says a lot about the heroine of the story. ;~)

Are you making any New Year's resolutions? Setting any new goals? I'm still not sure yet -- about both the resolutions (which I don't usually make) and the goals (which I'm too superstitious to put into words).

***Happy New Year!***

Home and Another Bayou Gavotte Giveaway

Got back home from Europe last night -- just in time for a guest post at Collette Cameron's blog, including an international giveaway of one of the Bayou Gavotte books (winner's choice). Hop on over if you'd like a chance to win. I'm celebrating the release of Heart of Constantine and will be for the rest of the week. There will be an interview with Constantine Dufray's spirit guide on Thursday at Suzanne Johnson's Preternatura, and a post on my Native American hero on Lois Winston's blog on Friday.  (Also, there are a few hours left to enter the giveaway at GraveTells.)

I adore the owl on the cover of Heart of Constantine. He's both beautiful and menacing -- just like Constantine, although the owl is a character in his own right.


I'm no photographer -- most of the time I forget to take pictures -- but there are some of Roman artifacts in my dh's camera which I will try to post here soon. Why Roman artifacts? Because they play a part in my next two novellas, which come out in November (Under a Christmas Spell) and January (Under a New Year's Enchantment). They're mostly in the second story, where the hero has dug up a hoard of Roman coins. I will get the covers and blurbs up soon!

I wish I'd had time to visit some Roman ruins while in Britain -- maybe next time! I would love to write a romantic story about Roman Britain one day... After I write one that takes place right after the Norman Conquest... Right after finishing the Regency fantasy I'm working on now... and the Bayou Gavotte novella I'm revising.. and...and...and.... So many stories, so little time. :)