Wow! Already December and I Haven't Even Put Away October Yet!

Hmmm. How did I let this happen? December sort of snuck up on me. I never saw it coming. I can't even remember November, except for the yummy dressing the other day. Days fly by pulling the entire month with them. Before we know it, an entire year is gone again. What do we have to show for it?

I have about 14 books and two short stories to show for the year, but what about life points? You know, the things that really matter. I've spent quality time with my brother and his family several times this past year. Could I have spent more time with them? Yeah. I could have.

I've spent some wonderful days with my parents this year. I love having them here with me. Not only are they fun to be with and help me in so many ways, but watching just how much they love each other keeps the love alive in my heart, too. I wish I'd spent more time with them earlier in the year instead of some of the trips I took. I didn't realize just how quickly things change.

I refuse to regret anything because it adds to who I am, but I can feel sad for some of the opportunities I've missed or blown off; for the time I wasted when I should have been writing spending time with friends and family; for decisions I've made that weren't all that smart.

So, looking ahead, I plan to do things a little differently this coming year. I did this last year and the year before. No matter how many times I do this, I always end up missing something I should have seen coming.

So for the end of 2014 as it tops the hill on its way down, don't have regrets, don't think the what ifs. Spend some time thinking about what you want out of life for next year and then make plans on how to get there. You may not get there the first time you try, but if you keep regrouping and looking at where you got off track, you will eventually get to where you are supposed to be.

I'm going to introduce whoever out there is reading this to what hope looks like to me right now. Her name is Maggie and she's a kitten. When I found her, she was about 4 or 5 weeks old and entirely different than what she looks like now.

 

 

 

 



Isn't she cute? A tiny ball of fur and great big eyes. She was such a sweet kitty who had a rough start in life. Something had tried to eat her and she had a massive abscess from one side of her neck through to just above her chest. We got that all cleaned up and she turned into a whirlwind of energy after that.

Now she is about 4 months old and she looks so much different than she did.

Yep, that's her tongue sticking out.

 

 

So where am I going with all of this? This hope I was talking about? Well, she brought hope into our house when she came to live with us. My mom took one look at her and smiled—really smiled for the first time in a long time. Now the house revolves around Maggie or "my baby" as mom refers to her. Seeing that

smile and how the kitten keeps her engaged and happy is seeing hope reflected in my mom's eyes. Taking care of the kitten gives her one more reason to get up each morning and brave the pain and near blindness that colors her world grey. Only now, there is a streak of color that captivates her each day and I call it Hope.

 

Marla



Time of Year to Plan

Hi everyone. I'm settling down to write and realized that I needed to start planning for 2014. What do I want to write next year, where do I want to go to meet with readers and what do I want to accomplish during the year? There are a lot of different choices and options out there and trying to narrow them down to just a few is a daunting task.

How do you all plan for the new year? Do you plan at all? Do you set goals or just go with the flow? I don't make New Years Resolutions because I never meet them, but planning my writing career is a must.

Do any of you have requests? I'm working on the fourth book in The Protector's series. It's slow going with my contracts pulling on me. I'm also working on a sequel to Nina's Neighbor with Freak's story.

I have a bear shifter storyline I have in my head along with a paranormal world storyline jumping up and down to be let out, but the bottom line is that I want to write what you want to read. Yes, the characters will drive me crazy till I write them, but I get them out some as I go along so that I can write what is due at the time.

Here are a few of my favorite books over the years that I've written.

Long Lonely Nights was a favorite of mine also. I just forgot where I put that cover. :-)

Books I've read that I loved, I have to say the New Species series by Laurann Dohner are among my most favorite along with The Breed series by Lora Leigh.

Don't forget that A Taste of Cyn is out  http://www.bookstrand.com/a-taste-of-cyn and the next book out will be The Wrangler's New Chef, a new series on Montana. It will be out Friday January 3rd. I hope to hear from all of you out there.

If I miss saying it, have a very Merry and Safe Christmas!

Marla Monroe

An Early Christmas Present!

I'm so excited!
I got an early Christmas Present, the cover of A Dirty Dozen Christmas. Do you think it is sufficiently naughty? I sure do. What a yummy...biker.

It officially goes on sale December 21st, but I'm sure it will be available for pre-order soon. I'll let you know as soon as I know.

Here's a peek of what you can expect. Enjoy!

 

A Dirty Dozen Christmas

“I don’t want Tina going anywhere alone while all of this is going on.” Zack leaned back against the cabinets.

“Hey! I’m standing right here. I do have a say in these things.” Tina crossed her arms and glared at the two men.

“Not where your safety is concerned. We’ve talked about this before, Tina.”

“I’m not in any danger. These women are all talk and bluster. The worst thing that might happen is that they call us names. They’re too good to engage in anything like fighting or hair pulling.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m not going to leave you unprotected. Live with it.” Zack pushed off from the cabinets and disappeared into the other room.

“Let him cool off, babe. It’ll all be okay.” Cole wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck.

“You’re trying to distract me with sex, aren’t you.”

“Is it working?”

“Maybe.” Tina couldn’t help but smile.

Cole backed her up against the bar and nibbled on her lips before slipping his tongue inside her mouth. He licked every inch inside before sucking on her tongue. His hands weren’t still while he kissed her. They slipped beneath her sweater and massaged her back before one slipped between her waistband and skin to squeeze her ass cheek.

Tina moaned into his mouth as he rubbed his thick erection against her belly. There was no doubting what he had in mind. If only she could get Zack on board as well. She pushed back against Cole’s hard cock and wrapped her arms around his neck. He deepened the kiss, nipping at her lower lip before thrusting his tongue in and out of her mouth. She didn’t doubt for a second that she would have swollen lips when he finished with her.

“More,” she managed to get out around nips.

“I’ll give you more. Let’s take this to the bedroom.”

Cole growled then picked her up and carried her over his shoulder with one hand on her ass. As they passed through the den, Zack stood up from where he’d been sitting, flipping through channels on the TV. She caught a quick glance of his face as the anger slid into need, and he followed them to the bedroom.

As soon as they entered the room, she heard the door slam behind them and Cole dropped her on the bed. Tina bounced once and immediately crawled to the other side. She slid off the bed and grinned at the two men.

“Strip, Tina.” Zack’s deep voice sent shivers down her spine.

“What if I want you to strip first?”

“Do it, babe. Now.” Cole walked around the end of the bed toward her.

Tina backed away until she felt Zack’s hard body behind her. When had he crawled over the bed, and why hadn’t she noticed? He gripped her waist and leaned down to whisper in her ear. His hot breath sent tingles along her skin.

“You’re playing with fire.”

Cole reached her and slid his hands under her shirt before pulling it upward. He bent down and nibbled her other earlobe before jerking her shirt over her head. Tossing it to the floor, he reached for the front closure of her bra even as Zack’s hands reached lower to the button at her waistband. They quickly divulged her of the rest of her clothes before lowering her to the bed.

“Don’t move, Tina.” Cole’s raspy voice made her smile. He was hot and hard for her. Just the way she liked him.

One glance at Zack proved he was in no better shape. He jerked his shirt over his head with one hand and unfastened his jeans with the other without dropping his gaze from her. Nothing turned her on more than for her men to lose control with their need for her. She reclined on her elbows and slowly spread her legs wide so that they could see her wet pussy. She dipped one hand down her belly, pausing to flick her belly ring before drifting lower to slide one finger between her southern lips. 

Thanksgiving In All Things

I'm thankful for so many things in my life, but one of those things is you, my readers. Without you, there would be no me or writing. Were it not for you, I would not be the almost sane person I am. The little voices in my head would have long ago stolen my mind and had me locked away in some stark white room away from the world. Thank You from the bottom of my heart.

What am I doing today? Well, I have a ham waiting to be carved that I cooked all night and dressing in the oven cooking. Not a truly traditional Thanksgiving meal, but close enough. I'll open a can of cranberry sauce and all will be ready. After the meal, I'll sequester myself inside my office and let the littler voices inside my head free.

I'm finishing up book two of The Ghost Riders. The title is Between A Rock and A Hard Place. It's Vernon's and Rhode's story. They go after their woman, Jessie. The only problem is that Jessie has a reason not to go home with them. How will they convince her that they can handle anything as long as they have her between them?

What's next? I'm drifting back and forth between the first book in a new series about shifters and another book I've been fiddling with in The Men From Space Station One series. What do you all think? I'd really like to know what you would like to read next.

Don't forget that A Dirty Dozen Christmas will be out soon as well. It will probably be ready to pre-order sometime the second week of December. I'm very proud of that book. Listening to 18 different characters at one time and getting them straight was not easy! LOL

Don't forget to email me HERE and visit my webpage HERE.
Talk to you all later!

 

How Do You Say Goodbye?

Tomorrow is my last day at The Silver Spur in Texas. I've had a ball. The people have been wonderful and so fun to be around. Lots of things to do and so little time to do it all.  Had a cowboy interview today that was so fun. Lots of good information to draw on later.

I'll share some photos when I get home. There is a donkey family there. Jack, Jenny, and their baby.  The news is she is pregnant again. :-)  Don't they know what causes that?

My other news is that I finsihed my Christmas book, A Dirty Dozen Christmas. All I have to do now is edit and send it off. The gang had big plans for Christams but naturally they didn't exactly go as planned. Mid December you will be able to read what they did to make sure everyone had a Merry Christams.

Well, I better go pack and make sure I have everything. I'll be talking to you all from home in a few days.

Marla
Marla Monroe's Website

Brrrr October's Cooler Weather

I wasn't expecting for the temperatures to drop this weekend. No, it's not snowy cold, but it is much cooler. It reminds me that the season is changing. Won't be long till we'll need to curl up with a good book and your sweeties. ;-)  Nothing like cuddling under a blanket with a roaring fire and watching a movie or whatever else comes up.

I'm trying to finish up A Dirty Dozen Christmas this week. All of your favorite Dirty Dozen characters are in it. Don't you just love bikers. I sure do. That's why I started writing The Ghost Riders.  These guys are a litle more down and dirty. Still, they will capture your attention as they work to keep their women safe.

What's next on the agenda? Well, I have a couple of books started and need to decide what to work on next. Maybe I'll give you a hint next time. Till then, I'll leave you with some pretty covers for your enjoyment.

 

 

Insomnia From A Writer's Viewpoint

So here I am, awake and needing to be asleep. I have all these thoughts running around in my head and know that until I get them out on paper I won't be able to relax and get some Zs. Some of it is just crap that will end up in the garbage, but some of it is the beginnings of a new book. Slowly, as I get it all out, I get sleepy, but now I don't want to go to sleep because I'm on a roll.

What does it all mean? It means that I'm an author and I can't be satisfied no matter how much I get written or how clean it is, it's not enough. There can always be just a little more emotion in the scene or a little less redundancy. You can always find something wrong somewhere in every book. Still, you don't want it to be yours.

I'm writing on The Dirty Dozen's Christmas book but my mind is already on another book I want to work on. I feel like I'm not doing The Dirty Dozen justice by thinking about another WIP (work in progress). It feels a lot like cheating. Then what would all my books say if they knew that I keep at least two more books open on my computer at the same time I'm working on that one?

Yeah, I'm sleep deprived and need to give in and climb in bed. Things will seem different in the light of day after I get some sleep. Let's just hope it is enough sleep to do my writing justice. Until then, let me give you a hint of what is going on with The Dirty Dozen for Christmas.

The wives of the men have decided they want to support a charity for the holidays and need to figure out a way to raise money for their cause. When they decide that their men can help out with the plan, the women know they'll have to do some seducing to convince the twelve men to pitch in. Add in some spicy sex, some old fashioned loving, and a good cause, and you have the makings for a Dirty Dozen Christmas like you've never imagined.

Here are the books from the series                            If you haven't read them, check them out at either The Dirty Dozen books  on Amazon or at Siren Bookstrand

Don't forget my web page www.marlmonroe.com and my email is themarlamonroe@yahoo.com  I always love to hear from readers.

Dirty Dozen Memories

Hey guys! As I sit here and write the Dirty Dozen Christmas Reunion book, it brings back my favorite memories about each book. I fell in love with each man as I wrote the series- hard not to, since I write them so sexy! ;-) lol. It really is nice to be able to look back on each book's memories and even more nice to be able to create a new memory to go along with the others. I hope all of you will enjoy reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it. Any thoughts and feedback on any of my books is very much appreciated and I look forward to hearing from you! Email me at themarlamonroe@yahoo.com :-)