Tell us about yourself in 50 words or less.

I'm a writer. :)


If you could be any other writer, who would it be and why?

JK Rowling. For the money, natch. *g*


What are your writing plans for this year and what have you done most recently?

My writing plans for this year are to fulfill the obligations I have and not incur any more! I have volunteered myself into deadline hell one too many times.

I'm presently finishing up a Halloween story for Amber Quill Press http://www.amberquill.com, titled THE WIZARD'S STAFF (yes, double entendre intended ;), and writing as Lanette Curington, one of my Greek myth stories IMMORTAL ECSTASY for Venus Press http://www.venuspress.com which is scheduled for January 2006. I have a couple of others promised for 2006. I fully intend to finish the long-awaited IMMORTAL CONQUEST within the next year. (I've said that before, so we'll see. LOL)

I just finished final edits on WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARE. It will be released in late August from Amber Quill Press http://www.amberquill.com as part of the Heart Songs 2 AmberPax. I borrowed the title from Alice Cooper and put my own spin on it. *g* THE WIZARD'S STAFF will be released in late October. And I hope I'll have a Christmas story to be released later this year, but nothing's final on it yet.

What is the process you use when you first start to write a story-or do you use any process at all? (You plot out the scenes, outline the story, etc.) If you could do it differently, how would you do it?

I fly by the seat of my pants. I may start with a title or a character or a situation (inspired by anything--from books to movies to tabloid stories to Tarot cards). I write scenes as they come to me, mostly out of order, then patch them together to make a whole.

If I could do it differently, I'd meticulously outline each scene, write them in order, and never have to edit! LOL

Now that it's almost the end of summer, is there something you absolutely have to get done before fall? What might it be and why did you not do it, need to do it, not have to do anything?

I have a couple of stories (aside from the promised ones) I want to finish before October. One has a deadline for submission by then. I want October free this year, so I can rest, enjoy the fall weather and the Halloween season. I was under deadlines last year and the holidays passed me by. I'm hoping to take off most of October and December, to really get into the holidays this year!


What's something you haven't done yet that you've always wanted to do?

Travel. I want to visit exotic, faraway places.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

You can read about my books, synopsis and excerpts, at my websites http://www.laniaames.com and http://www.lanettecurington.com I love to hear from readers! You can write to me at laniaames @ yahoo.com

Welcome To My Nightmare
©Lani Aames
Coming late August from Amber Quill Press


"Good." Nic's eyes shifted to her. "Leviticus understands what he is to do, and what you are trying to accomplish."

Carmen glanced at Leviticus, then back to Nic. The situation unnerved her, but she had no choice. She took a deep, steady breath and tried to relax her body. She started with releasing the death grip she had on her upper arms.

She had survived the demon's disgusting pawing. Leviticus' touch, while unwelcome, would not be as repulsive. Even so, she felt as if she were being sacrificed for the greater good. In the end, Nic would be the only one in her heart, and that was all that mattered.

I love you, Carmen. Nic's voice glissaded through her mind, a sound as ethereal as a wisp of mist. Had he really spoken to her telepathically? If so, could she reach him that way, too?

Carmen concentrated and let her love for Nic flow like liquid silk through her entire being, calming her nerves, yet arousing her at the same time. When the moment felt right, with every cell in her body aglow with her feelings for Nic, she sent her own message to him. I love you, Nic!

The sounds seemed to travel along a silver thread connecting her mind to his, but when the words reached him, the thread dissolved instantly. She blinked in wonder when he nodded at her and grinned as if amused by her astonishment at what she'd done. Perhaps with practice, she'd be able to communicate telepathically whenever she wished.

A cloud of sorrow eclipsed the joy in her heart. When she freed Nic, and he and Leviticus told her how to banish Uriah and the other Shadow Demons that had escaped into her dimension, she would have to let Nic go just as she'd planned. As much as she loved and wanted him, Dreamscape was his world and chasing Shadows his duty. He couldn't cross over to hers, and she couldn't spend the rest of her life in her dreams. She had to move on as painful as it would be.

"Whenever you're ready, Carmen." Tender concern filled Nic's voice.

Leviticus watched her, awaiting her consent.

Even though it had seemed like an hour had passed since she pulled the black vine from her limbs, she knew dreams lasted mere seconds or minutes in real-time. Even so, LeSeur and Uriah would grow suspicious when no more Shadow Demons crossed over. She had to do it now or risk LeSeur waking her physical body to find out what had happened.

Carmen licked her lips and nodded once at Leviticus. As he stepped forward, hands reaching for her, she closed her eyes and thought of Nic.

 

From AUTHORS IN ECSTASY by Bella Andre, available as an e-book from www.Ellorascave.com and in print at Borders and most online bookstores.

Charlie

Luke gave Claire one of his trademark smoldering glances, the kind that kept her and her vibrator company when she was alone in bed at night, dreaming of him. After ten years of platonic friendship, after a painful decade of hearing about every woman who had passed in and out of Luke's bed, Claire knew it was time for things to change.

Maybe her new confidence came from the three Manhattans she'd already gulped down. Maybe it was because they were celebrating her promotion to Senior Vice President of SF BankCorp, and she was giddy with her newfound power. Whatever the reason, Claire simply didn't care about anything else tonight, outside of the promise she read in Luke's eyes.

Uncrossing her long, supple legs, and then re-crossing them slowly for impact, she scooted to the edge of her barstool and leaned in close to Luke in the steamy bar. Keeping her eyes trained on his mouth, she found the courage hiding deep within herself and said, "If I have to look at your succulent lips for one more second without tasting them, I think I'm going to go crazy."

Luke's eyes didn't widen in surprise. And he didn't make things any easier for her by leaning in to kiss her. Instead he raised an eyebrow, puckered his delicious lips slightly in a half-smile, and said, "Prove it."

Part of her wanted to go as slow as possible, to savor the sensations already washing through her in waves. But the other part of her, the part that made her pussy lips drenched and hot, wanted nothing more than to straddle Luke, right then and there at the bar, to sink down on his cock one inch at a time until she was on the edge of the best orgasm of her life.

Lighter than a feather, Luke darted his tongue against her thumb. Claire groaned, practically in pain, her need for him was so great. Grasping her wrist with his strong, warm hands, he held the fleshy part of her palm up to his mouth and nipped at her sensitive skin. Claire was shaking now and hornier than she'd ever been. Her pussy was soaked, all without one single kiss. But then again, just thinking of Luke had always been enough to bring her right to the brink.

She was so caught up in her need, she barely heard Luke whisper, "Taste me." Trying to break out of her fog, she moved to obey his command as quickly as she could. Closing the distance between them, taking his breath as her own, she licked at the middle of his lower lip with the tip of her tongue, the same place she had already memorized with her thumb.

"What flavor am I?" Luke asked her, again so softly she could barely make out his words.

Her head was spinning and she could hardly speak. "I need another sample," she said, and captured his incredible mouth in hers, tasting every inch of him, relishing in the feel of his tongue against hers. In her wildest dreams, she never knew a kiss could be so hot. She'd give up her vibrator forever for a lifetime supply of his kisses. Lord knew, if he kept it up, she was going to be moaning so loud everyone in the bar would be forced to stop their conversations to watch the live sex show happening right in front of them.


Charlie saved his file and rubbed the tired muscles on the back of his neck with his hands. "Too bad real life can't be like my books," he muttered, trying to remember when the last time was he'd actually had sex.

"Ancient history," he grunted as he got up to take a shower. He had another blind date tonight, but he didn't have any higher hopes for this one than the multitude of other dates he'd been on in the past five years.

In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if all of the single women in San Francisco had been spreading the word about him, to warn each other off, in a show of female solidarity.

He let the scalding stream of water pulsate against his chest as he tried to shake off his depression. "She's out there. I know she's out there."


Candace

Evan laid Sara against the silk sheets and stood back to admire the way the firelight danced off of her creamy skin. She was the sweetest girl in the world, and he'd been waiting years for this moment.

Sara's cheeks were rosy and she nervously licked her pink, delicious mouth. "Are you going to take your clothes off too?" she asked him innocently.

Evan smiled and kneeled at the side of the bed between her legs, sliding her body across the silk sheets so that his face was mere inches from her sweet vagina. He didn't want to frighten her any more than she already was, but he was having a hell of a time trying to rein in his passion.

It pleased him immeasurably to know that Sara was a virgin, and that she had been saving herself for him, for their wedding night. He had waited so long for this night, for her to finally grow up. Of course, even though he had spent the past several years walking away from their chaste kisses and straight into cold showers, he had been with his fair share of women. But he always knew, no matter how good the sex was with these other women, he was simply releasing pent-up steam and honing his skills for the one woman who really mattered.

"I am, sweetheart," he said, stroking her hand lightly with his own. "But first I want you to experience deep pleasure."

"Oh, I have Evan. Your kisses are incredible," she sighed, trying to sit up so that she could kiss him again.

Getting up onto one knee, he leaned towards her and captured her mouth in a passionate, scintillating kiss. "Kissing is only the beginning," he said, promise in his eyes.


Candace finished reading the final words of her chapter and looked up at the faces of her new writing group expectantly. The silence was heavy in the library meeting room. She couldn't miss the shocked expressions on the faces of her fellow writers.

Several people cleared their throats, and to get the ball rolling Candace said, "I'd love to get some feedback on the ending of my story. I just wrote it yesterday, so it feels pretty fresh to me."

Sixty long, painful seconds ticked by before one of the older ladies spoke up. "Candace, I'm not sure about the, ahem, appropriateness of the passage you just read us."

"The appropriateness?" Candace exclaimed. "It's erotica, for god's sake. I'd say a sex scene is pretty damn appropriate." She searched the eyes of the other members of the group for some support, but found none.

* * *

Candace stood underneath the huge "Sensual Writer's Conference" banner and took a deep breath. As soon as she walked through the double glass doors she would officially be entering into her new life. Instead of continuing to write young adult stories, where sex was never allowed to enter into the storyline, no matter what, today she was officially going to make the jump into a the world of erotica, where the only limit was how far a writer wanted to go. Practically nothing was forbidden.

Now, if she could just muster up the nerve to walk through those damn double doors.

She tried not to be too hard on herself. After all, anytime anyone made a career change they were bound to have some butterflies in their stomach. Unfortunately, what Candace was feeling went far beyond butterflies. More like huge ravens flying around inside of her, picking at her innards.

A middle-aged woman brushed past her and hurried inside the conference hall. Candace knew it was now or never-time to either bite the bullet and commit to doing the work she loved, or to wimp out by continuing to write the same old stories she'd been pumping out since college.

"If she can do it, I can do it," Candace told herself firmly. She squared her shoulders, fluffed up her orange curls with one hand and set off for the door.

Candace was so focused on her goal, on making it past the threshold of her current comfort level, she didn't see the attractive, muscular man who was just about to step through the doorway. They collided as Candace bumped into him in a particularly graceless way, the full-body impact knocking them both to the floor. Candace tried to catch her breath as she lay in a heap atop the stranger.

Absolutely mortified by her clumsiness, Candace scrambled to get up off the man, but not before she became aware of the firm muscles of his butt, back and shoulders rippling beneath her.

Overcome by both embarrassment and a rare jolt of lust, she blathered on and on without being able to stop herself. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I can't believe I didn't see you and then I walked right into you and then I fell onto you and now we're on the ground and are you okay?"

Pushing himself up on his palms and then spinning around so that he was sitting on the cement floor, the stranger gave her a devastating smile. Brushing the dust off of his slacks, he stood up and said, "I'm just fine, thanks."

Candace was bowled over by the dimple in his left cheek and could do little else but gape at the man standing in front of her. "And besides," he added with a mischievous glint in his eyes, "who wouldn't want to have a gorgeous woman lying on top of him first thing in the morning?"



Treva Harte
http://www.trevaharte.com

Time Will Tell (in the Time Series, Vol. 2)

J.B. walked into the guest house and shut the door carefully. He ran his hand through his ruffled hair once and let out a howl. He jerked the tie off his neck and threw it carelessly on a chair.

Oh Lord, that woman was dynamite. He wasn't sure exactly how he was gonna do it, but she'd be in bed with him before long. Preferably tied down and wanting more. Thank heaven she was giving him every indication she wanted that, too. He might explode if she didn't. He grinned. He would explode if she did. Dynamite. Puuuure dynamite.

He threw himself on the bed and began to plot the ways to lure her to bed. He unbuttoned his pants. His cock, still semi-erect from his evening with Molly, sprang out. J.B. slipped her panties from his back pocket. He knew Molly'd been so flustered it might take her a while to wonder where they were.

Right where they should be. Sliding silkily against his straining cock. Molly.

He imagined her with a barely there nightie riding up her thighs. She had that vibrator on, was holding it against her wet pussy. He knew it. He could feel it just as clearly as he felt her panties against him.

She was nervous. Wondering about the rest of the household. Wondering about him. But she was horny. Almost as horny and hot for him as he was for her. He cupped his balls, trying to stem the sudden hot surge of cum.

Not yet. He wanted to imagine his tongue between her lips, trying to hold her cries back. Thinking about how next time she would take him, how he wouldn't hold back for her, how she'd swallow the jetting streams of-

J.B. let himself moan this time as his fingers tightened around his cock. Not yet. God, not yet. He wanted to think of her hips jerking off the bed, unconfined for now. How she would throw her head from side to side, wildly. Knowing she didn't want that freedom. He knew she was wanting to be restrained, forced to not move unless he told her-

Katherine Kingston
http://www.katherinekingston.com

From Checkmate in the forthcoming anthology, Pleasure Raiders, November 2005 from Ellora's Cave

Once they'd ordered their meals, Raje leaned forward and studied her a bit, so she felt free to do the same. Although the lighting was soft, it wasn't as dim as in the bar and the atmosphere clearer so Devonne got a better look at him here.

She had to restrain her galloping pulse and the urge to sigh. The general outlines of his face had suggested he was attractive. The reality was so much more. Only a couple of old scars-a light burn at the temple, and a thin white line running from the side of his cheek down to his jaw - kept him from being almost classically beautiful. Strong lines of cheekbone and jaw, perfectly shaped and sized features, and large, bright eyes combined into a form that suggested he shouldn't ever need to resort to piracy to make a living. The eyes were an unusual light yellow/green color that leaned toward the yellow. Apparently he recognized her reaction to his looks. "Don't say anything about it, please. I can't help it. I was born with it."

"What?"

"The face. I know what it looks like, and most people think I bought it. I didn't."

"I'll bet you fool most people."

He shrugged. "It has its uses. I can be seriously charming when I need to be, and that comes in handy."

"With women like me?"

He stared hard at her. "How much did you pay for yours?"

"You think I'd pay someone for this?"

"Why not? It's very appealing."

She laughed harshly. "I look in the mirror occasionally. It's far from perfect. And it looks a bit…lived-in."

"Perfection is boring." He reached across the table and ran a finger down her cheek and jaw to her chin. "This is much more interesting."

Tingling erupted where he touched, bursting into a trail of small fireworks along the side of her face. Heat from it rushed all through her body. Her cunt swelled, wanting him. It had been way too long. She made an effort to collect herself and tamp down the reaction. At this rate she'd be bursting into flame or dragging him under the table for a quick hump before their dinner arrived.