SPANK OR TREAT 2014

Spank or Treat 2014 is finally here! Visit Governing Ana for the prize list, sign-up sheet, and full instructions. You can win from a prize pool valued at over $1,000, including a Kindle Fire or Nook HD donated by Blushing Books!

Many authors will also offer a contest on their individual blogs.  Your comment on their blogs enters you in both contests!

How do you play? 

1.Visit each blog between Friday, October 24th and Sunday, October 26th to read the stories.

2. Leave a comment on each blog. You must demonstrate that you have read the entire story. Copy-and-paste or inappropriate comments will be disqualified. You will receive one entry per blog for the grand prize drawing. Note: You must have a minimum of five entries in order to win a grand prize.

3.If you have visited all of the blogs, visit Ana’s blog to sign up for FIVE bonus entries to the grand prize.

4.Deadline is midnight EST (UTC -5) on Sunday, October 26th!

5. If you successfully completed a previous challenge (Sci Spanks 2014, Love Spanks 2014, Spank or Treat 2013, Spankee Doodle 2013, Love Spanks 2013, or Spank or Treat 2012), you may add “VIP” to your comments.  You will earn THREE bonus entries toward the grand prize.  (Yes, we will be doing this again.  Yes, if you successfully complete the Spank or Treat 2014 challenge you can become a VIP for our next activity!) 

6. If you are a writer of fiction (any kind), add “W” to your comments to be entered in the special author prize drawings.

Don't forget to comment on this post, for a chance to get in on the prizes.

I was honored when asked to join the Spank or Treat anthology and eagerly pinned my story Bear to Her in a matter of two hours. I found myself surprised at how easy it came to me, and even more excited to finish it and send it off.

I got my writing career started with shorts, and as time has passed, I've forgotten how they've helped me to become a better writer. Writing Bear to Her, brought me back to my roots. When you write shorts, you're forced to focus on critical elements in your tale, often skipping scenes and details you would include in longer novels and novellas. The result: Tighter more compelling tales. In the past with my shorts, I've been forced to exclude character descriptions to focus on the heat and emotional elements. I remember reading a review about my first story--3k, where the reviewer gushed over how hunky the hero was, and thinking, but I didn't describe his physical appearance, not once. This is one thing I love about shorts. The readers participate more than they realize, taking the picture you provide and filling in the blanks and adding to it what their mind spins.

So, for your reading pleasure, I present an excerpt of Bear to Her, a lesbian spanking short.

***Spank or Treat story removed for publication***

      Now for my giveaway, exclusive to this blog. I'm offering a signed copy of my award-winning novel, Slipping the Past, to one commenter on this post.

"    Some love affairs last a lifetime...others never end.

Fifty years into the future, if you're one of the damned, you don't run for your life, you run to save your soul. Jocelyn Miller is wanted for crimes she committed before she was born. Homeless, blind and out in the elements on one of the coldest nights of the year, her desperation results in a bad decision. When Jocelyn and her brother Nate rob a convenience store, Jocelyn comes face to face with her worst nightmare and greatest love, a reaper named Gabriel.

Gabriel Solaris is an Enforcer, a genetically enhanced psychic often referred to as a reaper for his ability to take souls, and he's charged with collecting Jocelyn's. When he finds Jocelyn outside the store, he's sure she's up to something illegal. Proving it isn't necessary. He holds a warrant and it's all he needs. But the closer Gabriel gets to Jocelyn, the more he begins to question his duty and why he believes her claims of innocence. When Jocelyn tells him she loved him once, Gabriel loses control and kisses her. Instead of taking her soul, he gives her a week to prove innocence in her past-life crimes, something he has no authority to grant. 

    

     Buy here:

     Kindle
     Nook
     Print and .pdf

     Thanks for stopping by. You can find more of my stories at www.authordljackson.com.

     Best.

     D. L. Jackson     

Last Day of the 1 NightStand Bash.

Have you entered?

So, I've shown you my posts for the military fairytales I'm writing and shared a few excerpts. You can still get in on the drawing and see the excerpts here:  http://catemasters.blogspot.com/ I will be drawing my winners tomorrow, so you have until Midnight, Eastern Standard Time to leave a comment and get your name in my virtual hat.

So, now that I covered some of the military fairytale 1 NightStands I'm working on, I'm going to give you a sneak peek at the WIP of my unnamed story that follows This Endris Night.

But first an Excerpt from This Endris Night:

Master predators, the bears could smell the blood from miles away. If she found one—there would be more and not just that, it would draw other predators. Packs of wolves frequented this area and had been known to travel in massive groups.
What the hell was the guy doing by the glacier? The tracks appeared to stagger, leading off into a thick stand of trees.

So caught up in the reason a stranger might have traveled there, she failed to hear the monster behind her until he was on top of her. A rough chuff, followed by a hiss, and the impact spun Shiya around on the ice and sent her flying, where she slammed shoulders first into an icy bank. Her rifle flew from her hands, discharging when it hit the ground. She crab-crawled backward. The bear opened its mouth and roared, the sound shaking her to her soul.
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.
Massive, twice the size of any bear she’d ever seen in the area, the herculean monster closed in, stalking forward on gigantic paws that looked like velvet-flocked snowshoes. Red stained his white coat, matting down

the thick fur on his leg, and hot breath steamed from his mouth and nose like an iron train.
He grabbed her boot in his enormous jaws and dragged her back until he straddled her body, his face now inches from hers. Shiya threw her arms up, keeping them vertical. A Nanuk wouldn’t turn his head to bite, or that’s what her father had told her. Make yourself bigger than the bear can bite, he’d said time and time again. But there was no way to be bigger than this bear could bite.

Nanuk didn’t have to turn his head to take her arms into his mouth. Her entire head could fit in those jaws lined with teeth at least four inches long and more like daggers than fangs.

Even stranger than his freakish size, his teeth hadn’t punctured her boot or crushed her ankle when he’d grabbed her. Her mind let that thought slip as he leaned in and sniffed her. Another chuff ruffled her hair. Not gentle or friendly—a well honed killing machine.
A cloud of warm breath puffed from the carnivore’s open jaws, washing across her face. The smell of minty toothpaste filled her nostrils. Shiya cringed. He’d already eaten the man, and from the smell of it, the toiletries the tourist had carried with him. Ah, shit.

The bear opened his jaws and roared again. His nose touched hers and he nudged her face with his muzzle, pushing her head back and exposing her throat. The sniffing, the huffing. Shiya couldn’t move and didn’t dare to breathe.
Here’s the part where he’ll tear my head off. Shiya closed her eyes, unable to look at death. She had many regrets, the biggest that she never had the chance to make amends with her family. It wouldn’t matter. They’d never find her body—never know she’d come home. The monster wouldn’t leave a scrap of her behind.

A coarse tongue licked her from chin to forehead. Her eyes opened and fixed on the beast before her. Shiya’s chest tightened and her heart pounded, making it impossible to draw a breath. The bear roared again. Its great maw gaped open before her, displaying rows of lethal teeth. More steam rolled over her face and then darkness. 

So, Inuit and alien doppelgangers? In This Endris Night you also meet a bad boy named Lucas, an alien hunter whose sole purpose on Earth is to eliminate any person who might put his people's secret at risk, which brings me to my WIP. Dr. Crane, meet your assassin:

Lucas perked up. He could be a rebound. Did anyone say he had to kill her tonight? Well, unless she started the shift, and then all bets were off. As her date, he could keep an eye on her. Certainly there would be a little bit more time. No, she wouldn’t change tonight. But soon. Very soon.
She sighed again. “He probably wouldn’t notice anyway. I bet it was all some kind of game to him.”

Now games, Lucas knew, and if anyone could show the bastard what he’d lost, it would be him. As she continued to talk, Lucas knew he would grant her last request, give her the night of her life, and show her first fling what he’d walked away from.

He knew this Madam Eve, had applied to her service to get close to prey before. He’d never gotten a response from her either, so he chose to crash her party in Alaska the year before, and found himself chin deep in an ocean of shit. If Nadia hadn’t had a response from Eve yet, chances were she wasn’t getting one. But there was no reason he couldn’t fulfill her request. He’d certainly paid for it, in more than one way.

He could step in and pretend to be that date and nobody would know. He’d also show her how a real man could worship her body. And then he’d kill her. He had no choice. He was a Tracker and Trackers didn’t let hybrids escape—with the exception of the last one who’d saved his life.

“Well, I’m not suppossed to be here after six, so I suppose I’ll see you in the morning.” She rose to her feet and started up the stairs. As she exited the chamber, Lucas’s stone exterior cracked and turned to dust, leaving him crouching on the stone pedestal in his true image. He hopped down, wearing a tee shirt, khaki pants and work boots. A quick dust off and he took off running toward the secret passage, hoping to cut her off.

Lucas skidded around a corner, pressed a block on the wall, and ran into the dark, using his enhanced vision to navigate the passage. He stopped in front of a wall, pushed another block and the wall slid open. He stepped into the narrow passageway. His people had provided the blueprints for the temple thousands of years before, making sure they were designed as they had been on his world. Not hard to figure out where hidden rooms and corridors sat, the sister to this temple sat in his home city of Qwurwa.

As soon as the passageway closed, Doctor Crane came around the corner and ran head-on into him. “Oh.” She staggered back. “I didn’t realize anyone else was....” Her mouth dropped open when she looked up into his eyes. “Here.”

Lucas caught her arms, steadying her. He raised a brow and gave her his best panty-melting smile. Trackers were hand-picked from youth. Only children that possessed certain attributes had the honor to train as one. They were intelligent, comely and warriors. A lethal combination that helped them to get closer to their prey. Whoo hoo for genetics. “Doctor Crane.”

“I fear you have me at a disadvantage.” She bit her lip, but didn’t shrug out of his hold. “And you are?”

What was the name of the professor replacing her, the one from Oxford?  Ah, yes. “I’m Lucas Stone, Doctor Lucas Stone.” His accent came natural, having lived in the United Kingdom for the majority of his twenty years on Earth, so it wasn’t hard to be convincing.

“I didn’t think you were so....”

Deadly? If only she knew. Now for the good stuff. Leave a comment under this post for a chance to win a copy of This Endris Night. I'd love some suggestions for a title for this Egyptian based 1 NightStand.

Oh, and make sure you enter the rafflecopter for a chance at the big prize.


RAFFLECOPTER CODE: a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck!

Coming Soon

Clone is coming soon. That's right. After five long years of work, it's ready for publication. This novel, in my opinion, was the hardest, most emotional novel I've written. I hope you'll join me in November, when I release Clone--The Book of Eva, Book I in the Clone Trilogy, and enter a world of forbidden love, deception and enemies who are cloaked as friends.

In the year 2087, a great war erupts on the planet and a struggle to survive begins. One hundred-fifty years later, the continent of America is divided into two factions, Aeropia and The United Regions. There is a shortage of food and an abundance of illness, leaving most to live on the scraps of the wealthy, who wallow in excess.

This is the world Olivia Braun inherits. Sick from birth, she wakes up from surgery with a new heart, only to discover she is the youngest president of Aeropia, an empire that has created and used clones to maintain their position of supremacy since the war. However, Olivia’s rise to power is no accident. Before her transplant, she conspired with a clone to free those enslaved, but the outcome is not what she expects.

Now, enemies hide among the population, and even friends can no longer be trusted. Olivia must make a choice that will decide the fate of an empire. Before her tale of corruption, forbidden love and war ends, the mighty will be brought to their knees.

By a clone.

What I'm working on this week.

My popular novel, Last Flight of the Ark is going to be re-released with Decadent Publishing. I'm very excited to say that I'm working on the sequel, The Fall of Jericho.

Here's a snippet from the current WIP.

It took him seconds to break into her room. Locks had never stopped him, and with his enhanced hearing and sense of smell, he could avoid anyone patrolling the barracks. He slipped into her room, as unnoticed by those on duty outside as he was by the resident within.

     Jericho crossed the room and stood by her bed, unable to do anything but stare. If he touched her, he’d lose control. Every breath, every sigh, the rise and fall of her breasts beckoned to him. He curled his fists at his sides. Why had he come here? This was a fool’s game. Terrans and hybrids didn’t belong together, couldn’t be together. Yet he yearned for the small Terran female, unlike any woman before. He opened his mouth and inhaled her scent, tasting her in the air as a predator that tracked prey.

       She’d showered, changed, but she still smelled of that same addictive scent that brought him here, one he hadn’t been able to get out of his head since he’d caught a whiff of her.
       She had a citrus smell with a touch of mint and sex. Whatever pheromones he kicked off, her body seemed to unconsciously like. He could smell her arousal the moment she’d seen him. He usually didn’t have a problem walking away from females, but this little bird was different.
       From her earthy odors to her delicate features, she’d sunk into his system like a narcotic. The longer he stared, the more aware he became of everything that made her, her.
       She shifted in her sleep, flinging the covers from her body and whimpering, rocking her hips. He lifted his nose in the air again, drawing in the delicate fragrance of her sexual awareness. Even asleep she seemed to know she was in the presence of a potential mate.
       Her fingers slipped down into her panties and she touched her heat. Rubbing. Caressing. He shifted on his feet, his erection growing impossibly hard. Painful.
       A soft moan followed as she worked her fingers in and out, rubbing, stroking, as though she knew he watched and wanted to drive him wild. The smell of sex seeped into his senses, overloading his brain with desire. Impossible to ignore, calling to his baser desires, his primitive nature.
       Just as he reached to help her find climax, her hand came out of her underwear and she rolled to her side, placing her back to him, still in the throes of sleep. Jericho stared at her ass, clad in a pair of lacy red panties, the crotch soaked with her juices. He could take a bite out of that bottom. Fuck her from behind. Drive into her until she screamed his name in pleasure.
      The muscle in his jaw ticked, cramped from how he’d clenched it. He could fight all he wanted, but the truth was he didn’t want to. Unable to resist further, he reached out and touched her dark hair, sliding the strands between his fingers. Softer than down.
      Need. Gods. He leaned closer and sniffed. She sighed and shifted to her back, bringing her mouth a fraction of an inch from his. Sweet, warm breath. She licked her lips and they parted slightly.

Have a great weekend,

D.L.

What is it about rebels?

I've been noticing a common theme in many of the stories I've written lately.

Rebels.

Everyone loves an underdog. Myself included. And maybe it's the struggle I love to write, or the character that's just a little rough around the edges. Or perhaps it's the raw, sometimes painful consequences my hero or heroine have to deal with because they choose to fight for something they believe in, that drives me to tell their stories. Whatever it is, I seem to have an infatuation with them.

Which brings me around to Rebel Souls. Of all the books I've written, published and unpublished, It's one of my favorites. My hero and heroine are from opposite sides, and must overcome almost impossible odds to have their happily ever after.

But what price is too high to pay?

What price would you pay to have your happily ever after? Would you give up everything you've fought for? Would you break the law? Walk away from a career, family, friends, everything you've strived to be and all you have stood for to embrace what you have been against. Would you become a traitor? Would you give up a chance at having a normal life and family, and always have to look over your shoulder, never knowing when you'll be found?

These are some of the dilemmas my characters face in Rebel Souls. The journey isn't an easy one, but in the end, sometimes love is worth it.

Want to read it?
Here are the buy links:
Kindle
Nook
Publisher

Blurb:

"Good morning, Duchess.”Born in the fires of revolution and baptized in the blood of those who fought for a better life, Captain Ava Frost smuggles illegal materials to a war machine that will someday free her people from an oppressive government...until her path crosses with a Regulator commander.

Seth Reynold’s mission is to find the dangerous cargo of fissile materials. When he stops Ava at a wormhole, his ethics and beliefs are compromised. Torn between duty and love, Seth is determined to find out what Ava is hiding, but her fiancé is standing in his way.

Back from the dead, Brodie Mark—a leader of the revolution, a man that challenges Ava’s loyalties in every way imaginable—wants her back and will do whatever it takes to help her realize her heritage.

While falling for the enemy and endangering all that the underground rebels had struggled to achieve, Ava must make a choice between duty and love. But is she ready to sacrifice a freedom in its infancy for a love that comes once in a lifetime?

“No man flies three days to the edge of Nexian space without a reason.”

Have a great weekend!

The Sci Fi Romance Brigade Presents--Clone

SFR Brigade Presents--click here to check out the other posts.

Today I present a snippit from my work in progress, Clone, where Olivia wakes up with a new heart.

My heart thumped against my ribs. I rested my hand over my breast bone, to steady the beat. Stronger than it had ever been. No! I eyed the door where a digital board hung. My medical history—everything I’d been through. I flailed in my bed, ripping the monitors off, kicking the sheets and blankets to a tangle at my feet. Rolling off the side, I fell to the floor, the blankets still wrapped around my legs, sharp pains shot up my tailbone. Fire in my chest. I cried out and clutched my breasts and curled into a ball.

“You should stay in bed.”

I lifted my chin and looked her in the eyes. Panic, my nerves felt attached to high voltage. I whimpered, flipped to my belly and crawled. I had to know. The chart on the door. I needed to see what was on the digital board hanging there. I pulled myself along like an infant, pain rocking my body with each movement. I came to my target, collapsed and began to cry so hard I could barely breath.



The Next Best Thing, Finding Mercy

Oh, here I am, on The Next Best Thing, blog hop. Nose to the grindstone here, and though I tried to find other authors whom I could twist an arm or two, alas, they all beat me to this blog hop. So, I'll just post a little bit about some authors I think are fabulous and talk a little about my upcoming title, Finding Mercy.

I was tagged by J.M. Madden, a fabulous writer, who is penning a series to help wounded vets. What’s not to love? You can learn more about her books here: http://jmmadden.com

Barbara Elsborg is the first author on my list you need to check out. She's been a good friend for many years, was there when I started my writing journey. Her title Strangers is one of my all time favorite contemporary romances. This book will take you on a roller coaster ride of ups and down. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry, and you’ll walk away with a new to you author that you’ll have to have more from. http://www.barbaraelsborg.com/

Arlene Webb is my next author. Her voice is one of the most unique I’ve read in years. Her stories are thought provoking and deep. If you want a book that will give you more than an escape, and challenge you intellectually, she’s the author for you. http://arlenewebb.com/
 

Sharon Fisher has just published her science fiction romance, Ghost Planet. The twists in this tale, the plot and setup are intriguing. If you’ve never tried science fiction romance, this is a good planet-based tale to cut your teeth on. You don’t get lost in the science, merely immersed in a world where it feels natural, not textbook. She does a brilliant job blending the science and fiction into a romantic tale of courage, human grit and sacrifice. http://www.sharonlynnfisher.com/

This blog hop includes ten questions to help you learn more about an author’s current work in progress, so here’s a little info about my current project:

1: What is the working title of your book? Finding Mercy

2: Where did the idea come from for the book? My publisher suggested they’d like to see a series on people who prepare for disasters, a.k.a. Preppers. When I get an idea seeded, like a burr under a saddle, it doesn’t go away. It digs at me until I do something about it, and I firmly believe that was my publishers intent when she told me about her idea. She knows me well. From there I went back to my roots and my home town of Alliance, Nebraska, which has the unique distinction of having a bomb shelter under it. In the 1940s the United States Army installed the shelter when they built the Airfield to train fighter pilots just outside the town. Its existence is a little known fact to most of the population of the United States. From there, I went to my what ifs? What if a town was flattened by tornadoes and those that decided to stay, decide they will prepare for the future to prevent the loss of life from happening again.

3: What genre does your book fall under? Contemporary/military romance.

4: Which actors/actresses would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? Scarlett Johannson is an easy one for Mercy. As for Sargent Justin Redway, a little harder, but probably Taylor Kitsch. The right age, the right look. Taylor looked great as John on Mars.

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? You’ll die in three minutes without oxygen, three hours without shelter, three days without water, and three weeks without food, but can you live a lifetime with a broken heart?

6: Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? Published by Decadent, but I’m not represented by an agent at this time. I’m considering looking for one. This will be my 18th published story and it’s getting hard to keep up with the requests rolling my way.

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? One month. That burr was really digging. LOL

8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? I don’t know of any other Prepper stories at this time. I’m sure there are, but I haven’t read them.

9: Who or What inspired you to write this book? Preppers inspired me, along with the people of my hometown, and the bug my publisher put in my ear. I’d say it was a joint effort.

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? Finding Mercy is part of a multi-author series. Two other “Evans Point”stories will be released the day after Doomsday along with Finding Mercy. They are, The Princess and the Prepper by Barbara Elsborg and Falling For Water by Arlene Webb. These two authors are amazing and I'm so thrilled they joined me in this series.

Please check out my website:  www.authordljackson.com

Thanks for stopping by,

 D L Jackson

 

Welcome to the Decadent Black Friday Hop

 

 

 

Happy Black Friday. As we all recover from our turkey hangovers, we have time to sit back and reflect on our year. This year has been a rather busy year for me. I had six releases. I also have one to be released the day after doomsday, December 22nd.

Which is what I’m dying to tell you about. When my publisher mentioned an idea for a Prepper series, I wasn’t sure at first what I'd write. It sounded like fun, but what did I know about preppers? The way my muse works, she takes a while to chew on an idea before she spits it out and slaps me upside the head, as was the case with Finding Mercy. I realized a lot of us are preppers already, in one manner or another. We prepare for bad storms, for the loss of power, or our jobs. We stock up on food and water. Grow gardens and put the food away. So, I researched and was caught up in it.

I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I spoke to my publisher on the phone for about an hour to find out more about what she wanted to see. By the end of the conversation, Evans Point was born and I was off and running.

Not only did my publisher give me a chance to write one of the launch stories for this new line of romances, she allowed me to build a world, a town to be more specific, and populate it with all kinds of people, who have all kinds of skills. People like us. Everyday people who use the skills they've aquired from jobs, the military, school and even experiences they've lived through. Then she let me invite my friends to play. Arlene Webb and Barbara Elsborg have also written stories in the Evans Point mini-series, Falling for Water andThe Princess and the Prepper.

 

 

Now, first I have to tell you this town wasn’t spun out of thin air. I had a lot of great inspiration. Evans Point, my fictional town, was modeled after the real town of Alliance, Nebraska. This little town on the edge of the Sand Hills has everything a prepper community could dream of.  In the 1940s, the United States Army built an airfield to train fighter pilots. The town’s population exploded overnight. Seeing a need to keep the military and their families safe, the Army Corp of Engineers built a bomb shelter under the town. This massive shelter takes up space under several blocks of the downtown area, and is a little known fact to people passing through. It has sat unused for over seventy years.

What if....

A town devastated by tornadoes decides to rebuild and refurbish, not only the town, but the shelter below, in hopes that they will never be caught unprepared again. This is the premise behind the community of preppers and their stories in Evans Point.

So, on December 22nd, after we’ve all weathered doomsday, I hope you’ll check out my latest release, Finding Mercy.

Blurb: 

You’ll die in three minutes without oxygen, three hours without shelter, three days without water and three weeks without food. But could you live a lifetime with a broken heart?

Mercy Evans has come to Evans Point hoping to collect herself and find a way to resurrect her career as an anchorwoman for Cheyenne’s news station. Sergeant Justin Redway has come to Evans Point to try to forget his past and survive what he’s done.

When two worlds collide, one of a battle damaged veteran, the other of a desperate woman who will go to any extreme to get his story, sparks fly and old wounds open. When the chasm between the fated lovers widens, will it be too big to cross?

One town, two lovers, and a second chance at finding mercy.

And here’s an excerpt: 

Fingers pressed against his throat, feeling for a pulse.

“This one’s alive.” Someone hoisted the weight of large chunk of wreckage from his torso. Two sets of hands slid under him. “On the count of three. One. Two. Three.”

They moved in unison, rolling him onto a stretcher.

“No,” he begged. He wasn’t alive. This couldn’t be real. Another protest gurgled from his throat and he began to convulse, unable to hold his limbs still.

“Hold him down so I can sedate him.” Hands grasped his wounded limbs. Bone cracked and shifted under their grip. He tried to arch up, but remained restrained by several soldiers. He yelled and thrashed his head side to side. They grabbed both sides of his face, holding him still.

Justin screamed. The sound was so inhuman, if he hadn’t been the one who’d made it, he wouldn’t have believed it came from a man. A stick with a needle. Burning.

As the seizure eased, they released their hold. He turned his head toward the medic who’d drugged him. The man blurred in and out. Justin’s vision came back into focus as a burnt picture of a woman and baby caught the breeze and tumbled across the baked earth next to where the medic kneeled. Justin swallowed and his eyes blurred with tears. Williams hadn’t even gotten to hold his daughter.

“You’re going to be okay.”

Let me die. Please. Let me die. Pain rode his nerves like an electrical wire, sending jolts of agony to the tips of his fingers and toes. He opened his mouth, but nothing came from his throat. Boom, boom, boom. His heartbeat slowed as the sedative did its job.

“Get him on the chopper.”

Regardless the drug, every step the medics took hurt as they hauled him toward reprieve. Broken bones, burns, but nothing compared to what played through his head. He’d killed them all and survived to see his handiwork. Nothing could be worse than that.

Thanks for stopping by, and make sure to check out the other stops on the hop to get in on the great prizes. For a chance to win a $10 Amazon Gift Certificate, leave a comment under this post. I’ll draw a name on Saturday and announce the the winner. And don't forget to mark your calender for December 22nd, for the triple release of the Evans Point Prepper series.

For more information about my books and buy links, please visit my website:  www.authordljackson.com You can find all my current works in the bookstore.

D L Jackson

 

 

 

 



Coming Home, a Military Love Story

I'm participating in the Veterans Day blog hop and I'll be giving away a tee-shirt (open to US residents only) (M/L/XL)  and an e-copy of Cinderella Wore Combat Boots (Open to all). I hope you'll stop by and help me salute our Vets. Leave a comment on the post Sunday through Wednesday, and you'll be entered to win. It's that easy.

Click to Visit Other Posts

 

I've had people ask why I write military romance, and why I often incorporate it in my other genres. My anwser will always be the same. I've been there. I'm a female veteran and the military is a big part of my life, past future and present.

In my popular 1 NightStand novella, Cinderella Wore Combat Boots, I decided to write a story about change, but I  also wanted to tell a story about the military brother and sisterhood, a bond that you have to experience to truly understand, something that I love to share. So....

When asked to write about military romance for this Veterans Day, I had to go back to my past. My military romance started nearly twenty-three years ago, when I met my husband. We were both in the Army and stationed at Ft Drum, NY.  I believe things happen for a reason. My romance wasn't an easy one. Months into my love affair, I was pregnant, and had orders to deploy to the Gulf 45 days after I gave birth. At the time, my husband was already deployed to the Gulf. I spent my Christmas alone, with letters home from my soldier to keep me warm.

The Gulf War ended two weeks before I gave birth. My husband was sent home with the advance party, barely making it back in time to see his son born. I remember our reunion, a parking lot out front of the barracks at zero one hundred hours. It's so different now than when I was in. There were no crowds, three or four vehicles with family members. When my husband climbed out of the back of that five ton, emotions crashed in around me. Here he was, home safely after so many months. I can not describe the way I felt in that moment, but I can show you in the face of my daughter-in-law when my son, the one I carried at my husband's homecoming, came home from his deployment in Afghanistan. It speaks of the way I felt, better than I ever could.

Now, she hates this picture. Sorry, Cate, but I love it. The tears, the red face. But you know the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words? Well, if that is this case, this one is a novel. Before I post it though, I want to tell you a bit about Cate's story and take you to the point this photo was taken.

Cate and James had just met before he went to boot camp. In true Jackson Fashion, and I don't know why this seems to happen every time, but when someone in our family goes into the military, someone gets pregnant. The tradition started with my mother-in-law the Marine, who gave birth to my husband, to my pregnancy with my oldest son, to my daughter-in-law Cate, to my youngest son's girlfriend of over three years, who is now carrying my second grandchild. Yes, I can honestly say I've been there, done that. I can honestly say I know what my boy's sweethearts are and have gone through.

Getting back to Cate's story. Cate moved in with us for her pregnancy to save some money for the baby's arrival, but also to feel secure while James was away. It's hard being alone and pregnant while your guy is called to duty. Because of this, I saw a military romance as it bloomed. Unlike my own letters home that I still have, Cate was able to Skype and talk on the phone to my son. When he was deployed a few months after his daughters birth, she could face to face chat on the computer, something I never had, and to be truthful, made me a bit envious. But she still didn't get to see him often, and the separation between them was hard to witness.

Again, I know how this is and I'm eternally grateful I was able to help her through this difficult time because of my own experiences. Still, as the days went by, Cate grew blue. Her baby daughter kept her busy, but she was missing something in her life. Being held. Knowing the man she loved was safe beside her when the world seemed to be falling apart. Oh, how I knew that feeling.

As a veteran, I understand the deep commitment to country, and your brother and sisters in arms. You are a family, you want to be there with them, to help watch their backs. You train together, fight together, and yes sometimes during those deployments, your friends and members of your military family, are killed in combat. My son is infantry, and front line. He sees heavy combat. A lot of it.

At home, when a Marine was killed, the phone would ring, and a message would go out, initiating a phone support chain. They never said who, we only knew that one of the Marines was killed when that message played. We'd scramble for the computer, desperate to know who, even though we knew if it were our loved one, we would have already been notified. Still, we had this horrible sinking feeling, this gut-wrenching pain that somewhere out there a family mourned a great loss.

Several times during those long months that phone would ring and that message would play. When the day came for their return, I can not tell you the storm of emotion that surrounded us. Joy, pain, sadness, all wrapped up in this ball, ready to explode.

The day James came home from his last deployment was hot. The outside temperature was 106 and humid. We stood in the heat for six hours waiting for the buses to pull up, talking to other families, walking around nervous, on pins and needles. We set up awnings and chairs. Unpacked our coolers and chatted with the other families, anything to settle our nerves.

It was during one of these chats I met an extraordinary woman, the mother of a fallen Marine. I did not know it at the time, but they call them members of the Gold Star Sisterhood and Families. She'd traveled halfway across the country to the homecoming knowing her son would not be climbing off that bus. When I asked her why, she simply said, "I needed to see the other sons come home safely." The strength. The courage. I can not imagine what it took to be there for this event and watch them step off that bus.

In yet another spot, a young Marine waited for his brothers to come home. He sat silently in a wheel chair, both his legs and one arm completely gone. The trip had been painful for him I'd been told, but there was no place he'd rather have been.

So, by the time the buses were spotted, the crowd was in a frenzy, barely contained. As the buses drove around the barracks and pulled up in front of us, this picture of Cate was snapped.
This girl loves her Marine.

 

So, this Veterans Day I celebrate a lot of things. My time served in the Army, my husband's service and our family's, going back to WWII. I salute my sons while they currently serve, and my oldest as he gets ready to deploy again.



Thank you heroes, past, future and present. God bless our military and their families, and preserve the love that keeps them going. It is love like this, that holds us together and makes this country strong.

To learn more about my books, please stop by my website and visit the Book Store. Click on the covers to be taken to the buy links.
Unusual Worlds You Want to Get Lost In.

In closing I'd like to thank all Veterans for their service, for keeping our country free and safe from enemies foreign and domestic.

Hu-ah and Oorah!

D L Jackson

I wanted to talk about my decadent titles today and what things I most enjoyed about writing the story, or what my favorite parts are.

Carnal Desires ~

When Mercedes, the town librarian, enters a place no good girl would dare to tread, she meets a man who says he’s an incubus, who has an offer too tempting to pass. After the encounter with the stranger, sanity returns and Mercedes begins to wonder if she’s lost her mind along with her memory, or if the man in the back of the adult toy store really was who he claimed to be.

Genre: Paranormal, short story, contemporary, erotic romance
Heat level: 5
Word count – 3k

What my favorite part of this story is: I loved writing the inital contact of these two. This Edge series is possibly one of the hotter works of fiction I've written, and making the sparks fly was a bonus.

Carnal Attraction ~

Thousands of years have passed. Azael has returned to Jezebel, and he’s brought her memories with him. Now that Jezebel has them back, she doesn’t intend to lose them again by starving herself of life energies. So, when she encounters a broken heart in the seedy strip club where she works, she knows dinner will be special that night. This time, the feeding will be on her terms, and the man who’s wandered into her snare, shouldn’t miss the small bite of soul she takes. Much.

Genre: Paranormal romance, short story, erotic romance
Heat level: 5
Word count – 3500

What my favorite part of this story is: The evolution of the hero and the heroine.

 

Carnal Denial ~

Game on.

Another lamb for the feast. Not likely. Jezebel knows that taking a bite out of the virgin bait the demon slayers have tossed into the club is a bad idea. But there’s also more than one way to skin a proverbial cat, or in this instance, pop a slayer’s cherry before she causes any problems. There’s nothing in the succubus rule book that says Jezebel has to play fair. After all, she need only suggest. What the slayer does with the nudge is up to her.

Check mate.

Genre: Paranormal, contemporary, erotic romance
Heat level: 4
Word count – 5k

What my favorite part of this story is: The game.

 

Cinderella Wore Combat Boots ~

Sometimes Fairytales come true.

First Sergeant Cori Valentine faces a bleak future. She’s turning forty in three weeks and life as she knows it is over. An injury received while on deployment has earned her an early retirement from the Marine Corps, something she’s not sure she’ll survive. Things get even better when interfering Marines set her up on a blind date for a party she doesn’t want. The guy has to be a total toad to want to go out with her. Right?

When Madame Eve informs Retired SEAL, Sol Keller she’s found his perfect match, he doesn’t believe it, but takes up the challenge. One look at the First Sergeant in a sexy dress and combat boots has him wondering if fairytales really can come true. Madame Eve might be the legendary Fairy Godmother, and Cori his Cinderella. Sol intends to show the Marine beauty a Prince Charming she’ll never forget, and that retirement isn’t the end of her story but merely the beginning.

Genre: Erotic romance, contemporary, military romance
Heat level: 4
Word count – 11k

What my favorite part of this story is: I had to go back to my days when I was a woman in the military. I wanted the readers to experience life from her combat boots. It was fun to bring this to the readers.

Courtesan Boot Camp ~

And courtesan boot camp starts now.

When Shay lands on Elatia, she knows she has one shot to be chosen as courtesan for a king and queen. Mess up—everything she was born to be, all she’s trained her entire life to become—will be lost. The alternative is unthinkable.

What a pampered priss.

Dayne’s first impression isn’t a good one, but he’s determined to turn the spoiled beauty into the next royal courtesan at any cost. As a Dominus, a master of all things sexual, he agrees to help a friend, his sovereign, and promises to do nothing to compromise her future.

Except the promise may cause him to question his loyalty, friendship and honor. All he knows is on the line…when he falls in love with a woman who can never be his.

Genre: Sci-fi romance, erotic romance, fantasy
Heat level: 4
Word count – 29k

What my favorite part of this story is:  This story was so much fun to write. Take a pampered priss, throw her together with a man who is the exact opposite, then watch sparks fly. The push and pull of these two is what I most enjoyed writing.

My Boogie Woogie Bugle Guy ~When Grace Daniels goes to the cemetery to visit the grave of her twin brother, she meets a soldier, there for the same reason, or at least that’s what she believes until he tells her about the blind date her brother arranged before he was killed in combat.

It’s the date of her dreams. Big band, brass and sass, Madame Eve from 1NightStand has set her up for an unforgettable night, a WWII swing dance party. Unfortunately, she’s having trouble letting go of her past and is afraid to take the chance given to her.

Sergeant Frank Winters is an Army trumpet player who travels with the Color Guard, a great dancer, and six feet four inches of eye candy that could make her an addict. He’s also a soldier and soldiers can get killed. Grace doesn’t have the heart to lose someone again, but Frank knows a good thing when he sees it, and he’s determined to show her in one night, she’s got more to lose if she walks away.

Genre: Contemporary, erotic romance, military romance
Heat level: 4
Word count – 13k

What my favorite part of this story is: I often see Special Forces, SEALS and Recon when the military is represented in a romance, and there is nothing wrong with it, but I wanted the reader to see a different kind of soldier, one you don't hear a lot about. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. This is a tale of finding love when and where you least expect it, and squeezing the lemons for all they're worth.

Rebel Souls ~

“Good morning, Duchess.”

Born in the fires of revolution and baptized in the blood of those who fought for a better life, Captain Ava Frost smuggles illegal materials to a war machine that will someday free her people from an oppressive government...until her path crosses with a Regulator commander.

Seth Reynold’s mission is to find the dangerous cargo of fissile materials. When he stops Ava at a wormhole, his ethics and beliefs are compromised. Torn between duty and love, Seth is determined to find out what Ava is hiding, but her fiancé is standing in his way.

Back from the dead, Brodie Mark—a leader of the revolution, a man that challenges Ava’s loyalties in every way imaginable—wants her back and will do whatever it takes to help her realize her heritage.

While falling for the enemy and endangering all that the underground rebels had struggled to achieve, Ava must make a choice between duty and love. But is she ready to sacrifice a freedom in its infancy for a love that comes once in a lifetime?

“No man flies three days to the edge of Nexian space without a reason.”

Genre: Sci fi romance, fantasy, erotic romance
Heat level: 4
Word count – 45k

What my favorite part of this story is: Writing a story of enduring love. My first draft had my heroine and hero reuniting in their eighties, thumbing their nose at the law and running off into the stars together. Same story. They just came to their senses a little earlier.

Seducing Liberty ~

Out of the mists of time, rides a story of espionage, love, and a 1Night Stand.

When Ryann Summers, an actress playing the role of Lady Liberty, an Agent in Washington’s Culper spy ring, asks Madame Eve of 1Night Stand for a date, a night she’ll never forget—where her identity is kept secret—she gets more than she bargained for.

Now she’s caught in the middle of the American Revolution and between two of the sexiest men she’s ever set eyes on. If she can survive the musketballs and the invading British forces, she just might find everything she’s been searching for—sex hot enough to set the sea on fire.

Genre: Paranormal, erotic romance, time travel, historical, fantasy, multiple partners
Heat level: 4
Word count – 12k

What my favorite part of this story is: Stretching my historical knowledge and putting it to use. I enjoyed writing about the Culper Ring so much, that I might just write a novel dedicated to it alone. I adore American History and tales of real heroes, and incorporating the truth with the fiction was a blast.

This Endris Night ~

One night. One party of a lifetime. One secret a century old which could end it all.

Shiya, a Yupik supermodel, travels to Alaska in pretense of attending a party where she’ll find the man of her dreams. But her real intent is to lure the man of her nightmares to where she can finally end a deadly game of cat and mouse.

Gunnar is on Earth for one reason—to recover the wreckage of a Doppelganger crash that is scattered for miles, throughout an Alaskan resort and human settlements. In order to get closer to the ship’s debris, he agrees to a date and finds himself face to face with a Terran woman who doesn’t know her genetics are from his world, or that she’s being tracked by someone whose duty is to eliminate all threats to their secret. Shiya’s heritage has placed her at the top of the killer’s list.

Now the only way to save her, is to claim her, and Shiya isn’t about to make it easy.

Genre: Paranormal romance, sci-fi, fantasy, erotic romance, holiday
Heat level: 4
Word count – 12k

What my favorite part of this story is: Diversity of characters and worlds. I loved writing my dopplegangers and bringing them to life in Alaska. What many don't know, is this is science fiction romance.

Where to buy these books

So I hope you'll take a chance on some of my stories and you find unusual worlds you want to get lost in. I'm giving away to one lucky commenter a signed tote with my decadent covers and one of the e-titles above (your choice of which). Leave a comment with your email addy, and you've dropped your name in the virtual hat. It's that easy. I'll draw a winner on Saturday next week and announce the winner in my post.
Best of luck!

D L Jackson