A thousand bodies swaying to the hypnotic rhythm, but not a one for me.
Atria pushed through the throng of people. Smoke and sweat clung in the air. She crinkled her nose. Too many writhing limbs and not enough air to breathe. One of the concertgoers, a punk kid with a piercing glittering in his nose, tossed her a sneer. The four-inch spikes of ebony hair on his head reminded her of lethal weapons. "Wannabe," the teen snapped.
Snorting, she pushed past him. "Bathe." He might be dangerous in a rebellious teenager sort of way, but he had nothing on her.
"Go home," he growled and put his palm up. "This line is for passes and hardcore Glow fans."
Atria flicked her fingers, sending an arc of flame to his hand. His eyes widened, and his skin paled beyond the white makeup. The facade of bad boy melted into scared child as he backed away from her.
"What the hell?" His voice shook. "I didn't mean for you to kill me."
She leaned in close enough for him to hear her over the roar of the music. "If I wanted to kill you, you'd be toast by now."
The punk shook his head and backed away. His body trembled. "You're a freak -- a scary freak. What the fuck?"
Good, she thought and continued to the door. Always nice to be recognized as different. Along the way, two more rowdy kids shoved at her. Both found out the hard way -- through a minor hair fire and scorched eyebrows -- Atria Moline didn't play games.
"She burnt me!" The kid with blue streaked hair stormed the guard. "That bitch burned me. I'll have to shave my damned head."
"Consider it an improvement," the bouncer snapped. "Go." One brow rose as he considered Atria. "How many?"
She sighed. "I only scorched three, Hiram." Trust her big brother to call her on the carpet. "They didn't burn. Just a little sizzle and everything will grow back. Maybe."
"Your sizzle will get your ass arrested." Hiram sniffed the air and blew out a long breath."You burned hair and it smells like ass. Don't do that again. Sister or not, I will hurt you."
"No you won't. You love me and you'll protect me because I'm your sister." She braced her hands on her hips. "Ha."
"Whatever, brat. Are you here to see Lucien?" His smile widened. "Or have you finally found the nerve to talk to Zac?"
"Shut up." The response sounded one hell of a lot better than, I want to jump his bones and ride to Arizona. Damn it. Luc wanted pictures taken after the gig. "I'm here to photograph, not hurl myself at anyone." Shit. That sounded goofy, especially since she didn't have her camera in plain sight. The thought crossed her mind -- had she remembered it at all?
"Uh-huh." He twisted the knob and allowed her into the inner sanctum -- the backstage area. "Next time, keep the camera around your neck for credibility."
Although Atria considered giving her brother the middle finger, she refrained and shivered. She'd been backstage at the Steelyards plenty of times. Luc and his band, Glow, played lots of places, plenty of them creepier than the former factory warehouse. Why the hell did the massive room scare her? One name came to mind. Zac.
Damn.
She plopped down onto a nearby folding chair and closed her eyes. Zacchaeus "Iceman" Frost. Goofy name for a hot man. Hot? Okay, so the guy was handsome in a brooding, six-foot-five manner. She licked her lips as a clear image of Zac came together in her mind.
Muscles just where a woman wanted to lick. Hardly a stitch of hair on him and a just one tattoo on his back -- a spider web or medieval design -- she wasn't sure and didn't care. And those eyes, the pristine blue of the North Atlantic. Heat zipped through her veins.
Was he packing? The bulge in the front of his leathers hinted at more than enough to please. Need tingled in her pussy, and Atria crossed her legs to stave off the sensations.
"I want you, Attie." His sensual lips curled into a smile. "Now."
Her breath came in labored puffs as she opened to him. Just to feel his callused hands on her body, tweaking her nipples, drawing out her fire and scorching them through and through.
"What are you doing?"
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Zac's voice, and not from her fantasy, came through loud and clear. The music stopped, leaving her in the thick throb of the crowd noise just on the other side of the wall...
The fantastic Rachel Leigh is here today, talking about her book, dogs, and Greece! Want to know more? Read on, my friends, read on. So Rachel, where are you from?
I’m from the South West of England and live in a beautiful part of the country near many historic sites such as Stonehenge and the White Horse on Cherill. There are lots and lots of places to walk my beloved black Labrador and I can’t imagine me ever leaving here unless I win the lottery, of course!
We’d all like to win the lottery in this day and age. So, tell us your latest news?
My latest news is the release of my second novella with The Wild Rose Press called “Coming Back”. It is a British set romance with British characters. A classic reunion story and the fight the hero and heroine have to conquer make it work this time. Here’s the blurb:Kelly Hampton loved once...and lost. After two years of looking for Sean McKenzie in other men--and failing miserably--she takes a vow of celibacy. No sex until she finds love. Then Sean strolls back into her bar, reigniting old flames. No one has come close to understanding or satisfying her like he did. Her body burns for the passion they once shared, but her heart still remembers the pain.
Sean escaped Jessop Hill and his father's fists in the middle of the night without a word--even to his love, Kelly--to protect his battered mother, but he never forgot the explosively erotic relationship he left behind. Now his father is dead and Sean is back for the only woman he's ever wanted. Their reunion is full of fire – but can sexual attraction and noble intentions overcome years of heartache or will Kelly walk away to protect her heart this time.
Ooh! Sounds sexy! Fanning self. What are your current projects?
I am half way through my next novella, tentatively called “Greek Gratification”. It has a British hero and heroine but is set on the Greek island of Zante where I holidayed a few years ago. It is an extremely hot and sensual country and I knew I wanted to write a story based there one day. 
This story came to life by a contest I held on my blog where I gave a choice of three hero occupations, three heroine occupations and three settings. The winning combination? A pro-bono lawyer, a chef and Greece – done!
Now that’s cool. I love a tall, dark and handsome hero...make him Greek and I’m sold. Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
My fabulous friends, idols and mentors of the Romantic Novelists Association (UK RWA equivalent). It is a fantastic organization where you can learn so much from other writers who support you all the way. Members are equally as excited for other members’ success as they are their own which is just wonderful. The annual conference is always a guaranteed good time with lots of hard learning in the day and lots of hard partying at night!
Sounds like you’ve been hanging out with us. Grin. Do you see writing as a career?
Definitely! I think you have to if you want to go all the way in this world. There are writers who just want to write for themselves and that is fine too, but for me I want this to earn me a living. I want to be able to do this forever and if I get rich along the way, great. If not, just enough to justify me being home writing stories all day will be enough.
Always good to be humble. Who designed the covers?
My wonderful editor, Angela Anderson is also my cover artist. I love both my covers and we discussed them in detail until I was happy with the images. There are so many great covers out there, I don’t know how the artists ever come up with something new that hasn’t already been done. She’s fab!
I know! I have no idea how they do it either, but kudos to them. What animal do you think makes the best pet and why?
Black Labrador – yes, you’ve guessed it because I’ve got one, lol! My dog, Max is my best and constant companion. We walk for miles and then he will sleep for hours wherever I am writing. Every day. Love that boy!
Aren’t they good feet warmers, too? Mine are. You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?
Going out with a boy I let mistreat me for FAR too long…
We all have those moments. (hug) What were you doing at midnight last night?
Dancing with my husband in the kitchen – seriously. And yes, we did have a tad too much wine… ; )
Now that sounds like a heckuva time. Have you ever cried during a movie? If yes, which one and why?
Forrest Gump gets my every time – and I don’t just cry once, I cry at so many parts, it’s ridiculous! But I can’t say which parts in case there is anyone left in the world that hasn’t seen it and is reading this.
That one’s a sob-fest for us, too. Speaking of movies, you gotta eat when watching a pizza. What is your favorite?
Texan BBQ from Domino’s is absolutely delicious! Combination of spicy and sweet, yum…in fact, what are we having for dinner tonight again?
Giggle. Are you a morning person or a night person?
With my writing I am a definite morning person but with regard to socializing, I am very much a night person with dinner, wine and late night chatting. Love that!
We’ve had a great time talking with Rachel, but I’m sure you want to know more about Rachel Leigh. Yeah? Here’s the official bio and her links! Be sure to check her out.
Rachel Leigh lives in the UK and is married to her own sexy hero. Even though Rachel has only two erotic romance novellas published, she enjoyed writing them so much, she has two more lined up and almost ready to go off to The Wild Rose Press. When she isn’t writing, you can find her reading, watching American TV dramas. Running around after her two daughters….or playing with her husband.
www.rachelleigh.co.uk
www.rachelleighromance.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rachel-Leigh/266044849655
This week on the couch is our dear friend, ROZ LEE!!!! We couldn’t wait to have her come by, so we hope you enjoy the interview as much as we had fun conducting it!
Let’s get this party started! As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
When I was a kid, it was more about what I didn’t want to do. I didn’t want to be a housewife. *shudders* Even now, the thought makes me cringe! I was the youngest of three and the only girl. As such, my status was mom’s helper.
I was the one expected to help with the household chores, and my mother was one of those people who thought everything in the house had to be dusted, swept, mopped, washed, cleaned, folded and put away – every day. While my brother’s did their ‘guy’ things, I escaped to my dad’s shop (he was a farm equipment mechanic) and did my best to get dirty. It was a pretty easy task. Drove my mother crazy!
There’s no crime in messin’ with a little grime. Have you ever made a crank phone call? If yes, explain what you did.
Yes. My cousin and I were close in age, and she was the sister I didn’t have. We got into a spot of trouble now and then. We weren’t very original – usually the Prince Albert in a can, or the Is your refrigerator running jokes. The other day when I asked about Prince Albert in a can, the person on the other end of the line asked if I meant Prince William. I think I need some new material.
You should see how much trouble we get into.... anyway... What inspired you to write your first book?
I blame it all on my daughters. The story couldn’t be more cliché. I read a lot of romance novels when they were growing up, and one day, one of them made the remark that I’d read so many I could probably write one myself. I thought, why not? That was about ten years ago, and it took a while, but I finally learned enough about the craft to get something published.
Always good to blame them on the kids. We do. When you looked in the mirror this morning, what was the first thing you thought?
Holy crap! Someone needs to clean this mirror! Needless to say, I thought about getting out the spray cleaner, then decided not to. (See answer to the first question. I’m pretty much allergic to housework.) Heaven only knows what I would have seen if the mirror was clean.
We’re supposed to do housework? Huh. Never knew that. Shrugs. Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?
Have to? No. Want to? Yes. I love to travel, anywhere, anytime, any way I can get there. I might have missed my mother’s clean the house genes, but I did inherit her Shaggy Dog Syndrome. Open the car door and I jump in!
It was a family cruise that inspired me to write THE LUST BOAT, my first published novel. I blame that on my daughters too. It was their idea to go on a Caribbean cruise instead of exchange Christmas gifts we didn’t need.
Now I so want to go on a cruise. Phooo. What were you doing at midnight last night?
I was standing at the dining room window waiting for the motion lights in the back yard to come on again so I could see what kind of critter was triggering them and keeping me awake. I never did see what it was, so I’m guessing it was the neighbor’s cat out hunting mice. In the past, I’ve seen deer, bear, and possums. It’s a hazard of living in the forest, but I love it!
You live near bears? Ok, that’s not fun. Watch for the small critters and hope they aren’t lunch. What does your family think of your writing?
They’ve all been very supportive of my writing, even when I figured I was doing it for myself, and no one else would ever see it. I surprised them all when I switched from writing mainstream (vanilla) romance to erotic romance. I actually had to come clean and tell my daughters what I was writing when I sold THE LUST BOAT. I’d already ‘fessed up to my husband and let him read some of what I was writing. He was all for it.
It took the girls a few minutes to wrap their heads around it, but now they proudly proclaim, “My mother writes smut!” I couldn’t be more proud! *wipes tear from her eye*
My husband keeps my SWAG in his office and hands it out. He’s in the construction business, so I think it gives him a little more cred to be married to an erotic romance author! He’s also hoping he can retire and let me earn the living sometime soon. *ROFLMAO* Note to hubby: Don’t quit your job just yet!
Hee hee. The men do love to put that into the conversation – my wife does write dirty books! What do you want to know about the future?
Not a thing. When I was pregnant I didn’t want to know whether I was having a boy or a girl, and I still don’t want to peek into what lies ahead. I take life as it comes. Besides, I’m certain there isn’t a person on the planet who could have predicted my current occupation.
Now, I’m going to get existential on you… If you know something about your future and you do something to change it – isn’t that your future instead? So why didn’t you see that version of your future to begin with? See what I mean? The whole idea of predicting your future is a moot point.
You make a very good point. So, if you could wish for anything, what would you wish for?
World peace? Okay, okay. I don’t need a crystal ball to see that isn’t going to happen, so I’ll choose something else.
How about an unlimited number of wishes? No? Okay, here it is…
I’d wish for happiness for my daughters. Of all the things I’ve done in my life, they’re the best. If I could order up a future for them, it would be filled with love, laughter, friends and family.
Works for us. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Easy question. I love you all!
Even when I thought I was writing for myself (something like talking to hear your head rattle, but on paper), I hoped one day other people would have a chance to read what I’d written and find some measure of enjoyment from it. So, to all of you who have read my books, I say thank you, and bless your heart! Your kind words and your faithful following mean the world to me, and you are the reason I stare at a blank page every day until my imaginary friends talk to me. {{{hugs}}} to all of you!
Now that was sweet. We love you, too. So now for the readers: where can you find Ms. Roz on the net?
Website - www.rozlee.net
Blog - www.authorrozlee.blogspot.com
FB - www.facebook.com/authorrozlee
Twitter - www.twitter.com/iwriteromance
Here’s the blurb for her latest book: Love Me Twice!Sean Callahan came aboard to do his brother Ryan a favor, and ended up the man in charge when both Ryan and Richard left the ship with the women they love. The last thing he needs is a complication, and Celeste is definitely a complication. Once upon a time Celeste had been part of his team as well as his lover, but after a disaster of a mission, and the realization that the other member of his team, Drew was in love with her too, she'd disappeared. Now she was back, and Sean was trapped on the Lothario, his brother's floating bordello, with the woman he still loves, as well as Drew.Some women have all the luck. Celeste just isn't one of them. All the luck she seems to have is the bad kind. How else can you explain ending up on a ship with the two men she's tried to forget for the last five years? Even worse, not a thing has changed. She still loves them both. Leaving them behind only postponed the decision she knows she has to make. Celeste has one week to choose between Sean and Drew, or tell both of them goodbye, this time for good.
Now go on out there and investigate her work and thanks to Roz for stopping by!
Here’s the official bio, but our guest is dear friend of the Menagerie, Victoria Blisse!!!
Victoria Blisse is a Mother, Wife, Christian, Manchester United Fan and Award Winning Erotica Authoress.
She is equally at home behind a laptop or a cooker and she loves to create stories, poems, cakes and biscuits that make people happy. She was born near Manchester, England and her northern English quirkiness shows through in all of her stories.
Passion, love and laughter fill her works, just as they fill her busy life.
We are so glad you made it. Love having you on the couch. Where are you from?
I was born and bred in the North West of England and I currently live just to the East of Manchester. I love it. I’m definitely a northern bird through and through.
I’m so jealous. I want to go to England.
Me, too. So, do you have a specific writing style?
My style is quite light and humourous. I love to make people chuckle and you know everyone thinks a sense of humour is attractive! I try and keep my fiction ‘real’. I don’t mean I only write what happens in real life, I’ve written about werewolves, Vampires and Djinns as well as just human type humans but I like my characters to be people you believe you could meet in the street.
Yay! Someone else who loves to laugh. How did you come up with the title?
I was asked to write a story for the Bollywood line and after a lot of thought I started writing this story about a Bollywood star, his Djinn and the Bollywood loving British Cinema steward. As is often the case I had written the whole book before the title came to me. I felt that Silver Screen Dream seemed grandiose in a typically Bollywood style and that since a lot of the action happens in a cinema that it was good to mention that in the title!
I love the costumes...sigh...
She’s a hopeless romantic and loves satiny fabric. Geesh. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Love conquers all. I know it’s not a new message but I think it is an important one in a world where violence, terror and pain are so pervasive.
Even Johnny, my Djinn believes Love Conquers all and he’s a very jaded individual. Well, you would be living in slavery for hundreds of years in a world you hate surrounded by humans you don’t understand. But even Johnny knows love is something special, something worth fighting for.
Great theme! How much of the book is realistic?
Okay, well, I can’t say it all is because erm, I’ve never met a Djinn in real life. However, I can confidently say that I did a lot of Bollywood research and I do know what the inside of a British cinema looks like so all that is pretty damn real I can tell you.
Silver Screen Dream is as real as a supernatural tale with magic and hot sex in it can be.
Hot sex makes lots of stories even better. Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
Now if I had a tenner for every time I’m asked this I’d be…slightly better off than I am now!
I think any author who says that their stories aren’t based, at least in in part, on their own life experiences are probably not telling the whole truth. I think we all pull on our lives when we’re looking for inspiration. But no, though characters may have essences of people in my life and some scenes may bear a passing resemblance to things that have happened to me in real life most of what I write comes straight from my imagination.
(Falling over laughing about the tenner...hee hee!) You crack us up! Do you see writing as a career?
Yes, a pleasurable one, one that doesn’t quite pay the bills as yet but yes, it’s definitely a career. I’m so lucky to love it so much I do it for pleasure too.
And of course by ‘it’ I mean writing!
Well, yanno, this is the Menagerie...’it’ can be a lot of things. *g* Can you share a little of your current work with us?
Oh, gladly! Here’s a snippet from when Rahul and Laura meet for the first time.
“I had to peep again, I just couldn’t resist. I reached out to open the door once more without even glancing that way. My hand encountered something hard, but it was also warm and it certainly wasn’t wooden like the door would have been.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I gasped. “I didn’t see you there.”
“It’s okay,” Rahul replied with a smirk. “I never complain when a pretty lady touches me.”
“Are you all right? Do you need anything?”
I stepped back but didn’t take my hand off his chest. Signals from my brain were taking forever to seep through the excited cells of my body to my fingers.
“I do want something,” he said, and stared deep into my eyes as the door swung shut behind him. “I want you.”
I wasn’t sure I had heard him right at first. I decided I must have been fantasising again.
“Pardon?”
“I want you,” he repeated. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you.”
“Me?” I was stunned. I should have leapt on him. I should have pushed my face to his, but all I did was stand rooted to the spot. Oh, and I gawped. Like a wide-mouthed clown on a miniature golf course, I let my jaw hang loose.
“Yes,” he affirmed, “you.”He stepped forward and pushed a curl of my hair back behind my ear. His warm fingers lingered on my cheek, his soft palm lay gently on my heated flesh.
I held my breath.
He looked at my lips, and I darted my tongue out instinctively to wet the dried flesh that I had suddenly become intensely aware of.
It was just like my favourite moment from any Bollywood film. Time slowed, colours intensified and I noticed the ice shock of his blue corneas against the jet black, widened pools of lust that were his pupils.
I could hear the softened, romantic music. It might have been real or imagined, I wasn’t sure, but everything in the background faded away, and it became as if Rahul and I were the only people in all the world.
The moment his lips touched mine, I felt as if I had been switched on. Turned on, certainly, but I was also fully functioning. Every little brush of his lips on mine registered in every last, little nerve. Every movement excited me. I realised I had been left on standby since I had been dumped by Danny, my body just going through the motions. Rahul’s kiss brought me back to life.
I had never experienced anything of its like before. I suddenly realised why a kiss could bring Snow White back from the dead. I won’t ever be able to explain exactly what happened to me then, but it was magical. I had watched a million movies, each of them hundreds of times over. I’d seen more first kisses than I could remember, and I always knew, deep in my heart, that a Bollywood kiss was a lie. It was acting. It was a show.
I got my first Bollywood kiss, and I realised that it was a reality. That love at first kiss could exist.”
Be right back. I have to fan my computer screen.
Dramatic. She’s so dramatic. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Thank you! I know it’s not much, but it’s heartfelt!
Thank you is a big thing to say when lots don’t. *g* What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Well, I do all my writing early in the morning and I usually get the titles after I’ve written the whole story. Are they quirks?
If you say they are quirks, then they are. What do you like to do when you're not writing?
I read, I bake, I sing (in the church choir), I walk and do Zumba!
Not all at the same time, though.
Aw, come on. Tell the truth. You really do all that at the same time. Ok, so maybe not. Makes a funny picture though. What do you think makes a good story?
Excellent Characters are essential to a good story. You need something interesting to happen but unless I care about the people in the event I’m not going to enjoy the book.
Well put. As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
I changed my mind fairly often but I wanted to be a nurse, a doctor, a vet, an archeologist, a librarian and a teacher and my top fantasy job was always to be an author.
I’m so lucky!
There’s no crime in trying every option. I love it. Do you hate how you look in pictures? Why or why not?
Generally, I don’t mind how I look in photos. My husband, God love him, has a habit of capturing me in the most unflattering light possible but apart from his quest to make me look like a right plonker I’m generally fairly happy with how I look in photos.
Yanno, I think it’s a man thing. Food half way to the mouth? Snap! Hair in your face? Snap. Kid spilled something down your front? Snap! Been there, done that.
We both have. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Sleeping. I’m an early morning person so I’m rarely awake after 11pm and I swear if I’m up past midnight a well fed Gremlin has nothing on me.
Wow, now that’s an 80’s reference. *g* What’s a saying you use a lot? Where did it originate from?
Wait and see. I’m a patient kind of person and I try and diffuse situations a lot. I also have a nine year old daughter who isn’t so patient. You’d be amazed how many times a day I can use the chosen three words!
You have patience. Want to share it with Kealie and me? We need patience....bad. Have you ever cried during a movie? If yes, which one and why?
I always cry. I am so very soft. ET gets me every time and this is a true, if weird fact. EVERY time I hear even a short snippet of Bright Eyes from Watership Down I cry. I do. It happened in a supermarket once, how embarrassing!
Last question...Are you a morning person or a night person?
Morning, totally a morning person. On holiday I wake up early to go for a morning walk. It’s something we’d do on family holidays when I was little. My Dad, me and sometimes my sister would go out for a walk at six in the morning then go back to the caravan for breakfast!
Do you want to know more about Silver Screen Dream? Here’s the blurb:
Book one in the Djinn's Amulet Series
When true love conquers all, what is a djinn to do?
Johnny is a djinn, and he has a hard life. His master, Rahul, is a massive Bollywood star who’s run off to England to avoid an arranged marriage, a marriage Johnny has to make happen. It’s his job.
Rahul further complicates matters by falling for a British Bollywood fan, Laura, whom he meets at a film premiere. How can Johnny get his master back to Mumbai to marry the woman to whom he is pledged and away from the English hussy who is steadily taking more and more of his attention?
Johnny will use revenge and jealousy, but how will he cope when true love is thrown into the mix?
Reader Advisory: This book is best read in sequence as part of a series
Thanks to Victoria for stopping by. Be sure to leave her comments as we all want to know someone’s reading.
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