Why the Congo?

Blood Diamond released this week. Wednesday, in fact. As I’ve shared here before, it’s my romantic suspense novella set in the Congo jungle.

Why did I choose such an exotic locale?

Well, it mostly had to do with the parameters of the call. I wrote Blood Diamond in response to call for romantic suspense stories for the Jewels of the Night series at The Wild Rose Press. The rules were simple: high suspense, romance, include a blue diamond.

At first, I was at a loss as to a story line. Up to that point, I’d concentrated on paranormal type story lines. So I put it to the back of my mind for a while.

I was watching a rerun of Bones, the pilot episode where she’s at Dulles airport with a skull in her bag and Booth has her detained. It got me thinking about how a forensic anthropologist works in some interesting, out of the way places. It started a niggling thought. What other professionals would be in out-of-the-way places. Then I thought about Doctors Without Borders. Now I was getting somewhere.

Next, it was time to research blue diamonds. Where in the world are they mined? I had a thought about using Russia as a backdrop, but there just wasn’t anything there that sparked any ideas. Then I read an article about blood diamonds and how the Republic of the Congo or Congo Brazzaville (there’s another country in Africa called the Democratic Republic of the Congo) had been sanctioned by the Kimberly Process in 2004. There had been a large number of diamonds exported when there were no registered mines there.

This really got me thinking and that story, combined with my heroine who was a part of Doctors Without Borders gave me the bare bones for a story. With the help of a critique partner, Rachel Lynne, who was also writing a story for Jewels of the Night (her book, Ring of Lies, comes out December 22), I was able to iron out my plot.

So that’s the story behind why I set my story in the Congo. I know I shared my blurb and excerpt a couple of weeks ago, so I chose a new, never-before-seen excerpt for today.

Excerpt
As if he read her mind, he pulled the cup of her bra down and sucked the puckered tip into the wet warmth of his mouth. The pulls on the tender bud shot red-hot need directly to her core, wetting her panties. A moan broke free from her throat as she grabbed his head, but she didn’t know whether it was to push him away or to hold him in place. 

“Mack.” Her plea broke on a gasp as one of his hands slid past the barrier of her pants to stroke plump lips moist with her desire.

His whisper cut through her haze. “Do you want me to stop, Jillian?”

His assertion earlier that he didn’t go where he wasn’t invited floated through her mind and she knew what he wanted. He might not trust her, but she was learning to trust him. Though, it might be a huge mistake, one she would pay dearly for later, she couldn’t deny that she wanted him now.

“Jillian?”

Her mind made up, she rubbed his erection through his pants. “No. Don’t stop.”


In celebration of the release, I’m giving away a copy of Blood Diamond to a commenter. I’ll announce the winner on Monday.

Do exotic locales make a book more exciting for you? Are you drawn to certain settings?

Make sure to leave a comment for a chance at the giveaway. Everyone have a great weekend.

NaNo-vember

Today is the day! It’s the start of National Novel Writing Month, more commonly called NaNoWriMo. Good luck to all of you courageous people out there working towards that goal. I’ll be joining my peeps from the Nuremburg writers group this week for our first write-in.

We’d planned for tomorrow but it’s a holiday here in Germany. Germans take their holidays seriously and everything’s closed so we’re aiming for Thursday. It may work out better as we may need some encourage by day 4.

Today also marks the 1 month mark for my new release. Blood Diamond, a Jewel of the Night story, will be out December 1 from The Wild Rose Press and it's up on the website as Coming Soon. To celebrate, here’s a little taste.

Blurb:
Dodging an angry warlord and running through the rain forest in Congo Brazzaville was not what Jillian St. James expected when she signed up with Doctors Without Borders. Yet that’s exactly what she gets after a mysterious visit from her brother.

Mercenary Mack Nichols doesn’t have much faith in humanity these days. When a beautiful young doctor denies being part of the theft of a blue diamond from his client, he doesn’t put much stock in her story.

Neither have reason to trust the other and their mutual attraction is an inconvenience to both. A betrayal and the reveal of an evil plan pit these two against an army. Can they put aside their doubts and work together to bring down a corrupt, power-hungry overlord or will their chance at love be over before it ever starts?

Excerpt:

“Are you all right, Jillian?” The husky timber of his voice sent another shiver through her, this time having nothing to do with fear.

How could she be aroused after being scared so bad? Especially with a man like this one, a man who worked for the General. She was one sick puppy.

“Jillian?” A hand came down on her shoulder and she jumped.

Finally lifting her head, she ignored Mack and trained her attention on the log where she’d been sitting.
As recognition set in, her entire body began to shake and her heart pounded so hard, she feared cracking a rib. Dear God. There where she’d just been sitting lay a yellow-green snake with ridged scales and green eyes that matched its body staring sightlessly ahead.

She swallowed, trying to wet her dry throat. “Is that—”

“An African bush viper? Yep. I think in the firelight, your hand must have looked like dinner.” Though the snake now lay dead, Mack’s voice still sounded strained.

She stood on shaky legs. “I didn’t even see it there.”

“I’m not surprised. It had coiled its tail around the branch overhead and dropped from there.”

If he hadn’t seen the highly poisonous snake, she’d be dead right now. She launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his throat. She heard a thud and then his arms were around her, surrounding her in a blanket of safety. For the first time, she thought maybe he really would keep his promise.

Goodies Galore!

First things first. Thank you J.K Beck for stopping by and thank you to all who stopped by and left a comment on Friday. As promised, 3 lucky commenters will be receiving a copy of her new book, When Blood Calls. It is awesome!

The random number generator at www.random.org has chosen PL Parker, Cheryl Rae and Gale Stanley. If you would email your mailing address to me at riley@riley-quinn.com, I will get these lovelies out in the mail for you.

How about more goodies to give away? Remember last week that I mentioned Blogmania was coming up? It happens this week on Wednesday and Thursday, September 15 & 16. Saturday, I hopped over to Bayreuth to pick up the last piece of my giveaway for this awesome event.

I know I’ve mentioned that I’m basing the prize pack on my novel, Out of the Shadows. I’ve hinted here and there, but today you get to see what you’re trying to win.

I’m calling it my Love with a Bite Paranormal Romance Prize Pack.

First, a plush, so so soft stuffed wolf. Gabe, my hero, is a wolf shifter.

Wolves are equated with the moon, right? So how about some moonstone earrings. These beauties are handmade by Regina McGearty at Walk on the Moon. She even added a copper colored crystal for each one to signify my heroine, Belle the Fire Witch.

Next, I’ve got two candles from Colonial Candles. I searched for the scents that match Gabe and Belle and while I didn’t get it exactly, I came pretty close. There is one Tibetan Sandalwood and one French lavender. Mmm, they smell yummy.

Last but not least, I’ve got to add books! As I did with my last Blogmania giveaway, I chose books written by my chapter mates in the Austin chapter and of course, they are paranormals.

Taming of the Wolf – this is an anthology from The Wild Rose Press and features the story, Blood Moon, written by my good friend and critique partner, Autumn Shelley.

When Blood Calls – You know this one. I’ve reviewed it here and we just had J.K. Beck here. Here’s another chance to get your hands on it.

And Falling, Fly – This is the debut novel of Skylar White.

My close-up of the earrings didn't turn out. This is the pic from the seller's website. Copper crystals at the bottom are the only difference. They're beautiful.

Great prize, right? All this adds up to over $100. All you have to do to be in the running is follow my blog and join my Facebook fan page. To follow my blog, go to the Follow button in the right-hand column and it will walk you through. To join my fan page, go here and click that you Like it.

You can do both of these steps early, if you want and then on those two days, either post a comment stating your Facebook name or if you’d rather, email me at riley@riley-quinn.com and tell me both your Facebook name and your blogger ID.

On Friday, I’ll use the random number generator again and post the winner on Monday, September 20.

What do you think? A prize worth winning?

Name in Lights

Ever dream of seeing your name in lights when you were a kid? You’d be a famous actor/actress in the movies and people would come for miles around to see your flicks. For most of us, that dream never happens. For a few lucky authors, they may still see their name on the big screen.

My publisher, The Wild Rose Press, was contacted by someone in Hollywood. Yes, it’s true. The movie, Red, that comes out this October with Bruce Willis and Mary-Louise Parker and a slew of other great actors and actresses, will feature some Wild Rose titles.

Apparently, Mary-Louise’s character is a huge romance novel reader. Bruce Willis is trying to seduce her so he reads the books so they have something to talk about. Of course, there’s more to the story, but that’s the important part, right? No one knows how many books will show up or whose. The Wild Rose Press sent out around 150 books.

The movie itself looks pretty good. I probably would have gone to see it regardless, but trying to pick out the Wild Rose titles? Fun stuff.




What do you think of the trailer? Looks like a good movie, right? If you go see it, remember to look for The Wild Rose Press.

Cover Art

If you've been visiting me regularly, you've heard me talk about my romantic suspense novella, Blood Diamond. I wrote it for the Jewels of the Night series at The Wild Rose Press. Luckily for me, they liked it.

The series kicks off in November and I don't have a release date yet. Hopefully that will be coming soon. I do have all the edits complete and last week, I gave my approval for the final galley. The last thing is the release date.

Oh, did I forget something? I did! The cover. I got that last week too. I'm sharing it with all of you first, along with the official blurb.

Dodging an angry warlord and running through the rain forest in Congo Brazzaville was not what Jillian St. James expected when she signed up with Doctors Without Borders. Yet that's exactly what she gets after a mysterious visit from her brother.


Mercenary Mack Nichols doesn't have much faith in humanity these days. When a beautiful, young doctor denies being part of the theft of a blue diamond from his client, he doesn't put much stock in her story.


Neither have reason to trust the other and their mutual attraction is an inconvenience to both. A betrayal and the reveal of an evil plan pit these two against an army. Can they put aside their doubts and work together to bring down a corrupt, power-hungry overlord or will their chance at love be over before it ever starts?

So, what do you think?

Got Suspense?

I know I've mentioned my novella, Blood Diamond, here a few times. If you remember, I wrote it for a special submission call that The Wild Rose Press had called Jewels of the Night.

What you may not know is that those manuscripts in by March 31 and given a contract were entered into a drawing. The winner's story would launch the series this fall and they would get extra promo and other fun stuff. The drawing was last night during the Happy Hour Chat at Wild Rose.

This chat takes place at 9pm EST. You all know I live in Germany, which puts me about 6 hours ahead. Yes, I actually set my alarm and got out of bed to participate in the chat.

Unfortunately for me, I wasn't the winner. I want to shout out huge congratulations to Laverne Clark, though. She was last night's lucky winner and her story, Guardian of the Jewel will kick off this great series. It will debut in November and I'll have more info about that as it comes.

Now, for those of you who write. Are you interested in becoming a Jewel of the Night? Submissions for this series is still open. The stories have to be highly suspenseful and feature a blue diamond. Word count can be anywhere between 7500 and 65,000.

Currently there are 12 titles in the series. I would love to see yours added to the bunch. What do you say? Wanna give it a whirl?

Stellar Heat Release

Today I'm pleased to announce the release of Stellar Heat, available at The Wild Rose Press. It is the debut of Scarlett Jameson, which happens to be my other pen name. Yes, this is my first release ever. It's also the first futuristic story I've ever written AND the first erotic story I've ever written. A lot of firsts for me. It was a lot of fun to write and I really enjoyed my characters. I hope you will too. I'm giving away a copy of Stellar Heat to one lucky commenter. I'll do a random drawing on Sunday night, so you have plenty of time to comment, and announce the winner on Monday. So, here's a blurb and an excerpt (don't worry, it's not explicit). Enjoy!

Blurb: Jak of House Midori, has found his heart mate, that one person he can connect with on a soul level. Only problem is, as a twin from the planet Zaphron, Jak must share his mate with his brother. But Qwin wants to wait until they are more established in their careers as Star Flight officers.

Petty Officer, Lily Buchanan has whiplash from trying to figure out Jak's intentions. At the pub he's charming and flirtatious, but his aloof attitude on campus leaves her confused--and burning up with sexual energy.

When the three are assigned to repair a satellite in the Helix Galaxy, they are attacked by enemy star fighters. Seriously outgunned and their craft crippled, the three are stranded alone on an uncharted planet. Will Qwin agree to ease the mating fever consuming Lily, or will Jak be forced to initiate the mate-claim and exclude his brother from their union forever?

Excerpt: As Lily approached, she eyed Jak on deck in front of the ship, waiting. He must have gotten his hair cut. His midnight hair was now regulation short instead of slightly shaggy as it had been yesterday. Short or longer, his hair set off his masculine beauty. The dimple in his cheek, absent now but always prevalent when he flirted with her, softened the edge his square jaw gave him. He looked more approachable before than he did now.

His eyes matched the color of the Earthen sky, before the nuclear implosion that destroyed the atmosphere. Though she was Earthen, she'd never been there but had seen history vids in her Cultural Earthen Anthropology classes.

Jak's height, as well as his broad shoulders and thick arms, could intimidate most people, but she knew deep inside, somehow, he would never hurt her. Even on his bad days.

Oh, well, time to get this party started. "Hey, Jak. Is the pilot here yet?" Lily dropped her duffel on the ground as she looked up at him.

Jak glared down at her. "Is that how you address a senior officer, Petty Officer?"

Looked like Jak was having a bad day. Great. For her, too.

Lily snapped into a quick salute. "Petty Officer Buchanan reporting for duty, sir."

After he acknowledged her salute, she stepped back and cast a wary eye at her senior officer. Ass.

Before he could reply, Lily felt a presence behind her. Heat radiated through her limbs and gathered in her belly as a voice whispered in her ear. "Glad you could make it, Flower."

Lily whirled around to see...Jak? Her attention ping-ponged from one Jak to the other. There were two?


 
Have a great weekend everyone!

New Contract

The Wild Rose Press will be releasing a new series this fall called Jewels of the Night. It is a romantic suspense series and each story will contain a blue diamond. I first learned of this special submission call last fall when my friend, Autumn Shelley, told me about it. It sounded like fun, but no ideas popped into my head at the moment. So I put it to the back of my mind and didn't think about it anymore.

Then, around Christmas, an idea started to take shape. Just little bits here and there until I came up with a full-blown story idea. Characters and plot points danced in my head. The deadline (or so I thought) was March 31. That was 3 months away. I could write this story.

I was a little slow out of the gate. I submitted my first 15 pages to the Roses Critique Group in January and received the pages from 3 others that I had to critique. Imagine my delight when I found pages for a romantic suspense that featured a blue diamond. Those pages belonged to Rachel Lynne. We started emailing back and forth and decided to help each other along. We sent our chapters to each other for critique as we finished them. We spent time on AIM plotting out our stories and figuring out our characters. It was a lot of fun.

I can honestly say that if I hadn't formed this partnership with Rachel, I may not have the deadline. I can really put things off when I'm stuck. So, anyway, I finished my story ahead of time and sent it in a few days early. That March 31 deadline was to enter my submission in a contest. A story from the series will be chosen at random to be the kick off story and get lots of extra publicity. The Wild Rose Press is still accepting submissions for this series, if you're interested.

Blood Diamond was born, the story written, a romantic suspense novella set in the rain forest of the Congo and featuring Jill St. James, a doctor with Doctors Without Borders, and Mack Nichols, a former soldier turned mercenary. It's actually the first attempt I've made at romantic suspense that didn't involve werewolves and vampires, so I'm pretty excited about it.

Yesterday, I received an email from the senior editor of the Crimson Rose line, who is in charge of the series. She offered me a contract! It arrived in my email inbox early this morning while I slept. I am happy to say that Blood Diamond will be my first published work under the pen name, Riley Quinn.