To celebrate Halloween and the forthcoming release of my YA book Unconditional, I've published a sexily sweet paranormal story 'A Different Type of Demon' FREE for three days over Halloween to Amazon Kindle, and as a ADDED BONUS it comes with the first chapter of Unconditional. Scarily good huh??! (cringy sales pun, I know...) get it here
My first literary short story was shortlisted for the Writers Forum fiction comp, which I'm very pleased about as it was a new style of writing for me! Here is a sneak peek below, and you can read the rest on Wattpad....
My heels jab the pavement like knives. Any Normal Girl would be balanced precariously in these boots, tottering unsteadily even without the influence of alcohol or drugs, but I wear mine like weapons. One of the tools of my trade.
It’s cold out tonight, the wind lashing my thighs under the hem of my ridiculously short skirt. Another tool. For practical purposes as well as image; it makes for easy access. The other women are lined up the road like soldiers, each inhabiting their own particular spot. We all look the same in the dark; interchangeable.
We don’t talk to each other much. A few muttered words here and there, the sharing of fags, and warnings of who to avoid. Nothing too personal. There are certain things you never say to each other. No-one ever talks about their families, or their pasts, and certainly not their dreams for the future. Most of us know exactly what the future holds.
And then I see her. Normal Girl. Tottering down the pavement looking lost.
From the distance she could easily be one of us; same outfit, same big hair, too much make-up. Only when she comes closer would you be able to see that she isn’t one of us, that she doesn’t have that grubby hollow-eyed look about her, or any faded bruises not quite covered by cheap concealer, or tell-tale marks in the crook of her arm. It’s her walk that gives her away. That ‘these shoes are killing me and where the hell am I?’ walk.
I don’t know why I do it. The other girls are looking at this stranger in our ranks as if she might be a threat, a new worker trying to find a patch, or as if she could be prey, with a well-padded purse to plunder. There’s no reason for me to care. Especially about a Normal Girl, and a silly one at that, too silly not to know that this isn’t a street you walk down on your own late at night, swinging your expensive handbag like a beacon.
Yet I go up to her, smiling in a way that I hope looks friendly.
‘Got a fag?’ I say, in my most non-threatening manner. She looks at me, her eyes a little unfocused, swaying on her part-time stilettoes. Her lips are glossy, her teeth white and even. If I was in any doubt the teeth give it away. None of us have teeth like that.
She reaches into her bag and pulls out a half empty packet of fags and a lighter. In the dim glare of the street lights I see a packet of condoms in her bag. This makes me smile. Another tool of the trade. Do Normal Girls run through the same check list before they go out for a night on the town? Heels, check, short skirt, check, condoms, check. I wonder if she has a pen knife tucked into her boots too; you can’t be too careful these days.
‘Are you ok?’ I ask. She looks at me in surprise, then looks around and frowns. I see a light dawn in her eyes as she takes in her surroundings and the faces looking at her. She takes a step back, the fag packet still held out in front of her. I take one before she changes her mind.
‘I was looking for the taxi rank,’ she says, leaving the rest if the sentence unspoken, yet hanging in the air between us, I didn’t mean to end up here.
‘It’s back that way,’ I wave my arm vaguely. She doesn’t take the cue to leave but just stands there staring, then passes me her lighter. I light my fag, glancing back over my shoulder to see the others looking in our direction, having all moved a little closer together. Them and us. I belong over there. Yet something in Normal Girl’s face gives me an inexplicable urge to make sure she is okay. There is something unsullied about her, in spite of the condoms in her bag and the smell of cheap wine coming off her.
A car crawls past, its headlights sweeping over me, and I wonder what she sees. It carries on, equally slowly, and I don’t need to look back over my shoulder to know that the others will have stood to attention, forgetting about us for the moment. I look again at Normal Girl and make my decision.
‘Come on, I’ll show you the way to the taxi rank.’ I walk past her and she follows me, falling into step so that we’re walking side by side, both in our short skirts, pulling on our cigarettes. Normal Girls.
She keeps giving me little sideways glances, both nervous yet curious. Like she wants to ask questions but is worried I might turn on her, steal her handbag and pretty jewellery and disappear into the shadows with the others, who will of course have seen and heard nothing. On another night that might be my intention but for reasons I can’t explain, that’s not the case tonight.
‘I don’t know my way around here,’ she says unnecessarily, then more surprisingly, ‘I’ve not been out clubbing before.’
‘Why are you on your own?’ I shouldn’t ask, shouldn’t get involved, but I find myself wanting to know.
‘My friend left me. She went off with some guy.’
‘Crap friend,’ I say. She nods. I wonder about the condoms in her bag, and decide they’re just for effect, to look cool in front of the obviously more experienced friend. Some of the girls up the street don’t even bother to carry them anymore but me, I’m still careful. Still trying to preserve my health in the hope I get a chance to be something else one day. That’s how I know there’s still a little bit of a Normal Girl left in me somewhere.
We get to the end of the road that will lead her back into town to the taxis and I point out the way. I should take her all the way maybe, but she got this far on her own and besides, I’m losing money walking her around.
‘You’ll be okay from here.’
‘Thank you.’ She looks like she means it, her eyes all wide and grateful, like a rescued puppy. I shrug. It’s no big deal.
Then her face crumples a little.
‘
Finally...the cover image for my first YA romance 'Unconditional...' will be published by Lodestone in print and ebook 28th February 2014. So excited!!! Here's the back cover copy...
A boy like Joe, fresh out of prison and 'from the wrong side of town', is out of bounds...especially for straight ‘A’ grade college student Ashley, but she can't seem to keep away. He's the one that she wants, and she wants him to be her 'first'...but at what cost? With her family acting mysteriously and her friends turning against her, Joe seems to be the only person she can turn to, but can she really rely on him...or herself? 'A sweet, yet sizzling hot YA romance that had me feeling like I was seventeen and experiencing first love all over again.' Kirsty Moseley, bestselling YA author of Free Falling
I'm excited to say I've just got a contract for my first full length paranormal romance, 'The Lady is a Vamp' with Silver Press. When asked for any images I had in mind for my main characters that I would like to be kept in mind for the cover design, I had to use the one on the left for no nonsense alpha male New York cop Nick. Yum!!! Ideas for Ruby and for the cover pose are below, and the story's set to be the first in a series. In fact, I'm working on the second as we speak...
Ruby Ruby in full vamp mode Pose I like for the cover....
Just what is it about a Regency hero that is so sexy? I must admit when I was first asked to write a Regency romance I rolled my eyes a little. I’ve never been a huge fan of Jane Austen – shock horror for a romance writer, but I write on the erotic side of the romance genre, and that period always brings to mind tea in china cups and old ladies in crinoline. Not very sexy, surely. The more I dug into the period though, the more I realised why it remains a popular era for readers of hot and steamy romance. The erotic potential was spine-tingling, in fact. It was a time when handsome men in tight breeches danced under the stars with women who had never been kissed, while beautiful courtesans were the toast and talk of the town. A time of men fighting duels to the death to defend the women they loved, of notorious gambling halls, decadent fashion, daring revolutions and whispers of scandal. If I had to sum the period up in one word it would be this; juicy.
And the men! Pirates, spies, smugglers and highwaymen…this was the ultimate age of the bad boy. So, pen in hand and those hot guys in tight breeches firmly on my mind, I sat down to write my first Regency romance. Blushing courtesans, mysterious highwaymen, duels at dawn and a lot of steamy erotic scenes. It’s the most fun I’ve ever had with my clothes on. Here’s a little sneak peek of ‘The Virgin Courtesan’ out in ebook 1st October with Harlequin Books. Enjoy….
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