Eddie was a decent enough guy back in high school, but he always seemed to land in the principal’s office and the job of cleaning up Eddie’s screw-ups fell to his slightly older cousin and friend, Tyler (who happens to be the hero in my story). Eddie always felt he got a raw deal in life, because his dad was the poorer of the brothers Murchison. Although the family was tight and always helped each other when they could, Eddie didn’t like depending on the good will of his dad’s brothers in order to make it in life. For one thing, they always treated him like a half-witted little kid, even after he became an adult. His older cousins usually got all the girls and in a town small as Rusdale, Tennessee that’s one tiny pond for a tiny fish. He became even more reckless as he got older, determined to do things his way, and of course, this eventually landed him in jail. Instead of taking responsibility for his actions and learning from his mistakes, he shifted the blame onto others for all his troubles and ignored cause and effect, or should I say, consequences.

When he learns his cousin Tyler is back in town and bought an already successful business, an auto repair shop, he’s a little miffed and envious. Tyler has so much and he doesn’t have much more than the clothes on his back. In his mind, he has a right to other people’s property, namely, Tyler’s. He also is jealous that his cousin’s only been back in town for a few months and has one of the hottest girls in town, yet no woman will give him the time of day.

Keep in mind Eddie doesn’t hate Tyler. He actually likes his older cousin, but feels for Ty to have so much and him not, is unfair and it should be given to him since he paid his dues. That covetous mindset is common among most if not all criminals. It’s also the mindset of the typical bully. Of course, Eddie doesn’t think what he’s doing is wrong, and once he crosses his own personal line and rationalizes it to justify his actions, well—there is no going back.

The novella Naughty Little Secrets is Stacie and Tyler’s story, not Eddie’s, but I felt that short scenes in Eddie’s POV not only helped move the story along, but also helped flesh out his character enough so that what he does in the story would be believable to readers. By using his POV in limited amounts, I was able to allow readers to see into Eddie’s mind, lay bare his weaknesses, and all his rationalizing. At the end of the story, my hope is you’ll despise Eddie, but a tiny part of you will also feel a touch of pity for a man lost in his own illusions, with nothing and no where to go.

The challenge of writing contemporary romance always throws out curve balls—at least to me. I finished writing the first draft in June 2011, then let it simmer for a while as I worked on Open Season (a 16K BDSM with Dragons). When I came back to NSL (Naughty Little Secrets) I realized it needed several revisions and changes to the story to correct a plot hole I’d missed. My original plan called for the story to be released mid-August, but nothing ever goes as planned and it helps I try to stay flexible, because a ton of things happened that couldn’t be avoided, or as my Kentucky daddy used to say, “The shit hit the fan, and the wall.”

Which is why I’ve been struggling to finish edits and revisions on a fifth draft of this story. Every time I write a contemporary this happens to me. I seem to attract crap and hit brick walls the minute I outline a story without any paranormal elements. lol. Or that could be paranoia talking. But whatever the case, my latest goal is to release this monster (not a reference to size, but sheer frustration, lol) before this year is out, so help me blank! (Pick a deity of your choosing).

That said, I’d like to introduce Eddie, my villain of the month. :p

Wishing you and yours a fun

and thankful feast!

Wishing You and Yours a Safe and Happy Halloween!

Thanks to John Stamos and Bob Saget for creating this neat, fun video. And thanks to my friend Neith for telling me about it. ::wipes tears from eyes::

Ever have those mornings when you wake up fine but the happy highlight of your day is your first cup of coffee and it goes downhill from there? Yesterday was one of those days. I already have a knot on the tendon at the base of my left thumb and I managed to really aggravate the poor, abused hand. It started with lunch.

I somehow managed to get pickle relish on my fingers and not having a paper towel handy, I chose to fling my hand toward the faucet and sink. I just remember turning slightly and thinking I’ll run my hand under the water and get the pickle relish off. Simple enough. Except I was half day dreaming about a scene in my wip at the time, working out the kinks (quite literally) and didn’t realize my late m-i-l’s heavy duty glass pitcher from the 40′s sat on the counter top in the direct path of my hand. Smack! Thankfully I didn’t hurt the pitcher, but my hand didn’t fare as well.

So instead of working on my kinky love scenes, (I understand writing ’til it hurts, and pushing through the pain to pour out your soul, but come on, I didn’t know they meant literally!) I sat in the living room with an ice pack on my hand, watching what passes for daytime TV these days. I knew things were bad, but when the best show on is a rerun of a 2010 episode of Kitchen Nightmares, you know daytime TV has gone to hell.

So I did what many people with a modicum of intellect do. I turned off the telly and grabbed a book. I chose to start Robert McCammon’s Speaks The Nightbird, Volume 2: Evil Unveiled. Somewhere in a steam trunk, tucked away in a closet, is volume 1 I think. But I was in no condition yesterday to dig through trunks of books to find it.*

Here’s the blurb:

Robert McCammon, author of the best-sellers Boy’s Life and Gone South, returns to the forefront of American fiction with Speaks the Nightbird.

Is there a witch in Carolina in 1699? The people of the town of Fount Royal think so. Her name is Rachel; she’s foreign, beautiful, and brave–no wonder so many people hate her.

Comes a traveling magistrate to hold a witch trial, and his clerk, Matthew. The evidence spells doom for Rachel: witch’s tools are found in her home, she will not speak the Lord’s Prayer, and witnesses swear they’ve seen her commit unspeakable acts with the Devil himself.

But Matthew hears the call of the nightbird. He wonders–is there any such thing as witchcraft? If Rachel can fly through the night on wings of evil, why hasn’t she escaped from the town gaol?

And the town itself–who murdered Rachel’s husband? How did the ratcatcher learn to hypnotize his prey? Who stands to gain if the witch is burned?

God and Satan are indeed at war in Fount Royal, and even the innocent are not safe. In the end, Matthew follows his head and his heart, and Rachel keeps an unlikely appointment with destiny.
I’ve made it to page 41 so far and can’t wait to get back to it. But until then, I need to return to writing my own story. Wish me luck. I’m typing one handed with deadlines looming.

Until next time…
~Cass

*(Nope. Found the book I was thinking of this a.m. and it’s not a volume anything. But it is an excellent McCammon book, They Thirst). So which book is considered Volume 1? If you know, please leave a comment. Thanks!)

In the case of my one work-in-progress, Naughty Little Secrets, the story developed when a friend of mine told me about how she is tired of reading romances where the guys are all billionaires or millionaires. She said those stories are nothing more than imitation Cinderellas. We agreed there need to be more blue collar heroes. So she told me about this guy she saw a couple of months back, when her car broke down and she had to call a tow truck. The guy took her to this garage he recommended since she was clueless where to take her car. Anyway, turns out that the owner of the repair shop and the tow truck guy were related, I think she said they were cousins. Anyway, the tow truck guy wasn’t bad looking, but he wasn’t great looking either, but more importantly, my friend isn’t into married men and this guy wore a band.

But the guy who owned the repair shop was hot she told me, and not wearing a ring…and she spent the next three hours fantasizing about this guy and trying to find out—subtly—if he was married or single. lol. I can just picture her there trying to ask all these guys, elbows deep in car parts and grease, if the dude she wanted was available. :P lol.

And she said, “I only wanted to know if he was fuckable.” Of course, I cracked up at this point. Oh yeah, I picture it too well.

But her encounter planted a seed in my head, and I started outlining a story with a handsome car repair guy as hero.

What do you think? Do you prefer more authentic and real down to earth guys with blue collar occupations, or maybe you like to mix it up and read both white and blue collar heroes?

Until Next time~

Cass

Happy Litha to All!

The Share the Love eBay Auction for author L.A. (Leslie) Banks starts tonight at 9pm. You can use the button below to go to the link that will take you straight to the auction. Happy Bidding! :-)

Hello to all my blog readers,

It is with profound sadness that I learned an online friend of mine and fellow author, Leslie Esdaile, (“L.A. Banks”) is most gravely ill. She is facing an uphill battle in her struggle with serious illness. Please know that as Leslie needs all of her energy in this fight, she is absolutely not able to receive visitors, answer emails, texts or phone calls, or receive flowers.

While your prayers and thoughts are most welcome and needed, a special support website, including an auction has been set up in order to help Leslie with the mounting medical expenses facing her and her family. I’d like to ask if you would consider helping myself and others spread the word about this auction by mentioning the auction on your website, blog, facebook and in your newsletters with a link to this website: www.labanksauction.org for the duration of the auction.

I have donated a signed copy of my paperback erotic romance, Shifting Tides and also am donating a critique for a 30,000 word or less manuscript of an erotic romance story. So whether you are an erotic romance fan and reader, or a budding erotic romance author please help by bidding on these items and some of the other wonderful items up for auction.

Share Your Heart Auction for Leslie On Ebay
June 21-July 1, 2011
Bids begin at : 9 AM EST (6/21)
Auctions end: 9 PM (7/1)
you must register with Ebay to place bids for the auction (if you are not registered)

Thank you all so very much.
Cass

A real woman is a man’s best friend.
She will  never stand him up and never let him down.
She will reassure him when he feels insecure  and comfort him after a bad day.

She will inspire him to do things he never thought he could do; to live without fear and forget regret.

She will enable him to express his deepest emotions, and give in to his most intimate desires.
She will make sure he always feels as though he’s the most handsome man in the room and will enable him to be the most confident, sexy, seductive and invincible…

No, wait…sorry.

I’m thinking of whiskey. It’s whiskey that does all that shit!
Never mind.

This funny courtesy of my pal, Morag. :D

Not only does she have wicked wild talents as a graphic artist, and write incredible erotic stories, she also has a big heart. She is using the release of her latest ebook SHIBUYA MOMENT to help a great cause.

All author proceeds from the sale of her story  SHIBUYA MOMENT will be donated to the Red Cross and ShelterBox for the relief effort in Japan.

On top of that, she pulled together a group of her friends and is sharing the love by having a fabulous contest for readers! The giveway is valued at over $500.00!

Thanks to the help of her friends and SPONSORS, they are going to include a brand new Kindle 3G and an Amazon gift card to add to the already fantastic giveaway!

GO to the link below and find out how to enter her amazing contest and help spread the ebook love.

http://jaxcassidy.com/shibuya-giveaway/