Looking toward the New Year

Have a lot of exciting projects this year.

I have a new book for Changeling that I'm about to turn in for the Soul Debt shared universe. I'll also have Mixed Breeds 2 and 3 out with them, and Keeping Score 3.

My next Ellora's Cave submission is written and in Beta. It's smokin' hot. I just have to implement all the good ideas my beta reader suggested.

Georgia Knights, which has been on the coming soon for years, will be out in March or April! I had to guarantee it for RT in May, so it WILL be done

I have co-writes with BA, some projects with my friend Vic Winter, and hopefully some stories about smokejumpers getting it on, and some historical werewolves

Happy New Year, y'all!

I can't wait

XXOO

Julia

Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

From our family to yours

Julia, BA, Sadie, and Sonny (pictured is sonny)

OMG y'all

Haagen Dazs peanut butter chocolate ice cream

Yum

woo

Hey, y'all!

So, this is the Next Big Thing Blog hop

Kari Lynn tagged me for this, and silly me, I said sure! Sadly, most of the people I tapped to tag are in already, so I didn't come up with five. I might just tag random people anyway...

So, here we go!

What is the working title of your next book?

Well, uh, for the purposes of this blog hop we're going to say it's Opportunity Knocks, my Soul Debt story for Changeling Press!

Where did the idea come from for the book?

There was a a flash fiction challenge. Someone knocks on the door. You open it, and boom, demon you owe a debt.

What genre does your book fall under?

M/m paranormal, erotic romance

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition? Oh, heck, I suck at this. There are never any actors who look just like my boys and yadda ya... Jordie is a rock star, though, so let's say Adam Levine for him, and uh, Mal is a beautiful demon. Uh, maybe Channing Tatum.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? Demon shows up at singer's door to collect three years worth of sex magic in return for renewed popularity in music biz.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? Can we say in between? My book will be e-published by Changeling Press, and the deadline is whooshing up.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

About three weeks. :D

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

There's going to be a whole Soul Debt series releasing in the first quarter of 2013, so there will be a bunch to go forth and read!

Who or what inspired you to write this book? My partner BA Tortuga. She loves musicians, and I thought, what if I wrote one for BA...

What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest? It's smokin' hot m/m, y'all. A little spanky, a little bondage-y

And now for the fun part:

I get to pass on the blog hop to my volunteers!

Marteeka Kartland is a writer and an artist and she makes me happy just by existing! Check her out.

TC Blue, who I tagged because she's the laziest blogger on earth. She's also hilariously good at karaoke. She writes sometimes, too *wink* She does m/m that makes me sparkle. Uh, so, I could also randomly tag people, but I might go ask them first. Next week, Teeka and TC should be posting to their blogs!

XXOO

Julia

another random holiday thingee

"What's going on?" Jacob asked, hands held firmly by his twins, Damien and Gianni. The blindfold made it necessary for them to lead him.

We got you something." They said it together, their voices blending seamlessly.

"Oh, now I'm worried." Jacob was only half joking. The twins tended toward extravagance at Christmas. Hell, the whole Rossi-Miggliozzi clan tended that way, and seven years in Italy with them hadn't made Jacob any less awed by their huge generosity.

"Pssh. You'll like it."

Well, he certainly hoped so, but Jacob was polite enough to lie. The palazzo was plenty big enough to simply lose whatever it was they got him until Marco could put it in the charity auction.

Generally, though, Jacob didn't have to lie. Damien and Gianni had amazing taste.

They stopped, and he rocked back and forth a little, his balance affected by the blindfold. He reached out when they let go, and both his men grabbed him once more, supporting him.

"So? Can I look?"

"Si!" Damien laughed against his ear. "I will help."

Damien took his blindfold off, and Jacob blinked at the enormous gilded frame that held a relatively well-known Renaissance master painting. Last Jacob knew, it had been in a private collection in Pisa. "This is real?"

"Mmm. He approached Alessio, who asked if we wanted it for your collection."

He stared, his mouth hanging open. He knew they thought nothing of adding to one of the largest art collections in the world, but to Jacob, this was like the holy Grail. He stared at the dainty, bare feet of the blue-robed Madonna.

"Thank you." It was weak at best, but heartfelt.

"You like it?" They looked so pleased.

"Of course I do." He hugged Damien, then Gianni. "You're amazing."

Damien chuckled. "No, we just like how accommodating you are after we give you a good present."

Jacob snorted. "You don't have to give me things to get that."

"No? Well, it's Christmas time." Gianni kissed the corner of his mouth.

Laughing, Jacob let them wrap around him. "I love you both."

They grinned back at him, speaking as one. "Oh, good."

random Christmas post: Tank and Ross

Thatcher brother anyone?

Here we go

"Ross? Did you see the dog sitting on the porch?"

Ross poked his head out of the shower, knowing Tank would eventually holler at him for dripping on the floor, but Tank sounded concerned enough that he would worry on it later.

"It's not Pancake?"

"Nope. Not Rosie, either."

"Well, that's weird. Let me rinse off."

He didn't bother to put clothes on. It was unseasonably warm, even for Texas. Ross just toweled off and headed to the porch, where a huge pitbull lay panting, her pregnant belly sticking out to there. She was in tough shape, but still healthy enough to support the pups inside her.

Ross grinned at Tank. "Did you say you wanted puppies for Christmas?"

Tank pursed his lips, looking like he was fighting a smile. "Nope. I asked Santa for a new bottler. This is just stocking stuffers."

Ross laughed, bending to scratch the sweet girl's ears as her tail thumped. He hoped Tank would take him up on the offer his ass was making. "We'd better get more stockings. She's gonna have a few."

"Mmmhmm." Tank patted Ross' butt. "I'll get her settled. You go get the lube, buddy."

Bingo. "Merry fucking Christmas to me."

Tank and Ross can be found in the Thatchers book Taking the Leap.

I wanted to do something clever for December

But hey, I'm swamped.

Periodically, I'll try to pop in and let y'all know what the boys are up to.

Like how Deke from An Itch to Scratch is re-gifting the big studded collar Duke gave him to Jared, the Aussie werewolf Top who runs the Bloodrose now. Surely he needs it more...

Happy Dec y'all!

XXOO

Julia

excerpt from Fever for Three

Hey, y'all!

Everyone who knows me knows my boys touch, even with a lady in bed with them. I just don't buy a menage where the boys aren't into each other, too.

With that in mind, I picked this excerpt from my EC release, Fever for Three, so you could enjoy m/m/f in all its glory!

Buy it here!

Here we go!

“Lift your hips, querida. Let me taste you.” Paulo’s hands helped her arch up, slide her jeans and panties down, baring her.

She lifted right up, letting him have her. He buried his nose in her curls, his lips already sliding along her slit. “Paulo…”

His tongue slid over her folds, then circled her clit, making her shoulders leave the mattress, her breasts press into Josh’s chest. Josh held her, one arm around her back, and he put his head to her breasts, sucking one nipple into his mouth.

Caught between those two sets of lips, Cheri was lost. She let out this sound—a weird, sharp noise that tore from her as pleasure clawed up her spine. She thrashed a little, but Josh held her easily, keeping her where Paulo could give her more and more pleasure.

Fingers pushed inside her, giving her the pressure and friction she needed, while all the time Paulo’s tongue flicked her clit, making her thighs shake. She was going to fall apart at the seams. It was like those cartoons from way back when, where someone took earthquake pills.

Sharp teeth teased her nipple, made it ache, burn. Made her breasts feel heavy. She reached out, trying to find someone to hold on to, and her fingers sank into Paulo’s soft, thick hair.

She felt his moan against her pussy, and his fingers curled, stroking her inside. Josh grunted, his body rocking against them. “You feel so good. Both of you.” They were both still dressed, cotton and denim rasping against her and it didn’t matter. None of it did. The only thing she cared about was how they made her fly. They kissed her and licked her and bit her, touches that made her skin burn and her muscles clench. Her pussy felt full and yet empty at the same time.

“Please.” She panted out the words. “Please, inside me.”

“Fuck yes. Yes. Our girl. Paulo…” Josh’s voice was nothing but a growl, but Paulo’s fingers pushed deep, filling her up for a second before sliding away.

Paulo was the one to slip up between her legs, his cock like iron and fire against the inside of her thigh.

“Querida. Ours.” Paulo pushed close, but it was Josh’s hand that slipped down, guided the thick head into her.

Hope that tempts you!

XXOO

Julia

www.juliatalbot.vom

New Release from Ellora's Cave!

Hey y'all

I've been busier than a one-legged butt kicker, but I wanted to run in and chat about my newest release, which is a mmf enage from Ellora's Cave.

It's called Fever for Three (okay, I know that tells you nothing) and it's about Cheri, a teacher who moves from Houston to small town Lobo Basin, New Mexico. She meets a cowboy and a handyman, and thinks she has to choose between them, but does she?

There's the super hot cover.

Here's where you can buy it at EC

Here it is at ARE

Aaaand here it is from Amazon

Y'all I am so bloody tickled about my first EC release! ARE has it at a 50% rebate today!

XXOO

Julia

Play Dead

Hey y'all!

I have a new Sip out today!

It's called Play Dead, and it's a short story about two werewolves and a vampire who decide to play nice together...

Can I tell you a secret? This one wants to be long. It wants to be a whole book. The characters are fun, the backstory is wicked, and the boys want to go on and on.

You should read it now in its first incarnation so you can say you knew it when, just in case it becomes a novel!

Check it out here!

Here's a wee bit to tempt you!

He didn’t like the idea of squatting in someone’s occupied house, though, even if the guy was like sleeping beauty. Or sleeping like the dead, all pale and barely breathing and—

Poke. Kayne poked the man again.

“Would you quit it!” God, if the guy woke up now, all bruised and shit, they could be in trouble.

“What? It’s a were-possum.”

“There is no way a possum is going to have a house as nice as this.” Those things were nasty, all teeth and naked tails. This guy, he had smooth skin that smelled like spice, and pretty long hair and wide shoulders…

“Are you jonesing on him?” Kayne asked, starting at him, nose quivering. “No!” He wasn’t. Who needed more than one man in his life? One was rough enough. Kayne frowned. “Well, he does look to have two good legs.”

“Stop it. It’s my fault you almost lost yours.” Beck had been the one stupid enough to challenge the alpha about two men having a wild, passionate affair, and Kayne had been the one to get his ass kicked trying to save Beck’s throat.

It was a thing.

“Besides, it’s not like it really slows you down, baby,” Beck went on. “I think it’s dashing.”

“Well, I’m glad you like it.” Kayne grin chased the frown away. “So, what do we do about the dead guy?”

“He’s breathing. He’s not dead. I say we move on.”

“Oh, come on. We should at least check out his fridge.”

“You’re such a freak. Come on.” Beck was pretty hungry, so he checked on the sleeping man one more time before heading to the kitchen. The place was state of the art for a house that looked so abandoned on the outside, with stainless appliances and marble counters. Nice.

“Huh. Nothing in here but bags, man.”

“Bags?” Beck wandered over to peer over Kayne’s shoulder. “Bags of what?”

“Uh. Blood?”

He tilted his head, staring at the rows of neatly stacked blood, all labeled and dated like a blood bank stash. “Babe? I think we need to get out of here.” “Oh, come on, this guy has got to be weak as a kitten if he needs this much blood.” Beck whapped Kayne on the back of the head.

“Ow! What the hell was that for?”

“Asshole tax.” He stared at the blood, which was marked with a million different blood types. “This is not for transfusions. This guy isn’t dying. He’s undead.”

“How very astute of you.” The voice came from behind them, making them both jump half a foot. “I’m also quite awake now. Which one of you was poking me with the stick?”

Winner of BA and Julia gift pack

Congratulations to strive4bst for winning the BA and Julia Spurs and Shifters gift pack!

Charity Blog Hop!

Hey, y'all!

Every year Torquere Press does a charity Sip drive. Sips are short stories, and we authors get to choose the charity. We chose NOH8 this year, and the theme was leather, for Torquere Press' ninth anniversary.

My Sip is called Dead Cow Pants, and I was so tickled to get to name a story that. I love silly stuff that can be translated into werewolf life.

Here's the official blurb:

Returning from a foray into the world beyond pack lands, Shay is heartsick and skinny. His best friend Dar knows he just needs confidence, and thinks leather pants will do the trick. Shay might just the only werewolf on earth who doesn't like leather. Is there anything Darius can do to get Shay to wear dead cow pants?

And here's where you can find it!

Now, the theme of the blog hop this weekend is Leather and Love: How Romance Helps Stamp out Hate.

Here's my take on the theme. I've had more than one reader tell me they used to be scared of gay folks. M/M was crazy scary to them. Then they read onr of my books, and found out that romance was still romance no matter what gender the partners were. In fact, some of these readers are now activists, working to legalize gay marriage, or to help with projects like NOH8 and It Gets Better.

Every time I hear a story like that, I'm reminded of the very first lady I talked to at Romantic Times. It was my first RT, heck, my first convention, and most everyone saw my book covers and walked by. But one lady, she stopped and asked me, "Why do you write this? Doesn't it freak you out?"

I explained that I loved the idea of two men loving each other, and I promised her if she read a m/m book, she would love it to. Everyone deserves a happy ending, I said. She emailed me a week later and told me I was right. She was in love with love... That was 2005, and she still emails me regularly.

Thanks for reading, y'all! I had a ball.

Oh, and my partner, BA Tortuga and I will be doing a joint giveaway. We call ourselves Spurs and Shifters because she writes cowboys and I write shifters, and we'll give away a gift pack!

Have a great weekend!

XXOO

Julia

www.juliatalbot.com

What I did last weekend

I bought a notebook and some gel pens

I know this doesn't sound like much, but it means I'm serious about improving my word count. I rarely get blocked, but I do occasionally get really slow. Lazy, even. I'm a procrastinator. So when I buy a notebook and new pens, it means I'm serious about being able to write anywhere I go, even the line at the grocery.

I also sat with my girl, BA, and plotted out all our works in progress on index cards, a new method she wanted to try. I think it's goi9ng to work great. I'm way more of a pantser, but I think this will keep us on schedule.

On a this week note, congratulations to President Obama. A vote for civil rights heard all over the world!

XXOO

Julia

RAH blog hop!

Hey y'all! Check out my interview for the RAH blog hop!

Such fun!

XXOO

Julia

www.juliatalbot.com

Poultrygeist

Once upon a time, there was a very smart rooster named Rodney. He was a lab chicken, genetically enhanced so that his scientist creator, Dr. Bob, would have someone with whom he could play chess and discuss viral particle physics.

Rodney was a happy rooster. He had all the corn he cold peck, but he also had intellectual stimulation, a fine human companion, and occasional electroshock therapy, just for thrills. Dr. Bob had created a tiny pair of electrodes, just for that purpose.

One cold, blustery October day, however, Dr. Bob got a shipment of alpacas in from South America. Apparently, the alpacas, usually very docile animals of much yarn, were all suffering from a terrible virus, one that produced unusual amounts of rage and spittle.

Rodney observed the alpacas with Dr. Bob for days, scratching out notes on a tablet with his beak.

Notes: Subjects spit, bite, and smell like ass. ~R~

Nearly a fortnight after the alpaca arrival, Bob began to exhibit strange symptoms. Worried for his human friend, Rodney ordered pizza online, and managed to pry open a bottle of wine. They would share a meal, and he would find out what was wrong with his human.

Bob sat with him, breaking crust, but the wine seemed to be some sort of catalyst, driving Bob mad. The man picked up the bottle and tried to bash in Rodney's chicken skull.

Rodney ran, but not before Bob broke the bottle and shanked him just like a prison bitch. Squawking, Rodney ran, for the blood seemed to enrage the alpacas, too, who broke free of their cages and started eating the computer equipment.

Rodney hid, bleeding and terrified, pretty sure one of his eyes had fallen out. When the lab quieted down, he was certain the alpacas had eaten one another, so he stuck his head out from under the full spectrum laser stand, determined to escape this horror alive.

A terrible laugh split the stillness, and the animated corpse of his dear human friend reached for him, flesh hanging off the skeletal fingers.

Rodney flapped his wings and ran right at Bob, determined to put his friend out of the misery of being undead.

Unfortunately for Rodney, it was a trap. The alpacas appeared from the deep freeze, ice crystals bunched in their fur, and descended on him, tearing Rodney apart.

His pieces would never be mended again, but when they began to move independently from one another, even the alpacas ran...

Poultrygeist had begun...

The End

Happy Halloween

XXOO

Julia Talbot

The adventures of Og

I was reminded recently by several folks that I used to write a barbarian named Og, who had a chicken companion named Syuck.

I promise all y'all I will not make Syuck into a zombie.

Og came about when I misspelled "Oh" during a rant in which I used "Oh, the humanity."

BA Tortuga asked me who "Og, the humanity" was, and I was off and running. There are footnotes. If I can find some of it buried on my old LJ, I promise to post some here ;)

In the meantime, poultrygeist is working it's way into reality.

In other news, my Ellora's Cave release has been delayed. As soon as I have a date, I'll holler! Bites nails. I hate technical difficulties...

In other, other news, BA is making cranberry bread. Guy Fieri has the neatest colander, and colander is a word that never looks right no matter what you do...

Off to look at my emails. Fear the inbox

XXOO

Julia

www.juliatalbot.com

Poultrygeist and other titles

I was asking on Twitter last night for people to tell me NOT to write a book titled Poultrygeist.

No one has been trying to discourage me. No, indeed. In fact, people have been encouraging zombie chickens. You just wait until Halloween, y'all.

Hell, I wrote a charity Sip for NOH8 this year titled Dead Cow Pants.

Can I just mention here how hard it is to find royalty free pics of men in leather pants? It's either leiderhosen or chaps. You can tell which one I find sexier.

In the meantime, ponder zombie chickens. I promise, Poultrygeist is coming...

XXOO

Julia

www.juliatalbot.com

GRL round Up 2012

Hey y'all!

Finally got caught up on sleep, emails and not on edits, so I thought I'd do a wrap up on my impressions of GRL 2012 in Albuquerque.

First off, let me thank everyone who organized the con. Carol, JP, Ethan, Damon, Heidi, Teresa, and all the volunteers. Brandi and Randy were particularly helpful. If I missed anyone, please hit me with a rock. Y'all did a great job, and we appreciate it.

Next, the hotel. We'd read the online comments, and we were scared. With our various food allergies, especially, we were frightened of being out on the pueblo with no way to get into Albuquerque proper. Well, the hotel (The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on the Isleta Pueblo) was awesome. It was really inexpensive as con hotels go, and it had three great restaurants, a coffee shop, and a little bitty drugstore. The best part? 90% of their Mexican food was gluten free, and they had good enough cross contamination practices that BA Tortuga, my partner, never got sick once. We gorged on tacos and Frito pie, and the night we ate at the steakhouse, Embers, with the amazing ladies at Resplendence Press, we were amazed at how yummy it all was. Everyone at the bell desk was incredibly accommodating, too, especially Donna, who was always in the know.

We got late Tuesday night, and were there through Monday morning, which, Lord, y'all, that's a long time to be away from bassets. (My niece, who housesat for us, thought it was a long time to be WITH bassets.) We laughed, and hugged and basically behaved badly with our friends and fellow authors until Thursday, when most everyone else showed up. At the opening dinner, we sat with the ladies from Ndulgent Bloggers, and those ladies are a hoot! We had a Torquere Press luncheon in Old Town on Friday, which I thought went really well, thanks to La Hacienda, who catered our almuerza. After the luncheon it was off to the CVS to pick up good drugs for my injured BA, and then she got to hallucinate all night at the Resplendence karaoke party. Dude, if you've never taken mind-altering substances and listened to Damon Suede sing, you NEED to come next year.

On Saturday, we attended the booksigning, which was so neat, as I got to meet so many readers and chat about books. The most interesting thing anyone said to us was that BA and I were the "old ladies" of m/m, and she was more interested in reading new folks. So, tell me the truth, guys, am I over? (winks) I think not. I have too many stories to tell.

Saturday night we did the bowling party with Amy Lane, Marshall Thornton, Kiernan Kelly, TC Blue and AR Moler. That was so much fun, y'all! We had 4-5 readers per lane, gave out amazing bags of stuff, drank lots of beer, and (mostly) bowled badly. It was a hoot to get to know everyone! Brunch Sunday with Ariel from Dreamspinner capped us off, and it was great to get to say I'll be a Dreamspinner when my advent calendar story comes out!

Mostly, it was so much fun to hang with everyone and meet new people. Andrew Grey, you owe us coffee! (g)

Thanks to everyone who made it such a great trip. Next year is in Atlanta, and while I loathe that town (sorry if I offend, it's true) I might just have to suck it up and take one for the GRL team ;)

XXOO

Julia Talbot

Think you can't change the world?

Or, what I learned from GRL 2012

Hey, y'all!

I've been mostly absent, which I apologize for! I had family in visiting starting the 12th, and I went to GayRomLit on the 16th, so I've been in a bit of a whirlwind.

GRL is always amazing, and I fully intend to do a con report, but I have to relate a story from the other day first. I was at a publisher spotlight, and was discussing m/m with one of the readers there. She was telling me that reading glbt romance had changed her life, an she wasn't talking about just her tastes in reading.

This reader, a self-proclaimed military wife and soccer mom, said that m/m had changed the way she saw the world. A friend had given her a gay romance, and she read it and never looked back. But what I loved about what she talked about was how she said she'd never been a homophobe, but she'd never really been an activist in any way. Now she's not just a GLBT activist, but she's more aware of how she and her family interact with the world at large. And she says how her candidates view GLBT issues, women's issues, and things like marriage affect who she votes for.

How awesome is that?

I often say the m/m genre is changing the world one book at a time.

Think you can't change the world?

Think again

XXOO

Julia Talbot

Moon Shine!

So, I've been co-writing some with my girl, BA Tortuga.

It's been a blast, playing with the boys. I can't wait to see what y'all think!

Our new release, Moon Shine, is a hot little story about a moonshine runner who happens to be a werewolf, and this yummy man who shows up on Jenson's doorstep, frantic because he's just been turned. Lucky for David, Jenson knows just what to do to release all that tension.

Here's where you can find it!

You can also find it at All Romance Ebooks and Amazon.com

Who doesn't love some bitey werewolf hotness?

Happy Friday, y'all

XXOO

Julia