Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Look where all Opportunity Knocks is available!
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Art reflecting life
I'm not the world's best painter or sculptor, but I love to make art. Artist trading cards. Stitching. Gourd dolls.
A lot of times, I like my art to reflect what's going on in my life. Right now, I'm all about looking back over the last few years and getting rid of the stuff that doesn't give me joy. I need to slough off the false impressions of myself that I've let build up. I need to work on the things I don't like about myself. They're always the things I like least about other people, and I've had a lot of time lately to see what those things are.
My latest canvas is called "forgiveness doesn't come with a debt"
y'all just wait until I start taking pictures!
In the meantime, did y'all go get Fever? It's a western anthology from TQ
XXOO
Julia
Friday, June 14, 2013
Not dead
Not dead, I swear. Promo is the first thing to fall through when I get whoa busy, and yeah, I've been crazy
Things are settling now, so expect mas craziness from me!
Hugs
Julia
Monday, May 20, 2013
New book from Changeling!
I have to tell you how excited I am to debut my Soul Debt story this week. It's called Opportunity Knocks, and it's all about Jordie, a rock star with writer's block. At least until his annual visit from a demon gets his creative juices going again. Mal's not just any demon, though, and he's worked hard to get Jordie's case!
Here's the cover!
And here's something spicy to help you love it!
Mal kissed the back of Jordie’s neck. “Shall we get started?”
“Sure.” One day this part wouldn’t be weird, right? The demons were always different, so there was this bizarre getting to know you--
“You’re thinking too much.” Mal turned him around and kissed him hard on the mouth. None of them had ever kissed him before. It was like being touched by a live wire, but without all the badness and only the wonderful shock. He reached up and grabbed Mal’s shoulders, bare and sun-warmed under his hands.>p> Mal hummed, tongue fucking Jordie’s lips, fingers digging into his ass. They moved together, his back landing against the wall as Mal pressed against him. He could feel the heavy, fat cock on his hip, letting itself be known.
“Please.” He hated begging, but that was exactly what he was already doing. It had taken, what, three seconds to get there?
Mal’s laughter was at least more husky than mocking, and the fingers around his cock felt perfect. They rocked together for a moment, just jonesing on the touching. It would get way more intense and he knew it.
“Quit anticipating. Just let it happen.”
Like he could do that. Still, that touch was so fine, so good, and he arched into it, asking for more. His breath started to come hard and fast. Jordie shook, a song beginning to blossom in the base of his skull. Thank-- well, not God. No, this was demon born, but he didn’t care. He had to be able to make music. Had to. It was the biggest thing in the universe, more necessary than breathing.
“Better, huh?” Mal breathed against his ear, so hot, like fire.
“Better,” Jordie agreed, pressing back, demanding more. The magic swirled around them. It was crazy, how this worked, how fucking sexy this was. Those hot demon’s hands slid over his skin, stroking, stoking the fire.
His clothes fell away, almost scorched as they fluttered to the ground. Jordie let his skin rub Mal’s, feeling like he might go up in flames. Fuck, he knew he’d been hot for it before, but this... This was fiery.
“See? All you have to do is let go, baby.”
***
And here's where you can buy it!
XXOO
Julia
Thursday, May 09, 2013
RT 2013
Kansas City is surprisingly nice. We didn't get out of the hotel much, but I enjoyed the people and the BBQ greatly.
We got to see everyone. I mean it. All the people. If I try to mention all by name I will no doubt miss someone, but I want to thank everyone who stopped to chat, hug, eat, and sign and receive books.
A huge thank you to Tara Lain from Ellora's Cave for arranging the EC party on Wednesday night. We had a blast.
A big thank you to ARE for the Thursday expo
Thanks to Cheryl Dragon for clue-ing us in to the Signing at the Plaza Saturday afternoon
The best part, though? The fangirling I got to do Saturday at the Giant Book fair. I deliberately didn't sign so I could go. I got to see Jude Devereaux and Maya Banks, Janelle Taylor and Sylvia Day. I got to jump and squee at my friends' table, making lots of other people look and wonder who they were. Sadly, Karen Robards was a no show, as I really wanted to thank her for the hours of pleasure she's given me as a reader, but all in all, it was a blast.
Next year is in NOLA, and I can't wait. Y'all should come with.
XXOO
Julia
Saturday, April 27, 2013
now for something completely different
The window box talked about why this particular guy hated B&Bs. I read about how he didn't want to eat breakfast at 7:30 with 10 strangers, and about how he wanted to check into a hotel anytime after 2, not between 4 and 4:30. He didn't want to be chastised for not eating the scones or for getting back past curfew.
Y'all, I was so excited to see someone else who didn't like the B&B experience. Our last one, while very pretty and clean, served us coddled eggs and a dry piece of Udi's toast after claiming to be gluten free accommodating. Worse, she told us she was sorry we missed out on the cookies, as she made great ones. Even though my partner and I and another guest not in our party were GF, she made no attempt to even put out fresh fruit when everyone else got brownies and cookies and homemade bread...
Give me my hotel, where I don't feel like I'm tiptoeing through someone else's life.
Doesn't mean I don't have the coolest idea for a B&B storyline, though...
It was just fun to see someone else say the same thing.
XXOO
Julia
Monday, April 15, 2013
so busy!
I love adventure
Today I am listening to the wind, waiting for the Voice to come on, and typing with a punctured finger
Mwah
Julia
Sunday, April 07, 2013
This is how a whole week slips by
My newest release is called Incomparable.
It's my first Bloodrose solo release since Lean on Me.
Here's the cover, which I think BC did a fab job on
And here's a bit to get you going
Nikolas had to admit the new bar manager intrigued him. Three weeks the man had been there, and he was a model of efficiency. Ashe knew every bartender, server, security guard and performer by name. The man knew the drink menu by the second night, and by week two he had added three new cocktails that were flying off the liquor shelves.
Ashe was also very attractive, almost bear-like with his shaggy, dark gold hair and big, soulful brown eyes.
The most intriguing thing, though, was how Ashe treated Nikolas. Like he was just like everyone else.
Not that being treated like everyone else was bad. On the contrary, Nikolas found it utterly fascinating. Ashe didn’t stare, he didn’t try to pick Nikolas up, and he didn’t offer to do shows with him. All Ashe did was serve him a drink now and then and tell him goodnight when he left. Nikolas wended his way to the bar a half hour or so before opening, wearing the robe Cady had pressed on him, not wanting him to ruin the intricate gilding the man had done for Nikolas for tonight’s show. The robe was soft enough to absorb any extra paint and powder, but not rub it off like his street clothes would.
“Hey, Nik,” Ashe said, smiling at him when he sat down. “How goes? Coffee or bourbon?” How neat was it that Ashe remembered what he drank? Coffee when he was doing a scene with spanking or whipping, bourbon where he was doing bondage or anything else requiring stillness.
“Bourbon, please. We’re doing ropes tonight.”
“Yeah? Isn’t that uncomfortable?” Ashe set out a short glass and poured two fingers of bourbon into it. The man had the most perfect pour. Apparently overpour had gone down a ridiculous sixty-five percent since Ashe had taken over the bar. Jonny had said he’d thought his bar staff was close to perfect, but with Ashe on the job, they were models of efficiency.
“It’s actually kind of Zen.” It wasn’t as amazing as being beaten, which Nikolas found utterly perfect, calming, even, but it settled him anyway. He loved bottoming. Nik didn’t consider himself a sub. He wasn’t interested in service at all, had no desire to kneel next to someone all night with his hands behind his head.
Beatings and ass play and stuff? He loved that, and he excelled at it to the point where all the other performers sniped about him behind his back and the customers got a little… gushy sometimes.
Ashe laughed. “I think it would drive me nuts. Here you go.”
“Thanks.” Their fingers touched when Ashe handed over the glass, and Nik felt a little jolt of awareness.
Too bad Ashe seemed unfazed. He really did.
“Can I ask you something?” Nik said, staring at the way light glinted off the liquid in his glass.
“Sure.” Ashe started stacking clean glasses on a rubber mat.
“Are you straight?”
“What?” Those brown eyes met his, Ashe frowning a little.
“Are you? I mean, I know the ‘Rose is mostly a gay place, but no one would hold it against you if you were into the ladies.”
Ashe laughed, the sound more surprise than anything, Nikolas thought. “No. I’m queer as a three dollar bill.”
“Oh.” Nikolas deflated a little. Wow. That was somehow more of a bummer than if Ashe had said he was straight.
“Why?”
Nik tossed back his bourbon before answering. He needed a little time to collect his thoughts. “You never hit on me,” was what finally came out, and he winced because that sounded so fucking conceited.
“Well, that’s not because I’m straight or because you’re not the most stunning man I’ve ever seen.” Those smile lines fascinated him, the way they creased the skin on either side of Ashe’s mouth.
“No? What is it, then?” Nik was truly interested. Ashe was the first guy in ages who called to him that way.
“Well, everyone has told me you don’t date co-workers.”
Huh. He sat up a little taller. True enough, but “everyone” didn’t need to be making his decisions for him. “What if I decided to make an exception for you?"
***
Monday, April 01, 2013
Thursday, March 14, 2013
What I'm working on right now
From the unproofed copy
Nikolas laughed, the sound light, unforced. “And I wondered if you were straight. So, this is the getting to know you portion of the evening, right? What else do you want to know?”
Ashe didn’t even blink, didn’t think. He just blurted out, “Why do you do what you do?”
The long look Nikolas gave him was as direct and as serious as the silence that came with it. Then those inky lashes fell over Nik’s eyes. “Why does anyone do their job? I’m good at it.”
“I’m sorry.” Ashe didn’t know what else to say, since it seemed to be a sore spot. “I mean, I’m a bartender because I don’t have the attention span for anything else. And because I like to sleep in.”
“Really?” Nik glanced back up at him, a smile beginning to form on his beautiful mouth. “Lazy and bartender don’t go together.”
“Hey, I never said I was lazy.”
“And I’m not a slut.” The flat words surprised him, did make him blink now.
“I never said you were. I mean, I didn’t mean to give that impression.” Ashe tried hard to get the words in the right order. “I guess it just doesn’t jive with what I know about the lifestyle. Which is, admittedly, not much.”
“What do you mean?” Now Nik sipped his coffee, meeting his gaze directly, which he guessed was an improvement.
“Well, I thought subs liked to have one Master, or whatever.” He’d read books. Real ones, not those terrible ones that treated BDSM like a full contact sport. Working at the Bloodrose had been hugely educational.
Nikolas’ frown cleared up, a smile glinting in those clear gray eyes. “Well, see, that’s just it. I’m not a sub.”
“Uh…” He had no idea what to say to that. Nik let people tie him up, beat him, bind his cock, put plugs in his ass. How was that not subby?
“Seriously.” Leaning forward, Nik lowered his voice. “I’m a bottom, right? I like spanking and assplay and stuff, but I’m not interested in service. I have no desire to sit naked at someone’s feet all night with my hands behind my neck or something.”
“Okay.” Ashe was totally out of his league. As in, he’d never thought of his own sex life in more complicated terms than whether he liked to pitch or catch.
Ashe was a pitcher.
Hope I piqued your interest!
XXOO
Julia
Monday, February 25, 2013
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Deadlines
How are y'all?
Newsletter this week
Hugs
Julia
Monday, February 11, 2013
Big Week this Week
Tomorrow is my dad's 81st birthday. Hey, I'm only 42, okay?
Thursday is Valentine's day, and me and my girl are going to make a decadent supper. What do you think I ought to get her for Vday, y'all? The stove top smoker, the garden box or the fermentation pot? I'd get her the totally rad compost container, but our HOA doesn't allow composting. O.o Yet another reason to move on.
Saturday I'll be learning to knit a sweater. Sometime between now and then I have to knit a swatch. I am so not a swatcher. Like in my writing, I'm a pantser. We'll see how this works.
So many deadlines, y'all. We won't even talk on that.
Also, my new book at Changeling, the Bear Facts is out. Hot, y'all. Bear shifter. O.O http://changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=1824
Ongoing through Valentine's day is a sale at www.torquerebooks.com- put in code vday2013 for 20% off your total purchase. Stock up on my books!
Big week! Happy Valentine's day, y'all! Look for flash fiction Thursday!
xxoo
Julia Talbot
www.juliatalbot.com
Friday, February 08, 2013
Sunday, February 03, 2013
coming next week!
Been a crazy week of docs for my dad and running errands and doing tax forms for the business, but I can breathe a little now!
My newest book at Changeling Press releases in a week! It's the second book in the Mixed Breeds series, and I'm so tickled about it. It's fun, sexy, and has a bear, wolf, and mountain lion shifter!
I gave you a sneak peek of the cover, so here's a excerpt to get you fired up.
"Don't you tell me what I can and can't do, Ralphy." Jeanette waved a finger under the big wolf's nose, not at all fazed by his ugly snarl. "You are not the alpha of me."
"I am one of the pack enforcers, woman! There are too many hunters in town. You can't just go off and run on your own. You need to stay with the pack, do your damned work."
"I am going jogging in the park, not running under the full moon. Asshole." She'd had it with the hyper-vigilant, testosterone-riddled attitude the pack had since Marin, the old alpha, had died, and no one had been chosen to replace him yet. In fact, she was pretty sure she was going to go lone wolf here soon. She could do her work from anywhere, since she designed websites. Thank goddess for the internet.
Maybe she would go rogue right now if Ralph didn't get out of her face. "When I'm alpha I'm going to lock your ass in the closet until you learn your place!" he shouted, and damned if he didn't put a hand to the center of her chest and shove.
She didn't think; she slapped him so hard her hand throbbed, and they stared as if they hadn't known one another since they were pups, like they were seeing each other for the first time. "You ever touch me like that again, and I will kill you." She would, even if she had to do it in his sleep.
Jeanette turned on her heel and walked away, grabbing her gym bag with her running shoes and shorts and all in it. She always thought things out better when she was jogging. It was time to figure out what she was going to do while the new alpha was chosen. Or maybe permanently. Hunters all over town or no, she had no desire to hang out with such hidebound, controlling assholes.
A girl had to think of her future, after all.
Time to run.
* * *
Her feet pounded on the trail, the bass from the iPod thrumming in the base of her skull. She was heading into mile three and feeling good. Damned good.
Jeanette loved this part of the state -- Boulder close enough to visit, Denver close enough to work in, and the fucking pack far enough away to leave her alone. It was going to be fall soon and then her running would have to move inside to the gym track. Right now, she could smell the outdoors, all the trees and animals, the feel of actual earth under her feet.
She pushed deeper, harder, keeping up with the rhythm of the music, telling herself that it was totally good, to run alone. Be alone. All the time. Even if she was lonely. All the time. Damned macho pack assholes, making her take her dignity and leave them.
She turned a hairpin curve in the path and shrieked when the earth slid out from under her feet, gravel sliding, sending her slipping down the slope. One of her feet smacked into a rock and turned, rolling hard with a snap that she actually heard a split second before the jolt of pain shot up her leg. "Fuck!"
When she came to a stop, her head pointed downhill, her broken whatever pointed up, and she lay like a turtle on her back, the world slowing from a sickening spin. She sucked in a sobbing breath, telling herself she was not going to cry. Not. She had her phone, she had a bottle of water. The trail wasn't busy, but it wasn't deserted, either. Help wasn't beyond reach.
"Holy shit, are you okay?"
Oh. Unless she was hallucinating the pretty blond guy appearing over the ridge, help was right here.
"No. God, no. I need help." She nodded, reaching out instinctively.
"I saw you disappear right off the trail." The man came pelting over, his trail runners slamming on the dirt. "Crap. I think you broke your ankle." He helped her right herself, her leg screaming the whole time.
"Uh-huh." She was covered in a cold sweat, shaking, nausea in her throat.
"Your phone getting any signal? Mine is dead. I can get you back to my Bronco, but we might want to call 911."
"I don't... I'm not interested in hospitals, man." Doctors didn't love people like her. Well, half-people, half wolf people like her.
He tilted his head, nose working hard. "Oh, man. I was running hard and so freaked I didn't notice 'til now... How fast do you heal?"
"Fast enough to only have to take the rest of the week off work." She tilted her head, sniffing. Oh, not one of her kind, but pretty, and not wholly human himself.
"Well, that's cool, I guess. I have to lick things a lot more..." His cheeks went red-hot, and he grinned at her. "Didn't mean that quite like it sounded. Here, grab my neck."
Jeanette couldn't help her chuckle, but she did reach up, arms wrapping around his neck. "There's something to be said for licking."
Look for it here Friday
http://changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=1824
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Saturday, January 26, 2013
New blog layout!
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
What I've been up to
Edits done on Mixed Breeds 2 for Changeling Press
Opportunity Knocks, a demon at the door story, turned into CP
Over halfway through my next EC (I hope) story. Have to get it done and in.
For TQ I have 3 novels and 2 shorts in the works
What are y'all up to in the New Year?
XXOO
Julia