Snow!

We got our first snow of the season!

How cool is that?

XXOO

Julia

Third Time's the Charm out at Changeling

Hey y'all!

Third book in my Keeping Score demon hunter book is out today!

Check it out here!

Here's a wee bit of it!

“Let me out of the cocoon, man.” He sucked up the juice, letting the energy fill him. Sweet and cool, it soothed him deep inside.

“No. No, I think you’re good where you are for right now.”

He frowned, wriggling, but there was nowhere to go. In fact, after the juice was gone, Laurent stretched out on him, holding him down, and he couldn’t shift around at all. “What are you doing?” Why the fuck was he allowing it?

“Keeping you still. Your body needs rest. You could barely dent me last night.”

There were bruises on Laurent’s face. Considerable ones. An open cut on one cheekbone. He’d dented Laurent. “I was giving you a break.”

“Bullshit.” Laurent snorted. “That was just foreplay.”

He wished. There wasn’t much left of him, his reserves were so far used that he was afraid he was burning his own bones just to breathe.

“I got you, okay? We can do this. I can’t afford to lose another good hunter. Janus retiring threw everyone for a loop.”

“Janus was a spoiled brat.” And Skye adored the grumpy old fuck with the passion of a thousand suns. The man could throw back some beers, and he could kill demons with his one good eye closed.

“Yeah, and he and that white-haired batshit crazy Cillian set a dangerous precedent.” Laurent chuckled, bouncing against him.

“They just pay us to kill the bad guys.” That was it. No thinking, no planning. Go and kill and then kill more.

“Exactly.” Propping up on his chest, Laurent warmed to the subject. “Janus got all emotionally involved.”

“You don’t have to worry about that with me.” His involvement had died with Star, no matter what she said to him in his dreams.

“I do, though. You talk in your sleep.”

Damn, that was dangerous. He would have to stop sleeping. “Good to know.”

“Yeah. I had a guy tell me I did that once. I recorded myself for a week after that just to see. I don’t.”

This man was insane. Totally fucking insane. “Untie me.”

“Oh, I kind of like you like this.” That grin was scary, manic and a little evil.

“Don’t make me hurt you.”

“Promises, promises.” Laurent was pushing him, testing him.

He forced himself to relax, his fingers searching for weaknesses in the cloth, the edges of the sheet. He could get out of this, strangle this freak and go meet Star in the great hereafter after wading through as many demons as he could. That actually sounded fun. He grinned, flexing his muscles, listening to the cloth creak in preparation of ripping.

“You don’t look like you’re being good, Skye.”

Being good never got you anywhere. Skye strained, a vein in his forehead bulging. The sheets started to give way and he dug deep, trying to mine more energy. He thought about Star going down under those demons, and the noise in his brain roared to life, drowning out everything else, red filling his vision.

“Seriously? Again?” Laurent’s voice snapped him back to the present. “You’re going to have a blowout or something. Like --” Laurent trailed off, wincing.

“Fuck off. Let me go!” Skye started to struggle in earnest, his body moving without his permission. At some point, his legs popped free, the sheet giving there first. Of course, that meant Laurent slid right between his thighs, hips pressing to his. “Get off me…”

Laurent’s eyes went wide, and for maybe thirty seconds Skye felt Laurent’s body taking an interest, that long cock hardening. Then the man rolled off him, sitting on the edge of the bed, back to him.

Okay.

Okay, wow.

XXOO

Julia

Absinthe is out! BA Tortuga co-write

Yay! It's a top 20 bestseller at ARE, too!

Here's a wee bit

Rene headed up the rickety stairs to his beloved salon off Frenchman's, intending only to grab some of his clothes and what cash he had left before heading west.

The deep South had not been kind to him, non, not a bit.

He'd run from Bartholome for well over a year, once the big male had caught scent of him in New Orleans, and he had thought he'd be safe in the sticks, but no.

His mate had found him.

He'd run until his pads were torn, until his fur was gray from soot and mud. Then he'd found his stash of clothes and ID and come home, hoping Bartholome was still heading east.

God, he just wanted to lie down somewhere and sleep. Just sleep.

He got his locks opened and stumbled inside, the scent of home perfect. Oh. Shower. He could shower first. He tore off his filthy clothes and limped to the bathroom, hand slapping on the hot water tap.

Cold water spurted from the tap, but it didn't take long for the steam to pour out. Oh, yes.

Rene climbed in, knees buckling as he landed on the floor of the tub with a soft sob. Better. So much better. He lifted his face to the spray, so tired of running. His bones hurt.

"Oh, chiot, you're all skinny and bruised." The voice was low, husky, but tickled, and Rene groaned.

Seriously?

Fucking seriously?

"You can't be here. This is my house." His place, and he hadn't even noticed that Bartholome was there, goddamn it. The moon was playing tricks on him.

"It's a tiny little bolt hole." The big one, Bartholome, was right there. Right fucking there. Huge and dark and beautiful, like the river at night.

"It's mine and you're sitting on my toilet."

"Well, you don't have chairs." Shifting his weight, Bartholome stared at him, dark eyes crinkled up with a tiny smile.

Rene was so tired, so tired, and the thought of running again made him want to whine. "How did you find me so fast?" Why won't you go away? You sent me away. You told me to go. They all laughed.

"You just ran, chiot. You didn't hide."

"Give me until morning and I'll do better."

"I can do that. We can nap together."

It was a terrible idea. Awful, but it sounded so appealing. Bartholome had never wanted to share a bed before now.

"The bed is good, soft." And he was worn to the bone.

"Then come on, chiot." Bartholome held out a hand. A big, square, hard to resist hand.

A voice in the back of his head insisted this was a huge mistake, a stupid act, but he took it anyway. Bartholome pulled him to the bed after turning off the shower.

The top blanket was dusty and they tossed it, but the rest worked and Rene collapsed into a fuzzy pile as soon as he climbed up, body refusing to go another single step. He snorted a little, wiggling around to try to get comfy.

Bartholome settled him once and for all by flopping down on top of him.

"Ooph." Bossy old man. Rene was going to bite him. In his dreams. After he'd headed west.

www.torquerebooks.com

coming this week

Look! Absinthe, with BA Tortuga

Tease, tease

Hugs

Julia

Julia Talbot: Third Time's the Charm

Demon hunters? Why yes, I think so. Here's an excerpt from Third Time's The Charm, out from Changeling Press in a week or so.

“Fuck off. Let me go!” Skye started to struggle in earnest, his body moving without his permission. At some point, his legs popped free, the sheet giving there first. Of course, that meant Laurent slid right between his thighs, hips pressing to his. “Get off me…”

Laurent’s eyes went wide, and for maybe thirty seconds Skye felt Laurent’s body taking an interest, that long cock hardening. Then the man rolled off him, sitting on the edge of the bed, back to him.

Okay.

Okay, wow.

Really? Laurent sporting wood now? Totally not appropriate.

Funny. Kinda charming. Not appropriate.

He got the sheets off and sat up, stretching. The rage was gone, so he guessed Laurent had distracted him.

“You feeling more like you can cope?” Laurent asked, still not facing him.

“Yeah. You got a problem with gay guys?"

“No. Why would you think that?” Laurent turned, staring at him like he was an idiot.

“Well, you got all pissy when you sprung a stiffy.”

“Right. I got pissy. I’m the queer one, man. I figured you’d get offended, try to kick my ass.”

“The queer one. There’s like a dozen of us on the hunting rotation, and another handful that just like to fuck.”

Laurent blinked at him like an owl, mouth opening and closing for a moment. “A dozen? So, what, am I gross? Repulsive? No one has ever offered to fuck with me.”

“Really? Maybe you give off straight vibes.” How the hell did he know? “Also, you’re new.”

“New, what? I’ve been in the field for years.”

Seriously? Was the guy pouting about the lack of penis he was getting from his subordinates? “I haven’t met you before.”

“Well, now you have.” Laurent stood. “Pack your go bag. Now that you’ve calmed down, we’re going on a training retreat.”

“We are? Where? Can’t I just go back to work?” A retreat? Was that code for murder him in his sleep?

“No, you can’t. They told me I need to make sure you’re not a ticking bomb. And we’ll go to the cabins north of the compound.”

“What the fuck does anyone care if I blow? I kill the demons. If I explode, I take more out.”

Whirling, Laurent got right in his face. “Every one we lose is one I have to replace. Hunters are hard to come by and take years to train. Suck it up.”

check it out here!

My brother came to visit

we drank a lot of wine in honor of my dad, played a ton of pinochle and I am now ready for life to resume normally, dadgummit

Such a good visit, though

y'all should see the wolf and bear pottery BA got me in Old Town

Hugs

Julia

Channeling my mom

So, a few days ago I made my mom's world famous spaghetti sauce.

Hey, no one has ever disliked it, so that makes it famous, right?

I imagine my recipe bears little resemblance to Mom's these days, since I use organic tomato sauce and fresh not canned mushrooms, along with real garlic, etc etc. She was a child of the 50s, all canned stuff. But I use the bay and the sage and the red pepper, and the taste is pretty much the same.

What made me laugh this time was how it all went down. The meat wasn't thawed all the way when I tossed it in the pan. I had to turn it and scrape the browning meat off every few moments. I don't think my mom ever managed to thaw meat all the way when I was a kid, so I spent a lot of time scraping pans. And then I used mom's big saucepan to cook noodles. My partner BA doesn't like spaghetti shaped noodles, so there was no sense heating up the huge pasta pot. So I put the spaghetti in, then had to wait for the bottom half of the noodles to soften so I could bend the other half in.

Just like mom.

Somewhere I bet she was laughing.

XXOO

Julia

coming soon

Cereus: Training will be out this month. Bears and vamps and wolves oh my

Still reeling a little

But working at catch up.

Did I tell you about Bar None? It has me, Kiernan Kelly, BA Tortuga and Sean Michael, with hot bartenders. Find it here!

Here's the cover!

My story is about Hugh, a surly werewolf bar owner, and Seamus, an impossibly hot werebear bartender. Blow jobs, poachers and werelions also feature.

XXOO

Julia

absentee blogger

sorry y'all. I am not ignoring my blog, just busy. Dad went into hospice over Labor Day, went into 24/7 care Monday a week ago, and passed on Thursday the 26th in the wee hours. I've been out of town this weekend for a wedding, and look to taking this next week to settle dad's affairs.

Thanks to all for the support and love

XXOO

Julia

2013 Charity Blog Hop for Outserve

Our Bloghop Starts Here: Torquere Press

Hey y'all. Sorry I seem to be late to the party. As a lot of you know, my dad is really ill and I'm doing things as I catch time.

This year, my Sip Knights in Silk will help out Outserve, a military organization for equality and fair treatment of LGBT military personnel.

I was at Fort Bragg as a kid, and the Golden Knights were as much a part of my life as the Blue Angels and big artillery. I remember marveling at how skilled they were, and admiring how hot those guys were when I was a young teenager. So that's where Knights in Silk came from.

I hope you enjoy Kane and Derek. You can find them here!

XXOO

Julia

Charity Sip out this week

Hey y'all

My Outserve charity Sip is out this week with Torquere. It's called Knights in Silk, and it's about a Golden Knight, one of the Army's elite parachute corps, and his old flame, who turns up when least expected. Outserve is a GLBT military aid organization, who help GLBT military members with legal and personal issues.

Look for it at www.torquerebooks.com

The week got away from me

man, it's amazing how time flies when the family is in crisis, huh?

Happy weekend y'all

What I'm reading this week

BA and I have instituted designated reading time these days. We both agree that reading is like breathing to a writer. You can't continue to generate words if you don't take some in. I just finished Wicked as they Come by Delilah S Dawson. A clockpunk vampire tale, it had just enough great worldbuilding to keep me going. Today I'm revisiting Mr Perfect, by Linda Howard. It's an old fav, and right now my brain wants to not work.

you can always see what I'm up to on Goodreads.

XXOO

Julia

Sentimental Sunday

Hey y'all

Been sitting at the hospital a lot with my dad, and it's given us a lot of time to reminisce. One of my very first encounters with romance was actually in my dad's westerns. He read an author named Zane Grey, who wrote about miners and cowboys and rangers, always with tortured secrets and a beautiful love interest. They were like little John Wayne movies, like Roy Rogers encapsulated into a little play that you could read instead of having to rent or wait for AMC to show. They always had a happy ending, a kiss or two, a little heaving bosom at the end.

Even back then, I was pissed off with a less than happy ending.

Talking with dad made me want to write a historical for the first time in years. Maybe a menage, so I can have a heaving bosom...

Happy Sunday, y'all

XXOO

Julia

Did you get Jumping Into Things this am?

I missed it here, but it was on my Twitter. My book, Jumping Into Things was free on Torquere Press' bookstore for an hour this am. If you got it (or have read it before) let me know what you think. juliatalbot at gmail.com

And now to Weck's for brekkie before I go see dad in the hospital

XXOO

Julia

I can haz street team

well, BA Tortuga, Sean Michael, Kiernan Kelly and I can. It's called the My Boys Touch street team. Subscribe and get special thanks in awards speeches... Uh. Ow. BA just poked me. Hard. Get swag, sneak peaks at books no one else has seen WIP snippets, special silliness with authors and more!

Send an email to myboystouch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Wait for mod to say yay!

The secret word today is "evilhand"

I'm joking. There is no secret word

XXOO

Julia

Happy Labor Day!

Have a good one, y'all

XXOO

Julia

my 666 followers on Twitter flash fic (m/m)

“Is this what you call the mark of the beast?” Jaydon asked, staring at the lurid hickey on his neck.

“No. I call that a love bite.” Daelon stepped up behind him, and it made him moan a little. Not just because Daelon’s cock was pressing against his ass, but because he could only see Dae’s true form In the mirror. The little horns peeking out from the curly mop of hair, the tail that waved in the air, they were graphic reminders that his lover was far from human. “The mark of the beast would burn you a bit too much.”

“No burning. That smell ruins the mood.” He’d had no idea when he conjured Dae up that the crazy demon would hang around. He leaned back against that wide chest, humming at the heat between them. He grunted when Dae grabbed his cock.

“This is burning up, though. I can help with that.”

Jay nodded, meeting those pretty green demon eyes in the mirror. “I think you can.”

“I promise not to singe even a little.”

Jaydon chuckled. The hickey would be way harder to explain, but he’d take what he could get.

Full Moon Dating: Aiden and Ben

dude, this book from Torquere is at number 15 on the ARE Bestseller list today.

O.O

Here's a wee bit to get you going.

"Cool. It's a drive to where I live, so we could stay at the cabin here tonight. Save you that hotel room."

If he said yes, was he agreeing to sex? Did he want to agree to... Oh, who was he kidding? He loved having sex, and it had been a while. "Sounds like a plan."

"Good deal. Oh, look at those." The nachos came, piled high with chips and cheese.

Those were not Texas nachos. Not at all. "Whoa." He was used to something more... organized. A quarter of a tortilla with cheese and a jalapeno on it. Seriously. This was like Jenga.

"The trick is to put some on your little plate." Ben used a fork and scooped a bunch of chips and goo onto the little appetizer plate.

"Thanks." He got himself a scoopful, the scent of the beef so yummy. His mouth watered a little, reminding him that the lunch on the plane had been bird food.

He tried not to pounce on the food, to be slow and careful. Sure.

Human.

Very human.

He glanced up, though, and Ben's eyes flashed at him, that animal shine right there.

He dropped his fork, the silverware clattering on the table.

"You need to eat, honey," Ben said, the low growl marching up Aiden's spine.

"Sorry. Sorry, I just... I was... Yeah." Eating. Right. He stuffed a chip in his mouth before he said anything stupid.

"No worries. I just want to make sure you have plenty of energy."

Energy.

A surge of lust shot down his spine. The hair prickled on the back of his neck.

He got a beefy bite, and his focus moved to the food. Yum. Cheesy goodness. He needed to focus on things he could have. Like a good meal.

The sour cream wet his fingertips, and he licked them clean, sucked the sour off.

"Yum." Okay, the man was staring again.

"They're good. I love Mexican food."

"No, I mean you. That was hot as all fuck, you licking your fingers."

This time the flush climbed up from his belly, all the way up his neck. He was going to go up in flames. Really, this wasn't flirting. This was being hunted. He just wished his cock and his brain were on the same page, because his prick was more than willing to be prey.

The steaks broke the stare-down, and Aiden actually moaned. Oh, beautiful slab of meat. How long had it been since he'd had such a beautiful rare steak?

His wolf surged to the fore, and he shoved it down. No. No fuzz.

"Just breathe a minute, honey." Ben touched him, fingers on his wrist. "This is what happens when you bottle the wolf up too much, huh? We should run tonight."

"Without the moon? You're not worried you'll get stuck?"

"Nope." Those fingers stayed right there on his skin, burning away.

"No?" The steak smelled like blood, like butter and pepper and meat.

Ben smelled better.

You can find it here!

And here it is on ARE

Can we make the top ten?

XXOO

Julia