You Will Be Missed Kate Duffy

An amazing editor has passed away.

A few years ago, when I was suspecting my agent was skimming from me, a wonderful editor by the name of Kate Duffy from Kensington, helped me. I was star stuck that this legend in the romance writing industry was willing to take time out to help me find out if my agent actually submitted my work to Kensington and it's other companies. (My agent had not, despite statements that submissions had been made.)

Through emails she gave me encouragement and connected me to the right people to help me through the difficult time.

Kate even told me to send my manuscript to her and another editor, despite being unagented. I felt honored that she took such time with me.

I always looked up to this woman with admiration.

"In addition, the romance world would probably look very different without two of her other major accomplishments – the launch of Kensington’s Brava line of erotic romances and her stint as the first editor-in-chief of Silhouette Books. Ms. Duffy was a strong advocate for authors and for romance, and will be greatly missed." - All About Romance

“She’s the Julia Child of romance,” - Sarah from SB Love Trashy Books blog


Kate passed away, on Monday. Please keep her family in your prayers.

Thursday Thirteen - 13 Ways to Feel Sexy

Busy schedules and unsuccessful diets are the primary reasons many of us don’t feel sexy. Who can feel sexy when they feel tired and frumpy? Women are beautiful creatures; we just need to remind ourselves of it periodically. Now put the chocolate away (well, maybe not) for this one and take notes.

1. Do your make up and/or hair. Have you ever noticed how good you feel after a visit to the beauty shop or when you get all dressed up? You can capture that same feeling by paying a bit of attention to your self for a simply dinner at home.




2. Visit a spa, take a long bath, or give yourself a facial. Take a break to enjoy your own skin. Touch it, caress it… then let your honey touch it and caress it.

3. Work out. Go to a gym, join Curves, or just get a couple of girlfriends to walk with daily. The effort not only makes you healthy (may or may not lose weight), but you’ll notice little things about yourself that make you feel sexy. Sometimes, just actually working out fires you up.

4. Wear sexy clothing. I don’t me movie star red carpet stuff or even hooker style. A nice tight silk t-shirt that feels good when you wear it. Or an old worn pair of jeans that really flatter your assets. Look in your closet, take a close look at your favorites and think about how you feel when you wear them. If they all make you want to take a nap… go shopping.

5. Find a material that makes you feel good. I don’t mean flannel because it makes you cozy; I’m talking about silk or cotton and how it feels against your skin. When you find yourself feeling sexy in a particular fabric, purchase more items made with it. Instead of your old blend button down shirts, try an inexpensive machine washable silk blouse. It will go with everything from jeans to dress pants.

6. Wear lingerie that flatters you.Don’t buy something and wear it because it looks good on the mannequin or honey’s eyes bug out. Wear it because it feels good and looks good on you. Uncomfortable lingerie will not make you feel sexy.



7. Don’t worry about your appearance. Everyone has flaws; just no one else cares about them as much as you do. So what that you have a scar from a surgery or a little pouch from having kids.

8. Dance seductively with your partner. Turn on the music just for the two of you. Have fun and do some dirty dancing.


9. Plan at least one sensual experience a week for you love. Planning a sensual escapade can be very arousing. Add a little teasing in there to build confidence.

10. Take a shower together.
Hmmm… water, wet, skin, slippery… oh, ah…





11. Try being the dominant one in the next love-making session. Being in control can be a rush and very sexy.

12. Accept compliments regarding you looks and abilities. This can be a simple lesson in building confidence; and confidence is very sexy.

13. Allow yourself to feel sexy. Take time to reconnect with yourself. Try to find things that work for you, that make you feel good about you and sexy… and then do them.


What makes you feel sexy?

Thursday Thirteen - Sensual Touch

Something as simple as a touch can arouse a person. Unfortunately in today’s world the act of slow, sensitive, exploring touches is often forgotten when it comes to romance and love making. Humans from early on are affected and nurtured through touching. As adults, we still crave to touch and be touched; an act relevant to initiate us into the mysteries of sex. Touching each other is a form of communication showing trust, love, desire, as well as an opportunity to learn about each other.

Here is a list of 13 erogenous zones that are most likely to provoke sensual responses.

1. Scalp and Hair. The scalp is very sensitive to touch and who doesn’t enjoy having someone run fingers through their hair?

2. Ears and Neck. Possibly amount the most sensitive parts of the body. Being stroked, nibbled, or licked or even feeling a lover’s hot breath in this area can be very arousing.

3. The Waist.
Not often thought of as an erogenous zone, but a bit of kissing, licking, squeezing, and stroking can have an erotic effect. Personally, I like to feel my honey’s hands on my waist. Try it.
4. The Torso. The sides of the torso can be surprisingly responsive to touch, especially light brushing of fingertips or gentle nibbling.
5. The Spine. Very sensitive area you may need to discuss with your partner to see what is preferred. Try a warm touch with lotion or a cold touch with an ice cube.

6. The Chest. Although not as sensitive as the breasts, try light, teasing strokes and slow lingering caresses to create a pleasurable sensual touch.
7. Breasts. Duh. But did you know a man’s nipples are actually more sensitive than a woman’s?


8. The Thighs. The inside of the thighs is highly sensitive. The closer the touch is to the groin, the more exquisite and arousing will be the sensations.
9. The Backs of the Legs. The hollows at the backs of the knees are especially sensitive to touch; try soft touches with fingertips or gentle kisses.
10. The Butt. I love a tight ass. Hmm… there are numerous ways of touching the butt. Try ranging from feather light caresses to squeezing and even spanking.

11. The Face. Yes, cheeks and lips but try placing a kiss on the eyelids. Hmmm…. Feels great giving and receiving.
12. The Neck and Throat. This area responds wonderfully to gentle kisses and delicate fingertip caresses.

13. The Feet. Another area you may need to discuss with your partner. While some people enjoy feet others may be turned off by them. This area is very sensitive to touch from the tips of the toes to the ankle. A foot massage is a great form of relaxing as well.

What is your favorite erogenous zone and how do you like to be touched?

Don't worry. I'll be back tomorrow with this week's Thursday 13.

Can somebody let me sleep and then wake me when September is over? Ack!!! Where's my chocolate?

Thursday Thirteen – 13 Things to Do with Whipping Cream

Okay… I’m writing this due to demand since I promised such a list a few weeks back. Come on folks, give me a break. This list was hard to put together. After a couple ideas and a few cans, I kept getting too distracted to continue. Sheesh!

1. Of course… top off some yummy chocolate pudding, or hot apple pie, or ice cream. Wait a minute. Come on now… let’s spice to it a tad!

2. Dip strawberries into whipping cream and feed them to your special someone.
Swirl the whipping cream upon the lips and lick off together.……


3. Make a whipping cream bikini
or matching whipping cream undies and lick them off each other.

4. Place cut up banana pieces, strawberries, pop rocks candy onto naked belly (or any body part of your choosing) add chocolate syrup then top with whipping cream. Allow your dear honey bunny to lick it off. If you’re daring, try this and add a scoop of ice cream. Wowza!

5. “Hershey's syrup, whipped cream, and a Catwoman mask.” – Men’s Health magazine. Okay…? Sorry, I can’t do the Catwoman mask thing.

6. Oh, you need the obvious idea? Then simply cover your partner’s hottest spots. You have to lick the cream away to get to the “goodies”. Duh.

7. Now this old album cover gives me a few ideas I simply can’t express in words. Hmm... here's another...

What’s an album? If you don’t know… you shouldn’t be reading this post.


8. Add some strawberry syrup to the whipping cream then put it in the freeze for a bit before placing dollops onto nipples. The flavor and the cold enhances the … uh… pleasure.

9. Need a little warmth while you play with all this whipping cream? Try this recipe: 1 cup heavy cream, whipped, add 1 ounce orange liqueur such as Grand Marnier, and whip together. Ladies - let your honey put this mixture wherever you might want him to pay a lot of attention to, cuz he’ll probably be there awhile.

10. Run a line of whipping cream along the backbone of your partner then slowly… I mean slowly lick it off. Don’t ever rush licking. A burp or gas of any kind can be rather embarrassing in a moment of passion.

11. Whipping cream, blindfold, handcuffs, and pineapple flavored edible warming oil. Need I say more?

12. Arm yourselves with cans of whipping cream; be sure to be naked, commence whipping cream war. Note: shower afterwards may be just as much fun as the war.

13. “Have your guy lie back comfortably on the bed; spray whipped cream from his naval to his upper thighs. Begin slowly licking it off the body areas above and below his package. After each lick, kiss his mouth with your lips covered in whipped cream, bring your mouth back below his belt. Slowly lick all the whipped cream off his body — except the cream directly covering his penis and testicles. Not until he’s aching should you finally indulge there.” – Cosmopolitan magazine. (Recommended by Laura Berman, PhD, sex therapist and creator of the DVD series Dr. Berman Can Help)


OHHHHHH…. HONEY….. I HAVE WHIPPING CREAM...

Submit your poetry or prose

Earth Day 2010 Anthology
Call for Submissions

We're gearing up for Earth Day 2010 and we are looking for prose and poetry that shares nature and nature's gifts with readers of every age.

We'll be publishing Nature's Gifts in both print and electronic formats. Fifty percent of the profits for a period of one year from first publication will be donated to The Nature Conservancy to honor their incredible work around the globe. You can learn more about The Nature Conservancy at their website
Submissions will be judged by a panel of three judges, both Vanilla Heart Publishing staff members and contracted editors. Authors whose pieces are selected will be notified by February 1, 2010.

All selected contributors, in addition to receiving the print copy of the published anthology in which they appear, will also be announced on this Website, and on Facebook, MySpace, and Xanga blogs, as well as inclusion in the donation letter to The Nature Conservancy, and be invited to participate in the Vanilla Heart Publishing Earth Day 2010 Celebrations.



Open for submissions September 1-December 31, 2009

Our Newest Anthology,
Nature's Gifts: An Anthology Celebrating Nature and Our Natural WorldSUBMISSION DETAILS
Open to all; Authors under age 18 must have permission from parent or guardian to enter
Poetry - length from short (haiku length) to Epic (300 lines)
Stories - fiction and non-fiction both accepted; length from 300 words to 25,000 words

Authors retain copyright to their contributions and grant to the publisher first print and electronic rights for a period of one year from date of publication.
Selected authors will be asked to sign a publishing agreement prior to publication.
Send email submissions to:
Nature'sGifts@VanillaHeartBooksAndAuthors.com

Thursday Thirteen – 13 Reasons to Smile

1. To show you’re happy.

2. Like yawns, smiles are contagious.
3. To do a simple act of kindness.
4. Because you are wearing a new shade of lipstick. (After all, a girl cannot have too many shades of lipstick.)

5. You know your best girlfriend will tell you if you have something stuck in your teeth.
6. Because that piece of chocolate cheesecake was amazing.


7. You feel very blessed.

8. You feel joy in your heart and love energizes you. (Was that an oversized pink bunny that just went by?)
9. If you smile enough, you’ll start to believe your face.

10. You just took a deep breath and realized life is grand.
11. Because happiness is the result of being too busy to be miserable.



12. My favorite reason: Always smile… because others will think you are up to something. And maybe you are.
13.
oh, must post a Trent smile, ahhhhh...

Need I say more?

Now tell me what makes you smile.

Out of this world book - check it out

Available at Liquid Silver Books!

They Don't Make Guys Like Him Anymore!

Tanna Aldrick is the captain of a deep space salvage ship in the twenty-ninth century. When she and her all-female crew stumble upon an ancient ship floating in the middle of nowhere, they figure they might be able to find a few valuable tidbits left on the decrepit spacecraft. But what they discover is more valuable than anything they could have ever imagined finding – a gorgeous hunk of a man from the twenty-second century, perfectly preserved in cryogenic suspension. Mankind has changed a lot in seven-hundred years, and six-foot-four, blond-haired, blue-eyed guys like him aren’t just rare; they’re nonexistent. From the moment they revive him, Tanna finds herself falling for their handsome passenger. As logical as her reasons for not getting romantically involved with him are, however, she still finds herself inviting him into her bed.

Garrick Carlisle wakes up after seven-hundred years in hypersleep to find that everything and everyone he knew is gone. Lost and disconnected, the only thing that keeps him from completely losing it is the beautiful and sexy, dark-haired ship’s captain who rescued him.

Tanna isn’t the only person interested in Garrick, though. A man like him would bring a high price on the slave blocks on any number of planets and there are a lot of unscrupulous people in the galaxy willing to do anything to get their hands on him.

How far will Tanna go to protect her valuable cargo and what will Garrick do to stay with the woman he has come to love?

Valuable Cargo
by Paige Tyler
Click HERE to Read Chapter One and Buy Your Copy!

Thursday's Thirteen - 13 Shirtless Men

Last week I gave you 13 reasons to attend the Montrose Blueberry Festival, one including plenty of opportunities to view shirtless men. The weekend temps were in the 90's and very humid. I had alot of fun spending 3 days working and visiting with friends throughout the festival and the Renaissance Faire.

Well this list of shirtless men is put together just for Paige and Jennifer. Enjoy!
1.


2.


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8.


9.


10.


11.


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13.

Ah... here's an extra...