Monday, May 25, 2009

The Story That Burned to Be Written

Sometimes a story sits in your heart, a scene, a moment, an experience--blazes out and says "write this story!" That's what happened with my story, Jebediah's Promise. Jebediah's Promise is rooted in Army life and the sacrifices of a wife for the husband she loves and the determination of a husband to return to the wife he can't live without.

In 2003, my son-in-law was deployed overseas and my daughter was pregnant. One of my sons was also deployed overseas during that time, just winding down his year overseas. First my son shipped out. In March, as I packed and prepared to move to another state, my attention was glued to the television screen. I went three weeks without communication at a very trying time. It was only after the move that I received a call from my son to inform me that he was safe. The relief was immense. He couldn't say much but to hear his voice was the best sound in the world.

And then my son-in-law was deployed. My daughter was near term and so I flew to Ft. Bragg to be with her for the birth of my granddaughter. My sister, who lives in New York, put together a long-distance baby shower, gathering gifts from friends and relatives around the country. Everything packed into their SUV and the family drove down to North Carolina, surprising my daughter.

My other son flew in for a week's vacation. Now, how many babies do you know that are born on their due date? Would he be here for the arrival of his new niece? Well, you know how that goes. Except in this case the stars were aligned correctly, I guess.

Surprisingly, or maybe not so, knowing my granddaughter, but she was born right on her due date. Just seven days from my own birthday. What a birthday present! My son played chauffeur, and I was there for the birth of my granddaughter. It turned out to be a C-section delivery--my granddaughter apparently having second thoughts about whether she was quite ready to leave her mother's womb, but alas the Navy doctor thought otherwise. A week later, my son who was deployed, returned to the U.S. and he joined us as well. He was stationed in Georgia at the time.

Once my stay was over, my mother-in-law flew in for three weeks to stay with my daughter. Family and friends are so important at times like this.

I spent time prior to the birth with my daughter, doing errands, meeting her friends, attending one of the family update meetings, learning about the phone trees established for military families to communicate information, going to the Post Office in sweltering heat, standing in lines because the packages to her husband were prepared and sent often. The strength necessary to continue day-to-day, waiting for that phone call, watching for that communication that keeps one going each and every day, maybe a moment online. These are images and experiences and emotions that are indelibly branded into memory.

I didn't actually start to write Jebediah's Promise until about a year later, but the idea refused to fade.

This is where the glimmer of a story began to form in my mind. This was a story I had to write. It is dedicated to my daughter, her husband, and my son, as well as to all those family who sacrifice for our safety. To my father who served in the Korean Conflict, my uncle who served in World War II, my other uncle who served in the Vietnam War, to my husband's family who have served, as well as all those who have come before and those will continue to serve.

It is a story of love, commitment, and sacrifice, first and foremost, sensual and erotic in its telling.

I thought today might be an appropriate day on which to share an excerpt once more.



Jebediah’s Promise by Adrianna Dane
Genre: Erotic Contemporary Romance
ISBN: 1-59279-473-4 (electronic)
Publisher: Amber Quill Press/Amber Heat

Also available in the Tapestry of Desire Paperback (a collection of erotic romance) available at Amazon.com.

Purchase Link: http://www.amberquill.com/AmberHeat/JebediahsPromise.html

Author Website: www.adriannadane.com



SYNOPSIS:

Captain Jebediah Holliday is a soldier who serves his country with pride and holds the heart of his wife Trudy, keeping him strong. Dedication to duty requires strength and commitment in separation for both Jeb and Trudy. Jeb’s pledge to do his duty and return to Trudy safely is jeopardized when he is taken hostage on a routine mission. Trudy has faith that Jeb will return home to her, keeping his promise. A hero’s face and courage comes in many guises.

EXCERPT:

"Hey soldier, how about buying a girl a drink?"

Jeb paused in the act of raising the glass to his lips and smiled to himself. He set the beer back on the bar and swiveled around on the stool, knowing exactly whom that sultry, sexy voice belonged to.

Schooling his expression so as not to reveal his anticipation, he surveyed the compact little strawberry blonde posed next to his stool. Mm-mm, damn fine looking woman. With cherry-lush lips curved into a seductive half smile, a slender golden brow arched upward, and the taunt-the-devil flash in her eyes, she presented the kill-me wallop of some of his grandpap’s finest homebrew. The now familiar burn flashed bright, tracking a path through his insides, heart to groin.

Drawing out the sizzle, he took his time in answering as he measured her with his eyes, drinking in the sensual image she presented. It was a vision he’d never grow tired of seeing. The loud country music blasting on the speakers faded away, his total concentration centered on the hot little package standing in front of him. He always had been a man who liked to take his time unwrapping presents slow and easy.

"Well, evenin’, good lookin’. What brings you into a place like this?" His body throbbed in response to the picture she presented in the tight black jeans hugging her rounded hips, and his gaze appreciated the full firm breasts his hands itched to hold.

The jade shirt she wore matched the color of her eyes, reminding him of springtime back home in the mountains of Tennessee. Lip smackin’ good as his grandpap would say.

Good thing he’d learned some gentlemanly manners over the years, or he’d be giving her the pinch test on that nice tight ass of hers, and probably warrant a slap in return.

She knew what he was thinking. He could tell by the twinkle of mischief in her eyes she knew exactly what was in his mind. And that pouty mouth dared him to try it. She stepped closer, reached out, and placed her palms against the tops of his black jean-clad thighs.

"Mmmm, nice. That’s what I like—a man with a fine pair of rock-hard legs." Her words curled around him like smoke from a campfire reaching for the sky, and she sure as hell was stoking a fire that was ready to break out into a pure red-hot blaze set to ravage his skin. She pressed her fingers against the dense fabric covering his thighs just enough, and he felt his cock respond. Oh, she had a nice grip—firm, yet gentle. Her long fingers released, tightened, repeated the action as she shifted closer to the throbbing dick waiting to be loosed.

"Mighty familiar there, don’t you think, ma’am?" He reached out and clasped her forearms before she got any farther, pulling her between the rock-hard thighs she seemed so fond of. She fit close and perfect against his aching crotch. "Damn that feels good. Too good for sitting in the middle of a goddamned bar. One drink and we’re out of here, Tru."

Her grin widened and he knew he was in for trouble. She lifted a leg and rested her boot-shod foot against the rung of the barstool. His eyes widened and he sucked air as he felt her knee graze against that sensitive stiff tool confined behind the zippered front of his pants. Slowly she rubbed in a circle. The paddle fans stirring the air from above did little to cool his mounting temperature.

"Miss me today?" she murmured, adding a mere hint more pressure.



Reviews

5 Angels!! Adrianna Dane accurately captures the essence of the military life and does so with skill. The sexual encounters are satisfying and show the connection between Trudy and Jeb. ... Adrianna Dane creates multifaceted, in depth characters the reader can identify with... --Tracey, Fallen Angel Reviews

5 Hearts!! Adrianna Dane creates a wonderful story of two people meeting for the very first time and it is love at first sight. I was deeply moved by reading this book and I found myself urging Trudy on as she struggled with day to day routines on an Army base and I cried with her as the Army Chaplain knocked on her door. The book is very realistic and a definite keeper! --Linda B., The Romance Studio



Read another excerpt: http://www.adriannadane.com/jebediahspromise.html

Happy Memorial Day.

Adrianna

Friday, May 22, 2009

Man Power - Now Available at Amazon.com



Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/Man-Power-Adrianna-Dane/dp/1602728739/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1

The Reviews...

For Captivity--

Recommended Read and 5 Angels!! Captivity by Adrianna Dane is yet another demonstration of the author's ability to bring a thought provoking and entertaining story for our reading pleasure. ... By the end of the book, both men had me viewing them through a different outlook... --NeNe, Fallen Angel Reviews

For Opposing Forces--

"...Something quite different, Opposing Forces is a special kind of love story. ... Opposing Forces has an unusual premise for a plot but somehow manages to stay away from turning into a comic book and showcases a poignant love between two men badly scarred inside and out... --Lisa, JoyfullyReviewed.com

For Hot Male --

"Hot Male doesn't just bring us one fantastic man, but three delicious morsels. ... Adrianna Dane's characters each has his own frailty, and will need the love and devotion of the other two to move forward. The bond shared by these three men is strong enough to heal all wounds... If you enjoy star travel combined with D/s and light BDSM, then pick up a copy of Hot Male..." -- Scandalous Minx, Literary Nymphs Reviews

A little about the stories in Man Power:

Three erotic worlds fused together to unite the fierce passion and lusty friction of the ultimate in dynamic man power. Love and domination, frailty and fate, alien passion and cyber sex. All male, all desirable. All looking for love.

Previously available only in electronic format, these three stories of gay erotic romance have now been combined for a paperback edition! Included are the tales...

# Captivity
A winged man known simply as "the wild thing" has been free to roam the jungles outside Bendar City until he's betrayed, captured, and sold to a powerful lord who values the stunning birdman's unique beauty. Lord Adolpho Serratin of the Kalamadur Oasis maintains a collection of unusual discoveries, many one-of-a-kind, and "the wild thing" soon becomes the most beloved of Serratin's possessions...in more ways than one. He is given the name Orion Birdwalker, tamed, and trained to serve his new master in all ways, including those duties involving intimate service. But when Orion is presented with an unexpected chance for escape, it becomes the hardest decision he will ever make, since he knows he can't have both his freedom and Lord Serratin, the master he has come to love. Will he choose to flee, or remain a captive to his own passions?

# Opposing Forces
Having been passionate lovers before a laboratory explosion changed their lives, Paz Jones and Nikki Lozakis finally meet again under very different circumstances. Both men are changed, one now known to the world as Silverhawk, who believes in justice and uses his new powers to help the world, and the other a mutant going by the name of Steele, a rogue with superhuman abilities, intent on destroying the mad scientist who made him what he is. Can two men with scarred souls and the superior potential to guard humanity save themselves and re-ignite the love they once shared even though they are no longer the men they once were? And can they come to terms with what they have become, and what they have lost?

# Hot Male
Leo Southworth is into a very hot male on the new .man network. Suffering from injuries that cause him constant pain, Leo has shied away from physical relationships, and talking with Sirras online is what keeps him going. It isn't only about the cyber sex—it's because Sirras can take him places he's never been before. But Sirras, consorting with a human online, is breaking every law known to Avvarian "travvellers." Yet there’s something about Leo that Sirras can’t resist. As if that isn't bad enough, who should appear in Sirras's life at the worst possible moment? Raddlack, the mage-lord with whom Sirras had shared a night of sizzling passion. Sirras and Leo...two lonely men who aren't looking for love, who connect online, thinking it would be enough to satisfy their need for companionship after taking some hard turns in their lives. But love is what happens when three hot males physically come together, and it will blow apart all their worlds and ignite something brighter, hotter, and more lasting than any of them could have ever imagined...

Read excerpts at my website.

Friday, May 15, 2009

An Obsession with Genres and Subgenres

This week the project was not as expected. There are some weeks when I tend to delve into craft before moving on to the next story. This week I was reading about structures and conflicts and scenes and stuff like that. Often, I make notes as I read.

So in doing this craft reading this week I got to a section about genres and subgenres with a listing. I was reading through the list and I was thinking this might be a good time to make up a decent genre reference list. I think it's important before blending genres to know what the foundations are that you're working with. Sometimes it helps in merging and providing new ideas for mixing and matching plots and characters and themes.

So I begin this little project, starting with the list in the book. Well, I wasn't satisfied. I didn't like some of the descriptions, I thought some of the subgenres were actually theme types rather than actual genres and so my short project turned into something much more as I began researching genres and subgenres.

Several days later, I have now completed the initial project. I'm still looking at it and thinking I need to do more, but I already sat here through lunch, and about to do so through dinner. So, my list is now thirteen pages.

I thought it might be nice to share it and you can now find it on my website at: http://www.adriannadane.com/genresandsubgenres.html. You can also download it from that page as a pdf file if you scroll to the bottom.

Now, I really need to get some dinner. I hope I can now stop obsessing over this list at least for a little while.

Probably not.

Adrianna