September's Coming Attractions!

by Anna Sugden


Phew! Now that we're beginning to recover from Jeanne's awesome launch party ... Zach and the hockey hunks are offering restoratifs and massages ... well, Zach is busy with me, but you can help yourself to one of the others ... it's time to celebrate a new month in the Lair.


A great way to kick off that celebration will be to rush out and buy Jeanne Adam's Deadly Little Secrets - available from September 7th - and Tawny Weber's Riding the Waves - available now!

Or you can click on the cover links here, which will take you straight to Amazon!


And, if that's not enough, here's a tempting taster of the fabulous guests who will be dropping by the Lair this month.


We kick off the month on September 2 with RITA winner Molly O'Keefe (www.molly-okeefe.com), who will be talking about her favorite musician and giving us the scoop on her Superromance trilogy, The Notorious O'Neills, starting with The Temptation of Savannah O'Neill!


On September 3rd, Aunty Cindy hosts paranormal romance author Kendra Leigh Castle,(www.kendraleighcastle.com) who will talk about her new release from Harlequin Nocturne, Renegade Angel. She'll also be happy to answer questions about her other shape-shifter books, and about the new furry beastie in her life.


A Lair favourite returns on the 6th when Jo Davis (www.jodavis.net)talks with Suz about her newest erotic spy romance, I Spy A Naughty Game, the second in Jo's seriously sexy SHADO Agency series. And the pair will have a hint or two about the next firefighter book and something new coming from our friend Jo.

On 7th September, Foanna hosts debut Australian author Christina Phillips (www.christinaphillips.com) who will talk about Forbidden, a smoking hot romance between a Roman aristocrat and a Druid priestess!


Another Lair favourite Nicola Cornick www.nicolacornick.co.uk) joins us on the 16th September, to talk about Whisper of Scandal, the first book in her new series.


MJ Fredrick, yet another Lair favourite, returns to the Lair on 19th September to celebrate the September 6 launch of her latest book, Sunrise Over Texas, from Carina Press, the story of a woman struggling to hold her family together, a man who lost everything and the struggles the two of them endure in the new land...and with a new love.


Addison Fox (www.addisonfox.com)is back to bring us another of her sexy Zodiac Warriors in Warrior Avenged. This exciting new series is only book two of her Warriors of the Zodiac series with plenty more paranormal Zodiac Warriors to come. Check out what has Suz so hot....really....about this new book.


Popular thriller writer Shane Gericke (www.shanegericke.com)joins us on September 24th. Keep an eye out for his new book, Torn Apart!


Rounding off the month on 27th September with another Lair favourite, Miranda Neville (www.mirandneville.com) who will pop by to tell us about the second book in her Burgundy Club series, The Dangerous Viscount.


And, don't forget Anna Campbell is running a fantabulous contest - she is giving away TWO Change of Season Reading Packs in her latest website contest. Each AWESOME pack will include signed copies of My Reckless Surrender by Anna Campbell, Sweetest Little Sin by Christine Wells, His Mistress for a Million by Trish Morey, The Greek's Convenient Mistress by Annie West, Dark Deceiver by Pamela Palmer, and either Does She Dare? or Risque Business by Tawny Weber. Just email Anna on anna@annacampbell.info and tell her one other book by each of these authors (the website links are on her contest page to make it easy) to go into the draw. For more information, please visit Anna's contest page. http://www.annacampbell.info/contest.html

So, with September starting, schools back in business and autumn just around the corner, tell me what are you most looking forward to this month?

Saying goodbye is never easy

Today is the last day of August. I guess I have no choice but to say good-bye to summer. I always find it hard because I never want this season to end. What my summer was about...

The Mediterranean... What's not to love about this picture?

Waking up to this view in the south of France. The trees, the morning sun, the fresh air, the pool and the sound of birds singing...

The refreshing drinks (they're all non-alcoholic, by the way!). The one in the middle was the most delicious watermelon cocktail!

Outdoor festivals and desserts (here: crepe with Nutella).

Discovering nature with the family. The boys built a dam / useless bridge across a stream and I built a stone path, which led from our little picnic mat to the edge of the water. I really got into it and was busy for at least an hour, collecting stones - it felt strange but good to concentrate on something like this! (do you know the feeling?) 

And simply enjoying those warm, sunny days.

I will miss you, summer! 

p.s. I wanted to post more photos but had trouble uploading them. I've been having quite a few problems with blogger recently (including google friend connect). Anyone else?

LAUNCH PARTY!!!!!! Deadly Little Secrets is coming in September!

By Jeanne Adams

So, maybe I'm jumping the gun a bit but....

DEADLY LITTLE SECRETS is headed for a store near you SEPTEMBER 7th!!

And now that I have your attention by putting in something from TWILIGHT (A September calendar page, so it DOES apply!), I'll tell you about DEADLY LITTLE SECRETS.....

I love this book. It was fun to write and even more fun to surprise people (my editor included!) with the twists and turns. The book is about cold cases and art fraud, friendship and danger. How's that for vague? Ha!

It was interesting to research the book, discover how people smuggle paintings and how often, something happens and fabulous art ends up in a yard sale bin, or a library, or hanging on the wall of a little old lady in Poughkeepsie, who has no idea the painting is "real."

(That's one of my favorite paintings by John Singer Sargent over there on the left, by the way. No, quit looking at Robert Pattinson, the painting is over THERE....nevermind.)

Based on some very cool stories about just that sort of thing - lost art - and some other bits here and there, I created a cold case of art fraud for Ana Burton, brilliant, in-the-doghouse CIA agent who screwed up enough to get stuck on cold case duty. Rumor has it her data was wrong, and some of her team got killed. she's not only stuck, she thinks she DID screw up, and if she did, she'll never be the same.

Then there's her opposite number, Gates Bromley. I researched security for high-profile individuals. Who has a body guard and why would you want one? What do they do? How does it work?

So Gates is in charge of security for billionaire art collector, Dav Gianikopolis. After reading about several high-net-worth security mavins, I created Gates. He's at points Dav's partner in business as well, so he's not your average beefy thug, although he's pretty darn delicious, I must say!

At first, he and Ana clash, but within hours of meeting with her about the nine-years-cold-case of art fraud, Gates is shot at, and so is Ana.

Someone wants that cold case to stay buried in the stacks, and they'll stoop to murder to insure it.

(cue suspensful music....)

And that's the story of DEADLY LITTLE SECRETS!

Bwah-ha-ha-ha! Sort of. There's a lot more, and a lot of very, very twisty bits. The one overwhelming statement everyone's made is...."WHOA, I didn't see THAT coming!"

Heh-heh-heh. That's just the way I like it.

Just before the book comes out, the publishing house sends it out for reviews. (This will make you crazy if you let it and it nearly gave me a case of the hives on this one.)

With great thankfulness, I received my third 4.5 star review and a TOP PICK from Romantic Times magazine.

To say that it made my day is a gross understatement. I squealed, I bounced up and down in my office chair. I emailed EVERYONE, then I called everyone: my hubby, the Banditas, my family, people I barely know.
Seriously, I was stoked.

So, between the LAUNCH and a good review, THAT calls for a CELEBRATION! SVEN!!! Bring a round of drinks.

Demetrius! Paolo! Hockey Hunks! Bring on the party hats and streamers! Implore the Goddess Sangria to bless our gathering 'cause

We are havin' a LAUNCH PARTY!!!!!

Let's get out the paint, the wall sized canvas and Paint the TOWN!!!! Grab a drink and a brush and a color and let's GO!!!

(BTW, That's another Sargent over there on the left...)

And if you want to be briefly serious, tell me:

Who your favorite artist is...

What's your favorite research topic...(besides men, and sex...)

What your favorite color is....

And if you've ever kept a secret so well that no one EVER knew....

The Don Cornelius-Fred Astaire Love Child

I paraphrase loosely B.B. King’s reaction to the lyrics of When Love Comes to Town, the 1987 U2 song written for him by Bono. King said something like…“You mighty young to write such heavy lyrics.” I can’t remember what I had for dinner three nights ago but I’ve always remembered that line.

I feel the same way about Barima. When I drink Barima’s visual treats and read his commentary I have a B.B. King moment. This kid hasn’t lived enough life yet to have that much aplomb. I guess that blows my already flawed theory that time and tenure are influencers of style. Is it nature or nurture? Hell I don’t know. What I do know is that this kid has the stuff. And Barima, trust me young sport, there will be a time when you’ll consider it a compliment to be called a kid.

I look at his contrivances and think…”damn, this kid ain’t old enough to posses his legitimate swagger.” When I did the Merkin tribute story I included Alan Flusser’s observation of Merkin’s sartorial mélange…“Coming upon Merkin in the street is like walking into a bazaar in Marrakesh-you don’t know what to look at first.” In my inelegant Southern way let me just say that Barima delivers the same damn thang. And Barima’s Savile Row-esque aplomb is washed cleverly in his ethnicity…ever present without looking like a revisionist devotee of 1970’s blaxploitation films.

Here’s an example above. Barima manifests a theatrical production with tweedy, fair isled motivations while finishing this rig with colour and accessories that knock it clean out of the ballpark. If I tried to replicate this verbatim, I’d end up looking like the victim of a Tommy Hilfiger-Old Navy-Rugby fraternity hazing event.

So what about his style? Theatrical? Yes, of course. An inextricably ethnic thread therein? Well it would worry the shit out of me if there wasn’t. Ghana is rich in colour, movement, texture and sounds. A Ghanaian antecedent surely does nothing but buoy his style deliverables but country of origin isn’t enough. Barima is a thinking man’s dandy. He’s the je ne sais quoi poster child. Literally…“I don’t know that” or as we would say in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina…“I be damn if I know.”…in this case, where Barima’s stuff comes from. I now and forever Knight Sir Barima as…the Chocolate Merkin. And most of you know how I revere Merkin so this is nothing but 100% praise for Barima.

And another thing about Barima’s or anyone else’s style. It’s his. Don’t attempt it. Find your own. His colour-style-amalgamation makes my middle age-Belgian shoe-fuzzy diceyness appear cowardly. Dramatic he is. A poseur he is not. I’m reminded of that scene in the movie K2 where the two guys are braving winds and snow in a small tent on the side of a mountain. One guy asks the other if he has his strategy yet. ...his strategy for making the K2 summit. The other guy says something like “I don’t know…what’s your strategy.” To which his buddy replied… “Mine is mine, it won’t work for you.” Same with climbing Mount Style.

I missed Barima by about a week when I was last in London. I think he was home in Ghana for holidays but I do remember trading a few emails to see if we could meet up for a drink. I think he’s old enough to drink cocktails. London is a tough city for young people to survive financially…unless you are propped up by family or living in a house with fifteen other people in Peckham. Peckham hell; probably two hours farther out of London. I believe I’m correct in saying that for now, Barima has decamped back to Ghana to regroup.

Tintin…you know…the guy who has a blog that I ghostwrite, was talking about who has a voice in the blogosphere and who doesn’t. He made solid arguments regarding who has something to say versus those who simply paste pictures and captions into a blog and purports it as commentary. I like Barima’s voice. It’s tinted with British Colonial aftertastes and it’s crisp. So when he’s writing at length, you get all the evidence necessary to realize that this young man not only has opinions but has the gifts to voice them well. Here are some examples for you.

On Bunny Roger…

“As noted in the opening photograph of Roger, Neo-Edwardianism in dress, as well as deportment, was a nostalgic exhumation and customisation of an old style. It was the ideal postwar reaction; emerging from half a decade of atrocity, loss and devastation and seeking reinvigoration in the aftermath, Row tailors advocated this fashion to entice customers back to suiting."

And from Barima's Relaxed Suiting post..."It's been well documented that I achieve a more informal look the same way other like minds do; my shirt and tie combinations could only really be seen at parties or in a creative office. Anyone who really thinks bold ensembles are de rigueur in a conservative professional environment is an idiot or has befriended one too many wide boys. But going the other way and playing the colour field down doesn't harm a suit's out-of-the-office cachet.”

And on Astaire in Easter Parade...

 “Just look at his exit - total and intuitive awareness of his environment in full display, he performs a variety of cane tricks, finishing with his trademark spinning catch and exits with a wave and a smile in bounding, mercurial twirls. Cheating a child out of an Easter Bunny never looked so admirable…”

And this, about a suit he borrowed to attend a wedding…“Ghanaian weddings favour a conservative mode in principle, but they are nevertheless as rife with egregious errors such as evening dress in the daytime as anywhere else on the planet. Still, the simplicity is the thing and bow ties are always welcome. The suit was kindly lent to me as I had none of my own when I initially relocated. I've more than made up for that now.”

Ok, so he borrows the suit above. Does a couple of Barimanastics and BAM…he’s rigged better than ninety percent of the world.'

The sartorial master, Ahmet Ertegun received this Barimanal observation…

“…..one cannot dismiss the twinkle in Ertegun's eyes that implies a capacity to be as indelicate as his companions, at least once upon a time. Nutini was a great admirer of Ertegun's sartorial sense, liking it to that of his own grandfather, but also reminisced that when it came to retaining a finger on the pulse, he was more like a 25-year old. Indeed, one would expect nothing less than precise attunement to the zeitgeist from Ertegun, the man who wrote 'Mess Around' for Ray Charles, signed Led Zeppelin and fell asleep in a nightclub whilst finalizing negotiations with The Rolling Stones…”

So he’s a visualist and a darn good writer. If there’s a flaw somewhere it’s one that I posses as well. One post will be well written with catchy commentary and then the next three may be comparatively lean on all fronts. I’ll defend both of us. I write this drivel in my spare time and it by no means is it my job. And Barima…well let me just say that more of his stuff is fun to read than not. I’d like to see more comments on his posts. Maybe you’ll become a follower.

This link will take you straight-away to Barima posts that almost exclusively depict him and his sartorial contrivances. It would be a cool way to orient yourself to why I deem him visually worthy of this tribute post.

Onward. With about one tenth the stuff that our Barima has.

ADG


Ps...Barima read every word of this post and approved one hundred percent of its tone and content before I published it. So spare me any interpretation that you might have about ethnic edginess and political correctness. This man rocks every bit of what God gave him.

Sleeve Tattoos For Girls

Clearly there is not limit in the range of designs a girl can choose from when selecting a sleeve tattoo, however we've determined that the most common sleeve tattoos for women often include flowers, sometimes as the centerpiece or perhaps to complement a larger design.

Green vegetation sleeve tattoo idea for women.

Large flower and peacock idea.

Colorful artwork with four leaf clovers.

Nautical star with large rose.

Youthful toy inspired art.

Bright cosmic design picture.