Oh, Christmas Tree!

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The last few weeks have been a crazy whirl of everything that is Christmas... the shopping, getting the tree up (and then rearranging all the decorations once DD was in bed!), attending the little one's nativity at school and most importantly, writing about Christmas as I produced my first short story: Santa's Sexy Shorts: Tristan

But really I had been getting in the spirit of Christmas far earlier in the year when I wrote my latest novel, Tied to You. As I sat there contemplating a Christmas for Alex and Olivia, I couldn't help but slip in some of my favourite traditions as well. And I especially loved being able to add a few Aussie eccentricities from the time that I spent Down Under. 

Christmas is, after all, the season for sharing... so read on for Olivia and Alex's Christmas Day...

Extract from Tied to You

I wake on Christmas Day, surprised to see snowflakes falling outside my window. I pull on my thick purple chenille robe and slippers and make my way quietly down to the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea. I think surprise is written all over my face when I walk in to find Alex flipping pancakes, with bacon sizzling in a pan on the side. “Morning. Happy Christmas,” I say softly.

“Merry Christmas, Liv,” Alex replies, a cheeky grin stretching across his face, reminding me so much of Aussie Alex. He pours me a cup from a pot of tea standing on the side and I take it gratefully, wandering through to the sunroom that extends into the garden to watch the snow. The house is bare of decorations—I hardly felt like it in the wake of my mother’s death–but with the snow falling, it does actually feel a little festive.

“Breakfast is ready,” Alex calls out, and I walk back through, taking a seat at the small kitchen table as Alex lays down a plate piled with pancakes and bacon, my absolute favourite breakfast. He hands me the maple syrup with a knowing smile and I pour it over my stack. Alex joins me and we tuck into our food. For the first time since we left Bali, I feel truly comfortable in his presence. I don’t know what exactly has changed since the night he climbed into my bed and held me as I cried, but Alex seems more relaxed and chilled.

When every last mouthful has been eaten, Alex declares that we need to Skype with his folks. I run upstairs to grab a shower and make myself presentable before making my way back to the living room with my small pile of presents for Alex. I have not actually spoken to Alex’s family since we got back to London, but we have exchanged emails, and Sheila sent me a beautiful card after my mother died. So I am looking forward to catching up and getting a glimpse of how the Davenports celebrate Christmas.

When I enter the living room, I see a decorated tree has magically appeared overnight, along with a large mound of presents. I add my own small pile to the stack and make my way over to Alex, who is busy setting up the laptop to link into the TV. Within moments, I am looking at Sheila and Bruce’s living room, which is carnage; paper is strewn all over the place, and kids are screaming and chasing each other. Sheila laughs, and as I take in the scene of family togetherness, I feel tears forming in my eyes. Everyone joins Sheila on the couch to wish us a merry Christmas, but it is not long before the kids get bored and wander off, so we chat for a few minutes before signing off ourselves.

“Presents!” Alex declares, diving for the tree.

“Hmm, I am guessing you like Christmas then?” I ask with a laugh.

“How can you not love Christmas?” Alex responds, causing me to chuckle. He hands me several boxes before grabbing a few that are obviously for him, the superhero wrapping paper a definite giveaway. “Mum sent these over for us,” he says when I raise my eyebrow questioningly.

I open my packages to find a beautiful silk scarf in a vibrant teal colour, a new purse and a gorgeous long cream cardigan that I admired on our shopping trip all that time ago. My eyes well up at Sheila’s thoughtfulness. Christmas, for the last five years, had been a solitary affair. I would visit my mother in the morning, taking her some gifts, but she never recognised me and I would always leave feeling depressed. The rest of the day would be spent eating pizza and watching crappy TV, avoiding all the sappy feel-good holiday films.

“You okay?” Alex says, bumping his shoulder with mine playfully.

“All good,” I sniff. “Your mum is amazing,” I say. “I can’t believe she sent me these. She is so thoughtful.” I look over at Alex’s pile and laugh when I see a jar of Vegemite, a packet of Tim Tams and a pair of boxers with the Australian flag on them.

“Yeah, thoughtful…”Alex sniggers.

Shyly, I hand Alex the small pile of gifts that I got him. “Sorry, it is not much…” I trail off. I really struggled on what to buy him, especially when Alex probably has the means to buy a third world country. Despite Alex giving me an allowance, which I haven’t actually touched, I made sure I used the money I made from my job with Charles to pay for these.

Alex rips open the paper and pulls out the soft grey cashmere scarf that I found when I was out and about the week before. I had noticed he didn’t seem to have one, so when I came across this one, the exact colour of his eyes, I thought it would suit him. His presents also include an e-reader with a couple of titles that I thought he would like already loaded and a selection of Aussie sweets that I managed to find in one of those random stores that seem to cater to every nationality who might be missing their favourite foods from home.

“I hope that you like them…?” I ask hesitantly.

Alex leans over and gives me a soft kiss on the cheek. “They are lovely. Thank you. You really didn’t need to.” I shrug in embarrassment but refrain from saying anything more. “Your turn,” he says, handing me a stack of boxes.

“What on earth, Alex?” I ask, and this time it is Alex shrugging his shoulders. I open my presents slowly, savouring my gifts. A few of the packages are filled with clothes and I am guessing Alex must have got some assistant, or his secretary, to help him out because he has my size spot on and everything coordinates. “Are you fed up with my fab style already?” I joke.

“Nope, just thought that most chicks are into clothes, and you haven’t really been buying anything…” he trails off, looking a little uneasy.

“Thanks, Alex. These are lovely.” The rest of the parcels contain perfume, chocolates, a couple of books and even a voucher for a spa day. The items are really personal yet Alex has got each one spot on, making me wonder if he has been going through my things. I dismiss the thought and lean across to give him a kiss, murmuring a soft ‘Thank you’.

The rest of the day is spent cooking Christmas lunch and then slipping into a food-induced coma in front of the TV as we watch films all afternoon. I must have dozed off at one point as I wake to find my head on a pillow in Alex’s lap, a blanket thrown across my body and his hand resting on my hip. I am so grateful for the return of this version of Alex that I lie there for a while, eyes closed despite being fully awake, savouring the moment. 

Buy links:

Amazon (US)     http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NN50KZE

Amazon (UK)     http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NN50KZE

iBooks               https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/id925073550

Kobo                  http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/tied-to-you

Nook                  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tied-to-you-bibi-paterson/1120440715

Smashwords     https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/481384

By commenting on this post you get 1 entry into the Blissemas grand prize for a Kindle Paperwhite stuffed with smut. For a list of rules and other Blissemas blogs please check http://blissemas.co.uk 

Book boyfriends…what happens when too many men live in your head

As a writer I sometimes feel a little schizophrenic. I generally have three or four storyline ideas going through my head at any one time so tend to find myself flipping through dialogue and character reactions, even if the stories are completely separate… crazy right?

Well I thought I was doing quite well keeping my lines of separation until I received an email from one of the readers who had kindly agreed to review an early ARC of my new novel, Tied to You. ‘Who is Taylor?’ she asked and, for a moment, I didn't understand what she meant. There is no Taylor in Tied to You, only Alex, and then it clicked… Taylor is the main character in my Thirty Days series and somehow he had crossed over. Cue some furious searching through the novel to find any other instances I may have mentioned him. Thank heavens it was an isolated incident but it did serve a purpose to remind me to be extra vigilant with characters when committing them to paper.

This post was originally published on http://alliwantandmorebooks.wordpress.com on 20 November 2014

Finding inspiration

Alex and Liv from Tied to You popped into my head one night I was falling asleep. I didn’t really have a story in mind but I had been re-watching my Twilight boxset (yeah, I am a sucker for Stephanie Meyer) and that bit where Jacob talks about imprinting (“It's like gravity. Your whole centre shifts. Suddenly, it's not the Earth holding you here. You would do anything, be anything she needs. A friend, a brother, a protector.”) kept going around my head and suddenly I was like ‘I want to explore that’.

At the same time I also had a couple of friends who had become part of the BDSM scene. Complete over-sharers who didn't seem to understand the concept of too much information. So with all this information swirling around my head and this idea of someone being prepared to be whoever the other person needed them to be, Alex slowly started to form in my head. But he needed someone to balance him out; I found myself listening to John Legends’ All of me and suddenly Olivia was there in my head.

Cause all of me
Loves all of you
Love your curves and all your edges
All your perfect imperfections
Give your all to me
I'll give my all to you
You're my end and my beginning
Even when I lose I'm winning
'Cause I give you all of me
And you give me all of you, ohoh

As I ran over the chorus again and again (until I am sure my hubby was ready to scream) I realised that I had found the complete premise to build Alex and Olivia’s relationship.

This post was originally published on http://galestanley.blogspot.com on 18 November 2014

Getting lost in translation… the hardest part of writing

There is always a nerve-wracking moment when I sit down at my laptop with blank document open waiting for me to type out the words that have been flitting through my head for days, weeks or even months. I kind of wish I could be one of those writers who sits down and plans it all out and has her characters mapped out before even sitting down but unfortunately it just doesn't seem to work for me.

Instead my stories and characters seem to evolve organically chapter by chapter and this means that sometimes what happens in my head doesn't actually translate onto my screen. A prime example of this was my character Alex in my latest novel, Tied to You. Originally I had planned his character to be quite harsh and domineering, but once I sat down and wrote the first couple of chapters I realised that I wouldn't be able to sustain the level of aggression I had originally planned in relation to Olivia and instead he took on a more chilled out, surfer-boy slash CEO, demeanour.

So while I try to have a rough plot outlined in my head, I find that anything more than that just doesn't work for me. Instead I try to plan scene by scene, thinking them through before committing them to paper, to see where the story takes me. Sometimes it works out just as planned and other times it takes me somewhere completely unexpected…and that is not always a bad thing.

This post was originally published on http://belindasbookshelf.com on 17 November 2014

Smut & the playground: owning up to who you are

My daughter recently started reception at a new school which has not only meant that is she making new friends, but so am I. So you can imagine my nervousness after the first few mornings when I finally got asked the question ‘So what do you do?’. Now don’t get me wrong, I am proud of my writing and my mum beta reads everything so it’s not like I am in the closet or anything. But these are the mums that I am going to see pretty much every morning for the next seven years and I don’t know anything about them. And I already know that I am probably seen as the crazy mum with the bright pink hair.

I briefly considered telling them I am in marketing, which is what my background is in, or that I am a stay-at-home mum, but then I thought, sod-it, if they can’t handle the truth then I guess they will just have to suck it up. So cautiously I told them I am a writer which immediately got them intrigued. ‘What do you write?’ was immediately the next question. When I told them I wrote saucy novels, thinking that is probably PC enough for them, I definitely got a few raised eyebrows. But even more so a few of those secret smiles from people who know exactly what you mean. A couple even went so far as to ask for my pseudonym and title of my new book, Tied to You.

A few weeks later I know a couple have definitely read a couple of my books; nothing has been said explicitly but I have had a couple of smiles and comments here and there so I am guessing  underneath the Joules jackets there are definitely a few kinky chicks out there.

This post was originally published on http://adrianakraft.com/blog on 14 November 2014

My Writing Journey

I think most people assume that if you are an aspiring writer you spend years creating that perfect manuscript. My journey on the other hand has been somewhat different…

Reading has always been a passion of mine; from the age of seven I would read anywhere between five and ten books a week. Once I graduated from university and started working in London I couldn't understand why people would tell me they hated commuting on the tube; for me this was valuable reading time where the only interruption was trying to make sure I got off at the right stop (and yes I did once miss it and only realised two stops later!).

My career in marketing was spent writing, anything from brochures, copy for websites, coming up with headlines and puns and so forth, so I am the first to admit that the last thing I felt like doing when I got home was to then sit down in the evening and try and type out the stories that seemed to rattle around in my head.

But then circumstance intervened and I found myself in a position where I couldn't work for six months; we had returned from Australia and were having live with my parents whilst we waited for our tenants to vacate our house. Writing became an outlet for me. My daughter who was three at the time was in childcare a couple of hours each day to keep her socialised so it gave me an excuse to lock myself away and dream about another reality.

In truth, writing has kept me sane during some very trying times and I am so glad to have found my passion. I am also incredibly lucky to have an amazing hubby who supports me in it completely, even when I get so wrapped up in the story that I barely speak for a couple of days.

This post was originally published on http://jensreadingobsession.blogspot.com/ on 13 November 2014

Napping…it’s not just for nanas

Where do you get your best ideas? In the bath? By going on a walk? Well for me they tend to come just when I am about the fall asleep so whenever I get stuck with my writing I tend to take a nap. I might not necessarily sleep, but for the hour that I lay there I let my brain roam free. Sometimes it is just a swirly mess of thoughts and images but other times it will settle on a dialogue, or a plot point.

As there is no typing involved you can imagine things in real-time and see where the plot goes. Sometimes it will flow in one direction and will get to a situation I don’t think is right and then I will back up a bit to see if I can explore a different direction. Other times the idea will just flow and I will be itching to get up and write down everything that has just gone through my head. The best part of my method for me is that because I have never typed my random thoughts down I don’t have that guilt over deleting chapters when they don’t work.

And I even get my own personal bedtime story which is fun when you are working through kinky scenes like the ones I wrote for my new novel Tied to You.

This post was originally published on http://kdgrace.co.uk on 12 November 2014

Location, location, location

One of the hardest things I find when writing is getting the balance between fact and fiction just right. Of course the characters and the storyline are always fictitious but I always find myself pulling locations and settings from my own life. When I was in the process of writing Tied to You, I decided I wanted to set part of the novel in Perth in Western Australia. I spent fourteen months living there and instantly fell in love with the place; I made so many friends and was fortunate to live a twenty minute drive to some of the most pristine beaches in the whole world with dazzling white sand and turquoise water.

For me, writing about the place was almost cathartic; I was feeling really homesick for the place so being able to remember my favourite places and put them in the story made me feel a little like I hadn't even left (even if the reality was that I was freezing my butt off during the British winter).

This post was originally published on http://houstonhavens.wordpress.com/ on 11 November 2014

Making your mother blush: Writing erotic romances

I never set out for my first book, Thirty Days Have September, to be an erotic romance. I read plenty of novels in that genre but I also love thrillers, supernatural, a good murder mystery and sappy love stories. But as I got to the point that I needed to write the first sex scene I got a little bit nervous. Of course there are so many ways of writing a sex scene from the completely discrete to no-holds-barred graphic descriptions and I just wasn’t sure where I sat on the spectrum. So one day I just sat down and wrote the kind of description that I would have enjoyed reading myself and, low and behold, I discovered I had a bit of a kinky side.

This has continued and been stretched even further with my latest novel, Tied to You, where I explore a BDSM relationship. Whilst not actively in the scene myself, I have a couple of friends who are and were happy to answer any questions I had. It took a long time to get the scenes and the relationship dynamics right but in the end when my harshest critic, my mother, praised them and told me she enjoyed them I realised that I had found my groove. And who knew my mum had a kinky side as well?

This post was originally published on http://inthepagesofagoodbook.com on 10 November 2014

Smut Fanatics: Tied To You by Bibi Paterson Release Day Blitz!

Smut Fanatics: Tied To You by Bibi Paterson Release Day Blitz!: Synopsis Olivia Walker has just hit rock bottom. About to lose her job and become homeless, she can’t see a way out of the mess h...

Bibi's Book Stop: Your author needs you!

Bibi's Book Stop: Your author needs you!: My new novel, Tied to You, is coming out on the 31st October and I would love it if you could help support my Thunderclap campaign. If I get...

Your author needs you!

My new novel, Tied to You, is coming out on the 31st October and I would love it if you could help support my Thunderclap campaign. If I get 100 supporters then Thunderclap will send my message out across everyone's networks .

What's in a name? That which we call a rose...

Thirty Days Have September
is currently FREE on Amazon
nook, kobo, iBooks &
Smashwords

It is always exciting when readers get involved and ask questions about the ideas behind the story, and for the first time someone has actually queried the title of my novel and the fact that it should be Thirty Days Has September.

When I came up with the concept of Thirty Days it was because, for some crazy reason, I had the the Mother Goose version floating around my head (Well that, and a load of other baby rhymes that go along with having a three year old!). I loved the idea of taking the reader on a journey through each day of a month and knew from the start that the story was so much much bigger than just one book. So the idea took shape of a series; one based along the lines of the rhyme to encompass nine months, the time it would take for my main character to fall pregnant and have her baby. And then then the internal debate started; to have or to has!

I wanted to keep the idea of the series so I took the leap of using 'have' rather than 'has' as a way of binding the series together. So while technically it should be 'has', by the time all four books have been published I will have a series titled Thirty Days Have September, November, April & June.

Thirty days have September,

April, June, and November.

All the rest have 31,

Except February alone,

And that has 28 days clear,

And 29 in a leap year.

Thirty days have September,

April, June, and November

All the rest have 31,

Except for February.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_days_hath_September)

Book Launch

Thirty Days Have November

The long awaited sequel to Thirty Days Have September will be available from Amazon and other major online retailers from 28th March 2014.

About the book: 

When Taylor abandoned Abby for the second time, she needed to believe that fate would somehow bring them back together, that they were meant to be.

Together Abby and Taylor work to rebuild their relationship, as Abby learns to trust again. But danger still lurks and, with Abby close to realising her dream of opening her dessert cafe, the clock is ticking as a mystery assailant threatens her life. And then there is the small matter of Taylor's proposal...will Abby ever be able let go of Taylor's betrayal and accept?

It's Read An E-Book Week so I am giving away away copies of 

Thirty Days Have September for FREE on Smashwords.

Set in London and Brighton, Thirty Days is a fabulously provocative romance series that gives you a very steamy love affair between a hot guy and an unsure heroine, baked goods and some rather unexpected twists and turns along the way.

Thirty Days Have September

"I try to think of what I felt like before I met Taylor, but it is as if that girl no longer exists."

Shy and unassuming, Abigail James loves to bake. She dreams of opening her own dessert café but instead she spends her days working as a data analyst and sneaking in her cakes as the company’s ‘diet assassin’ on the side. Taylor Hudson, the enigmatic owner of Hudson International, has been captivated by Abby’s innocence and quiet charm since the day she started working for the company. However, his history with women is marred by personal circumstances and he has vowed to stay away.

A chance meeting sees Abby’s world turned upside down when, drawn in by Taylor’s chocolate brown eyes and unexpected kindness, she starts on a journey of attraction that will see her heart and soul laid bare. While their attraction is mutual, both Abby and Taylor have their own inner demons that they need to overcome if their relationship can move forward for them to find their own happily ever after.

Due to the nature of the content this book is intended for mature audiences.

> Get the book here

New Life

In a strange way I have come to think of my writing process as a little bit like having a baby...you nurture it, help it grow and then finally you put it out into the world and, from that moment on, you spend all your time worrying... Will people like it? Will it get on with the other 'kids'? Can you walk it through to maturity? Could you even do it all over again? And just like with a real baby, the gestation period is almost the easy part... What comes next is the hardest part, as being self-published means that there is no marketing team, no PR, so everything left up to you get the word out. But I love it, just like my own baby, and wouldn't change it for the world!

Review: Circle in the Sand by Lia Fairchild

I loved the premise of the story; four points of view, four friends each at a crossroads in their lives and the potential for their friendship to move in very different directions.

The story flows very well with each character bringing their own spin on events, both past and present, ensuring that the tale moves at a good pace. By the end of the book I felt like I was part of the circle and my only disappointment was that I wanted to know more about each character and I wanted them to be my friends too. I particularly loved that each character was so different; I felt like I knew a version of Jax, Emily, Sage and even Ned in my own life and I could identify with each and every one.

I loved this book and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an enjoyable, easy read. *****

New Year...New You

We all strive to be different. And New Year seems to be the time where we all start making outlandish resolutions that we haven't got a hope in hell of keeping.  So here are my resolutions which I hope will keep me sane through 2014:

.... write with passion

.... love with all my heart

.... never be 'normal'

and maybe try a new hair colour!