Tuesday, October 27, 2009

A Sample...


The Artist

Book one of the Dream series

By Julia Barrett

My husband called this morning to tell me he’d changed his flight and we had a huge argument. It was about his family and how they suck. He didn’t try to defend them, but neither did he stand up to them and I thought… Jeez, you fucker, you just cut off your own balls to spite your face. How am I supposed to have sex with you ever again when you’ve just emasculated yourself in my eyes?! You stupid fuck.

I drove to the damn Oakland Airport later that same day, navigating on freeways I’m not familiar with through heavy traffic, holding my MapQuest directions in one hand, trying to steer with the other hand, watching the road with one eye and reading with the other… fuming.

Of course, we made up on the ride home. After I calmed down and put on my listening ears, I found out that he’d tried to defend me but his jerk of a brother had drawn a line in the sand and wouldn’t relent, so my husband decided retreat was the better part of valor. He realized he was fighting a battle he couldn’t win and he walked away. He’s not like me. He’s conciliatory. I’d just as soon beat his brother about the head with a rolling pin, and that’s me being nice. I have a bit of a red-head temper. Just a bit…

* * * *

Last night, my husband came to bed after I’d already fallen asleep and I woke with his teeth biting down on my nipple and his cock pressed against my thigh. Oh. My. God. Was he hard. Like… explosively hard. He’s always big—I’m a very lucky woman—but holy shit! He was a bloody rock. Maybe it was the argument about his family, or maybe it was the fact that he’d been out of town for ten days, could have been either, but I was slippery wet in seconds. He tossed me onto my back and rolled on top of me, spreading my legs with his knees and ooh that first thrust… he was so hard, so big, he couldn’t get in right away—that’s my favorite part of sex, feeling him press against me, intruding into my space inch by glorious inch, while I open for him, you know, give it up.

Once he was in me, once he was buried to the hilt, as they say in romance novels, he began to move, not like a jackhammer, but with slow, sensuous thrusts, pulling nearly all the way out and then rubbing against me as he plunged in over and over and over again, his lips on mine, his hand on my breast, his thumb rubbing my nipple until I found myself breathless and whimpering and crying Yes, Yes, Yes, Oh God, Yes. Oh Yes. And we both managed to come simultaneously. We seem to do that a lot. I’m not sure why, but I think it has something to do with the fact that we are each very attuned to the state of arousal in the other. His thrusts grow harder, deeper and he feels as if he’s expanding inside me and I guess my noises, as he calls them, which he says excite him, give me away. Oh yes, they do indeed. When it comes to sex, I am an open book. Make up sex, mad sex, get even sex, love you sex—it’s all there, plain as the nose on my face.

And the dream sex. I have to count the dream sex, like last night’s episode.

I did fall asleep quickly, sated, and I do mean sated. Toward morning, I dreamed a dream. It was less like a dream and more like a visitation. Something happens every so often… men come in the night, in my dreams. No two are alike, they do different things, say different things, they don’t look alike. One… and he’s come a number of times… is a vampire. I don’t know them, but I want them and in my dreams, I always fuck them… well, one time the vampire bit me but it was as good as fucking. My orgasm on that occasion was out of this world.

In this particular dream, the guy came to me as a blond. In real life, I’m not attracted to blonds, other than Brad Pitt, especially the Brad Pitt of A River Runs Through It. In the dream I found myself at an art exhibit. I didn’t know the artist and I didn’t know why I was there, but some organization was apparently honoring the man. He stood on a stage in front of a large crowd, and accepted some award. I watched from the very back, knowing this was a dream and wondering why it was necessary for me to be present.

Chairs had been set up in rows and someone had arranged for a media presentation. A screen dropped down from the ceiling and everyone took a seat to watch… what? The story of the artist’s life and work? A photo essay of his paintings? I wasn’t quite sure. I remained in the back by myself, and found a seat on a couch that had been pushed against the far wall. I guess the organizers wanted to get it out of the way.

The lights went down and everyone’s attention focused on the screen. I wore a short jean skirt and a tight black sweater. My skirt hitched up when I sat, so for the sake of discretion, I covered my thighs with my leather jacket. From out of nowhere, the artist stood in front of me and he asked if he could sit beside me.

“Of course,” I murmured, scooting over to make room for him. The man was good looking in an older, distinguished, masculine kind of way, not my usual type, but… who cares… it was a dream, right?

Before I had time to protest, he’d reached down and grabbed my legs and pulled them across his lap, forcing me to recline sideways on the couch. I must admit I felt some surprise, but I decided to go with it, curious to learn what he had in mind. He kept my jacket over my thighs, but I felt his hands move beneath the leather and he shoved my skirt up to my waist. Should I protest, I wondered, already wet with anticipation. No. This is a dream, I reminded myself. I can do whatever I want in dreams.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Free Read!


Check Out the Resplendence Site
for a Free Read from Me!

http://www.resplendencepublishing.com/108.htm
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Just wanted to try something different since my works are all scheduled for 2010 and 2011. The story will be part of a larger work - so I hope to drop tantalizing freebies for a while! Enjoy!

Friday, October 23, 2009

Met a Fellow Writer Today


Coffee with Anny!


How often do you get to spend time with another writer on another coast without meeting at a conference? I mean, a woman you know only because you've had an internet friendship? Oh...hardly ever!

This morning my daughter and I were thrilled to have coffee and a bagel with the delightful Anny Cook - one of the very first writers who congratulated me - online - when I signed my first contract. And to think, we live about as far apart as two people can live in this big United States. I was so excited to meet her, she's a total crazy woman, and can't wait to see her again when and if I visit my daughter - just one more enticement to come out East, besides the fact that I find Charm City to be a very cool place and I'm crazy for the crab cakes!

Here's Anny's website for those interested: http://www.annycook.com/

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Oh. My. Gawd.


Moving...


It never goes all the way right. In Baltimore, helping my daughter set up her first apartment. The city is very cool, by the way - totally New Englandish with lots of trees. Can't see much for the trees. Everyone is very friendly, helpful, and as recent studies have indicated, the drivers are considerate, especially when the nav-system in your rental car is dyslexic and says right when it means left and left when it means right!

We've been hitting the second hand stores, Goodwill and Target and we've been waiting for the moving company to get her furniture and boxes out here - they were expected yesterday or today at the very...very latest. Of course, after calling multiple times because I hadn't heard a thing from the movers and no one returned my messages, I finally learned that the driver is, oh, I don't know, in New Mexico, and he was told that we didn't need the stuff until the 31st!
&%*@#$!!!!

So I'm sitting on the floor in her apartment - we had to quickly get some linen, towels, all the things we were expecting today, and we'll be sharing a cheap mattress on the floor. It's an adventure! I'm just sorry she'll have to take off work the first week of her new job to meet the moving truck - which is why we planned very meticulously for everything to arrive this week.

Ah well...on a lighter note, I have a freebie accepted with Resplendence Publishing, part of what will become a larger erotic work - The Dream Series - The Artist. Can't wait!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Off To Baltimore!

Image-Uploader Ain't Workin' Today


I'll be in Baltimore, helping my daughter move for her first post-college job. So we plan to hit the waterfront and the aquarium and Camden Yards and eat a lot of crab and crab cakes.

Waiting to hear from publishers about new submissions - I'll post if I get any updates!

Happy Halloween!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Heading to the East Coast


I'll Miss My Baby!


Lots going on, helping my daughter move to her new job on the East Coast so things have been absolutely nuts! She's lucky tho, one of the few kids in her graduating class to get a job - she interviewed last March and was offered the job in April...

So, busy, busy, busy! Trying to find time for my Work In Progress and all the other things that come with writing. All I can say is, life is always a trip!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

The Dixie Kane Memorial Contest


4th Annual


My first contest and I placed in two categories! I received the official results today from SOLA - Southern Louisiana Chapter of Romance Writers of America. I'll try to copy them - not easy for a tech-challenged writer like me:

The Southern Louisiana Chapter of the Romance Writers of America, Inc. congratulates the winners of its 4th Annual Dixie Kane Memorial Contest:

Inspirational:

First Place Defending Hope by Diane K Burns

Second Place The Road to Love by Anne Wolfe

Third Place Murder on Ocean Drive by Gloria Ferguson

Honorable Mention Light the Fire by Mary Manners

Short Contemporary:

First Place No Bull by Whisper Ellis

Second Place The Perfect Holiday Mix by Wendy S. Marcus

Third Place Beauty and the Feast by Julia Barrett

Honorable Mention A Thread of Shells by Lucy J. Dixon

Single Title Contemporary:

First Place Marryin’ the Librarian by Wendy Qualls

First Place (tie) Murder, Curlers, and Canes by Arlene McFarland

Second Place Chasing Miracles by Linda Chubbuck

Third Place Courting Disaster by Ellie Kirkland

Honorable Mention Worth Fighting For by La-Tessa Montgomery

Novel With Romantic Elements:

First Place The Choice by Pamela Kopfler

Second Place Tragic Choices—Far Off Places by Margot Pleasants

Third Place Odin’s End by Dawna Fichtner

Honorable Mention Wild Rodeo Nights by Sandy Sullivan

Historical:

First Place A Mad Passion by Laura Hirnesen

Second Place The True Confessions of a Lady Novelist by Emily Becher

Third Place A Frenchman’s Secrets by Rhoda Fort

Honorable Mention Theft by Night by Connie Queen

Paranormal:

First Place Rocky Mountain Howl by Kinsey W. Holley

Second Place Intergalactic Brides Series: The Triple Bride by Whisper Ellis

Third Place Demon Soul by Christine Ashworth

Honorable Mention A Vision of Death by Gretchen Stull

Romantic Suspense:

First Place From Baghdad With Love by Gail Zerrade

Second Place The Light of Truth by Shelley K. Masoc

Third Place Anytime Darlin’ by Julia Barrett

Honorable Mention Saving Sarah by Robena Grant

Winner of the Highest Overall Score resulted in a tie:

No Bull by Whisper Ellis

From Baghdad With Love by Gail Zerrade

In case you managed to miss my oh-so-obvious highlighting, my works placed in Short Contemporary and Romance Suspense.

Beauty and the Feast, by Chana Alexander - Third Place, Short Contemporary.

Anytime Darlin', by Julia Barrett - Third Place, Romance Suspense.



Thursday, October 8, 2009

Gol' Durn Dang It!



You Ever Have One of Those Weeks...


When nothing seems to go as planned? I'm in the midst of an extended period where things are sort of messed up and I cannot, for the life of me, focus on what I need to do! What I need to do is work on Daughters of Persephone, Book Three, Reborn and I cannot get past 10,000 stinkin' words!

I'm too distracted by personal issues. I did managed to write a quickie in one day - 'cuz I dreamed it, easy as pie. I've sent it off to my publisher as a freebie - to get readers interested since I don't have anything releasing for a while.

Okay...back to work. Wait...is that the doorbell? Another distraction? Yee-hah!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Nothing New Under the Sun?


Change Is Inevitable

Lots of upheaval in the family, many disparate points of view and emotions running hot and heavy. Change is coming!

I have never feared change. Change can help us grow and become more than we already are. If you shrink from change, you shrink your heart and you close yourself off to possibility. Never underestimate the power of possibility!

So I’m branching out into the realm of sci-fi and futuristic romance and I love it. Perhaps all those hours and hours spend inhaling science fiction as a teenager are paying off.

By the way, George R.R. Martin – where is my next installment of A Game of Thrones? And it better not suck like the last one!

Monday, October 5, 2009

Cougar Up!


Trying to Cougar Up a Friend of Mine.


I don't know if she's game, I don't know if he is...but I think the idea of a mature woman, younger man has a lot of appeal. Let's face it, women reach their sexual peak in their thirties, forties, and even fifties...men reach theirs in their twenties. So why not?

This notion that men get better with age...women just get old...has always bothered me. Why the double-standard? Why is it socially acceptable for an older man to enter a room with a beautiful young woman on his arm, when the reverse has been considered scandalous?

We women no longer accept the coming of age with grace and dignity, effectively shutting ourselves into...more or less...a closet. I find women in their thirties, forties, fifties and even sixties to be the most beautiful - as we age, we become more self-aware, more comfortable in our own skin and more accepting of our flaws. We embrace self-expression and we're far less tolerant of petty bull-shit. We mean what we say and we say what we mean.

If I could switch skin and become a young man for a day - say...a young man with a functioning brain...I would want to be with a confident woman, a woman who knows herself, knows what she wants and isn't afraid to go after it. A woman who has grown beyond game playing and artifice. Yup...I'd like that.

My cousin is with a man eight years her junior (she and I are the same exact age) and she swears the sex is great. A good friend in her late forties just moved from her twenty-something yoga instructor to a thirty-something international businessman/jet setter. She bought some special lingerie to wear for him last time she was in town - wow, she was glowing!

Go for it ladies, Cougar up!
And a plug - Remember that on next Valentine's Day, The Cougar Book will be released by Logical-Lust and you can read my story, You Might Just Get It!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

My List


Things I Like!


Let's see, favorite foods...chocolate. Just chocolate, not dark, milk.

Favorite movie...tough...very tough...McCabe and Mrs. Miller...but I gotta admit I love All About Eve and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.

Favorite book...all time cuz I like a whole lotta books...Shogun.

Favorite actress...again, extremely tough...Susan Sarandon...maybe. Favorite deceased actress...Katherine Hepburn.

Favorite actor...deceased and otherwise...Paul Newman and Heath Ledger...tied.

Favorite restaurant...Redd, beats out The French Laundry in my book. Favorite Mexican dive...Quinto Patio Taquieria. Favorite Thai street food...Thai Kitchen.

Favorite fruit...love 'em all...but cherries top the list.

Favorite vegetable...hmmmm....arugula.

Favorite bug...lady bug.

Favorite bird...all birds, but I'm partial to raptors.

Favorite activity...hiking and sex or sex and hiking, depends upon who's available...and travel to wild places.

Okay, I've bored you enough! Your favorites?