Murphy's Law Strikes!

Early this week, one of the worst things that can happen to someone like me happened. My laptop died. It's funny how easy it is to take things for granted until you don't have them anymore. Now, I have that weird feeling people get when something vital goes missing, like a cell phone or house keys. It also feels a little like being stuck outside without any pants on. 

How am I to write without my trusty laptop? I am lucky that I have my daughter's laptop to borrow. But using it just feels so wrong! Where are my favorite programs? Where's all the stuff I use to help me procrastinate? Even the keys feel funny. Then there's the fact that I feel like I have to be extra careful with the borrowed machine. After all, it's not mine (even if I did pay for it). That means no sipping tea as I write or perching it on the arm of my sofa. Still, I am being as productive as possible, typing away on the foreign laptop and getting some words in here and there on my smartphone. All the while I'm waiting on pins and needles to see if Dell can fix my baby!

On a happy note, I signed a contract with Siren Publishing to publish The Secret-Keeper's Choice! Look for the hot paranormal menage in July!

Join in the Sizzling Summer Reads Party!

Don't miss out on all the fun! Join in The Romance Reviews Sizzling Summer Reads Party to play games and win awesome prizes!

Hump Day Excerpt: Caught in the Act

Here's another excerpt from Taking Chances! 

 

Lifting her leg from the steamy bubbles, she absentmindedly rubbed the slippery skin, admiring her pedicure. Dakota struggled to remember when she’d last been laid. It had been quite a while, and her encounter with Elijah had been intoxicating. He was a playboy and a vamp, but she couldn’t help recalling the feel of his hard muscles against her, the smoky eyes that lit a flame in her belly, and that talented mouth. Its full lips had almost made her forget her mission. And his tongue…Moving her hand languorously up her thigh, she imagined his tongue tenderly suckling her clit instead of just caressing the inside of her mouth. Elijah was rumored to be an epic lover.

Dakota steadily moved her hand up as she thought of him. She imagined his wavy, dark hair tickling her thighs while his tongue drew a wet line over her pussy lips, gently parting her folds to touch its tip to her. She drew a finger in slow, steady circles over her cunt, applying gradually increasing pressure, just as she imagined he would. Sinking lower into the tub, she allowed a single finger to reach further, pressing against her inflamed bud. Dakota wondered what a night in Elijah’s bed would have been like and allowed her imagination to take off in that direction as she pressed and stroked, picking up a slow rhythm that soon had her eyelids at half-mast and her breath coming in soft pants.

Enjoying yourself?” came a deep male voice. It snapped her out of the moment, and she gasped, trying to clamber from the tub but slipping and almost cracking her head on unyielding porcelain in the process.

 
Find out what happens next! Get your copy of Taking Chances at Amazon.com or on the BookStrand website. 

More Places to Buy Taking Chances!!!

Taking Chances has been available since Match 4th at BookStrand.com. Now you can order it from Amazon and Kobo too!

Here are all of my buy links so far (more to come!):

BookStrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/taking-chances

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Chances-Laveaux-Publishing-Classic-ebook/dp/B00JDLXAX6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396640718&sr=8-1&keywords=taking+chances+by+suzette+rose+cauler

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/taking-chances-33

Someday When Things Slow Down

I am the queen of procrastination. If I don't want to do it, or it's something difficult, I can find a million reasons to put it off. And I'm creative about it. My excuse isn't the same thing over and over again. No way! I'm just good enough to find something new to get in my way each and every time.

Now, don't get me wrong. I do eventually get the job done. As a freelance writer and blog manager, I have deadlines. I pride myself on meeting my deadlines, and often, I manage to submit work early. The problem is I could finish even earlier and experience much less stress if I started on projects right away. Yes, I'm working on this.

Just recently, I've realized I have another problem. It's not just work that I put off. I also manage to put off the things I simply want to do as well. For example, I'd like to redecorate my home, create a family scrapbook, research and create a family tree, organize my files, learn to quilt, and knit a blanket for each of my children. These things don't get done because I'm constantly telling myself that I'll have more time tomorrow, next week, in six months, when the kids are older, or when the kids are grown.

Essentially, life is passing by while I tell myself that I'll get to the things I really want to do later. And we all know that we aren't promised the next day, never mind months or years to finally get to the things we consider important. So I've decided to just stop. I am a busy mom with a freelance career and books to write, but I don't want to defer everything until that magical day when things slow down. I've decided to make a commitment to myself to pick one of these projects each quarter and just plug away at it until it's finished. My only hope is that it doesn't start to feel like work. If that happens, I know procrastination will catch me.

New Release: Taking Chances

Taking Chances is now live and available for purchase! I am super excited to announce that it's available at Bookstrand.com! You'll find it there exclusively for the next few weeks, and after that on all the usual sites, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble. 

Grab your copy while it's on sale for 10 percent off! You have until March 11th, but why wait?
Buy it right here: http://www.bookstrand.com/taking-chances  and please leave feedback. I'm dying to hear what you think!

In other news, I was overjoyed to see the first ratings coming in--both 5 star, as well as a glowing 5 star review. They made my whole week--maybe even my whole year.

Want to read the review? Just click right here: http://www.bookstrand.com/myearnestreview/show/?id=867158http://www.bookstrand.com/myearnestreview/show/?id=867158

Reality Versus Perfection: How Do You Like Your Characters?

I stumbled upon a review of another author's erotic fiction recently. The title had some very good reviews, but one reader was very specific about why she didn't like the book. It featured a plus-size woman as the heroine and had two men lusting after her. Apparently, the reader felt there was no way these two hot guys would salivate over this big woman. She felt it was unrealistic.

Now, I have heard two points of view on this. Some say romantic fiction is all about creating a fantasy, and that includes creating ideal characters. I could take issue with that. After all, who can say what ideal is, and there are all types of beauty, yet I often create characters that I view as super hot, with, say, perfect abs, butt, breasts, eyes, hair (you get the point). I create what I view as ideal for my story, which is entirely fantasy and not at all what I'd expect out of real life. I have also enjoyed books with characters that were more realistic. Some of my favorites have a main character describing how a love interest's mouth is too generous or the hero's nose is slightly crooked, and then going on to describe how the perceived imperfection made the person that much hotter. Likewise, I read one book in which the heroine was self-conscious about her less firm breasts (after lactating) and the extra weight she was carrying post baby. Her two lovers couldn't wait to touch her--over and over again. 

There's no doubt about it. There are people who love, and get all hot and bothered for, all shapes and sizes. But when you're reading a romantic/erotic book, which do you prefer: fantasy perfection or relatable reality?