Football Ava Style & a Game

Since this weekend is the Superbowl, I thought this hottie would be fitting.

I don't usually follow football, but I am going to a Superbowl party tomorrow. My sister's having one, so it should be fun. Anyone else have plans for Superbowl Sunday? And is it just me, or do all those muscles and tight pants and men-grabbing-men and big-pileups-of-hot-sweaty-men make your mind wander to wicked thoughts? I freely admit that when I watch a football game, I pretend all the players are gay or at least bi. It makes the hikes (I think that's what they are called - when the one guy reaches between the other's legs for the ball) so much more interesting to watch. *g*

Now for a game. I got this one from Martha over at Just You And Me.

Rules: Answer the following questions with Single Word answers then pass this along to 5 other bloggers.

Your Cell Phone? iPhone

Your Hair? Long

Your Mother? Love

Your Father? Hero

Your Favorite Food? Poptarts

Your Dream Last Night? Can’t remember

Your Favorite Drink? Diet Coke

Your Dream/Goal? Dream? Writing fulltime Goal? Continue to publish books

What Room Are You In? Basement

Your Hobby? Reading

Your Fear? Failure

Where Do You See Yourself In Six Years? Still writing

Where Were You Last Night? Home

Something That You Aren’t? Cruel

Muffins? Blueberry

Wish List Item? Ebook reader

Where Did You Grow Up? Ohio

Last Thing You Did? Ate breakfast

What Are You Wearing? Jammies

Your TV? On

Your Pets? Old

Friends? Wonderful

Your Life? Very good

Your Mood? Happy

Missing Someone? Dad

Vehicle? G37

Something You Aren’t Wearing? Bra

Your Favorite Store? Shoe store

Your Favorite Color? Green

When Was The Last Time You Laughed? A few minutes ago

Last Time You Cried? Can’t remember

Your Best Friend? Hubby

One Place You Go To Over And Over Again? Target

Facebook? Yes

Favorite Place To Eat? Rocky's

All right, so not all the answers were single words. I tried, but...it was hard. I'm not going to tag anyone for this little game, but will leave it up to you if you want to play along. Have fun!

From Afar - Cover Lovin'

Today's cover lovin' day! I got the final cover art for From Afar. *g* And it's up on the coming soon page and everything. It wasn't there when I checked at lunch, but it was there when I checked a few minutes ago. And yes, I did the little squee accompanied by over-excited clapping. I can't thank Scott Carpenter enough for designing such a beautiful cover - I totally *heart* it.

Here's the official blurb for the book:

Some rules are destined to be broken.

Loneliness. A concept with which Raphael Laurent is very familiar. He’s lived a solitary life for thirty-six years, shunning the excesses of the local vampire clan—until he spots Lord Aleric Vane, the handsome and dissolute third son of a duke. For three years Raphael has watched from a distance, for only when he is near Aleric does the hollow, empty ache in his chest ease.

Cut off from his family for refusing to follow his father’s dictates, Aleric’s nights are filled with vice. But after three years in London, the city has lost all appeal. Desolate and penniless, his future appears bleak. Until a mysterious man drops from the shadows to drive off a trio of murderous thieves.

When Aleric awakens, he finds himself forever changed. The itch for more that drove him to London is gone. In its place is the feeling that he’s known the beautiful Raphael all his life.

But to save Aleric, Raphael had to break the rules, giving him a chance to love the one man he never thought he could have—a chance that could be ripped away by Aleric himself…

Warning: This book contains hot m/m action with a new vampire with a ramped up sex drive, and a dash of voyeurism of the m/m, m/f, and m/m/m varieties. Definitely not your traditional Regency romance.

Sharing the Excerpt Love

The excerpt for From Afar popped up on its coming soon page. I don't know why I get geeked about stuff like this. I knew what excerpt they were going to use - I sent the thing to my editor. Still, I did the 'Ooh!' accompanied by the little squee giggle when I saw the link had made its way on to the page. If you want to take a peek, here's the link - From Afar excerpt.

Samhain has opened the polls for the 2009 Readers Choice Sammie Awards. There are 8 categories - such as favorite cover, hero, heroine and book - with separate categories for ebooks and print. All 2009 Samhain titles are included, including Object of His Desire. So if you're in the mood to cast votes for your favorites, the link to the poll is on Samhain's home page.

And finally, I gave the thumbs up on the cover art for From Afar tonight. I like it a lot *g* So sometime this week, I should get the final files, and as soon as I do, I promise to share.

I hope everyone had a decent Monday - I think hoping for a great Monday would be asking a bit much, since it's Monday and all. But hopefully 'decent' was achievable for everyone :)

What's His Kink?

Before I get to today's topic, we must indulge in some man candy. As promised to E.H., I found a gorgeous, more masculine hottie for today's post, and not some pretty young thing. I figure he's got to be at least 25 yrs old - he's got some facial scruff going on and he doesn't appear to have an ounce of lingering baby fat to soften the lines of his muscles. :)

Between Shawn Lane's recent post on writing sex scenes and an email I wrote to a friend tonight about two new characters, my mind has firmly fixated on kink (not a bad thing to fixate on *g*). On Tuesday, the muse bit big time, and since then I've been mulling and typing up notes for a new book idea. The thing is, the guys have yet to tell me their kink. I've got the plot and romance down, but as soon as it comes time for them to get it on...well, I don't yet know those details. They haven't told me what they particularly like when it comes to activities of a horizontal (or vertical) nature.

Characters have likes and dislikes, just like us. Traits that make them unique people. Some are more mild - like a preference for kissing at every possible opportunity. There are those who adore foreplay, and those who like to cut directly to the main event. There are the guys who like to boink for hours, and others who like it hard and fast. Some are true romantics at heart, infusing a sweetness into every sex scene. Some are more...distinct in their preferences.

For example, Clark Sterling from Most Likely to Succeed by Shawn Lane liked the added thrill that came with the possibility someone could be watching him during sex. He preferred the drapes to be open, and sex on the balcony of his highrise building...oh, he definitely liked that. Payton Townsend from The Englor Affair by J. L. Langley discovered he had a fondness for Simon's jock strap, and Ryan Kellar from Tabloid Star by T. A. Chase had a thing for licking his lover's tattoos.

When I create new characters, I try to make them as real as possible. That includes figuring out their sexual likes and dislikes. What they'll do, not do, and what really gets them hot. I tend to veer more to extremes or stronger traits. Part of it is because, like Shawn mentioned in her post, I want the scenes in each book to be unique from other books. As such, Vincent from the Bound series will most likely be my only hero who likes to chain his lovers. Oh, I plan to do other books with D/s elements, but those heroes will enjoy other elements of BDSM. There are lots of things to choose from in that particular bag of kink ;) Giving a guy a distinct kink also gives me something to play with when I write a scene.

Back to my new guys. No BDSM in this one...at least I don't think so. So...um...what will they each like? And those likes/dislikes have to match up in some fashion for them to be compatible in bed. Um...I'll have to mull the guys over some more. At some point, I'm sure they'll tell me. And maybe they'll surprise me. Like with Leopold from Convincing Arthur, I knew early on he was a slut without limits. I didn't realize he'd be a dirty slut until his first BJ scene with Arthur.

Since we're on the topic of kinks, of all the books you have read, what character kinks have stood out for you? Which ones were memorable, in a good way? And please, not the fried chicken with special sauce sort of memorable that poor Eyre endured recently while reading a book. LOL

And this last pic is courtesy of Lily over at I Love Books. The moment I saw it, I knew I had to snag it. *g*

Shiny, Pretty Things

He's not shiny, but he is pretty :)

I've reached the point where I need to just step away from Photoshop. I've grown much too fond of it of late. Made 3 ads last night for online advertising, and for the past week+, I've been messing with a postcard. It's not set up to be mailed, more for promo purposes. I was itching to make something shiny and pretty for my m/m books, so since I had time and no looming deadlines, I indulged myself.

See, isn't it pretty? And it will be all glossy and shiny when it's printed *G* (sorry - I get a little overly excited about promotion materials). The back isn't completely done yet, since I need From Afar's cover, but everything else is done. When I get them back from the printers, I'll let you all know, and if you want one, I'll happily snail mail you a few.

Anyway, I do believe the time has come to quit messing around with Photoshop and the myriad other misc writing-related things I've been doing to fill my evenings, and get back to writing. The muse bit big time today, so I'm going to see where it takes me and just write.

Contest Winner and The Name

I put the names of everyone who offered up a name in the Name the Hero contest into the randomzier, and the winner is...

Lindsay!

Congrats!! Send me an email at ava (at) avamarch (dot) com and let me know if you want a copy of one of my released books, or if you want to wait until 2/23/10 for a copy of From Afar.

Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions for Lord Nameless! I'm happy to say he's no longer nameless. Lord Nameless is now Garrett Hathaway, Viscount Rivenhall. Thanks to Sherry F for the suggestion! And I found another picture of him. In case you were wondering what he looks like in his undies (and I'm sure there are a few of you out there *g*), here you go -

I think his hero - the pretty, young, blond Victor Barrows - is going to like him a lot. :D Of course, I don't have a title for the book idea yet, but it is on the list of books I want to write in 2010. Now that the men have names, I can really get to work mulling over the plot and getting it to the point where I can eventually write it.

I hope you all are having a great weekend, and thanks again for helping me pick a name for Garrett.

Name the Hero Contest

I've been mulling over a new book idea for a few months now. I really like the idea, and one day I hope it will make its way onto the page. But I have a bit of a problem with one of the heroes. He doesn't have a first name.

He was originally Robert, and in my notes he's "Robert (need a new name for him)". I've got another hero in another book idea who has decided he's Robert, or Rob as he prefers. Since I can't have guys with the same name in different books, this dude needs a new name. I have a list of over 100 possible male character names. Been over it at least a dozen times, and nothing's sticking to him.

So here's where you all come in. I need help naming him, so I'm running a little 'Name the Hero' contest. Simply offer up a suggestion in the comments to enter. To keep it fair, I'll let the randomizer pick a winner. Contest is open until next Saturday, 1/23/10. The winner gets a pick of either one of the books in my backlist, or can choose to wait until 2/23 for a copy of From Afar.

Restrictions:

-It can't be a name starting with 'A'. I think I've about reached saturation with 'A' names - I've already got an Arsen, Arthur and Aleric, plus 2 other 'A' guys planned for future books.

-Must fit a Regency-set book. So no Cody's or Dillon's.

-No Oliver, Vincent, Raphael, Henry or Leopold, for obvious reasons.

If you are wondering what he looks like, check out today's man-candy picture at the top of the post. Other details on the nameless hero - 34 yrs of age, currently a viscount (though that's apt to change), and he's fond of ropes. Yep, the book will have some BDSM in it and he's the dominant in the relationship.

Good luck and thanks!