The Year Comes To An End...

Change is already in the air and the New Year isn't even here yet.

The good news is I have writing projects lining up...
The better news is that I'm actually feeling good enough to feel like I will meet my writing goals for 2012...

Expected releases in early 2012:

February 21 - Bound By Tradition - Loose-Id

TBA - Debonair Dyke - Ellora's Cave

I hope each and every one of you has a safe, healthy, prosperous 2012!
Looking forward to sharing another year with you!!

Prodigal Slave Rereleased

Ellora's Cave has acquired and rereleased Prodigal Slave...it is completely revised and expanded so I hope you will show your continued support of my writing by stopping over at Ellora's Cave and checking it out:)

Buy Ebook Now

Prodigal Slave

Recently divorced soccer mom and paralegal extraordinaire Charlotte Sullivan has a secret past life that returns to haunt her on her birthday in the form of a perfectly gift-wrapped, blood-red velvet bustier. A summons from her once Master, François Rene de Hart, follows.

Pure lust awaits a mere train ride away, but she fears the journey may break more than her heart the second time around. With her teenage daughters in Europe for the summer, Charlotte’s opportunity to relive her youth with a man she once loved seems too good to be true. It’s also a chance to be bad, which she hasn’t been in a very long time. Curiosity and temptation win out over logic.

But more surprises are in store. François’ current lover, Pierre-Louis, is very much a part of his life. If she wants to be truly reunited with her Master, she must learn to love the other man as well.

Review of Heart of Change

I'm always a little awed when I read book reviews for my books. I usually can't believe I wrote the book the reviewer is talking about...

This review was no exception.

I want to thank Sally of Queer Magazine Online for not only reading but reviewing HEART OF CHANGE.

Here is part of what she said:
"Deep and sorrowful, Heart of Change is an empowering read that is more about questions than it is about answers. It’s about questioning every aspect of your identity, and about finding the courage to look deep inside yourself, even when the answers you find aren’t necessarily the ones you were seeking. As the title suggest, it’s also a book about changes, the emotions that drive them, and the emotions they elicit in the reader."

and this:
"For me, a significant part of the appeal in Heart of Change was the development of Simone’s sexuality. I thought her transition to bisexuality was handled very well, and I had no trouble accepting such a significant change in her lifestyle after 40+ years. I also appreciated the fact that the story ultimately led her to question whether she might really be a lesbian, as opposed to arbitrarily making some bold declaration. We may not be left with the happiest or tidiest of endings, and there are still questions remaining, but it’s a story that comes across as real. When you’re dealing with porn stars, lesbians, and a mid-life crisis, the fact that the characters and choices do come across as ‘real’ is a testament to Roxy’s talents as a storyteller."

And so much more. The entire review can be read here.

YOU CAN BUY AT:
In Print
Kindle
From the Publisher

LOVERS RELEASE!!

LOVERS is now available and I have to tell you...I am soooo excited!

I love this story...

I love these characters... all of them... which means there is room for future growth, not that I'm promising another long drawn out series, especially since The Chronicles is still ongoing (if for now only in my head)... just saying there could be room for more story to be told at a future date if any of my readers feel as I do that these characters need to tell more of their story...

Blurb:Just who is sleeping with whom?

Love, lust, hate, revenge, heartbreak and triumph abound for four men and five women, experiencing the joys and trials of polyamorous-life, Los Angeles-style. They’re not above wading into each other’s drama, wallowing in each other’s misery, offering unsolicited advice or swapping romantic partners. The sex is hot, the lust hotter and the jealousy scathing in this tale of personal evolution where everyone has a stake in the outcome of who ends up sleeping with whom.

Unapologetic sex in all its forms: M/F, M/M, F/F, bondage, dominance, changing partners, polyamory.

Here's the WHO you won't get anywhere else:

Bianca, otherwise known as Mistress Bee
Jameson, Bianca's number one snuggle, also married to Emma
Emma, Jameson's wife
Adrian, Bianca's number two snuggle
Phelp's, Adrian's ex, available to be anyone's snuggle... and still in love with Adrian
Bishop, the guy who wants to be Bianca's only snuggle Hiroko, Bishop's wife Toby, Adrian's boi (lovers but not in a traditional sense)

But better yet...why Don't I let them introduce themselves?
Here they are, or at least a few of them willing to say a few words...

Bianca

No one knows me, not anyone. Some days I don’t even think I know myself.

God, I’ve been hiding for so long. Hiding the truth, hiding everything about me. Right now, you think you want to get to know me. Soon, you will want to heal me. Fix me. Trust me, there’s no fixing what broke inside of me. It’s too old, too damaged.

The pain goes too deep.

That’s why I don’t let any of the men in my life love me. I’m unlovable. Is there even such a thing as love? There is like, hate, lust… but love seems to me just a word that is the placeholder for the word not used. Sometimes I love you really means “I hate you.” And sometimes it just means “I want to fuck you.”

See what I mean?

Many men in my life want to fuck me, but they don’t love me. Sometimes I don’t even think they like me…

Once I used to dream of finding love, the real thing, you know? Who knows, maybe, I’m just not holding my breath waiting for it to happen.

Adrian

Where should I begin? What should I share with you about myself? My name is Adrian Georgiou and I would say that I am all the best my Greek lineage promises. I am a poet, an artist, a lover of women, especially that last part, but I also love men. I don’t call myself bisexual though. If pressed, I will use the term pansexual, because every human, despite their sexual orientation, is loveable, and desirable.

That is why I opened a nightclub that caters to the fetish aligned members of our society. I called it Orgasms and promised to cater to a wide clientele base. We have nights that focus on specific interests, for example: Monday is Latex Night, also ladies night, and if the lady is clad in latex, she drinks free all night; Tuesday is Transgender Night, although clients do not have to be transgender to come on that night; Wednesday is all about the leather, strictly gay men, and Thursday is all about the lace, strictly lesbians; Friday is Fantasy and Uniform night; and weekends are generally a mixed soup orgy.

My business keeps me busy, focused, but that doesn’t mean I neglect my sex life. I especially love two women, Bianca, and Toby. I try to split my free time as equally as I can between the two of them. They balance me and provide a sea of calm in my other was tempestuous life. As far as men, they come, they go, and honestly I can’t see myself as attached to a man as I am to Bianca and Toby, but yes, a part of me has needs that only being with another man can sate.

With Toby, I know where I stand, because we have been together awhile now. With her I know where I stand. She loves me and I know how to love her. I make her feel needed and important. With Bianca, it isn’t that simple, she rarely shares the truth of her emotions with me. Hell, sometimes, I don’t even think we’re sharing the same space. She can be inches away but it feels like miles. I can be kissing her, fucking her, and she isn’t even there. Still, I love her as much as I love Toby.

Trouble is…I think about Johnny Phelps way too much. I miss him…

Toby

I am a person. I am not a label. Do not call me female, do not call me male. I am not a lesbian, obviously, right? I have a boyfriend. I am queer. Some would say genderqueer, but I don’t even want that label.

I am me. I am who I am damn it, and if it’s good enough for me, it should sure as hell be good enough for you. I don’t owe you an explanation. I don’t owe you a goddamn thing.

Jameson

           

You think you want a peek into my life? I promise you, you really don’t. Cling to the one you love and do not let them go. The promise is freedom, but in reality the truth is a heart shackled and riddled with pain.

I wish I had a happier intro to share with you, but really, there isn’t going to be a happy ending to this, so if that is what you are seeking, go elsewhere.

I know, I sound like one of those horrible country western songs, all gloom and doom, cheating partners and whiskey soaked nights. How did I get to this place? I don’t even like country music.

I admit I am in love with two women though.

Desperately and utterly in love…

Although she is my Domme, Bianca Phelps was an after thought…as in after I was already married to another woman, Emma, who I shared a lovely decade with; we made three wonderful, beautiful sons together, Laertius Thomas, Cicero Michael and Socrates David, who go by their mother’s chosen middle names…Tom, Mick, and Dave…and although my wife’s butchery of their names was no more the cause of our separation than our decision to keep to our polyamorous roots even after our marriage, she might disagree with that statement. We fought over the boys names ceaselessly.

I still see Emma once a week, Wednesday nights, for our weekly foray into marriage counseling, followed by sex, really awe-inspiring sex, because that really was the best part of our marriage from the very beginning. I suppose it will be what holds us together, if anything can.

 I have the boys every Tuesday and every Friday, over-nighting into Saturday, the latter part causing some disgruntled feelings on Bianca’s part because she can’t sleep in our house when the boys are sleeping in our house, and although she bitches and moans about it quite loudly, I doubt she is that distressed considering the fact that she is seeing not one, but two other men. I know, I can’t complain…I have a wife after all. Can I help it that I don’t like the other men she is seeing?

No, I can’t even say that.

I do not like Adrian, call it my great character flaw, machismo. On the other hand, I’ve never met the man she calls, Bishop, but I don’t like it that she’s in love with him. Oh, she would say differently, so closed does she keep her heart. But I’ve been in love…I know what it looks like in a lover’s eyes and when she talks to him on the phone, I see that look. She doesn’t look at me that way.

Emma

Do you think I will care if you think I’m a bitch? I don’t care. Really. I don’t. I married Jameson because I expected to live the rest of my life with him, raise children with him…growing fucking old with him. What? You think I sound angry? Good. Angry is beneficial…anger gets things done.

Sure, when I met Jameson I knew he called himself poly as in polyamorous as in he just wants to have his cake and eat it and everyone else’s too. I get that. I even went along with it…I’m not a nun—I like sex, a lot, and if there is one thing not wrong with our relationship, it’s the sex.

But you know, it is one thing to swing and attend play parties when there is no one to hurt but each other, add kids to the mix and it’s a whole different story entirely. At least in my mind, it is. So yeah, once we had a baby, I thought Jameson would grow up and leave the wild sex orgies behind him. Then we had a second baby…and a third. I don’t think that scene would have lasted much longer for us. As a matter of fact, he seemed to be getting bored with the whole thing…and then he met The Bitch.

I can’t even say her name, Bianca, without wanting to puke. The little cross the border whore, came over here to steal our hardworking, educated men!

I don’t begrudge her love…she just needs to find someone that she doesn’t have to steal from someone else.

I gave him a choice: me and the kids or his perverted lifestyle and her.

Sure, she’s laughing her ass off right now, because he moved in with her, but that was just a minor battle, I still have a war to win…and you know what they say, all’s fair in love and war.

BUY IT NOW

LOVERS Cover Art!!

LOVERS is coming SEPT. 5th from Lyrical Press! Can't wait to share more details! Loved writing this story. So many fun characters!! Could potentially lead to more stories... if it's well received (wink)...

Here's the blurb:

Just who is sleeping with whom?

Love, lust, hate, revenge, heartbreak and triumph abound for four men and five women, experiencing the joys and trials of polyamorous-life, Los Angeles-style. They’re not above wading into each other’s drama, wallowing in each other’s misery, offering unsolicited advice or swapping romantic partners. The sex is hot, the lust hotter and the jealousy scathing in this tale of personal evolution where everyone has a stake in the outcome of who ends up sleeping with whom.

Unapologetic sex in all its forms: M/F, M/M, F/F, bondage, dominance, changing partners, polyamory.

Excerpt here: http://www.lyricalpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=81&products_id=418&zenid=dlsjsjvj5l9qbbvd86tkfmjfp5

Chronicles Spotlighted On The Forbidden Bookshelf

I am very delighted that my series The Chronicles of Surrender was spotlighted on The Forbidden Bookshelf Blog! So excited, that I am offering a giveaway of the ebook Vow of Silence.

First, how to enter:
Comment on THIS POST and on THE FORBIDDEN BOOKSHELF post. Make sure to include an email addy using "AT" and "DOT" as appropriate. At the end of the month I will compile a list of all those who qualify, throw the names in a hat and have my hubby, Sir Hotness, draw a name:)
Then I will post here and email the winner. Since the book will not release until summer it will be a bit of a wait, but well worth it. I think the character George Kirkpatrick is one of my favorites, and since the story revolves around him...

Not sure you are interested in Vow of Silence?
How about the cover and blurb as enticement?

Is love enough to sway destiny?

George Kirkpatrick, reeling from the loss of his friend and boss, Garrett Lawrence, the owner of Lewd Larry’s Fetish Fantasy Nightclub, finds solace in the arms of a very vanilla woman… until a woman from his past returns to further complicate his life.

Lin Kuan, a renowned San Francisco metal sculptor, met George Kirkpatrick under false circumstances and believed she was dating a psychiatrist, not a sadist…too late she discovers she loves the man… and determines to change him.

Gigi Marconi seeks penance in pain, but not for the life she ruined. Will the vow she made as a child destroy her before she has a chance to face the truth? Or will the love of the man she once betrayed be her salvation?

Actually I'm Gay Review

 

Tyra Berger of Romance Reviews had this to say about ACTUALLY, I'M GAY: "ACTUALLY, I'M GAY is one of the best books that I have read this year. Roxy Harte wrote a beautiful love story that touched me in ways that I really didn't expect and gave me a whole new appreciation for parents of autistic children."

It is listed as FIVE STARS and A TOP PICK on their site:)


Buy Now or Read an Excerpt

Vow of Silence

It's an exciting day for me! Vow of Silence has a face:)

And as hoped, it's darker and edgier than previous Chronicle covers...

So, here it is! What do you think??

Coming May 2011 from Lyrical Press!

And to give you a little peak at the three main characters I have included a brief character summary and a short excerpt from each of their perspectives since this novel, as the previous novels, was written in each character's point of view...however, unlike the previous novels the characters don't immediately love each other. You might even say they each repel the other because of their own inner struggles. I really loved writing this book and I hope you enjoy this small peek...

George Kirkpatrick was originally introduced in Sacred Secrets as Doctor Psycho. You might remember some of his story: a young teen was responsible for destroying his psychiatric career...well, guess what...she's back to further complicate his life!

Excerpt George POV:

Six months ago I inherited Lewd Larry’s, a fetish fantasy nightclub and BDSM play place. Its original owner, Garrett Lawrence, built the very successful business from nothing. I can’t believe he is gone. When a lawyer showed up and explained he’d died I didn’t believe it. It only got worse from there. Supposedly, Celia and Thomas, his two lovers who were integral to the workings of the club were also dead. I know Thomas’s beach house exploded, the news coverage was quiet extensive, a gas main leak, but there were no bodies recovered. And although there was a brief community memorial service, my mind refuses to accept it. Every day, I think they might walk through the front doors…

Once upon a time, years ago, in what now seems like a different life, I was a successful psychiatrist. As a result I see too deeply into people. I expect more from some and less from others based purely on what I see as their mental and emotional stability. I’m afraid I’ll never fill Garrett’s shoes. He was so beloved by everyone in the BDSM and LGBT communities. He was a leader, an activist, a teacher. He was the man I will never be.

Lin Kuan, a renowned San Francisco metal sculptor, met George Kirkpatrick under false circumstances and believed she was dating a psychiatrist, not a sadist…too late she discovers she loves the man… and determines to change him.

Excerpt Lin's POV:

George draws me like a moth to a flame. He is holding two glasses of champagne and hands me one. I down the glass of bubbling amber in a single swallow, then trade him my empty for his full glass and down it as well.“I’m a slut.” Oh God! Why did I just say that?

“Maybe we should find someplace where we can talk quietly?”

I nod. Please. Take me away from here. But George doesn’t head for the exit. Too late I realize he has pushed us deep into the middle of the dance floor.

“Dance with me?”

I just admitted to the man I love that I am a slut and he wants to dance? He whisks me into a waltz, and I find myself enjoying dancing in spite of the seriousness of the conversation we need to have. George is an amazing dancer, which only means we dance well together. So many men have tried to dance with me and left me with bruised toes; it’s a relief to find a man who can handle himself on the dance floor.

“I should have told you the truth,” I admit.

“What truth?”

I lean nearer, whispering, “I think I’m a nymphomaniac.”

George tries hard to control his facial expression but I know he is laughing at me as we wind around the room, weaving expertly around the other dancers.

“After my husband died—I went a little crazy.”

He arches a brow.

“I fucked a lot of men.” So many that there isn’t a man of Chinese descent in all of California who will even consider me.

“I don’t think that makes you a nymphomaniac.”

“A slut at least.”

“By whose definition?”

I’m growing frustrated and stumble. George pulls me closer, covering my disastrous dance moves with his own perfection.

“What happened when I left you alone in that hallway?”

“I saw a man and a woman fucking. I recognized the man as someone I’ve been with before.” I meet George’s gaze and realize he isn’t judging me, but then, why would he? If anyone would fall under the label of promiscuous, a professional Dominant would surely fit the bill. “Why aren’t you furious?”

“You’re a sexually active, single woman. Why would I be?”

He nuzzles my neck, kissing, biting. I can feel my blood starting to boil in my veins. “You’re playing with fire.”

“Watching that man and woman made you horny?”

“Watching them made me wish it was you and I in that alcove.”

Pulling away, he looks down into my face. “It’s always the quiet ones that take me by surprise.”

“You’re making fun of me.”

“Never,” he says solemnly. “Show me this hiding place.”

I give him a look to see if he’s serious and obviously he is. “Now?”

“Right now.”

If I thought I was aroused a moment ago…

Gigi Marconi seeks penance in pain, but not for the life of the man she ruined professionally. Will the vow she made as a child destroy her before she has a chance to face the truth? Or will the love of the man she once betrayed be her salvation?

Excerpt Gigi's POV:
Darkness holds me suspended. I’m uncertain how much time has passed since entering this hotel room. Hours? It could as easily be days. It feels like forever.

That’s what I wanted, wasn’t it? Yes. Bound. I am prisoner of someone else’s wants, needs, desires. I don’t have to think, I can just be.. Theirs. To do with what they will. Tease me, torture me. I deserve so much worse than I get.

I don’t deserve the pleasure, but bound my body responds. Twisting, writhing, climbing—falling. I don’t seek the pleasure, only the pain.

Pleasure always finds me though.

Blindfolded and gagged, I ride his erection, squeezing him with my thighs and vaginal muscles until I am shaking and spent. The true problem is the asshole is so focused on finding his own pleasure, he forgets why he is here. Punish me! Humiliate me! Only his commands keep me in motion.

“Harder, bitch!”

“Faster!”

“Goddamn it, whore, fuck me like you mean it!”

A hard command to follow since I stopped meaning it awhile ago, not giving a rat’s ass right after my third orgasm and just before my mucus membranes started screaming for relief.

I reach for the pain and embrace it. That’s why I’m here.

Pain.

And although he stopped whipping me with the riding crop when his own pleasure started rising, he’s created a sort of livable purgatory without even realizing what he’s done. The soft pillow-top mattress beneath my knees no longer provides the heavenly comfort promised by the hotel’s ad campaign. My knees ache. Worse, they feel raw from the constant rub against stiff Egyptian cotton sheets. This is the stuff dreams are made of. Suffering, discontentment. 

Vow of Silence Another Step Closer...

Story finished.
Edits Complete.
Cover Art In Progress...
Now it's down to the waiting...waiting....waiting for my baby to have a face. For me this is always the most exciting part. I think everyone who has ever written a book has a dream cover...

I'll let you know as soon as I get a preview to share...
And also the much anticipated release date!!
As soon as I know, you'll know...

And to give you a little peak at the three main characters:

George Kirkpatrick was originally introduced in Sacred Secrets as Doctor Psycho. You might remember some of his story: a young teen was responsible for destroying his psychiatric career...well, guess what...she's back to further complicate his life!

Lin Kuan, a renowned San Francisco metal sculptor, met George Kirkpatrick under false circumstances and believed she was dating a psychiatrist, not a sadist…too late she discovers she loves the man… and determines to change him.

Gigi Marconi seeks penance in pain, but not for the life of the man she ruined professionally. Will the vow she made as a child destroy her before she has a chance to face the truth? Or will the love of the man she once betrayed be her salvation?

Actually I'm Gay Makes Top Seller List

Woot! So excited!! Actually I'm Gay has made Loose-Id's Top Seller List Two Weeks in a row... What a great feeling:)

If you read the blurb you learn that Colin admits to his wife he is gay, believing they are good enough friends to continue to raise their autistic son together...he never expects she will leave them both...and he doesn't even begin to dream he might ever find true love. In a word, his situation is dire. In all honesty he doesn't know where to even start with his son because they have no relationship...


What the blurb doesn't tell you is how much autism research went into writing this book. I knew if this book was ever to see publishing I had to get the details right. 


There's also a lot of internalizing on my part. I've never been a writer to take shortcuts. I tend to make my characters suffer emotionally...


This poor guy has had the carpet pulled out from under him, right? I should take it easy on him? Not a chance! No, I'd rather stick him smack dab in the middle of a hate crime and let him figure out on his own that his past has finally caught up with him and more than one person wants him dead...


I loved writing this story! I loved the research, the angst, and really making my characters squirm. I hope you love it too! Let me know what you think:)

Writing ... Psychological Suspense

Actually ... psychological suspense with paranormal elements.

I'm glad to finally be back on a writing "roll" - it seems like it's been forever - though its only been a couple of months. I've been backlogged with edits, and then there was the holidays, and then there were some issues with my RA... so I've been away from the blog a lot, and I've been away from writing anything new.

I've actually had a few false starts... bdsm erotica novels that never really got past the first few chapters... and I finally decided that I've put off writing this new WIP novel as long as I should. I wrote a few chapters in 2009, then went back to it for only a couple weeks in 2010...but I think about it all the time. And its interfering with my other works.

So, this week I've been focused... and it's finally taking shape...and I completed a full outline. What am I thinking? I never write from an outline!

I'm excited. I can't even put into words how writing this story makes me feel.

It's a far cry from my "normal" though ... and I've had to cut parts that seemed a little too erotic for the mass market. So, I'm probably not going to shop it around to publishing houses under the pen name Roxy Harte. That seems a bit weird...and I can only hope my readers will love the new direction.

Maybe I shouldn't even be blogging about this...its still a far cry from even being able to find it a publishing house...but its what is on my mind today. And not to worry, as soon as I get this book out of my system, I'll be back to writing as Roxy Harte!

Here's a peek into what Roxy Harte plans to write in 2011:

Soiled Dove - the sequel to Painted Lady - I loved writing historical romance and it seems time to return to it.

Hallowed Screams or Whispered Prayers, one or the other...probably not both...but definitely going to tell either Morgana or Nikos story as The Chronicles of Surrenders continue (Shhh this is a BIG, very hush, hush secret ... my publisher doesn't even know I'm thinking about this.... ) but I don't know if I'll ever run out of story ideas for this series. I don't want to run it into the ground but these people really do live in my head, and when they start shouting at me to tell their stories... right now Morgana and Nikos are fighting for my attention, but I keep telling them "Not Yet!"

After that - big question mark - I have twelve false starts sitting idle on my laptop - hopefully one of them will nudge me to finish them!

Actually, I'm Gay - Released!

blurb:

The day after Colin MacNeill admits to his wife of nine years that he might be gay, he wakes up to find himself alone with his five-year-old autistic son, Kerrigan. It wasn't supposed to work out this way. He and his wife were best friends and his sexuality shouldn't matter. They should still be able to live under the same roof and raise their son together, right? What would be the harm if they both took secret lovers?

His day doesn't get any better when he has to take his son with him to the office and his boss suggests he take some time off...because obviously he has a lot to deal with, and bringing his son to the office isn't going to work out. His boss also takes the liberty of suggesting a summer camp for disabled children, and although Colin finds the idea of abandoning his child to the care of others abhorrent, he feels he doesn't have a choice. As a top-notch corporate attorney, he can't be expected to leave his clients hanging. Especially when the biggest case of his career is mere weeks away from trial. At least having his son at camp would give him time to locate his wife and try to convince her that his suggestion could work.

Meeting the camp's owner, Beau Delacroix, turns Colin's world upside down. His insane attraction to Beau is an impossible situation. The man is going to be working with his son all summer and an affair would be completely inappropriate. Besides, the ease with which Beau bonds to his son makes Colin feel like a hopeless failure.

Beau Delacroix never intended to become the director of Five Rivers, a summer camp for mentally and physically handicapped kids founded by his grandfather fifty years before, but he discovers too late fate has a sense of humor, putting him in the one place he never wanted to be only to discover he loves the camp and the kids. When the camps funding gets cut, he needs a lawyer and fast; Colin MacNeill seems like a godsend except for the fact that they can't stand to be in the same room together. And the even crueler twist of fate makes Colin MacNeill the hottest man he's ever come face to face with.

Can Beau get Colin past first impressions and convince him to help save the camp? One thing's for certain, it's going to get pretty hot at Five Rivers this summer...

Buy it now