Author: Author Missy Jane

The voices in my head make me write their stories.

Let Your Geek Flag Fly High!

Here is yet another belated blog post as I recall my awesome Memorial Day weekend at Comicpalooza in Houston. One of the things I love most about this event is that it’s in my home town, so I get to attend the entire weekend with little fuss.


There are always so many amazing costumes at this con, it’s hard to get photos of them all. I didn’t take nearly enough this year! In the ones I’m posting here I blacked out the faces of innocent bystanders who might not want their faces all over my blog.

There’s always such a great mix of costumes. From superheroes to comic book characters, movie characters, and even storybook characters.

Like any good con, Comicpalooza is loaded with panels and workshops. This year’s Literary track was amazing. One panel was all about Celtic writing. Cornelia Amiri, and Heather and Christopher Dunbar really know their stuff in this genre. I was very impressed.

I was honored to share a panel on Brainstorming, Mind Mapping, and Free Writing with Leo King, George Wright Padgett, and Emily Evans. I’ll never think of Frankenstein the same way again.


Doctors abounded at the con but unfortunately I didn’t get a photo with one. I did the next best thing and tried to run away in a Tardis instead.


Since the Tardis was apparently out of gas I considered the Jurassic park jeep…but then I remembered how that turned out in the movies.



Was there a van in that far, far, away space, a long, long time ago?




The Millennium Falcon could’ve used a paint job like this!



Spending too much money at conventions is easy, but I was honored to help support Bustin For Autism in some small way by buying these hand-made pillows.


It’s great seeing local businesses there as well, such as the Texas Art Supply. How cool is this body painting?!



Comicpalooza has more artists than you can count, but have you ever seen life-size origami action heroes? Here is Master Origami Artist T.J. Fu standing by one of his amazing creations.




Over all it was a fantastic four days in Houston. I can’t wait to see what next year brings.

My Belated RT NOLA Post

So unless you’ve been under a rock (or offline) the past couple of weeks, you know by now that I went to New Orleans recently for the Romantic Times Reader’s convention. It was five fun-filled days of books, cover models, books, drinking, books, swag, books, authors, books, readers, books, beads, and did I mention books?


One of the first authors I ran into was Jade Lee (aka Kathy Lyons) whom I absolutely LOVE! She makes every event unforgettable and is one of the nicest people I know. 



Any time spent with Jade is guaranteed to be a good time.


One of the major events was a Mardi Gras ‘parade’. Authors stood on the floats in the warehouse where they’re stored as the crowd walked down the aisle between them. Throwing out beads was a awesome!

No trip to NOLA is complete without a pub crawl down Bourbon Street. There were ten bars being hosted by various publishers and most of them were handing out free drink vouchers. Yeah, I got a little (ahem) inebriated.
Directly after the pub crawl was Samhain Publishing’s Saints and Sinners party where I hosted a table as a drunk nun (oops!). It was a lot of fun meeting the ladies who joined me at my table. One of them traveled all the way from Thailand.

I didn’t take nearly as many food shots as usual because I kept forgetting to do it before digging in. This was the chicken served at Heather Graham’s Mrdi Gras Magic and Mayhem dinner and dance party.


Beignets abounded throughout the event, but cheesecake is always a good choice too.




There were lots of beautiful and creative costumes, including Heather herself on her very own dragon float.

One of the biggest draws for readers is the giant book signing. I was honored to be in a room full of so many talented people. Sitting next to Kelly Jamieson was a blast!



And last but most certainly not least, I got to meet some of my favorite authors:

 And many others where I missed my photo op. Over all, it was a great time and I plan to attend again next year when it’s here in Texas. I hope y’all will join us in Dallas.




New Release! Born of Stone

Today is release day for my newest book: Born of Stone! This is the beginning of a romantic fantasy series about Gargoyles…and the women who love them.


Blurb:


Within a body strong as stone beats a heart ready for love.


For seventy years, Orestes and his eleven gargoyle brothers have done their duty to protect King Kadmos’ realm. There’s only one annoyance in his life—humans.


He’s content to leave them to their idol worship. Until he notices a small, frail woman serving at his table, doing her best to remain invisible. Something about her calls to him like no human before.


Astrid is terrified. Not of the powerful magical creature with kind eyes, but of the staff overseer’s lash for calling attention to herself. Instead she finds herself whisked away to paradise, where she is bathed, fed, and made love to by Orestes as if she is his reason to live. But she isn’t naïve enough to believe she is anything more than a temporary diversion.


When Orestes is called away to search for a missing brother, Astrid is kidnapped by traitors intent on using her to bend Orestes to their will. Little do they know that the connection between them is no weakness, but a strength their enemies would be fools to  underestimate…


Warning: This book contains paranormal fighting, steamy sex scenes, strong-willed females, and men made of stone who prove to be soft as butter in the right hands.



Read an excerpt and buy it here: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/born-stone-p-73413.html


Here: http://www.amazon.com/Born-Stone-Gargoyle-Masters-Missy-ebook/dp/B00IBDKQIY


And here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/born-of-stone-missy-jane/1118602499?ean=9781619220232

To celebrate this new release I’m giving away a $25 Amazon gift card! Enter here: http://www.bittenbybooks.com

New Release & New To Me Publisher!

Whoohoo, I can finally share my exciting news!! I’m now a published Entangled author. Today’s new release is the first in my new Archangel series, and these men are HOT. The first book is about Zerachiel, known as Zerach to his friends and employees.

Here’s a taste:

As the owner of a string of successful nightclubs all over the world, Zerach can have any woman–except for his assistant Isadora O’Donnell. First off, Isadora isn’t a one-night-stand kind of girl, and second, her dominating godparents don’t approve of him. There’s also the fact that he is an archangel with a mission to protect humans from demons, something Isadora can never find out about. 
Isadora secretly longs for Zerach’s attention but her scarred body and his playboy ways keep her from acting on her feelings. With her only family on the brink of bankruptcy, she’s determined to help them, even if it means trying to forget Zerach and marrying the womanizing Jake, a man she’ll never love. 
Zerach tries to keep Isadora at arm’s length, but when a demon starts stalking her, Zerach will stop at nothing to protect the woman he loves. But protecting her could cost him his wings. 
Want more? Read chapter one here.
I’m also celebrating this new release with two other Entangled authors releasing today. Join our Facebook party here.
And last but most certainly not least is the virtual book tour I’m doing to spread the word. There is a $25 gift card on the line. So be sure to check it out here.


The Fine Art of Politely Saying ‘NO’

Aside from my glamorous life as a multi-published author, I also have a full-time day job. I sell advertising for a local magazine Monday through Friday. So that means I make cold calls on a daily basis and get to talk to people I’ve never met before. Some of these people are friendly, some of them are annoyed, some of them are too busy to take my call every single time. But the one type of person who I absolutely HATE to call is the one who won’t say NO. Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean the one who says yes. Unfortunately, that magical three letter word is few and far between most days. But that person is markedly different from the one who absolutely won’t say no the first fifty times I call them.

This anti-NO person is the one who strings me along day after day, week after week, and month after month with a maybe. This person can’t make up his/her mind to save his/her life and just refuses to commit. So I keep calling and emailing in the hopes they may give me that magical three letter word noted above.

Even worse than the maybe person is the one who simply refuses to ever answer the phone and/or return a call or email. They obviously don’t realize that not getting an actual NO means I WILL keep calling and emailing month after month after month. If you don’t want something, just say NO. It’s not hard, really. All you have to do is wait until the salesperson takes a breath and then say “No, thanks.” That’s it. No fuss, no muss. I know not all salespeople are the same, however, in my office NO means NO. If we’re told not to call anymore then we don’t. We don’t want to waste our time any more than the ones who don’t want to buy advertising want to hear our voices every month.

And last and most definitely least of my favorites is the rude SOB who hangs up as soon as I identify myself. I mean, come on. Is it really that hard to just say NO?! It would take literally seconds out of that person’s life to say no AND THEN hang up. That’s it. That’s all. And I promise it doesn’t even hurt.

So yeah, I had a few of these today. Can you tell?

Where Did March Go?

I just realized I didn’t post a single thing to this blog in March. It’s April already?! My god, where did March go? I’ve been working and doing the mom/wife thing mostly for the past few weeks. I did begin the sequel to my Gargoyle book, which will be out from Samhain at the end of May.

I’m also preparing for a couple of appearances in May. One will be at the Romantic Times convention in NOLA from May 14th-17th. The other will be at Comicpalooza in Houston. I’m really excited about both and hope to have lots of new stuff to share with everyone even before those appearances. We’ll see.
For now, I’m just writing as I can fit it into the crazy mom/wife/work schedule I hold each day.

Want to keep up with my news? I’ll have a newsletter soon that will go out when I have new releases or other exciting things to share. The first one is in the works but you can sign up here:

New Release! Erotic Influence

Available today! This is my 11th Ellora’s Cave Publishing ebook, and the sequel to Erotic Images. Erotic Influence is the story of a shy girl who fantasizes about the hot guy who lives across the street. But she just cast muster the courage to talk to him.

Here’s a peek:

Annie may be a shy twenty-something who spends her days keeping track of her wayward teenage sister, but Rick noticed her living across the street as soon as he moved in. Now he can’t stop fantasizing his sweet, innocent neighbor and wanting her has become an obsession. He just has to convince her to give him a chance instead of always running away.
Annie has plans for her life but has to help her sister get into college first. Then Rick comes along and proves to be a help as much as a distraction. All she has to do is pose for his friend, an erotic photographer. Not only will she earn the money needs for her sister’s college fund, Rick’s erotic influence just might liberate her enough to become his woman too. It’s a chance she’s more than willing to take…so long as no one finds out what she’s doing.
A Romantica® contemporary erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave


Want more? Here’s an excerpt:

By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age. If you are under the age of 18, please exit this site.
An Excerpt From: EROTIC INFLUENCE
Copyright © MISSY JANE, 2014
All Rights Reserved, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.
Rick was about to give up and head home when a very sleepy-looking Annie finally opened her front door. She was adorably rumpled and had neglected to put her glasses on. Large green eyes blinked up at him in confusion and he couldn’t help but smile.

“Hey, beautiful, did I wake you?”

Her sweet mouth dropped open but nothing came out. He took the opportunity to lean forward and kiss her lips. She moaned into his mouth and he pulled her into his arms. A sense of peace settled over him and he knew that was what had been missing all week. He deepened the kiss until she melted against him.

The sound of a car passing had her jumping back. He released her reluctantly and glanced behind him. It was someone from farther down the road whom he didn’t know. The car didn’t even slow down.

“Rick. I wasn’t expecting you,” Annie said.

He appreciated the breathless quality of her voice. At least she seemed to be as affected by their kisses as he. He ran a hand over his face and gave a short nod. “I’m sorry I haven’t been by all week. I got busy with work unexpectedly.”

“Oh.”

“Can I come in?”

Confusion crossed her features for a second before clearing into a smile. “Yeah. My dad’s working late.”

“Perfect.”

She moved back and he stepped into the dim interior. Only the bright Texas sunlight breaking through the cracks in the blinds illuminated the living room. Somewhere down the hallway another light was on. He guessed it to be her bedroom.

She shut and locked the door once he was inside and he couldn’t keep from touching her. Luckily she didn’t protest when he pulled her against him again. He rubbed his lips against hers slowly before slipping his tongue into her mouth.

“Mmm, you taste so good,” he whispered.

“Y-you too.”

That made him smile and he pulled back to look down at her for a moment. “How late is your dad working?”

“Until six or seven. He wasn’t sure. Tammy’s working ’til seven for sure.”

“Good. That gives us plenty of time.”

“For what?”

Rather than answer, he took over her mouth again.

He wanted her in his bed. Or any bed really. But he knew that might be dangerous. She didn’t seem very experienced and he didn’t want to scare her away. Every reserve of patience might be tested by sweet Annie May, but he planned to take things slow and easy. The past week had been hell. Of all the times to be needed in the office every damn day, it had to be this week when he was aching to be with Annie. He’d gotten home late every night and her father had been home. Finally, today he had finished the project and hightailed it out of there early.

She melted against him and moaned as he suckled her lips. Her eager responses ratcheted up his arousal until he wasn’t certain he’d be able to pull away. Somehow he found the strength to stop kissing her long enough to make it to her room. She shut the door and he pressed her against it as he kissed her again. Her sweet flavor was addictive. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he dropped his hands onto her slender hips.

Luckily she wasn’t wearing her damn hoodie. He slipped his hands beneath her thin t-shirt and up her ribs until he encountered her bra. She shivered and pulled back, gasping in a much-needed breath.

“R-Rick…I’m not a virgin, but…”

“But?”

She sighed and leaned her head against his chest, hiding her expression. “I’ve only done this once before.”

Her softly spoken words left him both terrified and elated. He had guessed she was inexperienced, had almost hoped she was a virgin. The thought of another man touching her infuriated him, but at her age he had expected it. Knowing she had only been touched once helped…a little.

“That’s fine by me, baby. We can take things as slow as you need. All I want to do right now is make you feel good. I want to see you come apart in my arms.”

She shivered again and he took the opportunity to move her hair off her neck so he could taste her heated skin. She moved her head to the side and gave him better access. He slowly made his way down her throat to the top of her collar.

“Can I take your shirt off?” he asked.

Her short fingernails dug into his shoulders. “There’s not much to see.”

“Let me be the judge of that…please?”

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NYC Midnight 2014 Short Story Challenge, Round 1

I don’t usually enter writing contests, other than the annual NaNoWriMo challenge. A short story challenge was brought to my attention about a month ago and I was intrigued. There are multiple rounds and with each one the word count and time-frame to write the story gets smaller. The writer is given a genre, topic, and character for the story. My first heat was: romance, fire, reporter.

I was absolutely thrilled to get romance as my first genre. However, when I wrote the initial story I didn’t put enough of the topic in there. Fire was supposed to be integral to the story. My first try, Heating Things Up, can be found here. 

I won’t know until March 24th if I made it past the first round. My final submission to the contest, Hearts on Fire, can be found here. Feel free to let me know what you think.

What’s Coming in 2014

Last year was awesome in terms of my writing. I’m hoping to make this year amazing. Here’s a short list of what I’ve already got in the works, but I hope to add more to it:


New Releases for 2014

From Samhain Publishing:
Born of Stone 
Release Date: May                                         This book is about gargoyles and is set in a fantasy world with a medieval flare.                                     


From Ellora’s Cave Publishing:
Erotic Influence
Release Date: TBA
This is the sequel to Erotic Images with related cahracters, but it can be read alone.






From Entanlged Publishing:
Zerachiel: Archangels Book I (working title)
Release Date: TBA
This is the first in a series about archangels who live among humans.

I still have a ton of WIPs as well, including the sequels to They Call Me Death and Day Shift. I’m hoping to have both of those contracted sometime this year. As for appearances, I will be attending the Romantic Times Readers Convention in New Orleans in May, and will be signing at the large book signing event on Saturday. Also, if I have any print releases this year, I will organize a small book tour to promote that as well.

Stay tuned for more!