Lisabet's May News - and a Snog, too!

New and Upcoming Releases

I'm back! After some seriously nerdy activity on my part, I've got my website up and running again, with somewhat better protection against hackers. And I've got lots of news to share.

At the bottom of this post, you'll find my traditional Sunday Snog, an intense kiss from Cat Toy.

Top news billing goes to my new release Rajasthani Moon. The multi-genre novel is available now from Total-E-Bound (at a 10% discount) and will go to general release (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance Ebooks, and all your other favorite bookstores) on Friday May 31st.

I've got lots of fun promotional events planned for this book - which means a raft of great prizes for you. On June 8th, I'm hosting a Revelry! Release Party at Coffee Time Romance's new steampunk site. I'll be giving away prizes to everyone who participates, as well as a couple of great grand prizes.


Then from June 10th through the 21st, I've got a blog tour where you can win a $50 bookstore gift certificate, plus free books at each stop. You can find the full schedule for that tour here. But don't worry, I'll remind you...


I also have guest appearances set up all over the place, talking about the book and tossing out prizes left and right. To stay up to date about all my contests and other events, join my Yahoo Group Lisabet's List, or (if you want somewhat less mail) email me to be added to my private list.

My story Layover now out, as part of the femdom anthology Under Her Thumb, edited by the award-winning D.L. King. I also have a story (The Antidote) in the Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica Volume 11 edited by Maxim Jakubowski. Actually Maxim just informed me that he'd like to publish my erotic story Fleshpot in the next MBBNE, which should be available in late 2013. Also, Leigh Ellwood has accepted my lesbian BDSM erotic tale Sundae, Bloody Sundae for the charity anthology Coming Together: Girl on Girl, which will benefit the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

Other News

This month in my free reading section, I've got a brand new installment of Cat Toy, my cat-shifter serial. I know I've been away from the book for a while, but I'm going to try to post new content every month from now on, until I finish the book. Read the new chapter here. Or to read the entire story so far, start here.

I finished and submitted The Gilded Cage but haven't heard yet whether it has been accepted. Meanwhile, I'm working on Rough Weather, a sort of prequel to my paranormal novella Hot Spell. The book shows the genesis of the relationship between the water elemental Ondine and the air elemental Marut, two characters who show up at the very end of Hot Spell. It's set on the lovely island of Martha's Vineyard. Oh, and it will very likely include some BDSM. (Surprise, surprise!)

Tomorrow, May 20th, marks the start of Skye Warren's incredible Wet and Wild Blog Hop. Drop by Beyond Romance for a chance to win a couple of autographed print books from me, plus Skye's grand prize - a $100 gift certificate from Victoria's Secret. Almost 200 authors are participating in this hop, and every single one is an opportunity for more wonderful gifts.

Contests!

Congratulations to Colleen, who was the winner of my Back List Blast contest during April. She snagged a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate.

I'm giving away so many other prizes over the few weeks as part of my Rajasthani Moon promotions, I don't know if I really need a monthly contest, but hey, what the heck!

This month you can win a print book prize pack that includes an autographed copy of my steamy first novel Raw Silk plus Cream: The Best of the Erotica Readers & Writers Association, an anthology I edited back in 2006. To enter, send an email to contest [at] lisabetsarai.com with the subject line "Social Media Contest". In the email, answer the following questions:

1. Do you use Twitter to follow any authors? If so, how many?
2. Do you interact with your favorite authors on Facebook? If so, how many?
3. Do you belong to and spend any time at Goodreads?
4. Have you ever bought a book specifically because you learned about it through one of the above sources (Twitter, Facebook or Goodreads)?

Every complete set of answers counts as an entry. I'll announce the winner in my next newsletter, in the second half of June.

Lisabet's Pick of the Month 

My pick of the month for May is the delicious Sexy Reads site, the brainchild of Kev Mitnick (otherwise known as Mr. Victoria Blisse). With interviews, news, flash fiction, hot covers, cool reviews, Sexy Reads is just plain fun for anyone who enjoys the erotic. Oh, and the site works like a dream, fast and smooth - just as you'd expect from a super-nerd code-slave like Kevin! Check it out!

And now for the Snog...

Since my newsletter day happens to coincide with Snog Day, I'll share a kiss from Cat Toy, my free shifter serial, just updated this month. Once you've enjoyed my kiss, please click over to Blissekiss.co.uk for lots more delicious kisses.

****

Tom set down his glass. His eyes narrowed. "Are you that frightened of me?" Sorrow took over his handsome face. "Very well. I'll leave, then. I had hoped..." The sadness painting his features morphed to terrible fury for an instant. I shrank back against the wall. "But I should know better than to hope, cursed as I am." A deep sigh scattered his evil mood. Once more I read only regret and pain in his eyes.

He rose, heading for me and the exit. His impossible grace made me ache to touch him. Although he was fully dressed, in jeans, a tee shirt, and scuffed trainers, something about the way he moved made me imagine him naked. I remembered the rush of lust he'd kindled back in the park. A pang of desire arced through me.
Before I could stop him, he was standing in front of me, looming over me. I had no sense of threat, though. I caught the heady scent of male sweat, woven with the sharpness of crushed vegetation. I felt the warmth radiating from his body. I felt his power, sheathed, hidden, bubbling beneath the surface.

"You're blocking the door, Shaina. You'll have to move if you want me to go."

Wordless, lost in the storm of emotion swirling through me, I stepped aside. He flipped open the deadbolt.

"Goodbye, beautiful one."

"No..."

I didn't intend to speak. The one word plea emerged without any conscious decision. I reached for him, to hold him back. Some part of me knew that I shouldn't, couldn't allow him to leave.


Electricity shot through my arm, sizzled down my spine and ignited in my sex. I gasped.

"You feel it too, don't you?" With one finger, he tipped my face toward his. His eyes were emeralds set in ebony. They were so familiar...I knew this stranger, recognized him at some fundamental level below rational thought.

Heat hummed through me, rippling out from that tiny spot on my chin where our skin met. I was acutely aware of my bare flesh under the thin cotton, my nipples gathered into tight, throbbing knots, my thighs damp with fluid leaking from my cleft.

I held his gaze, allowing him to see the raw need he inspired. I was totally naked, open, silently inviting him to take me.

He bent to me. His breath warmed my cheek as I held my own in anticipation. Then his lips met mine and reality exploded into a riot of lush sensation. Colors flared around us, scarlet, vermillion, grass-green, velvety jet. A thousand scents teased my nostrils - the sweetness of fallen blossoms and ripe earth, summer-baked hay and rust-tinged water running over smooth stone. Sparks danced across my skin and burrowed beneath, racing through my blood to swell and soak me.

Just the chaste press of his closed lips had this effect. When he opened to slide his tongue into my mouth, a dizzy fever swept over me. I grabbed him, wrapping my arms around his back, plastering my body against his, mashing my hungry breasts against his solid chest. I wanted total contact. The parts of me that weren't touching him felt lost, abandoned. A rigid bulk prodded my belly. I squirmed against him, thrilled by the promise of that hardness.

His tongue flicked across mine, rougher than I'd expected. He devoured me as though he was starved, gnawing on my lips then plunging deep inside. I felt every move in my pussy, as if that agile tongue rasped over my pulsing clit instead of my palate. My nipples were so tight they hurt. I ground my pubis against him, already trembling on the edge of orgasm.

Happy Snog Day! Don't forget to enter my contest!