Happy Halloween!

When witches go riding,
and black cats are seen,
the moon laughs and whispers,
‘tis near Halloween.

Have a great Halloween!

Looking for a Halloween Romance?

Available on Nook, Kindle and eBook: 
Like Magic, an erotic-romance for Halloween - now only $1.99!

Ian Hannigan was having the worst day of his life. A real estate prospect turned out to be a prank, his car has been stolen, and he’s stranded in the worst neighborhood he can imagine on Halloween night. If he believed in magic, he would swear he’d been cursed. Nothing could possibly make this day any worse or better… That is, nothing but Raven, a mysterious occult shop owner who not only claims to be a witch, but insists that she summoned him as the answer to her aching loneliness. Ian’s night just got a lot weirder. And his love life just got a lot more interesting.

18+

Snippet:


It was nearing midnight when Ian woke alone. Someone was lighting fire crackers in the alley below the window. He wondered, rather belatedly, whether the police had ever shown up and was surprised with himself for having dozed off in a strange bed on such a night. His car could be in the harbor by now, but oddly, he didn’t have the will to care. Stretching his overused back muscles, he figured the orgasms he enjoyed that night were nearly worth the loss.

He sat up in the unfamiliar bed noticing with a smile that Raven had covered him with the soft quilt before wandering off to wherever she was. It was a small gesture, but an unbelievably sweet one to a man who hadn’t been tucked in often enough as a boy. Had she kissed him on the forehead when she did it? He was willing to bet she had.

~*~
Also available in ebundle and paperback in All I Want: The Anne Holly-Day Collection!

#samplesunday: A Scene from Like Magic

An excerpt from my paranormal/contemporary erotic-romance for Halloween, Like Magic.

Ian Hannigan was having the worst day of his life. A real estate prospect turned out to be a prank, his car has been stolen, and he’s stranded in the worst neighborhood he can imagine on Halloween night. If he believed in magic, he would swear he’d been cursed. Nothing could possibly make this day any worse or better… That is, nothing but Raven, a mysterious occult shop owner who not only claims to be a witch, but insists that she summoned him as the answer to her aching loneliness. Ian’s night just got a lot weirder. And his love life just got a lot more interesting.

~*~

“This ritual will make sure that, if we are meant to be together, we’ll return to each other if we’re parted,” she whispered, the look on her face telling him she recognized their parting was inevitable.

He wasn’t sure how to respond, as they’d promised each other only that one night. Instead of speaking, he took her hand again and pressed a kiss to the tender skin of her wrist and then pulled her into his lap. He was there now and that would have to be enough. He sent whatever had brought him to her a silent word of thanks though it was inarticulate in his mind.

As if sensing his speechlessness, Raven merely smiled and looked at their entwined fingers. She turned his hand over in her own, as if noting the relative size and roughness of his palm in comparison with her own.

“Will I meet a tall, dark stranger?” he joked, looking into the lines in his hand.

“You have a long life,” she said. “Longer than you know – longer than before your birth, and after your life. You have an old soul.”

“The matron at one of my group homes used to say that,” he smiled. “But just because I was always a little bit tight-assed and not very happy as a child.”

“Why was that?”

Ian tilted his head in an effort to dismiss the stories of his youth, which weren’t incredibly pleasant, but also not very interesting. Before adulthood, his life had mostly consisted of boredom and waiting.

“My mother died when I was young. I never knew my father.” He shrugged. “Wasn’t a great deal to be happy about, really.”

“Now, though?” she said, looking back at the lines. “I think you’re satisfied in some ways, but not in others. You’re ambitious and you do well, but you’re occasionally unlucky especially with your love life. You’ve done a lot for yourself, though.”

Ian was increasingly uncomfortable with her inspection, feeling bare to her eyes.

“Enough about me,” he said lightly to cover up the quick way he yanked his hand from hers. “How about you?”

Raven smiled as if she knew why he stopped her, but was unruffled by his reluctance to tell her more. She produced her palm to him with a good natured chuckle.

“My life is an open book. Be my guest.”

“Oh no,” he said. “I don’t read palms.” She squealed as he grabbed her and started to plaster her neck and shoulders with kisses. “Ear lobes, maybe,” he said in a muffled voice as he took possession of her ear with his lips. “Ahh! You will indeed meet a tall, dark stranger,” he confirmed. “And you two will fuck like bunnies all... night... long...”
*
Available Now!

This story will be included in the paperback/ebundle anthology All I Want: The Anne Holly-Day Collection, releasing October 3, 2012.

We're seeking reviews and promo opportunities for Like Magic this October. If you're interested in helping spread the word for Halloween, please email anneholly2010@gmail.com, and include a link to your site or blog. (18+, non-YA blogs/sites, only, please.)

Happy Halloween!

Thanks for joining me for our 

trick-o-treat blogging extravaganza!

Come back Nov 1 at noon to see who won.

I hope you had a lovely Halloween so far, but the night is still young!
(Not for me, though. I'm heading to bed!)


***
Be sure to join us in December for:

I'm doing no less than three blog hops for Christmas, 
so come back and see me.


Thanks, all!

Welcome, Bewitching Halloween Guys and Ghouls!

Welcome Blog Hoppers!

I love Halloween. It’s about as uncomplicated a holiday as they come. Nothing but fun – no visiting relatives or annoying major-production meals to offset the pleasure of candy. October has lovely weather and costumes are always a good time. And scary is always enjoyable… Within reason.

In my Halloween story, Like Magic, I have a fellow who spends the freakiest Halloween night of his life when he falls under the spell of a lovelorn witch – or does he?

I have never been perfectly certain how I feel about the paranormal. My logical side says it’s unlikely, but I’ve been around the block enough times to know nothing is certain, and one should never say never.

I was 19 when I worked at a dining hall in the old east coast university where I took my bachelors degree. The dining hall was old, stone and impressive, covered in ivy and looking stately. It even had a tragic past – in the 1920s, a fire gutted it, killing four students and the housekeeper, who were all said to haunt their various lifetime quarters still. The housekeeper had lived in a bedsit in the basement, beside the maintenance area and right next to the boiler. When the boiler exploded that fateful night, she had not the slightest chance of escape. Yet, it being the 1920s, when they rebuilt and fixed a bronze plaque to the refurbished building commemorating the loss, her name was not included in the memorial.

As a result, many reported that the restless spirit of the woman was not a happy one, and she’d had been known to harass students and employees.

When my supervisor, Nicole, went down to the basement, she was always nervous. She said it felt cold, and she heard noises. Once, a lightbulb exploded when she was halfway down the dark, steep stairs. The forgotten lady, it seems, did not care for Nicole. Eventually, Nicole took to sending Dishwasher Kevin down there at the end of shift to lock up and shut down the lights. I guess no one really much minded if an angry ghost got Dishwasher Kevin.

Anyway, one night I was filling in as headwaiter to a conference banquet while Nicole was off. It never occurred to me to make Dishwasher Kevin go down to turn off the lights and lock up before he left, which I regretted later.

After I had signed everybody out, and was alone doing my lock up, all of the bravado I had once had as an empowered, educated young woman who didn’t believe in ghosts flew out the window as I contemplated going down those steps. A part of me wanted to pretend I had forgotten to lock up down there, but I knew it would be my skin if something happened because I had turned chicken, and I needed the job. Besides, headwaiting paid better than serving, and if I ever wanted the chance to fill in for Nicole again, I had better get my butt down there.

So, I went.

Down the steps, singing a little song to keep from shaking, and to the back door. I locked up, and turned off the lights as I went. Then to the employee locker room, without incident. By that point, I was starting to feel pretty silly about having been afraid, and was thinking Nicole was an idiot. I didn’t feel any chill, and nothing was happening. Pfft! I knew it all along! There’s no such thing as ghosts!

I was so confident, I decided to stop and pee before finishing my rounds and making the trek home. I got in the stall, did my business, and then… dropped the frigging toilet paper! I watched helplessly as it bounced and then rolled out under the door. One of those moments where you stop and sigh, sagging a second or two before you decide what to do about your situation.

Then… In bounced the toilet paper, back in under the door!

Now, this was not a slanted floor. In fact, the drain under the sinks should have made the paper roll completely away from my stall. And there was nothing for that thing to bump into that would make it bounce back to me. Except…

I recall how hard my heart was pounding. I wanted to scream or hide or cry, and the hairs on my arms stood on end. Either the room got cold as ice, or I imagined it did, I don’t know which.

To be on the safe side, I called out, “Thank you!” in the most cheerful voice I could. I received no reply, expected no reply, really wanted no reply. But, if some spirit out there had done me a good turn, it seemed only polite. And prudent, considering the exploded light bulb.

Nothing else happened as I rushed away from the bathroom and ran up those steps to the safety of the dining hall kitchen. Nothing ever happened to me again down in the basement of that dining hall in my subsequent shifts, but I never again felt sure there wasn’t something down there.

There is a type of certainty we enjoy when we are young, when we can “know” what is what. As you age, you lose that luxury as things happen to make you question everything. After that night, I never was certain about the paranormal again. Now, I know enough to know there’s a lot of stuff out there I don’t know, I guess you could say.

So, that’s my ghost story. It isn’t thrilling, or very flattering to me since I was sitting on the can at the time, but I don’t think I’ll ever forget that night.

Happy Halloween, everybody! And, remember – always be polite to the non-living. Except for zombies. Those suckers, you better just shoot in the head.

~*~

Please comment on this post, say hello, and tell me your spookiest encounter with something that goes bump in the night!

For every ten people who comment, I will pick one winner at random to receive their choice of any one of my current releases gifted via Amazon Kindle (either through an actual ereader or the PC app). I will give away at least one prize, even if I get less than ten comments.

Contest opens at midnight October 28, and runs all the way to midnight the night of October 31/November 1, 2011 (EST), as per the Bewitching Trick-or-Treat Blog Hop design. Winners will be announced here on this blog at noon on November 1, and they will be asked to email me to arrange the collection of their prizes. (Only people 18 and older will be eligible for a prize. All of my books contain explicit language and graphic sexuality.)

After commenting, please carry on the blog hop tour, and check out these great authors – all of whom are giving away treats for Halloween!

Please visit me at my website, or find me on GoodReads, Facebook and Twitter. You can also sign up for my newsletter, if you'd like to stay in touch via remote. I will include a note to winners who haven't claimed their prizes in my next issue, on the first Friday in November.

ETA: NEW excerpt from Like Magic up at my Seasonal Tales website for Sample Sunday!

Six Sentence Sunday: Like Magic

Hello, and thanks for visiting. Continued appreciation for comments, as always.

This week's six sentences is from my newest release, a witchy Halloween erotic romance, LIKE MAGIC:

Ian leaned in close to her, breathing in her unique aroma. Pausing, holding his breath, he searched her face for signs of rejection and saw none. He didn’t believe in magic, or whatever it was mystical people thought they could do, but he was here now and the sweetness of her drew him in. They had this moment, and he would enjoy her. If believing her wish had been granted would revive her zest for life, he’d be happy for her. But, magic, he always believed, was nothing more than just what you made of your luck.

Please visit the other authors participating in this week's Six Sentence Sunday!

Oct 3: LIKE MAGIC Hits E-Shelves Today!

I'm pleased to celebrate the release of my third holiday short for Rebel Ink Press, Like Magic, a short erotic romance with paranormal elements, for Halloween.

Ian Hannigan was having the worst day of his life. A real estate prospect turned out to be a prank, his car has been stolen, and he’s stranded in the worst neighborhood he can imagine on Halloween night. If he believed in magic, he would swear he’d been cursed. Nothing could possibly make this day any worse or better… That is, nothing but Raven, a mysterious occult shop owner who not only claims to be a witch, but insists that she summoned him as the answer to her aching loneliness. Ian’s night just got a lot weirder. And his love life just got a lot more interesting.

Here's a little sample (18+):

“When I saw you,” she said, averting her eyes as her cheeks flushed rose in the candlelight, “I thought you’d come because I asked you to.” 

“You were expecting someone else?” he asked, releasing a small awkward chuckle. He’d heard of many forms of embarrassing social mishaps before, but never a case of mistaken oral sex. 

“Not exactly,” she smiled. “But I asked for someone to come.” 

“You were what? Casting love charms?” 

“Yes,” she replied, without a hint of the irony his question had contained. “I called for a man – for a lover – and there you were. Perhaps I was mistaken. You can see how I misinterpreted things.” 

Ian wasn’t a man prone to flights of whimsy, nor did he believe in magic. An investment councilor who researched development opportunities for a firm partially responsible for the gentrification of multiple dilapidated areas of the city, he was well known for his vision, but also his practical analysis of costs and benefits. Now, he began to mentally list who amongst his friends would’ve set him up with a call girl pretending to be a witch on a cold, wet Halloween night. 

Ken, maybe. That would explain the missing car, since he’d have access to his office where his spare keys were located. He could’ve also known the false lead Ian pursued would bring him to just empty lots, not more old industrial blocks his clients liked to turn into yuppie studios. But would Ken, or any of his friends, actually shell out money for him to get a creepy blow job? 

He knew they were all pulling for him to move past his breakup with Amanda and seek out fleshly adventures as a newly-single guy. Ian knew lately he was a bit of a drag at the office, at the gym, even on poker night. But this seemed to be a tad further than even his bonehead friends would go. 

Of course, right about now his bachelor party would’ve been taking place, had Amanda not walked out, so perhaps this was their idea of a consolation prize. 

“I don’t know who set this up,” he began with a disgusted snort, “but if you know anything about where my car is, I’ll just grab it and be on my way. 

Looking baffled, she shook her head. A single concerned wrinkle marred the smoothness of her forehead. 

“You’re very good,” Ian said, meaning both the innocent act and the services she’d provided. 

Deciding he’d find a phone elsewhere, he turned on his heel and made for the exit. 

“Be well,” he heard her whisper softly from behind him as he opened the heavy glass and wooden door. The tiny brass bells tinkled pitifully as he walked out into the downpour. 

“Shit, guys,” he muttered to himself, cursing his weirdo friends. “You could’ve picked a warmer night to punk me.”

Like Magic will be available on Kindle, Nook, epub, ebook, Adobe, and other e-formats, via a selection of vendors. I will share the links as I find them.

Now Available at:

• BookStrand
• ARe
• OmniLit
• Amazon Kindle
• Barnes and Noble Nook

***
Thanks for stopping by! Leave me a comment between now and midnight tonight for a chance to win a copy of Like Magic in ARC PDF, as soon as I get one from the publisher! (18+ only.)

Bewitching Trick-or-Treat Blog Hop

Please join me and a hundred other writers/bloggers for our Halloween Bewitching Trick-or-Treat Blog Hop, October 28-31, 2011.

Every blog will offer a giveaway!

Get into the Halloween spirit! Boo!


***
Also, October 2 is my Open House Day on my CTR author forum, and the topic of the day is paranormal romance - come see an excerpt or two of my new paranormal work in progress, Topaz.

New Cover: Like Magic

The cover for my next release has been finalized. Like Magic is the Halloween installment in my series of holiday romantic-erotica shorts with Rebel Ink Press, and the cover is absolutely perfect! The book is still in editing, but I think it'll come out in October 2011.

Ian Hannigan was having the worst day of his life. A real estate prospect turned out to be a prank, his car has been stolen, and he’s stranded in the worst neighborhood he can imagine on Halloween night. If he believed in magic, he would swear he’d been cursed. Nothing could possibly make this day any worse or better… That is, nothing but Raven, a mysterious occult shop owner who not only claims to be a witch, but insists that she summoned him as the answer to her aching loneliness.

Ian’s night just got a lot weirder. And his love life just got a lot more interesting.

Thanks to RIP cover artist Carl J. Franklin!

Isn't it Ironic? (Bat Story Continues...)

Some of you might have caught my recent bat incident. If not, the short version is that I woke up very early Friday morning to a bat flying around my apartment.

We all survived it, but I'm a bit worse for wear. Friday all day, I was a total zombie. Friday night, I'll admit I had trouble sleeping - I had to leave way too many lights on, and every time the cat moved I almost jumped out of my skin. Today, I am sore as hell with muscle stiffness from all the deep knee bends I did while trying to avoid being dive-bombed by the little bugger. I hope I can sleep better tonight, but am still slightly anxious as night falls.

In any event, the irony is, this bat encounter has put me way behind schedule on my Halloween short, which I had hoped to finish writing on Friday and send off today to betareaders. Instead, it's not finished, and likely won't be ready for reading until Monday now.

One would think that a bat event would help move a Halloween story along - in fact, it really hasn't.

sigh.

Back to work...