Thanks for letting me guest blog with you, Carol! It’s a joy and an honor to be here. I hope your readers enjoy the topic I wrote for them today…

I'm Gracen Miller and I wanted to write something fun so all of you could play along with me. So, I chose to write about the top three things I love and that drive me insane about writing…we’ll start with the three things I dislike the most—I shy away from saying hate because I had to work hard at coming up with the 3 things I disliked...let's be realistic, writing is the best damn job in the world!—and work my way up to those things I love:

3. Synopsis – I stink at writing synopsis. Figuring out what are the most important aspects of the story that need to be focused on, is really difficult for me. Probably because I think everything is important. I mean, let’s face it, if it wasn’t important, I’d have cut it from the storyline right? LOL But, yeah, I get why I need to compress the story. There are some details that can be left out of a synopsis that do not affect the storyline at all. Can you tell I’m trying to write a synopsis and it’s not going so well? :-/

2. Blurbs – Did I say I “stink” at synopsis? Well, I suck at blurbs because condensing my book down to the important parts is just damn difficult. Even worse than a synopsis because I’m trying to condense it down into about two short paragraphs. Gah!

1. Temperamental muses – It’s frustrating when my muse decides to take a leave of absence without any notice whatsoever. *throws a temper tantrum that’d make a two-year-old proud* There should be a freaking rule in place that says under penalty of severe lashings by the writer (that’s me), the muse must, abso-freaking-lutely must, schedule leave of absences to work with MY timeframe. It would make life so much easier, right? :D


Now, the top three things I looovvveee about writing…

3. Creation – I love everything about creating new characters. I love learning their flaws, discovering their inner demons and slowly coming to realize what it is that makes them tick. I love falling ‘in love’ with my characters. I may breathe life into them initially, but often times by the time I finish writing the lives of my characters, I realize I didn’t know them until the very end.

2. The hours – I create my own work schedule. This can be a dangerous thing, but when the muse is on fire, all I will want to do is write from morning, noon and night. So, sleep becomes a novelty. When I’m deep into the characters, they’ll even plague all my waking hours. When I’m driving, I’ll be stitching together plots. When my children are talking, I’ll be piecing together dialogue, which can get me into sticky situations at times. Read one of my recent blogs, Get Out of My Head!, to see what I’m talking about: http://wickedthornandroses.blogspot.com/2010/01/get-out-of-my-head.html

1. No legal recourse – LOL No, I’m not blood thirsty….much. *looks about shiftily* It is freeing though to know that I can do whatever I want in my stories without any legal recourse. Yeah, that sounds bad, but you writers know what I mean. We can kill someone without really going to jail or facing any consequences unless that’s part of the storyline.

So, if you’re a writer, tell me what are the things you love and dislike about writing?

And now, just a little bit about my new release, Elfin Blood, which was released by Noble Romance Publishing on October 19, 2009.

REVIEWS:

G.R. Bretz reviewed Elfin Blood and I love this comment by him: “Stopping in the middle of this story would have been as feasible as stopping in the middle of sex.” To read the complete review, go here: http://delightfullydisturbing.wordpress.com/

Sheila Deeth reviewed Elfin Blood and said: “Gracen Miller creates an interesting cast of characters in Elfin Blood, and fills their world with delightfully intriguing surprises. Very nicely done Gracen, and definitely not your granny’s or granddaughter’s romance.” To read the complete review click on the following link and scroll down to the first comment: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75426689

Deb at Dark Diva Reviews reviewed Elfin Blood and said: “Elfin Blood is pure Magic! It is a story worth reading over and over again.” To read the complete review, go here: http://ddrreviews.blogspot.com/2010/01/elfin-blood-by-gracen-miller.html

BLURB:

She is the only one the elves can trust when a magical book in elf lore is stolen. Relegated to steal the Book from the vampire thief, Landau Jamieson, she's surprised to discover he has the ability to walk in daylight. Refusing to be deterred by developing setbacks, she’s committed to executing the heist for an Ivory King who grows more desperate to possess the Book. Nothing about the vampire is as it appears and Julija begins to doubt her mission. Worse, she begins to worry she won't have the strength to guard her heart from her sworn enemy.

Landau is fascinated by the elf stalking him and baffled by the potent hunger she elicits after ten thousand years of celibacy. Soon he discovers the lovely sprite is a pawn in a dangerous game--orchestrated by none other than a reviled enemy from his past. While blind-sided by her beauty and her magical powers, the least of which is the spell she casts on his heart, the sinister plot unfolds. What started out as folly to catch a thief, blossoms into a love that casts

EXCERPT:

Their eyes held as he tossed her denims over his shoulders. He buried his hand in her hair, kneading her scalp with his fingers.

“This.” His palm flattened over her bare pussy and she flinched at the jolt of heat shooting through her. “Is beautiful.”

He tugged against her hair, holding her steady as he leaned over her and put his mouth to her breasts through the thin fabric. The scrape of his teeth against the cloth caused her to whimper and arch beneath him.

“Can you tone it down a bit,” he asked, grazing his fangs along the underside of her breast.

“Tone what down?”

“The music.” He rose to his knees, his features pinched.

“I’m not making that music.” Julija was too busy trying to catch her breath to worry about the melody. The pads of his fingers rolled her nipples through the fabric while the palm of his other hand rubbed the outer folds of her sex. She squirmed, itching to press her thighs together to alleviate her escalating arousal.

“Of course you are. You’re a Jewel Master. They’re singing your lust.”

Julija touched him for the first time, tracing his wide, sexy lips with her finger—lips she’d fantasized about.

“I’m not a Jewel Master,” she said, baffled by his statement. She traced the point of a protruding fang. “Ow!” she cried, jerking her finger back to peer at the blood beading the pad of her index finger.

Quick as a snake striking, he reached out and placed her finger against the center of his lips. Mired between fascination and horror, she watched as he used her blood to paint his mouth red. Landau licked his lips. The pleasure flaring across his face nearly brought her to orgasm. Again, he painted his lips with her blood, his eyes rolling with delight when he swiped the moisture away.

Landau dragged his tongue over her finger, cleansing the blood from her flesh. He squeezed and blood beaded to the surface. Again, he licked the digit like it was his personal lollipop. She gyrated beneath him, undulated her hips into his thigh. Had she missed the anatomy lesson that said fingers were erogenous zones?

He sucked her finger into his mouth, his gaze holding hers steady as he sipped nourishment from the tiny wound. A moan tore from her. He suckled again, a hard drag that tweaked her clitoris.

“Mmm.” She moaned, arching her back, needing him inside her.

A grin skirted his lips as her vampire suckled. She cried out as an orgasm jerked through her, surprising and embarrassing her.

Landau chuckled. “You’re easy, Jewel Master.”

Easy, yes. Sex-starved too.

“I don’t know what that is.” Her ragged breath hitched as she tried to orient herself and follow the conversation.

“How can you not?” His brows met his hairline, showing his surprise. “Jewel Masters are rare, but still . . . .” He eyed her speculatively. “You’re joking, right?”

Julija didn’t think she could muster a verbal response so she shook her head.

“I’ll show you,” he said, his gaze determined. He looked at the jewels surrounding them on the bed, his fingers skimming through them until he located a diamond at least ten carats in size. He pressed the flat side against a nipple. “Can you feel it vibrating?”

“Yes.” She strangled on the word. The vibration against her nipple was connected to her vagina.

“Only a Jewel Master can make it do that.” Landau trailed the diamond to the other breast and smiled at her moan of pleasure. “I’m not a Jewel Master,” he said. “Wood Elves create Jewel Masters.” He clarified the last sentence with, “I don’t have Wood Elf in me. You do.”

Mischief darkened his gaze as he dragged the vibrating diamond down her belly, circled her navel and then slid it downward to the flesh at the apex of her thighs.

As if entranced, Landau spread her vaginal lips and pressed the gem against her clitoris. The diamond acted like a tiny, wicked vibrator.

Five seconds. She panted. Ten seconds. She panted faster. Fifteen sec— She climaxed a second time. The diamond launched into hyper-vibration drive, the harmony wobbled her eardrums, the melody so loud, Landau flinched.

He slid the rock lower, soaking the crystal with her wetness. He pressed the gemstone against her entrance; the humming diamond grew louder, vibrated rapidly against her swollen flesh.

Grimacing at the decibel level, Landau removed the stone from her body. “Proof,” Landau said, sounding strangled. When she focused on him, his eyes turned blood red and he looked turned-on, like her. “You’re a Jewel Master.”


~~~~~~~

Where you can find me on the web:

Website: http://www.gracenmiller.com/
MLM Blog: http://moonlightlacemayhem.blogspot.com/ (I blog every Friday here)
WTR Blog: http://wickedthornandroses.blogspot.com/ (I blog every Saturday here)
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GracenMiller
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gracen.miller?ref=profile