The Story Behind The Story: Playing For Keeps

Like FANGS AND FUR, PLAYING FOR KEEPS started thanks to Jamie Hill.

She's the mastermind behind SAWA (Sexy Authors With Attitude) and the reason I met Kayleigh Jamison and heard about Aphrodite's Apples.

Aphrodite's Apples had put out a call for submission on the theme of a Masquerade ball with the Gods/Godesses of Geroc-Roman mythology. Authors were invited to submit their stories, with any diety, set around the premise of the Masquerade.

Jamie Hill, Jude Mason, and I all wrote stories. Mine was called Worshipped (the first of the two stories in PLAYING FOR KEEPS). It was accepted and published in the second volume of Masquerade, along with Jude Mason's story.

I worked on other projects, but as a fan of mythology, I kept coming back to the idea of a sequel to the story. A secondary character, a feisty Goddess, kept demanding that I reveal what happened to her during the Masquerade ball.

So I wrote her a hot MFF work called A Wish and A Threesome and subbed it for a future Masquerade anthology. It was accepted for the fourth volume, but never saw publication. Aphrodite's Apples closed its doors in February of 2008 and my stories were released back to me.

I wasn't about to let them just fade into nothingness, so I reworked the heck out of them both and fit them into my mythos universe that I had since created with FATED TO BE (with Phaze).

I already had plans, and the beginning of other stories for the same universe, so it was a good fit. When I was working on both sets of stories (PLAYING FOR KEEPS and FATED TO BE) I had already woven interlinking themes into the stories, so it wasn't too hard to rework them. Then I crossed my fingers and sent off the email.

Phaze accepted PLAYING FOR KEEPS, and now it has found a new home. The best part, it will be out in just two weeks. Whoohoo!

The Story Behind The Story: Fangs and Fur

FANGS AND FUR actually started out as just the first story - Unnatural Bonds.

Back when SAWA (Sexy Authors With Attitude) was around and Jamie Hill first introduced me to Whiskey Creek Press Torrid, I looked over WCPT's calls for submissions. Two of their calls caught my attention: the one for the Celtic Love Knots series and the one for a duet of anthologies they were putting together - Summer Solstice Scorchers and Samhain Scorchers.

I was looking to give a new pub a try, and expand my writing style a bit, and the call for the anthologies gave me that chance.

WCPT wanted sexy paranormal stories for both anthologies, and I started tossing ideas around. The first thing that came to me was the classic hero to the rescue theme, but I wanted it to be a bit different. I wanted the hero to be stronger, faster, more capable of taking care of himself than a normal man, and I wanted the heroine to be the one to ride to the rescue.

Which is how Unnatural Bonds came to be. Kali, a mere human, had to save the vampire Riordan. So I had an idea for the Summer Solstice Scorchers anthology. All that was left was to write it all out, which I did.

But I also wanted to do a story for the companion anthology, Samhain Scorchers. So I started tossing around more ideas, and when I was working on Unnatural Bonds I had also toyed with the idea of a stronger female, a shifter, and a human male. I wanted the guy to be a bit geekier than the normal hero, less alpha male and more adorable. I wanted the heroine to be small yet fiesty. And her animal soul couldn't be a big bad-ass either. I toyed with ideas, and then I went to the Zoo, where it hit me just what Shaylee turned into. : ) And her and Garrett's story - Laws of Nature - was born.

WCPT accepted both stories, even though the 'themes' of the anthologies were months apart in time, and the stories themselves only had about a day or two difference between them.

After they were accepted, I moved on to other things, but I always felt the story was only half told. I mentioned the 'problem' of the evil scientist being taken care of, but not the means by which it happened. That called for at least one more story. It wound up being two - Bound In Blood - and - Nature of the Beast. During Laws of Nature I mentioned that Shaylee has two unmated brothers, and I couldn't decide which of them I wanted to pair up, so I split up the tasks needed to be wrapped up, and gave them each a mate - two very different types of vampires who match them perfectly.

Since my contract, as most normal contracts do, asked for first look at any follows ups done with the ame characters/universe, and I planned to put all four stories together into one collection anyways, I emailed the publisher at WCPT and asked if they would be willing to look at doing the anthology with all four stories, or if they would only consider fresh material. She emailed back and told me to submit it and she'd take a look.

When I finished the stories and got them all edited and cleaned up I dashed off the email. When I got the acceptance I was thrilled. Finally the full story would be told as it was meant to be - and that story is FANGS AND FUR.

New Review: Parallel Attraction/The Story Behind The Story

Manic Readers has reviewed another of my recent titles. This time it was PARALLEL ATTRACTION - which came out March 10th from Phaze.

Julia C had this to say about Parallel Attraction:

At 28 years old, Anna-Marie Dallas was sure she had a long life ahead of her-until she ended up as a hostage during an armed bank robbery. Things go from bad to much worse when she sees the gunman press the detonator on the bomb he's holding. Imagine her surprise when, instead of death, she's confronted with a gorgeous green-eyed blonde doctor, tending her in a hospital room. Unfortunately, she decides he must be one of the inmates instead of a doctor, when he tells her she was pulled out of the bank explosion into an alternate reality, because she has psychic genes!

In Alex Brent's reality, a third world war decimated the population, and they're trying to rebuild. They are accomplishing that, in part, because they can access Anna-Marie's world, identify likely candidates, and bring them over during disasters - like the bank robbery. Now Anna-Marie must adjust to a new world, a new life - and a new chance for love.

Going into this story, I expected more of a 'science fiction' feel, due to the alternate reality premise. But this is really a fairly straight forward romance, albeit with an unusual setting. Anna-Marie;s transportation to another realm really functions as the means to unite her with Alex, as opposed to playing a major role in the story itself. Still, the concept is interesting and the characters are likeable, and I'm always a sucker for an HEA.

Parallel Attraction has a science fiction / alternate reality background, but it serves mostly as that - background. The action is simple, the story progresses with sureness through the initial threat, and the adjustment to a new reality, to reach a satisfying conclusion. While it doesn't deliver any great surprises, it does provide the reader with an entertaining and enjoyable tale inhabited by warm, likeable people.

http://manicreaders.com/index.cfm?disp=reviews&bookid=153

I am SO glad that the reviewer got this story - and liked it. I do understand that deeper sci fi elements might be expected, but when it comes to things like String Theory (alternate realities) and electrons moving among them, matter existing simultaniously in muliple places, etc I worried that the romance would get lost in the techno-babble. And as my husband says - I can techno-babble with the best of them. LOL So that was a decision I had to make early on - how much of the science of it did I want to add. As a biology major I could add a lot, especially since I am also taking classes in chemistry, physics and earth science. But if I did, would the romance still dominate?

The idea for the book was started by my watching a show on String Theory. I am fascinated by it, and knew it deserved at least one story, if not more. But how was I going to make it so that they needed to pull people across them. I didn't want her to just "wind up there". I wanted it to be deliberate, since I already had an idea for a second story. The idea came to me for that based on a set of stories I had just finished writting not to long before - the stories in Celtic Love Knots volume 8 (from Whiskey Creek Press Torrid). I dealt with Sidhe folklore in them, and with my LOVE of psychic/paranormal stories (and my own Scotch-Irish ancestry), it wasn't a leap to have a gene unique to Scotch-Irish descendants that when activated resulted in psychic abilities.

Then running through scenarios and knowing some about human nature, it wasn't a leap to deduce if psychic abilities existed, there would be those who viewed them as a threat. Thus - war would eventually result. In this case, it needed to be big, so a world war took place. Their population is decimated as a result.

That's where the elements of both the psychic gene (the Sidhe genes) and the alternate realities come together. I didn't go in to detail about how it plays in - but basically a mutation in the gene structure gave them something unique to search for. It was also the same gene that was mutated in them by the medicines they created to eradicate disease wound up awakening psychic talents.

Genetics has always fascinated me. How one slight addition/deletion in a sequence of billions of nucleotide bases can change so much about a person, including resulting in a terminal in-utero situation. How one slight change in which base fits which spot can result in a mutation, and thus an evolution if it is continued on, adding more changes with each generation.

But like I said, I didn't want to go too much in to that, because I understand that not all readers have a love of science and/or an understanding of it. So I kept it light, and focused on the romance.

Knowing that the characters were found to be likable and warm, the story found to reach a satifying conclusion, I'm sure that I made the right choice.

New Review: Enslaving Heaven/The Story Behind The Story

(NOTE: Enslaving Heaven isn't out yet. It releases April 14th)

Enslaving Heaven has it's first review in, and it was done by Manic Readers. Reviewer Ivy had this to say about Enslaving Heaven:

Lyssa is the captain of a mercenary spaceship. Nita is her first officer. Their relationship is complex; but when Lyssa rescues a slave girl, things come to a head.

Michelle Houston writes very well. The action scenes are well done, and don't seem incidental to the plot as in some erotica. There is a plot, and it's not just there to further the sex. The sex is of the BDSM flavor, and all female/female. It's done quite well, and there is just the right amount of sex scenes. My only complaint is that you don't get enough of each character to really relate to them, or figure out how they tick, so to speak. So they come off as a little shallow, Lyssa especially.

http://manicreaders.com/index.cfm?disp=reviews&bookid=156

All in all, I think the review a good one. Understandable too why the reviewer found Lyssa to be a bit shallow - she is. LOL Characters, like people, are varied and some are simply more likable than others. That isn't to say that Lyssa isn't likable. She tries to be tough, but inside she a very vulnerable woman, and she hates it.

Part of her character quirks come from the way the story came to be, and then evolved. It was originally written for a 'calls for submissions' for an anthology on 'tough girls.' The editor was looking for women in charge, women with a 'balls to the wall' attitude who weren't afraid to show it, women who liked dominating the situation, and who in some cases weren't always likable. The original story didn't have the secondary line of the pilot - Nita - and her own exploration. That was originally going to be a second story.

When I subbed it to Phaze, it was accepted on the condition that I lengthened it. I thought about adding Nita's story as a complete second story (like how I do my myths) but then decided to play with it a bit. I wanted to do something slightly different, so I went back and added in alternating characters, and expanded the ending, so that both stories are told at the same time, but could sort of be read alone, although I wouldn't recommend it since you would be missing parts. The odd chapters tell Lyssa's story, the even tell Nita's story.

It was a lot of fun tweaking the story to work that way, and even more fun cutting chapters off right in the heat of some of the moments. : ) I worried that would be a big complaint - and was thrilled to see the reviewer liked the pacing of the sex scenes.

I'm looking forward to seeing what readers/other reviewers think about the story, and how I handled the pacing of it, as well.

The Story Behind The Story: Diggin' Up Bones

I’ve had story ideas come from a variety of sources; conversations, what ifs while reading, some of my lectures in college, etc.

But Diggin’ Up Bones is certainly unique in its evolution.

Last summer (that would be 2006), I moved from Kentucky back home to Missouri. Well, almost home--I grew up in Kansas. Anyways, my husband and I moved first, and our daughter stayed with his parents, since our apartment wouldn’t be ready for another month, and we were staying in a one bedroom (very small) house in the meantime.

No cable, no real internet connection (long distance fees out the wazzo when we did dial in), and no real money to speak of. So we spent a lot of time together, watching movies we had on DVD and VHS, listening to a lot of music, and playing endless hours of computer games.

To give you a better idea of the place, we had so much stuff (since we had an entire moving truck of stuff, for a two bedroom house) in this tiny one bedroom place, we had wall to wall boxes. We had boxes stuffed in the kitchen cabinets, and boxes stacked on the counters in front of them. There was a two foot wide walkway from the front door to the bedroom door.

My computer was set up on a chair at one end of our love seat, and his was set up at the other end. Boxes were behind each computer. We had no table, and no place to sit other than the love seat and the bed.

We stayed there about 45 days.

So to stay sane, and would take walks in the evenings, just to get out of there. On one of our walks, a line came to me. Simple, direct, and spoken in a soft yet frustrated voice.

“Zach Bradford, part time archeologist, full time pain in the ass.”

I didn’t know anything else about him, or about her, than that. He was an archeologist, and she felt him to be a pain in the ass.

I started playing with it from there. If he’s an archeologist, then what does he do? What does he look like? Well, he’s part Native American, so he will specialize in preserving digs of Native American sites.

From there, the idea for the title came to me. I had the title, “Diggin’ Up Bones”, one line from the story, and nothing else. That title however, spun off other ideas. It’s the title of a song, by Randy Travis. While I don’t listen to a lot of country songs, I do enjoy that one. And it got me to thinking about their relationship. He’s a partially Native American archeologist. So he’s doing a dig at her place, but she doesn’t want him there.

Why not? What’s the story there? How do they know each other? What do they mean to each other? These and a few hundred other questions filled my mind during the mile and a half walk.

My husband walked silently beside me, not bothering me, after I told him I had a story idea. And boy did I ever.

When I sat down that evening, the story flowed out of me. I hit just over 5 thousand words (a milestone for me at that time). I was happy with it. I felt the story had been told. A friend of mine edited it, and we had it polished to within an inch of its life, bringing it to about 7 thousand words.

I sent it off to Venus Press, and surprise of all surprises, it was accepted. But then things happened, and I had to pull it before it ever saw an edit there.

So I started looking around, trying to find another home for what was quickly becoming my baby.

Phaze offered that home. But I wanted it to be more than a HeatSheet. I knew it could be. After all, it was my baby, and it deserved its own cover image. (Yes, that was actually a factor in expanding the story). By that time, I had also reread it, and there were some places I felt could be tweaked. I also had another friend look at it and suggest some spots she felt would be better as a longer piece. So I tweaked. I rewrote. I added to. By the time I was done, I had hit 12 thousand words. Just barely. 12,038 I believe was the word count. I had reached another milestone in my writings.

And again, it was accepted. I jumped for joy, and went on to write other things.

Then the edits came. LOL My oh my, I almost died. I admit that freely. I flat out, no holds barred, freaked. I was devastated, and exhilarated. I had a headache and hope at the same time. This was the first time I had written a story of this length, so the consistency issues, the flow of the dialog, the clothing they were wearing, and the emotion behind the words all had a bigger importance.

Through it all, I kept repeating the words of one of my high school English teachers to myself. “The more red ink, the more actual suggestions made, the more the person cared about the story.” It became my mantra.

For the first time, I allowed my husband to read it. (The unedited version I subbed, and the red inked one). He had his own editing suggestions. And over the course of two exhausting days, I took both edits, used what I thought fit, added a bit more here and there - where it was suggested a scene be added, or some info be included - and before I knew it, I was at 14 thousand words.

I kept right on going, polishing the heck out of the story.

It was exhausting, it took over a year from start to finish, and a kick ass story (at least I think so anyways) has resulted.

And now, today, it is available for others to read. I am giddy, and anxious, and nervous as hell. So I hope that you enjoy Diggin’ Up Bones. And that you disagree with Alisa. He might be a part time archeologist, but Zach Bradford is no pain in the ass.

Michelle

The Story Behind The Story ...

The Story Behind The Story: 413 Remembrance Lane

There are a few statements that come out of my mouth that make my friends want to scurry for cover. “I have an idea” is one of them.

Mid last year, I joined a group of writers called the Sexy Authors With Attitude. We had a lot of fun together.

Some of us even decided to start critiquing for each other. Which allowed me the chance to announce to about 4 other people, “So I had this idea for a set of stories.” And everything rolled downhill from there.

They all liked the idea of having a diary in a house, and each owner along the way writing their own entry. But to make it more fun, we decided to have each of the stories have a paranormal aspect to them too.

Then one of the authors dropped out. We invited two others to join us, and the ideas started flying.

We had a vampire and ghosts, a werewolf and a succubus. The Diary demanded a price for its use, something you didn’t know you were giving up until it was done.

As each of the stories were written, we also decided to keep the sexualities of the characters varied.

Then, when it was all written and edited to hell and back, we had to decide where to submit it. Phaze was at the top of our list of three, and we decided to go there, since a few of us were already published there and a couple wanted to be.

So we submitted the anthology, and waited. When we got the good news back, we were ecstatic. We worked together and hammered out the cover image we wanted, we all wrote out short blurbs and some did some extra work to create other promo items.

And now, what stated with words to strike fear into the hearts of my friends, is going to be available in two days. 413 Remembrance Lane: Diary of a House … all stated with the words “I have an idea.”

Yes, when I say those words now, the others know to run for cover. LOL And often do. Several authors have been known to lament that there isn’t enough time to write all their own ideas, let alone the ones they get from me too.

LOL

Michelle Houston