Shelley Munro Blog

I have a new interview up at Sensual. You can read it here.

And in writing news I’m delighted to announce I’ve sold a book to Samhain Publishing. Tea For Two is a hot contemporary set in London and is the story of a Hayley, a woman who reads tea leaves and finds love along the way. I’m really excited about joining the Samhain family. Actually, color me very excited!!

I’ve been reading a lot of m/m lately. I’m not sure why, but I’ve felt in the mood to read this genre. My favorite out of all my recent reads would have to be Josh Lanyon’s Adrien English series. Adrien owns a bookstore specializing in mysteries and has a habit of stumbling over dead bodies. His lover is a cop called Jake who is firmly in the closet and has no intention of coming out - ever. The books are not erotic and there aren’t many love scenes. They concentrate mainly on the solving the mystery and the relationship between the two. I’ve fallen in love with Adrien. Actually, I like Jake too. This is a seriously good series, and quite frankly, Josh needs to write faster because I’ve just about read all his books now. I highly recommend Josh’s books.

I’ve received another wonderful review for Fancy Free. Fallen Angel Reviews has given Fancy Free 5 Angels and a Recommended Read award. Color me excited!

Rachel C said, “Ms. Munro gives us hot sex scenes that have your blood heating and your palms sweating. But that’s not all you get with Fancy Free, you also get laughter, emotion and suspense. Ms. Munro has you guessing the whole time, and with the curiosity of what might happen next riding you, you can’t help but turn the pages until you reach the end. This is the second book by Ms. Munro I’ve read and it certainly won’t be the last. Fancy Free offers everything—steamy sex, at times slap stick laughter, nail biting suspense and of course let’s not forget the cast of supporting characters; they alone are worth the price on the cover. Don’t miss this great read.”

Read the full review here. Thanks so much for the great review, Rachel.

I’m still busy working on two Middlemarch stories. I’ve hit 32,000 words for one story and I’m working on final edits for the other story. All going well another Middlemarch story should travel the cyber highway to my editor’s inbox soon.

James Belshaw, 26, and his girlfriend Sophia Severin, 23, from London, shared an unbroken kiss for 31 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds. They began kissing in the Plaza Shopping Centre in Oxford Street at 11:15 BST on Wednesday. The pair broke the previous record, which was set in the US four years ago, by more than half an hour. Throughout the event they were not allowed to sit, or fall asleep, could only take sustenance through a straw and had to stay kissing even while visiting the toilet.

Now that sounds a little extreme. I like kisses. I like reading about them and writing them, although I’m not sure about 31 plus hours of kissing. It makes my lips hurt thinking about it, but I thought we could share a few virtual kisses today.

Writers: post your excerpts up to 500 words maximum showing a kiss from your published book or work-in-progress. If it’s a naughty kiss with lots of explict language please post a WARNING at the top of your comment. Excerpts from m/m books are okay, but once again, post a warning at the top of your excerpt. If your book is published also leave us a buy link so we can explore further.

Readers and Writers: Tell me what you like to see in a kiss. If you have any kiss trivia you’d like to add, tell us about it. I’m giving away several spot prizes of downloads from my New Concepts books. All you need to do is post a comment and you’re in the draw. I’ll announce the winners on Sunday. If you like a kiss excerpt, tell the author. We love praise!

Kiss Quotes

It was brief, swift, and then it was done. It was a professional job. I needed to be kissed, and I was kissed. ~Actress Uma Thurman

This girl said “Yes” when I wasn’t ready. I kissed her lightly and got so dizzy I had to sit down. ~Actor Antonio Banderas

The first kiss I had was the most disgusting thing in my life. The girl injected about a pound of saliva, into my mouth, and when I walked away I had to spit it all out. ~Leonardo DiCaprio

If you kiss on the first date and it’s not right, then there will be no second date. Sometimes it’s better to hold out and not kiss for a long time. I am a strong believer in kissing being very intimate, and the minute you kiss, the floodgates open for everything else.
~Jennifer Lopez

A kiss can be a comma, a question mark or an exclamation point. That’s basic spelling that every woman ought to know. ~Mistinguett (Jeanne Bourgeois), Theatre Arts, December 1955

People who throw kisses are mighty hopelessly lazy. ~Bob Hope

Kissing is like drinking salted water. You drink, and your thirst increases. ~ Chinese Proverb

I’ll leave you with a kiss from my latest release, Wanderlust.

Sebastian moved closer, stopping when we almost touched, his expression cloaked in shadows. “Is that it? Don’t I get a kiss good night?”

“I—” His lips came down on mine, interrupting my train of thought about mixing business and pleasure. He nibbled my bottom lip, nipping and soothing the sexy bite with his tongue. When I gasped, he took advantage, pushing his tongue inside. Our tongues moved together in a sensual dance. Our breath mingled. It was as if we’d never parted. Sebastian drew me closer, fitting our bodies together. My breasts squashed against his muscled chest, increasing the throb of excitement that pounded me. It had been so long. It would be so easy to open the door to my cabin and let him inside. Apart from the fact that Elizabeth would arrive back at some stage and it was against hotel rules.

My mind hazed with pleasure, moisture starting to form between my thighs. Temptation slithered through my veins, and it was with deep regret that I pulled back from the kiss. “Good night, Sebastian.”

He smoothed his palm across my cheek. The tender gesture brought renewed desire and the siren lure of lust and temptation. So enticing just to step into his arms, hold on and never let go.

“Good night, sweetheart. Happy birthday.” He smiled before turning away and walking off into the darkness.

One of my standout reads for this year has been Lori Armstrong’s Julie Collins series. I finished the third book in the series during the weekend and immediately emailed Lori, attempting to bribe her in exchange for an ARC of the next book. I’m desperate to know what comes next! Sigh - I failed. Evidently others have tried bribes with little success as well.

This is a mystery series with a romance subplot. Julie is a chain smoker, she drinks, and she brings a lot of baggage to the first story. Julie has a screwed up relationship with her father and her brother was murdered, which colors her actions. She’s a tough chick with a smart mouth, and I loved her straight away. And Martinez, her love interest - let’s just say, I want him and leave it at that.

The books are Blood Ties, Hallowed Ground, Shallow Grave and Snow Blind (out in October). They are best read in order.

If you haven’t read Lori’s books before and enjoy mysteries, run and grab a copy. You won’t regret it. As I said - the first three books in this series are among my favorite reads to date this year.

I’ve also just finished reading Drui Claiming by Jory Strong. This is part of Jory’s Supernatural Bonds series and I’ve enjoyed all four books. The last two books in the series Drui Claiming and Sophie’s Dragon take place during the same time frame. Gotta love those dragons!

What have your standout reads been so far this year?

Today I’m guest blogging over at the Romance Studio. Come on over and say hello!

When my husband and I traveled through India, we went with a group. Much like the characters in my new release Wanderlust, we traveled in a truck, both camping and staying in hotels during our circuit of India. At the beginning of the trip we decided we’d play a game that’s all about murder. Here’s how it works:

Everyone receives a slip of paper, one of which bears the word “murderer”. Once the murderer is picked he or she quietly tells one member of the group they are murdered and how they must die. That particular person must pretend to die in the chosen manner and then he or she is out of the game. The murderer chooses his next victim and waits for them to die before choosing another. The object of the game is for the person acting as the murderer to kill off everyone before someone in the group discovers his “or” her identity.

One person acts as the judge. All players can take one guess at the murderer’s identity. If they make an incorrect guess, they are out of the game.

Here’s a little real life drama from when we played the murder game during our trip to India. My husband was in charge of lighting campfires each night, and the murderer suggested he died very realistically with fire. He scared me half to death. I was so angry and upset I refused to play the game any longer. I also didn’t talk to my husband for a few hours. Mr. Munro won the prize for the best death, and we still have his small plastic Oscar trophy. It’s bright orange – for those who’d like to picture it.

In Wanderlust, the passengers play the murder game. Anna, the tour leader isn’t very amused with her passengers when they pretend to die. And when her passengers start dying for real, she’s not impressed with the game at all!

I’m guest blogging over at Jenyfer Matthew’s blog today. The excerpt over at Jenyfer’s site shows the first death in the murder game. Everyone who comments on Jenyfer’s blog goes into a draw to win a download of Playing to Win. What are you waiting for - hop over and say hello.

Ever since my aspiring author days, I’ve stuck to the idea of having several submissions out at once to help cushion disappointment. If I have several projects with editors or agents and one comes back with a no, I have hope in the mail because some of my other subs are still live.

After selling my first book I’ve continued with my “hope in the mail” program, and mostly it works. But there’s one strange phenomenon I’ve noticed. The replies tend to come back in clusters, no matter when I first sent them out. A case in point. I sent one sub in mid-Dec, one in Jan and one in Feb. The answers have all arrived back in the space of a week with two coming on the same day. I still have two live submissions and quite frankly, I’m a bit worried about opening my email in the morning.

I received a couple of rejections and I’ve already moved on to Plan B for those. I’ve also have some good news to balance out the rejections. (I’m not telling yet) I don’t think I’ll change my “hope in the mail” routine, but I’d definitely like the replies to arrive farther apart. I need time to savor the hope!!

I’m a huge paranormal fan. I like both dark paranormals and the more light-hearted ones. My own writing tends toward the light-hearted with humor end, although I can write darker if I set my mind to it. I wish there were more of the light-hearted ones around. I’ve just read Howling at the Moon (tales of an urban werewolf) by Karen Macinerney. I really loved it and chuckled out loud quite a bit during the reading of the book. Unfortunately I need to wait until Nov 2008 for book two.

I know there are quite a few paranormal fans out there. Do you prefer reading the darker paranormals or are you, like me, a fan of the light-hearted ones? Actually, I like humorous contemporaries as well. I wish there were more of those around, too.

An excerpt from Anna Tietjen’s travel journal. Anna is the tour leader of OE68, a Wanderlust Adventures overland trip from London to Kathmandu.

~*~
Felixstow, England.
There are eleven passengers on the tour, and for a change the male/female split is about even. The ages range from 19 - 32 and there’s a mix of Australian, New Zealand and British passengers with one lone American. Like most trips, all the passengers seem pretty subdued at the moment, feeling their way with people who will become close friends or possibliy enemies for the next four months.

After checking off names, Greg and I loaded the luggage in the back locker and the passengers piled on board Alice (our truck). Home for the next few months. It should be a good trip. I’ve driven the route from London to Kathmandu a couple of times before. This is my second trip as leader. Greg, my co-driver is great to work with and thankfully, he doesn’t spend time trying to talk me into sex. Not gonna happen. Ever. It’s a personal rule. I don’t sleep with my co-driver or the passengers, although I might share a room to keep costs down. This is work. My personal life (Sebastian) is separate and that’s the way I like it.

Once we were on board the ferry, we left the truck and headed up to the passenger deck. I had a quick word with the passengers, trying to connect faces with names, and arranged a meeting point for them in the morning. That done, Greg and I went to the bar for a quick drink before finding our cabin. The passengers were on their own…

Wanderlust by Shelley Munro, coming to Cerridwen Press on 17 April 2008. Read an excerpt here.

I was really thrilled to receive a recommended read for Fancy Free from Joyfully Reviewed. Jambrea said, “Fancy Free has it all: laughter, fear, heartbreak, and steamy hot sex. Ms. Munro wrote a wonderful story and that is why I am Joyfully Recommending Fancy Free.” Here’s the rest of the review here.

Coming to Cerridwen Press on 17 April 2008.

Woohoo! Fancy Free is out today. I’m having a dreadful time posting anything on the internet tonight, so hopefully this post will work.

I’m a guest over at Danette’s blog today and I’m giving away a download from my backlist. Here’s the link.

Warning: Condoms were tested and a few harmed during the writing of this story.

It’s not every day a girl inherits a condom company, and to say accountant Alice Beasley is astonished and out of her depth is putting it mildly. For an almost virgin, she needs a quick education in all things condom because her inheritance is in danger. Someone is intent on sabotage and playing nasty, trying to destroy her new company.

Alice is suddenly getting down and dirty with charismatic James, the factory manager, all in the name of business, testing new condom designs. The sex is hot. Mind-blowing. It’s a dark thrill and an erotic journey. Yeah, it’s a hard job, but a girl’s got to do what a girl’s gotta do.

The testing turns personal. Alice wants James. She craves his talented touch and sultry kisses, she desires passion and physical pleasure on a permanent basis but first she must convince bad-boy James to give up his fancy-free ways…

Buy your copy here.

EXCERPT:

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