To celebrate the release of Sweet in Love, I'm doing a big giveaway with sixteen romance authors. Please come join the fun. :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Lynette interviewed yours truly and is hosting a giveaway of A Happily Ever After of Her Own. Go check it out! :)

Kiss of the Rose giveaway winners are:

• Lexus (from newsletter subscribers)
• @Leontine1976 (from Twitter entries)

Lexus — you should have an email from me in your inbox. @Leontine1976 should've received an @ reply from me.

Thanks, ladies!

P.S. I used random.org to select the winners.

Today I have a special guest. Please welcome Teresa D'Amario. :) Her paranormal romance Lone Wolf is out in ebook now!

Hi everyone, and thanks for dropping in on Day 2 of Ted's Story. I guess one of my questions today will have to be about a title, cause Ted's Story so does not work for me. :D Anyway, for those who haven't been following, rather than blog about all my childhood secrets, I thought I'd write a little story, but to write it, I'll need your input. :) Chapter 1 of “Ted's Story” can be found at my blog calendar.

So without further ado, I'll introduce you to chapter two of the story and be ready to help guide me in the next step!

*** *** ***

Ted stared for long seconds, feeling her voice as it trickled down his spine like a thousand delicate fingers, caressing and teasing every part of him.

Then, as though she felt him watching, the woman turned to meet his gaze. Bright blue eyes stared back at him. Crisp, like on a cold winter's day, brighter than the afternoon summer sky, they drew him in, piercing him through to his soul. For that single instant in time, he wondered if she could read everything about him. He shrugged, then stepped forward. It was time someone helped this woman, no matter what she looked like, or what secrets it felt those eyes held.

“Sorry for the delay,” he ground out, surprised at the roughness of his voice. He stepped up to the counter and pulled out a citizen complaint form, spinning it to face her and pulled out a pen. “What can I do for you?”

The woman frowned, her mouth tense. “I need to report a missing person.” Her eyes trailed over him, then she stepped back, her face grimacing in distaste. Ted fought the urge to frown in return. Hell, he'd had women not be interested before, usually because they found him intimidating, but none had such a strong reaction as to step away from him.

“Who's missing?”

He scanned her, his gaze trailing over those delicious feminine curves, her hips and breasts just right for a man with large hands, not to big, and not too small. He fought the urge to smile. He'd bet they were nice and soft, too. Just the way he liked his women.

She cleared her throat and he looked up to meet those icy blue eyes.

“Are you finished?” she demanded.

Ted fought the urge to growl the rumble of anger rising in his throat. It was a shame her personality didn't match the rest of her.

“I asked, who's missing?” he said, fighting for that last vestige of southern charm he knew he had tucked in his head somewhere. He tried to offer her his best concerned look. It didn't work. She was busy digging into her purse and didn't even look up.

“My brother.”

At least it wasn't a boyfriend or husband. Now why would he care about that? But he couldn't help himself. He glanced at her finger to confirm it was bare. It was. Ignoring the unusual rush of…. something… in his gut, he jotted down a few notes.

“And when was the last time you saw him, Mrs. —”

“Miss. Sasha Corwin.”

“Well, Miss Sasha Corwin,” he rolled the name over his tongue, “when was the last time you saw your brother?”

“More than twenty years ago.” She finally found what she searched for in her purse, and pulled out a small photograph.

“And you are just now reporting him missing?”

“No, Barney Fife. I didn't say he'd been missing twenty years. You asked how long since I'd seen him, and that's more than twenty years. He's been missing three or four months.”

Ted ignored the derogatory reference. It came with the territory. That territory being a small North Carolina town not far from the Andy Griffith memorial statue in Raleigh. “All right,” he said, through clenched teeth. “So he's been busing three or four months and you are just now reporting it.”

“I didn't know,” she said, her tone filled with exasperation. He wanted to shake this beautiful woman until her teeth rattled. Or kiss her until she quit staring at him like some back woods hick police officer.

He snatched the photo from her fingers, flipping it around to see a skinny boy about six years old. He stood in the woods, petting a dog. He narrowed his eyes and looked closer. No, that was a wolf. “I take it this is him?”

She nodded. “Yes. We had different mothers, so we lived in different cities. While I haven't had contact with him since just after that was taken, everyone always kept me updated on how and where he was. About three months ago, the reports stopped. When I checked with his family, it turned out they hadn't heard from him for some time. The last they heard he was about to end his time in the service and come home. It never happened.”

“And do you have a name for this man?”

“Connell. Damon Connell.”

Ken arched a brow in surprise. He knew a Damon Connell. The guy with the memory problem his partner married. “And you say it's been several months? Do you have any information about where he lived? Have you been to his home?”

“Of course I have,” she scoffed. “It's been cleaned out. All of his stuff is gone. No forwarding address was left with the landlord.”

“I see.” He handed her the picture back. He couldn't tell her he knew where Connell was, until he was sure the man he knew was the right one. He slid the complaint form closer to her and handed her a pen. “Write what you know here. Include any points of contact of who may have seen him last. While you're at it, put the make and model of his vehicle, his age, and a description if you can.” He waved toward the picture she still held. “Something a bit more recent than that.”

Wow, that's a lot, isn't it? Let me give you a little background on the characters just so you know.

Ted is not human. He's not a shifter, but he's not human. Sasha is a shifter (Wolf) who's in from out of state. The next chapter will be in HER POV. As you can tell, she is not from the same pack as her brother, and hasn't seen him since childhood. Her pack is in the hills of Tennessee.

*** *** ***

So, here's your questions:

1. What IS Ted, if he's not human? (And yes, he can go out in the daytime, so whatever we choose, we have to work around that).
2. What suggestions do you have for a working title, so far? Ted's Story just doesn't work.
3. After taking her statement, Ted will escort her to her car. A man will approach. One from Sasha's pack. Who is he to her, and what does Ted think of him?
4. I haven't described Ted yet, because we have been in his point of view. What do you think Ted looks like? Give stats ladies!!!

Now for prizes:

• Grand Prize: A $50 gift card at the online bookstore of your choice.
• Unadvertised prizes will be given on random days. You won’t know when, but I’ll choose them and post on the blog in question once you have won!

There are two ways to enter:

1. Leave a response on each blog I'm visiting — one entry for every blog you comment on during my blog tour. Multiple comments a day do not get you additional entries for the small giveaway, but will for the larger one.
2. Email me at desertpetiri@aol.com with a copy of the receipt for the purchase of any Teresa D'Amario book, so long as it was purchased after 15 December. Older receipts do not count, though I'd love to know you've read one of the books. Five entries for every receipt. If you prefer not to share receipts, simply email me and so long as I'm satisfied, I will provide you with the credits.

So follow along, ladies and gentlemen, to help me write a short story, and to enter for the prizes!

Again, the entire blog schedule is found on my blog in the calendar, which will include links to each blog participating!

The next stop on the blog tour is with Smexy Books on Monday, so don't miss it!

Hey gang,

I'm up (under my pen name, Angelle Trieste)! Please check it out, esp. if you are interested in how I celebrate the holidays! (Remember, my father is Korean, I'm American, and Hero Material and I live in Japan.)

All you have to do is comment and answer a scavenger question. (Which is very very easy!)

http://editortera.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/kindle-contest-day-7-angelle-trieste/

Good luck!

I just wanted to remind you of two events:

1. It's still not too late to sign up for my newsletter and read the free paranormal romance novella serial A Happily Ever After of Her Own. You can sign up here or you can use the form below. There are only two chapters left to go!

2. Fellow Samhain writers and I are hosting a Kindle contest, with our editor coordinating the effort. (FYI – I write contemporary romance under another name, Angelle Trieste.)

Prize? A Kindle (duh *wink*) preloaded with books from participating authors.

The contest is open to anyone anywhere in the world. So even if you're not in the States, come on and join us!

Here's the official statement on the contest website:

I wanted to make it convenient for people and make it easier for people to participate, soooo…. we will not be doing the contest on Saturdays and Sundays, and we will not being doing the contest on Thanksgiving (US), or Black Friday (the day after US Thanksgiving). Monday through Fridays only. :) I think not doing it on the weekends is a given this time of year…we all have a lot of holiday things going on, like parties and shopping. Woo hoo!

Now, remember, in order to participate, you'll have to post a relevant comment (No, ‘Hi! That's great.', etc.), and you'll have to answer the scavenger hunt question. Do not post your answer in the comments! There will be a link to a form to answer the scavenger hunt question and to give me your name and address. After all, I'll need to know where to ship the preloaded Kindle, right? Posting you answer in the comments will cause the comment to be deleted and the commenter to be disqualified. Not just from that day, but from the entire contest. So, yeah, you don't want to do that. :)

So here's the schedule for the rest of the contest:

November 23 :: Kelly Jamieson
November 24 :: Angelle Trieste (me!)
November 25 :: Dawn Brown
November 30 :: J.K. Coi
December 1 :: Cheryel Hutton
December 2 :: Rita Oberlies
December 3 :: Kate Johnson
December 4 :: Leah Braemel
December 7 :: Deidre Knight
December 8 :: Cooper Davis
December 9 :: Kimberly Nee
December 10 :: Joely Sue Burkhart
December 11 :: T.A. Chase
December 14 :: Samantha Sommersby

You only need to answer one scavenger question to enter, but the more you answer, the more chances you get. So don't be shy! Participate for your chance to win a Kindle! The website is editortera.wordpress.com.

Good luck!