Romance

An excerpt from Second of All (Downey #2) #ASMSG |

I posted this pic yesterday on Facebook. I’m super obsessed with it, it’s so very romantic and so VERY Mickey & Mary. I stumbled across it on a random Google search (it appears to be from http://www.daveandcharlotte.com/ Lifestyle Photographers). It makes me all kinds of #leSigh and reminds me of this scene…

[WARNING! Spoilers for those who haven’t finished First, I Love You]

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Oh, the sweet, painful pleasure of anticipation!

Mary closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the foggy cool glass of the greenhouse. As she let out a weary breath she felt strong arms enclose around her and the comforting scratch of a beard against her neck seconds before warm lips pressed onto her collar bone. She leaned back against him and felt both comfort and bittersweet pain.

“Ohhh, I see,” Mary whispered. “This was all part of the dream. I wanted it to be that we would find you and I dreamed this. Finding the room, Kiki finding the answer, finding a way you could come to me… but I should have known…”

“Should have known what?” Michael’s gravelly voice purred in her ear and his whiskers tickled a shiver from her.

Mary tried to turn and look at him but his arms tightened around her.

“On the other hand… could it really be that simple?” she whispered again.

She could feel him chuckling.

“Mary girl, life is as simple as we let it be.”

Her eyes filled with tears. She wished with one part of her soul this weren’t real and with the other that it was, but wasn’t it just another goodbye either way?

“I don’t think I can do it,” Mary said, leaning her head into his. “I think you were right. You were right back in April and in the letter. I can’t leave them, if that’s why you’re back, to take me away with you now that you’ve got that money. I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry.”

“Did I ask that, Mary?” Michael asked, still chuckling. Mary frowned. That wasn’t the response she would have thought even a dream Michael would give. She tried again to turn around.

“Why won’t you let me turn around?”

“Safer that way. I have to go and have a chat with our son. When the Fed gets back, you can’t give a description.”

“I would lie.”

“And I’m done asking you to.”

Mary frowned some more.

“But you’ll ask Tommy to?”

“No.”

“But—”

Michael’s teeth lightly nipped her neck and she gasped. His hands dipped then moved up the length of her in a sort of reverse hug and caress.

“All in good time, Mary. Close your eyes,” Michael whispered in her ear.

Mary could feel him come around her while not breaking his embrace, then his lips were on hers and she sank into the contradictory sinful heaven of his kiss…

~~~~~

Pull up a seat and I’ll tell you a story about a one-of-a-kind mobster… #ASMSG |

A few weeks back I read from Chapter Eight of First, I Love You–which is when James & Kiki first meet at her 21st birthday party in the Trump Tower, downtown Chicago. I know only a handful of you have had a chance to see it but those of you who have gave me the warm and gushies with your enthusiasm and praise. You know you only encourage me to do more when you do that, right? So, yeah, I did another for Second of All.

I didn’t open it to vote, I just picked a flashback because I didn’t want to spoil anything for those of you who haven’t finished First, I Love You AND because the Godfather II-esque flashbacks into Mickey Downey’s life are an integral part of Second of All. This reading is from Chapter Thirteen, “Ten Years Ago” and takes place in Omaha.

You can watch the video here, on my YouTube Channel or on my Goodreads Page

Third Time’s The Charm (Downey #3)

Did you know that you can read the entire prologue to Third Time’s The Charm right here on my website? Yep! Right there in the static page tabs above. I’ve included it as a link here for those of you I know like to stay unspoiled!

Third Time’s The Charm.

Expected release date sometime in October.

(Fingers and toes crossed.)

In other news, I will be on Jack and Dave’s morning Radio show this Thursday the 18th around 8:40am CST on KLIN 1400/ 94.5 FM out of Lincoln, NE. You can find them online here: http://www.klin.com/pages/7699995.php and you can listen online to KLIN here: http://player.streamtheworld.com/liveplayer.php?callsign=KLINAM#Main

I visit Paloma Beck’s blog to talk about a Dom&Kate novel! #ASMSG Come chat!

Genevieve visits #RomanceBeckons to talk about POV #QuestionOfTheWeek (via Romance Beckons)

Welcome Genevieve Dewey to Romance Beckons. Genevieve Dewey is the author of The Downey Trilogy (First, I Love You & Second of All) and the short stories Bird Day Battalion & V-Day Aversion. She is a wife, mother, sister, friend and Anthropologist.…

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“blurred lines.” poetry challenge by @missb1331 #ASMSG |

Please check out all the amazing poetry in Beth Ronan’s compilation

blurred lines.!

I was really humbled she asked if I’d like to contribute one, I’m not much of a poet, so I’m chalking it up to she is just an amazing person! I already *know* she’s an amazing poet.

An EXCERPT from The V-Day Aversion #ASMSG #BYNR |

Have you read my FREE short romance The Bird Day Battalion?

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Did you know there’s MORE Dom & Kate in The V-Day Aversion

short romance for only $.99?

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Here is an excerpt from The V-Day Aversion to give you a taste:

Everything was always on his terms and his turf. He had just assumed she would move in with him without even discussing it with her. She ignored the little Kandy-sounding voice in her head that said, ‘duh because you’ve been avoiding him‘ and told herself it was perfectly natural to want to put off an unpleasant confrontation with the man she loved. She was still endlessly repeating this in her head (and almost had herself convinced it was true) when she pulled in to her driveway.

“Just because he’s used to having it his way in every other aspect of his life doesn’t mean he can push me into this decision,” Katelyn mumbled to herself as she fished her house keys out from her purse.

“That’s cute, two and a half decades of knowing each other and I never noticed you talk to yourself,” a voice said from the corner of her front porch.

Katelyn dropped her keys and jumped.

“Dominic!” she clutched the front of her sweater. “You scared the piss out of me!”

She glared at him then narrowed her eyes even more at the sight of him looking perfect and dashing as always. How did he do that? That combination of dangerous, disheveled and delicious. She knew for a fact he just got up in the morning, took a shower, sprayed some man-stink on and that was that. She had to spend an hour getting ready and still her hair always frizzed out and looked like she had done nothing to it.

“Not my problem you’re so unobservant you didn’t notice the guy sitting on your front porch.” He waggled his eyebrows and got up from the porch swing. She turned around and picked up her keys to unlock the door.

“First, you leave me hanging last night for supper—”

“We never had formal plans and something came up and—”

“Then you don’t even throw me a bone and come over after the game—” Dom continued.

“Oh, please, you only invited me over so I could help you clean up after my brother and brother-in-law—”

“Now you stand me up for lunch—”

“I told you I honestly lost track of time,” she said and turned back around. He was lounging against the railing on the porch by the steps with his hands in his pockets. She sighed. He was like sin in a man-shaped package. And her sister wondered why she was avoiding him? A nun would have no willpower around Dominic Valentini in full flirt mode.

“And I haven’t gotten any nookie since practically New Years…” Dom continued in a soft purr.

“Oh, what a load of bull! It was last week, ok, maybe the week before that, but I had my period and that totally doesn’t count—”

“I got blue balls, babe, it’s not pretty. Maybe you could put on that sexy nurse outfit you wore on Halloween and tend to my—”

“Oh, for God’s sake, Dominic! And who says nookie any more, I mean, really?” Katelyn spit out and crossed her arms, but she couldn’t help laughing a bit. He had always been able to get her out of a bad mood even when they had just been friends. Now that they were dating, he had even more ways to poke a laugh out of her. Why am I avoiding him again? She wondered. Oh, yeah, the house. She frowned at him. He stopped lounging against the railing and sauntered over to her, all the while grinning and clearly unfazed by her menacing look.

Oh man, not on the front porch, Katelyn thought as she recognized the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. She backed up until she hit the door, fumbling behind her for the handle. Mrs. Dickerson was going to have a field day with this, her panicked mind continued a beat before he squished her against the door. It seems like he’s always squishing me against something, she thought in irritation. Then Kandy’s voice in her head mocked, probably because he knows you secretly love it.

“I’m starting to think you’re avoiding me, Skate,” Dom whispered against her lips.

He had one hand flat against the door above her head and the other against the door next to her waist. The entirety of him was pressing against her. The entirety of her was now gooey and fuzzy headed.

“Are you avoiding me, babe?” Dominic asked while trailing his lips, without actually kissing her, along the edge of her jaw.

“Ahhhh… ummm… Why… um, whhhhy would I be avoiding you?” she managed to get out feebly as his lips moved to her neck and his hips ground against hers. “Dom-Dominic… there’s… there’s people out here!” She squeaked out the last word as his tongue licked the lobe of her ear just the way she liked it.

Dom’s head lifted and he raised his eyebrows. His hand above her head lifted from the door and looped behind her, scooping her flush up against him as he stepped back. His other hand turned the door knob, opened the door, and twirled her out of the way of it opening – all in one swift move.

“Exactly why we should take this inside,” Dom said with a grin. “Great idea, Skate.”

Then he let go of her abruptly and walked right into her home like he owned it.

PS–In case you hadn’t heard, there will be a full length Dom & Kate novel coming this winter!

Thank you for being the best fans ever!

Pull up a seat and I’ll tell you a story about a Mob Princess and a DEA Agent… #ASMSG |

Ok, so a few weeks back I asked you if you’d like me to read from one of my books, and of those who voted, a majority picked First, I Love You. Since most of you didn’t have a preference for the scene I went by the one most often mentioned to me, which is when James & Kiki first meet at her 21st birthday party in the Trump Tower, downtown Chicago.

If you’ve read the book you known that each chapter is told from a different point of view from each of the six main characters. This is an excerpt from Chapter Eight, DEA Agent James Hoffman’s POV.

PS–This is my first attempt at making a video and the quality isn’t the best, but hopefully I will get the hang of it and do better next time. 🙂

You can watch the video here, on my YouTube Channel or on my Goodreads Page

An EXCERPT from Bird Day Battalion #ASMSG #BYNR |

Have you read my FREE short romance The Bird Day Battalion?

Here is a short excerpt to give you a taste:

“But… we’re nothing alike. It’s one thing for two people to be friends, friends who are almost like family, and be so very different, but if we dated, I’m pretty sure we’d drive each other crazy,” Katelyn replied, more to remind herself than anything, and still not daring to look at him. “Maybe it’s more about the ‘what if’, the fantasy or forbidden nature of it. Maybe what you’re feeling is just… curiosity.”

“Or maybe I’m just damned attracted to you and have been since puberty.”

“Or maybe—” She cut off as he reached forward and abruptly turned off the water, yanked the dish she had rinsed at least a dozen times over out of her hands, and cupped her face with sudsy hands.

“Or maybe I’m crazy about you. I tried to tell myself all those things over the years, that it was just because you’re my oldest friend, you’re an attractive woman and I’m a free agent, but it’s not. You’re absolutely right, you and I couldn’t be more different. You make lists for your lists, and I can’t stand following the rules. You get up and run every morning and I’m a night owl. You like working from home, I have to see at least three people by noon. But I like that about you. I like that I know all that about you. And I like that we’re opposites. Yin and yang…”

Katelyn’s mouth had dropped open in rapt fascination at his words and the warm tickle of the soap suds trailing down her cheeks and neck. Dominic took the last remaining step between them and dipped his head. Panic took over and she stepped back, pulling his hands from her face. He seemed undeterred and merely took another step forward.

“Sonny and Cher…”

She let out a nervous ‘tuh’ and rolled her eyes as she stepped back again.

“The first allusion was better,” she managed to get out feebly and put her hand up as he stepped forward again. She tried to step back again but her back hit the wall of the kitchen. His lascivious grin returned.

“My – my brother and dad are in the other—”

“Ted Turner and Jane Fonda…” he interrupted.

“Stop it,” she said but couldn’t help chuckling a little at his tenacity. His face was now centimeters from her own, his eyes twinkling with markedly sexual mischief and she was definitely having trouble breathing normally.

“Hatfield and McCoy…” he whispered against her lips sending a shudder through her entire body. She struggled futilely to hold on to the last threads of logical resistance.

“Technically, they were very similar culturally speaking as is the case a lot with these feuding fam—” she cut off as his mouth finally met hers.

Her heart drummed wildly and she imagined those little angel and devil cartoons popping up on her shoulders, saying, respectively, ‘stop it, this is Dominic, your oldest friend’ and ‘go for it, take a chance for once in your vanilla life’. Then he curved an arm behind her back and brought her forward from the wall, deepening his kiss. Both the little angel and little devil sighed in delight – or maybe that was her – who could tell? More to the point, who cared? His lips and tongue were currently rendering her brain into utter mush capable of only one clear thought:

Dominic Valentini was a seriously good kisser.

Like, could cause a Nun to lose her religion seriously good.

She didn’t remember him being this good in 7th grade. Of course that was ages ago and naturally they were older and more experienced and…

“Stop thinking,” he whispered against her lips.

Then his tongue was in her mouth again and his left hand tugged at her blouse until he could snake his fingers underneath and send a tickling, teasing trail up her side. She moved her hands from where they had perched against his shoulders up to his hair and gripped his head, deepening her participation in the kiss. He groaned in response and moved both of his hands under her shirt, both gripping and exploring her at the same time. His lips finally left hers and began a rough suckling trail down her neck as his hands found her breasts. She buckled into him, one hand tightly gripping his head in encouragement the other moving down to his ass and pressing him against her pelvis as her leg hooked up and around his thigh. She could feel his body’s growing eagerness against her belly and he growled deeply, captured her mouth again, and pressed her completely against the wall in a crushing full body kiss. The thunk of her head and the vibration of his guttural noises temporarily cleared her thoughts and made her remember they were not alone in the house. She quickly pushed him away. He stumbled back, hair mussed, lips wet, eyes foggy and frustrated with passion.

Bird Day is available at these Official Retailers for FREE:

And don’t worry, there’s MORE Dom & Kate in The V-Day Aversion short romance for only $.99!!!

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For my rabid Dom & Kate shippers (oh, how I love you!) the third dose of Anderson-Valentini shenanigans will be in NOVEL form.

>>> HUZZAH! <<<

(And THANK YOU for your amazing support!)

HER PRINCE (A Mary & Mickey Flashback)

HER PRINCE (A Mary & Mickey Flashback).

(A Flash-fiction featuring Mickey Downey, Mary Gates, and Claire Anderson Underwood from The Downey Series)

Author’s note: I wrote this flash fiction set in the late 80′s. Louboutin aficionados will know that a New Yorker couldn’t buy them before 1991.

Ah well, I hope you’ll ‘go with it’ anyway.

HER PRINCE

by Genevieve Dewey

Mary set the shoes back in the light brown box and started to place the lid on, but at the last second, set the lid back on the bed. Again.

Just one more time won’t hurt. Then I’ll give them back, she thought. Her stomach twirled from equal parts guilt and pleasure.

She pulled one pump back out of the little bag in the box and traced the high arc on the red bottom, breathing in that fabulous new shoe scent. She closed her eyes and replayed the look on Michael’s face when he had given them to her like one of those old film strips stuck on loop. He had such amazing eyes. She had never seen such a vibrant shade of green and they left little to the imagination of his thoughts. He’d said he wanted their third date to be extra special and he was going to take her someplace fancy. Or, at least, that’s what she thought he had said since she was too distracted at the time by his hands under her sweater. His warm, strong, rough, yet strangely gentle hands. She had never been particularly intelligent—nor stupid, either—but she could swear on a stack of Bibles she lost at least twenty IQ points around this man. But now that some of the haze had worn off, it did seem a little… unusual for a gift. He claimed the shoes were castoffs from a client’s wife but they had clearly never been worn, the box, too, was impeccable, and they were exactly her size. They were, hands down, the mostly sinfully extravagant thing she had ever worn, much less been gifted with. And that was, of course, why she had to give them back tonight.

But not just yet, her mind whispered and she opened her eyes with a long sigh.

Mary slipped the shoes on and stood awkwardly in them, grinning like a fool at herself in the full length mirror. She could almost imagine herself on a stage in a fabulous gown singing encore after encore. And there Michael would be, smiling and cheering the loudest… Her right ankle started to wobble and she quickly sat back down on the bed. She wore heels all the time but nothing quite this high or delicately made. She slowly slipped them off again.

Nope, she thought, put them away and quit daydreaming poppycock and nonsense.

The phone ringing in her tiny apartment startled her and she dropped the shoe she was holding in the box like a kid who stole a cookie.

“Ninny,” Mary said out loud with a self-deprecating laugh.

She threw herself across the bed and grabbed the phone, hoping against all odds and good sense that it was her mother. She had been gone six months, surely they missed her?

“Please tell me you’re not bailing on choir practice again,” Claire Underwood said without preamble.

Mary let her chin drop to the bed. It shouldn’t still matter, but they were her parents, and she was all alone, except for Claire, and maybe…

“Claire? If a man gives you a pair of shoes after the second date, that’s… ok, right?”

Claire was silent for so long Mary was beginning to wonder if her phone had been disconnected. She had paid the bill this month hadn’t she?

“Did you put out already?” Claire finally asked.

Mary rolled over and scrunched her nose.

“Well…”

“Oh my God! Are you serious?! Mary, this is New York City, not Podunk, Massachusetts! What if this guy had AIDS or something?”

Mary rolled her eyes at the hysteria in Claire’s voice. True, Claire was a solid five years older than Mary, and married, but she had never shown any signs of being a prude.

“Claire it’s the 80’s, not the middle ages. And aren’t you from Nebraska or something? Talk about middle of nowhere.”

“Mary, I’m just saying, you don’t know anything about this guy!”

“Well, I didn’t mean to sleep with him. Our first date we talked all night, and then the second date, it was just… the next thing you know… he’s just got these hypnotizing sort of eyes…”

“Oh, Lord, stop, cheese alert! And why is this the first I’m hearing of him? We’re supposed to be best friends and yet you had two dates, sex, and a pair of shoes without telling me? Are they designer? No, wait, hold on, buzz me in.”

Mary sat up.

“What, you’re here?”

But all she got in response was the click of the entryway phone being hung up.

Mary put the phone back on its cradle, ran across the apartment—which really was a matter of steps—and slapped the button. She opened the door and waited for a breathless Claire to make it up the steps. Stupid Super (as Mary thought of him) had promised to fix the elevator since the first day she moved in six months ago.

Claire stood there grabbing the stitch in her side and raised a hand, waving it wildly.

“Shoes,” she gasped. “Bring me the shoes.”

Mary laughed at the dramatic action and tone. Claire had missed her calling in the theatre. She brought the shoes to Claire and opened the box with a flourish.

“Oh my saints alive! Louboutins!”

“Is that good?”

Claire squinted her eyes and examined the shoes like a judge in court.

“Are you sure they’re real?”

“Well, how would I know?”

“Mary, these shoes, if they’re real, cost more than a month’s rent!”

“Well, I gathered that much! They reeked of expensive. So does he, actually,” Mary finished with a wide grin.

“What’s his name? Spill!”

“What about practice?”

“Didn’t want to go anyway,” Claire replied and flopped on the grungy tweed couch. She clutched her purse on her lap and practically panted like a dog at the shoes.

“His name is Michael… something.”

“Something?”

“Well he told me, but I forgot. Doorly or something. He’s some sort of finance guy for a shipping firm or something.”

“Or something? You have sex with a guy and he gives you shoes on the second date and you don’t even know his last name?”

“Well, I didn’t grill him over it or anything. I have his business card somewhere. Who cares what his last name is?”

“Right, because you’re too busy sticking your tongue down his throat. Give me the Fabio scale.”

Mary giggled. It amazed her she had only known Claire for a few months but felt closer to her than her own sisters.

“Mmmnn, he’s more classically handsome. Distinguished…”

“You mean old?”

“No! I mean, I think he said he would be turning thirty this year so only—”

“A good solid ten years older than you,” Claire interrupted, eyebrows lost in her brown curly bangs. She looked both scandalized and titillated.

Mary sat criss-cross on the other end of the couch.

“I’m going to give them back. He’s supposed to be picking me up for another date tonight and he wanted me to wear them. I’ll just wear those black suede ones you lent me instead. He won’t tell me where we’re going, just that it’s fancy.”

Claire opened her mouth but there was a knock on the door. Mary jumped up and opened it, ignoring the ‘For Pete’s sake, look who it is first’. She gaped in stunned confusion at Michael standing there in that gorgeous fur-lined winter coat of his.

“How did you get in the building?”

“Ah, well, this building is actually owned by my employer. He owns quite a number of these rentals.”

“Oh,” she said weakly, staring at his handsome features and the hint of mystery in his smirk.

“Ehem.”

“Oh! Um, this is my friend Claire. Claire, Michael.”

He nodded curtly and brushed past Mary into the room. He turned and dismissed Claire.

“Sorry I’m so early, I just wanted to do this in person.”

Mary’s stomach dropped to her toes. He wasn’t going to dump her, was he? Right in front of her friend?

“I’m afraid I have to cancel tonight,” he continued gravely. “Something’s… come up. But I hope you’ll keep my gift and allow me to reschedule?”

She felt slightly mesmerized by the intensity of his gaze and the soft lilt in his voice. His words were so formal but there was a slight Brooklyn-Irish accent to it. She couldn’t quite figure out if he was covering the streets with a veneer or was a rich man trying to seem less posh. She didn’t much care, truth be told. She just liked the way he made her feel.

“Sure, that’s fine,” Mary managed to say after a moment. “Um, I actually forgot I was supposed to go to choir practice tonight with Claire anyway.”

“Ah,” he said and pivoted back toward Claire. Claire was almost rudely staring at him with her eyebrows scrunched. “And, what church?”

“Our Lady of Angels,” Mary answered for Claire since she was still gaping at him like a statue.

Michael seemed to start a bit then frowned and looked down at his leather shoes.

“Have we met? You seem… familiar… sort of…” Claire trailed off weakly.

Michael shrugged and dismissed her once more with his body.

“I don’t think so,” he replied while looking at Mary. It was Mary’s turn to start a bit because his eyes were no longer soft and expressive like she had been gushing over in her memories. Their emerald depths were now icy cold and aloof, as was the rest of him. He reached out with a gloved hand and ran the back of one finger along the side of her face.

“I’ll call you after I finish this. Enjoy your practice,” Michael said then leaned down and gave her a brief, chaste kiss. It still somehow managed to make her lips tingle and her toes curl. Then he was out the door in a matter of seconds.

“He seems… intriguing,” Claire said after he shut the door behind himself. “And wow! The way he looks at you. Like there’s no one else in the room, literally. I doubt he could pick me out of a line up. They’d all be described as curvy nineteen year olds with milky white skin and wild, curly red hair.”

Mary giggled so hard she snorted. She leaned up against the door, trying not to feel disappointed.

“Guess you get to keep the shoes a little longer,” Claire continued with a cheeky grin. “Which means, I get to wear them!”

Mary laughed. “Do you think you might’ve met him before?”

Claire shrugged without looking up from the tennis shoes she was taking off.

“I’m always seeing people come and go at the store. Probably just saw him buy groceries once.”

“Probably,” Mary replied faintly. She ignored the stirrings of worry and focused on his kiss.

Intriguing, yes… and also, young, rich, and gentlemanly. How often did one find that combination?

Maybe her Prince Charming had finally come.

Author @TWLuedke gets tied up and twisted with the #Naughtycouch girls! #ASMSG |

Hullllooooo, my dearest blog followers!

As you know, occasionally I invite authors to come and play on my blog. Sometimes it’s just a book blurb, or cover reveal, sometimes it’s an interview. Well, recently I asked fellow author Travis Luedke of the Nightlife Series to come for a visit. If some of you don’t know about the Nightlife Series, it features vampires (of the badass, non-sparkly variety), sex, violence, and sometimes smexy violence. And I say that with love. But, anyhoo, back to the point at hand, you know what this foolish man said to me?

“Ok… but make it lively.” – Travis Luedke

Oh, Travis.

Challenge.

Accepted.

___

#Naughtycouch Ladies Interview Travis Luedke

(aka Travis gets what’s cumin to him)

[Parental discretion is advised, contains adult language and overt references to sex]

___________________________

Gen: This interview won’t take long, my darlings, as I’ve asked a few of my girlfriends from the infamous #naughtycouch to help me keep it “lively”. Most of you know my go-to-girl on the couch, Bad Penny @Penelope_Prose, but I’d like to introduce you to a few more of #Naughtyville’s residents; Caroline, Cat, Beth, and Deidre known on Twitter as @CarolineD_13, @dbl_latte, @missb1331, and @laDeeDa51, respectively. When I asked them for help they all jumped at the chance to ask Travis some questions. Penny, very helpfully, suggested we do so while enjoying the festivities of summer. Don’t know about you, but here in the Midwest that means fairs and carnivals! That’s right, make yourselves comfortable because Travis will be “manning” the dunk booth. He will have to answer the questions truthfully and in a timely manner or he gets dunked. And to make sure he doesn’t chicken out–not that he ever would–we’ve tied him up. Naked. Sweet P, you can remove his gag now.

*Bad Penny chuckles and removes the ball gag.*

Travis: I don’t remember anything in your email that said I’d be naked! Or gagged. Or tied up–

*Gen ignores him and turns to Beth.*

Gen: Fantastic job with the Shibari knots, Beth!

Beth (blushing): Thanks, Cupcake. I wanted to try that particular design since I pinned it on Pinterest.

Gen: This makes a nice change of pace for some of us ladies, tying someone else up. But I’m not sure for Travis. That’s a great first question, come to think of it! Is this the first time you’ve been tied up, Travis?

Travis: Well, yes this is my first, and that rope is giving me a wedgy something fierce. Wait, does being handcuffed count as being tied?

*Gen lobs a ball and Travis goes down.*

Gen: Oh! Oops. Itchy trigger finger. My bad. My husband complains about that all the time! He’s all, easy there, Dirty Harry.

Travis: I don’t care about how dirty and harry you like your men, get me out of this water. This shit’s cold.

*The ladies all snicker while Penny pulls Travis back on the harness.*

Bad Penny: Let me do him… I mean it, Cupcake.

Gen: Oh, sure, he’s all yours. Caroline can have sloppy seconds.

*The #naughtycouch ladies all giggle. Travis groans.*

Bad Penny: Here’s my questions… Of all the characters you’ve written about, Travis, which one is your favorite, least favorite, aaaannnd why? Oh, and if you pick my favorite as your least favorite; I’ve got balls with your name on them.

*Bad Penny pretends to line a ball up with the target of the dunk tank and giggles like a mad woman.*

Travis: I got some balls with your name on ‘em girlfriend. Wait! Don’t throw it! Okay, characters. Let me see. Michelle is probably one of my favorite characters, because she’s so complex, twisted, loving, and yet so vicious and wicked. Most readers never really understand Michelle until the end of the third novel, Nightlife Paris. It’s in Paris where we learn the dark, gritty trials she survived during WWII. Michelle’s life until now has been very tragic, lonely, but all that changes with Aaron. She changes. My least favorite character would be Delia, Aaron’s ex-girlfriend. She’s a manipulator, petty, selfish, and has no real redeeming qualities. She strung Aaron along, playing his insecurities for her own malicious pleasure. Although many readers are shocked to learn what happens to Delia at the end of Nightlife New York, I feel like she got precisely what she deserved.

Bad Penny (licking her lips and fondling the ball): You know, Travis, the next time you feel like dishing out punishments—hey!

*Gen drags Penny back to the couch*

Gen: Caroline, you’re next.

*Caroline gets up and finger waves at Travis.*

Caroline: Ok, so my question to Travis, a few of your books are set in different locations. If you could pick a place to live out of them where would it be?

Travis: I think, ideally, I would choose to be a perpetual traveller. Stay in one city for 3-4 months, then move on. Each city, each country, has its own unique flavor, culture, and appeal. I would miss America at times, but then I’d come home and very quickly remember all those reasons I left. And there are many travels yet to come in the Nightlife Series: London, Moscow, Hong Kong, and perhaps Panama City (a sequel to Blood Slave).

Caroline: Why did you choose paranormal romance? Do you enjoy reading this genre? Wait… Is that two questions?

Travis: Yes, that is two questions, and I’m getting cold here. I think I might need someone to come warm me up, some warm hands, maybe a warm tongue?

*The girls snicker*

Travis: No? Just gonna sit there and stare at my junk while I shiver? I thought this was the #naughtycouch?

*Travis shakes his head as he looks down at his not-so-impressive display. Caroline raises the ball to throw it*

Travis: Paranormal Romance! … I guess I have no interest in anything normal in the way of fiction. If it’s violent, creepy, macabre, paranormal, and erotic, that pretty much hits all the happy buttons for me. And romance is the glue that binds everything together. All the great stories of the world have at least a touch of romance. Even in Greek, Hindu, and Judeo Christian mythology, the dynamics of romantic entanglements were ever present. Adam broke the rules for Eve, and he’d probably do it all over again if you gave him the chance. Helen of Troy’s romantic mess launched a thousand ships to sail across the Aegean. Is there anything worth reading that doesn’t involve romance?

Gen: Mnnn… nope.

*The girls shake their heads in agreement. Cat pops up*

Cat: Ehem, I have a question.

*Caroline elbows Cat.*

Caroline: It was my turn!

Cat: You already asked two questions!

*Cat and Caroline start tickle fighting. Beth runs over to break them up and they start tickling her, too*

Deidre and Penny: Someone needs a spanking!

*Travis grins and Gen lobs another ball at the switch. The girls stop fighting to point and laugh at wet Travis*

Travis: Ah, come on! Couldn’t you put a heater in this thing? Dunk me in a hot-tub? At least get me a couple shots of tequila. This is cold!

Gen: Oh, sorry, you looked like you were getting a little hot there. Penny and Dee, stop laughing!

*Gen hooks her arm in Beth’s and Caroline’s and they sit down.*

Gen: Don’t worry, girls, no one’s getting spanked, not even Travis.

*Bad Penny starts pouting and snuggles with Caroline on the couch. Gen plays with Deidre’s hair while Deidre massages Beth’s shoulders. Travis starts drooling*

Gen: Cat, it’s your turn.

Cat: Hi, Travis! I have read the first two books in the Nightlife series and loved, loved, loved Michelle. She appeals to my secret, hidden, inner domme–oops, did I just admit that…out loud?!! Shhh, don’t tell anyone!

*Cat turns around and vamps. The girls all giggle and stick their tongues out*

Cat (turning back to Travis): Is her character/personality based on anyone in your life or did you create her purely from your imagination?

Travis: Michelle can be very cavalier and flippant. And she has little respect for unworldly Americans that have yet to realize they are not God’s gift to the planet. I would be lying if I said I’d never met or dated a foreign woman like that. Truthfully, the inspiration for Michelle’s character came from a series of novels by Stephen Clarke, ‘A Year in the Merde’, and ‘Merde Actually.’ It’s a story of a British man fumbling through corporate Paris and his misadventures with French women. As I read those novels, I literally heard Michelle’s voice going off in my mind, cussing up a storm in French. I saw her careless Gallic shrug, and her smile that could entice a man out of both wallet and pants at the same time.

*When Cat keeps staring at Travis, Gen lobs a ball at her rear*

Cat: Hey!!

Gen: Cat, do you have another question for him?

Cat: Umm, let me think.

*Caroline jumps up from the couch and whispers in her ear*

Cat: Oh, good one, who is your favorite superhero, and if you were a superhero who would you be?

Travis: Okay, I admit, I am a bit of a comic book nerd. I watch all the superhero movies, sometimes more than once. Favorites? Don’t really have one, because so many of them are simply too cool for words. But, if I had the choice of being one particular superhero, I would probably go for Logan, a.k.a. Wolverine. He’s such badass. And its damn near impossible to kill him. He’s one tough S.O.B.

Caroline: Oh, I like that answer!

Cat: Me too!

*Cat and Caroline raise their hands to throw their balls at the same time*

Travis: Hey! You said you liked the answer!

*Travis sighs in relief as the balls bounce off the edge. Gen drags the girls back to the couch*

Gen: Beth, you’re up next.

Beth: Well, I don’t mind going easy on you, Travis. What is one scene from a book that was inspired by real life events?

Travis: There are several scenes in all my books that have been inspired by real life events: the ones where the guy screws the girl so hard she can barely walk, and she loved every last second of it.

*Travis winks. Beth raises her hand*

Travis: Don’t you dare throw that ball! Okay, Okay! Vegas! In the gambling scene in Vegas, I have actually used the numerical odds betting system that Aaron used. And believe it or not, it does work around 90% of the time, but only on Roulette and Baccarat. The other 10% of the time you lose your shirt.

*Travis winks again. Beth smiles and fondles the ball.*

Beth: What is the most blatant lie you ever told?

Travis: Ahh, that’s an easy one, but not very flattering: “I love you.” Those three words are perhaps the most abused words in the English language. We often think we mean it when we say it … but do we really?

*Beth lobs the ball and Travis goes down.*

Beth: I think I should get another. That was so obviously not true.

Travis: I love you! Now get me out of this water!

*The ladies all nod their heads at Beth and smirk at Travis.*

Beth: You have to wear a t-shirt with one word on it for the rest of your life. Which word do you choose?

Travis: Merde. It’s an all-purpose word in French which happens to cross over to Spanish as well. And it would seem an appropriate description of so many aspects of this life. Translation: Shit.

Beth: Speaking of, my ropes will need to be removed before you—

*Gen grabs Beth*

Gen: And last, but never least, Dee, it’s your turn!

Deidre: Okay… Probably not the naughtiest or best of questions. But with him being tied up and already so wet and that water is obviously cold…

*Everyone on the couch giggles*

Deidre: Stop it, you guys! The poor man.

*Deidre grins evilly*

Deidre: Travis, do you have a favorite scene that you’ve written, for whatever reason, and why?

Travis: I think my favorite scene was chapter two in Blood Slave, it’s a FF sex scene. When the female vampire, Lia, wets her finger and dips it in her vial of cocaine, and then slides it up between Hope’s legs … I live very vicariously through writing those scenes.

*The ladies start chanting: Dunk, dunk, dunk!*

Deidre (shaking her head): Not just yet, we know how Gen likes delayed gratification.

Bad Penny: Ooohhh–

Caroline: Snap!

Beth and Cat: Hee!

Gen (smacking at them): Tuh!

Deidre: Travis, did you make any one character have more of your own personal attributes, good or bad, and which one?

Travis: Sadly, it’s probably some of my villains that are closer to me in real life. But Aaron does tend to be a cynical-yet-endearing sort of smartass, and that could accurately describe one of my own multiple personalities.

*Deidre lobs the ball for one last dunk.*

Travis: Merde!

*The girls all laugh. Gen and Beth pop up from the couch to start untying Travis. Cat and Caroline start whisper fighting about who gets to towel Travis off.*

Travis: Get this rope out of my crack, please and thank you. And ladies, got a naked guy here. Let’s do this #naughtycouch style.

Cat: Oh, we’ll show you #naughtycouch style, alright!

*Beth snickers*

Deidre: Let’s put him in the kilt!

Travis: Kilt—what?

Bad Penny: Wait! Let me show you some fun gear I picked up at Tribal Fire…

Travis: Gear?

Caroline: Dirty martinis, everyone?

*Beth opens a jar of olives*

Gen: Ok, my lovely blog followers! That’s it for today because the guy I got the booth from has to get it back to the Fair…

Bad Penny: I thought you said it fell off the back of a truck?

*Caroline snickers.*

Gen (clearing her throat): Anyhooo, thank you for joining us today as we interviewed Travis. Please check out his books and social media links below!

AUTHOR BIO AND LINKS

TW Luedke is a husband, father, and writer of Urban Fantasy Thriller, Paranormal Romance, Young Adult Fiction, and Sci-fi. He is currently catching a 3rd degree sunburn in San Antonio, Texas, and loving every minute of it.