HE LIVES! ...News About Eric Sheffer Stevens (and a concert review!)

Last week, I ran across an advertisement for the Caravan Music Collective on Facebook, and a name at the bottom of the poster caught my eye. Yes, Eric Sheffer Stevens was listed as one of the featured performers for their upcoming benefit performance. 

After verifying that yes, he was scheduled to appear, I started contacting people I knew in NYC to give them a heads'-up about the event. (This is what's known as fangirling-by-proxy, duckies.) To my delight, Becky was available that night, and decided to go. Here's her write-up about the event, and a little info on what ESS has been up to lately. 

**** 

"May 19, 2013 (Sunday) The Living Room, NYC: It was a lot of fun! The music was really, really good, a great mix of folk, country, and songs the Collective sang when they were together years ago. I highly encourage everyone to check them out on FB here.

The atmosphere was really comfortable, laid back & hilarious too. Sort of like upscale karaoke in a way, with different performers getting up to sing whenever they were called by Diana, the host & fellow participant. It supported a charity called New York Cares. Eric's friend Reid was there & he sang too (he was really, really good! Sort of folksy) and he said he ragged on Eric about his character on ATWT. He was like "It must be from the soap opera" when I told him why I was there/how I knew Eric. 

Colin McGrath was also really, really good (he plays the guitar as well), as was Diana. Jenny [Sheffer-Stevens, Eric's wife -Kate] got up and sang with them a few times, sort of as backup, songs they had sung when they were part of the Collective back in the day. 

Toby King is hilarious. He was just cracking jokes all night (I ended up sitting at a table in front of him, which was across from ESS/Jenny), and was like "Are they full of women?" when Jenny, Colin, Reid, and Diana got up to sing and had binders of music with them. 

Later on, after the show, which was about an hour and a half long or so, Eric asked me about the venue that the 2012 VSC play took place in and which one we went to. He knew people had gone & that I was one of them.

I told him I went to the one in Burlington. I thought this past venue was bigger and Burlington was a great city, although I wish I had told him about there weren't any bleachers at this one, just picnic tables, and they didn't serve food, but had a crepe truck. 

He said something about the play they're going to do this year, about them taking a script he'd written in college and using it for the play, which is pretty cool IMO. He said he wasn't doing any projects currently. He seemed very relaxed and in a great mood, happy. He didn't end up doing any kind of performance himself. He said he couldn't pull anything together in time."

**** 

So there you have it! I'm really interested in finding out more about this script that Eric wrote. And thank you, Becky, for being our intrepid reporter!

Anyone else have news on ESS? Let me know! :)

Book BIN Tuesday - Cutest Couple!

Book two of the Girls Most Likely to...

Ten years ago, Marc and Bree were voted Cutest Couple--until a graduation-night argument destroyed their relationship. Unable to contact him, Bree had no choice but to forget Marc--and raise the son she never got to tell him about.

Marc got Bree's message loud and clear when he never heard from her again. Now stationed near his hometown, he sees their high school reunion as a chance to make peace with the past. But after one glimpse of Bree, he knows he never really got over her. And after one glimpse of her son, Marc knows he's the boy's father...

Despite the secrets and lies that kept them apart, Marc and Bree can't resist picking up where they left off. But when the weekend is over, it may be too late to build the future they once dreamed of.

Cutest Couple - Second Excerpt

“Marc?” Bree stepped closer, the scent of her shampoo wrapping around him. “What’s wrong?”

Nothing. Everything. With a muffled growl, he slid his arm around her waist and pulled her into him. She gasped, her mouth opening, and he swept his tongue inside. Even ten years later, he still recognized the softness of her lips, the little groan that escaped her before she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back.

This was no innocent peck between old friends. This was heat and desire and passion, tongues stroking, teeth nipping, breath panting. They were two strong-willed people, fighting for dominance. He slid one hand down her back to cup her ass, tugging her hips forward until their bodies met from shoulder to knee.

In response, she slipped one foot between his, arching into him. She gripped the back of his head, her nails scoring sharp little stings in his scalp. Her teeth nipped at his mouth.

It was anger and lust, white-hot and clear as glass.

It was every emotion he’d felt since last night rolled into one.

Turning her, he backed her blindly into the locker bank. Urging her leg up, he wrapped it around his waist, rocking into her in a steady rhythm that built and built. Her head dropped back, banging against the metal locker with a hollow thunk.

He ripped his mouth away from hers, sliding his lips down her cheek to her jawline, feathering over the
column of her neck, until he reached the sensitive spot where her pulse raced right under the skin. He mouthed over it, grimly satisfied at her gasping cry. Then he latched on and sucked.

Bree whimpered brokenly, tilting her head back to the side to give him better access, until he pulled away.
Already he could see the redness rising on her pale skin.

She was marked, where anyone could see.

It shouldn’t please him as much as it did.

(c) Kate Davies, 2013, Carina Press

Preorder at:
Amazon
Carina
Barnes and Noble

Book BIN Tuesday - In The Dark (Children of Night) - FREE!

Yes, it's true! For one more week, PG Forte's In The Dark is free on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Go get a copy ASAP!

When you live forever, you’re bound to make a few mistakes.

Children of Night, Book 1

1969 San Francisco. World-weary Conrad Quintano should have known better than to fall in love with a human—much less Suzanne Fischer, the barely legal, adventure-seeking hippie beauty known as Desert Rose. And the very last thing he should have agreed to do was to raise her babies and protect them with his life. But even twelve-hundred-year-old master vampires can find it hard to reject a deathbed request—especially when issues of love, guilt and blood are involved.

Present day. Raised in virtual isolation, twins Marc and Julie Fischer have always known they are vampires. But they never knew their parentage—or their unique status in the vampire world—until their “uncle” Damian comes to fetch them home. The family reunion, however, isn’t what they expect. They’re thrust into a world for which they’re totally unprepared. And the father they expected to see, Conrad, is missing.

How to find him…and whom to trust? Solving the mystery of betrayal and vampire family values will prove the Beatles had it right. All you need is love…and an occasional side of blood.

Cutest Couple - First Excerpt!

Less than two weeks to the release of Cutest Couple, book two in the Girls Most Likely To trilogy. So how about an excerpt to start the day off right?

***


What the hell was she doing?

She’d had the opportunity. When he’d first walked over to the bar, turning his back on the door, she’d had the perfect chance to run. He’d never have noticed her slipping out.

And now it was too late.

Because there he was, standing in front of her, just inside her comfort zone. She couldn’t break eye contact to save her life. She felt like prey, watched by a predator that was no less frightening for being so familiar.

He’d never hurt her. Never physically. But she remembered how emotionally wrecked she’d been by the aftermath of their breakup, and had no intention of opening herself up to that pain again.

“Hello, Bree.”

“Marc.” Her heart was beating too fast, her breathing rapid and shallow. If she wasn’t careful she was going
to start hyperventilating.

“You look good.”

She wasn’t sure how he could tell, considering his gaze had never left eye level. “Thanks. So do you.”

Actually, “good” was an understatement. His blond hair, now cut military-short, accentuated his bone structure in a way the soft curls of high school hadn’t managed. His eyes were more noticeable, the piercing blue framed by those thick dark lashes she’d always envied.

He’d filled out, too, his lanky teenage frame now tautly muscled and toned.

Bree gritted her teeth. All the memories, all the emotions were clamoring for attention, and she was a little
weak.

She looked around. No one was riding to her rescue. Instead, they were surrounded by people avidly notwatching their meeting. Probably hoping for fireworks or a blowout on a reality-TV scale. Where the hell was Tess when she needed her?

Bree took a step back. “I didn’t expect you to be here tonight. You didn’t RSVP.”

“Nope,” he said with a shrug. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it or not.”

“What changed your mind?”

Marc leaned forward. “You.”

(c) 2013, Davies, Carina Press

Preorder from Amazon     Barnes and Noble    Carina

Book BIN Tuesday - Busted by Sydney Somers

It's Promise Harbor Wedding book three!  Check it out:

His game...her rules.

Hockey star Jackson Knight has a hundred reasons not to return to Promise Harbor, but none of them are good enough to get him out of attending his best friend’s wedding. Even with a career-ending knee injury, every puck-bunny in town will be gunning for him.

Worse, getting a pair of cuffs slapped on him at the bachelor party could ruin any chance of getting back in the game, even as a coach. Unless he can convince the arresting officer to smooth things over—by going to the wedding as his date.

Hayley Stone figures posing as Jackson’s girlfriend is the least she can do to salvage his reputation. Plus, having a man with a toe-curling smile on her arm will keep her ex off her back.

What starts as a simple plan to deflect small-town pot-shots unexpectedly becomes a sizzling night that hits Jackson like a full-body-check to the heart. Now he’s determined to prove that she’s the best of reason of all to come home—for good.

Warning: Contains a fiery powerplay both on and off the ice, skin-tingling forced intimacy, interfering grandparents, bear costume hijinks, a haunted house and the kind of game-changing chemistry worth fighting for.   

Don't miss out! Run on over to Samhain and Buy It Now!

Reason #102395765 I Love My Day Job

One of my co-workers was gone last week for a training. What you have to understand is, he's NEVER gone. I've been there just over a year and I've taken more vacation days than he has. 

This can be a dangerous thing. The first time I left my office for more than a day or two, this is what I came back to:

If you're familiar with The Bloggess, you'll recognize Beyonce, the giant metal chicken. There were supposedly 90 cutouts of her all over my office. I think I've discovered MAYBE 70 of them. And this was a year ago.

So I've been biding my time, waiting for a chance to get my co-worker back. Which is tough, because he NEVER GOES AWAY.

Except for last week.

He was gone. It was my opportunity.

Now, after a year of plotting, did I actually have anything planned? No. I did not. 

Those of you who know me will not be surprised in the least.

Luckily, I have other awesome co-workers, and we brainstormed together. 

After discarding the "turn everything upside down" and "fill the room with balloons" options, we came up with a brilliant plan, if we do say so ourselves. 

This is what co-worker will see when he walks into the building in the morning: 

A room filled with packing peanuts! Except not. 

We taped plastic sheeting over the inside of his window and filled *that* with packing peanuts. But it LOOKS like the whole damn room is filled, and that's what counts. 

We even put some heavy boxes on the other side of the door and pulled them snug with an old computer cable. When he tries to open the door, he'll run into resistance, which will make him think it really is stuffed full with packing peanuts. 

The best part is, cleanup will be a snap.

The only downside is, I can never take another vacation again. Who knows what they'll dream up while I'm gone?

Inspiration Friday - the new JR Chandler

Look out, Pine Valley - there's a new JR Chandler in town! With the reboot of All My Children, the role of JR has been recast. Meet Ryan Bittle:

Hope your weekend is inspired!

Book BIN Tuesday - Bolted by Meg Benjamin

Here it is - the second book in the Promise Harbor Wedding series!

 

Sometimes you have to get lost before you can find yourself.
Greta Brewster McBain in a bind. Two, if she’s really counting. First there’s the can-barely-breathe, bridesmaid’s dress from hell. Second, the stranger who just carried her “perfect” brother’s fiancée out the church door has made it impossible to tell her own mother about her own divorce.

Rather than confirm her reputation as the family screw-up, Greta takes a drive to clear her head.

Trapped in a hole and unable to reach his cell phone, Hank Mitchell is resigned to becoming a permanent part of his own archeological dig when help arrives—in the form of a woman who looks like a Gone With The Wind refugee. Behind the ruffles and lace, though, is something he appreciates: a woman who isn’t afraid of a little dirt.

Their instant connection draws Greta into the eccentric world of the Hotel Grand, where she impulsively trades her hoopskirts for an apron. Soon things are getting hot, not only in the hotel kitchen, but in Hank’s arms...

Warning: Contains hot moonlit sex, a melancholy turtle, two wisecracking seniors, and the world’s ugliest bridesmaid dress.
****

There you have it - now you just have to run on over to Samhain and Buy It Now!

MLtS Update!

Just a few things today -

My post on Wicked Lil Pixie is scheduled to go up today. Let me know what you think of series/connected books!

Most Likely To Succeed is now an audiobook - my first! I'm rather thrilled about it.

I'll be guesting on Cassandra Carr's blog next week.

And then it'll be about time to start gearing up for the release of Cutest Couple! Wow, time flies! :)