Short Announcement

Well, it's been available on the blogsite for a while now, but I've said nothing formally.  So today's teaser is related to the STRIPPED Blog Tour that begins January 2, 2012 I'm going to be visiting 20 blogs, talking about a lot of different things, and the best part is: You can win!  Not just a copy of the book. No, the prize is more interesting than that.  But you'll have to check out the tour for details!  Click for Tour Stops! ~Tori http://www.toristclaire.com/...

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Wicked Wednesday (12)

Need a date for New Year's Eve? ~Torihttp://www.toristclaire.co...

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What's Your Favorite Line?

Just a few little blips from STRIPPED -- a few of my favorite one-liners: 1. Her faint accent caressed his ears like fi ngertips might stroke his skin. 2.  “Wake up, Mayer. Your dick’s staring at a keep out sign.” 3.  As fine as a guppy with a shark on its tail. 4.  Jeez, Natalya, the guy changes lightbulbs. 5.  "We’re gonna take it nice and slow, and I get to drive.” 6.  “Because Jill’s an overachiever.” 7.  “Yes, baby, I’ve been in your drawers.” 8.  He refused to join the ranks of men who jumped into their cars with tiny pieces of toilet paper stuck to their chins. 9.  The physical was so much easier to understand than the pain behind his ribs that built with each hungry stroke of her tongue. 10.  “Swear it, or you’re on the street...

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Wicked Wednesday (11)

Anyone in the mood for a little rain? ~Torihttp://www.toristclaire.co...

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RomFan Reviews Blog Hop Winner

Congrats to June!  Please email me at tori@toristclaire.com June wins a signed copy of STRIPP...

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My Favorite Holiday Memory

I'd like to say that my favorite holiday memory was when the man pictured to the left showed up under my tree... Well it is my blog, so I'll go ahead and say it.  My favorite holiday memory is when the man to the left showed up under my tree.  The mistletoe was fresh, not that cheap, fake plastic kind, his lips were warm, and soft, and... Ahem!  Okay. No fiction in this blog, time for truths. My favorite holiday memory comes from the first year I purchased my house.  Nothing overtly special happened; I didn't get priceless gifts, I didn't have a whirlwhind romantic experience.  It was just me, my dogs, a Christmas tree,...

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Introducing...

This week's teaser is gearing up for the release of STRIPPED.  Remember, it hits the shelves January 3, but you can pre-order now! Everyone likes a good villian, right?  Let's meet Dmitri today. ----- - Excerpt taken from STRIPPED, available Jan 3, 2012 ~Tori http://www.toristclaire.com/ This singular moment, where the two of them knew no greater paradise than the pleasure of their bodies, was more priceless to Dmitri than any wealth, any power. Struck by momentary tenderness, he lifted up to brush his lips against hers. “Moya lyubov´,” he whispered. Yes, love her—the only woman he had ever loved. For that matter, the only thing. What he would do without her, he didn’t know. She made the duties he must carry out possible, and the next few daysapart, after so many already...

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Wicked Wednesday (10)

For warming up on a chilly winter night... ~Torihttp://www.toristclaire.co...

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Possibly Something New?

Well, in the midst of all things Black Opals, I've been working on a proposal.  Fingers crossed that things pan out. However, I thought I'd tease with a little detail, since this is foremost on my mind. Hint:  Revenge, a ruined betrothed, one devilish rake, and the pursuit of freedom. Teaser:  "The light in her eyes shifted, assuming a darker, more suggestive glimmer.  Were he not mistaken, he would swear she flirted with him. She is well into her drink.  Do not be fooled by lies. His tongue refused to obey.  He held her gaze in challenge.  “I assure you, Miss Prescott, my skills are quite effective.  It is the patient who must be willing to follow through.” “So you say.”  She smiled before a husky laugh trilled in her throat.  “And...

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Wicked Wednesday (9)

Hello, hello, hello!  I want one of these for Christmas! ~Torihttp://www.toristclaire.co...

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What Do You Get...

... when you mix seven dead dancers, a club full of naked women, and a deadly female spy? One very disturbed undercover cop: "Damn it, she was worse than a hangover. He could cure that—down a bottle of Gatorade, eat some Saltines, down a second bottle, and he was good to go. He couldn’t, however, banish her out of his head. Or the suspicion that she would taste every bit as sweet as her lilac perfume. Maybe it was lotion. Yeah. He smiled to himself. Lotion she slathered over those long legs. Massaged around rosy pink nipples while . . . Shit! He set his coffee mug down with force. He didn’t have time for this, and somehow he had to make his dick understand what the smarter head knew—catching a serial killer who’d murdered Rachel was more important than fucking and orgasms." -Excerpt...

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Wicked Wednesday (8)

Yum yum... ~Tori http://www.toristclaire.c...

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Back in the Trenches

In keeping with the Thursday Teaser theme...  Guess what landed in my inbox this last week? Two very hot men and one extremely dangerous woman. "Long golden-brown hair blew in the wind as he lounged against the brick exterior wall.  Her gaze locked with his light green eyes, and all the simmering desire that had flared between them since her arrival at her cousin’s club three weeks earlier ignited." And... "He let out a soft laugh with a shake of his head.  A lock of wavy dark hair fell into his eyes.  He pushed it back and sank deeper into the chair, further stretching out his long muscular legs." Yep, that's right -- edits came back for Lie to Me.  I'm pleased to report, there's not a whole lot of headaches involved.  YAY! But, definitely time to hit...

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Wicked Wednesday (7)

Here's a little something to brighten up your week. Happy Wicked Wednesday everyone! He reminds me of Misha... a favorite Opal of mine. ~Tori St. Clairehttp://www.toristclaire.co...

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Thursday Teaser - Short Excerpt

Today's teaser is a short excerpt from Stripped. WARNING:  As a reminder to those who read/come from the Claire Ashgrove blog or website, the content on this blog is ADULT I hope you enjoy: BACK COVER COPY Body of secrets… As a member of the CIA’s elite, Black Opals, Natalya Trubachev must live a lie, working undercover as the lover of Dmitri, a Russian mob boss. His business is trafficking vulnerable Las Vegas strippers overseas for twisted sex games. Natalya’s business is to blow the ring wide open and bring down Dmitri and his American contacts. But the stakes are raised when she learns that the next target is her own sister Kate,...

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Wicked Wednesday (6)

Okay gals -- here's our inspirational picture of the week. Have a little Wicked for your Wednesday Y...

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Exciting New Things

Well, I'm uber-excited about the fact that I received and finished page proofs for Stripped.  It's amazing... this book is really real!  Can't believe it's going to come out in January, it seems sooo surreal. And it looks awesome!  I love everything that Berkley has done with and for it.  Simply incredible! Another tidbit or two... 1.  I received the release date for the second Black Opal book.  Lie To Me will come out in July of 2012.  2.  I've received and thumbs-upped the back cover copy for Lie To Me.  And I will be sharing it as soon as I receive official word we're good to go. Happy dancing over here.  Sincerely, happy dancing! ~Tori http://www.toristclaire.c...

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When Ideas Overflow...

It's Thursday and keeping with publication process, I've been mulling over proposals for my Black Opal series.  Today I was hit with a dozen ideas, all while thinking about the same hero, and it's made me wonder just how far can I take him?  How... unheroic, can he be, while being a hero at the same time? Let me back up.  I like dark heroes.  I like men that are so flawed, how they can be heroic, is a bit hard to grasp.  And given my heroine in Stripped falls into this, I guess that extends to characters all the way around.  I find it incredibly challenging to not just redeem this person, but dig in and draw out the things that make them worthwhile.  To see if I can make that person hold onto a heart, no matter how unlikely it might seem. I asked an editor...

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And the Saga Continues - Publishing Journeys

Well, it's Thursday again, and today I made some progress on Publishing in general.  I decided with two books coming out in January (See Claire Ashgrove for the second one) that I should do a book signing locally.  Now, I'd done one previously, gosh... two years ago?  With fellow author, Alicia Dean.  We didn't put too much into promoting it, but neither did the bookstore.  It was one of those days where we each sold a copy, then bought each other's books.  Lessons learned though -- a) book signings can go well, or they can be a non-event.  b) The next time put a little more effort and planning in. Taking that last lesson, the most important one, I phoned Barnes and Noble to get in well in advance and met with them today.  However, I want to point...

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Much Ado About... A Cover!

I've been gnawing on my fingernails, squirming in my seat, totally anxious about what my cover for Stripped would look like.  Don't get me wrong, at no time was I worried about receiving a bad cover.  I had every faith that Berkley would deliver something that held my vision. They delivered above and beyond what I had expected! And now I get to share it with all of you.  So... here she is! I want to just frame it and hang it on my wall...  Oh wait!  It will be on my bookshelf (yours too!) in January! And just to add a little more bonus to that beautiful cover, how about a bit of the official back cover copy? Body...

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Copy Edit Time!

Well, it's here, it's finally here -- copy edits for STRIPPED! I must confess that I was a little daunted by the receipt of these.  I stared at the mail a long while, fidgeting, wondering how badly it was going to hurt when I opened it.  How much work was yet remaining.  In part, because it's always a little scaring working with a new editor, be that the aquiring editor or the copy editor. In part, because like many authors, I have doubts about myself. But I took a deep breath, opened it up, and was pleasantly surprised!  It's not bad at all, in fact, the few quick glances that I've taken make it look pretty easy.  So Stripped is wrapping up.  I'm so anxious to see the cover, I think I'll end up crying when I get it just because of the build up.  (Happy...

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12 Signs of Imminent Deadline Approach

1.  Your Desk Is No Longer Something You Recognize You lift your head from the keyboard and realize the space around you looks like something a hurricane left behind.  Day old snack packages, crumpled scraps of paper that held little notations you took the time to write but simultaneously forgot, three coffee cups because you've gotten up at least that many times distracted, and poured another. 2.  You've Run Out of Suitable Clothes... for anything The hamper is overflowing to the point you're now out of clean underwear.  You'd go to the store to buy some, but that requires doing laundry first. Children are playing in yesterdays playclothes -- that's okay, they're going to get muddy again today anyway, right?  You don your spouse's boxers for the day, swearing...

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Wicked Wednesday (5)

Take me for a ride... Here's to another Wicked Wednesday! ~Tori http://www.toristclaire.c...

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Thursday Teasers

Eventually I want to make Thursdays days that really fit the concept of "Teaser".  But until I have releasable information, we have to make due with publishing updates. So this week I finished the proposal for the second Black Opal book.  All done, issues mitigated, out the door... and that was a surprisingly difficult task.  I plot heavily.  However, I still leave a lot of stuff up to the writing as I go along.  Which means that there's usually deviations from my chapter-by-chapter outline.  To date, I've never written a synopsis prior to the book being finished and polished.  Having to write one with only three or four working chapters under my belt, despite the detailed outline, was a bit difficult.  It's not easy to translate:  "Hero has a...

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Wicked Wednesday (4)

It's Wednesday!  Time to be a little wicked... ...and wet. ~Tori http://www.toristclaire.c...

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Wicked Wednesday (3)

White flag of surrender? It's Wednesday -- everyone needs a little mid-week wicked. ~Torihttp://www.toristclaire.co...

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Thursday Teasers

Well it's that time again -- an update on where things stand. First, as I mentioned last update, I was working with my editor on the back cover copy.  I'm pleased to say that we've ironed all that out and I believe it's finalized.  I can't, however, post it, as I'm not sure if it's been officially given the stamp of approval. I can say that the title is now Stripped. Something that really stood out to me:  Here and there you hear horror stories about how a house didn't appear to care about the author's preferance.  I was simply astounded by the level of consideration given to me during both the title selection process and the back cover blurbs.  It was incredible.  And while I knew, all along, that in the end, what would work well from a marketing standpoint...

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Memorial Day

Memorial Day -- how many of us stop and think, just why we are sitting down with our friends and family and enjoying a day free from work? For many years, I didn't.  It was the day the pool opened, then a day off work with pay, then a day to unwind... Now, however, I've become more concious of what the costs are to this country.  I've experienced "losses" through my soldier, and though I've not met the men and women who've lost their lives, I've mourned their passing.  I've experienced the "cost" first hand, and I am proud of those who serve, proud of what has been given for this great country. Today is a time of relaxation...

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Wicked Wednesday (2)

Sweet Dreams.....

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Publication Progress

Well, it's been difficult trying to keep up two blogs and meet deadlines.  So I'm back in the grind and hoping to get this launched effectively. Keeping with themes, and Wednesday being Wicked, Thursdays are going to be updates on what's going on in the publication progress.  This might be tidbits about works I'm working on, or actual process updates. Today we'll go with the latter. I have completed the revisions requested by my editor and have sent the manuscript off to my agent and trusted critiquers for review.  Initially, while I was super-charged about the project, the work seemed a little daunting.  However, I was pleasantly surprised that once I got into it, everything rolled very smoothly.  There were a few mental blocks I had to unbend, but that worked...

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Wicked Wednesdays

Well, what better way to start off a blog than with some good old candy.  Yum.  Well... ice cubes in this case. Welcome to my blog, folks!  Wednesdays we all need a little pick me up. ...

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