Excerpt from Savage Kingdom Only a little naughty!

I spoke in my previous post about Freygard. Well this scene happens only a couple of pages into the book when Nerya meets Jaden for the very first time.

Nerya pushed the door shut and glanced toward the bed. By the gods! She’d expected a warrior, but not this. Chained to the bed was the most threateningly masculine creature she’d ever laid eyes on in her entire life.

She stepped over to the table and poured herself a large goblet of wine. After drinking it down in a couple of swallows, Nerya pulled herself together and turned to examine him again. The slave lounged against the pillows, seeming untroubled by his plight. He was totally naked apart from a blue linen tunic draped across his groin, and his obsidian eyes stared at her in a disdainful, almost predatory manner that angered her and yet oddly enough stimulated her at the same time.

This one would be a challenge—there was no doubt about that.

Nerya never underestimated her opponents in battle, and she had no intention of underestimating this slave. He was dangerous. She wanted to face a man like this fully armored and with a sword in her hand, not in the coupling chamber skimpily clad in only a thin linen tunic.

It was difficult to gauge his height when he was sitting on the bed, legs outstretched, but he appeared to be at least a head or so taller than her. His skin had a dusky tint, looking even darker compared to the pristine whiteness of the linen sheet. She supposed if she were to consider him objectively, he was in fact a fine specimen. His body was a mass of corded muscle, with a wide, well-defined chest, narrow waist and lean hips. She had to admit she was somewhat relieved to see his arms were held fast above his head by chains.

She took another sip of wine, trying to ignore the fact he was curiously examining her as she examined him. She felt an unwanted warmth color her cheeks. Why was she letting this situation trouble her so much? The slave’s appearance had no bearing on this coupling. All she should be concerned about was that he had a good physique and was most likely a formidable warrior; therefore his seed should be powerful.

Yet he had the gall to lounge there staring insolently at her, displaying none of the expected demeanor of a slave, and her cheeks became even warmer as she realized he stared intently at her breasts. The damp linen tunic stuck to her full curves and, under the thin covering, her nipples hardened into firm peaks. “Don’t stare at me, slave,” she snapped.

Oddly enough, for a man he was remarkably pleasing to the eye. His features were strong and symmetrical, his cheekbones high and well-defined, while his nose was straight and aquiline. His mouth was maybe a little too wide, but not girlishly full, and his long, raven-black hair fell in a silky mass around his shoulders. It was his eyes that troubled her most as he stared at her with such insolence it almost took her breath away.

He was bold and appeared unafraid, something she wasn’t accustomed to in a slave. Nerya was suddenly tempted to run her fingers over his dusky skin and gauge the strength of his muscles that appeared to be carved from something far harder than living flesh. She’d never seen a slave as magnificent as this creature and now, for some inexplicable reason, the blood began to sing wildly through her veins.

Deanna Ashford http://deanna-ashford.com/

Buy Fromhttp://www.mybookstoreandmore.com/savage-kingdom-p-6063.html

Savage Kingdom - Todays's The day

Savage Kingdom is set in the same fantasy universe as my two other fantasy novels Savage Surrender and Wild Kingdom. I've not written about the heroine of hero of my book before. Nerya is a warrior from the Kingdom of Freygard, and Jaden, her captive, has a mysterious past which is slowly revealed. However, there are characters from my previous books in Savage Kingdom. So if you've read Savage Surrender or Wild Kingdom, you'll get to see Tarn, Rianna and Sarin again.

Just to give you a little bit of the background I'll explain:-

FREYGARD - Nerya's birthplace is a land ruled by women, where all men are slaves, even the male offspring of these women - which can get pretty complicated at times. In order to improve their line, they force the more powerful captive males to serve in the coupling chambers. Their queen Danara does not allow any contact between Freygard and the outside world, so Nerya is unaware how different her life is to those of the women in the lands surrounding hers.

KABRA- a land to the north east of Freygard, ruled by King Tarn and his beautiful wife Rianna. In the past Kabra had been invaded by Lord Sarin of Percheron, who held Tarn captive for a number of years, before he managed to escape and wrest his lands from Sarin's hands. Consequently there's is a complex relationship between these two men.

ACHERON- a mystical land over a vast range of mountains that few people know anything about, ruled by the Dragon Lords, who control powerful magic.

I hope those who buy the book really enjoy it. You can purchase Savage Kingdom at

http://www.mybookstoreandmore.com/savage-kingdom-p-6063.html

LEE MEAD and SKEGNESS!!!

Lee Mead and Skegness, not words I'd normally put together.

Lee Mead conjures up visions of a smooth seductive, sexy voice that gives me the shivers on many occasions; a mass of dark curly hair, a body....perhaps I'll keep the rest of those thoughts to myself!

Back to less titillating matters. Skegness. I always thought of it as a Victorian seaside resort, the faded grandeur of a few sea-front hotels, a north sea battered coastline, a rickety pier, fish and chips and sticky pink and white rock. How wrong I turned out to be.

After a pleasant long weekend in Lincolnshire, my friend, her husband and mine travelled to Skegness, arriving in time to grab a drink before the show started at 7.30. For one night only Lee Mead the winner of Any Dream Will Do. The men had planned to find a nice hotel bar, hunker down there and wait for us to finish out Lee fix. They were dressed respectably, as only husbands can on occasions, but one look at the brash resort, filled with bulky men covered in tattoos, wearing shorts and garish 'T' shirts and they were hotfooting it into the theatre to purchase tickets. (Apologies here to anyone who lives in Skegness, and thinks it an utterly delightful resort! It just isn't my cup of tea.)

Of course they were sat way at the back while we were savoring, and somewhat salivating over a central position three rows from the front. I was surprised at how many people there were. I'd been to two previous concerts, the packed Southend, and the almost as packed Basingstoke but Skegness seemed quite a different entity to me, with a theatre catering mostly to the folks who holidayed in the town. Although taking a look around the auditorium I'd guess a fair number of people were locals and not holidaymakers at all.

There was already an air of anticipation and, as the band started playing the intro to Paint It Black, the excitement built. Then Lee bounded onto the stage dressed all in black and belted out the Stones classic - a version more akin to his hot, dark 'Any Dream Will Do' performance, than the violin laden arrangement on his first album. This was closely followed by Gonna Make You a Star (so much better than David Essex's version) and Nothing Else Matters, the title track from his second album. From then on the audience were in the zone and captivate by this gorgeous young man.

He spoke of many things in his life and his career, between numbers, chatting without a script, which is refreshing and makes each concert a new and exciting experience. This time he included a cute remark about how hot he was, and he hoped he wasn't sweating too much. Bless him, he glanced under his arms, then clamped them to his side making the audience laugh. This is a such a different Lee from the shy young man who appeared on 'Any Dream Will Do', and did do one or two quite awkward interviews during his initial tenure as Joseph. Lee has blossomed and grown over the last few years, and his voice as well as his confidence just gets better and better.

My favourite songs have to be the Musical Theatre numbers, 'Anthem' (Love him to record this), 'Jesus Christ Superstar' (brilliant he should play Judas) and of course the crowning epitome of 'Close Ever Door'. You just have to hear him sing this live to appreciate how special he is; he acts the song, you can feel the angst as he sings it and at the end his stunning voice just soars, sending shivers up your spine.

Added to this were songs from his albums, including my two special favourites, ' When I need you the Most', written by Gary Barlow and Lee's dad's favourite number 'Through The Barricades.' He also included in this eclectic mix, some standards. First a song I never expected him to sing 'Kiss'! This guy knows just how appealing to women he is, and he plays on this; his sexy dance moves making the audience scream. 'Beyond the Sea', the old Bobby Darin classic, displayed the smoothness to his voice, like rich dark chocolate- a treat we all crave but only indulge in on occasions. He then dedicated a song to his wife Denise and new daughter Betsy - the melodic favourite, 'When You say Nothing at All.' So sweet and moving.

I should add at this point that Niamh Perry, one of the girls from the Nancy show, who is now appearing in 'Love Never Dies', performed a small number of songs and dueted with Lee singing 'When the Stars Go Blue.'

When Lee mentioned the show 'Any Dream Will Do', he asked very innocently if anyone had watched it. DOH! But his words got a laugh and when he sang 'Any Dream Will Do' he didn't need the children's choir, let alone a backing track, the audience sang the accompaniment perfectly!

All too soon the show was at an end, but we were given one last song, one we recognised from the show - 'Daydream Believer', which had the audience standing and joining in as well. All in all a great night, with still more concerts to come.

My friend's husband, who wasn't a particular fan said at the end "Boy can that young man sing". I think that sums Lee up very nicely.

credit for photo- Lee Mead Music

Awesome Cover

The darkness in his soul could claim her love...or her life.

This is the awesome cover for my new book Savage Kingdom to be published by Samhain on 25th August. I have never had any input as far as my covers were concerned before, so to be asked exactly what I wanted was wonderful and then the fabulous Kanaxa came up with this wonderful cover picture!

Loving you all guys, and my editor Linda most of all.

Lee Mead

It's some time since I've written anything about the delicious Mr Mead but he's never far from my heart! Last year we had many Mead free months after Joseph finished. Lee was busy getting engaged, getting married and making a baby in between fitting in 3 months in The Big Apple to study acting at the Lee Strasburg Institute. Can't complain, as before this I did manage to fit in a fair few trips to Joseph- a musical I adore. I always used to come out from that show on a real high, even disregarding the fact I had to endure the sight of Lee in a loincloth for 2 hours, plus for a short time seeing him in chains for some of the time as well ladies!
Winter came, and close to Christmas I made a trip to Lincoln cathedral for a charity concert. Hearing Lee's beautiful voice soaring through a medieval cathedral was something else, warming my heart, despite the fact my feet were near frozen to the stone floor. Then this year Lee Mead amazed the critic by not returning to the West End but by starring in his first play instead - Lord Arthur Saville's Crimes, based on a story by Oscar Wilde. Lee played the sweet, slightly naive Lord Arthur who is led to believe that in order to marry his sweetheart Sybil he must commit a murder. Lee rose to the occasion magnificently, posh accent and all, with so much dialogue I couldn't believe he was even able to remember it all, proving that not only can he sing, he can act as well.
Then, after he'd finished the play during a busy nine days Lee became a dad, and did all the rehearsals both for both his upcoming concert tour and his part of Prince Fiyero in Wicked. How he managed it all at the same time, I'll never know.
I first saw Wicked only 7 days after he'd started the show. To be honest I'd never fancied seeing it before because I never liked the Wizard of OZ, but Wicked is far removed from the story of Dorothy and Toto. It is the story of the two witches Elphaba, supposedly the bad witch and Glinda, supposedly the good witch, and their love for Fiyero. I loved the show from start to finish, and the amazing performances by Rachael Tucker(A contestant in the Andrew Lloyd Webber Nancy show) and Louis Dearman, as well as lovely Lee of course. Lee first appears dressed in incredibly tight white breeches, with no VPL that shows off the rear of the year to perfection, and long boots. I'm a sucker for a man in boots and breeches!
He sings 'Dancing Through Life' and performs an athletic, somewhat balletic dance, as he springs around the stage. I never knew Lee could dance like that - is there anything this guy cannot do? Fiyero's part is big enough but not as large as the two girls but he makes a very believable prince and he looks so damn handsome you can well understand why they both fall in love with him. His romantic duet with Rachael is perfection- you could well believe he's in love with her, and when he swings heroically across the stage on a rope, rifle in hand, the audiences' roar of approval is understandable. All in all an amazing show I would thoroughly recommend. Wicked has a cult following and I do hope it brings a younger audience to appreciate the perfect talents of Lee Mead.
In May Lee also opened his concert tour in Southend his home town in front of a rapturous audience, singing songs from his album, some standards that I love and a few musical theatre songs. He bounded onto the stage to sing 'Paint it Black' and from that moment on I was undone. I wasn't so sure he'd handle all the chat between songs but he rose to the occasion magnificently and held the audience in the palm of his hand. Talking about himself, parts of his life, his wife and his baby daughter Betsy. Then there was his singing - his rendition of 'Kiss' not only sounded brilliant but his sexy dancing turned every woman in the theatre on. That guy sure knows how to work an audience. 'Close Every Door' was as ever magnificent (no one sings that song better than Lee) . 'Anthem' was hauntingly beautiful and then we had a song he sang with Keith on 'Any Dream Will Do'. I've always wanted to her him sing 'Jesus Christ Superstar' on his own, and that was worth the cost of the ticket alone. 'Beyond the Sea', better than Bobby Darin and 'When You say Nothing At All', dedicated to his wife, was awesome in contrast to Ronan's rendition of the song. Lee puts his own stamp on every song he sings. A standing ovation at the end was to be expected and even though he had to return to London to star in Wicked the very next day, he still took to time to talk to and sign autographs for the hordes and hordes of people waiting at the stage door.
I was lucky enough to catch his concert again when he appeared in Basingstoke and this time it was even better. Long may he continue to tour....please

New Beginnings Old Friends

Just finished a heap of edits for Savage Kingdom. I really love revisiting the fantasy world I created. I've never written about the two main characters Nerya and Jaden before, but if you've read my previous books Savage Surrender and Wild Kingdom then you will recognize Rianna and her handsome husband Tarn of Kabra. Also Sarin, once Tarn's greatest enemy reappears. In fact a number of characters from my other two books crop up in places.
This will not be Jaden's and Nerya's only outing together. If all goes well their tale will continue in Dark Kingdom.
Speaking of continuing stories I also hope to revisit the characters from Barbarian Prize at some time in the future.
Keep watching for further news.

Deanna

Ad in Variety today Legend of the Seeker

There is a full page ad in today's Variety asking for a new network or TV station to think of airing Season Three of Legend of the Seeker. For whatever reason, money or otherwise, ABC/Disney have so far failed to find US stations to air the show in the fall...autumn to my UK readers! As I've said before this show is epic, exciting and sexy. The chances are it won't get renewed unless it gets more viewers and more publicity. I can only emphasize, the male lead Craig Horner, who plays Richard Cypher, the Seeker, is seriously cute, has a great body
and I have no wish for him to disappear from my TV screen. Not only that he'd a great actor.....so how can you resist him? What we need to do is raise the profile of Legend of the Seeker in the US and get more people to watch the show.

Link to save the seeker as on my previous posts about the show.

Don't disappoint me folks, how can I keep writing without having Craig to look at to give me inspiration?

Deanna

Save Legend of the Seeker

As I have mentioned before my favourite programme of all time has to be Legend of the Seeker, now it looks very likely the show may be cancelled. It is a long complicated story that I won't bore you with, but if you haven't seen the show, please make an effort to do so. It airs on SyFy in the UK and on various TV stations in the States and about 100 countries around the world. There has been nothing like it on TV before and the two gorgeous leads are buff, handsome Craig Horner and the beautiful, elegant Bridget Regan.
It is filmed in the beautiful countryside of New Zealand, with may of the same stunties, crew and locations as Lord of the Rings. The music has already won an Emmy and the story is epic... there is a hero on a quest, great swordfights, magic and mystery and one of the greatest love stories ever to appear in fantasy, with amazing chemistry between the two lead actors. In fact I could go on and on about it forever. You can catch many glimpses of it on U Tube and if you are in the USA you can watch it on HULA.
You just have to see the Mord Sith, sexy women clad in red leather who torture and kill for the evil villain Darken Rhal. Talk about S & M! The hero almost gets tortured to death in the First series episode, Denna, but the Mord Sith, Denna is so sexy you've got to admire her and it is clear that she fancies her captive. I love the hero, Richard in that episode even more, Craig Horner's acting is just wonderful.
The series is based on the best selling Sword of Truth Books by Terry Goodkind, and produced by ABC/Disney.
I have enjoyed shows before and been disappointed when they were cancelled but I have never actively fought for a show before, but I am fighting for this one to continue.
Deanna

Go to http://legendoftheseeker.org/ to see how you can help save the show

Viva Las Vegas

Just got back from Las Vegas. Stopped off there for five days on my way home from Hawaii. Everyone told me it was big, but I never expected it to be that massive! My hotel was the Bellagio and it took ages just to walk from reception to the lifts/elevators up to the room. The hotel was way bigger than Terminal 5 at Heathrow - and that is megga big guys. Haven't walked so much for ages, just to get from hotel to hotel.
The white lions and tigers at the Mirage were beautiful creatures...the Forum shopping at Caesars Palace- amazing. Five days isn't really enough to see even half of the place, but we managed Freemont Street as well - which has to be seen to be believed, and then there was the helicopter!!!!!
As it took off I realized what an insane idea it had been to fly by helicopter to the Grand Canyon, especially on such a windy day, but at least the pilot was tall, blond and reasonably good looking . I was forced to sit next to him, so it was easier at times to keep an eye on him...just to make sure he looked at ease as the helicopter bumped its way over the Nevada desert. We landed "MASH" style on the rocky shore of the Colorado river, deep within the canyon and I immediately downed two glasses of champagne, just to settle my nerves of course.
Now I'm home and it is back to work on my edits for Savage Kingdom and my new book set in ancient Rome.
Deanna

ALOHA

Just a quick note from Hawaii, where I'm on vacation. It is beautiful here and the weather is glorious. I'm sitting gazing at a beautiful beach pondering on the plot of my next book. If you've never visited Hawaii and you get the chance, and you can rustle up the cash, please do so. It is definitely worth it.

I'm still managing to keep up with my favourite TV shows while I'm here - love HULA - which we don't have access to in the UK. Damnation! If that volcano in Iceland keeps erupting I may never get to go home- shame, but there it is....

One note, if you've read my previous posts you'll know I'm a great Legend of the Seeker fan. At present there has been no word as to whether season three will go ahead. Apparently one of its major distributors Tribune Entertainment are in deep shit...sorry financial trouble. Consequently ABC/Disney have to find another home for the show. Anyone who wants to have a hand in trying to save the show should log onto one of the many Legend of the Seeker websites or go to
http://saveourseeker.info/.

Sorry I'm useless at doing links and my resident techie isn't in Hawaii.

See you all soon with more news of Savage Kingdom.

Deanna

Sam Worthington is everywhere

Well this is rather an overstatement, but for the life of me I cannot comprehend what casting directors see in this guy. He seems quite pleasant, he is an Aussie, and he is a good enough actor but to me he just doesn't have that ephemeral thing, that no one can quite put their fingers on, called star quality.
Heroes need that, for sure they do.
Sam was fine enough in the last Terminator movie and he was okay in Avatar - a brilliant movie. There it was his Na'vi alter ego that was the star of the film for me.
However, I have just seen Clash of the Titans and a a crew cut guy with an Aussie accent didn't do it for me. He was just so, so wrong for the part and looked totally out of place with the rest of the cast and there wasn't even the faintest sparkle of star quality - this guy was supposed to be a demi-god after all. Not only should he have looked like one, he should have sounded like one as well. Also this film was initially made in 2D and converted to 3D and it doesn't work in 3D for me. At times you get double images as if a copy of a person is layered underneath the original image. It is good fun, go see if if you like that sort of thing, but don't pay the extra for 3D it just isn't worth it and when it didn't quite work I found it extremely irritating.
Deanna

What's happened to TV?

It wasn’t so long ago when I used to look forward to the new season of my favourite TV shows but times are changing it appears. Now my TV screen is stuffed full of boring reality shows – with the odd gem such as Any Dream Will Do, of course! If you scroll back through my old posts you will discover I am a fan of Lee Mead. Nevertheless, as far as my old favourites are concerned most are disappointing me and most of the new ones don’t turn out to be nearly as good as I expected…

LOST… they have lost the plot completely on this one it seems to me. I used to love it but now it has reached the final season it can’t finish soon enough for me and get these ridiculous plot lines wrapped up in a comprehensive fashion- somehow I doubt that! Now we have each episode concentrating on one character, showing their life on the island and their life as it would have been if Jacob hadn’t poked his nose in. The only reason that keeps me turning on is the delicious former bad boy, Sawyer, played by the scrumptious Josh Holloway.

24…It is nearly over for 24. Fox has announced this is the last season. I agree, just how many terrorists plots to blow up parts of the USA can Jack be expected to stop. It is getting annoyingly repetitive. Also Jack Bower has mellowed and isn’t as unpredictable as he used to be. That’s exactly what I liked about him. If I recall correctly he chopped off some guys hand in season One. Nevertheless, one thing that did surprise me this week was what Dana did next! That came out of left field. Before this she had been getting on my nerves; she was becoming as irritating as whingy daughter Kim in the first few series. Now it appears she is on the side of the terrorists! I am sure Jack will save the day one again but please don’t kill him off. I want him to have him a long and happy retirement, preferable married to Renee, being the perfect granddad in LA.

FRINGE…still okay but then it is only season two. Walter Bishop is the character who makes it for me.

NCIS…. Still going strong in the States with massive viewing figures. What frustrates me most is Tony DiNozzo played by the cute Michael Weatherly. I loved Michael in Dark Angel, but his character in this show is so damn irritating most of the time, and a hunky hero should not be irritating. He is so juvenile yet he is supposed to be a great agent. Please let him grow up.

GRAY’S ANATOMY/ HOUSE… no opinion, I don’t watch medical shows. I gave them both a try but they didn’t pique my interest in any way.

SADLY MISSED SHOWS….Angel/Farscape/Battlestar Galactica

Now for the future!!!!

V…Looks promising. I liked the original V mini-series and even the TV series, although the aliens did become way too campy. Bitchfest between Diana and Lydia. Why oh why did they just show 4 episodes and then have a 6 months hiatus – weird decision that.

CAPRICA…so, so disappointing. I was looking forward to seeing how the Cylons first came to be and evolved but all we get is Zoë and her irritating family and friends. A total turn off for me – it has none too good ratings – yet it has already been renewed.

FLASH FORWARD…not bad, still deciding.

SPARTICUS Blood and Sand….Due to be shown on Bravo this summer, it had copious amounts of blood and brutality, and lots of naked/ semi naked bodies. It is Rome with swords and gladiators, but I am enjoying it. Scripts have got better after the first 2 episodes.

TORCHWOOD/DR WHO… I love Captain Jack, but he may be a while returning as he is visiting Wisteria Lane at present. We have a new Dr WHO. Can he replace David Tennant, we will have to see.

THIS IS WHAT I CLASS AS THE DESSERT. My motto - “Always save the best until last,” so these too shows are the best as far as I am concerned...

First there is SUPERNATURAL...scary just got sexy…whoopee. Great show, great cast, brilliant stories. Jensen and Jared two seriously cute guys. I fell for Jensen initially in Dark Angel and his old character there is similar to Dean Winchester in ways. We have dark scary monsters, even Lucifer and we also have Angels, some being seriously bad guys – great idea. Dean ending up in hell at the end of season 3, that was awesome and done so well. They have still to avert the apocalypse (Dean and Sam will do it guys, they always do) but after that we now have season 6 to look forward to as well. This is one of the best shows on TV.

DRUM ROLL HERE… my favourite TV show is – LEGEND OF THE SEEKER. What! I hear loads of you say, because this show seems to have gone under the radar somehow, and this show is SO, SO underrated and there is nothing remotely like it on TV. It comes from the same stable as Hercules and Xena but there the resemblance ends. Legend of the Seeker is no tongue in the cheek parody; it is a fantasy in every sense of the word. It is also an exciting adventure story with a beautiful romance which cements it together. The two leads have brilliant chemistry, the cinematography and locations are stunning – it is filmed in New Zealand and unsurprisingly a large amount of the production staff worked on Lord of the Rings. The costumes are great, no plastic chain mail and swords aka Merlin and the music by Joseph LoDuca has already won an Emmy.

The hero, Richard (The seeker) is played by the pecksilicious Craig Horner and his beautiful and mysterious companion Kahlan is played by the beautiful and statuesque Bridget Regan. Add into the mix a wizard, Zedd, played by Bruce Spence (Mad Max, Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit) and a deliciously nasty villain called Darken Rahl, Craig Parker, who is also good looking and charming. Season One really hit its stride with episode Eight Denna. Richard is captured and tortured by a Mord’Sith ( They are leather clad women who live to torture and serve Lord Rahl) Craig’s performance in this is stunning. From then on the show just got better and better, with barely any disappointments. Now we are halfway through Season Two and they have added a sexy Mord'Sith to the mix and the show has risen to even greater heights. Note you can see it on the SciFi channel in the UK.

By the way did I mention that Craig Horner is so deliciously ripped you can’t take your eyes of his chest, and has abs to die for. Thank god the writers find lots of opportunities for him to take off his shirt, and the chemistry between him and Bridget both on and off screen is great. PLEASE TRY TO CATCH THIS SHOW IF YOU CAN…more people need to know about it.

Deanna

Hello SAMHAIN!

Virgin closed the door on Black Lace towards the end of last year and I waved my editor Adam off to, hopefully, greener pastures. I am now pleased, well absolutely delighted to be honest, to say that my first book with SAMHAIN will come out in September 2010.

It is the longest book I've ever written so far, some 125,00 words. I admit that the vast majority of my books were far longer than the permitted 75,000 word max for Black Lace and had to be cut, which I hated, but I was never allowed to indulge myself as I have for Savage Kingdom. It is set in the same fantasy world as two of my former books - Savage Surrender and Wild Kingdom - hence the title! Whispers here - I've always had problems with titles but oddly enough coming up with this one was incredibly easy.

Savage Kingdom tells the story of Nerya a young woman from the kingdom of Freygard and Jaden, a handsome warrior. They find themselves forced to work together in difficult circumstances and thus their adventure begins... I can't say much more without giving something away, but the lands they come from face a fearsome enemy and there will be many trials ahead from them both.

More about Savage Kingdom, and the other books I am working on in the weeks ahead.

Deanna

I am still here...Just

Over the last couple of years my writing has taken somewhat of a back seat for a multitude of different reasons, most of which will only be of interest to folks who know me, not as a writer, but as a friend or relative.

All I will say is that after a couple of months in a wheelchair and then a fair amount of time on crutches you find you look at life in a very different way. Still I have managed to fit in some fun times. Attending both Proms in the Park and an Andrew Lloyd Webber concert in Hyde Park in a wheelchair was interesting. No sitting on damp grass for me, but a seat just in front of the VIP area with a brilliant view to boot. Not bad at all really. In fact I managed to go to a number of events with relative ease, although I dodn't think my other half found it so easy pushing me around all the time!!

Since then I've lost a beloved pet - my sweet 16 year old King Charles Spaniel- seen the demise of Black Lace and my editor Adam go on to pastures new. Also Lust Bites has finished. I know there were a lot of LB fans out there but it wasn't always easy to find something pertinent to erotic writing to blather on about. Here on my own blog I can talk about anything, as long as it doesn't break any libel laws of course. Talking about Lust Bites does remind me of one of my old posts on the site... Men In Chains. So I thought the picture above might be especially pertinent. It is from my most favourite TV programme Legend of the Seeker, an episode entitled Denna.

Never fear, however, if you ever were worried of course! I am writing again and have just signed up with Samhain. More news on that at a later date, and some updates on what is interesting me at present.

Samhain Publishing