Thursday, July 1, 2010

Guest author Lissa Matthews…plus a contest!

by Cara McKenna


I'm beyond excited to have Lissa Matthews guest blogging with us today! Her story Simple Need is one of my absolute favorite erotic novellas from Ellora's Cave, and I believe she was the first author I sought out to stalk on Twitter. The stalking ultimately didn't succeed, since she knows about me and everything and doesn't seem particularly threatened, so now I get to call her a friend instead, which is even better. A sexy, sexy friend.

Contest time! In honor of Lissa's newest release, Carnal Ecstasy, which is out tomorrow, I've invited her here to share a couple steamy excerpts, answer some fan-girl questions, and give away a copy of tomorrow's release—as well as a copy of the fantastic Simple Need, Carnal Ecstasy's related but non-sequentially dependent predecessor—to lucky, random commenters. I'm also going to throw in a $5 gift card to Good Vibrations, just to sweeten the pot.

* * * * *
Contest is now closed! The lucky winners are as follows: Cathy scored a copy of Carnal Ecstasy. Elain scored a copy of Simple Need. Cecile scored a $5 gift card to Good Vibrations. I'll be in touch with each of you via e-mail straight away. Congratulations and thanks for participating!
* * * * *

Let's start with a Q&A, then on to the excerpts!

Cara McKenna: Could you paint us a picture of how you write? Where, what time of day, chronological or helter-skelter, daily word count goals, an accompanying vice—coffee? wine? TV droning in the background?


Lissa Matthews: I wish I could paint you a picture of how I write. I wish I could paint ME a picture of how I write. Sometimes I write best under pressure and sometimes I don't. I like to keep busy though.

I write in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings. I write during the week and on weekends. I am usually working on 2 books consistently at the same time. I have word count goals for myself, somewhere between 1500 and 3000 a day. I am okay with 1500 and thrilled with 3K.

I have to have a drink. Water, coffee, soda, tea. I sometimes have my gray Kyle Busch hoodie on. And I generally have to have the MP3 player with me.

CM: Are you the type of author whose characters drag her around, dictating their own stories, or do you generally know how a book's going to unfold before you begin?

LM: I am the kind of author whose characters beat her into submission so they can tell the story they want to tell. I plan out the second half of the book once I get halfway. I have a general idea of the first half in my head when I start writing for the most part, though there are times where a phrase or idea will hit and I just dive in head first. I always though, always know how I want it to end.

CM: Which of your published or contracted stories was the most difficult to write? Which came the easiest? Is there a particular part of the writing process you find the most challenging? What aspect of it just flows for you?

LM: Oddly enough, most of the time, writing the sex is a struggle. I'd rather be having the sex than writing it. Grins… I loved writing Sweet Caroline and Simple Need. Both of those just flowed from beginning to end. Dialogue, introspection, arguing…those come fairly easy for me. I hear it in my head and I write exactly what I hear. Yes, I obviously listen to the voices… Beginnings of the books flow, ends…not so much.

CM: I love all the heroes I write, but I've only written one so far who I'd actually want to date myself, if he were a real guy. So firstly, who's your favorite hero you've written, and secondly, could you see yourself involved with any of your fictional men, if we weren't saddled with the burdens of husbands and, oh, reality?

LM: Let's see, Jack from Educating Rose, Aidn from Pink Buttercream Frosting, Vinter from Simple Need…all of those heroes are based on real men I've known. I didn't change anything about their personalities, I simply wrote them as I saw them in my mind in those situations. I absolutely love Buck from Sweet Caroline and I… Well, Hell, I love all my heroes. I'd date any of them, too. I'd date them all at once. Oh yeah, I would date them all at once…

CM: What's your favorite way to get the creativity flowing on a day when you might not be feeling like the greatest literary genius ever to live? Walking? Music? A good old fashioned schizophrenic-author chat with your characters?

LM: I don't EVER feel like the greatest literary genius ever to live. Reading. If I don't feel like writing, I'll read. I'll watch movies, romantic comedies, romantic dramas, or some of my faves that I can watch at anytime, Wonder Boys, Something's Gotta Give, LOTR, Pirates of the Caribbean… If that doesn't work, I'll start on a new project, something that I've been thinking about writing. I'll also cook. I love to cook and it always helps the juices start flowing. The creative juices… Get your minds out of the gutter on this one!

CM: Could you tell us about your current works-in-progress?

LM: Currently, I am working on the second Blue Jeans and Hard Hats book, Cracklin' Rosie. A Christmas book titled Arrested Holiday along with the second book to follow Stick Shift. I am also working on the third book to follow tomorrow's release, Carnal Ecstasy, from Ellora's Cave.

I am not working on them all at the same time, but I am working on them all. Does that make sense?

I have so many books planned through next year and some that aren't planned at all but that I want to write. This is my dream come true, being an author, being published, having readers like my work. I put in long, long hours and work diligently on each and every book. I write for three awesome publishers and have the most amazing editors that an author could want who are encouraging, supportive, will talk me down off the I Want To Quit ledge, and then ask me what I'm working on next.

I'm totally in love with this job. And it is a job, but it's the best one around.

CM: Summer plans?

LM: Writing. Day trips with my kids. More writing. A few naps. More writing. Teaching my daughter how to drive. And still more writing after that…

CM: Fabulous. Especially all the parts where you're writing! Whip-crack! (Or should be WIP-crack?)


Now, for everyone's reading pleasure, blurbs and excerpts! Super-steamy ones involving coffee and waffles. If there are two things you're guaranteed when you read Lissa's stories, they're delightfully nonstandard characters and sudden, violent food cravings.


Carnal Ecstasy (out tomorrow, July 2!)

Blurb:

When good girls go bad, very, very bad…

The minute Carrie meets tattooed, bad-boy bartender Dallon, her decision is made. He’s the one, her ticket to freedom and a new, independent life. She’s tired of dictates and zero dates and following the path laid out before her by her well-meaning-but-completely-out-of touch-with-her-reality religious parents.

Dallon sees the buttoned-up, full-of-curves woman outside the grocery store and feels the flames of hell licking at his heels. When she asks him for directions to the large, nearby university where she’s starting work, his gut-twisting lust for her doesn’t diminish, but those flames start to singe his tough-as-nails hide.

With Dallon’s promise of not sleeping with anyone associated with the university his father is the dean of about to go up in smoke, Carrie takes the first exit off the Heavenly Highway straight onto Sin Street. She wants Dallon to teach her all the things a good girl should never know, and she won’t take Hell no for an answer.

Reader Advisory: What Dallon does with a beer bottle may be illegal in forty-eight out of fifty states…and at least two territories.


Excerpt:

She was exploring and didn’t know her own limits yet… “Damn, girl.”

She looked up and smiled at him. His cock shaft stretched her lips wide but there was a smile in her eyes. “Get up, c’mon.”

His dick screamed at him but he ignored the pain. He didn’t want to lose it his first time with her like this. It never mattered for shit before, but with her it mattered a whole hell of a lot. He wanted it in his bed.

Reluctantly she let him tug her up and he thrust his tongue in her mouth in a hard, smashing kiss. He felt the cold chill of the water and turned it off, stepping out of the shower stall with her in tow.

“Did I do something wrong?”

He dried his hair. “Nope. You were perfect.”

“You made me stop.” She bent forward and wrapped the towel he gave her around her hair like a turban. He never quite understood how to do that.

“Not because of anything you did wrong, kitten.”

In his bedroom, he pulled on a pair of jeans and a faded t-shirt. She followed and it hit him that she didn’t have a change of clothes. She’d be wearing one his shirts. She didn’t have a toothbrush either or… “You didn’t bring anything with you when you came last night, did you?”

“No. I didn’t think you’d… I didn’t think I’d be staying.” She sat naked on the end of his bed, unfurled the towel and held it in her lap. Her hair was a riotous mess of curls. How odd he hadn’t noticed those before. She’d had straight hair when he first met her and when she came to him last night. “Yeah, I use a straightener. My mother always said curly hair would make men have untoward thoughts about me.”

What a fucking crock. “Maybe she was right. I have very untoward thoughts about you right now, but then I had those thoughts when I thought your hair was straight, so nah. It’s got nothing to do with the curls.”

He tossed her a shirt from the dresser. “Thanks. I’m a little embarrassed.”

“Why?”

She shrugged and put the shirt on. He was irritated to see her tits disappear behind the gray material. Her thighs were pressed together all too tightly and the blush that stained her cheeks pissed him off. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to act. I didn’t even think you’d want me, much less let me stay the night. I didn’t think to pack an overnight bag and…” She shrugged again.

“Do you want to go home?”

Her eyes snapped up to his face and she shook her head. “No.”

“Then don’t feel bad about not having anything to wear. Don’t feel bad about anything, least of all coming here and laying it out to me about what you wanted.” He knelt in front of her, slid his hands up her thighs, unable to keep from touching her, from reaching for that piece of heaven she was hiding from him right then. “You’re strong and have a ton of courage. I didn’t want you here last night. I wanted you to leave, but not because I didn’t want you. I wanted you too much and knew that if we started we weren’t gonna stop for a few days. You showed up though, you offered yourself to me and there was no way I could or would say no.”

“Do you have a lot of women spend the night?”

Honesty or another little white lie? “Sometimes, but it’s usually because they’re too drunk and we just fall out after sex.”

“Do they bring overnight bags?”

She was so cute, this woman. So unsure of herself, of what the right thing to do or say was, but so damn cute. “No, kitten, they don’t. They just put on whatever they wore the night before and leave. Often before I wake up.”

“Do you ever see them again?”

Damn, nothing like straight and to the point. “No.”

“Okay.”

He saw how her eyes dimmed at that one word and though he didn’t want to, couldn’t give her any kind of hope that he’d be seeing her after today, he didn’t like to be the cause of her feeling rejected. “Don’t. Don’t compare yourself to them. There’s a lot you don’t know, a lot you haven’t done. We’re not finished and you’re not leaving yet.”

And just like that, she smiled. It was small but reached her eyes. It was enough. “Oh. What are we going to do?”

Did she want the list in alphabetical order? Ass-fucking. Bondage. Cock-sucking. Defilement. Eat… “We’re going to have breakfast. C’mon. You’re gonna need your strength.”

She stood when he took her hand. The shirt fell to just below her ass and that shirt was now his favorite. Anytime he looked at it, he’d see her. Hot damn.

“I’ve never had a man make breakfast for me before.”

“I’m not making breakfast. That’s Vinter’s specialty.”

“Vinter?”

“One of the other owners of the bar. He makes killer breakfast.”

“What do you cook?”

“I don’t. I make drinks.” He grinned. “I can make awesome coffee too.”

“Awesome coffee? Is that code for something?”

Dallon laughed. “No. A few years ago, I worked as a barista in a little coffee dive and learned how to make it.”

“You can make the lattes and cappuccinos and all?”

“I can. Want one?”

“I’ve never had one.”

He had to grind his teeth to keep from yelling. Much as he understood what it was like to be sheltered and not allowed to experience anything of the world, he was a little pissed at the fact she’d never tasted something as simple as a latte. Why did parents do that? Hers, his. What was the point? There was no sheltering from evil but from life itself and it really grated on his nerves. “I’m sorry.”

No wonder she was willing to lay it all out. No wonder she was open to stripping down and lying back on a pool table. She’d been told “No” all her life and she was finally in a position to say yes. He just…she needed someone to guide her, watch out for her as she took these chances, made these choices.

In the eyes of reality, she was incredibly naïve. She was strong, had her own mind, her own thoughts, but she was naïve.

At the same time, he didn’t know anyone else he trusted enough, other than himself, to introduce her to, who he would feel comfortable seeing her with. She could make her choices about what she liked and wanted to experiment with, but there had to be someone, male or female, there for her who knew the ways of the real world, because when the good, religious girls fell, they fell hard.

[end excerpt]



Simple Need (available now)

Blurb:

Vinter is not your typical businessman. Tattoos, piercings and not a suit and tie in sight. One-third owner of a bar and a tattoo parlor along with being a bassist in a band, Vinter comes and goes as he pleases. He likes his beer cold, his music hard and his women scorching hot. Until he’s knocked off his game by a suburban doll he can’t stop wanting.

Elise needs a change. In men. The buttoned-up businessmen she’s been dating leave a lot to be desired—in romance, in respect and most definitely in sex. A recent text message from her now ex-lover drives Elise into a popular bar on the outside of town, where she meets one of its owners. He’s just the kind of man she’s never had and definitely the kind she’s always fantasized about. Big, bad and oh so naughty.

Unexpected tenderness. Unimaginable lust. Being dumped has never felt so damn good.


Excerpt:

Where had this woman she was becoming been hiding?

He cleared his throat. “Go have a seat over at the bar.”

There was more to come, she was sure of it. She slowly let go of the counter and went to settle herself on a barstool. She was both frustrated at his having stopped touching her and grateful for the cushioned seat against her bare bottom. He’d turned back to his tasks, opened the waffle iron, took more waffles out, and put them on a platter. “It smells wonderful.” And it did. She was having a hard time now that he’d walked away, deciding which she wanted first and more…the food or the man.

“Thanks. It’s my own recipe. I’ve been told I make great breakfasts. I can’t do much else in the kitchen beyond sandwiches and opening beer bottles.”

He placed bacon on a paper towel to drain before he put it on the platter and placed it in front of her. He stepped back to grab the tub of butter. She was suddenly famished and ready to dig in by the time he joined her.

He turned his eyes on her and raked her body up and down, every inch, leaving a fiery trail behind. “Dig in, baby, and eat as much as you want ’cause I intend for us to work it off.”

Heat flooded her cheeks at his lascivious grin and the images forming in her mind.

He put three waffles on her plate and four on his own, followed by a few slices of bacon for each of them. She’d never eaten three waffles in all her life, but damn, they smelled heavenly. He used butter heavily and lots of syrup, and when he offered to pour syrup on hers, she declined with her hands over her plate. She’d like to actually taste the food and not just the liquid sugar.

“Sorry it took me so long, you know, in the shower and all. I checked my cell after I got out and had a few voice mails and missed calls.” She buttered her waffles and poured less than half the amount of syrup over them that he had. The first bite was heaven and she moaned around the chewing of it. Vanilla, citrus flavors, and something else she couldn’t figure out burst in her mouth, but it was likely the best waffle she’d ever had. It had slight crunch on the outside, but was soft and fluffy on the inside. He really was good at this.

“No problem. Everything okay?”

He spoke around a mouthful of waffles and damn if she didn’t find that sexy about him, too. Everything he did only made her want him more. She wanted to have lunch with him, drink a beer with him, watch a game on television curled up next to him. She wanted to spend time with him and she wondered at that, given that she’d just been dumped. Was she trying to replace one person with another? As she looked at him, she dismissed the idea as absurd. She wasn’t replacing her old lover with Vinter, she was simply following her gut.

Her gut. It was finally speaking to her. About fucking time, too.

“Yeah. They were from…him.”

“Dumbass.” He muttered the word under his breath as he took another bite of waffles, this time with a bite of bacon as well.

She just smiled at his comment and continued eating her own breakfast. With each subsequent bite, her opinion about the waffles didn’t change. Would he share the recipe? Would he trade for it? She’d be willing to perform any sexual favor for him in exchange for it. She smiled inwardly at the thought. Doing anything sexual for him or with him was reward enough, waffle recipe or no waffle recipe.

“Why did he call?”

She caught a bit of syrup on the tip of her tongue that was about to fall from the end of her fork. “Wanted to talk. Said he felt bad about how things ended.”

“From what you said, things didn’t end, he ended them. And he should feel bad. He deserves to have his sorry ass kicked. You don’t break up with a woman in a text message. That’s just fucking cowardly.”

As he spoke, his hands had fisted, one around the fork, the other on his thigh. Tension floated off his body in waves. His cock was rock-hard beneath his jeans too. He was angry and he wanted sex. Lust spiked through her, settling between her legs. The delicious waffles, forgotten. “Vinter.”

She said his name softly and he turned his head. Purposely, she lifted her fork over one breast and let the syrup drip down on her flesh. “Fuck me.”

It was the first time she’d been so bold without him coaxing her into it and he took the offering without hesitation. “Spread your legs, and hook your feet into the bottom rungs.”

He wanted her spread wide and it was exhilarating, freeing. And then he dropped to his knees and buried his face against her pussy. Lips and teeth and tongue all conspired to drive her insane from the moment he touched her. He lifted her legs over his shoulders, then pulled her ass toward him, fully latching on to her cunt lips. He sucked and nipped and licked.

When he lifted his head, his mouth was glistening with her juices. “Lick that syrup off your tit. Let me see your tongue on your skin, on your nipple.”

Oh man. The way the word tit rolled off his tongue, so smooth, so naughty had her sex tingling in need. This was something else she hadn’t done before.

“Do it. Show me the naughtiness in you. Give me everything, Elise.”

She did. She so wanted to show him what he wanted, what he was asking. She so wanted to give him everything he spoke of and then some. She lifted her breast in her hand and lowered her head, her tongue snaking out, licking at the stickiness. It was sweet, but with his eyes burning hot, it was sweeter in more ways than one.

She took her nipple between her teeth and pulled on it, tugged on it, drew it into her mouth and suckled. Arousal slid down low through her belly and flooded her wide-open pussy and she wiggled.

“Oh yeah, baby. That’s beautiful. Now, don’t let go of it until I say.”

With her mouth full, she couldn’t answer in any way other than to nod her head. Her nipple pebbled, firmed, and when she teased it, she moaned in pleasure.

“Bite down on it. Yeah, just like that. So sexy. Damn girl, you’re bad. I love it.”

[end excerpt]


Damn, I'm craving me some waffles now.

Okay, contest rules are simple—leave a comment for Lissa by 10am EST tomorrow (Friday) and I'll pull a random name for each book and one for the gift card! I'll be back at that time tomorrow, right here, to announce the winners and get them in touch with Lissa or myself to claim their booty.

* * * * *
Contest is now closed! The lucky winners are as follows: Cathy scored a copy of Carnal Ecstasy. Elain scored a copy of Simple Need. Cecile scored a $5 gift card to Good Vibrations. I'll be in touch with each of you via e-mail straight away. Congratulations and thanks for participating!
* * * * *

For now, a huge thanks to Lissa Matthews for visiting and sharing! I'm wishing her many thousands of new words this summer, and a fun, relaxed release day! Oh, and fingers crossed for those driving lessons.

Also, be sure to check out:
Lissa's blog
Lissa's website

See you here tomorrow, and good luck!

29 comments:

Cecile Smutty Hussy said...

**Waves like a lunatic to Ms. Lissa**

This is a great interview ladies!!! I have to say that Ms Lissa's story freaking rock apples!!!!!!!!!!

And umm... Yeah, I would date Buck!! LOL!! I really enjoy what you teased us with!!!!

Carnal Ecstasy sounds delightfully wicked!!!!! Congrats on your release Ms. Lissa!!!!!!

Hot Ash Romance Novels said...

Congratulations on the new release, Lissa, and thanks for sharing with us!

Ash

Cari Quinn said...

Hi Lissa. :) I loved Simple Need, so please just enter me in the other two contests. Great interview! I can't wait to read more of Lissa's work.

Savannah Stuart said...

Welcome to Naughty Author Chicks and congrats on your upcoming release!! I loved Simple Need and Carnal Ecstasy sounds just as hot :) Something about those tattooed menz!

Michelle Polaris said...

Lissa, I'm so glad you joined us. The books sounded fantastic. I wanted to head out to Vintners ASAP. The interview was very amusing too. Good luck with the newest release and your summer plans.

Sherry said...

Your new book sounds hot and the interview was great. Simple Needs is one of my favorite books and I've read it over and over. I would love to see or meet the men that you use as the inspiration for your books. I had read somewhere before that Vinter is based on someone you know now if the real man is anything like him I would really like to meet him. He sounds like my fantasy man. I love your books.

sstrode@scrtc.com

elaing8 said...

Great interview.I loved the excerpts.
And Congrats on today's release Lissa.

Ever since Lissa was introduced to me(thanks Cecile) I read her books as fast as I can get them.

Simple Need has been on my radar and Carnal Ecstasy sounds super hot.looking forward to reading them both.

Lissa Matthews said...

Thanks for the welcome and for all the kind words on my books.

Vinter is a really great guy, unfortunately taken...by a woman 10 years his senior. That just made him hotter to me! I love those younger men/older women relationships...

Cara McKenna said...

How many hours 'til Carnal Ecstasy comes out now?? I'm gnawing my nails off, here! So excited to read it during the long, lazy, steamy holiday weekend.

Lissa Matthews said...

I'd say a little over 18 hours if EC gets it up by 9am! LOL...

Anonymous said...

Oi!!! Bartending got me through University.....never thought to bring a beer bottle on my dates with customers. lol!!! If I could only turn back time.

Your release sounds super hot!! Congrats.

Cecile Smutty Hussy said...

Gina, makes me look at beet bottles in a whole new light now.... And I don't even drink beer!!!!!!!

And Vinter... OH yeah.. I want him!!!

Cathy M said...

Hi Lissa,

I love your dialogue, and can't believe you struggle with the sex scenes, since they flow so perfectly in your stories.

I've had the pleasure of reading Simple Need, but would love a chance to win Carnal Ecstasy.


caity_mack at yahoo dot com

Jina Bacarr said...

Thankz for stopping by, Lissa! Yummy excerpts--going to Sunday Brunch this weekend, I'll definitely have sexy thoughts on my mind when I grab the waffles!

Congrats on your new release!

Lissa Matthews said...

So, what are we down to? 15 hours or so...LOL

Cara McKenna said...

It can't come soon enough! Incidentally, 9am tomorrow is when my holiday weekend officially begins. Happy coincidence.

Naima Simone said...

I absolutely LOVED the excerpts! Please don't enter my name in the drawing because I'm about to go buy both books right now...as soon as I hit send! I love stories where opposites attract. With sexy language, hot sex and tenderness thrown in.

Great interview, Lissa and Cara! Okay, gots some downloading and reading to do!! Oh and congratulations on the new release!!

Naima Simone said...

Well dang! I guess in my excitement I missed the July 2nd part for Carnal Ecstasy! LOL! Tomorrow it is! I have Simple Need though!!

Cara McKenna said...

Oh, Naima, you are in for a treat. Damn, I love that story.

The Scarf Princess said...

These are great excerpts with the added bonus of beautiful eye candy. You say that your characters drag you around and, in all honesty, when they're that hot I'd let them drag me anywhere.

joderjo402 AT gmail DOT com

Lissa Matthews said...

See, maybe it'll even be earlier! And yeah, I don't mind my heros dragging me around by my hair when they go off on a little side tangent...LOL

Linda Henderson said...

Great interview and hot excerpts. I would love to read either of them.

seriousreader at live dot com

Anonymous said...

Hi! Great interview and thank you for the excerpts!

cories119 [at] yahoo [dot] com

Cara McKenna said...

Contest is now closed! The lucky winners are as follows: Cathy scored a copy of Carnal Ecstasy. Elain scored a copy of Simple Need. Cecile scored a $5 gift card to Good Vibrations. I'll be in touch with each of you via e-mail straight away. Congratulations and thanks for participating!

Kitty Thomas said...

Great Interview! I agree that writing sex is a struggle. It's hard I think to come off sexy instead of dorky or crude to the point it's a turn-off for a lot of people. It's a very fine line to walk.

Cecile Smutty Hussy said...

Thank you sooo much!! Congrats to the other winners!!

elaing8 said...

woo-hoo!! thank you so much.
congrats Cecile and Cathy

Dalton Diaz said...

Hi, Lyssa! Welcome to Naughty Author Chicks! Fabulous interview & excerpts. I'm drooling here! I can't believe you find sex scenes difficult to write because wow! You have it down! Congrats on the new release, too. Can't wait to read it.

Cathy M said...

Just popping in to say a huge thank you to you naughty ladies, and especially to Lissa for my copy of Carnal Ecstasy. It's already loaded up and ready to go, and the perfect read for a holiday weekend.