Will we ever get tired of watching Tom Cruise save the world? Not this girl. He does it so well! The intensity he brings to every roll he plays is phenomenal. Edge of Tomorrow is no exception.  

The time period, somewhere in the not too distant future. Aliens have attacked and the humans are fighting back and not winning. This is all shown in an opening sequence that does a nice job of quickly laying out the facts.

This movie has been compared to Groundhog Day but unlike that classic movie, Cruise's character, Major William Cage, is able to keep advancing to the future as long as he doesn't get killed. (That, and there's a lot more violence and mayhem in Edge. Not so much in GD unless you count trying to kill the rascally rodent.)

 Once Cage dies, he wakes up and starts all over again, as a private, about to launch an invasion. After the first experience, he realizes everyone in his unit will be slaughtered and the operation is a failure. He tries to warn the commanding officer, to no avail. Finally, one day during the invasion as he's trying to figure out a way to NOT die, he meets Sergeant Rita Vrataski, played well by Emily Blunt. She knows what's going on and the two work together to find and destroy the Omega, the brains behind the aliens. You can read a more detailed synopsis here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edge_of_Tomorrow_(film) 

What I enjoyed about this film was how, even though he is not trained for combat, Cage keeps using common sense to figure out how to avoid what killed him the day before. He also runs into many obstacles and has to determine what to do the next 'cycle', so the scenario is changed. How nice if we all had the chance to do this with our lives! Or, maybe not. Who's to say one path we take is better than another? Unless we're trying to save the world. In that case, I say we get as many chances as possible.

Enjoy this trailer and check out the movie in 3D. 

My winner is Stacey, chosen by Random.org. Thanks so much, everyone for participating. Have a great summer and keep reading!


Oh yeah, the heat is on now. We're in sweat-dripping-tongue-panting mode. Too hot to go outside? Stay indoors, enter a contest, read a romance book and soak up that AC.

Join me, the fabulous Jane Wakely, and a ton of other authors for this version of Romance Blog Hops with Heart. You could win one of the prizes shown in the Rafflecopter below AND, visit the other authors and enter to win one of their prizes. What a great way to spend a sizzling afternoon!
www.hopswithheart.blogspot.com

To enter the Grand Prize Giveaway, just fill out the Rafflecopter box and press enter. (One entry per person.) Winners for the Rafflecopter prizes will be chosen on Tuesday, June 24 using Random.org.

My giveaway is an eBook from my back list (anything except Her Wild Protector) or a personalized wooden heart magnet. See the picture here.  http://www.naomibellina.com/book-list-excerpts.html. (The magnet is only available to US or Canada winners, please)
These are ultra strong magnets and will easily hold papers on your refrigerator and look good doing it. I'll personalize with a name, initials, whatever you'd like. To enter, just leave me a comment below and tell me something you love about summer.

Hop on over to the next author and good luck at all the contests, and enjoy these few lines from my current WIP, when the hero first sees the heroine:

Her long legs caught his eye first. The skirt she wore wasn't overly short but the bit of flesh he could see stirred his imagination. Her blouse was modest but even from here, he could tell she had curves in all the right places. 


Full hips and large breasts turned him on. Model-type physiques did nothing for him. When a body was pressed close, he wanted to feel skin and softness, with a hint of muscle, not bones and joints. He wanted to be able to ride a woman, hard, and not end up with bruises on his stomach from a bony ass.

In my search to find places to learn about marketing my books without totally losing my little mind, I'm fortunate to have come across Marketing for Romance Writers. 

When I started scribbling romance novels, I was blown away by the amount of resources available to writers. At first it was fun and exciting. So many websites to visit, blogs to sign up for and articles to read. Yippee! I could spend hours and hours reading about marketing. After awhile I started to notice, I was spending hours and hours reading about marketing my writing and didn't have enough time left for actual writing. All the material I found had merit, but there was just so much! No way I could read everything. I had to condense.

Marketing for Romance Writers, or MFRW, has helped me tremendously. I'm on their Yahoo loop which gives me access to some of the best minds in the business. Members ask questions, give advice and share interesting tidbits of information. No promotional marketing is allowed on the Yahoo group which makes it a spam-free zone and easy to navigate. Perfect! I've picked up some great tips and tricks at MFRW. Check out this link to join. It's easy and free, two of my favorite things. Your day could be saved also.

http://marketingforromancewriters.org/

Naw, I'm just kidding. Dogs are cool too, even when they slobber a little. Since I just signed a contract for a story in an erotic cat anthology, I couldn't resist featuring Lisabet Sarai and The Eyes of Bast on my blog. Enjoy!

Channeling the Cat

It's almost a joke – the common association between authors and cats. I haven't done a systematic survey, but I would estimate that at least 75% of the authors I hosts as blog guests mention feline companions in their bios. I'm no exception. I currently have two cats who traveled with us from the United States to southeast Asia ten years ago, and who have settled in quite comfortably.

Of course, many famous writers were renowned for their close relationships with their felines.  Colette, Papa Hemingway, Jean-Paul Satre, Ray Bradbury... the list goes on and on.  The inspiration for my erotic writing career, Portia da Costa, is a huge cat lover – that's one of the things that forged a bond between us.

Many explanations have been offered for the feline-author affinity. A cat doesn't need to be walked, so we can spend our time at our desks as opposed to trucking around on the street scooping up their business. Cats are mysterious creatures with many layers of personality – rather like effective characters. Cats have an elegance and precision of movement we writers might use as a model for our prose. Many authors have cited their felines as sources of inspiration. Noted Canadian writer Robertson Davies once said “Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for the same reason.”

The other day, I was suddenly struck by a new theory. I was thinking about the fact that so many authors report hearing “voices”. “I just listen to my characters, and write down what they say,” one of my guests commented. Writing sometimes feels like something driven from outside, beyond our conscious control. Well, what if that's true?

What if it's not our characters who are dictating the story? What if it's our cats?

Ridiculous, right? But Mr. Toes sits behind my monitor most days I'm writing. He pretends to be asleep, but if I should get up for a bathroom break or a drink of water, he stirs and gives me a look, as it to say, “Where are you going? The story's not done yet!”

I grew up with cats. I grew up writing fiction. When I went off to college and then grad school, I left the felines behind, and although I wrote lots of poetry during that period, I didn't pen a single story. Then I met my husband, a confirmed ailurophile, and filled my life with felines once more. Next thing you know, I was a published author.

Ever tried to write when your cat was sick? Tough to concentrate on the tale, isn't it?

And wouldn't this explain why our characters are larger than life? Why they have so much vitality, such powerful passions, such intense adventures? How could a mere human imagine such creatures? Cats, though – they have superhuman abilities. Just ask them.

Of course to really test this, we'd all have to get rid of our felines and then see if we could still write.

That might be informative. It might restore our self-respect. But it's simply too painful to contemplate.

If I'm channeling my cats, I'm okay with that. As long as they don't want their names on the cover.

Meanwhile, I've finally written a story in which a cat has center stage. The Eyes of Bast is a shifter tale with a difference. Read on to learn more.

The Eyes of Bast by Lisabet Sarai

Paranormal/shapeshifter erotic romance
Approximately 54 pages
Published by Books We Love, Ltd.
May, 2014

Trust your heart. Follow your dreams.

Blurb:  

Shaina Williams' grandmother bequeathed her that wisdom, along with a old pendant from the Islands, carved from an ocelot's tooth. When instinct tells Shaina to visit the feral cat trap she'd set in Central Park, she listens to that inner voice. She discovers she's caged a magnificent black tom, but the cat inexplicably vanishes after she tends to his wounds. Seeking the errant feline, Shaina encounters instead a handsome stranger whose slightest touch sets her body on fire. As the day dawns after a night of ferocious passion, her mysterious lover is forced back into his true shape - the tomcat she'd rescued.  

Born a cat, Tom was transformed into an unwilling shape shifter by a sorceress who craved a human plaything to satisfy her perverse lusts. Centuries old and irresistibly powerful, Delphine Montserrat will stop at nothing to find her runaway familiar. Shaina vows to do whatever is necessary to defeat the vicious but seductive witch and save the man she believes is her soul mate – even though it might mean losing him forever.

Excerpt:
 
Go check the old elm. I swear, the voice was clear as crystal in my mind. Lack of sleep, I told myself. Or stress. The cage is still in my apartment. There won’t be anything there. But the urge to go back to the park just wouldn’t let go.

Trust your instincts. With a sigh, I turned and headed for the park, pulling my mace out of my purse as I walked.

The sky was still light enough for me to see shapes and shadows, even under the trees. As I’d expected, area beneath the elm was empty, the grass trampled from my previous visit. Of course no cats revealed themselves. If there were ferals around, they’d be hiding in the underbrush, wary of my scent and the sounds I made, despite my attempts to move quietly.

Tom wasn’t afraid of you. The thought made me ache. He’d been such a gorgeous, affectionate cat. I hoped he was okay.

“Hello.” The voice was male, low and throaty. I jumped and whirled around.

A man stood behind me, a fairly young man with sleek, dark skin and a wide, shy smile. Although his body appeared to be fit and muscular, he held himself in an awkward manner, as if he had some subtle handicap. His arms hung at his sides, his hands clenching and unclenching as though he didn’t quite know what to do with them.

I gripped my mace more tightly, although he didn’t appear at all threatening.

“Um – what are you doing here?”

“Nothing, nothing...” He shrugged and scratched the curly black locks that covered his head. “I heard your voice. I wanted to make sure you were all right.”

Had I spoken aloud? I returned his smile, still uncertain whether I should trust him. “I’m fine. Just taking a walk.”

“It’s not safe here after dark, you know.”

His earnest tone made me chuckle. I held up the can of mace. “I can take care of myself.”

Worry furrowed his high forehead. “That won’t help against some of the things that come out at night.”

A chill shot through me. I shook it away. “I was just headed home anyway.”

“Good. You should be careful.” His smile returned, melting my last vestiges of suspicion. He pronounced his English with a precision that made me wonder if he spoke something else as his native language. It wasn’t exactly an accent, but I could tell he wasn’t a native New Yorker.

“What about you?”

“Oh – I know my way around here,” he answered. He ran his fingers through his curls and arched his back a bit, as though stretching. Despite that odd awkwardness, he was lithe and graceful. A brief pang of desire shot through me. “And I have excellent night vision. Exceptionally sharp hearing, too.”

I couldn’t figure out why, but something about him felt familiar. “Have we met before?” I asked, then cringed, realizing it sounded like a pick up line. “I mean – um – I don’t mean…” Hot blood climbed into my cheeks, though the shadows were probably too dense for him detect my discomfort.

His bold laugh rang out in the growing darkness. “Maybe we have met,” he said. “I live in the neighborhood. Do you?”

“Pretty close,” I answered, alarm bells sounding in my head. No matter how handsome and charming he was, I wasn’t about to give him my address.

“Well, then, you never know. You said you were heading home. May I walk with you?” He took my arm without waiting for my permission.

“Um – actually—” His touch stopped me cold. It drove out rational thought. As if someone had turned on a faucet, hormones poured into my blood. My nipples tensed and my lower lips grew plump and slick. His fingers on my bare forearm were tipped with fire. I gasped, staring up in wonder at his strong, even features, overcome by his imminent maleness.

I wanted stretch out in the grass and pull him down on top of me. I was dying to feel his weight on my chest, his hardness probing between my thighs. Skin on skin was what I craved, with an urgency I’d never experienced in my all my twenty-eight years.

His nostrils flared and I knew he’d caught the ocean scent rising from my sex. I could smell it myself. My saturated panties and jeans were no barrier. He grinned, revealing teeth so white they gleamed in the twilight gloom. I shuddered with need, imagining those teeth tearing my flesh, and stumbled on the gravel path.

Buy Links

 Amazon US

http://amzn.com/B00KOAQCYE

 
Amazon UK

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KOAQCYE


About the Author

When I was a little girl, my dad would make up stories for my siblings and me, fabulous sagas about ghosts and monsters, magical races with mysterious powers, heroes on impossible quests, hidden treasures awaiting only the most courageous seeker. I blame him for my lifelong fascination with the magical and miraculous.

Now that I'm grown up, I create my own tales of wonder, weaving in generous portions of human desire with its potent enchantments. In my paranormal tales, love works the most powerful magick.

Find out more about me and my books at my website, Lisabet's Fantasy Factory (http://www.lisabetsarai.com) and my blog Beyond Romance (http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com). I also hang out on Goodreads (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/83387.Lisabet_Sarai) and Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/author/lisabetsarai).  I also have a VIP readers email list where I share release and contest information and run exclusive monthly giveaways. To join, just email me: lisabet [at] lisabetsarai [dot] com.

 


 

Can you read a book by June 22? If you can, and will write a review, you're in the drawing for a wonderful prize. Though I  have not yet read this book, I know one of the authors and I can pretty much say, Forbidden will be time well spent. Read below for contest entry instructions from Tracy Cooper-Posey and Julia Templeton.

To celebrate the new look, we wanted to do something with Forbidden.  We figured an ethical bribe would be just fine by you (who doesn’t want $100 to spend?).

Here are the details on the contest to win yourself a shopping spree:

1)      Read Forbidden, if you haven’t already.  (We know, reading a romance is such a hardship… J).

2)      Leave a review on Amazon, at this page: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009EFS1YE. 

a.      We really need the review to be on the Amazon.com page, not Amazon.UK/AU/DE, etc.  Putting the review on the central US site lets it filter down to all the other international sites, but it doesn’t work in reverse.

3)      Send either Julia (http://juliatempleton.com/contact/) or Tracy ([email protected]) the link to your review.

a.      Again, it’s very important you send us the link.  As many reviewers don’t put their contact email or real name on their reviews, we have no way to know who you are if your review is pulled out of the hat and you haven’t sent us the link via email.  The email you send us with the link will give us your name and email address and links them both directly to the review, so there is no chance we’ll mix up who wrote what review. 

The email also lets you keep your reviewer identity on Amazon private, if you prefer.  We won’t tell anyone who you are.

4)      If you are one of the ten people who read and reviewed the book previously (thank you!), send us the link to your review, too (so we know who you are).  We’ll put you into the draw as well.

a.      If you are a professional reviewer who has written a review somewhere other than Amazon, but you want in on the contest, please add your review to the Amazon page and send us the link.  You can also send us the link to your review site where the review first appeared, and we’ll acknowledge your review on the book’s page on our sites.

5)      Contest closes at midnight MST on Sunday June 22nd.  The winner will be chosen by random number generator and contacted immediately.  Then we’ll announce the winner on our blogs/social pages, on Monday, June 23rd.

That’s it!  Good luck!

Tracy & Julia

I'm big on visualization to get what I want and also a fan of staying inspired to keep the happy gears rolling in my mind and soul. At Daily Writing Inspiration, I share this thought:  Take time to have fun and enjoy life now and then. Step away from the keyboard, get out of the house. If you don't, you won't have anything to write about!


I'm also at Romance Books '4' Us sharing my plans for what would happen if I came into a big bunch of money. It could happen! I'm a believer in the law of attraction, defined by Wikipedia as "...the belief that "like attracts like" and that by focusing on positive or negative thoughts, one can bring about positive or negative results." 

 It's too easy to get stuck in thinking about bad and negative aspects of our life, but why not focus our energy and attention on what we want instead? It's not always easy, but I much prefer the positive way of thinking and enjoy the results when I do. 
 
http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/2014/06/guest-blog-naomi-bellina-got-extra-cash.html

Tom Hidddelston in a vampire movie? Shoot yeah I'm going! Try to keep me away. Oh wait, it's only playing in a theater sixty miles into the next county? 

 Let me tell you, it was not easy getting to this movie but I had to put out the effort. It's not a mainstream flick, so the chances of it coming to my little county are slim. Fortunately, since my honey just got his new motorcycle, I can pretty much talk him into riding anywhere. (Pick up some tampons for me at the drugstore, okay?)

On top of that, I also felt like crap since I had a mild case of food poisoning. It was a super hot day and towards the end of the ride, I was about to pass out from the heat. Guess I've got to get a little more acclimated if I'm going to spend time outside in this weather. Get me into the air conditioning, quick! Anyway, I digress. We finally made it and I sat through the previews with anticipation, eagerly waiting for my feature presentation to get going. 

And I waited. And waited some more. Oh yes, the movie was playing, it just wasn't going anywhere. After attending an excellent workshop by Roxanne St. Claire, fresh in my mind was the knowledge, each scene in a story needs to move the movie along. It was just not happening with this one.

Adam and Eve, two old vampires, have lived as husband and wife, far apart from each other right now. He's in Detroit and she's in Tangier. He's slipping into deep depression so she comes to America to cheer him up. They have a little blissful time together until her sister shows up and trouble starts.

 I know this is not supposed to be a teen vampire movie, but I needed more action, more conflict, more...something. Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton are the perfect vampires and beautiful together. Their acting alone made the trip worthwhile. There were a few nude scenes, but not really enough to make my honey real happy. *rolls eyes* I do have to say, everyone's hair looked fabulous! I love that kind of kinked up, carefree style.

If you're prepared for a slower moving movie, this might work fine for you. Watch the trailer at You Tube and decide. Who know, this might be on DVD real soon. We were the only people in the theater for this show, so I don't think it's burning up the big screen.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TbxI_oRSKI