Promo Wednesday - Be Mused

I'm very excited. The Be Mused anthology releases tomorrow with Desert Breeze. Here's an excerpt from my Story, "Matchmaking Amusements." Jane meets Antonio. Enjoy!

*****

"So, Ms. Ryan, would you like to go out to lunch?"

Jane glanced at her wristwatch and groaned. "I'm ten minutes late for a meeting with my editor."

He raised a curious eyebrow. "You're a writer?"

"Yes."
Sandra Bullock, my inspiration for Jane


"So am I."

Jane's smile broadened. Adonis was a writer! "Well, ah, I'd like to have lunch with you, but I – oh, heck. Let me call Gus and reschedule."

"Your editor won't be mad?"

"I'm sure he'll be upset, but he'll reschedule." She paused. "I scare him."

"You do?"
David Ponce, my inspiration for Antonio


"He's 5'6," said Jane. Thank God Adonis was taller than her.

"Ah, that explains it," said Antonio, grinning.

Jane reached into her purse and dialed a number on her cell phone, rescheduling her meeting for tomorrow. Then she spied Isolde sitting on the flower cart next to a male muse. They were holding hands and grinning from ear to ear. A male muse? Antonio's muse, perhaps? Holding hands? What was Isolde up to? Jane flashed her muse a disapproving grin. Isolde looked like a cat caught in the middle of a flower garden.








***
Be Mused will be available at the Desert Breeze Publishing website, The Amazon Kindle store, and All Romance Books - tomorrow!

*Isolde does the happy dance!*
Smiles
Steph

Excerpt Monday - Jane & Antonio from "Be Mused" Available 1 APR

The Be Mused Anthology is a collection of 5 lighthearted short stories about muses, their writers, and love. My story in the anthology is called, "Matchmaking Amusement."


The Set up:
In this scene, Isolde, Jane's muse, made Jane sneeze. Jane tripped and fell - right into Antonio's arms.

*********


Jane fell into the strong arms of the man walking behind her. Then she looked into his soft hazel eyes and smiled. "Ah, hi."

"Hi," he replied, his voice deep and rich.

Sandra Bullock, my inspiration for "Jane Ryan."


Her handsome stranger helped her to her feet. She tried to stand up, but only had on one pump and stumbled again – right into Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome. He wrapped his arms around her again. Their eyes caught. Jane's breath hitched. He was Adonis brought to life. He nipped at his lower lip with his teeth as he drank her in.

The urge to kiss those pouty red lips washed over her like a river current. Someone slap her silly. She'd just made a fool out of herself! Slowly, she disengaged from his muscular arms and stepped out of her good pump so she stood flat footed on the ground. "I'm sorry, I seem to have lost my shoe when I sneezed."

He playfully nodded his head as he smiled at her. She knew that type of smile. He was admiring her from head to toe. It had been a while since a man admired her. Two years? Three? Longer?

David Ponce, my inspiration for "Antonio."


"That sounds lame, doesn't it?" she asked.

"A little. I’m Antonio Martinez."

"Jane Ryan."

"It's nice to meet you, Jane," he said.

Jane took a deep breath as she ran her eyes over him. Again. He was older, late thirties, early forties maybe, and he had a grin that could light up a moonless night. She wasn't quite sure what to do next, but she knew she wanted to redeem herself. She didn't want Adonis thinking she was a ditz.

*******

Be Mused will be avail on 1 APR 2010 through Desert Breeze Publishing; http://www.desertbreezepublishing.com, at the Amazon Kindle store, and at all Romance Books

Congrats to Gary Paulson - Winner of the ARC for Be Mused!

I just want to congratulate Gary Paulson - Winner of the ARC for "Be Mused." - I cast Chace Crawford as "Tristan," the muse. Tristan appears in my story, "Matchmaking Amusement." In the story he meets "Isolde," another muse and falls in love.

Scarlett Johanson as "Isolde."


In my story, the muses are old in spirit, but young in appearance. Tristan meets Isolde while on vacation in Germany, but in order to be together, Tristan and Isolde conspire to have their writers, Jane Ryan and Antonio Martinez fall in love.

Here's an excerpt from "Matchmaking Amusement" with Tristan and Antonio.

*****
Tristan smiled. One day Antonio would meet a girl and impress her with his poetry -- and Spanish.

Antonio walked back out onto the porch, sat down and sipped his coffee.

"What kept you up?" asked Tristan.
"The end."

Tristan's lips curved into a wicked smile. "Are you there? Now?"
"Almost. I fell asleep."

Tristan rubbed his hands together. "Well, let's whip it out, shall we?"
"Let me enjoy the sunrise first."

Tristan frowned. "At least tell me how far you got."
"Alstair is this close from stealing Dietrich's compass." Antonio lifted one hand and held two fingers within half an inch of each other.

"Really? Where is he?" British lieutenant Alstair York was Antonio's hero from the first book. Josef Dietrich was one of the notorious SS commanders.

"He's visiting Hitler at the Berghof in 1943 for a military planning session."
"The Obersalzberg Mountain!" exclaimed Tristan.

Antonio smiled. "You remembered."

"Who could forget our trip to Berchtesgaden and the Eagle's Nest when you were in the
military?"

"Don't get confused. It was a big mountain. The Berghof is a different building than the Kehlsteinhaus, but it was all part of the same complex."

"Of course. The Americans bombed the Berghof and left the Kehlsteinhaus intact."

"I haven't decided if Alstair gets wounded or out of there injury free."
"He's got to be wounded."

"Gun wound?"
"Better yet -- knife wound."

Antonio snapped his fingers. "That's it." He flicked off his screensaver and began to type.

"What's going on?" demanded Tristan. A muse had a right to know.

***
Thanks to everyone who entered the contest! I'll be going on a mini blog tour in support of the anthology the last week of March/first week of April arranged by Classic Romance Revivial.

Also, I'll be interviewed by author Regina Andrews about the anthology and short stories coming up the last week of March. I'll be offering all kinds of fun prizes on my blog tour and interview so please pop in and leave a note.

*smiles*
Steph