Hiya, I’m L.J. a queer geek and a professional daydreamer living in NJ. I write speculative and weird stories (some short, some very long) about choosing joy, finding love, and sometimes just surviving. I believe bringing enjoyment to others is an act of heroism and as an award-winning author, my stories exist to offer an escape from daily life.
I am also a freelance editor, book coach, and pitch advisor.
So with all the excitement about Owned the the Alpha:Manlove Edition and Crazy Little Spring Called Love I haven’t had time to really talk about my new release from Evernight. Hiring the Tiger is the first book in my first series!
This is the cover:
“Hiring the Tiger” was originally written for the Owned by the Alpha… non-manlove edition, but was accepted for Romance on the Go instead (because fate wanted you all to be able to read the fan-fiction I was writing of my own side-characters).
Heart of the Mountain tells the story of a group of shifters as they struggle to escape the witches who created them and survive in human society.
Nav is the hero of Hiring the Tiger and the one thing he knows is that a tiger shouldn’t be picking tea-leaves and carrying luggage. But that’s the only job Navarro sees in his future. He’s learned to be humble since he and his friends, a wolf pack, exchanged their former careers as highway robbers for prison.
Then Lady Jasprite Doughton, a merchant with all the grace of the far East and the wealth of the West, whirls through the village on the back of a dragon and reminds Navarro what it means to want something. With her dominating sexual tastes and her powerful personality, Jasprite challenges his body, his lust, his loyalty to his friends, and his own worth.
After all, is gold enough to buy a tiger?
It comes out May 3rd! You can get it here! Teasers soon!
Because I like to talk about my writing I assume others like to talk about their writing to. In this spirit, I forced my lovely co-authors in Owned by the Alpha to answer a bunch of questions about how they got from the blank page to this book.
So many stories, so little time. I have Grey River 9 almost finished and the characters in book 10 are screaming for their HEA. I have three or four stories on the go at any one time, so there is always something write if my characters go quiet on one of my stories.
Right now, I’m finishing a revise and resubmit on a male/female side of Mooncrest, developing the story into a novella or novel. It’s Saber’s sister, Honor Creed, and a wolf with a sketchy past, Foster Jefferson. Honor comes to the relationship fresh out of an abusive relationship where she was claimed without her permission, marked with her own version of a scarlet letter. She’s scared and when her ex-husband escapes from jail, she has to be taken into hiding by her fated mate and he has to prove to her they are meant to be. I’m in love with this story and these characters and can’t wait to send it back to Evernight Publishing.
I am working on two books right now. Beta Wars, which is the next book in my Pack Warrior series. It picks up right after the Pack Wars. The Gray-Moons had lost their Beta, pitting brother against brother to fill the role. I am also working on the next book in the Beyond the Veil series which I co-write with the lovelies Maia Dylan and Sarah Marsh. Fighting Faete features Kat’s story and the Dark Fae twins introduced in Bound To Their Faete. You can find links to all those goodies here.
I’m actually really excited that my first F/M series (Heart of the Mountain) was just accepted by Evernight. The first book is called Hiring the Tiger and it’s about shifter. Go figure. I also have a story in a Fantasy Romance collection called Crazy Little Spring Called Love that is released next week. My story in that antho is about a bad-ass mermaid.
I always have several WIPs on the go at any one time. I have a couple of steampunk inspired stories, another couple with a Halloween theme, plus a few more which are fantasy/paranormal. If I don’t have at least half a dozen to work on, then I feel my imagination is drying up and my Muse isn’t doing his job.
I’ve got two more stories in my Laissez Faire series that are slowly but surely being put on paper. I hope to have book #2 (the title has changed about a dozen times, so I’ll leave it at Book #2 for now) finished up in the next month.
I’m working on the very last Outlaw MC story. My sexy bikers are finally leaving Mars and returning to earth but not without a lot of trouble following.
Well, that’s it for the seven day interviews, folks. Hope you enjoyed it. Owned by the Alpha will be available tomorrow and I personally cannot wait to spend all night reading these sexy stories! Get it here.
Because I like to talk about my writing I assume others like to talk about their writing to. In this spirit, I forced my lovely co-authors in Owned by the Alpha to answer a bunch of questions about how they got from the blank page to this book.
The best advice I ever got was to just keep writing. I am a total pantser, and go off the cuff a lot. Probably too much! An author friend of mine who took me under her wing when I started two years ago told me to just let my characters tell the story.
Keep writing and always striving to expand your writing comfort zone. Period. Enough said. My ritual is to have something to drink and ass in chair, with my two favorite guys in front of me, cheering me on—Sam and Dean Winchester—in Funko Pop form. I’ve always had a thing for the paranormal, verified by my love of the series Supernatural verifies, and my ability as a clairsentient and clairalience when it comes to seeing, sensing, and smelling ghosts.
Sit down and write, even if it’s just for practice at first. If writing is your passion and you have stories to tell, then go ahead and tell them. As far as rituals go, sometimes I like to listen to music before I sit down and write. Music inspires me. I get lost in the visuals of a scene I am working on and then the words just flow.
Get yourself a good workshop or writing community, because I don’t think a person can’t improve in the vacuum of their own mind. Every time I move (8 apartments in as many years) I seek out the local writers’ groups or start a new one. Especially in November, April, and July when Nanowrimo comes around. I can credit so many good habits and good friends to National Novel Writing Month.
Personally, I’m a plotter. I write all my notes out first, then fill in the blanks (first draft), then re-type the entire manuscript (second draft) until it makes good sense (third draft), cut all the stupid words (fourth draft), then read it out loud (fifth draft). Then hate myself and go back to re-typing the damned thing and do it all again until the day before the submission deadline.
No rituals as such. But, you could count the fact that I always have tea when I first start writing, and that I like to play old DVDs as background noise. Unlike many other writers, music distracts me. The advantage of old and familiar DVDs is that I can take a break from writing and know exactly where I am in the film or program that’s playing.
Honestly? Be a reader. You can’t be a writer without first being a reader. And I love Stephen King’s advice in his book, On Writing: “Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open.” (Meaning, the first draft is for you but once you’ve polished it to the best of your ability, it’s for everyone else.)
Because I like to talk about my writing I assume others like to talk about their writing to. In this spirit, I forced my lovely co-authors in Owned by the Alpha to answer a bunch of questions about how they got from the blank page to this book.
Question 5: Tell Us Your Love Advice?
Dear Alpha, I’m looking for love, but I can’t figure out how to swipe right with my big hairy paws. Am I doomed in this modern age because of animalistic tendencies? What should I do? – Looking for Love in Wrong Places.
When love is on the line, hold nothing back. I never thought I would marry. It was always career and travel for me. But when I did meet hubby, he convinced me to give everything I had to the relationship. Now, we’ve been married eleven years and have two wonderful children together who make me laugh every single day.
Married to the same man for 25 years, so I say three things. Let the small things go completely. Always apologize genuinely. And surprise your partner frequently. Also as an advocate for sex education at every age, if you’re not enjoying what you’re doing when it comes to sex, change it! Explore the possibilities. Meet your own needs. Mix it up. You’re worth good sex—hell, you’re worth great sex!
Elena Kincaid Find time to spend quality time together no matter how busy life can get. It can be as simple as going out to dinner or staying in and snuggling on the couch.
I’m only just now coming around to the idea of love as a good thing. My best advice is don’t be like the dudes in my stories. They are usually assholes and marginally abusive. You should be nice and have things in common with your lover. And probably not kidnap and/or pay them.
Because I like to talk about my writing I assume others like to talk about their writing to. In this spirit, I forced my lovely co-authors in Owned by the Alpha to answer a bunch of questions about how they got from the blank page to this book.
Question 4: Tell Us What Inspired Your Story?
Is there a magical idea farm where all the sexy man-beasts hang out and wait to inspire you? Can I get tickets to watch?
Two things inspired this story. One, my vision board for this year—my theme is “Take risks”, so I did. And two, I made a Spotify song list for Mooncrest. The songs “All That Matters” by Colton Dixon (no relation to me, just happy accident) and “Standing Here in Front of Me” by David Mead helped me examine the story and go deeper into the characters. How would I feel if my true love was just over a fence and he ignored me for years? What if I found out the one for me had been waiting and yearning for me, his heart almost stopping beating for fear of never being mine? That crushing pain on both sides was what I attempted to pull out. I hope I did the story justice. And Saber and Kace and their love will appear in future stories as well.
The Evernight submission call prompt lit the fuse and my two gorgeous inspirations Brodie Beaudry and Harvey Newton-Hayden) took care of the rest. Waretown had been a setting I wanted to use for some time, but nothing ever fit until His Guardian Panther.
I love Evernight Anthologies; I’ve been reading them a lot longer than I’ve been writing for them so I make it a point now to submit to each. I really struggled to figure out what I was going to write for this one. Now I have something like eight half finished novels about shifters both M/M and F/M. “The Scarf” eventually came about when I caught pneumonia and binged on modern Disney films (I’m in deep love with the cartoon fox from Zooptopia and I’m not ashamed) then when I couldn’t keep my eyes open listened to Suspense! audioplays. When I regained consciousness, I had the idea of a bad-ass fox hiding refugee animals.
As a pantser, that’s a hard question to answer. I really liked the sound of the anthology call. But I had no idea what direction the story could take when I first sat down and thought about it. Firstly, the occupations came to mind, then the types of shifters I wanted, and then the way the story would unfold.
Owned by the Alpha, the anthology title. The second I read it I sat down at my computer and started thinking about a short shifter story that I really wanted to tell. In an hour, I had an outlined planned and Last Alpha Standing was born. (And no, I wasn’t wearing pants. It’s kind of my thing, lol.)
Because I like to talk about my writing I assume others like to talk about their writing to. In this spirit, I forced my lovely co-authors in Owned by the Alpha to answer a bunch of questions about how they got from the blank page to this book.
Question 3: Tell Us About Theme Writing
What challenges did you work though writing for a theme or such a short work for the anthology?
Having to keeping things short and sharp. Most of my works are around the 40,000 – 50,000 length so trying to tell the story and do my characters justice in such a short word count was a challenge.
After reading shifter romance for probably a dozen years, I was cautious if I’d be able to do the genre justice in such a short word count. I usually write in first person (I and my) but decided to write this as third person to stretch not only my genre’s but my point-of-view skills. I put more weight on my shoulders than probably was necessary, but I love to challenge my own writing. And in the end I loved it! I actually wrote a blog post about the journey. Love to have you check it out.
Partly because I was emulating Noir-style detective fiction, which by it’s very nature were short and fast, the word count wasn’t an issue. However, because this world is part of an Epic Fantasy, I feel like there’s sooo much I didn’t get to share. Like entire continents of story these characters don’t even look at. My difficulties were much more in trying to get my main character to behave like an alpha; I was worried I missed the mark completely, but I guess I did alright.
Keeping within the word count. It would have been very easy to add much more, about all three of my characters. Anthology calls have this danger for me. A few times there’s just been too much about the characters, and what happens to them, to keep within the word count.
Writing anything with a word-count limit is its own challenge. But, for me personally, I am the WORST with deadlines. Thankfully, I’m pretty good at lighting a fire under my own bum.
Because I like to talk about my writing I assume others like to talk about their writing to. In this spirit, I forced my lovely co-authors in Owned by the Alpha to answer a bunch of questions about how they got from the blank page to this book.
Question 2: Tell Us About The World
Is there anything particularly special about the setting to you? Is it from our real world or is it some larger world?
Mooncrest is set in the state of Colorado, at the foothills of a mountain. There are a dozen wolf packs living within a 25-30 mile radius of the town of Mooncrest, including the Creed and the Gunn packs found in this short story. As you’ll see in future stories, the Wade, Persa, Janus, and Moxie packs inhabit the area as well. Mooncrest is a small town where full-humans and shifters live side by side, but the full-humans don’t know about the secrets of the smaller mountain communities the shifters have developed. And the packs fight to keep it that way, but their secret gets closer to revelation with each story.
My story is set in Waretown, New Jersey, which believe it or not, is actually a real place in my neighboring state. The neighborhoods I describe are purely of my own creation. I wanted them to have a certain feel, but I felt like a place called Waretown should have a story told there.
The Scarf is part of a bigger fantasy world I’m developing for my thesis novel (I’m a graduate student getting and M.F.A. in genre fiction). In Tovar, society developed with magic, so instead of steam and electricity they had spells. This means that witches are the ones who run the world and shifters, the animals witches curse with the ability to transform into humans, are at their witch’s beck and call to be used as spies, fighters, familiars, anything else the witch sees fit.
The story is set in New Zealand where I live, so the places are real. But it’s also a world where shifters exist and are known about. They don’t live in the shadows. I love writing fantasy/paranormal themed stories.
Because I like to talk about my writing I assume others like to talk about their writing to. In this spirit, I forced my lovely co-authors in Owned by the Alpha to answer a bunch of questions about how they got from the blank page to this book.
Question 1: Introduce us to your studs:
Tell us about your studs. Who (or what?) inspired them?
Xander’s character is based very much on a friend of mine who we say has always had the worst luck. He once got his knee caught in a bridge in Pamplona and was almost run over by the bulls. Honestly. Worst. Luck. Ever. Until he met his now husband, and then his luck most definitely changed for the better!
Mooncrest is a Romeo and Romeo (not Juliet) story of fated love with families who have issues galore. My alpha, Saber Creed, spent his life preparing to be his pack’s alpha, but the focus didn’t prepare him for his fated mate. His mate, Kace Gunn, has waited for Saber patiently, but when they finally meet, Kace doubts their families’ pasts can be set aside. Saber’s physically based on Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Kace reminds me of a cross between Ed Sheeran and Prince Harry.
Both my studs, panther alpha and Sheriff Luke Benson and his mate, Dr. Tom Barrymore, are brilliant and dedicated to their roles, saving people in their own way and both men come to love each other fiercely. I was searching for inspiration on the internet when I came across Brodie Beaudry (Luke) and Harvey Newton-Hayden (Tom). They were perfect and matched the vision I had in my head for them.
I developed a thing for werewolves and Raymond Chandler (who wrote Noir detective novels that were usually turned into movies starring Humphrey Bogart) at the same time so The Scarf is really my love letter to them both. Tru, who’s a lone wolf taking on a corrupt pack, has the same hard exterior and internal poetics that makes Philip Marlowe and interesting detective. But because he’s a shifter, he’s also completely helpless to defy his desire for his fem-fatal who ain’t that fem.
Tudor is my alpha and a lion shifter. I said in the story that Eirian, his best friend, PA, and chef, watched Tudor’s back. There’s a specific reason he did. Young lions, on reaching sexual maturity, are excised from their prides by older males. Tudor experienced this expulsion from his own shifter family as a rite of passage. But instead of still being there if he needed them, they fully excluded him because he wasn’t interested in a female mate or having his own offspring. The hurt from that experience created the aggressive and arrogant Tudor to suit his public TV persona. But the real Tudor, and his softer side, are expressed in the country house, and what’s in there.
My Alpha (Eamonn) actually came secondary to his mate (Izzy) who was absolutely and unapologetically inspired by actor Noel Fisher’s portrayal of Mickey Milkovich on the HBO series, Shameless. From there, I liked the idea of a misguided street thug—already having a tough time trying to make a break from the criminal life he’s always lead—finding out he’s the fated mate to an Alpha wolf who also happens to be a police detective.
Svildna is not type of mermaid who suns herself on the ice all day. She can kill a shark, scour a keel, and patch a sail as easy as they comb their hair. So she’s more than capable of escorting The Apple Jack and its crew to the warmer southern waters. When a storm blows the ship off course, she finds herself in dangerous waters, under suspicion, and falling in love with the last man she’d expect.
Selection from “Seaweed and Silk”
“Gonna be a bitch of a storm.” Gekko grumbles above me at the bow of the Apple-Jack. The sunrise, redder than a seal pup’s blood, bathes the ice flows and turns the sea black. The ice and salt shatter on the hull and water flares around my tail in chilly splashes. I grab hold of the bowsprit and lean out of the merrow-bench to see the goblin. Gekko shivers on deck, bundled to her long green nose in her over-sized quilt. I smile up at her. “G’ mornin’, Ms. Wizard. Never saw you awake this early. Will you disappoint the wolves and take your share of breakfast today?” I’m not sure what a wolf is. Four of the crew—and there’s only eight of us on this empty freighter—are wolves. The leader of them, fella named Nick, told me a wolf is a kind of animal. Sounded like a shark, only one that travels on land and in schools. The wind-chill reddens the tip of Gekko’s nose and floppy long ears. A goblin from the tropics, even a wizard like her, has no business this far north. “Can you feel that storm, Seaweed?” “I’m a mermaid, ain’t I?” I don’t expect the crew to speak my name. Svilnda is apparently too hard for land-dwellers. “Told Captain about it last night. By the course he set, he means to barrel under it before it breaks.” “Hope we’re fast enough.” Gekko clutches her blankets tighter. To soothe her, I make a show of my magic and move a chunk of ice away from the bit of iron, canvas, and wood keepin’ us afloat. “Captain knows what he’s doing.” “More than you certainly.” The goblin plops down at the rail and glares at the wild water. Waves chop across the horizon. Little mountains of white foam with occasional towers of ice to break the endless ripple of water. Below the surface, a whale keens for her calf; I hear the gentle giant in my mind. They’re runnin’ from the storm. “Did you talk to Tan about it?” Gekko wants to know. Thoughts of the storm disappear, as if the danger of tumultuous skies cannot coexist with Tan and his warm smile. It’s a funny thing about Tan and his smile. He’s fierce ugly when you don’t know him. The fella is enormously tall and made of stone. I don’t know about his race—it’s sure not one I ever heard of, though I suspect stone-people don’t make a habit of swimmin’ in deep water. My point is, between the pebbles across his face, and the way his big arms grate when he moves, and the way he never covers the wide swathes of stone sheets that make up his chest, Tan should not be a pleasant man to behold. But once he smiles—and he’s always smiling as soon as he notices there’s people to smile at—you hardly notice the strange hardness of him. Soon, Tan’s tellin’ yarns in that lovely deep voice of his, or whistling soft, sweet melodies, or laughin’ because he thinks it’s funny that you don’t know to call what he wears an ‘apron’ and not a ‘dress.’ It’s hard not to like him. The name Seaweed is Tan’s fault, but I’d never hold it against him. He likes to tease and he thinks it odd that I wear woven kelp instead of seashells. Seashells are for the mindless rich maids who sun themselves on the ice all day and comb their hair and flirt with sailors and other idle fools. I’m not pretty, or rich, or idle. I’m a merrow who can scour your keel, weave you a seaweed shirt, or patch your sail. I can tan a seal skin and kill a gurry shark better than I can comb my hair. No, I’m not pretty. I’m part of the crew. Though, Tan, when he smiles… well, that would make anyone feel like she was wearing silk instead of seaweed. “Mermaid! Did you—” “Why would I talk to the ship cook about the storm?” Of course, a fella’s smile ain’t a good reason to ignore a goblin wizard waiting for your half of the conversation. “What’s he gonna do? Bake it away?” Gekko snorts. “Don’t be nasty, mermaid. Tan’s got more experience with ships than you ever will. Knostman only hired you because you were cheaper than any other merrow. It was a mistake and I’m not much interested in being aboard the ship that suffers from a water-witch’s learning curve.” I stare hard at the sea until I’m sure I’ve swallowed my pride. No sense in annoying a wizard. Not when she’s right.
Charity West is a young adult/new adult romance author who has always had her head in the clouds. She had her first crush when she was four, and it lasted for six years. Then she quickly fell head over heels for another boy, until she had to move away and leave him behind. Jumping from one boy to another, she finally found a keeper when she was twenty, and she’s been married to him ever since.
By the time Charity was twelve, she was sneaking her mother’s Harlequin romances and reading them in secret when she was supposed to be asleep. Teased throughout middle school and high school for the bodice ripper covers on the books she openly read in class, she knew that one day she wanted to write her own happily-ever-afters.
Click that sexy cover to buy
About Rising from the Ashes: Flame Kissed:
Kaycee Witherspoon barely escaped her last relationship with her life. Now that she has a fresh start in a new town, she feels like she can finally breathe. But is she relaxing her guard too soon? When she finds her tires slashed and her apartment broken into, she has to wonder if her past isn’t quite so far behind her.
Zarek O’Donnell doesn’t know much about the new assistant at his fire station except that her mesmerizing curves and bewitching smile have him under her spell. Even though she laughs easily and seems to light up around him, he can tell that there’s something darker haunting her. His protective side rises to the surface whenever she’s near, and he knows he’ll stop at nothing to keep her safe.
When the lines of past and present begin to blur, there’s only one thing Kaycee knows. This time she might not escape. If she wants the new life she’s forged for herself, she’ll have to fight to keep it.
Excerpt from Rising from the Ashes: Flame Kissed
“You have to be exhausted after working until this morning and then dealing with my apartment this afternoon.” I nibbled my bottom lip. “What if I made dinner? I haven’t eaten yet, and I’m sure you haven’t either.”
“I have a better idea. Why don’t we order some pizzas and watch TV for a while? We can sit on the couch and just relax for the rest of the night. Put on PJs and kick back.”
I arched a brow. “You own pajamas?”
“Well, I own pajama pants. Does that count?”
Holy Jesus, was he seriously going to run around without a shirt? Because I wasn’t sure my hormones could handle it. The hint of muscle I could see through his t-shirts was enough to make me drool. I didn’t think I could handle bare skin. Although, it would be a nice distraction from my problems, as long as I could keep my hands to myself. I wasn’t going to make any promises, though. A shirtless Zarek might be too much temptation.
He smirked, and I realized I was staring like an idiot.
“You just pictured me shirtless, didn’t you?” he asked with laughter flashing in his eyes.
My cheeks flushed. “No. Of course not.”
His grin widened a little, and he shook his head, clearly not believing me.
“If you tell me what you want on your pizza, I’ll place the order while you get comfortable.”
“I knew you were anxious to get me out of my clothes.”
My whole face felt like it was on fire. Before I could embarrass myself further, I bolted from the room and went to get a drink from the kitchen. I’d made a fresh pitcher of sweet tea last night and hadn’t touched it yet. By the time I’d poured myself a glass and returned to the living room, I could hear the shower going. I set my glass down and went to change into a tank and sleep shorts. They were old and comfortable, but they showed enough skin to be considered sexy. Do I want Zarek to see me as sexy?
I’d thought we would be roommates, co-workers, and nothing more. But the more I got to know Zarek, the harder it was to resist him. I’d felt that instant spark when we’d met at work on Monday, and I had to wonder what that spark would feel like if our lips touched. Would I feel the zing all the way to my toes? Just being near him was enough to make me tingle with awareness. I thought about him in the shower and wondered if he was as sexy dripping wet as I imagined him to be. I gave myself a mental slap, changed into my pajamas, and then returned to the living room. I couldn’t order the pizza yet since Zarek hadn’t told me what he wanted on his. I hadn’t paid close attention at work when the crew had ordered enough pizza to feed a small army.
I heard the shower shut off, and a few minute later, he wandered into the room.
My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth, and I nearly choked on my own spit as he sank onto the sofa next to me. Holy hell, he was hot as fuck! His broad chest was well-muscled and his abs … I nearly fanned myself. As I whipped around to face the TV, before I got caught staring, I absently wiped at my chin to make sure I hadn’t been drooling.
Graceful Indecency 