The Return of Clever Bobby Stone

I'm thrilled to announce that my classic Black Lace title, ENTERTAINING MR STONE, has just been reprinted with a brand new, dramatic cover!

Entertaining Mr Stone is a favourite of mine, amongst my own books, for a number of reasons. When I was writing it, way back in 2004, I tried something of a different kind of voice for me, a story told in first person present, solely from the point of view of the heroine, Maria Lewis. I'd never done this before, but somehow it really worked and I had enormous fun with a new way of storytelling, really getting inside Maria's head and her thoughts and emotions.

I also loved writing the book because it gave me a chance to indulge my fannish passion for a fabulously talented actor who I had a major crush back then [and who I still think is sensational!], the amazing Vincent D'Onofrio. I was heavily into Law and Order Criminal Intent at the time, and I wanted to create a book boyfriend of my own who was somehow an expression of Robert Goren, but at the same time a new and unique character in his own right - a man who was sexy, powerful and dynamic, but not a classic pretty boy hero. Robert Stone is a middle aged man, husky of build, and with a touch of grey in his hair, but he has that certain je ne sais quoi which makes women fall at his feet and tremble at his - very kinky - touch.

Another fun part of the book was that instead of a glamorous international setting... I set the book in a reflection of the locale where I live myself, a medium sized city in the North of England. I also used other things from my own background ie. the specific setting is Borough Hall, a local government office building much like one I used to work in. Alas when I worked there, there was no Robert Stone-alike, and none of the shenanigans that take place in Entertaining Mr Stone... in that respect, the book is pure, escapist fantasy!

And Entertaining Mr Stone also initiated other stories, establishing the time and place for a lot of books that came after it.

In Suite Seventeen Stone and Maria are secondary characters and the Waverley Grange, which first appeared their book, becomes a major setting for not only Annie and Valentino's story, but many books that follow.

In Too Deep is set in the locale of Entertaining Mr Stone, but this time at the Borough Library. Gwendolynne meets Daniel there, but they too spend time at the Waverley Grange.

Another visitor to the Waverley Grange, is Jay Bentley in The Gift, and he and Sandy have many passionate encounters there, when they're not hanging out at her cafe in the small nearby town of Kissley.

The notorious Waverley draws many prestigious visitors, and one of them is handsome kinky billionaire John Smith, who has a piquant encounter with Lizzie Aitchison there, when he mistakes her for The Accidental Call Girl. John and Lizzie's story spans the The Accidental Mistress and The Accidental Bride too, shifting focus to Kissley Magna, the 'posh' end of Kissley, when John buys beautiful Dalethwaite Manor there.

So, Entertaining Mr Stone led to a lot of other things, and I'm pretty sure I'll visit the Borough and its environs again at some time in the future. In the meantime, here's the blurb:

When reforming bad girl Maria Lewis returns to her home town after a career blip she takes a drone job in local government, hope for breathing space and a chance to get her head straight. But the quiet life she was looking for is quickly disrupted by the enigmatic presence of her boss, Borough Director of Finance, Robert Stone. A dangerous and unlikely lust object, Stone touches something deep in Maria's sensual psyche and quickly attunes her to the secret erotic underworld that parallels life in the dusty offices of Borough Hall. 

But the charismatic Director of Finance isn't the only one interested in Maria. Knowing lesbian Mel has designs on the newcomer, and so does cute young techno geek Greg. Human Resources Manager William Youngblood would also like to prise the Borough's latest employee away from the arch-rival for whom he has ambiguous feelings.

Can adventurous Maria find time to experiment with this embarrassment of lovers? As well as entertaining her cool and sexy Mr Stone?

PRINT

Amazon.com :: Amazon.co.uk :: Amazon.ca
Barnes and Noble :: Waterstones

DIGITAL

Kindle: US :: UK :: CA :: AU
Epub: Nook :: Nook UK :: Kobo :: ARe :: Sainsbury's Ebooks :: Waterstones Ebooks
Apple: US :: UK :: CA :: AU



You can read an excerpt of ENTERTAINING MR STONE here.

New Black Lace cover reveal

Two of my classic Black Lace titles are being republished next year and these are the dramatic, sexy new covers they've been given! Aren't they great?

You can find out more about the books here:

http://www.portiadacosta.com/entertaining.html

http://www.portiadacosta.com/devilinside.html

ENTERTAINING MR STONE should hit the shelves in April 2014 and THE DEVIL INSIDE follows in June 2014

A fond farewell to Numb3rs

I'm just in the middle of watching the final episode of one of my favourite TV shows, the quirky cop drama, Numb3rs. I loved the show from the first time I saw episode one, and particularly fell for the brilliant, dorky and adorable Professor Charlie Eppes. But it was one of those shows with a great ensemble cast too, so I loved following the storylines about Charlie's dad, his friend Larry, and his brother Don, and the other FBI agents on Don's team. With six series, Numb3rs is one of those programmes that so wormed its way into my heart that the characters seemed to become part of an extended family... and now, I'll sorely miss them. 

Of course Numb3rs isn't the only show to become 'family'. I think millions of people all over the world will consider the characters of the various different Star Trek shows to be family. I certainly do, with Next Generation having made the most impact. Just as I've been sobbing over Charlie and Amita's wedding, I sobbed at the final episode of TNG, where the main cast assembled for a poker game with Picard one of the players at last. 

Of course, prior to Numb3rs, and concurrent with it, Law & Order Criminal Intent has been a major, major extended family show for me too. Detective Robert Goren was/is an astonishing character and profoundly inspiring in terms of hero templates, for me. Goren might be gone from our screens, alas, but a version of him still lives on for me as Robert Stone, the hero of ENTERTAINING MR STONE.

The characters in Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel were also part of my life for a long time, especially the wonderful bad boy Spike, who eventually endured a long, painful climb towards goodness. Something I very much liked. Spike too, inspired a book hero. He 'became' Lukas, the gorgeous blond super model in DESIGNED FOR SIN, one of my X Libris titles under the pseudonym Dorothy Starr.  

Now, of course, I have another show that's captured my heart and imagination, and is also proving inspirational in terms of hot male totty. I refer of course to THE MENTALIST, and it's glorious central character Patrick Jane, who's already provoking a new spate of yummy blond heroes, including a certain Mr. Edmund Ellsworth Ritchie. It's too soon to know whether The Mentalist will become 'family', but it's shaping up that way, because it's another show where the supporting characters are all appealing and entertaining too, and I'm very fond of Lisbon, Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt as well as their gorgeous 'consultant'. The man who hides a tortured heart behind his sunny smile.

And so, back to Numb3rs. And to paraphrase Rick, from Casablanca, Charlie and I will always have IN TOO DEEP. In which Professor Hottie McHotstuff aka Daniel will always bear a startling resemblance to a certain Professor Eppes. 

Entertaining Mr Stone - German cover

Hot or what? The translation seems to be 'The Boss'...

I think this must be a piccie of Mr Stone as a younger man, because in the book, he's a fairly stocky middle aged guy, not a young stud with a six pack!

-------------------------------------------------------------
Telly: not yet
Choc/Yummy: jam tart
Mood: panicky over stuff to do
Writing: notes for In Too Deep
Reading: Lord of Scoundrels
RSI/FMS: bit sore, not too bad


Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

Hey, I have ebooks I never knew about...

The Devil Inside is available as an ebook here and here, in several formats.


Entertaining Mr Stone is available here in a couple of formats, sadly not Adobe so far.

Designed for Sin is available here and here, in a variety of formats.

I knew that theoretically these books could also appear in electronic formats, but nobody ever told me they were actually available... I found them via my mate, Madelynne Ellis who discovered ebooks of her own on sale.

Stop Press!

Gigi stopped by to let me know that my ebooks are also available at EbooksAboutEverything!

--
Telly: lots of sport
Choc/Yummy: turkish delight
Mood: okay
Writing: sifting ideas
Reading: nothing much at the mo
RSI/FMS: not too bad


Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

Holy Moly!

ENTERTAINING MR STONE is available as an audio download from Amazon.com/Audible!

Here's the link!

There's a sample available, and it's quite nicely read. The reader sounds as if she's really getting into it... ;)

Sadly they weren't able to engage Signor D'Onofrio to do the voice of Clever Bobby Stone, but I suspect his fee might be more than the publishers were prepared to shell out... A girl can dream though...


ps. it's UNABRIDGED... so you presumably get all the rude stuff in full audio glory!!!! Wonder if there are sound effects??? LOL

--
Telly: Two and a Half Men
Choc/Yummy: not yet
Mood: good
Writing: not yet
Reading: Gothic Blue
RSI/FMS: not too bad


Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

Yowsah, I just won an Award!!!!

I opened my copy of SCARLET this morning, and what did I discover?

Only that I've won the Award for Best Lesbian Sex Scene in their new annual Erotic Writing Awards for a naughty scene in a biker's cafe toilet in Entertaining Mr Stone!

I am well chuffed, I can tell you!

Entertaining Mr Stone

Another splendiferous review for EMS - this time at Romance Divas! [nb. it's a pdf]

I love it how people really seem to 'get' Clever Bobby... :)

--
Telly: The Ballerina and the Blues
Chocolate: Tesco various
Mood: okay, but a bit unfocused
Writing: nothing yet
Reading: nothing yet
RSI: so so

so chuffed!

Just discovered another five star review for Entertaining Mr Stone at Amazon.com

Thanks, Robin! I'm so glad you enjoyed the book, and I appreciate you taking the time to say so. I've had so many dodgy reviews at the Amazons over the years that a positive one is always especially cherished and appreciated.

STOP PRESS!!!

Just discovered another five star, at Amazon.co.uk this time! It's from 'Erotica Reader from the North'... Mmm.... Mysterious, but clearly someone who totally gets EMS and thoroughly enjoyed it!

As I said above, many, many thanks for taking the time to say you enjoyed my book! I'm all of a glow now... :)

the smooth with the rough...

This will be brief, for reasons I'll explain in a mo...

First the smooth... My absolute star of a critique partner has just got back to me about Suite Seventeen and she loves it! Wahey! She says that in places I've even managed to convey the emotions of the 'other' character in a first person narrative... which I think is quite a nifty achievement, though I say it myself! I feel so very very much better about the book now. I did subconsciously sort of love it, even when it was behaving badly, but after the high of Entertaining Mr Stone, I was so frightened that anything that came after it would be a let down. But it seems that Annie and Valentino's story works after all...

But there's always a rough, isn't there, and in this case it's my ****ing, ****ing broadband connection which went kerpuft at around four o'clock with no warning and for no apparent reason. Bastard thing! Bastard, bastard Orange for being so bastarding useless... I know they are, because there's a whole message board about the problems people have with them. I will give them until tomorrow morning, and then I will ring up and berate them... much good it'll probably do me. Now any writer worth their salt would think, goody, no internet distractions... but not me, I've spent hours trying various troubleshooting manoevers. None of which worked.... obviously. And I'll probably go on fretting and achieving nothing until I get it back!

So, folks, if things go a bit quiet here for a while, it's 'cos the broadband thing was a bigger problem even than I feared... Keep your fingers crossed for me, eh?

edits

Since I posted the excerpt last night, over at Portia's Prose, I've been thinking about more and more tweakage I need to do to Suite Seventeen. This is my process, I suppose, I slam down the main story without thinking too much about background [just to get something down] and then work through the ramifications and filter in stuff later to give it more depth. I was mainly thinking about Valentino's car last night... He has this amazing and very, very valuable classic supercar [there's a reason in the story why he comes to possess such a thing] but I'd not stopped to think about the insurance on such a vehicle, which would be astronomical... so I've got to come up with an explanation for how he can even afford to pay the insurance. I also got to thinking more and more about what Annie has been doing with her life to get to forty plus... She's got no kids... she probably hasn't worked for quite a while... other stuff... but I suppose the fact that the years have flown by and she hasn't a lot to show for them is actually one of the reasons why she's so open to a whole new world of experience with Valentino... so ready to shake things up so radically by getting involved with him. I'm seeing ways to lightly sketch in and hint at these background facets, but the accent is on dealing with them lightly rather than making a huge deal. Basically, I'm writing for entertainment. I want my story to have some emotional depth, quite a bit in fact, but I don't want to get heavy and bring readers down with anguished pasts and sob stories. I'm about giving people a fun read. I'm not about issues or making any kind of particular 'statement'. So I've to negotiate the tricky path between giving readers a true sounding experience and providing them with an escapist sex fantasy to tickle their fancies! :)

Having said all the above, it's Saturday and I'm not getting on all that fast. I'm pratting about mainly, although I have done my static cycling, whilst watching an ep. of Law and Order Criminal Intent... ooh, yummy, yummy Bobby! It seems weird to see him investigating crimes in New York when he should be either sitting in his office in Borough Hall, thinking up the next naughty thing he's going to do to Maria... or actually be doing something naughty to or with her! Probably in the back garden, so his neighbour Annie can watch them...

To be honest, I'm not feeling all that great this morning though. I feel as if a headache might be gathering... the sort that can morph into a migraine if I don't watch it. Will have to monitor the situation closely, and be kind to my poor old noggin... maybe take a pill of things take a turn for the worse...