A new release from Madelynne!

Check out this new release from my writing buddy, Madelynne Ellis!

ANYTHING BUT VANILLA

One Girl, Two Guys, No Strings

Kara North is on the run. Fleeing from her controlling fiancé and a wedding she never wanted, she accepts the chance offer of refuge on wild, rocky Liddell Island, where she soon catches the eye of the island’s owner, erotic photographer Ric Liddell. Wickedly sexy by day and just plain wicked by night, Ric rules his domain like a feudal lord. But pleasure comes in more than one flavour when Zachary Blackwater, the charming ice-cream vendor also takes an interest, and wants more than just a tumble in the surf. Zach offers her warmth that she never felt from her ex, and soon it’s not just the ice cream that’s melting. When Kara learns that the two men have been unlikely lovers for years, she becomes obsessed with the idea of a threesome. Zach is reluctant, until he sees the dynamic effect Kara has on Ric’s emotions. She might be the key to finally capturing Ric’s heart.

Read more about this sizzling hot menage novel here! There's a hot excerpt and a chance to get your hands on a copy of the book at 50% off. 

Can you resist such a delicious bargain?

Three new releases... not all mine!

Well, the first isn't really a new release, but it is mine. Today I'm showcasing my recent BDSM title, IN SEBASTIAN'S HANDS, a trio of three linked stories about Sebastian and Megan, a couple who love to play spanking games. Through the three tales, we see their relationship develop, beginning with their meeting at a party, moving through their growing love and passion for each other, and culminating in a snapshot of them on holiday as a happily married couple... who still love their naughty BDSM shenanigans!

You can find out more about IN SEBASTIAN'S HANDS here, along with a frisky excerpt.

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

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EROTICA FANTASTICA is a hot new release from my writing buddy, Saskia Walker, featuring four sizzling stories with a decidedly fantastical flavor... "Love, Lust and Destiny, set in fantasy worlds"

Sound wonderful to me! You can find out more here at Saskia's blog:

http://saskiawalker.blogspot.com/2012/02/new-publication-erotica-fantastica.html

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The third release is from another of my writing pals, Madelynne Ellis. It's also a paranormal offering, BLOOD MOON, a delicious gothic urban fantasy of demons and the hunters who pursue them.

Check it out here:

http://madelynne-ellis.blogspot.com/2012/02/new-release-blood-moon.html

A Gentlewoman's Pleasure - out today!

My latest "Ladies' Sewing Circle" Spice Brief, A GENTLEWOMAN'S PLEASURE is out today at  Barnes and Noble Nook, eHarlequin, All Romance eBooks, and Diesel eBooks. Alas it's not yet available for Amazon Kindle, but it should be out there on 1st March.

Here's the blurb:

London, 1890

Miss Lucy Dawson always thought she was dull compared to the other women in the Ladies' Sewing Circle, who never hesitate to share stories of their naughty exploits and fantasies. As a plain, eccentric spinster with spectacles and a bicycle, Lucy hasn't enjoyed a man's touch for years—though she yearns to experience the full pleasure of lovemaking.

Then Lucy encounters Ethan Oakley, a tantalizing stranger who reawakens her desires. And the Ladies' Sewing Circle will never believe what happens next....

You can read a naughty excerpt here

 And if you're in the mood for more risqué Spice Briefs fun, why not also check out GABRIEL'S NAUGHTY GAME by my release day pal, Madelynne Ellis.

"I want to see you with another guy.".

When Gabriel tells me his fantasy, I want to laugh it off, pretend it's a joke. But I know it isn't--he's serious. I'm all for a little daring in the bedroom, but this is too risky. It gets even worse when Gabriel reveals who he wants me to sleep with: Nye, the only other man who's ever tempted me.

I soon realize there's more to Gabriel's game than simple voyeurism. But whatever Gabriel wants, Gabriel gets...

Find out more here

Purchase Links: eHarlequin | All Romance ebooks

I'm Christmas visiting today...

with my buddy Madelynne Ellis, who's running a fun Advent calendar at the moment. Behind today's door there's a saucy excerpt from A GENTLEWOMAN'S PREDICAMENT!

Advent Calender Day 19: Portia Da Costa

I did answer honestly, promise!

How evil are you?
Found this at Madelynne's gaff... and I *did* answer honestly, I'm not kidding! LOL

Ah, happy days...

Another nice pic of the Big Adventure Gals ie. Saskia, Madelynne and Portia, taken by our buddy Victoria Janssen.

Yesterday was a cool day!

Didn't do much in the way of writing, but lots of nice things happened! :)

First was my first post RWA lunch out with my buddy Saskia... and as always, it was totally brill!

[this is her at the Passionate Ink Party, but she looks just as stylish in Cafe Revive!]

We had a good long natter and enjoyed the opportunity to review and reflect on our experiences in San Francisco. The highlights, the tougher aspects such as jet lag, the people we met, and the value we think we got out of the trip. We both concluded that we got lots of the latter! We also compared notes on the projects we have ahead and how we're going to approach them...

When I parted from Saskia, promising we'd get together again soon, I moseyed on down to the local Waterstones and found 2 copies of Gothic Blue in stock. Now, in San Francisco, bolstered by Saskia urging me on, I'd signed some books in a Borders there, but I wasn't quite sure I could do the signing thing alone in a local shop. I circled the store two or three times, buying an AA mini guide to Washington in the process, but eventually, I plucked up courage to ask the man on the desk if he wanted me to sign my books. I'm glad to say he was really pleased and delighted, and I managed to adorn each copy with a fairly reasonable PDC autograph... and slip in a promotional postcard plugging IN TOO DEEP [which is out in the UK on 4th Sept, eeek agh!]

Speaking of IN TOO DEEP, some author copies of the same arrived yesterday too.

I must admit it looks absolutely fabboo 'in the flesh' and even more deliciously pink! Which pleases me no end, as pink is my favourite 'accent' colour. :)

I also received another foreign edition. A German version of THE DEVIL INSIDE.

The German title translates as "I see what you need"... which actually makes quite a lot of sense in respect of the plot! The eagle-eyed amongst you might notice an 'extra' piece of lace above the girl's right wrist... Although this is a fairly tasteful cover compared to some of my continental editions, there was a nip on show, and as I don't want to get want to get a government health warning on my blog for rude pictures, I thought I'd better be cautious and hide it. ;)

Oh, and to round off a pretty splendid day, in the evening I had a jolly good online chat with my other RWA travelling companion, Madelynne. This was another chinwag about writing projects and general juicy gossip... and the Z word was not uttered even once. ;)

More RWA frivolity!

Cathleen Ross, Madelynne and me! Think this was at the Harlequin Party... and that's cola I'm drinking, honest!

Getting back to normal?

Yes, I think I'm gradually beginning to return to the everyday world of my normal writing and non writing life... at last. It's been a strange and wonderful interlude, this RWA experience, and though I must admit it's been a tad physically challenging, in terms of jet lag and fatigue and whatnot, the positive aspects have far and away outweighed any slight negative bobbles.

I find it hard to look back and form a truly coherent picture. It's more little vignettes that float in my mind, bobbing in a delicious and fondly reminiscent soup. Dazzling flashes that illuminate an overall landscape of warmth, friendship and welcome. I can't begin to describe the awesomeness of how kind people were. Both my existing friends, and new friends. Also, what it felt like when people knew me, recognised me, rushed up to me and hugged me... and said heartwarming things about my writing and my books. For someone who's always waiting for the other shoe to fall, and for someone to say 'it's all a mistake, we take it back... return to square one', this kind of affirmation is like a pure gold dream. It just blows me away!

Attending RWA was an A1 experience for me, completely invaluable for any number of reasons. And I want to thank my dear buddy Saskia for encouraging me, and making me brave enough to make the trip, and for guiding me through the entire process and helping me and making me laugh and enjoy myself every step of the way. Never mind Alcatraz, she was my rock. Also, I want to thank my other wonderful travelling companion Madelynne for the same reasons. Her calmness and unflappability were a real steadying force for me, and her sense of humour really pepped me up when I was flagging sometimes.

But now, it's back to work. KISS IT BETTER is my priority, with a deadline of 1st of December. Sounds a long way away, but if the first part of this year is anything to go by, it'll be on me in a flash. KIB will be a challenge, too. It's very, very much a romance book. It has a romance type structure, and will definitely have a full on happily ever after... but... it still has to be full of the hot, hot sex that people expect in a Portia Da Costa novel. Melding the two things can sometimes be a tall order, but I'm prepared to strive my best to do it, and do it as well as I can.

I am so lucky!

I am a very lucky author! One of the greatest blessings of my writing life is that I'm able to actually meet up with some of my lovely author friends face to face. Writing is a lonely lark, and though email friendships can be a great support and solace, nothing beats actually hanging with your homegirls and having a damn good laugh.

Last Saturday, I had a totally brilliant day out to meet Madelynne Ellis [pictured in the post below] and Janine Ashbless in Manchester - in which we went to our usual haunt, the famous pub, Via Fossa, and also rampaged around the shops a bit looking for our own books on sale - and yesterday, I met up with my fab buddy, Saskia Walker! Two fantastic author meetings in the space of only seven days... that's why I say I'm so lucky!


Saskia and I ended up in BB's, after a thwarted attempt to secure a seat in Cafe Revive, which was full to bursting with senior citizens, mums and ladies who do coffee, taking advantage of a free hot drinks before 11am special offer. But BB's is just as nice in its own way, and the tuna baguettes with reduced calorie mayonaise and the skinniccinos were spot on! We had a brilliant chat that was half our usual ribald and bitchy discussion of the publishing scene and its idiosyncrasies and half forward planning for our RWA trip at the end of July. The time flew by and when it was time to go, we could have gabbed for hours longer!

Memories of Saturday...

This is me, in Via Fossa, Manchester, with my good buddy Madelynne Ellis, last Saturday!

Serious writers' meeting... yeah, right!

Photo taken by another great writing chum, Janine Ashbless.

ps. sorry, Sandie, I can't do the me-me right at the moment... am sort of drowning in my to do list, and I already owe me-mes to Dakota and Lucy! :(

It's like a hurricane out there...

Just look at all this mad wind over the British Isles! It's crazy out there! I've just been up to little town for an essential prescription, and I nearly got wafted off my feet... and I'm no sylph, I can tell you. When I got back I felt as if I'd been put through an industrial mincer and an hour later I'm only just getting over the shock of it.

Am really close to the end of In Too Deep now. Just a couple of scenes left to write. Strangely though, I'm still not in 'race for the end' mode, the way I usually am at this stage. I'm almost reluctant to push on... not because I don't want to leave my characters, but because this has been quite a tough book to write and I'm scared of it somehow. And I know there will be tons of editing, changing and layering to do. I think the lesson to be learned is to stop pantsing as much, and do more planning and working out beforehand. Then I wouldn't be changing so much on the fly and having to go back and engineer what's already been written in order for it to be consistent. I freely admit that I dove into this book without a clear idea of what it was... and that's just stupid!!!

In other news, plans are steaming ahead for The Big Adventure! I'm thrilled to announce that our little Mad Brit Erotic Romance Posse has officially increased to three, as Madelynne has now registered for the conference and will definitely be joining Saskia and I on the expedition! I can't wait! I know we three are going to have the wildest time! Saskia is going to have her hands full with us two nervous nelly flyers though... I haven't been on a plane in nearly 30 years and Madelynne has never flown! It should be veeerrry interesting! :)

-------------------------------------------------------------
Telly: nothing yet
Choc/Yummy: grapes .... :(
Mood: vaguely out of sorts but not too bad
Writing: not yet
Reading: some stuff for a buddy
RSI/FMS: not bad


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

An awfully big adventure...

Those who visit this blog often enough will have gathered that I don't go anywhere very much. I'm a homebody, and I go to the supermarket, the fish and chip restaurant or the Toby Inn, and the pub. I sometimes walk up into little town to the shops, and if I'm feeling really ambitious or brave, I go to big town to meet my lovely writing buddy Saskia, or to Manchester to meet my other lovely writing buddy Madelynne and sometimes other writing friends too.

What I do not usually do is leave the country or get on aeroplanes...

But that's all going to change. Come the end of July, I'll be boarding a jet to San Francisco to attend the 2008 Romance Writers of America Conference! To say this is a big step for me is a massive understatement... the last time I flew, I swear the pilots were named Orville and Wilbur!

Luckily for me though, I'll be in the company of Saskia, who lives not too far from me, so we can travel together. And hopefully, if all goes well, Madelynne will be with us too! How cool is that? A mini posse of crazy British erotic romance authors... I can't say yet whether we'll take the conference by storm, but at least we'll be there, causing a little stir of some sort. Even if it's just all my American chums giggling at my broad Yorkshire accent!


-------------------------------------------------------------
Telly: Numb3rs
Choc/Yummy: christmas chox
Mood: sort of excited but distracted
Writing: not yet today, but soon
Reading: A Kingdom of Dreams - Judith McNaught
RSI/FMS: so so


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

fancy a chat?

I should have posted this much earlier in the day, or even yesterday, but I've been so busy that I kept forgetting!!!

Basically, my writing buddy Madelynne Ellis and I have 'taken a residence' at The Romance Galleria! We have our own dinky little suite there and we're hoping to host chats there for our readers and other authors and online friends in general.

The Romance Galleria is a really fun place, it's like a mini virtual world for romance lovers. Authors have suites and alcoves, which showcase their work, and their able to chat in virtual reality with visitors, using avatars! It's very jolly... and I'm rapidly becoming addicted. Madelynne and I have been chatting about our WIPs and plots there, but we'd love to have other people visit us to natter about books and writing, whether it's our work or other people's.

To access the Galleria, you have to download its software. But don't worry!!!! It's easy peasy and it's perfectly safe and secure... and it's completely free, gratis and for nothing! I'm always v. cautious about downloads, but I've had absolutely no problems with this and it's a cinch to use. Once you've downloaded the Galleria, you can choose an avatar for yourself [mine's blond and wears black, of course] and then enter the 'world'. Navigating is easy, you just use your keyboard's arrow buttons to move forward and backwards and from side to side. There's a chat window, and you can choose to have private conversations, or just plunge into general ones with groups of people...

Do please try the Galleria and come along to our first informal chat, which we're holding tonight [1st June] at around 11pm GMT/6pm EST. You'll find our pad in the Section 2 of the Exhibit Hall. Just walk out of the foyer onto the landing, take the Exhibit Hall door to the left, then turn right and pass through the doors marked 'More Exhibits'... where you'll see us to your right! Doors open automatically as you 'run' at them, or you can click to open and then 'up' arrow you're way through them... it's a piece of cake!

If lots of people turn up tonight, we might make it into a real party... with prizes!

In addition to tonight, we drop into our suite at all sorts of odd times, but you can mostly expect to find us there on Friday nights at the above mentioned time... after Law & Order Criminal Intent on C5!!!

Do please come along... and remember, the Galleria isn't just about us! There are lots of other authors there to visit, and lots of regular scheduled events like author chats and book trailer screenings. Issa hoot! Give it a whirl!

--
Telly: The Holiday
Choc/Yummy: Turkish Delight
Mood: Good, but awash with things to do
Writing: not today... but I promise I'll do some tomorrow
Reading: Gothic Blue
RSI/FMS: slightly sore


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

I'm posting at Lust Bites today!!!

But somehow, Tilly the cat doesn't seem to be all that interested!

Not tonight, dear, I've got a headache...

What's that all about? Well, you'll have to pop over there, and find out, won't you? :)

There's also a prize draw for those who comment, so why not drop a line there with your thoughts on the post...

Hint... it's a hot but romantic excerpt from SUITE SEVENTEEN!

I'll also have some more news later in the day, so pop back here too... although my 'house mate' Madelynne Ellis already has the skinny on that posted at her blog...