guest blogging at Eden Bradley’s blog
May 12th, 2008Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers and good wishes - Lily did great in Pittsburgh and we got home late Friday night! So now it’s just rest and recovery for her so she can start her swimming next month. 
Larissa and I (and Sydney) are over at Eden Bradley’s blog, where she’s declared May tattoo month!
See, in our newest release, Hot Nights, Dark Desires, Eden’s novella, The Art of Desire, is about a tattoo fetish, and so she’s invited us and other authors to go and talk about their tattoos. There are a few pics of mine up, so go on over and take a look!
Hot Nights, Dark Desires releases May 20th!
Inspired by the sultry heat and sensual ambiance of New Orleans , this steamy collection delves into the erotic underground of the Big Easy. Here is a tantalizing trio of stories by three rising stars that will tease your imagination—and seduce your senses.
Lush, haunting, and provocative, New Orleans has something to satisfy every desire—as three very lucky women are about to discover.
In “Shadow Play” (by Sydney Croft) an ex-supermodel desperate to revive her career seeks the help of a gorgeous, reclusive photographer with a special gift—and offers him anything he wants in return. The result is a series of erotic positions captured on film—along with a mind-blowing physical connection neither expected….
In “The Art of Desire” (by Eden Bradley) a sheltered young woman turned on by the idea of getting tattooed dares to make her fantasy a reality. But as her arousing sessions with a dangerously handsome tattoo artist move from the tattoo parlor to the bedroom, they make an impression that’s more than skin deep….
And in “Night Vision” (by Stephanie Tyler) when artist Catie Lanford hires professional cooler Bat Kelly to whip the failing bar she’s recently inherited into shape, she’s not looking for a lover—until she lays eyes on the sexy wild man. Soon they’ve agreed to mix business with pleasure, and Catie discovers that Bat is just what she needs to set her artist’s imagination—and her body—on fire.
Abandon your inhibitions and excite your spirit with a gathering of tales that’s as sexy and spicy as the city of New Orleans itself.
Steph T
car trips & writing
May 6th, 2008I’m headed out of town today with Zoo and the kid to Pittsburgh - it’s that time of year again, the kid’s spinal surgery. Thoughts and prayers on Thursday morning are most welcomed…
My mom’s staying here to watch Gus. I’m not sure which one I should worry about more. 
The Sydney machine is moving along nicely - I think Taming The Fire is around 112 pages, and I’ve got another scene to throw in there too. Today it’s my turn - I’ve got 2 - 3 scenes to write, which I’ll do in the car (eight hour trip) and send them to Larissa tonight so I’m not holding her up too much.
Two days ago, she called me a genius. Yesterday, it was back to idiot. But I totally saved the genius email as proof. Of something…
We also pulled some thoughts together for book 5, since we’ve got that proposal due in early June. I just need to find that perfect hero name…the one that will drive Larissa crazy…
What? Writing is supposed to be fun.
Steph T.
Recent comments from: · Jaq · Ann · Tori Lennox · Jaci Burton
4AM
May 2nd, 2008Jennifer has been hosting the Writeminded authors on her blog this week - today’s my turn to answer her list of questions, so stop on over and say hi! Jennifer’s giving away WM mini-promo packets to a lucky winner who comments :)
I’ve been up since 4AM, thanks to the child. Of course, Gus decided he needed to be up as well and Zoo is in Atlanta for business so we’re all downstairs now, me with my icepack and the other two playing. I have to tell you, I don’t find anything playful about 4AM.
What I wish Gus and Lily were doing:
(pic is old, btw - this is Gus about 30lbs ago…)
Okay, so yesterday’s Trance writing netted us about 17 pages - not bad for a first day. I’d say that we average between 20 - 25 pages a day once we’re really going - and of course, we had the usual email, why the hell is it so easy and fast to write with you but on my own it takes me forever to get this many pages, discussion. Then we begged each other to write each other’s current books - again, par for the course.
Oh and Trance’s title is now officially TAMING THE FIRE. I think we’re trying to come up with two more titles for the contracted books with fire in their titles as well, but right now I’m just grateful we got that one settled.
I also went through about 80 pages of Nick’s book on the hardcopy, slashing and burning and tweaking - I’m trying to get it to Larisssa for a read soon.
For today, I’ve got two Trance scenes to flesh out and finish. Maybe a third, depending on where the story goes.
Oh, and I’ve been meaning to blog about the movie, The Devil Wears Prada - someone remind me please…something about it’s been bothering me and Zoo is tired of hearing me talk about it.
Steph T.
back to Trance…
May 1st, 2008So today, Larissa and I start in on Trance - Sydney’s book 4. We’ve got about 60 + pages (proposal chapters which we’d handed in sometime in January plus some extra scenes that happen later in the book.)
The book is due in July - and I think we’ve got a proposal for book 5 due in June. And I have Nick’s revisions and Chris’s book due June/July-ish as well. But I try not to think too much about all of that because then my head might explode.
Oh, and I have a migraine today. So my head might explode anyway.
People are always curious about how we write together, what the process is like - so I’ll try to document as we go along - we’ve always meant to do that but we end up getting involved in the process and forget to give out the details.
So like today - day 1…it begins with an email where Larissa usually sends me the latest copy (she sends the copy to our editor since she’s an amazing proofreader and I am…not. At all.) So she sends me what we’ve got and I kind of skim through it like, wow, I like the story (which is good - because when you haven’t looked at something in months, you tend to scare yourself into thinking, my GOD, this book is going to be really hard to write…)
I mean, it might be - I’m not sure yet. In some ways, it’s a much easier book because it’s not part of the Storm series, even though it’s set in the ACRO world. At this point, we’ve got a main plot and one subplot, although I’m still pushing for one more small subplot. But don’t tell Larissa yet.
For today’s writing, we’ve already started emailing each other about what happens next (it’s her character’s turn - she’s writing the main heroine (Ulrika or Rik) and the subplot hero (Ryan) this time around and I’ve got main hero (Trance) and sublot heroine (Coco. Or Mary)…we’ll both join in on writing Dev and whoever else comes up.) - she’ll send me little encouraging love notes, like the one that just came through:
You’re an idiot.
Do you see why working with a partner can give you the warm fuzzies?!
So today’s goals are for Larissa to get enough of the Rik scene done so I can work on the next Trance scene. We don’t always go in order, although once we get past the halfway mark, we tend to) - for now, the document gets messy - where we’ll both have lots of unfinished scenes. Because we can work off unfinished scenes - we can move ahead that way and go back and polish as things firm up. Because right now, although we have a synopsis - it’s all very vague. Which is just the way I like it.
If you’ve got any specific questions as we move along in the process, feel free to ask them in the comments or email me and I’ll try to get them answered.
Steph T.
Free Will Astrology & titles
April 29th, 2008Free Will Astrology for Aries for the week of May 1st:
Your power symbol for the week is an ant carrying a potato chip. It means you’ll possess so much strength that you’ll be able to hold aloft burdens that are much bigger than you. More than that, Aries. You’ll look graceful doing it. And here’s the kicker. That giant load you carry may ultimately provide nourishment not only for you but also for everyone back at the nest.
Now I want potato chips…and, for the record, no more burdens, please. Thank you to whoever fufills these requests.
Anyway, Larissa and I start writing Sydney book 4 (it’s Trance’s bok, tentitively titled, Taming The Fire) on May 1st. I think we’re both writing our 3rd single titles (her demons, my SEALs) as we write Trance, so it’ll be a bit crazy. But writing Syd stuff always brings out a lot of energy in our individual projects too, so I’m looking forward to it!
I’m almost done with revisions for Nick’s book. I think. Maybe. I have to let it sit for a while and work on Chris’s book some more along with Trance - give myself a bit of time away from it. And I got an idea for a new proposal as well, so it’s all kind of flying around inside my head.
I was on a search for a working title for the proposal (or one that could actually stick with a book through publication, but that’s really rare.) - Sometimes, a title comes to me and just works. Larissa tells me that I picked Riding The Storm (I can’t remember titling that for the life of me, but it does fit the book perfectly.)
But if nothing jumps out at me, the first place I turn to is iTunes, looking for a song title and / or some great lyrics that I can twist and turn around a bit. For instance, the title, Coming Undone came from the Beach Boy’s Surfer Girl - makes my heart come all undone…because Carly is a surfer girl.
Risking It All was originally, To The Limit (Eagles!) and Beyond His Control was Linger (I still LOVE that title - the song by the Cranberries totally fits the book for me.)
And if I strike out with songs, I’ll turn to poetry. I can waste a lot of time there (okay, waste is the wrong word) because I really love poetry - I haven’t written any in a long time, but when I go through some of Anne Sexton’s poems or Marge Piercy or HOWL, etc, it makes me want to write poetry again.
And I came across this poem from Linda Pastan (another favorite) - it seemed appropriate, so I figured I share:
What We Want by Linda Pastan
What we want
is never simple.
We move among the things
we thought we wanted:
a face, a room, an open book
and these things bear our names–
now they want us.
But what we want appears
in dreams, wearing disguises.
We fall past,
holding out our arms
and in the morning
our arms ache.
We don’t remember the dream,
but the dream remembers us.
It is there all day
as an animal is there
under the table,
as the stars are there
even in full sun.
Steph T.
back at Writeminded…
April 25th, 2008for a TGIF giveaway! Check it out and comment for a chance to win - contest winner will be picked on Sunday night!
Steph T.
Today’s post…
April 24th, 2008is at Writeminded!
Steph T.
chat tonight and tagged!
March 17th, 2008First off, tonight is the Writeminded Chat at Writerspace with Amy Knupp, Maya Banks, Jaci Burton, Larissa Ione and me! Come on over and join us for the fun, beginning at 9PM EST!
Sasha tagged me - and I think Larissa tagged me for this a while back too and I’m SO terribly behind on tags.
So here goes:
Four jobs I’ve had in my life:
1. Lifeguard - best job EVER! You don’t work when it rains AND you get paid!
2. Bookstore manager - best job EVER! Because, hello, books!!!
3. Teacher - toughest job EVER, next to being a mom. But still fun.
4. Writer - best job EVER! Because I get to stay home all the time, not just when it rains!
Four movies I’ve watched more than once:
1. Road House
2. Basic
3. Walking Tall
4. A History of Violence
Four favorite places I’ve lived:
1. New York
2. Fairfield, Connecticut
3. Cincinatti (short term)
that’s it!
Four favorite places I’ve travelled:
1. Africa
2. Mexico
3. Jamaica
4. Amsterdam
Four places I most want to see before I die:
1. Africa again
2. Italy
3. Greece
4. Africa. Again.
Four of my favorite foods:
1. chocolate
2. french fries
3. wings from the Candlelight
4. hamburgers with pickles
Damn, I’m hungry now. 
Steph T.
Recent comments from: · Crystal* · Sasha · Ann · Tori Lennox
writing, writing and more writing…
March 9th, 2008So I’m writing and writing and writing on the NEVER ENDING book that is Nick’s (TOO HOT TO HOLD) and I’m writing and writing these subplot heroines who are sisters and I just keep saying to myself, I know there’s something you’re not telling me…
And so I wrote and wrote and suddenly one of the sisters must’ve been so tired of me asking that she was like, here’s our deal and I was like, finally. I mean, don’t get me wrong - their deal is good - worth waiting for. But maybe they could’ve saved me a little bit of angst.
Anyway, I thought about this because I got asked if I’d like to do a writing workshop class at a local arts center and got a mental picture of me sitting on a desk in my pajamas telling the class what I just told you all about those sisters and thinking, will that pass for curriculum?
Last week, Larissa mentioned how she hasn’t been doing any craft posts lately. I don’t know if I ever really did craft posts because I’m not really a craft kind of person. I’ve tried it - different methods, like the plotting boards - and plotting itself, and none of it ever seemed to work for me. Instead, I just use my own method (the write-out-of-order one) and I pray for the best. Eventually, the book gets in shape.
Are their easier ways? I’m sure, but my mind seems to go on strike when I try them.
Hi, I’m your teacher who doesn’t plot! Yes, that will go over well…
Anyway, today, more writing. Must get this book done. Will only stop to watch Rock Of Love, because, well, you know…who wouldn’t?!
FYI, Gus was 31.3 Lbs two weeks and three days ago. Today, he’s 47 lbs. at 4 and 1/2 months.
(this is from 2 weeks ago…I swear he grows overnight)
On a side note - I so didn’t need daylight savings time this week - I needed that damned hour…
Steph T.
Recent comments from: · Jordan Summers · Tori Lennox
Romance B(u)y The Book!
March 5th, 2008(Please don’t forget to check out this post to take the author / agent surveys!)
Sydney’s Unleashing The Storm is featured this week on Michelle Buonfiglio’s Romance: B(u)y the Book!!! There’s an interview with Larissa and me and we’ll be blogging there on March 7th, so please stop by and see us :) (You’ll have to do a quick registration to comment!)
Michelle also reviewed Unleashing - she says,
“Unleashing the Storm” is emotionally satisfying, as well as fiercely erotic. The sexual tension is urgent and driving; it refuses to subside. That’s because the writing duo that is Sydney Croft (Larissa Ione and Stephanie Tyler) shows Kira’s need in an aching, frantic way sensual women understand. Then they gift us with Ender, who delivers high-emotion sexual fantasy even we veteran erotic romance fans find refreshing.
You can read the full review here!
Steph T.
Recent comments from:
Survey time!
March 5th, 2008Bekke, from DreamForgeMedia, needs your input for a column she’s writing for Romancing The Blog.
She’s looking for those of you who had a website and / or blog up before you were published (I gave her a few names off the top of my head.) and would like to know if you felt as though that helped you or not. You can do that by answering a few questions on her author survey.
I’ll be filling it out myself, since I’ve had a website up since…oh, 2003 maybe? I guess I could just check the blog archives…
Also, she’s got some questions for agents - so if you’ve got an agent / know an agent / are an agent, she’d appreciate you answering these questions on her agent survey.
I’m actually very curious to see some of the answers to both questions!!!
So go - take the survey. Or I’ll send SEALs after you.
Or, right, I forgot - that threat never seems to work since you all want SEALs to come after you.
No SEALs until you take the survey. Yes, that’s it…
Steph T.
Recent comments from: · Tori Lennox · Alison Kent » Blog Archive » Taking a survey . . .
today’s progress…
March 2nd, 2008I wrote four scenes yesterday on Nick’s book (Too Hot To Hold) - good scenes, necessary information, but not great scenes. Scenes that drove me crazy trying to fix them, tweak them, do something with them. Then I finally figured it out late last night, right before I collapsed.
They were all in the wrong pov. 
A few hours today spent moving dialogue and motivations around and now everyone’s happy. But I lost time, dammit. I hate when you spend all day writing and you don’t make any page progress. I like to see page progress. But I have the whole night for that - hopefully now that my plot is semi-squared away, things will move faster.
*fingers crossed*
That’s if, of course, Gus decides to vacate my seat:
Anyway, tonight my reward will be a new episode of Rock of Love!!! But I seriously hope they don’t go to anymore dark restaurants because that was just nasty.
Steph T.
Recent comments from: · Tori Lennox · Amie Stuart
nostalgia
February 29th, 2008PBW has me all nostalgic today - she’s talking about what I refer to as the early days, when I was just discovering blogs and blogging and what all of that entailed.
I think I found Alison Kent’s blog first - at that time she had a list of bloggers on her sidebar with a note that said, email me if you’d like to be added. And I remember being really nervous about asking her to add me - I was a new blogger, unpublished author and OMG, what if I wasn’t good enough?
I wrote and rewrote my stupid little email to her, asking her to add me and I got back an email a couple of days later that said, done!
Done! And she didn’t even know me. (now I get to drive her crazy all the time - little did she know back then what adding me to her sidebar would do!)
And then, through her sidebar I found Larissa and Bekke and Lydia Joyce. And Sylvia - I think she made the very first comment ever on my blog. And Sasha and Cece (who now goes by Amie Stuart to drive me crazy.) And Jaq and Linda Winfree and Sharon who then introduced me to Writeminded, who at that time was her, Amy Knupp, Jan Kenny and Allison Brennan. And Jordan Summers - and I remember meeting HelenKay long before she had a blog, on Sylvia’s message board when she hosted a writing challenge for all of us.
Oh, and Suzanne and Jill and Kacey and Tori! And Shannon and Charlene!
And somewhere in there, I found PBW and Holly Lisle. They both had so much advice - good advice. Both of them were so honest and irreverent, like many of the unpublished bloggers I’d already met and I remember we all just learned from them and from Alison and from each other. It was a wonderful, amazing time that can’t be recreated because of the…well, the innocence. If there were snarky blogs out there at the time, I didn’t know about them. I stayed in my own circle, and I honestly don’t remember all that many blogs out there at the time.
For me, we were part of a writer’s community - less so of a reader’s one at that point, only because there were so many of us who were unpublished, and we were looking toward the bloggers like PBW and Alison for guidance through the business.
I still have, on another computer, one of PBW’s blog posts saved, and I can’t find it and can’t remember when it was, but I know it was sometime before February 2006. It was a post about fear - and how the biggest fear of a writer is that all of the writing, all of the work, was for nothing - it made me cry and hope and I’d reread it all the time while I struggled on that road to publication.
If it wasn’t for PBW (ah, I remember when Jake took one of the Darkyn out drinking!) and Holly and Alison, it would’ve been a long and lonely road. If it wasn’t for the originals, especially the *thisclose* club, I wouldn’t have made it through.
But I remember the exact moment blogging changed for me - an agent commented on a friend’s blog that she shouldn’t write about her rejections the way she did - that it would leave a bad impression with publishers.
Now, said friend was upbeat, positive - there was honestly nothing negative in her post at all. To us, it was part of the business - she was being honest.
But that’s when I realized that they were out there - editors, agents, people who didn’t see what we wrote in the spirit in which it was intended. So yes, things changed - the blogging community exploded - to me, it’s a lot scarier out there. But even though I don’t comment nearly as much as I used to, I still read my originals just about every day. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be the writer I am today, and for that, I’m eternally grateful to my originals. Wonderful women, fantastic writers. Friends.
Steph T.
Recent comments from: · Holly · Louisa · Janette Kenny · Amie Stuart · Tori Lennox
Release Day for UNLEASHING THE STORM!!!
February 26th, 2008
Sydney Croft’s UNLEASHING THE STORM
Bantam Dell
ISBN-10: 0-385-34081-8
ISBN-13: 978-0-385-34081-6
Beyond desire. Beyond seduction.
Into the eye of the storm…
Feel the heat. Hear the roar.
The fever has begun…
There’s a storm rising. Electricity crackles in the air. For Kira Donovan, it’s that time of year again: when the need floods her flesh, when almost any man—the bigger and the stronger the better—will do. For Kira, an animal psychic, the heat is a matter of life and death, and this year it has come at just the right time. Tom Knight, a natural born predator, has arrived at her isolated Idaho farm—for reasons all his own…
At first Kira isn’t interested in Knight’s motives. She only needs him—his body, his hands, his scent. But soon, through a daze of desire and distrust, Kira discovers Knight’s world—the world of a covert operative, one man among dozens of secret agents waging an astonishing global war. Knight’s mission is to bring Kira–kicking and screaming if necessary–into the Agency for Covert Rare Operatives and harness her extraordinary gift. He never expected the powerful emotions she would ignite in him, or the fierce desire to keep her safe from harm. For as darkness gathers around them, Kira is feeling the heat once again, leading them both on a wild ride of delicious thrills…and terror beyond imagining.
Read an excerpt here!
Larissa and I each tell what a favorite thing about Unleashing is at Writeminded today!
I’ll never forget when I told Larissa, the hero of book 2 is going to be called Ender…
Steph T.
Weimaraner Property Laws
February 25th, 2008
Gus just wanted me to clear that up for everyone.
Book due soon. Why isn’t February longer?!? Why are Daisy’s lips on Rock of Love so big they seem to impair her ability to speak? Am I giving Daisy too much credit by implying that her lips are the problem with her speaking abilities?
Steph T.
Recent comments from: · Sasha · Crystal* · Amie Stuart
2 chances to win Beyond His Control
February 23rd, 2008I know - I’m behind on a few memes people tagged me for - I’ll get there…
But for today, you’ve got a chance to win a copy of Beyond His Control on Alison Kent’s site. I also have a TellTale up on Access Romance - you can comment for a chance to win Beyond His Control AND candy. What could be better?!
Now, back to the revisions due March 1st. The proposal I handed in last Friday was accepted (YAY!) and I’m getting closer to actually finishing the SEAL trilogy. Well, finishing in a very broad sense anyway :)
Steph T.
blog switch!
February 13th, 2008First of all, Marge was robbed of Best in Show at Westminster. Yes, robbed. And what the hell that the announcer couldn’t pronounce weimaraner? I mean, if you’re announcing at a dog show, shouldn’t you like, practice pronouncing breed names? I know it’s really rare for a weim to win Best in Sport and everything, but still, she did - so since you only have seven breed names to get right for the finals, how hard could it be? 
Oh, and she shares some bloodlines with Gus! I told him last night - he remained unimpressed. Mainly because he was too busy fighting me for my spot on the couch.
As a sidenote, is anyone else really sick of the LOL cats?
Okay, back to working on the proposal that’s due like, um, Friday. 
Oh, and for a chance to win a copy of Beyond His Control, my newest Blaze, come visit me over at Love Is An Exploding Cigar today (post should be up some time this morning!)…this is part of the Writeminded/Cigars blog switch we’re doing this week.
Steph T.
Recent comments from: · Amie Stuart · larissa · Eden Bradley · Jean · Amie Stuart
Today’s post…
February 8th, 2008is at Writeminded! Come on over to the TGIF giveaway for a chance to win a copy of Beyond His Control!
Steph T.
help me out here…
February 6th, 2008When you hear the word love, what’s the first (I’ll take second and thirds too) thing that comes to mind?
Steph T.
Recent comments from: · Jill S. · Eden Bradley · Tori Lennox · Jambrea
there’s a weimaraner in my waffles…
February 5th, 2008No, seriously. See, Gus has this habit of running and flinging his front paws onto whoever is sitting on the couch. Which is where I happened to be with my plate of nutri-grain waffles on my lap. Waffles with syrup.
Suddenly, there were waffles, syrup and puppy paws on the plate. Yeah, I’ll be eating at the table from now on.
(picture is after the de-syruping)
Anyway, Lily’s finally feeling better (cold plus possible stomach virus did not a happy child - or mom - make)….Gus is settling in. Ish. Well, as much as a puppy can. And I need to do some serious freakin’ writing. Like, fast. I need my routine back. Or any routine. Or a routine.
Speaking of books, Beyond His Control is on pre-sale this month at eHarlequin! It goes on sale everywhere else March 1st, although Blazes are often spotted mid-month, so keep an eye out as it gets close to February 15th or so!
Steph T.
